I was stopped today and after speaking, very pointedly told I was not from here. I must be from...Chicago. Which I verified was correct. But do I really have that much of an accent?
Restaurant recommendation: The Pit in Raleigh, NC . Very good barbeque (similar to KC bbq I'd say, although the chefs from the different states would disagree I'm sure), moderately priced, selection of micro-brews, and large portions of food.
Cheap beer recommendation: Old Bar in Raleigh by NC State. You can get a 32 oz logo plastic cup then get dollar refills (or free on certain days I guess).
Crabtree Mall: Very spread out mall with plenty of restaurants to choose from, but not the greatest assortment of stores. At least not for a 23 year old girl looking for cheaper clothes.
Our two week trip in North Carolina is coming to a close. It's been very hot, muggy, and a thunderstorm almost every afternoon. Time for a new round of scheduling next week! A lot of Illinois. Excitement in the next few weeks is South Dakota...it really can't be worse than North Dakota...can it?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Wrightsville Beach/ Raleigh, NC
After our hotel problems, the time Wrightsville Beach was a nice change of pace. Weather was hot and sunny, ocean was warm, waves were big, and the beach was huge. I wish I brought a bigger beach towel with, but my $5 one bought from Walmart was sufficient for laying on with a book. Some things to note if you plan on visiting this beach:
-Parking sucks. We looked for parking for at least 45 minutes before giving up and parking far away. When we got back to the car later on, even the far church lot was completely full and people made up spots. Everything on the island is pay-for parking, and by 11:30am, there was no parking to be found anywhere within a mile of the beach. So, either get there early, pay the $20 on some guy's lawn when you see it available, or be ready to walk.
-There are people everywhere! The beach has to be a few miles long, but it was quite crowded. Towels, beach umbrellas, and chairs every few feet.
-There were no showers or bathrooms readily available for the public.
I also made the mistake of buying spray on sunscreen. This was a mistake, because once I applied it everywhere, I layed on my towel and it must have come off in some places. I even put it on twice. The front of me is fine, got just a little color which is tan, not red. But my back and shoulders look diseased. It's super red in big random splotches. Sigh. I'll have the worst tan in the world.
Another fun fact for this weekend, 4 hotels in two days from Friday to Saturday: Wyndham, America's Best Value Inn, Baymont Inn, and Holiday Inn.
The Holiday Inn in Raleigh by the Crabtree Mall is very nice. Big rooms, really comfy bed, a couch, free internet, good fitness center, outdoor pool, saunas, business center, and a restaurant/room service. I haven't gone wrong with a Holiday Inn yet.
-Parking sucks. We looked for parking for at least 45 minutes before giving up and parking far away. When we got back to the car later on, even the far church lot was completely full and people made up spots. Everything on the island is pay-for parking, and by 11:30am, there was no parking to be found anywhere within a mile of the beach. So, either get there early, pay the $20 on some guy's lawn when you see it available, or be ready to walk.
-There are people everywhere! The beach has to be a few miles long, but it was quite crowded. Towels, beach umbrellas, and chairs every few feet.
-There were no showers or bathrooms readily available for the public.
I also made the mistake of buying spray on sunscreen. This was a mistake, because once I applied it everywhere, I layed on my towel and it must have come off in some places. I even put it on twice. The front of me is fine, got just a little color which is tan, not red. But my back and shoulders look diseased. It's super red in big random splotches. Sigh. I'll have the worst tan in the world.
Another fun fact for this weekend, 4 hotels in two days from Friday to Saturday: Wyndham, America's Best Value Inn, Baymont Inn, and Holiday Inn.
The Holiday Inn in Raleigh by the Crabtree Mall is very nice. Big rooms, really comfy bed, a couch, free internet, good fitness center, outdoor pool, saunas, business center, and a restaurant/room service. I haven't gone wrong with a Holiday Inn yet.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Travel woes
Travel is not always easy. Flights are delayed, traffic keeps you on the expressway for hours longer than expected, bad weather pops up, a destination may not be in the GPS, hotels are not in your price range, etc.
I usually rave about how wonderful Priceline is, after trying to book a hotel for a night near the coast for a quick overnight trip to the beach, I had problems. Request after request was being denied. No hotels were in our price range off of a hotels.com, Yahoo travel, or site like Expedia. I tried a bunch. All I wanted was a cheap hotel for one night somewhat near the beach. So, after trying all of my usual methods, I ended up trying a 1 star request on Priceline. Big mistake. We were booked at the America's Best Value Inn in Wilmington, NC. Before going, we looked up reviews, and they were terrible. Reports of rude staff, dirty rooms, bugs, shady characters in the parking lot, and so on. We decided to check it out since with Priceline you can't cancel a reservation and it's almost impossible to get your money back. After tenatively peering inside the rooms, unpleasant smells, dirty/very worn out rooms, dirty beds/sheets/pillows, and the topper of them all, two HUGE dead roaches in the bathroom.
We checked out again very quickly, did another Priceline request, and got a 2 star hotel at a Baymont Inn. While there was a dirty napkin on my bed, several hairs on the sheets that suggested they were not cleaned, and a very bad smell in Luke's room, we had to settle there. It definitely is a step up, but yuck. Come on Priceline/motels! Get with it! Clean rooms should be the bare minimum requirement.
I, of course, called Priceline and told them of this experience, and even though the lady sounded nice and sympathetic, said she would forward on my story and get a resolution to me in 5 business days. Who knows what this resolution may be. Probably not my money back and the image of those massive bugs out of my head like I would prefer. I will keep you updated on my resolution, and thankfully this was only for one night. It just sucks that this is our one day off this weekend and was supposed to be a nice, fun beach trip. Hopefully when we actually go to Wrightsville Beach tomorrow, it will be worth it. I am looking forward to reading in the sand and looking at the ocean.
Working at NC State in Raleigh next week.
I usually rave about how wonderful Priceline is, after trying to book a hotel for a night near the coast for a quick overnight trip to the beach, I had problems. Request after request was being denied. No hotels were in our price range off of a hotels.com, Yahoo travel, or site like Expedia. I tried a bunch. All I wanted was a cheap hotel for one night somewhat near the beach. So, after trying all of my usual methods, I ended up trying a 1 star request on Priceline. Big mistake. We were booked at the America's Best Value Inn in Wilmington, NC. Before going, we looked up reviews, and they were terrible. Reports of rude staff, dirty rooms, bugs, shady characters in the parking lot, and so on. We decided to check it out since with Priceline you can't cancel a reservation and it's almost impossible to get your money back. After tenatively peering inside the rooms, unpleasant smells, dirty/very worn out rooms, dirty beds/sheets/pillows, and the topper of them all, two HUGE dead roaches in the bathroom.
We checked out again very quickly, did another Priceline request, and got a 2 star hotel at a Baymont Inn. While there was a dirty napkin on my bed, several hairs on the sheets that suggested they were not cleaned, and a very bad smell in Luke's room, we had to settle there. It definitely is a step up, but yuck. Come on Priceline/motels! Get with it! Clean rooms should be the bare minimum requirement.
I, of course, called Priceline and told them of this experience, and even though the lady sounded nice and sympathetic, said she would forward on my story and get a resolution to me in 5 business days. Who knows what this resolution may be. Probably not my money back and the image of those massive bugs out of my head like I would prefer. I will keep you updated on my resolution, and thankfully this was only for one night. It just sucks that this is our one day off this weekend and was supposed to be a nice, fun beach trip. Hopefully when we actually go to Wrightsville Beach tomorrow, it will be worth it. I am looking forward to reading in the sand and looking at the ocean.
Working at NC State in Raleigh next week.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Maryland Heights, MO and Durham, NC
Sorry it's been awhile, but nothing exciting has been going on at all. Maryland Heights was alright, saw Harry Potter, but that was about all the excitement for the week. We stayed at a Ramada which was ok, free internet and breakfast, business center with printer that didn't work, decent exercise room. Customer service at the front desk was definitely lacking.
This is the beginning of a two week North Carolina trip in Raleigh/Durham. (Durham first). At a Wyndham, which is very nice. Have to pay for breakfast, but doesn't matter to me since I don't eat breakfast anyway. Comfy bed, restaurant on site, manager reception tomorrow (free stuff?), free internet, flat screen tv, exercise room, pool, business center, and best of all, super close to the store. No big North Carolina plans yet, but the two week trip is young. Hopefully the awful rains we had today will go away and beautiful weather will ensue.
This is the beginning of a two week North Carolina trip in Raleigh/Durham. (Durham first). At a Wyndham, which is very nice. Have to pay for breakfast, but doesn't matter to me since I don't eat breakfast anyway. Comfy bed, restaurant on site, manager reception tomorrow (free stuff?), free internet, flat screen tv, exercise room, pool, business center, and best of all, super close to the store. No big North Carolina plans yet, but the two week trip is young. Hopefully the awful rains we had today will go away and beautiful weather will ensue.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Council Bluffs, Iowa
This week I am working in Council Bluffs, Iowa, which is right next to Omaha, Nebraska (Nebraska is a new state for me and we flew into Omaha, so it counts).
We are staying at the Western Inn. Now, I was pretty afraid of the Western Inn before we got here and the first night, but now, I think it's a pretty good find. Priceline sadly failed us this week, so I had to start calling hotels/motels near the store and hope they would give us a good rate. Really, the only reason I was afraid (not really frightened, more apprehensive) was that the motel's full name is the Western Inn Motorlodge which is right next to the expressway and looks a bit shady from the outside. Also, there are no key card swipey locks which is pretty standard in all hotels, but a regular old key, and there is a ladder that is right outside my window (2nd floor). Also there is no chain from the inside. Sooooo...overall anyone can get into my room at anytime with a little prodding. However, I have gotten over these fears and think the rooms are clean, have free internet, free breakfast, free small dinners (hot dogs most days, chicken on Wednesdays), free orange juice or lemonade 24 hours a day, warm cookies at the front desk, a pool, and a book shelf that you can borrow or leave books at for others to read. They gave us a very affordable corporate rate and I've enjoyed it so far. I just keep things in front of the door just in case.
We went to downtown Omaha on Monday night to meet up with Kelsi and Joe M. We ate at the Upstream Brewery which had some good micro-brews and good food. Sitting and eating outside in the Market district I think it was called? was nice. Very cute brick streets, horse-drawn carriage rides, and reminded me a lot of St. Louis.
Council Bluffs has some history from the 1840's Lewis and Clark time which is pretty cool. Several monuments, museums, and old buildings still remain. A lot has to do with this being on the border to the west, and at some point it would be interesting to look up that history. I know there are a lot of railroad history, Wyatt Earp is buried here, this was part of a Mormon train, and Lewis and Clark came by. The store is next to the Kanesville Tabernacle which is the original building from 1847 http://www.lds.org/placestovisit/location/0,10634,1809-1-1-1,00.html, and the Squirrel Cage Jail http://www.thehistoricalsociety.org/Jail.htm is the original as well.
Non-historical fun, we went to the Horseshoe Casino tonight. For once, I actually came out even. I would have been ahead $30 after some good roulette playing, but I put my winnings to bet at craps and lost any winnings quickly. If we were better prepared, we would have gone earlier, sat at a slot machine for half an hour, got a free meal, and called it a day.
Back home Friday night!
We are staying at the Western Inn. Now, I was pretty afraid of the Western Inn before we got here and the first night, but now, I think it's a pretty good find. Priceline sadly failed us this week, so I had to start calling hotels/motels near the store and hope they would give us a good rate. Really, the only reason I was afraid (not really frightened, more apprehensive) was that the motel's full name is the Western Inn Motorlodge which is right next to the expressway and looks a bit shady from the outside. Also, there are no key card swipey locks which is pretty standard in all hotels, but a regular old key, and there is a ladder that is right outside my window (2nd floor). Also there is no chain from the inside. Sooooo...overall anyone can get into my room at anytime with a little prodding. However, I have gotten over these fears and think the rooms are clean, have free internet, free breakfast, free small dinners (hot dogs most days, chicken on Wednesdays), free orange juice or lemonade 24 hours a day, warm cookies at the front desk, a pool, and a book shelf that you can borrow or leave books at for others to read. They gave us a very affordable corporate rate and I've enjoyed it so far. I just keep things in front of the door just in case.
We went to downtown Omaha on Monday night to meet up with Kelsi and Joe M. We ate at the Upstream Brewery which had some good micro-brews and good food. Sitting and eating outside in the Market district I think it was called? was nice. Very cute brick streets, horse-drawn carriage rides, and reminded me a lot of St. Louis.
Council Bluffs has some history from the 1840's Lewis and Clark time which is pretty cool. Several monuments, museums, and old buildings still remain. A lot has to do with this being on the border to the west, and at some point it would be interesting to look up that history. I know there are a lot of railroad history, Wyatt Earp is buried here, this was part of a Mormon train, and Lewis and Clark came by. The store is next to the Kanesville Tabernacle which is the original building from 1847 http://www.lds.org/placestovisit/location/0,10634,1809-1-1-1,00.html, and the Squirrel Cage Jail http://www.thehistoricalsociety.org/Jail.htm is the original as well.
Non-historical fun, we went to the Horseshoe Casino tonight. For once, I actually came out even. I would have been ahead $30 after some good roulette playing, but I put my winnings to bet at craps and lost any winnings quickly. If we were better prepared, we would have gone earlier, sat at a slot machine for half an hour, got a free meal, and called it a day.
Back home Friday night!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Sweet Home Chicago
This past week and a half has been a blur of leaving sweltering hot Memphis (I did take a quick stop at Graceland to get a shot glass, but the house itself was closed. Seedy part of town, tourists were in full force), packing up life in Champaign, and unpacking life on the north side of Chicago. After five years of living in Champaign, it has come time to move on. I'll miss Champaign for the fun college times, the great friends made there, the job it gave me after college, and the joy of living in the middle of corn fields, but time for bigger and better things. Goodbye Champaign, it's been a blast.
Which leads me to my sweet new apartment in Lakeview! We (Amy and I moved together) are just about fully unpacked, posters hung, and getting used to the new area. We're pretty close to Wrigley Field and the lake which is really awesome. Already hit up Murphy's bar (we found it fitting the first bar we go out to around here was a Murphy's) and Uncle Fatty's which featured live kareoke 80's music night. We'll be doing all the fun 3rd and 4th of July festivities the next two days with a bunch of our friends coming into town, which I am very excited about. Having this week off has been awesome to get used to the new place, and it'll be sad to fly off to Omaha on Sunday and go back to barely being around. Although, I really have nothing to do during the days to occupy my time, so being busy will stop me from eating so much cheese dip and watching Friends :-).
Special thanks to all those who helped us move. You all are wonderful.
Which leads me to my sweet new apartment in Lakeview! We (Amy and I moved together) are just about fully unpacked, posters hung, and getting used to the new area. We're pretty close to Wrigley Field and the lake which is really awesome. Already hit up Murphy's bar (we found it fitting the first bar we go out to around here was a Murphy's) and Uncle Fatty's which featured live kareoke 80's music night. We'll be doing all the fun 3rd and 4th of July festivities the next two days with a bunch of our friends coming into town, which I am very excited about. Having this week off has been awesome to get used to the new place, and it'll be sad to fly off to Omaha on Sunday and go back to barely being around. Although, I really have nothing to do during the days to occupy my time, so being busy will stop me from eating so much cheese dip and watching Friends :-).
Special thanks to all those who helped us move. You all are wonderful.
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