There are some cities in the world that seem to hold an air of mystery about them, a secret attraction that brings visitors inside and moves into their veins. It's an attraction that you can't really express or define, but it's immediate and visceral. It happens in cities like Bangkok, where you might find yourself having breakfast along the Chao Phraya river and feel totally at peace, or in Paris, where you can be having a coffee at a little cafe on the Champs Elysees and feel as though you've really arrived. You can also find it in Istanbul, where it [View Full Entry]

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Wiped out by our afternoon of mostly browsing, we were ready for some serious relaxation when we made it back to the Sagamore - time to hit the hot tub! Now that I had my new bathing suit, I was set to go. But first stop, Mr. Brown's Pub for a snack and an attempt to drive out Jess' cold with a gin and tonic. Since we were always big fans of our campus pub when we were in college, it was only natural that we would be drawn to Mr. Brown's pub. We found our seats at the bar and [View Full Entry]

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When you get four ladies together who don't often get to see that much of each other, you can guess as to what one thing will be happening - lots and lots of chatting. Catching up kept us up late on Friday night, so after we put a sniffling Jess to bed in the living room and climbed into our own beds, it was after midnight. Curled up at the edge of the bed so as not to bump into Dana and varying room temperatures meant I didn't get too much sleep, so it was ten the next morning before we [View Full Entry]

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Finally our ladies' weekend is here! This morning, after struggling with getting going, we managed to leave for Lake George - first stop, Saratoga Springs. Well, techincally our first stop was a Burger King along the way, where we picked up some rather tasty milkshakes, but then it was off to Saratoga. It wasn't my first time to this horse-racing obsessed town - back in college, Jess & I had braved a car ride with a friend's girlfriend to see him and Jess' boyfriend play hockey. We had dinner right in town, but whe [View Full Entry]

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Are you looking to explore New York, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Houston, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, Denver or San Francisco in a different way? How about signing up for an Avon Walk for Breast Cancer! All you need are some fundraising skills, a fervent passion for this cause, the desire to see one of its host cities in a different way, and maybe a little bit of crazy. Why? Because it's 39.3 miles over two days with a mandatory $1800 fundraising goal. But oh, is it worth it. My friend, Jess, and I are signed up for this year's New York City [View Full Entry]

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It was our last day at the beach and I wanted it to last - I've never been good at leaving the beach, but this time, I felt more than ever that I would be back. We made it to the beach by nine, and the morning is really the best time to relax on the beach. After setting up our chairs, we could sit in peace and quiet and watch the few lone fisherman guard their poles in their search for the perfect catch. At that time of day, the sunlight literally glitters on the water and the coolness in [View Full Entry]

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After we washed the salt and sand from our skin, we were off to dinner at an LBI staple - Panzone's. Open since 1980, they have, by far, the best pizza on the island. And maybe, the best pizza ever. I was excited to get back there, and prepared for a wait because it's definitely a popular dinner location. Luckily, we got there ahead of most of the groups of eight or sixteen that were looking for dinner, so we only had to wait about fifteen minutes. It was almost less than that, because they accidentally put a couple ahead of [View Full Entry]

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As is my usual luck, today began as expected - with the worst morning thunderstorm “ever” according to channel 7 news. Always the perfect way to start out a trip to the beach! But I can't complain because, really, everything is better at the beach - even if it rains the whole time. Luckily it didn’t, and we left grey clouds behind as the sun and the three H’s picked up - heat, humidity, and haze. We arrived around noon at one of my two favorite places on earth - Long Beach Island, NJ. Stopping at [url=http://www.bayvi [View Full Entry]

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As I've mentioned before, even though I'm not doing any real traveling until September, I will be posting periodic blogs about other activities. Another recommended activity in the tri-state area is taking in a baseball game - it is especially recommended if you're not from the US as it is America's pasttime! On Wednesday, I went to my first professional baseball game ever - actually my first baseball game in any form! The Yankees were taking on the [url=http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/index.js [View Full Entry]

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Although we were looking forward to our class dinner, it was with some dread that we entered the Annex - now known as the Tolles Pavilion, once they realized that "Annex" wasn't as sexy a name as they first thought. This was because we all remembered in great detail what the Annex was like - a cold, grey, uninviting garage-like box with poor acoustics. The one benefit, we thought, to being in here though was that it would likely be cooler than any other un-airconditioned space on campus. We were wrong. It was just as hot and humid inside the Annex [View Full Entry]

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