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Seattle is a long city with many neighborhoods some of them barely mentioned in the tour guides and yet still full of local colour. Columbia City is my neighbourhood and if you visit on a Wednesday afternoon between May and October, you’ll encounter the farmer’s market which draws producers from both west and east of the Cascades as well as local performers and organizations.
You can eat here, joining dozens of families picnicking on the sloping park ground adjacent to this weekly festival. The Sicilian style restaurant ‘La Medusa’ serves a Wednesday dinner that has been cooked up using only produce purchased fresh that day from the stalls in the market (book ahead).
Within a short radius Columbia City has a pub (great local microbrews), a bookstore (Bookworm Exchange), a gallery, restaurants, a bakery (which serves coffee and treats), a cinema, as well as ethnic and independent shops that beg to be browsed.
If you are in town on the first Friday of the month then come along to ‘Beatwalk’ which starts kicking in around seven in the evening; many of the places described above are open until late, each with their own band, one five dollar payment gives you the freedom to wander from venue to venue people-watching and relaxing (you might even enjoy the music too).
It’s a lot of fun and not set up with tourists in mind, many of my neighbours arrange to meet up or just wander down knowing they will bump into friends. The 'south end' is the 'social end'.
If you have a car (or ride Metro 39) go down to Seward Park and walk the perimeter path that follows the lakeside around this peninsula, looking across towards the downtown skyscrapers, it is hard to imagine that you are in a major US city. Within Seward Park there is old growth with the biggest Douglas fir inside city limits, bald eagles nest here and one particular nest is easily viewed from the internal drive that goes up by the amphitheatre.
I have lived in Seattle since 1989 and I love the south end, it doesn’t get the ‘travel show’ attention of other more northerly neighbourhoods but it’s a quiet gem of an experience waiting to happen.
Head south down Rainier Avenue
www.columbiacityseattle.com/
This rough and ready Vietnamese take out and deli is cheap, friendly, and very good. I have the feeling that without crossing the Pacific this is as close as I am likely to get to Vietnamese street food. Please note: do not be put off by the plain unloved frontage; it is the food that counts.
Just east of 12th and Jackson on the edge of the International District.
The Henry Art Gallery, Woodland Park Zoo, Western Bridge, Brasa, Snoqualmie Pass, a ferry ride to Vashon Island, the salt water pool at Lincoln Park, the statue of Lenin in Fremont, the top of the Space Needle, How To Cook A Wolf, a walk around Greenlake, Matt's in the Market, Platform Gallery, Bumbershoot, the rain.
OK, Graceland is a no-brainer - you've gotta go!
Sun Studios - the birthplace of Rock'n'Roll - sure!
Now go to Stax, by far the most polished experience, as there seems to be a real enthusiasm for the subject rather than the "let's create as much merchandise as we can" motives that affect the others.
STAX Museum of American Soul Music
926 E. McLemore Ave.
Memphis, TN 38106
The cheaper places still have shanty towns around them - the fall out from Katrina.
All part of the ultimate road trip: writeronthestorm.wordpress.com
Hire a car and drive there - it's amazing. Plus condos in Largo are cheap because there are so many.
All part of the ultimate road trip:
writeronthestorm.wordpress.com
Far enough away from South Beach to be cheap. Close enough to be a taxi ride away. All you've got to do is have the dexterity of a safe cracker to work the shower.
www.dezerhotels.com/dezerland/
All part of the ultimate road trip:
writeronthestorm.wordpress.com
This industry is inhumane. Please consider this before you ride them. Horses have died and pedestrians and drivers have been injured. The horses are treated as cars and not living beings that feel pain. Please look at their eyes and do the right thing by them. Contact Mayor Bloomberg and inform him how wrong this industry is to exist in NYC traffic.
All over the city and around Central Park
It's clean, it's cheap, it has wi-fi and it's close to Penn Station.
The smell of pot from across the hall and the scrum for breakfast (think British Bulldogs with bagels) can be put up with too.
I stayed there as part of my travels:
writeronthestorm.wordpress.com
I have just read with interest your article on apartment rentals versus hotel rooms. Recently, a group of girlfriends and me travelled to New York for a few days of shopping and glamour. Rather than tripping over each other's overflowing shopping bags in our soon-to-be-purchased Louboutins, we decided to rent a apartment which would be much more spacious.
On the recommendation of a friend, we booked through an Irish site, newyorkapartments.ie, and we would all highly recommend it. We decided on a two-bed apartments in Mid Town East, which was close enough to all the designer labels we craved, but also just far enough from the hustle and bustle of Times Square to allow us to relax. The apartment was fantastic - really luxurious and, of course, spacious. Breakfast was available every morning and there was also a housekeeping service, which was great as we hadn't come all the way to New York to argue over who was to clean up! There was even a spa and aromotherapy centre - sheer bliss.
All in all, I can safely say that it had all the facilities that you would expect from a top class hotel, without the price tag and with the added bonus of that elusive (well in New York anyway!) extra space.
Depending on the type of card purchased, this pass includes admission to three, five or seven New York attractions and can save you a great deal over purchasing the attractions individually. Most major attractions are included in the card.
Daily tours run by local volunteer enthusiasts from the South Beach architectural preservation society. Excellent on history of art deco buildings and styles, visits to some buildings and gives a great intro to SoBe.
Ocean Drive, South Beach
They are conveniently located 20 minutes from New York City without the high prices of a hotel in Manhattan.
Wyndham Saddle Brook Hotel and Confernce Center
50 Kenny Place
Saddle Brook, New Jersey
www.wyndhamsb.com
If you like saunas, go here. OK, it was humid, but it was really cheap. For a midtown hotel. It was clean and the shared bathroom was ok too. A couple of blocks from Times Square. All good stuff - check out my North American odyssey at writeronthestorm.wordpress.com
At the corner of 6th Ave and 38th street
It's cheap and covers some amazing scenery in a comfy environment, even the Amtrak food and drink is cheap. I accidentally booked a hotel in Canada, forgetting when I set it up to check which side of the falls I was on. Check it out at: writeronthestorm.wordpress.com
from Penn station to Niagara Falls
Get the NYC DOT bicycle map (download or free at bike shops). Also note DOT has information on bridge closings. Sometimes if a bridge is closed they have a free van service. Stick to the paths on the map, watch out for pedestrians, and car doors. Good luck.
www.bikeforums.net is a good source of info. See info on avoiding bike theft. Hint: get a strong U lock and take the seat post with you.
Consider buying a folding bicycle in NYC and returning with it. bfold.com, nycewheels.com and others have folding bikes. Strida would be a good bicycle for touring NYC. Dahon make very nice general purpose folding bikes. Folding bikes can usually be brought on the subway and trains. A bit iffy on crowded buses.
I got a killer deal on my Vegas trip last month. I was given this email with a promocode 'TripResSun' and it saved me US$50 when I spent US$400 or more. I guess it's good for most of their destinations but I just tried Las Vegas. Hadn't heard of them before but it worked.
Monte Carlo is also right on the Strip, 4.5-star, and relatively cheap. Good luck!
Here is what I have
www.tripres.com/destinations/displayHotels.aspx?cityID=181&dest=Las+Vegas&referrer=17549&ovchn=INH&ovcpn=408&ovcrn=0024408&ovtac=ad&promotioncode=tripressun
The Go Boston Card is the perfect pass if you want to visit a lot of Boston attractions. The card can be purchased for 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 day increments. Once you have purchased the card you have the choice of visiting every attraction you can think of in Boston and surrounding areas.
It's the ultimate way to book restaurants in NY and other parts of the US - inc. Chicago, Vegas and LA.
Once you've registered you can search for restaurants online to find great meals at some of the best places in NY (as rated by Zagat Guide).
You'll be surprised how many great places have openings at decent times - places you would not have dared to call!
I've booked some of the best places in Manhattan, lunch or dinner. Collected points - and then used them for another great meal!
Off the beaten track in Jackson Heights, Queens, but an excellent and fairly cheap Italian restaurant.
74-27 37th Avenue, Jackson Heights
www.armondositalianrestaurant.com
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