Travel Log

Orlando

Lisa and I flew to Orlando for the last part of our exhausting, whirlwind business trip. I was very out of it (see previous entry) the whole day but was still able to appreciate the beautiful community that we went out there to visit and photograph.

We were in the city only four hours before we had to fly back to California to get back in the office tomorrow.

New Orleans

I went.
I saw.
I was conquered.

No, not that way.

By the Pat O'Brien's Hurricane.

A most potent concotion that I completely underestimated.

Lisa, my co-worker, and I had been having quite a pleasant evening in the French Quarter up to that point. We successfully completed our work for the day and were ready to take in as much of the city as we could before heading out for a 7 am flight. Neither of us had been to New Orleans before so we consulted with the welcoming fella in the lobby of our hotel as to where to grab some good eats. He recommended a bunch of places for us to go during our short stay.

We started out at the no-frills Acme Oyster for dinner. Lisa tried the oysters while I bailed and went for the jambalaya and gumbo instead. Afterward, we strolled down Royal Street saving Bourbon Street for later to avoid being distracted. We made our way to the legendary Preservation Hall, where we squeezed through the crowded, dingy room to sit down on the cushions in the front row and listen to some ear-tickling dixieland jazz.

Our next stop was Pat O'Brien's to try the now-regretted Hurricanes. We took them to go and sipped as we walked up Bourbon Street. The souvenir shops got generic real quick: beads, masks, sexual-innuendo t-shirts, repeat. We got to the end of the lively street and decided to head back to our rooms since we had such an early departure.

I opted for a hot shower, not knowing it is highly discouraged after drinking. Not long after I began to feel like my stomach was going to explode. I curled up on the bed and wanted to make myself throw up for the first time in my life. Anything would be better than what I was feeling. When I failed miserably to do it, instead my body decided to break into cold sweats. With my shirt thoroughly drenched, I tried standing up in the bathroom but could barely take the few steps necessary to get back to my bed. Somehow I stumbled outside to the vending machine to try and buy some bottled water. The machine didn't accept my dollar bills so after filling my ice box with ice I made it back to my room. I put the ice box next to my pillow and chewed on a few pieces. Still didn't feel better so I scrummaged through my bags til I found a dollar in change and re-stumbled to the vending machines. Got back in bed after drinking a few sips of water. Not long after my Hurricane re-appeared in the ice box next to my pillow as I regurgitated 3/4 of it.

I will spare the rest of the details and say only that the rest of the night involved shivers, sweat, and the re-appearance of my jambalaya and gumbo as well.

Mello in Menlo (day 3)

Shopped for toiletries in downtown Palo Alto and drooled over purty gadgets at the Apple store.

Met Lisa for lunch at Cafe Borrone. One of her old Stanford haunts. And another of my have-to destinations when I'm in Menlo Park.

Hung out for an hour or two in Redwood City.

Drove up to S.F. and spent a small fortune buying fuzzy, shiny, purty yarn at Imagiknit in Noe Valley.

Drove back to Menlo Park, took some photographs of Sean, Kitty & Kevin and had a lovely, home-cooked, low-key dinner with them.

More photos

Mello in Menlo (day 2)

Kitty and I went to Kepler's and I bought a book based solely on its cover. Heh. We walked over to Trader Joes and bought some chocolates then went back to the house to pick up Kevin and Sean for lunch. We went to a spanking-new, 1-day old Crepe restaurant across from the train station called something generic like Crepe Cafe. It was such a find. The staff greeted us with their authentic French accents and served us a memorably delectable meal. The crepes were the best I've had. Very light and perfectly portioned in an oh-so-pretty-that-I-wished-I'd-brought-my-camera kind of way. The food was so good that we decided we had to try the dessert crepes as well. They gave Kitty a free mousse because they weren't even sure if it was set yet. She and I also shared a banana-nutella crepe. Yum!

Spent the rest of the afternoon reading my new book at the park and later at Cafe Borrone with my Mexican Mocha. Afterward, I drove up to Union Square to pick up Christina. We drove back down to Menlo Park in time for Kitty and Kevin to make the 7 pm screening of "Girl with a Pearl Earring." While they were gone, Christina and I ordered a pizza, baby-sat little Sean and watched the Golden Globes. When the awards were over, I drove her back to her apartment in Oakland and returned to Menlo Park afterward. Why all the driving? BecauseI went to S.F. this weekend primarily to visit Christina who's heading out to South Africa for an 10-month fellowship and because she'd just totaled her car and had no way of getting around. I didn't mind at all. It's always fun for me to see if I can navigate the Bay Area without a map even though I've never lived there.

Mello in Menlo (day 1)

Flew up to San Francisco Saturday on a great last-minute $89 Roundtrip flight. Typical of me, I went straight for one of the places I really enjoyed on my last trip: this time, Fritz Fries in Hayes Valley. I stopped first and bought a fun g-r-e-e-n bag at Flight 001. After enjoying a crepe and some of Fritz's tasty fries, I headed over to the Urban Knitting Studio. On my walk over, I called Lisa to find out the plan with Christina for the night. I mentioned where I currently was and she told me she was in the same 'hood looking for parking before her yoga class at Yoga Tree.

We hung out briefly before her class and I went over to Noe Valley for more window shopping. We met up again a couple hours later in the Castro and Christina met up with us for dinner at Baghdad Cafe. Hooray for the magical Elixir hot tea that I drank. Afterward, we went to Books Inc, and Christina recommended a page-turner called "God-Shaped Hole," so I bought it. At the end of the night, I drove down to Menlo Park to Kitty and Kevin's house, where I stayed the rest of the weekend.