Assuming you only have time for meals since its a work trip, go to the North End for Italian food or Yankee Lobster Co for seafood. Skip Quincy Market; its a waste of time.
If you get a chance to get to the waterfront, go see the USS Constitution. There is so much history in that city, but "Old Ironsides" has been recently restored and it is a visit I still remember 47 years later.
I'm heading up to the Vancouver area for a week at the end of August with my wife and kid (he'll be 12 months old by then) meeting up with my brother, his wife and their kid (who will be 7 months old) who live in White Rock, BC. Despite have been to the Vancouver area many times before, I am new at the vacation parenting game and as a result I'm not exactly sure what kind of activities would be fun to do with small kids. We've discussed eating dim sum in Richmond, and I'm guessing we'll take a day to stroll around in downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park. Taking a ferry to Vancouver Island is an option, but have done that a bunch before and wouldn't mind checking out a different island - Salt Spring or Galiano perhaps?
I got married on Denman Island. Not really much to do around there if you ask me. Personally, I’d look at driving up to Campbell River, and maybe stay a night at April Point Lodge. Fun little water taxi, nice restaurant, pretty inexpensive. It has been a few years since I’ve been there, but might be worth checking out.
Not just kids... I picked up a lifetime membership when I was living in Vancouver. I was self-employed, working from home, and it was quite cathartic to go spend an hour or two hanging out with the sloths during the week.
I see the Vancouver Aquarium is free for kids 3 and under also, which is great. How about Lynn Canyon Park - worth a visit?
It's a very cool nature walk that you can't believe exists within the city. Every year emergency crews pull cliff jumpers out of the pools, which is always fun to watch. (They go out of their way to jump into the water, it's not like it's an easy thing to do). There's also the suspension bridge, if you're into that kind of thing (but last I checked, it was a bit expensive). https://www.capbridge.com/ For a really nice summer day thing, I'd recommend going to Jericho Sailing Centre... they have a rooftop restaurant that has an amazing view of English Bay, and is a great way to spend a couple of hours on a sunny day. It's also a nice walk along the beach. I used to race a 20' Hobiecat out of there... lots of fun times. https://jsca.bc.ca/ --> the sailing club https://thegalley.ca/ --> the restaurant
I’m going to Pittsburgh next. weekend for a concert. Any decent bar districts or breweries to check out?
I like Penn Brewery beers, but I've never been to their location on the North Side. Staying in the Allegheny neighborhood, there's Allegheny City Brewing and Southern Tier Brewing which are near Heinz Field, PNC Park and the casino so there's a number of other bars and restaurants in the surrounding area. I can't vouch for Southern Tier, but I like Allegheny's beers. The Church Brew Works in the Lawrenceville neighborhood as is the Arsenal Cider House which if you're into ciders is well worth a stop. In the neighboring Strip District there's Wigle Whiskey--named for one of the starters of the Whiskey Rebellion. The Strip District is also a bar district. I prefer it to the South Side which is the largest bar district in the city however, it can be a shit show due to the number of bars, narrow streets and not much parking. The only reason to go to Station Square is so you can take either the Monongahela or Duquesne inclines up to Mt. Washington to take in the view of the city. The Duquesne has the better view of the city at the top. Regardless of where you go, you'll find Iron City or IC Light just about everywhere. It's the defacto local beer. It's the local version of "Coors/Miller/Bud."
Anyone have recommendations for Amelia Island in Florida? Going to be there the 1st week of September.
As far as food and drinks, Crab Trap, Salty Pelican and there is a nice brew pub there, Amelia’s Tavern I think? It’s a cool little beach town.
A friend of mine and I are headed to the great white north for a Dec. 3rd showing of Letterkenny Live. For those of you who live north of the boarder(I'm looking at you Nett and Crown), do you guys know of a nice hotel in the Brantford area? The show is at the Sanderson Centre if that helps for a frame of reference.
Sorry... can't really help you, as I'm not at all familiar with that area. I am, however, absolutely amazed that you not only know about Letterkenny, but you're coming up for a show. That's awesome! (I didn't even know they did live shows).
My friend saw it and told me about it. I ran the idea past my wife and she said "WTF, have a good time". My daughters play soccer with Jared Keeso's cousin's(?) and their mother (Jared's actual cousin) sent him a message so we might actually get a meet and greet. I don't care because it will be a good time either way. Nett, do you have a link to season's 3-5? Hulu only has season's 1 and 2 down here.
Last week I got back from my cruise that went from Lisbon, to Tangier, along the southern coast of Spain, to Ibiza, and ended in Barcelona. It was my first time outside of the country. I really liked Lisbon. I was there for two days and only did a little bit of walking around the city, but it was really beautiful. I don't think there is enough to see there to justify staying more than 2-3 days, though. It was cool to go to Tangier, but walking around the streets there in the hot sun got to be a little tedious. And the streets that the bazaars are on are like mazes; we would have gotten lost and probably died with no tour guide. One of the shore excursions that I was most looking forward to was the Picasso museum in Malaga, Spain, but I ended up not really enjoying it. It was crowded and the rooms were way too small. Plus I came to realize that I was not actually a fan of Picasso's work. A gentleman who was in our tour group was also pick-pocketed, though I knew to be on the alert for that in Spain. My favorite excursion by far was the Alhambra. We took the two hour bus ride into Granada to visit it, and it was well worth it. It's a beautiful place with a lot of history. We also went to a restaurant in Granada afterwards that was hyped up to be among the best in the city, but I didn't think it was that great. I was also looking forward to the jeep tour and beach trip on Ibiza. It was raining lightly when we got there, but 5 minutes after we crammed ourselves into the jeeps it started to pour and the drivers all had to turn around and take us back to the ship. The driver also said that it hadn't rained there in 3 months. Go figure. I was only in Barcelona for one night, and I really enjoyed touring the city. The only bad thing was that there were flies everywhere. I also had the best bbq ribs that I have ever had at one of the restaurants there. I wish that I could have explored the city for another day or two, and I do want to make a return trip when the Sagrada Familia is finished. This was my first cruise as well. The cruise line that we used was Windstar. It is a smaller ship, and there were about 175 passengers on board. The food was very good and it was overall a good experience, but if I go on another cruise I think that I would prefer one of the bigger cruise lines. I turn 33 next month, but I damn well may have been the youngest person on board. There was also not a whole lot in the way of entertainment. There was a small casino (I'm not a gambler), a couple of short trivia games, some good live music, an okay workout room, and a joke of a swimming pole with two decent hot tubs. The bars on the ship were also empty by 11 or 11:30, so it's definitely not geared towards millennials. I also found service to be slow at the buffet and in the dining rooms, but I can't fault the staff since they were super friendly and worked their butts off. The talent show that the staff did was also a riot to watch. But the best part of the trip came when we were leaving. Me, my mom, my aunt, and my uncle were standing in line at the airport in Barcelona and waiting to board our flight. My mom and I had business class seats, and my aunt and uncle were in coach but boarded with us. After the handicapped people had boarded and we were waiting to be called to board these two guys came walking up to the gate, flashed their tickets, and then walked right through the door to go down the corridor to board the plane. I wasn't really paying that much attention, and one of them was wearing a hoodie, but my mom and aunt speculated that they were military. We boarded shortly thereafter, and about 5 minutes after we sat down my mom turned around and whispered to me "I think those guys are rappers." I turn around and looked, and lo and behold, I see that James fucking Harden is sitting two seats behind me! (My mom doesn't follow sports at all, and I don't know who the guy who was with him was). When we arrived in Atlanta the captain came on the intercom and did his announcements, and at the end he said "Go Rockets!" Most everyone around me was confused by that, but then a few seconds later they all realized who it was who was sitting among us in his hoodie. Harden sat there in his hoodie, with his head down, and looking at his phone while everyone got off the plane, but he was near me and my mom for most of the time that we were going through customs. Then when we got to the line to show our passports so that we could get into the baggage claim we had the privilege of witnessing him show his passport to the woman who was directing the lines, see her obviously not know who he was and tell him to get in line two spots behind me and my mom, see him take a few steps towards the line and turn around and walk the other way towards baggage claim, hear her ask him "where are you going? The bathroom?," hear him reply "I'm a pro basketball player," and see the officer wave him right on through to the baggage claim! It was the perfect way to end a fantastic trip.
Going to Paris in March. I’ve been there before a while back and hit up all the touristy stuff. Anything off the beaten path one might recommend?
Might be going to Key West in April with the lady friend. Anyone have any recommendations as to where to go/drink/what to do?
For restaurants, go to Santiago’s or Bliss. For things to do, if you like history, I thought the tour of the Harry Truman museum was kinda cool. My grandparents lived in Islamorada for a few years so I spent a bunch of time in KW.
Toronto for Canada Day...what do? Doing the aquarium in the morning, and considering the zoo late morning/early afternoon. Worth it? Also, in Montreal and Ithaca, NY for the next few days this week. Any suggestions for swank eating in Montreal?