garyclark wrote: Fri Mar 07, 2025 6:59 pm
Made reservations at Husk.
Food was solid, but the service was both poor and very odd. The guy started off the meal letting us know that the chef wanted all the orders at once so he could plan how to send everything out since they were trying to get a Michelin star.
Then the food came out in the wrong order. They served us food with no plates. After the first course, he looked at used plated and silverware and said we probably didn't need new ones for the next course (we did), and then after bringing some, he said we didn't need knives (we did).
Oysters were excellent.
Wings were amazing.
Fish was solid.
I skipped the steak (for Lent). But my colleagues enjoyed it a lot.
Grits were above average.
Veggies were mid.
Also ...
Parker House rolls from the Parker House >>> Husk Parker House rolls
Popeyes fried chicken > Husk fried chicken (but in fairness to Husk, Popeyes is excellent).
govmentchedda wrote: Thu Mar 13, 2025 3:44 pm
Never been. Kinda surprising given how close I am. That area got hit pretty hard by Helene.
Yeah, we've been looking into that and Siesta is in much better shape than Ana Maria. There are YouTube travel clips that we've found from as recently as a month ago and Siesta looks pretty OK.
We get real basic at the beach, so we really just need a kitchen and a decent enough array of bars/restaurants for lunch and/or happy hour.
ETA - And this was a question directed to you (almost just sent a PM), so your lack of knowledge is extremely disappointing.
govmentchedda wrote: Thu Mar 13, 2025 3:44 pm
Never been. Kinda surprising given how close I am. That area got hit pretty hard by Helene.
Yeah, we've been looking into that and Siesta is in much better shape than Ana Maria. There are YouTube travel clips that we've found from as recently as a month ago and Siesta looks pretty OK.
We get real basic at the beach, so we really just need a kitchen and a decent enough array of bars/restaurants for lunch and/or happy hour.
ETA - And this was a question directed to you (almost just sent a PM), so your lack of knowledge is extremely disappointing.
And by extremely disappointing I mean not in the slightest.
If Siesta Key fared better than AMI, you should be in good shape. AMI is missing both piers, but all of the other damage seemed to be in the process of getting fixed when I was down there for a day around Christmas.
Until everything is less insane, I'm mixing weed with wine.
Nonlinear FC wrote: Thu Mar 13, 2025 3:28 pm
Anybody got any thoughts/tips about visiting Siesta Key?
Heading down there for a little beach getaway in a couple of weeks.
I went in February of either 2022 or 2023 and again in 2024...my step-brother and his wife have been renting places down there for a month or two for the past several winters so the rest of us siblings met down there for a few days. It feels pretty low-key compared to other nearby spots (Naples, Sarasota, etc.). My step brother just got back from this year's time down there (they only went for three weeks this time) and said it's fine/normal...everything is open. The beach just off of the town section is nice...open; never seems too busy. I don't have any recommendations on food, bars, etc. Everything I've been to has been ok. It's easy to walk or bike around.
I would like expensive whiskey.
We only have beer & wine...
What am I, 12?
govmentchedda wrote: Thu Mar 13, 2025 3:44 pm
Never been. Kinda surprising given how close I am. That area got hit pretty hard by Helene.
Yeah, we've been looking into that and Siesta is in much better shape than Ana Maria. There are YouTube travel clips that we've found from as recently as a month ago and Siesta looks pretty OK.
We get real basic at the beach, so we really just need a kitchen and a decent enough array of bars/restaurants for lunch and/or happy hour.
ETA - And this was a question directed to you (almost just sent a PM), so your lack of knowledge is extremely disappointing.
And by extremely disappointing I mean not in the slightest.
If Siesta Key fared better than AMI, you should be in good shape. AMI is missing both piers, but all of the other damage seemed to be in the process of getting fixed when I was down there for a day around Christmas.
That’s good to hear. The impression I got from the family last month was less positive.
"He swore fluently, obscenely, and without repeating himself for just over a minute."
Mick Herron, "Down Cemetery Road"
Just back from spending 5 days at an all-inclusive resort (Secrets Maroma) just north of Playa Del Carmen. Pretty nice to get away and just sit on the beach/by the pool in the sun and not have to do anything for a while.
Few stray thoughts:
We did a red eye flight into Cancun on Tuesday evening, leaving Seattle at 930 and arriving in Cancun at 5:45am on Wednesday. That way we didn't burn a day of PTO by flying. Got to the resort at 7am, and while our room wasn't ready until that afternoon, we were able to start using the resort restaurants/drinks/etc before then. Worked out pretty well...we were tired, but since we were just laying around the pool anyways, it was fine.
Resort was really nice. Great pool and beach area. Good restaurant options.
One highlight was some of the kitchen staff bring out a HUGE (~150lb) tuna that had been flown in that morning from the west coast, and doing a demo of how they broke it down, and then serving fresh sushi/sashimi/nigiri, along with seared tuna, right there by the pool. That was so good.
I swear they water down their drinks, a ton. I should not be able to sit around and do nothing but pound beers and cocktails all day and not really catch a buzz. All that happened was I had to go to the bathroom, a lot. Did see a few people who were pretty hammered by the end of the afternoon though, so maybe I was just doing it wrong.
Other resort guests were super chill, except for the MAGA hat wearing asshole at the pool. Lots of people from Canada. We kept running into, sitting next to this one super nice couple from Vancouver that were just about the most Canadian people you could ever meet.
Sabo wrote: Sat Mar 08, 2025 10:36 am
My friend sent me the following. He works with a lot of Indians and will ask his co-workers for additional recommendations this coming Monday.
- Pune airport is pretty basic and is a shared civilian/military airport; very serviceable though.
- I love craft beer and visitied Independence Brewing Co. when I was there; a very cool brewpub with good food; an IPA hits different when you're actually in India!
had full write up... walked away.. gone.
will have to write up later.
the airport.. mucb better nowt that they've added a real non-militayr terminal. super modern. makes EWR look like the shithole it really is (and I kind of like EWR)
Indepence Brewing -- good beers, great food selection - could do without the DDT -- wanted to sit outside, we were todl they were fumigating - this was on a saturday around six.. an hour later a cloud of insecticide wafted indoors. fun.
lots of beers. fortunately we had the hotel send a car to get us.
i'll type my my review of Mumbai-Pune-Ahmedabab-Gift City- New Delhi later on.
I'll give a full report next week, but I can report that Siesta Key is VERY much open for business and we are really enjoying it. Yes, there are lots of signs of storm damage to be seen on dwellings. Some of the larger condo buildings are definitely still under major renovations. And even the place we are staying, the unit we booked wasn't ready yet... But they wound up just upgrading us to a nicer unit with a better pool, so... All good.
You can lead a horse to fish, but you can't fish out a horse.
Nonlinear FC wrote: Wed Apr 02, 2025 3:48 pm
I'll give a full report next week, but I can report that Siesta Key is VERY much open for business and we are really enjoying it. Yes, there are lots of signs of storm damage to be seen on dwellings. Some of the larger condo buildings are definitely still under major renovations. And even the place we are staying, the unit we booked wasn't ready yet... But they wound up just upgrading us to a nicer unit with a better pool, so... All good.
And now Canadian tourist free!
An honest to God cult of personality - formed around a failed steak salesman.
-Pruitt
Just back yesterday from Bilbao/San Sebastian/Bordeaux/Loire Valley and surrounding areas. Eleven hour direct flight Paris-San Francisco. Really a great time. Nobody gave me any shit or side eyes (that I noticed) for being American (although I did get some snickers for my pathetic attempts at speaking their language).
sancarlos wrote: Thu Apr 03, 2025 4:48 pm
Just back yesterday from Bilbao/San Sebastian/Bordeaux/Loire Valley and surrounding areas. Eleven hour direct flight Paris-San Francisco. Really a great time.
Nonlinear FC wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2025 9:48 am
Wife and I were planning on a Banff/Jasper trip in June, but now we don't know if she'll have a job in a few months, so... Nope.
Well...that sucks. Sorry, my friend.
So, after surviving ANOTHER round of layoffs, this trip is back on... Gonna scroll back up (well, utilize the search feature) and see what's been reported on about the area.
That said, M is nuts about doing trip research, so I'm not sure I'll find anything she hasn't already read 5 articles and Facebook/Instagram posts about the topic.
You can lead a horse to fish, but you can't fish out a horse.
My wife has some inside information from a federal employee that saw a list of potential upcoming cuts and...
Trip is off again.
I'm so fucking sick of this shit. They are absolutely gutting the federal government. People have no idea how bad this is. What they are cutting are services for vulnerable children and communities.
You can lead a horse to fish, but you can't fish out a horse.
Nonlinear FC wrote: Wed Apr 16, 2025 3:40 pm
Sorry, I won't do this again, but...
My wife has some inside information from a federal employee that saw a list of potential upcoming cuts and...
Trip is off again.
I'm so fucking sick of this shit. They are absolutely gutting the federal government. People have no idea how bad this is. What they are cutting are services for vulnerable children and communities.
Sorry man. They are just fucking with people’s lives in every way.
An honest to God cult of personality - formed around a failed steak salesman.
-Pruitt
Nonlinear FC wrote: Wed Apr 16, 2025 3:40 pm
Sorry, I won't do this again, but...
My wife has some inside information from a federal employee that saw a list of potential upcoming cuts and...
Trip is off again.
I'm so fucking sick of this shit. They are absolutely gutting the federal government. People have no idea how bad this is. What they are cutting are services for vulnerable children and communities.
Are you all planning an alternative vacation somewhere fun?
Nonlinear FC wrote: Wed Apr 16, 2025 3:40 pm
Sorry, I won't do this again, but...
My wife has some inside information from a federal employee that saw a list of potential upcoming cuts and...
Trip is off again.
I'm so fucking sick of this shit. They are absolutely gutting the federal government. People have no idea how bad this is. What they are cutting are services for vulnerable children and communities.
Are you all planning an alternative vacation somewhere fun?
We got some clarification on things and we're going to try and go, but scale it back quite a bit. We had splurged on some locations and probably didn't need as many excursions as we originally plotted out.
The thing is, we HAVE to be in Denver the week prior to move my daughter across town. Seemed really silly not to use that location as a jumping off point to do something out that way. Last year around this time, we teleworked and then went on trips to Steamboat Spring and a later an epic week touring the national parks in Utah.
You can lead a horse to fish, but you can't fish out a horse.
Questions … my wife is traveling to Poland so (1) does anyone have any recs for a power adapter that isn’t some stupid Amazon ZLOONS brand that might fail or fry her shit and (2) do you just call Verizon or whatever and get a temp foreign plan?
A_B wrote: Mon Mar 31, 2025 2:54 pmand henceforth I imagine I’ll be Old …we…t spot AB.
I had good luck with one of those adapters and Verizon has a $10 per day only pay if you use it international data plan she should be able to activate. That’s what we’ve done, not sure if there are better deals depending on much data she needs and how long she’ll be there.
sancarlos wrote: Thu Apr 24, 2025 10:11 pm
You can get a good power adapter at a luggage store.
I don't think I have ever been in, or even seen a luggage store that wasn't in an airport. Which seems like the worst place for one. Some comedian has a bit on that, I think Brian Regan.
Last edited by A_B on Fri Apr 25, 2025 8:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
One milkshake to bring all the boys to the yard and in the darkness bind them.
mister d wrote: Thu Apr 24, 2025 9:22 pmQuestions … my wife is traveling to Poland so (1) does anyone have any recs for a power adapter that isn’t some stupid Amazon ZLOONS brand that might fail or fry her shit and (2) do you just call Verizon or whatever and get a temp foreign plan?
1. Just look at reviews online before buying. I have this one, which is listed as compatible for Poland. It worked just fine for me in another country where it is compatible.
2. Yes. She should just explain where and when she is traveling (including layovers) and her provider should have no issues setting her up.
“The running, the jumping... a celebration of life.”
sancarlos wrote: Thu Apr 24, 2025 10:11 pm
You can get a good power adapter at a luggage store.
I don't think I have ever been in, or even seen a luggage store that wasn't in an airport. Which seems like the worst place for one. Some comedian has a bit on that, I think Brian Regan.
"So there's this guy, AB, and he's never been in or even seen a luggage store that wasn't in an airport.
Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen, you've been great, goodnight!"
A_B wrote: Mon Mar 31, 2025 2:54 pmand henceforth I imagine I’ll be Old …we…t spot AB.
1. To echo the advice above, the amazon ones work fine if you check reviews.
2. I don't pay anything for unlimited international text and data coverage through T-Mobile. HOWEVER, calls are either .25 per minute or you buy a plan for like $15 for a week of unlimited.
3. You must pay a fortune for luggage if you only shop at airports. I have this image of you only shopping for everything in airports. Wardrobe by Tommy Bahama. Household items by Brookstone. Sunglasses from Sunglass Hut. All tech products out of one of those Apple vending machines.
