Travel Thread

[tifosi77]

Also, I believe Newport Beach is where the S.S. Minnow departed from. So there's that.

[tifosi77]

Times change. You can barely see DTLA from Griffith on a good day, and Venice is a 3-sq mi crackhouse; seriously, place is awful, bottom 5 neighborhood citywide in terms of expectations-vs-reality.

Yeah that's true. The boardwalk was rough when we visited in 2021. I still say Griffith is a great place to go, especially when visiting for the first time. We had a clear day in 21 and it was great. An alternative might be having a meal at Yamashiro. Similar view, though not as high in the mountain. We had breakfast there (it's actually rented out to The Griddle cafe in the mornings) and it was great. Pancakes the size of your head. You should've seen the toast. I couldn't even get it through the door.

To me Venice has become the west coast version of Atlantic City without the taffy or charm.

Yamashiro is a pretty good recc, especially if you're staying nearby and don't have to deal with a car. There are certainly far better Japanese places in LA, but the combination of the space and the view are tough to beat.

[NTP66]

I thought Santa Monica pier was overrated, personally.

[nocera]

I thought Santa Monica pier was overrated, personally.

Agreed. It’s also a **** mad house.

[tifosi77]

It's a very sad place to find yourself. There's plenty of fun to be had nearby in DT Santa Monica, shopping and dining, but the pier is asstasstic. And not in the sporty 2009 Kim K manner.

[NTP66]

I thought Santa Monica pier was overrated, personally.

Agreed. It’s also a **** mad house.

Oh yeah. When we went (2012ish?), there were like 12 people every square foot. It was insane.

[Dickie Dunn]

Downtown Santa Monica is super cool. Was a big fan.

[NTP66]

That’s one reason why I want to go back to Southern California - to correct our mistakes. Skipped downtown SM to do the pier.

[skullman80]

Flight leaving punta cana got delayed an hour or so then we got stuck when we landed for 20 minutes in Atlanta for our connection.

Thankfully we had a 4 hour layover so we still made it in plenty of time. Security and customs was super quick. Got 90 minutes to kill before flying back to Pittsburgh.

[skullman80]

Punta Cana was a blast. The all inclusive was amazing. People bending over backwards to do whatever you want and smiling the whole time. Food was pretty damn good too. Entertainment every night.

Having our own private swimming pool in our suite was also clutch to come back to after a day at the beach or the main pool.

Nothing went wrong other than the minor flight delays on the way back. It was wonderful to disconnect from everything for almost a week.

[Dickie Dunn]

Do any of yinz have preferred travel insurance when traveling abroad? We've never worried about it when traveling to Mexico because we're with family and the local doctor making a house call costs $20. Going to Europe with toddler and pregnant wife seems like a situation to pre-emptively cover our asses. I was looking to go with GeoBlue through Highmark, which is comparatively cheap but is only medical insurance. My search for comparisons led me to a travel blog run by a hot chick who posts handbra photos of herself all over the world so I inherently trust her and she recommends World Nomad, which seems quite expensive compared to others.

[skullman80]

We used whatever delta offered us when we booked our flights thru them for insurance...and I also have something on my credit card too for that.

I just looked it was Allianz (yes with a z) that we had when we just went to punta cana.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Tif and nocera

Thank you for the LA related tips, bros

[mac5155]

How's Fort Lauderdale for a weekend trip?

[tifosi77]

Tantalizingly close to Miami

[mac5155]

Is that a good or a bad thing

[Troy Loney]

Probably that you should go to Miami instead

[DigitalGypsy66]

My sister-in-law is talking about visiting us from Sweden this summer. She's a Swedish citizen now and went to renew her Swedish passport. She goes to a police station, they take her picture, fills out a form, pays $40, and gets her passport 3 days later. How easy is that? Why is the process 2-3x expensive here, takes 10x as long, and is much more complicated? She says it was easier than getting her license renewed at the GA DMV

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Everyone is out here trying to terrorize the gr8est nation this world has ever seen and no one gives a damn about terrorizing some second rate snow globe like Sweden.

[nocera]

How's Fort Lauderdale for a weekend trip?

I don't know what prices are like right now, but we bought tickets to Sarasota last month and it's costing us $1,400 round trip... to go to **** Sarasota.

[DigitalGypsy66]

You're not wrong, kenny.

Wrong thread, but her path to citizenship was ridiculously easy too...it's like they want people to move there.

[mac5155]

How's Fort Lauderdale for a weekend trip?

I don't know what prices are like right now, but we bought tickets to Sarasota last month and it's costing us $1,400 round trip... to go to **** Sarasota.

We went to Sarasota last year. Loved that trip and area. But I'm guessing most of the people who are flying to Sarasota DGAF about money. 34,000 southwest points for a round trip direct flight to Ft Lauderdale - didnt seem too bad. Doubletree hotel/resort right across the street from the beach was 50k points a night. I think I'm going to pull the trigger for a 3 day weekend anniversary getaway.

[shafnutz05]

I flew down to Atlanta this week to help my company with one last campus visit. Decided to drive the extra 20 minutes to BWI instead of Philly. 10/10 will do that every time going forward if possible. Much better experience.

[robbiestoupe]

How's Fort Lauderdale for a weekend trip?

I don't know what prices are like right now, but we bought tickets to Sarasota last month and it's costing us $1,400 round trip... to go to **** Sarasota.

We went to Sarasota last year. Loved that trip and area. But I'm guessing most of the people who are flying to Sarasota DGAF about money. 34,000 southwest points for a round trip direct flight to Ft Lauderdale - didnt seem too bad. Doubletree hotel/resort right across the street from the beach was 50k points a night. I think I'm going to pull the trigger for a 3 day weekend anniversary getaway.

I have distant cousins in that area but have only been there a couple times, last time probably 25 years ago. As a teenager/early 20's, it was really fun. But we just went to the beach and swam in the pool.

Wife and I went to Miami last year for her 40th and had a good time. It was in February and between north and south beach, so not as crazy. Which was fine by us. You'll spend a pretty penny in Miami, no matter what you end up doing. We could have spent a lot more if we really wanted to. Ft. Lauderdale is probably a lot less expensive and you're getting a similar experience. If you want to see some mega-yachts and multi-million dollar beach houses, head to Miami beach area.

We did a one day excursion in the Everglades on an airboat. Hiked the Shark Valley loop trail, saw quite a bit of wildlife.

[tifosi77]

Edit: Whoops