Category Archives: US Travel

Comic Con 2012: No Juice

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So, we had a blast at Day Two (our day one) of Comic Con yesterday. We snapped TONS of great photos, ran into a few friends, made a few small purchases, and met some cool new folks.

All in all, I would say the day was an absolute success…with one small exception.

My cell phone was dead before it all started. And I couldn’t find a place to plug in and juice up. Which really is a bummer because it means I couldn’t tweet, blog, or take photos with my phone. Luckily, we have another camera and the photos look great, but I won’t be able to share the images until we get home to a computer.

No worries, though. I took tons of photos and will take more today. But for now it’s back to the Con for some D&D.

Finally Arrived at #SDCC 2012

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We made it! Yay. But my car phone charger apparently doesn’t work. I have a deadish phone and no way to blog or tweet. Be back with updates when I can find a power supply.

2011 San Diego Comic-Con Wrap Up: Day One

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I cannot think of a better way to prepare for the 2012 Comic-Con Convention, then to go ahead and share the joys of the 2011 convention. It really was probably two of the best days of my entire life, and it was also my very first year attending (Mark’s too)!

So before we pack up and head out bright and early Friday morning, It’s time to take a step back in time.

Day One: Thursday

We started the day of EARLY…We were on the road by 5:00am, which…ended up being a little too early. We had friends who normally came up for the final two days of the con telling us that the line to get badges was always a few hours long, and we didn’t want to spend half of our first day in line.

We got into San Diego at around 8am, stopped for a breakfast burrito at Jack and the box, which ended up being too spicy for me to eat. I had to give it to a more than willing Mark.  We then fumed about parking for a  while….boy what a nightmare…and a serious lack of signs on the part of SDCC.  But we did finally find a great spot.

So back to that long registration line. I’m freaking out at this point that we won’t get our passes until noon and am really upset….yeah…Well, it turns out that if you come the first two days, the lines are not really long at all. We had our badges by 930 am, and we still had to wait around for the doors to open to the exhibit hall.

I got a Big Bang Theory Swag Bag for all the cool stuff we would be collecting.

After I found some super expensive food, we had a blast wondering around the hall and checking out all the cool displays, video games, and vendors.

Hogwarts…..eeek!

Drizzt and Mark

I bought a pair of D20 earnings from a really cool jewelry vendor.

Mark wasted no time finding a place to play unreleased  games

I also got a rad Star Wars T-shirt, which definitely got put on as soon as we realized how freaking hot it was. The black I had worn in turned out to be an awful idea.

Mark also switched to a white shirt and we got to meet dobby the house elf.

After we left the convention hall for the day, we headed over to meet my friend and co-producer from Legends of Atoll for a web TV mixer. I won a raffle for a web seminar, and I got to meet our SAG New media Rep for the web series.

We were so happy. :)

We didn’t check into the hotel until pretty late. We had chosen King’s Inn because of its close proximity to the convention center, and also because it was pretty cheap on a very expensive hotel weekend. Also…it was nerdy. :)

Because it was so late we only had about 15 minutes to sit in the hot tub before we were kicked out of the pool area, but we were so exhausted from our day of walking around that we ended up passing out right away anyway.

It was the perfect start to the perfect vacation, and I couldn’t wait to wake up and experience more.

To be continued….

The Local Flavor: America’s Oldest Brewery

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I love Yuengling…in case you didn’t know.

It was the first beverage I consumed after landing in Pittsburgh last month…

It was the first beer the afternoon that we left Pittsburgh…

And I took great care to consume much and more during our week long stay in Central City.

I was always a Yuengling drinker, even when I lived in Florida, but like all the best things, I never truly appreciated what I had in this fine Lager, until it was gone.

It is incredibly difficult and basically impossible to get this delicious East Coast beer out west.

A few years ago, Mark’s Aunt Gina shipped me a case for my birthday (see above), but it’s not like you can find it at any store or local bar. I think the company actually refused to sell the beer West of the Mississippi.  Fail. :(

But we certainly took advantage of the chance to drink up while we could…

And we MAY have brought 24 beers home with us to enjoy….slowly…in LA.

The Local Flavor: Hurdles Bar and Grill

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The eve before leaving our wonderful and peaceful Pennsylvania vacation, we headed over to Hurdles Bar and Grill for some beer and hot wings.

This awesome haunt is located in the small mining town of Windbur, PA a mere ten minutes from Mark’s hometown of Central City.

We had Yuengling on tap (because it is the best beer in the world and we cannot get it in LA) and a few dozen really incredible wings.

I ordered six of the Copper and six of the Mild Parmesan garlic wings.

Yum.

The homemade sauces are unique and tasty, each with a very distinctive flavor profile.

The copper wings are tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce, with a slight kick. These were my favorite of the two (and everyone else agreed).

The Parmesan Garlic wings are just what they sound like. A wonderful garlic sauce with a hint of traditional mild wing sauce, and topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Both types of wings were incredible, but what set this apart from the other wing companies was the way they are cooked. The skin is perfectly crisp, but the inside is juicy and the tender pieces of chicken fall of the bone.

Washed down with a tall glass of Pennsylvania’s finest lager and you have the perfect small town treat.

Good food, good beer, good friends…what more can you ask for?

Curious about this small town gem:

Hurdles is located at: 640 Main Street  Windber, PA 15963.

US Travel: Southwest Airlines

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Yay for extra room on an air plane. It has been a few years since I have found myself on a less than full flight. It was kind of nice.

I love flying Southwest. Everyone gets two free checked bags, seating is first come first served, and rather than fighting a mosh pit crowd to board the plane, passengers are given a boarding position (either A, B, or C and a number 1 through 60). I’m pretty happy with this system and since I always check in 24 hours in advance (exactly 24 hours in advance) I generally get a good boarding position.

On top of all this awesome-ness, Southwest earns massive points for free snacks, drinks and more legroom than the other airlines. And did you know they are going green? A long-time Eco-friendly company,  Southwest is now taking things a step further with their new ”Evolve” interior. This design is Eco friendly, cost effective, and emphisizes personal comfort. The seats will feature a fixed wing headrest and a lumbar cushion.

Um…I’m excited.

Oh, and Southwest’s Rapid Rewards Program has NO blackout dates. I love this airline.

Just got home and I am exhausted. Can’t wait to catch you up on the trip tomorrow. The wedding page is about to explode.

Night!

US Travel: A Cabin in the Woods

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So, I may have failed to mention this before we left for PA…but I don’t have cell reception in most areas of this town.

So, that means that I have to wait to get into town to upload my blog posts for the most part. :(

But, I will keep writing, even if it means I have a back log waiting to get published.

For now, I want to write about the beauty of the place we are staying in.

Mark’s Dad found a Cabin in town for us to stay with my Mother.

It is incredible.

It feels remote and set away from everything (though the whole town does in all honesty). It is up in the woods, and at night next to a crackling fire we watch the dance of the lightning bugs while staring up at the massive expanse of stars.

It is breathtaking and really adding a level of calm to what could be a very stressful vacation.

This is truly a perfect, relaxing mountain retreat.

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Delayed…

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We had a pretty smooth flight from Burbank Airport to Pheonix Sky Harbor International. Or, I think it was a smooth flight.

I was blissfully unconcious.

Yay, Sleep.

Bad news? Our flight from Pheonix To Pittsburgh is delayed by a half of an hour….

Bored.

Mark and I split a Cinnabun while we waited (which is NOT on our diet), but we are on vacation, so what the hell.

I would be less bored if Mark hadn’t stolen my Kindle. :( So, I blog.

I am so excited to get into town. We are having dinner in the city at a truly Pittsburgh establishmen and I am so excited.

But for now, I wanna get back on the plane and back to sleep.

US Travel: The Urban Wine Trail – Santa Barbara, CA

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A few months back, in late February, many things were happening in my life all at once.

Mark was still only just my boyfriend.
We were celebrating our four year anniversary of being a couple.
We were visiting the wonderful city of Santa Barbara, CA.
And we were about to be in for some really bad headaches…

I kid you not when I say that this may have been the drunkest I ever been whilst wondering around an unfamiliar city at night…

…and it was divine.

Also, it was probably not even 8:00pm. Woops.

Word to the wise while wine tasting…drink slowly.

But let’s start at the beginning, now that you have seen the end.

We left our apartment in Los Angeles around 11:00 the morning of February 23 (our ACTUAL anniversary was the next day), and headed towards our anniversary vacation.

Amid gorgeous vistas of the ocean, we arrived into town around 1:00, and were awarded an early check in to our hotel, The Coast Village Inn. Great place by the way. The rooms were clean and quaint and it felt more like a Bed and Breakfast than a remodeled motel, and the staff was wonderful.

We told the woman at the front desk that we wanted wine tasting where we didn’t have to stray too far from the hotel (so we could both drink and cab it back).

They sent off to The Urban Wine Trail, even noting the “cannot miss” and the “you probably should avoid” tasting rooms.

Way helpful. They even called us a cab, and called the room when it arrived.

First stop: The Oreana Winery and Tasting Room. The inside of this place was awesome. I especially liked the colorful walls, and the wine lovers fair.We got some awesome bracelets that said funny things like, “Pickled,” and “Smashed.” The wine wasn’t bad either. My favorite was a medium bodied red called, “Tilly.” We even grabbed a bottle the next day to take back home with us.

Next up:  Across the street at The Santa Barbara Winery. They gave us some bread sticks to cleanse our pallets, which was good since we were both starving. Our favorite wine here was a buttery and smooth Chardonnay. The wine sampling even includes the glasses we used for free! They let us pick these up the next day so we could stagger around all day without fear of breaking them. We also grabbed a bottle of their basil mustard, which is, by the way, delicious.

By this point we were already a tad stumble-y as we made our way over to the local recommended bar and tasting room, Corks n’ Crowns, or Corks as we heard it. At the time, this place was not officially party of The Urban Wine Trail, but I do think they are now.

We decided to switch things up, and taste some beer at Corks. I’m glad we did. Every single beer on the tour had great things about them, and it was probably the first IPA I have ever really cared for.

Mark and I brought a six pack of assorted beers home with us well.**Tip: Buying the six pack also snagged us a nice discount on the cost of the tour. Um…yes.

We rounded out our tasting experience at Municipal Winemakers. We found more free snacks (thank goodness) and another great assortment of wines, though if I’m honest, I can’t remember what my favorite was. I think I was starting to forget my own name at this point. The inside was awesome and trendy, and the women helping us was so much fun. We must have chatted for over an hour as she offered her congratulations on our anniversary.

She also took a few pictures of us.

We walked (basically fell) back to Corks for a couple more glasses of wine and some pizza (finally). The pizza was good, but we were starved and pretty much devoured it. I think it had toppings on it, and some cheese. :)

We ended up (hammered), down by the pier (taking rad self portraits) to conclude our anniversary wine tasting experience in Santa Barbara.

All in all, the Urban Wine Trail is a wonderful tasting trail for the younger wine drinkers. Pretty hip, trendy and easily walkable, the trail offers a great variety of really incredible wines…but be warned, the wine sampling is (way) more affordable than the single glass of wine we purchased. Skip the glass, and indulge in the variety at every spot you visit.