Travel Thread

[dodint]

In DC now, and went to Carmine’s for dinner. Amazon Italian food, but holy hell was a lot of it wasted. Every plate is basically family style, and I bet three tossed 3 lbs of food from my wife’s plate.

Were the glasses of wine large as well?

[DigitalGypsy66]

We used to go to Carmine's in Times Square after a working the Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center. Very high quality for the portions, but there was 6-8 of us. Not a place for 3, unless you shared one entree.

I haven't been to that one in almost 20 years, but the service was exceptional back in the day. Huge restaurant and unbelievably busy.

So we went every year, and one of the last years we went, our server from the previous year recognized my Dad while we were waiting at the bar for a table. He waved us over and seated us ahead of a bunch of people, even remembered my dad's name and why we were in town.

A Times Square restaurant that seats hundreds and this guy remembered my Dad out of the thousands of people he waited on over the last year. Unbelievable.

[NTP66]

In DC now, and went to Carmine’s for dinner. Amazon Italian food, but holy hell was a lot of it wasted. Every plate is basically family style, and I bet three tossed 3 lbs of food from my wife’s plate.

Were the glasses of wine large as well?

I’m not a wine guy when we eat out, but I imagine that they serve them like this:



DG: Yeah, we didn’t know just how large the plates would be. My wife doesn’t like red sauce, and that’s what my daughter and I wanted, so it just wasn’t going to work tonight. I felt even worse on the walk to the White House because I would have given the food to the homeless guys around the corner.

[RonnieFranchise]

When my daughter and I were driving to camp last week, we stumbled upon this behemoth.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunkhannock_Viaduct

Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct (also known as the Nicholson Bridge and the Tunkhannock Viaduct) is a concrete deck arch bridge on the Nicholson Cutoff rail segment of the Norfolk Southern Railway Sunbury Line that spans Tunkhannock Creek in Nicholson, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Measuring 2,375 feet (724 m) long and towering 240 feet (73.15 m) when measured from the creek bed (300 feet (91.44 m) from bedrock), it was the largest concrete structure in the world when completed in 1915 and still merited "the title of largest concrete bridge in America, if not the world" 50 years later.

That’s funny, I was just there last month. Was driving back from NY and had some time to kill, took side trips to see that and the boulder field at Hickory Run State Park. Capped by a nice dinner and some brewskis at the Turkey Hill Brewing Co in Bloom.

[shafnutz05]

Nice! Yeah I definitely want to check out Hickory Run.

[shafnutz05]

Hit up the Baltimore Aquarium on the way to DC today. Perhaps it had just been too long between visits, but this is not a top tier aquarium. I’d struggle to even give it a 5 out of 10.

In DC now, and went to Carmine’s for dinner. Amazon Italian food, but holy hell was a lot of it wasted. Every plate is basically family style, and I bet three tossed 3 lbs of food from my wife’s plate.

Yeah, I was a little underwhelmed by the aquarium. Maybe because the last time I was there was high school.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Nice! Yeah I definitely want to check out Hickory Run.

IMO

The boulder field is cool, the hikes were pretty good, but the campground was a dump.

[robbiestoupe]

Nice! Yeah I definitely want to check out Hickory Run.

IMO

The boulder field is cool, the hikes were pretty good, but the campground was a dump.

Sad to hear. We visited the boulder field 5 or so years ago, and the campground seemed intriguing. Guess we can check that off the list of places to visit.

[nocera]

2 days in Atlanta next week. I won't have time to sight-see or anything but I will have time for dinner. Any suggestions?

where in ATL? makes a big difference where I would recommend.

Looks like I'll be around Doraville.

[RonnieFranchise]

Nice! Yeah I definitely want to check out Hickory Run.

IMO

The boulder field is cool, the hikes were pretty good, but the campground was a dump.

I know "Being a camp counselor" is different from "camping" at a camp site, but after 4 summers of counseling back in college, homie don't "camp" no more.

[NTP66]

Walking the National Mall wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t 90-something outside and humid as a rainforest. We got our 11k steps in before noon, and I’m beat.

[shoeshine boy]

2 days in Atlanta next week. I won't have time to sight-see or anything but I will have time for dinner. Any suggestions?

where in ATL? makes a big difference where I would recommend.

Looks like I'll be around Doraville.

I hope you like Asian food.....

[nocera]

2 days in Atlanta next week. I won't have time to sight-see or anything but I will have time for dinner. Any suggestions?

where in ATL? makes a big difference where I would recommend.

Looks like I'll be around Doraville.

I hope you like Asian food.....

Sure do. Also any recommendations on where to stay would be great. Obviously not familiar at all with the area. Should I stay in Doraville or somewhere close and drive in?

[shoeshine boy]

Sure do. Also any recommendations on where to stay would be great. Obviously not familiar at all with the area. Should I stay in Doraville or somewhere close and drive in?

I'm not terribly familiar with the hotels in that area but this Marriott is close and re-done in the last few years: https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ ... mory-area/

another option not far away is to stay in Dunwoody. there's a Marriott, a Westin and a Crowne Ravinia. I think there also a few Hyatt and Hilton properties.

now, food.....
Japanese:
https://shoya-izakaya.com/

Laotian:
https://www.snackboxebistro.com/

Asian Fusion:
https://hopstix.com/

Halal:
https://thehalalguys.com/

Malaysian:
https://www.foodterminal.com/

Chinese (Sichuan):
https://guskitchen.com/

Pho:
https://phodailoi.food-24h.com/?fbclid= ... tYt6T17OvM

tacos:
https://elreydeltacoatl.com/

enjoy!

[NTP66]

Booked our DC trip for a few weeks from now. Should I swing by the White House on the 13th for Biden's exit interview, if that's still happening?

Definitely. And while you're there have dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill and then drinks at POV rooftop bar next door.

OEG was very good. My wife’s eggplant was good (I hate eggplant). Their salted caramel bread pudding was outstanding. Hoping it doesn’t thunderstorm tomorrow for dinner, because I have reservations at Chophouse. Oyamel is basically a no go thanks to no reservations and their restaurant week menu, which neither of us was really interested in.

[Shyster]

now, food.....
Japanese:
https://shoya-izakaya.com/

Oh, man, pretty much everything on that menu is authentic izakaya food, and it looks exactly like many of the menus I saw in Japan. I know where I'd be going first. I'd order:

Yellowtail collar
Assorted pickles
Damn near everything on the yakitori menu
Korokke
Fried Eggplant
Potato Dango
And a succession of shochu sours.

[NTP66]

It took two days, but we finally came across three full blown neckbeards in DC, all wearing the same pissbaby shirt, as well as the same pissbaby hat.

[blackjack68]

Did you point at them and laugh, because that’s the proper action.

[shafnutz05]

Home for the next 7 days

[shoeshine boy]

now, food.....
Japanese:
https://shoya-izakaya.com/

Oh, man, pretty much everything on that menu is authentic izakaya food, and it looks exactly like many of the menus I saw in Japan. I know where I'd be going first. I'd order:

Yellowtail collar
Assorted pickles
Damn near everything on the yakitori menu
Korokke
Fried Eggplant
Potato Dango
And a succession of shochu sours.

yep, we go sometimes with a Japanese friend who orders in Japanese off the Japanese menu. it's always spectacular! well, except for the one time we tried Natto. ick.

[NTP66]

DC was a dead zone this week. I have never seen so little traffic in a major area before (not complaining). We did a hell of a lot of walking, and it was in the upper 90s every single day - except for today, where the high was supposed to be 80.

The Air and Space museum was a bust. The entire second floor was unavailable due to unforeseen escalator maintenance. They also closed off a bunch of other sections on the main floor. Just disappointing.

[shafnutz05]

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly vacation weeks go by. Feels like we just unpacked.

There's definitely a good argument that doing a two week beach vacation is worth it if you can afford it. By the time you get settled in it's just about time to turn around and leave.

[shafnutz05]

@dodint and @DigitalGypsy66

This is a fun watch

[NTP66]

I’d love to drive down to Outer Banks again, but I can barely handle the 3 or whatever hours to DC, so that’s just never going to happen again. And if I’m flying down there, I’m just going to go to Hilton Head.

[MR25]

I get to make the drove to Hilton Head Saturday. At least I won't have to go through DC to get there.