Starling Travel

While we were working at CES this year, Mike and I stayed at Tahiti Village. It wasn’t the worst hotel we’ve stayed at in Nevada, but it was pretty close. Here is Mike’s evaluation of the place:

We liked the price. Otherwise it was nearly the worst hotel experience we’ve ever had.

Hotel staff was rude and inattentive. Internet didn’t work until we spent half a day talking to 8 different employees, all of whom tried to avoid helping us at all. Heater didn’t work in our room. One lamp had dangerous exposed wiring. Not particularly clean. The room smelled of mildew and the bedspread smelled worse. Staff spent two days noisily cleaning carpets outside our room. The tap water tasted terrible and must have been specially imported to complete the experience, because Vegas water is usually just fine.

He forgot to mention that there was no housekeeping at the hotel and if you wanted the room made up, it was an extra $55 charge! There wasn’t even anyone around to ask if we could get fresh towels.

After the ordeal of trying to get the Internet to work in our hotel (the front desk had failed to enable it in our room and it took that many employees to figure out the problem), I was ready to abandon the hotel, but all the hotels in Vegas were booked solid for the week because of CES, so we ended up staying there.

Aside from living with the mildew smell and avoiding the smelly parts of the furniture, we had no further incidents that week, but the low cost for the hotel room was NOT worth it. Next time, I’ll pay more and stay at a different hotel. There are certainly enough to choose from in Las Vegas.

It’s possible for Americans to visit Cuba, but there is a ton of red tape to cut through and even more hoops to jump through before you can. If you are just a casual traveler, Cuba really isn’t an option, but you CAN see Cuba, just not today.

Here is a video travelogue from 1937, showing a pre-Castro Cuba in all its glory.

Back then, travel via airplane was a novelty and an expensive one at that, so most citizens of the United States were only able to visit Cuba vicariously through this film reel. Just like us, they were trapped in their movie theaters, unable to visit this island, but the restrictions were pecuniary, not political. Just recovering from the Great Depression, so many of our citizens were just glad to have survived.

The next time you are feeling trapped in your hometown, whether it’s because of the economy, gas prices or the fact that our countries are still locked in disagreement with each other, take a virtual vacation to Cuba and fly the Lindbergh Trail.

I love this video of Felicia Day’s Trip to Belize. All of us take a lot of video and photos while we’re on a trip, but her audio commentary is what makes the video so entertaining.

I’ve never been to Belize, so it was nice to see how it looked. When you’re feeling trapped at work and in need of a vacation, take a few minutes and watch this video. It will make you feel refreshed and ready to get back to the daily grind.

I love this video recording campsite number 104 at Cape Disappointment in Washington State.

How did Cape Disappointment and Dismal Niche get their name? According to Wikipedia, it was named by a member of the Lewis and Clark team in 1805. They were trapped there by a storm and called the place a dismal niche. The name stuck, but it was not a fair assessment. The place looks like a dream!

Here is a video of the lighthouse at night:

Here is a video of Beards Hollow at Cape Disappointment. It’s better if you mute the audio because the music is rather intrusive.

Next time you’re planning a trip in the Pacific Northwest, take a look at Cape Disappointment. It promises not to live up to its name!

I absolutely adore this video of a camper showing his friend how to cook stir fry while camping.

The cameraman is laughing his head off, so I immediately assumed that they were high. The more I thought about it, though, I have found myself being just as silly and laughing over the simplest things while camping at Lake Mead while stone cold sober.

They are using the exact same pan set that Mike and I have. I can’t even remember the brand of those pots, but they have been the BEST for us. It’s obvious that these guys like them as well.

These guys don’t have a huge camp kitchen setup with a table. Instead, they just cook on the ground and put their plates on the cooler. Whenever I am camping, THIS is the feeling that I usually get from cooking, sleeping and just relaxing in the outdoors. It’s so lovely that they were able to capture that emotion on camera and brought it to me in less than two minutes!

After my grandpa died, I scanned in all the photos that we found in his house. Going through them, I found this photograph of my grandmother. Click on it to see full-size.

This was my grandma in her blond phase. I remember as a child, she told me that she had been blond for a while, but she didn’t like it. She looks like a knockout to me, so maybe there was something else about being blond that she didn’t like. I have NO IDEA who the ruffian with the bandaged forehead is. It’s certainly not any of her three husbands.

The photograph isn’t quite as important as the cover it was enclosed in. This is the front:

It reads:

Birdland: Nightly Concerts of Jazz

Broadway and 52nd Street, New York

This is the inside cover:

I knew that my grandmother had traveled greatly over her years, but when I saw this photograph, her life suddenly became an adventure that I had only briefly glimpsed. Birdland Jazz Club was the hip jazz club in New York where all the cool cats played.

• Birdland (jazz club) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It still exists today, if not in the original location.

• Birdland
• Birdland Jazz Club on Google Maps

Knowing that my grandmother was a small part of that historical place makes me happy. How I wish she had told me the story of the night she went to Birdland and who she saw play there.

After seeing this video, I immediately wanted to hop on a plane to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Throughout the entire video, I was trying to figure out which city it was. I had pretty much decided that it must be Austin, Texas, because they were the coolest city I knew with bridges and a population willing to participate in a video like this.

This is a LONG video (over ten minutes), but it is totally worth it right to the very last minute. Give it a watch:

Video via: I’m Not Working Hard Enough – Amazing Video | Nice Photography Magazine – The “Why To” Magazine about Creative Photography and Film Making

Mike and I found this old photo of Las Vegas in an antique store a few months ago.

The caption reads:

Modern Version of the Old West – Las Vegas, Nevada

Vegas Studio

The cars in the photo look like they are from the late Forties or early Fifties. The I can see Hotel Apache and its casino, the Boulder Club, Overland Hotel, Hotel Sal Sagey, The Las Vegas Club, and Boulder Drugs.

Seeing the Boulder Club and Boulder Drugs in this photo, made me think that it wasn’t a photo of Las Vegas at all, but rather Boulder City, Nevada. That city, however, hasn’t allowed gambling since 1932, so it couldn’t be a photo of Boulder.

Adding to the mystery is the handwritten note on the back of the photo:

It reads:

This must be one of the side streets, as main street has neon the full length and full height of the buildings.

So, even the person who sent this picture to a loved one so long ago didn’t recognize which street in Las Vegas it was. I was able to find an old postcard for the Apache Hotel on Flicker, but it didn’t have an address.

Hotel Apache was most definitely in downtown Las Vegas. In fact, in 1932, when it was built, it was the first building with an elevator in Nevada. You can find out more about it here:

• Early Vegas: 1930’s Vegas – Apache Hotel

It appears to have NOTHING to do with the current-day Apache Motel that is on Main Street of Las Vegas. The building is completely different.

To me, the best part of this touristy photograph is the title: Modern Version of the Old West. Eighty years after Hotel Apache was first built, this picture is looking not very modern at all.

We had a relaxing time snorkeling at Infinity Bay in Roatan, Honduras. You can see the video here:

We paid the resort fee to Infinity Bay so we would have chairs and umbrellas to sit under. They also had an awesome guard so we could snorkel without worrying about anyone taking our stuff. It was totally worth the money!

They also had a waiter there to bring us food and drinks. There was an additional charge for the food (it wasn’t included in the resort fee), but it was tasty!

Most importantly, the snorkeling was AMAZING! I filmed so many different species of fish that I felt as if I were in an aquarium instead of swimming in the ocean. I wish I could have stayed there a week!

Mike and I were lucky enough to swim with some stingrays in Cozumel earlier this month. We went to Stingray Beach. You can see the video here:

It was such an amazing experience that I would gladly do it again next time we are in Cozumel!