Archive for "Travel"
It’s Been a Wonderful 22 Years
Posted on October 3, 2024 by Ching under Life, Relationship, Travel.
Can you believe that Brian and I have been together for a quarter of a century? Neither can I. When we first met in 1999, I had no idea we would be here in 2024. It’s been (and continues to be) an amazing ride.
While we’ve been together for 25 years, we’ve only been married for 22. For our anniversary this year, we decided to go to Colorado. Why? First, Brian doesn’t really like leaving the United States so while my first choice would have been to travel somewhere exotic that’s not really Brian’s jam. Second, we wanted to visit Garden of the Gods because neither of us had been there since we were young (or so we thought).
You know you’re getting old when you start forgetting shit. We were so excited to go on this trip because we thought we had never been. I don’t know if Brian knew it all along and just didn’t want to let on because he didn’t want me to veto the idea. On the trip up, things started looking familiar (mostly to Brian because I can’t remember anything). While we’re pulling into the hotel parking lot, Brian makes a comment about how we’d stayed there before. I just chalked it up to all Hyatt Place hotels looking the same but Brian was convinced we’d been here. To settle the debate, I looked up my emails from years past and, lo and behold, sure as shit, I had a receipt from that same hotel from three years before. I guess we had stayed there for the Great Plains Regional Tournament at Monument Valley Park in 2021. I felt sure that we stayed closer to the tournament venue but I guess not.
Looking back, we probably picked this hotel because of its proximity to Garden of the Gods and we figured that we could check out the park on my non-playing days, which we actually did and I had just forgotten about it.
I looked up past blog posts and here’s what happened – it started raining on the day we went to check out Garden of the Gods so we took a picture in front of balanced rock and then we spent the rest of the time having lunch at the Trading Post because we didn’t want to risk walking/climbing on the wet, potentially slippery rocks. Since we didn’t really spend a lot of time there and didn’t get to do much exploring, I guess the visit didn’t register and completely got erased from memory. This recent trip turned out to be our do-over.
Brian isn’t really much of a hiker. Actually, he doesn’t care much for walking. So when we were at Garden of the God, we decided to take the trolley tour. I found it amusing because it was the two of us and a bunch of old people. By old people, I mean people way older than us — because I suppose now that we’re around 50 we technically fall under “old people” category as well.
I looked at the other people who seemed to have difficulty walking and such and I felt like the two of us really should have walked/hiked instead of taking the trolley. But, hey, it’s a park donation.
After the fact, we did the free, self-paced, guided audio tour of Garden of the Gods in the Travel Storys app which turned out way better than the trolley tour. First, because you can stop at the various parking lots strategically placed throughout the park to do some exploring and then, as soon as you get in the car and start moving again, the guided tour just picks back up where it left off. You really couldn’t get off the trolley so you were just stuck there. And second, because it is absolutely free. We totally could have saved the $50+ (before tip) that we spent on the trolley tour. Anyway, we just chalked it up to a donation but, if we ever do this again, we are totally skipping the trolley tour and just doing the Travel Storys audio tour instead.
Here’s our Garden of the Gods highlight reel:
We also drove to nearby Manitou Springs to check out the Manitou Spring Penny Arcade. They had all sorts of old school games that didn’t cost hardly anything to play. You could get a $5 roll of quarters and be entertained for hours.
Hands down my most favorite part of this trip was our visit to the Convergence Station (aka Meow Wolf – Denver). I am officially obsessed and want to see all of the Meow Wolf exhibits all over the nation.
Brian and I also got to drive through the Glen Eyrie Castle property. You’re not allowed in the castle unless you have an appointment so these highlights are all we got.
The most underwhelming activity of this trip was the Ghost Town Museum, which I thought would be more like Old Cowtown Museum but sadly it wasn’t anywhere close. I joked to Brian that I can see why it’s a “Ghost Town.” LOL.
Anyway, this was a great anniversary trip. I’m glad we got to go.
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More Omaha Food
Posted on August 10, 2024 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
As we are getting ready for our trip to Colorado next week, I’m reminded that I still haven’t caught up on posting about our Omaha trip a couple of months ago.
Here are a couple of pics from Centi, a gelato shop in the Old Market District. Brian had the chocolate absolute flavor (obviously) and I had the taro flavor (purple one).
We also went to check out Lisa’s Radial Cafe. It is this diner that is kind of like a hole in the wall but had really rave reviews. It wasn’t in the best part of town but all the positive reviews outweighed Brian’s usual paranoia and we ended up going there for breakfast one morning.
The restaurant is popular with both locals and tourists alike and, having read all the fantastic reviews online, we were not surprised that there was a 30-45 minute wait when we arrived.
I think part of the appeal of the restaurant is that they offer your usual diner fare at very reasonable prices, which you don’t really find in some of the fancier areas of town like the Blackstone and Old Market districts. I think this was the cheapest meal we had during our entire trip.
And now for some food pics…
I feel like we ate a lot on this trip. Another restaurant we had the pleasure of trying was Twisted Fork Grill & Saloon.
Here are some more food pics…
Alright, that’s it for this installment. Come back next time for more on what’s going on in our lives. I’ll try to keep you all better updated going forward. Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!
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Jackson Street Tavern
Posted on August 2, 2024 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
The Jackson Street Tavern in the Old Market District of Omaha is one of several restaurants we got try while we were there for Brian’s birthday last month. The Old Market District is really neat. It reminds me of Wichita’s Old Town but bigger. And they have carriage rides there.
Brian and I walked around a bit after dinner and found ourselves at Fairmont Mercantile Hollywood Candy Treats & Amusements. It’s a cool, little retro candy shop with kind of a flea market vibe inside.
Not only did they sell retro candy there, but they also had all sorts of novelty items like these fun signs.
Brian and I had a ton of fun browsing the store and walking our dinner off. I highly recommend checking this place out if you’re ever in Omaha’s Old Market District.
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Breakfast at Early Bird
Posted on August 1, 2024 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
One of our favorite things to do whenever we travel out of town is to try new places to eat — places we don’t have at home. Early Bird in Omaha’s Blackstone District is one such place. It was recommended by our server at Blackstone Meatball the night before. It did not disappoint!
I am usually the more adventurous one of the two of us so I decided to get the El Gordo burrito as a bowl. It was amazing. I kind of wish there was somewhere here in Wichita I could get this. I would totally go back and get this again, in a heartbeat.
Brian got your classic bacon, eggs, and hash browns. That’s kind of his MO. He usually orders basics that you can pretty much get anywhere. His go to dinner at most places is chicken strips. LOL.
Anyways, the food was good and the service was friendly. It was a great start to our first full day in Omaha.
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Let’s Talk About Balls
Posted on July 23, 2024 by Ching under Travel.
There was a huge hailstorm on our first night in Omaha.
The hail was HUGE! Biggest I had ever seen.
The sound was so loud as it pounded the roof and side of the house. It totally freaked Saki out. She still has PTSD from that major thunderstorm in Rockwall when a tree branch broke the window in our bedroom in the middle of the night.
Balls were kind of the theme of the day. Earlier that night, before the storm rolled through, Brian and I had dinner at the Blackstone Meatball in the Blackstone district. It was a good thing we ate when we did because we finished dinner and got back to the Airbnb early enough that the hail hadn’t started yet.
It’s a neat little restaurant that specializes in — you guessed it — meatballs. Brian and I started with their meatball flight so we could sample the various types of meatballs they offer.
For my meal, I ended up getting spaghetti and meatballs with the pork meatball.
Brian got a meatball sub with a classic meatball with the spicy diablo sauce and waffle fries.
I think we must have been there during happy hour because I got a refreshing cucumber cocktail. It was yum!
Actually, the food was really good and were pleased with our choice for dinner. The only thing we didn’t like was the vegetarian meatball. It was cold and tasted gross.
Other than that, the rest of our meal was great and the service was great. We highly recommend checking out this place whenever you find yourself in the area. Until next time!
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