We played in the fountains

And jumped in the pool

Then M perfected her bellyflop in the tidal pools on the beach (and for some reason insisted on calling them “dewyflops”).

We played in the waves (and “fed” them sand and shells)

And let the beach style our hair.

We took a boat ride to see dolphins and explore some of the shoals exposed by the low tide

And found starfish, hermit crabs and tons of shells.

We played on the beach some more

And found a really, really big horseshoe crab.

It was a perfect week of sun, sand, ocean and exploring!

]]> http://www.kakakakaty.com/2009/09/22/what-i-did-on-vacation/feed/ 0 http://www.kakakakaty.com/2009/09/10/and-the-kitchen-sink/ http://www.kakakakaty.com/2009/09/10/and-the-kitchen-sink/#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:19:29 +0000 Kate http://www.kakakakaty.com/?p=699 “Those that say you can’t take it with you never saw my car packed for a vacation trip.” ~ unknown

“Those that say you can’t take it with you never saw my car packed for a vacation trip.” ~ unknown

The bags are pretty much packed (except for my husbands stuff, and well – he can do his own).  All the extra stuff is laid out on the dining room table.  I’m eating a dinner of the few perishables left in the house: 2 apples, left over birthday cake and milk. We are so ready to go – first a stop over to see my college BFF in the booming city of Saxapahaw, NC.  Then it’s off to the beach.

Oh, and here’s my new traveling tip: check out restaurant.com for the zip code you will be visiting before you leave.  If you are as lucky as I was, you will score gift certificates for a couple of places for mere pennies (thank you 90% off sale!) and maybe find a new favorite restaurant at your destination.

Au Revoir!

As soon as we a got home we threw together suitcases and hit the road. We were staying in the Shadyside neighborhood and arrived around 7:30. Despite all the great restaurants in the area and suggestions from friends on Twitter we ended up at Max & Erma’s.  I normally loathe chains, especially when traveling, but sometimes when it’s late, your kid is hungry and you are in a strange place  they are they easiest choice.  I will say that we briefly checked out a couple of other places which were either too busy (a wait for seating) or too fancy to take the girl before settling on M&E. After dinner we checked into our hotel where I had booked a king + sofa bed since it was the only thing available on-line.  I asked if they had any 2-bed rooms available and the desk clerk typed furiously on two different computers for a bit and finally said “I don’t have any 2-queen rooms, but why don’t I put you in a king suite? That way you can have your own room and your daughter can have the sofa bed in the living room.” SCORE!  The room was huge – kitchen/bar area, king bedroom and a living room.  I am so spoiled – this is really the ONLY way to travel with a kid for more then one night.

Saturday morning we got up, ate breakfast out of the food we brought and headed over to the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum to be there when it opened.  It is such a fun place!  I loved the Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood area …they have an actual sweater and pair of his shoes!  The whole place was great – especially the studio art area and the waterworks play area.  Mark and I were in awe of the fantastic re-use of the old buildings. We spent about 3 hours playing before we headed back to the hotel for a nap.  In the afternoon we headed over to The Strip area and strolled around. It is full of ethnic markets, knick-knacks shops, more ugly Steelers crap then you can imagine and lots of characters.  Unfortunately we got there just before most of the stores were closing.  Next trip we will go down on a Saturday morning to enjoy the markets. We checked out Kaya and while it looked very good, was not what we were in the mood for. So we headed back to Shadyside and went to Harris Grill (which was the one with the wait the night before); it’s been around since 1927 so we figured they were doing something right. They have an awesome patio and a menu filled with pub food – sandwiches and appetizers – exactly what we were after. The menu is very funny to peruse and Mark and I both got sandwiches with sides of mac & cheese.  Very good, hearty food and you gotta love a place that has “bacon night” when baskets of crispy bacon are free at the bar. They also had a great beer and cocktail list.  We were there early, but it had started to fill up when we left.

Today we got up and arrived at Pamela’s Restaurant right as it opened and it was already just about full.  I had the flapjacks and they were everything they are said to be. Yum!  I can see why they have devoted fans of those pancakes. By the time we left there was a line about 4 tables deep. We went back to the hotel, packed up and had plans to spend a good chunck of the day at the Duquesne Incline and downtown followed by lunch at either the Original Hot Dog Shop (aka The Dirty O) or Primanti Brothers (which is very much like what we can get at Panini’s in Cleveland) before heading home. But we packed up our car in a downpour and the skies were grey and rainy in all directions.  We decided to still do the incline (which M loved; the industriousness of the people who came up with that thing is amazing) and then since it was still rainy and grey we headed home.  Of course about 10 miles out of town the skies cleared and the sun came out.

All in all it was a great trip – lots to see and do, beautiful vistas and great food.  It’s a very easy drive and we will be going back soon, maybe for just a day trip. The only two negatives I can think of is 1) parking sucks everywhere and 2) you can’t go a block without seeing fugly Steelers junk for sale.

Of course on the way home we stopped at the new(ish) Sonic in Streetsboro and managed to spill not one, but TWO Diet Cokes all over the inside of my car. So getting home early allowed me time to scrub, wash and vacuum it all out. Welcome home!

1. I’ve stayed at several very nice hotels on the Strip – Paris, The Venetian, Treasure Island, and the Bellagio.  And in my opinion Venetian wins for the nicest room.  Bellagio was a close second but the Venetian is all-suite so the room was enormous and it also gets bonus points for having a fantasic sit-down vanity in the bathroom (the TV in the bathroom didn’t hurt, either). Some people don’t care as much about the room since they spend all their time gambling and drinking; but for me the room is a big part of the trip (see #6).
2. Vegas is hella-expensive.  I have never left one of my 30-hour trips without dropping about $200 on cabs, a drink or two and dinners.  My breakfast on Friday morning was an iced coffee and blueberry muffin which cost me almost $14. Drinks are $10+, dinners are easily $40 without drinks & tip, shows are over $100 a ticket.  Yes, you can get free drinks if you are gambling, but those servers don’t come around the penny and nickel slots too often.  Water from the gift shop is $3, Diet Cokes in the vending machine are $3, too (but the machines accept credit cards – how nice!). And there is no “running to the drugstore down the street” (see #7).
3. People-watching is free and very entertaining.  Having cruised the Strip several times I can tell you that you see everything along the way.  It’s most fun when you have someone with a similar mind-set so you can play games like “fake or real?” & “hooker or girlfriend?”.
4. The casinos are all pretty much the same – smoky, loud and easy to get lost in.  The Bellagio gets credit for being the cleanest and least smokey and the Venetian is the stinkiest since they pump in some perfume over the smoke – not a good mix. If you are people watching on the casino floor the Bellagio is fun for all the high-rollers and wanna-bes; you can get a good laugh from some of their antics.  The Luxor seems to have the seediest clientele and is also fun for people watching.  I’ve had the best slot luck at Paris and The Venetian.
5. I think one of the most overlooked things to do is catch a lounge act.  There are some really good and some really cheesy cover bands playing the strip and both are equally entertaining. This is also a great place to people watch.  I think Paris is one of the best for a good free show and so far shows at the Bellagio & Luxor tend to be cheesy.
6. There is nothing like ordering room service in Vegas.  Even if you just order a snack or dessert you get 5-star treatment. And kicking back in a king-sized bed while you open your remote controlled curtains to watch the Bellagio fountain show with a key lime bar and a Diet Coke on a white-cloth covered table is heaven.
7. Wear comfortable shoes.  Leave the platform stripper heals to the 22 year olds and strap on some flip flops because that jaunt to the next casino will take you 20 minutes by foot.  Distances are deceptive in Vegas – you can leave the Venetian, walk for 10 minutes and…still be in front of the Venetian.
8. You get pretty used to seeing girls in their hoochie-best at all hours of the day.  Add to this the truck-billboards of strippers and call girls and the people stationed every 10 feet along the sidewalk passing out cards with nude girls selling “girls to your room in 10 minutes!” and I am always shocked to see people pushing kids in strollers around.  There is no hiding the sex industry in Vegas, it’s not really a place for children.
9. A trip to Fremont Street (AKA the old strip or downtown Vegas) is worth it. This is where you will get your $9.99 surf & turf dinner and see the lights of Vegas like you imagined.  It’s seedy, gritty and great.  The slots here play out in real coins, not with a voucher. I hear that the Pasta Pirate serves great food, but it’s always packed.
10. Despite what you think, things are not all 24-hours a day in Vegas.  On my first trip we went to a show that ened around 10 PM.  We figured we could hit a buffet afterwards when we would be good and hungry. We walked through 3 casinos and every buffet and restaurant was closed!  We were starving and ended up eating at the Pyramid Café in the Luxor which was like eating a Denny’s for 4x the price.

So there you have it – my take on Vegas.  As my sister will tell you I really do think the best thing about the city is it’s great hotel rooms – I tend to call her to rub it in that I have a TV in the bathroom. I head back out there in the fall and meh – there is such a thing as too much time in Las Vegas.

Moving on – vacation was great, but a bit rushed.  Mark got home from 4 days in San Francisco the evening before we left, then had to work during 2 of our vacation days.  However, M got to spend a ton of time with her cousin who lives in Florida so that was a major bonus.

And now that the weather has gone from snow to 85 degrees in the space of 4 days our lives are filled with yardwork, outside play and exploring the area.  Today we ventured out to the South Chagrin Reservation Metropark to an area I read about here and discovered a wonderland stream perfect for playing.  Shallow, slow water, 2 little waterfalls, tons of fish and tadpoles and a flat (not rocky) riverbed begging to be waded on. We all had a great time and M got soaked.  We will be back there a lot this summer as it’s the kind of place you could just sit in the stream and play on a hot day.