Concord, North Carolina - A Howl of Dismay

When I told people I was meeting Gary at the Great Wolf Lodge, the people who don't have kids looked puzzled; the people who do have kids and had been to the one outside Seattle looked horrified. Why?? was the prevailing question. Because the Army says so, was the only response. Gary has annual training here in Concord and the Great Wolf is where everyone is being put up, which is odd on many levels, the least of which is that this is not necessarily an event that families can participate in given that the reservists have come from all over the southeast, and some folks are quite far from home. I flew in two days ago figuring I could work in the room while Gary has his training, and of course, not knowing any better (and dismissing the stricken looks on the faces of my friends), I figured I'd have some fun on the water slides, because, why not? Well, because... picture if Chuck E. Cheese built a hotel. It's a water park, but it's an indoor water park - no fresh air and little natural light, just a dank, humidity-filled cavern with kids in swim-diapers. The water is about 2 feet deep in the wave pool, and about 6 inches deep in the kiddie pool. Those are my guesses anyway, since there's nothing that could actually get me down into the water park area, but there are windows looking through from the lobby. Our room is perfectly nice but the hotel lobby and public areas have all the ambiance of an arcade. Am I sorry I came? Of course not. I can't think of any place I wouldn't go just to see and be someplace new.

This is playing on a continuous loop on a big screen on our floor; the only possible reason I can think of for this is to make the guests feel like they're on an acid trip. 

If you look hard enough, you can find a great meal anywhere, even in the Southeast, land of chain restaurants and processed food. Last night, we found the Soul Gastrolounge in Charlotte where the Southern fried chicken wings were divinely crunchy and the Korean BBQ wings had a sweet kick of chili. The wings and an avocado salad made a great dinner, followed by tiny pastries filled with huckleberries and goat cheese with a scoop of lemon-vanilla ice cream for dessert. The neighborhood, on the edge of downtown Charlotte and filled with trendy restaurants, wine bars, and a few boutiques and antique shops, prove that hipsters exist in all parts of the country.

from the Soul Gastrolounge website; get there early or be prepared for a LONG wait..

The unappealing water park and the hotel's fever-dream decor aside, the main reason I'm here is that there is a dinner tonight to close the Army reservists' training exercises, and I have a date with a Lt. Colonel.

Something Fishy in the State of Georgia

I hadn't been to Atlanta for years. When I worked at Midori Ribbon, I used to make the trip twice a year for tradeshows, and always had a lot of fun with Peter and Shelagh, my Midori compatriots and tradeshow buddies. It was always really cold though (February) or just downright unbearable (second show was in July), so going there in March was a pleasant change. We had a free night at the Hyatt due to a seriously unfortunate incident at the Hyatt in Vancouver (don't ask) and made the two hour drive from Birmingham to Atlanta last Saturday with a plan to spend Sunday at the Georgia Aquarium. It's one of the biggest in the world and the plan was to get there when it opened to avoid the crowds. What we didn't plan on was forgetting that March 8th was the first day of Daylight Saving Time, and not getting up particularly early anyway. By the time we got to the aquarium, it had been open for a couple of hours, and while it was crowded, it's so large and the design is such that the masses don't really impede one's enjoyment. There aren't a ton of tanks but the ones they have are mostly enormous and they comprise four main galleries; there is also a dolphin show (which is truly awful), and various theaters, add-on experiences, and tours. We just visited the galleries and saw the dolphin show (which I can now not un-see), and had a great time.  

scary albino alligator

lobby of the Hyatt

Vancouver, B.C.

It was a weekend for puffy coats and elastic waist pants in Vancouver last weekend, as Gary and I ate our way through town while trying to stay warm. We drove north on Friday and with no real agenda other than visiting Stanley Park, walking across the Capilano Bridge (which I had a vague memory of doing when I was about ten years old), and having a few good meals. Every time I go to Vancouver I'm amazed by its big-city feel; I expect Seattle to seem small by comparison when I visit New York, but it seems stunningly tiny just a few hours to the north as well.

Lions Gate Bridge

Another American visitor?

menu at Japadog

tonkatsu with cabbage slaw, hot dog with seaweed - awesome! 

breakfast at Medina 

Whidbey Island

I am not naturally drawn to charming, rustic, old-fashioned inns; I'm more of a lux-contemporary/boutique hotel kinda person, but when I saw the screamin' deal for the Captain Whidbey Inn on Whidbey Island, it seemed like a great way to spend the beginning of the new year.

We drove north on Friday and crossed Deception Pass on what was unfortunately a misty, gray day, but poor weather is part of the
charm of a wintery Northwest getaway. When we turned off Highway 20 to get to the inn, I was expecting to see a gingerbready house and maybe a garden; what we found was a spectacular log cabin built in 1907 perched on the edge of Penn Cove. Our room was in the main building but there were also small cabins and a building facing a lagoon on the property where other accommodations were located. Our room was small but had a lovely view of the water, and it was cozy and comfortable. We'd had a big, late lunch in Oak Harbor on the way over so we hunkered down for the afternoon and evening in our room, reading and relaxing and watching shows on the iPad, since in-room TVs of course do not come with such rusticness.

did we order the "large" or the "trough"?

On Saturday we went looking for the Mukilteo Coffee Roasters which we had seen during a random internet search of the area, and were rewarded by an exceedingly lively, warm, artsy cafe packed full of locals and serving exceptionally good coffee and good food. This place was in the middle of nowhere. We turned off the highway and went down a lovely wooded road then turned into a small industrial park where the actual roasting operation is located, with the cafe next to it. We ended up staying for about two hours (it took that long to finish the gi-normous mocha we ordered), getting some work done (G) and catching up on some reading (me).

After that, we went into Coupeville, a quiet (off-season, anyway) minuscule town with a few shops and small restaurants before heading back to the inn for a nap. My only goal for the weekend was to catch up on my reading and napping, and due to the chilly and misty weather and the fact that Gary and I were both getting over colds and didn't really want to exert ourselves too much - mission accomplished.

road to Mukilteo Coffee Roasters

Inside the charming cafe

some art work in the kitchen

Thanks-iversary

Who knew?

Who knew that when I posted this last Thanksgiving weekend that the random guy I met on the trail that day would be back in Sedona with me a year later and we'd be celebrating what we've dubbed our "Thanks-iversary."

Gary and I arrived in Phoenix on Thursday and had a leisurely afternoon before heading to the Sanctuary Resort for our Thanksgiving dinner. The menu options online for their four course meal looked wonderful and we had pretty much picked out all the dishes we were going to have before we got there (Arctic char will beat turkey any day). We had a bizarre service snafu (drinks didn't arrive until our second course, and when the waiter asked if we were ready for dessert, I replied, "well, we haven't received our entrees yet, so no...") which frankly didn't bother either of us much but resulted in the manager coming over to apologize and one of our dinners being comped, so yay for that! The temperature was in the balmy 70s and we couldn't have been more delighted to be eating dinner outside on the terrace, overlooking the pool. There's a reason people winter in Arizona.

On Friday we took the tour of Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home, studio, and school of architecture which he founded in 1937. Great way to spend a fantastically sunny day in Scottsdale.

Spent Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in Sedona. We had a lovely dinner at Elote which Gary didn't get to on his own last year, went to the Church of the Holy Cross which Christina and I didn't make it to last year, hiked, relaxed, and saw the sun rise from a hot air balloon.

Taliesin West - Scottsdale

Theater space - FLW loved to use canvas as roofing material; it leaked mercilessly but allowed in lovely natural light.

The octagonal cabaret space

Church of the Holy Cross

Bell Rock Hike

Back to Boynton Canyon

 

Airport Scenic Viewpoint

Hot Air Balloon

OF COURSE we saw a deer...