Rumors online are indicating that Tujague’s, that venerable restaurant and bar in the French Quarter, may be closing soon. Though Rob and I have only had drinks on several occasions at the unique, stand-up bar, we will be very sad if the rumors are true. Tujaque’s represents a beautiful part of New Orleans, the gentility of a (perhaps, sadly) bygone era. Opened in 1856, the … Continue reading Tujague’s: end of an institution?
I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list. —Susan Sontag People sometimes ask why we do all of our travel planning–from flights, to hotels, to restaurants, to activities–ourselves, rather than book a package or use a travel agent. Why go to all the bother? Since we started traveling together in 1998–our first year of marriage–we realized we needed to figure out how to take … Continue reading Why should travel agents have all the fun?
Just because you can throw a rock pretty much in any direction in Boston and hit an Irish pub, doesn’t mean they are all the same, or good. I’ve seen a few “Irish pubs” lists lately, and sometimes what gets included are not truly all Irish pubs (seriously, I saw a Chinese restaurant on an Irish pub list yesterday). So what constitutes an Irish pub? … Continue reading Best Irish pubs in Boston
This post is a bit overdue, considering we visited Nicaragua five months ago now, in October 2012. But with the snow falling heavy on Boston lately, it seemed a perfect time to revisit–at least mentally–a nice, warm place. What made us choose Nicaragua? A combination of factors. We had been to Belize the year before, and loved it. Belize pushed us out of our comfort … Continue reading Heaven’s gate & the mouth of hell: a visit to Nicaragua
A while back, we wrote about the top food experiences we’ve had, which included everything from tapas bars to airport bars, funky pubs to no-frills street food. What that list didn’t include (with one exception) were upscale restaurants. Now, we don’t spend our travel dollars lightly, believing that a great experience–sometimes the best ones, in fact–can be had at any price. But, every now and … Continue reading “Splurge” restaurants worth the money
Rob and I are fans of Rick Steves. We totally subscribe to his “packing light” philosophy, which we talked about here, as well as his belief that spending more money does not necessarily get you a better travel experience. His book, Travel as a Political Act, was an inspiring read on how to travel with more than your own comfort in mind. While we may … Continue reading Thoughtful Travel
We are city people. We live in the city, and when we travel, we prefer to stay in cities. Don’t get me wrong. We enjoy seeing the rural parts of any country, including our own. But because we love the energy and culture of cities so much, we usually stay in one place longer than the tour guides or travel books might recommend. We’ve been … Continue reading Bats, Belikin and howler monkeys: a week in Belize
We’ve been to New Orleans six times now, and each time we love the city more and more. Two places we’ve stayed more than once are the Place d’Armes, and the Hotel Monteleone. The Monteleone is a classic, grand New Orleans hotel: doormen, concierge, lovely throughout. It can also be a little expensive, depending on the season. Off season rates are better, but since some … Continue reading Sleeping easy in the Big Easy
It’s no secret that there are lots of Irish pubs in Boston, some (but definitely not all) of which serve very good food. One of our favorites is the Black Rose, near Faneuil Hall, which serves a really good plate of “bangers & mash” – basically a pile of silky mashed potatoes, a couple of sausages and plenty of delicious onion gravy. Comfort food at … Continue reading Irish-Italian fusion, or bangers & mash with a twist
We visited Austin in late April, 2011, in part for a writing convention for Rob which took place at a Doubletree Hotel a bit outside the city, on Interstate 35. It was actually a very nice hotel, but once the convention was over, we moved downtown to The Driskill. This was a splurge, but the convention hotel had been very inexpensive, and this would only … Continue reading A short list on Austin, Texas
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