Amsterdam

I just got back from a week of Christmas fun in Missouri. One of the first things my parents said to me was "when are we going to see some Amsterdam pictures on the blog?" So after an accidental month long break from blogging here is a photo recap (in no particular order) of my long weekend in the Amsterdam.

Becky and I enjoying gluhwein at the Christmas Market 

I found a run club!

Dutch Trading Company from the canal cruise

One of Becky's many cat friends in Amsterdam

One of the many cute streets

One of the many cute canals

A boat like the one we cruised on

Canal cruise selfie

Christmas lights in Leidseplein 

Chandeliers on the fancy shopping street

Museumsplein

Ice Skating at Museumsplein

The Christmas Market in front of the fancy department store

My favorite meal- pancake with bacon INSIDE and chefs on top

watch out for bikes!

Interactive art outside the Rijksmuseum

Practicing my model skillz

I want a red vespa and a cute tree lined street (or just one of them)

Sigh… in De Pijp

Museumplein

Houseboats!

At the Markt

First day at the market we bought fries and waffles- SUCCESS!

Chattanooga

I recently had a work trip to Chattanooga, TN. After some less than impressive scenery along the highway from the airport; the downtown really won me over. Not only were there at least four different ice cream parlors within a five minute walk there were also some great parks, a beautiful river, the longest footbridge in the world*, an art and garden district, a brewpub, and an aquarium that all the locals were very proud of. Also on my run I noticed the local theater was putting on a production of Legally Blonde one of my favorite musicals.

Everyone was super friendly including every single one of our cab drivers who gave us free tours of downtown and made promises that they kept.

Because of flight delays I had an extra day in town... then I almost stayed.

foot bridge and art museum

aquarium on the left

River and pink sky from the foot bridge

*unconfirmed fact from a local, but I did run across the bridge and measured it at a half mile long.

24 hours in NYC

Since I had last Monday off of work (thanks Veterans!) I decided to spend a few hours in NYC. 

As soon as the train pulled in to Grand Central Station I headed across town to join my old touch football team for a game. I settled right back into the old routine and it felt like I never left. Especially because we won the game! 

Then,  being a tourist and all, I hopped into a cab for the Upper West Side. I had brunch plans with a few friends, which grew when two other friends ran into us while we were waiting outside.

I was going to walk around after lunch, but was completely exhausted so I watched some cartoons with my friend's one year old.

We then headed to City Winery to listen to Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys. Ralph Stanley is best known by my generation for singing O Death in O Brother, Where Art Thou?. They put on a great show. The 80 something Stanley infused a good amount of humor into the show and took several requests from the audience. The ended the show with my favorite "I'll fly away". The show reminded me a little of when I would go with my grandparents to the country music show in Missouri, only with a lot more wine.

I didn't have anything planned for Monday morning, other than making it to Penn Station in time for my 12:35 train, but when I woke up I knew I wanted a NYC bagel. My friends' that I was staying with directed me to TAL bagels down the street. I looked at the whole wheat bagel for about 1 second before knowing I was going to go all out and get the salt bagel. Of course I got it toasted and then smeared with scallion cream cheese. Then I walked to Central Park with my bagel and a small coffee with milk.

Central Park was showing a little damage from Sandy, but over all was busting with activity. Runners, bikers, and a lot of kids PE and recess classes.

ugh I want another one

great lawn

sax player under the bridge

After my delicious breakfast and a stroll through the park I headed to Joe Fresh. Joe Fresh is a Canadian retail chain that opened up last spring in NYC. I'd been seeing their clothing in several of my magazines the last few months, with reasonable prices, so I knew I wanted to check them out. I ended up with four shirts and a dress! I just did some online research and it looks like they will be opening up "stores" inside JCP's across the US over the next few years.

The weather was perfect so I concluded my morning in NYC chatting with a friend in Bryant Park. The city was already decorated for Christmas and Bryant Park already had the little shops and ice skating rink up (although the ice was melting and it looked more like a pond).

At noon I headed back down 7th Ave to Penn Station and headed on Amtrak back to DC. Perfect weather, parks, and friends made for an amazing 24 hours. 

7 hours in Boston

Last Sunday I had to head up to the suburbs of Boston for work so instead of heading up late I caught the 7 am Amtrak, which put me in South Station at 11 am. I spent a lot of time planning what I would wear and pack (I had to carry everything around all day including work computer and business outfit for the next day. I packed a backpack and it was a success, I didn't feel like I was roughing it and my back made it through the day pain free.), but I didn't spend a lot of time planning what I would do in Boston.

First a little background- I'd been to Boston once before, when I was 20 years and 364 days old. I had family living there at the time and was visiting with my mom and sister. We had a wonderful, if not cold, time and saw a lot of the tourist highlights (while on a trolley). My favorite memory of the trip was when everyone went out to some awesome pub with awesome music, but I was sent home with my 5 yr old cousin to watch Lion King 1 1/2 because I was a day short of 21 (maybe two or three days... I might be being dramatic). Anyway back to Sunday...

What to see: I wasn't feeling in the shopping mood or the museum mood and hey it was a balmy 37 degrees with a beautiful sunny sky so I thought I would do the Freedom Trail up right this time and walk every red step brick of it.

the trail

How to get there: I took the Amtrak which was very reasonable compared to how much it usually is to DC. Work was paying but at $67 each way it is a relaxed and comfortable way to travel. There are also plenty of nice buses and flights traveling between NYC and Boston each day.

Money Spent: $67 each way

What to eat: I brought along some snacks for the train ride then got a my first coffee of the day on my walk to the Common. It was early and cold, so coffee was necessary. Sidenote: I always thought the further you went northeast the less you saw Starbucks, but Boston is covered in with them.

Money Spent: $4.00

Where to start: Walking straight northwestish from South Station you arrive at Boston Common where the trail begins. I went to the visitor center and bought a little book so I could read about each location as I walked around.

Money Spent: $6.75

Massachusetts State House

The Granary Burying Ground

Paul Revere's final resting place

Old State House

I'm not sure what this building is, but I liked how the picture came out

Where to eat: By the time you reach Faneuil Hall you've been walking for an hour at least and you are hungry. Faneuil Hall was closed for a special event, but behind it is Faneuil Hall Marketplace and that is where I had lunch. The middle building is a giant food court and while I had researched a few nice places to eat I didn't want to take too much time to eat and I ended up getting some clam chowder and a bottle of water from one of the booths inside.

Money spent: $6.00

Old North Church- where the lanterns were displayed to warn Charlestown how the British were advancing

Where to take care of business: The bathroom facilities in the visitor center for Old Ironsides is anything but old. Highly recommended.

What to do: I was delighted to learn that there are free half hour tours of the USS Constitution. I arrived right as one was started so I climbed down the ladder and joined in. As the USS Constitution is a commissioned Navy ship the tour was lead by an active sailor. The ship got its nickname from a fight during the war of 1812 with the British Frigate HMS Guerriere firing at less than 50 yards away the cannonballs were just bouncing off the sides. The sailor explained that it was because of the special wood that the ship was made out of that can only be found in the southern United States.

Money Spent: $0

USS Constitution "Old Ironsides"

On board

Lesson Learned: Even a beautiful 37 degree sunny day will start to feel a lot colder in Boston when the sun starts to dip. The walk across this bridge to the ship and to Bunker hill was not pleasant. And it wasn't until I was to the other side that I looked at a map to learn that there are no subways over there... when you walk over, you have to walk back. Even though I warmed up inside the ship I have to confess... I didn't make it to Bunker Hill. I mean I saw it... I saw the memorial lots of times, but not close enough to see the whites of their eyes.

Charles river with Bunker Hill Memorial in the background

How to get around: You see the most by walking so that is what I did for most of the day, but after walking over that cold bridge twice I looked for the closest subway or "T" and went inside to buy my Charlie Ticket (who's Charlie?). For a visitor like myself it costs $2 a ride and is convenient to many parts of Boston (just not Bunker Hill). I also saw lots of cabs, but why are all their lights on with people inside. Well it turns out that the lights don't indicate anything in particular and people don't generally hail cabs in Boston. They operate on more of a dispatch system. But what to do when you are wandering around? When it was time to head to my hotel in the suburbs I walked past another hotel and asked a cab waiting outside if he would give me a ride. He turned out to be a great driver and I had a smooth trip to the hotel. I didn't catch the rate, but the 16 mileish ride cost about $55, a ride around proper Boston would be much, much less.

Money Spent: $2 for the Charlie ticket

Other highlights: Somewhere on the tracks in CT I realized that my phone wasn't working. I tried everything and it just wouldn't do anything. If you have a Sprint phone I highly recommend the Sprint store on Boylston. After my four hours on the trail I stopped in. They not only fixed my phone in less than an hour they gave me a new back cover for it... brilliant.

Where to eat dinner: After fixing my phone I was tired from walking around and cold so when I saw a Boloco, a Boston chain, I thought I'd give it a try. I had the memphis which was BBQ shredded pork and cole slaw burrito. Pretty good and the staff was very friendly.

Money Spent: $8

6 hours in Columbia, MO

I'm starting a new blog segment I hope everyone will enjoy (title cred to NYT). If you know me at all you know I like to explore (or wander as some people like to say); it doesn't matter if it is down the street or a few countries away.

What to see: University of Missouri Campus

Due to poor planning on our part we only had an hour to walk around campus, so we hit the highlights: francis quad, the columns, tiger spot failure, memorial union, MU student center (Brady improved).

Money Spent: zero for me (my sister spent $1.50 for a window decal at the bookstore)

Lesson learned: Leave plenty of time to walk around Campus and time for the downtown shops.

the Francis Quad

sitting on the Columns

more Columns
Tiger spot failure

What to eat: Shakespeare's Pizza

Ok, this is where we kinda went wrong. We thought we could go to Shakespeare's downtown at 5pm and get pizza in time for the 7pm game. With a line out the door and the time estimation sign pointing at 1 hour and 1/2 + wait for pizza, we thought it was time for plan 2. So we went to the Westside location... still busy but we got our pizza in less that an hour and half.

What to order: large wheat crust pizza with pepperoni, green pepper, and mushroom

Cheesy garlic bread

Diet Coke from the fountain (I love fountain drinks done right and Shakes has both Coke and Pepsi products and they have fantastic cups and fantastic towel napkins)

Money Spent: $27 for a large pizza, cheesy bread, 2 pops, 1 beer, and a water (friend brought coupon for free cheesy bread)

Lesson learned: On game day go for lunch... or start at 4:30

awesome cups...

What to do: Mizzou Men's basketball game

My sister and I are both graduates of the University of Missouri, but her being two years my senior had never gone to a Mizzou game in Mizzou arena. We are both big basketball fans and the Tigers are looking good this year and a trip to a game seemed necessary. I didn't get to sit as close as I did in my student days, but the game was a lot of fun and the Tigers won easily 81-58.

Money Spent: Upper Corner ticket to Mizzou Arena $14 (including handling fees/service charges) to watch the Fastest 40 minutes in basketball

Lesson learned: Buy tickets in advance. There seemed to be plenty of tickets, but we waited to buy (to figure out who wanted to go with us) and the game became a sell out.

What else to eat: Sparky's Homemade Ice Cream

Sparky's was a favorite of mine senior year at Mizzou. My family has a thing for ice cream and since my sister was graduated and moved out of country by the time Sparky's opened up I decided we had to stop by.

What to order: Sparky's is known for their unusual flavors, use of local suppliers, and alcohol ice cream mixtures. I had one that incorporated all three with the "bourgeois and ghirardelli" selection. The ice cream was red wine flavored (from Les Bourgeois Winery) with chocolate slivers. The first taste was interesting but the ice cream soon grew on me. My sister had butter pecan and said it was good.

Money Spent: $2.75 for a full cup

Lesson Learned: Not a lesson we had to learn the hard way, but Sparky's is closed from January to February. If we had visited two days later we would of been out of luck.

the mascot out front