Back in Olympia, Washington
So I have spent three of the last four weeks on the road and visiting such exotic places as Cheney (Spokane), Washington; Orlando, Florida; Chicago, Illinois. Here’s a couple of things I have learned, and I am probably going to sound rather negative, but…:
- United Airlines on the whole is a lousy airline, to be avoided whenever possible. There boarding plan never seems to work, only making us late or irritated, or both. Their attendants remind me of jr. high school teachers who found out they don’t really like kids but aren’t motivated to change careers- condescending and tired and apparantly not authorized to give you more than one pack of pretzels until the whole class, I mean plane, has recieved one. All eight of my flights would have been deemed unpleasant ones if not for one standout flight attendant who offered me a free drink for trading seats to allow a family to sit together. It’s amazing how many one little thing can make a flight okay and how many little unpleasant ones can cause me to take my business elsewhere.
- Hotels, like wine get a whole lot better when moving from dirt cheap to decent but can be a gamble when spending a lot more and not doing your homework. No one would be surprised to find out that an average business hotel (like the Hilton Garden Inn in Spokane, for instance) would be a better experience than a cheap road-side motel. But what is surprising to me is how when taking the next step up that you are not gauranteed or even likely to get something better. Staying at the Airport Marriott in Orlando and the Hyatt Regency in Chicago and paying considerably more than the aforementioned Hilton was actually a step down. Both had an extra charge for wi-fi internet access that barely worked, slower than dial-up most of the time with continuous disconnects. The Marriott had a terrible concierge, not even willing to look up a local restaurant. They said they wouldn’t know how to find that information. I suggested they try the local phone book.
- Restaurant reviews are good things, especially from good publications. Taking a chance on a restaurant you just drove by doesn’t really work. Food and Wine Magazine recommended Hot Chocolate and Avec in Chicago and they did not dissappoint. The Orlando Sentinel recommended Le Coq Au Vin and it wasn’t bad. A local dining site recommended Mizuna in Spokane and it was decent. My spontaneous adventure in an Orlando sushi bar resulted in less-than-fresh sashimi served by a sushi “chef” who stated he wished a porn convention would come in to town and in to his restaurant. This is not the dinner conversation you are looking for from the person preparing your food, much less when eating raw fish. Do they not train their staff? At all!?
- When you are telling a cab driver in a city you have never been how to get somewhere, this is not a good sign.
To end on a happy note, it was wonderful to see three very different parts of the country. I was most excited to visit Chicago and it did not dissappoint, although the weather was difficult. Orlando was sunny, wonderful and vegas-like, which is not necessarily a good thing depending on your views of that Nevada city. I could have sat by the pools for months.
