La Posada de Santa Fe, NM

It's been a while, but hello.

We were looking for a place close ish by to take a semi short trip and had recently heard pretty cool things about Santa Fe from a few different people.  A short direct flight to Albuquerque (took me a while to master this spelling and I'm sure I will forget in time) from SF (after a 2-hour delay), an $80 4-day car rental from Hertz (half of this was taxes and fees, believe it or not), and we arrived at La Posada de Santa Fe.  We chose the hotel because of the Starwood affiliation, and it served us well.

During check in, we had requested for a suite upgrade, but unfortunately this was not available for the first evening.  The reception lady told us to stop by the next day and they would help us with this.  The regular room was nice, comfy bed, worked out just great for us.  Lingon learned to build a fire (even though there was a sign telling us not to build a fire) and that kept us nice and warm!  The one thing that was annoying is that there were no bedroom slippers, apparently they had been on back order for a while!

The grounds of the hotel were really pretty.  Some of the buildings were old adobe structures, and others were newly build but in the same style.  The lobby was inviting with a wonderful fireplace and they served complimentary coffee and hot chocolate in the morning.  The hotel was a few blocks from the main square, so we had a nice walk everyday when we went to town.

On our second day, we upgraded to a suite.  It had a living room and was very big, and we enjoyed the extra space though it was not really necessary.  The bathroom had double sinks though, which we appreciated!

What I really liked about the hotel (I must be turning into an old person!) is the activities they arrange.  While we were there, we attended an art talk, smores evening, and we would have done the Saturday morning yoga except we decided to go hiking early instead.  Yummmmmm smoressssss.

For our Starwood Platinum amenity, we chose the breakfast.  You can get a continental breakfast which is coffee, a pastry and fruit parfait, but coffee was free so we decided to go with the $30-off-your-bill option at Julia restaurant.  Over the days, we got to try the huevos rancheros, lox and bagels (it really was just one bagel), French toast and Skinny Minnie Beni (poached eggs with a bunch of vegetables).  All very good and we were very pleased.  Portions were large and we often had leftovers.  Service was wonderful too.

Also, there is free coffee, tea and Mayan hot chocolate available in the lobby in the morning, and we just got that every morning instead of buying coffee for Lingon at breakfast, saved a few bucks!

We had a most lovely stay here.  I would highly recommend the hotel.  Thumbs up!

Boston, MA

A perfect few days in May in Boston.  Food, history, exercise.

We stayed at the Liberty Hotel, which is part of the Starwood Luxury Collection.  The building used to be the old jail, and in the lobby they had photos of the extensive renovations and modifications they had undertaken when trying to change this building from a defunct jail to a modern luxurious hotel.  The lobby hotel was like an interior "courtyard" with hallways/balconies on the higher floors overlooking the central courtyard.  All along the hallways/balconies were doors to event and conference spaces and a bar.  Really cool use of space, kept the lobby very open, especially with the cupola up top letting light in.  The hotel had a couple of restaurants, with a jail theme, cool touch to remember what it used to be, but not at all creepy like what a jail would have been like.  Our room was nothing to cry home about, but we did get a really nice view of Boston from the hotel room.  We chose the free continental breakfast at one of the restaurants, Clink, as our Platinum amenity, which was very nice, and had a value of $25 attached to it.  Coffee/tea, juice, and a choice of two of fresh fruit, steel cut oats, dry cereal, 2 eggs, toast, yoghurt, bacon, sausage or a pastry.  I tried a number of the items, all fairly standard, but with healthy enough options, and they were pretty good.  I think I really like the texture of steel cut oats, but just seems like a pain to cook at home.

We had dinner at one of the hotel restaurants, Scampo, which apparently is very well known and highly regarded in Boston, as a number of people had said we had to eat there.  The bread came with some green dipping sauce (sorry, this was really so long ago that I don't remember much), and then we ordered calamari, foie gras, ravioli and maybe a halibut?  I remember thinking everything was kind of nice, but not particularly fantabulous.

One night we tried to go to Neptune's Oyster, but we were too late and they were not seating anymore people (run out of seafood I guess, sad face), so we went to Rabia's, just a few doors down, in the North End, which is Boston's oldest residential district.  We got the lobster roll and lobster risotto, which were both decent, considering probably all the drop outs from Neptune's Oyster go here.

The last dinner place we tried was o ya in Boston for sushi/Japanese.  Again, the food was not bad, but kind of expensive.  We were thinking of doing the omakase, but I decided it was too expensive, so we got a la carte instead.  The fish was all pretty good in quality and taste, but I thought the quantity was measly.  The menu was extensive, so we made some notes on our menu on what to order.

I have always loved walking around European towns, and parts of Boston certainly felt like that.  One day I decided to take the Freedom Trail, "a 2.5-mile, red-lined route that leads you to 16 historically significant sites — each one an authentic treasure".  A lot of the path is or looks like red brick, which is kind of cool, but I learnt that it may have been mostly just brick facade as opposed to a real brick slab.  I had done this before, but it's always fun doing history stuff in Boston.  I sort of started at Quincy Market because I have an affinity for markets and wanted to eat there.  Nothing particularly special or Bostonian called to me, so I decided to have some clam chowder - as Bostonian as I would get, I suppose.  Onto the trail, which you can read about here, I remember trying to get into the Paul Revere House, but they took cash only and I had $0 on me.  A few other tourists were turned away too.  Sad times.  They really should take credit card.  Think of the loss of customers!!  I also climbed the Bunker Hill Monument, lots of great views up there, and would have been better if not for the dirty glass or metal grates.  Loved the parks too - Boston Common, which is part of the trail, and Boston Public Garden, which isn't, but also very pretty.  Parks really add an element of beauty to a city.

Saw a funny truck on my walk around Boston.

And ice cream from JP Licks.

For anyone who loves history and old European looking towns, Boston is a great place for that.  Walking without a purpose, observing the old architecture, checking out cool shops, relaxing in the park.  Summer only, though.  ;-)  Enjoy your 9 months of cold, Boston, and I'll see you next when the weather is good!  xoxo

Los Angeles, CA

Well, it turns out I am at least 6 months delinquent in my posts.  I'm just going to combine 2 LA posts into one.

This LA trip was back in January.  I think I posted a bit from that trip, maybe restaurants, but here are a few random ones.

I can't remember where I first saw this place, I think someone I knew posted it on Facebook.  Bottega Louie.  Prettiest little cafe in crappy little downtown.  Big windows, lots of light, pretty pastries, and they had these Argo teas that we loved to get back in Chicago - green tea ginger twist, mmmm mmmmm.  I never ate anything here, since I stopped by during a run, but they also do sandwiches and stuff, great place to meet a friend if you have the afternoon off in downtown LA.

I ran past Grand Central Market, also in downtown.  This market was a mix of food stalls and artisan foods, very cool vibe, with a very old school feel.  Also did not get to eat there, but I just might the next time I am in the neighbourhood.

I feel like most people think downtown is pretty dumpy, and for the most part it is, but it has these little treasures here and there.  Maybe some day downtown LA will be cool.

Our second trip to LA happened in June.  On our way down, we stopped at an old place I used to go to, Yaki's in Burbank, which is famous for its bulldogs.  They are really quite disgusting.  Sausage wrapped in cheese and deep fried to a crisp.  The cheese is all melty and gooey, and they give you a side of teriyaki sauce to dip it in, and it's oh so heaven.  But after that you feel like you shouldn't eat for months.

This time we stayed at the SLS, which we have stayed in before.  We got a regular room, which was nothing special, but the problem is our room smelled like weed and cigarettes.  On day 2, even after they came in and had fans blowing in the room for hours, the weed and cigarette smell did not go away.  So, I called and complained, and we got upgraded to a room that was one tier below the presidential suite.  WOW!  The room was enormous, and had a large sitting area and a long dining table for... the 20 friends I was planning to host.  Haha.  It was great.  Quite honestly, not needed, but super cool being able to live in style.  ;-)

The first night we were there, we went to Night + Market.  This was the other Thai place on the Travel and Leisure list.  Things we got:
1)  Nam khao tod (crispy rice salad) - really really good, the sour and spicy blended really well
2)  Pork toro (grilled fatty pig neck) - also really yummy, with the spicy sauce giving it a nice kick
3)  Special pad thai - no idea what so special about it, it really was the worst dish by far
4)  Basil pork (I think) - good
5)  Ice cream sandwich with home-made coconut ice cream atop coconut rice in a sweet bun - reminded me of Asia and really nice cooling end to the meal
Lingon met some Thai folks who said this place was for tourists.  He got some "authentic" recommendations but I think at this point had drank too much to remember.  Oh well.  We had a good experience here, and I would come back for sure!

With Lingon's Starwood Platinum status, we get free continental breakfast.  The SLS provided a buffet at the lobby.  Everyone raves about the yoghurt, which is really good, but I'm not certain is like super duper special.  Goes back to the point that I'm not that discerning in food, but I would definitely eat it again and again!  Anyway, every morning, here is where we would eat.  Berries, pastries, meats, granola, I had to be careful not to eat too many of those raisin rolls.  I love having breakfast here.  One can be as healthy or unhealthy as one wants, and I think this time I was decently healthy (I did not eat all the pastries in these pictures!).

We had one dinner at Bazaar, the restaurant at the SLS.  I've been wanting to eat here for a while, since this is probably the third or fourth time we have stayed at this hotel.  We had been to an event before so we were not that hungry, and Lingon really just went along with me so I did not have to eat alone.  Honestly I had done poor research on this trip, so a few hours before I just did some Yelp reviews and ordered the popular items.  We got:
1)  Philly cheese steak sandwich - so this thing looked like a roll with some steak bits on top.  When you bite into it, cheese oozes out.
2)  Uni buns - now I love uni, and this was very very high quality uni.
3)  Olives - there were the innovative olives, which looked like real olives but were really gooey olives with a concentrate of olive tasting liquid inside, so once one bites into it the kind of burst in your mouth with an intense flavour.  Then there were the traditional olives.
4)  Foie gras cotton candy - foie gras on a stick with cotton candy around.
So, I feel like two of these 4 dishes, the Philly cheese steak sandwich and the olives, really reminded me of Tickets in Barcelona.  Exactly the same.  Which are genius, really.  I just feel like, they are copied.  And that's all I will say about it.  The food was great, and the restaurant has a very hip, cool vibe, and I would probably recommend it if someone asked me about it.

In other news, I learned about the Sprinkles Cupcake ATM machine.  Intrigued, I decided to take a run to the cupcake ATM to get a cupcake!  When I arrived, the damned machine was being reloaded and the screen said it would be 30 mins.  Since I ran all of 1 or 2 miles to get here, I decided to stay put.  I just HAD to have my cupcake from the machine!  So I waited.  And while I waited, other people showed up trying to buy cupcakes and I had to tell them they had to wait and I was in line.  30 mins passed, and nothing happened, so I went in to check and the folks in the store said the machine was being reloaded.  I was sad.  I kept waiting in the store.  Store lady feels sorry for me and gives me free cinnamon cupcake.  I was happy.  Thank you, Sprinkles!  Then the machine got working again, and I bought my cupcake, and my excursion was complete.  YUM!  Woohoo!

I also decided to go back to my old stomping ground, the Westside.  In the morning, I went for a run by Santa Monica/Brentwood/Malibu.  Did not really know exactly where.  It was cloudy but kind of muggy and not too cold, and I made it from wherever I parked with all the hot mums doing boot camp down to the beach.  I saw some really weird house with trailers in it, like a playhouse, and I thought it was so cool.  How does one get a trailer in the house, even if it was a small one?!

I had been meaning to try 800 Degrees Pizza, because so many people have recommended it to me.  The concept is simple, yet genius.  It's like a Chipotle pizza, where you build your own pizza.  I chose the white pizza with mozzarella and garlic and added sausage to it, and DAMN was it good.  I think it was less than $8 too.  Crazy.  At 800 degrees, the pizza is supposed to cook in about a minute.  They did not have normal chili pepper but some kind of chili sauce.  I highly recommend it.  They had a thousand toppings and the sky's the limit!

Then I went to Diddy Riese for the standard UCLA fare - ice cream sandwich!!  I used to get strawberry shortcake ice cream, but for some reason this was not available.  I got a white chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookie.  So, back when I was at UCLA, I used to get the ice cream in a cup, and the cookies separate, and the price was the same.  The guy making my sandwich said if I wanted to do that, it was 50 cents extra,  WTF?  So of course I just say gimme the sandwich and a cup, and then I scooped the ice cream from the cookie myself.  Lol.  Back then, which was a very long time ago, this thing cost $1.  I remember when they raised the price by a quarter.  This time, June 2015, it was $2.  Ohhh inflation haha.  It was still super yummy though.

I guess this kind of sums it for my 2 LA trips.  Man I love LA, but everytime I go back I feel like I want to kill all the mean testosterone-filled drivers there who refuse to let you change lane when you signal.  Seems like a certain Singapore.  And everyone looks so fake.  And traffic sucks.  OK maybe I don't love LA that much, but I do have huge nostalgic lovey dovey feelings when I think about it.

Las Vegas - Raku, High Roller (Ferris Wheel) and Tableau

Las Vegas is not really my kind of city.  I don't gamble, do drugs, drink or party.  Not really, anyway.  Plus, there is so much static that often times when I touch anything metallic like doors, I get electric shocked, which I truly truly hate.  (I do love the shows though.)  So, when Lingon asked me to go to Vegas with him on his business trip, I was initially hesitant, but I had been in the middle of something super busy and stressful, and I thought, why not.

So off we went.  We stayed at the Encore Hotel, which I was a little excited about because I had heard that it was nice.  And nice it was.  Until I started discovering little awful things around the room.  Like random pieces of hair in the bed covers and the bath tub, and the unemptied trash can.  I called room service in the hope of getting a complimentary night or an upgrade or something, but all they offered was a waiver of one night of resort fee.  Well, something is better than nothing, but I still felt rather disgruntled.  Oh well.  Guess that is what happens when you are not VIP or have any kind of status.

We had gone out for dinner one evening with some friends to Raku, which was an off-strip Japanese Yakitori place.  (Seems like a lot of these very good restaurants in Las Vegas are off-strip.  And in Chinatown or something.  Heh heh love the Chinese.)  What a feast we had!  Tofu, sashimi, uni in broth with soft boiled egg, yakitori, foie gras... OK, the only reason I'm remembering this is because it is in the pictures and you can see the pictures yourself.  But the food was really good.  The boys drank quite a bit too, and I want to say for 3 boys and a girl who were completely stuffed to the brim with really amazing quality food by the time we rolled out of the restaurant, the bill, which I think was less than $300, was seriously inexpensive.  GO HERE.  Take a taxi or whatever.  So good.  Make reservations.

After rolling out of Raku as complete fatsos, we went to Raku Sweets.  Same strip mall, same restaurant.  Fatsos.  Very good innovative dessert, made in front of us as we sat at the counter.  The menu was edible, probably just sugar, not particularly tasty, and that was the most disappointing dessert.  Other than that, everything was great.  I loved watching the dessert chef create the intricate dessert in front of our eyes, ever so meticulously, everything timed to a T.  Loved the glass lighted oven in which we could see what was going on.  We definitely ordered way too much, but it was fun.  Added a picture of the sink in the bathroom since LAGangsta really loved it - I thought the bathroom itself was cool and zen, but not particularly impressed.  Again, really good food, very cool vibe, GO!

After this shenanigans, off we went to the High Roller at the Linq, which may be the tallest ferris wheel in the world.  Expensive (I think almost $50), but I love ferris wheels and this just seemed like a good opportunity.  We got all-you-can-drink tickets, which the boys took advantage of, and I just laughed and took photos.  At the apex, we got a spectacular view of the amazing hotels and the Bellagio Fountain had was dancing.  The Linq entertainment and shopping area was pretty cool, with sprinkles, among other shops and restaurants.  I don't know how they did it, but the boys ordered more food after their drunken turn in the ferris wheel at Haute Doggery.  Yup, you guessed it, hot dogs.  Lingon ordered this one with foie gras.  I think I tried it but at this point was going to throw up and also super sleepy.  Well, good times, I must say.  That was the end of our night out.

I also met up with my friend Tutu at Tableau for breakfast, which was at the Wynn.  We got donut gifts.  I got the French toast and Tutu got the duck hash and eggs, and in true us fashion we split half and half.  It was just not bad but not special.

Lingon and I also had lunch at Tableau, which was also not bad but not special.  I remember the seafood being quite fresh, maybe a crab dish?

This was also the trip we went to Lotus of Siam, which I wrote about in a separate post.  Still figuring out how I want to organize my posts.  Or maybe they will just be what they are.  (Deep.)

I did not do much else in Vegas - took a short run and found a Kid Robot store.  I love all the weird things they have in that store.

Vegas really surprised me to the upside this time.  I think it could be fun with the right bunch, and my Lingon of course.  Definitely looking forward to going back!

W New York Times Square

We stayed at the W New York Times Square during our most recent visit to the Big Apple.  We got upgraded to a room overlooking the Hudson.  The room was supposedly the same size as a normal room (small), but the view was nice, and I appreciated not staring directly into someone else's room or office.

Since they were undergoing renovations, I have no idea where breakfast usually was for the Starwood Platinum amenity, but this time it was at the Blue Fin restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel.  The free breakfast was pretty generous.  I got the Power Drive juice, which was orange, carrot and ginger, and loved it.  One could also get a bakery basket, coffee or tea, cereal and yoghurt.  I got some cereal and yoghurt to go, but did not try the rest (trying to keep healthy!).  What seemed silly though was there was this section that said "feel like a little more", where you could "upgrade" your breakfast with some additions for $12.  Your choices were buttermilk pancakes (normally $15), breakfast sandwich ($14) or poached eggs ($16).  Well, thanks for the $2-4 discount.  I suppose something is better than nothing, but I just wanted to gripe about it.

The hotel overall was fine, Lingon tends to like W Hotels, I'm so so on it.  I did not like the area, literally right by Times Square, which was crazy busy.  I wouldn't stay here again if I could help it.  I would choose a quieter location, and probably a less happening hotel like a Westin or Sheraton with a less edgy interior.

Road Trip to Niagara Falls - Including Scranton, PA

My sister Mushu was born in Boston, and I feel like I often hear my parents' story about how they went to Niagara Falls and how beautiful it was.  They went again as a family when we were older, but I did not go on that trip.  I had wanted to go for a long time now, and finally decided to do it on this weekend when Lingon and I were in between NYC and Boston.  I did some research, and decided to book us a hotel on the Canada sight, where people unanimously agreed was much more beautiful.

On the way there, being a big fan of Pam and Jim and The Office, I decided that we had to take a stop in Scranton, PA, where Dunder Mifflin was set.  Using the Google, I found out that the place the office was located did not really exist, but the Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company that was in the little clip before the show was real, at 215 Vine Street.  As we exited the freeway and headed towards there, I noted that Scranton seemed rather unexciting, but probably was a nice quiet place to raise kids!  Like Pam and Jim!  We got to our destination, I took a picture, then off we went.  On the way back to the Freeway, I saw Mifflin Ave.

We continued our trip and took a detour to Ithaca.  I had wanted to go to hotel school at Cornell for about a year, but ultimately got rejected by the college anyway, and that made me sad.  I heard the campus was really pretty, and wanted to check it out for myself.  The campus seemed pretty dead, given that it was a Saturday around finals period.

Then off to Niagara Falls itself.  We stayed at Sheraton on the Falls, and I had requested for an upgrade from our basic room to the corner room with a view of the falls.  Of all the upgrade requests, this must have been one I wanted the most, and I was granted my wish!  Yippee!!  I cared not so much for the room, but more for the view of the falls, and boy was that a great view.  The town itself, in Ontario, Canada, seemed like an amusement park.  It even had a ferris wheel, which we rode later that night!

After parking the car, we had decided to go to this town called Niagara-on-the-Lake.  A friend had recommended the restaurant at Peller Estates Winery, and I actually had a reservation there, but at the decided to cancel it for something more spontaneous and casual.  In fact, we may have eaten at the touristy downtown instead had Lingon not decided we should check out this town.  On our way to Niagara-on-the-Lake, I decided we should check out the winery anyway, since there was a food cart festival, but lo and behold one needed tickets for this and tickets were sold out.  So we decided to go to the town instead.  The town was really really pretty, kind of reminded me of the town of Banff, just one main street, with really pretty buildings, trees, etc. all around.  We walked along the lake (where there were a lot of gross bugs), headed back to town, parked the car and took a walk up and down, looking for a place to eat.

I was insistent on eating at somewhere that would give me OpenTable points, and we tried to go to the top rated restaurant but were turned away as it was full.  We settled on Zee's Grill, which was also very highly rated and had availability.  Turned out to be a very fabulous meal.  We had a salmon salad amuse bouche, the bacon wrapped prawns for appetizer, and beef and lamb for our mains.  Yum.  I even did not mind the lamb - which is a good thing!  The mashed potatos were so good.  Yum.

The next day, because Lingon is a Starwood Platinum member, we got a free buffet breakfast which included an omelette bar.  I miss those from college, and had a giant omelette made for myself.  Normally, they would let you use the Sheraton Club Lounge, but probably since it was a holiday (Victoria Day), the hotel was at 98.9% occupancy (the staff told me), and the lounge was full, they had us eat at Fallsview Restaurant.  Had we not such an amazing view, I would have loved the view from there, right across from the falls.

Then, we took the Hornblower cruise tour, which took us close to the falls.  The falls are located both in the USA and Canada, and are made up of the American and Bridal Veil falls on the USA side, and the Horseshoe falls which is mostly on the Canada side.  The boat took us close by, and especially by the Horseshoe falls we got splashed on, and would have been drenched if not for the free ponchos provided to us by the cruise company.  According to Wikipedia, "the combined falls form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world, with a vertical drop of more than 165 feet (50 m). Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by vertical height and also by flow rate."  I decided we had to take a selfie, to prove we were there, just like Pam and Jim.  Yup, having my major I-love-The-Office moment.  Lol.

We travel so much outside the country, without realizing there are so many beautiful things right here where we live.  Hip hip hurrah for more USA travel and exploring this wonderful country.

Miami

After our Key West adventure, off we went to Miami.  We stayed at the St Regis Bal Harbor, which is something Lingon had wanted to do for a while.  The hotel was beautiful.  The rooms were large and well appointed, with an amazing view of the ocean.  This defines luxury.  We redeemed points, otherwise the rooms were out of our price range.

 We checked out the grounds which were beautiful.

 Then we went to dinner at Khong River House, which I posted about here.

As part of turn down service, we even got these chocolates which I heartily gobbled down, followed by eating the leftovers from Thai food.  Lol.

 The next morning we decided to run around Bal Harbor to get some exercise and to check the area out.  There was a shopping center with some really high end stuff.  Always nice seeing what crap is out there.  Then, we went to lunch at Chalan on the Beach, our favourite Peruvian place possibly ever, and got our must-eats, lomo saltado and ceviche.  The bread was amazing too, with their green special sauce.  MUST GO HERE!!

Then, bye bye Miami.

The Florida Keys and Key West

I feel terrible, because I have been gone so long.  Part of the reason is that I have such a huge backlog that posting seems really intimidating.  Lingon encouraged me to go on.  Part of me just wants to switch to Instagram.  We shall see...

So, this is from a trip way back in January to Key West.  We stayed there for a night.  We rented a car at the Miami airport and drove all the way through the Florida Keys.

On the way in, we decided to stop at the Conch House in Key Largo.  I must admit, I really wanted to go to Key Largo despite the Lonely Planet's paltry description of it, because of the Beach Boy's Kokomo.  The other part of the reason is it coincided with lunch time.  :-)  Conch is supposed to be one of those things one eats in this part of town, and this place was large enough to show up on Google maps, so here we went.  We ordered the conch fritters, conch ceviche, and tacos (maybe conch or some fish).  The restaurant had a certain charm to it (people do weddings there!) and the food was pretty good for randomly picking a place off Google maps!

Another random beach on the way in.  Forgot the name but it also was on Google maps.

The drive initially was rather amazing.  Warm air hitting the skin, miles of roads with the ocean on either sides of us.  Then.  It.  Got.  Really.  Boring.  Plus we hit traffic.  Anyhow, after some time, we arrived at our hotel, the Westin Key West, which was right by Duval Street, the main street of Key West.  So let me explain how we ended up booking this hotel, which cost us 20,000 Starwood points.  Initially I had booked us at the Sheraton which was in a much lesser location and cost 12,000 Starwood points.  However, we were on Curaçao for a wedding right before, and some new friends we made had recommended the Westin and said it was absolutely divine.  So I switched our reservation, against my better judgment.  I suppose the location was really great, but for 20,000 points, the hotel itself was rather awful.  The reception did not connect to the building that our rooms were in, and we had to wheel our luggage rather far in the open air to the hotel.  I did not mind that so much as I did the sad dark dated rooms.  For 20,000 points.  Don't get me wrong, I stay in lots of so-so hotels, and it's totally fine, but perhaps for 7,000 points or something.  It just seemed like a rip.  I would have paid 7,000 points willingly, maybe even 10,000 due to the location, but it just felt rather meh.  Anyhow, it is what it is.

We rested for a bit and then went to dinner at Firefly, a Southern restaurant that my college friend's friend managed/owned/ran.  As usual my eyes were wider than my stomach.  We got the bacon crab beignets, gumbo and blackened fish catch of the day, all of which were not bad.  They are, however, known for their fried chicken, but due to Lingon's supposed aversion to fried things, we passed, which was probably the biggest regret of that trip.  Then we got the key lime cake, which was not bad, but I always prefer pie since I have an affinity for crust.  Glad the restaurant was not that close to our hotel, since we were stuffed and we got to take a nice walk back.

Duval Street was rather happening.  I liked this one whimsical building that looked like a theater but I guess is now a pharmacy.  We also had to take a picture by the beginning of Highway 1 sign.  Here are a couple of day/night photos.

The next morning, for our dose of culture, we decide to go to the Hemingway house.  The tour was led by a guy who looked like Hemingway himself.  Having read a few Hemingway books, I found this tour to be a great enhancement to what little knowledge I had of him.  The man sure had lots of quirks!

Our final stop in Key West was the giant cookie shop on Duval Street.  Of course, Lingon opted for the oatmeal cookie.  Bad choice, since it was smaller than the other cookies.  I suppose the cookie master thinks that people who want an oatmeal cookie prefer it smaller since they are trying to be healthier anyway.  Pffft.  It was a pretty good cookie, and we somehow resisted eating the whole damned thing.

Goodbye Key West.  I will not be coming back anytime soon, but I sure did have fun!  One day in Key West seemed enough for us.  If I do come back, I want to check out the Truman Little White House, President Truman's winter home.