Travel

Yes - we knew that going on but it was Randy’s donuts and we couldn’t pass it up.

Has anyone ever been to Singapore? I read things about how strict they are about cleanliness and their different laws (i.e. no gum chewing allowed). Just wondering what it's like from anyone who has actually been there.

Yes.

It's very clean and I didn't step on any gum nor did I take a chance on chewing any. Didn't spit, either.

If you're thinking of going I can't recommend enough, fantastic place to visit. The Hawker food is unbelievably good and inexpensive.

Their metro is easy to navigate, never felt concerned about safety, and I found the people to be extremely friendly and fun to chat with.

I agree with everything GE says. The thing that’s really interesting to me about Singapore is how wealthy and lower classes are mixed together.

For example because of all the Chinese who come there to shop there are 3 Prada stores within a block of each other. They are surrounded by their version of WalMart (or that like) as on the other side other designers that make Prada look like WalMart in comparison.

We are in Driggs ID and close to Jackson with two kids under 5. Any fun local things to do or try here or Jackson?

I’ve only been there in summer and ten years ago at that. Not kid friendly but there’s a brewery (grand Teton) and distillery of the same name in the area.

Grand Targhee would probably be something to look up:

https://www.grandtarghee.com/teton-valley-jackson-hole-activities/teton-valley-winter-activities/?cn-reloaded=1

Lots of shops to explore in Jackson I’m sure.

You could also try here:

Let us know what you end up doing, I miss that area a lot! At least make sure you get far enough into the Teton valley to enjoy the view of the Tetons from the Idaho side. A view that never ceases to amaze!

17 days till I go to Honolulu, I have my 72 hr pre flight Covid test set at MSP so I will not be in any lockdown ??

I might have to cancel my sky dive, roads to go to the the North Shore of Oahu closed due to massive flooding

Hope you trip goes well!

Is the 72 hour MSP test instant results? I will be interested to here how the process works for you, Mrs. GE and I are hoping to go in late November/early December. We wanted to go in 2020 but it didn't make sense, hopefully this year. Aloha!

Yes I depart on 3-19-21 I have my 72 hr prior testing set on 3-16-21 and it takes 24-48 yrs to get results so I should be fine, no Covid results

Will you still be alive when those results come back?

There’s an old Air Force phrase that says only two things fall out of the sky ... bird :censored: and idiots

That said I still am interested at some point in being that type of idiot

I have my testing with Vault at MSP 72 hrs prior I will have no problems

I canceled my Sky dive on the North shore of Oahu due to flooding and closure of the highway to the north shore but I am still going to Hawaii March 16-26 ????

Just received my Covid negative test results from Vault I am set now to go to Hawaii ?

Based on your previous post you might have missed your flight lol

I leave tomorrow at 10:30am direct non stop flight it’s the only way I fly ??

Have a GREAT trip. Wife and I have never been there, and are thinking about it for our 50th next year. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Oahu, Pearl Harbor USS Arizona Memorial is such a good place to go, North Shore Surfing is fun to watch if you go In January February to watch the Pro Surfers on the big waves,the Big Island of Hawaii to see the volcano's flowing

Thanks for the great tips!

Halona Beach Cove (from the movie Here To Eternity) on the SE shore of Oahu is kind of neat, and if you feel it's worth visiting it's also not far from Sandy Beach which is a nice spot. Plantation Village offers nice tours as does Hana Koa Brewing, and I forget the names now but there might be some tours available for coffee and macadamias. Obviously due to covid some might be currently off the table. In my humble opinion avoid Diamond Head crater - for my tastes it was an uninspiring visit and not worth the drive - neither historically nor scenically.

I can see Diamond Head being underwhelming if you don't get there super early so you're at the top for sunrise. But if you're staying in Waikiki (which seems likely for at least one night), it's very close and easy to get to.

Road a montain bike to the top of Diamond head this AM what a view ?

If you’re looking to rent a car soon don’t be surprised if it’s outrageously expensive:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/business/rental-car-shortage-price-spike/index.html

I use Silvercar and I have always found it very cheap plus you lock in a good car. Less than 300 for four days in AZ and the same price for four days in CO coming up.

Wouldn't it make sense to move the cars from Omaha, where they are renting at $300/wk to FL where they are renting at $300/day due to shortages?

Rental companies sometimes offer low rates on one way trips to help move cars. Can be a great way to book an inexpensive trip...

We do one way all the time and it seems like we pay extra for that.

Yes. I have to pay one way on occasion for work and we pay surprisingly higher rates, which is frustrating if you have to fly into Miami and out from Fort Lauderdale. They're like 30 minutes away by car. I doubt it's any problem at all to them.

I should have qualified my statement that you need to search for the deals as they are usually very specific to the destination.

For example, I have seen deals ending in Super Bowl cities as companies try to reposition cars to that location in the weeks leading up to the game.

I have been dinged on some one way rentals, too. Sometimes the rates are the same but they slip in a per mile charge that really nails you.

My return Delta flight from HNL just got delayed from 5pm take off to 8pm they offered to change my flight at no cost to me, my flight is direct the connection flights I located were not worth changing my flight

While the delay sucks, for three hours, I can't imagine it's worth changing flights from a non-stop to something with connecting flights.

Yep to bad I checked out of my hotel before I got the notice of delay no problems ALOHA ?

Now my flight got cancelled to tomorrow am?

So going to sleep in the airport or on the beach?

On my return flight that is now confirmed ?

While I didn't travel to Florida or Hawaii, my family and I did get the hell out of Mankato this past weekend. We decided to go to Duluth, my first trip ever. It was nice to put faces with the names of places that everyone has mentioned here about visiting during game weekends. While the weather sucked on Saturday we still found plenty to do even in the less than ideal weather conditions.

We stayed at the Inn on Lake Superior in Canal Park. All the hotels along the lake were packed and the sidewalks and shops were full of people all weekend long too. The highlights were seeing a couple ships enter and leave, the liftbridge to me is such an engineering spectacle. The Canadian ship Spruceglen yelled that they were "taking a shipful of covid away to help us out". Mighty polite of them.

The only taproom that we went to was Ursa Minor, nice spot with good beer and excellent wood fired pizza. We hit up Gronk's on Saturday night and Anchor Bar for lunch yesterday over in Superior for burgers, and went to the Duluth Grill for breakfast yesterday morning. All of them had great food and service.

We spent a good portion of the weekend looking for agates, my wife and daughter are rock nerds. We went over to Two Harbors on Saturday and swung through Brighton Beach, the weather made those stops short. Yesterday we went to Park Point Beach to search for more agates and had much better weather and luck.

Overall it was a great weekend with no real plans and it worked out great! We are already starting to plan our next trip up later this year to see more of the area.

SWMBO and I are headed to Las Vegas to get out of this rainy weather. Looking for recommendations on brewpubs/reasonably priced restaurants on or near the strip. We're staying at the MGM Grand, and as long as my knee holds out, we don't mind walking. My guess is any brewpubs will be an Uber/Lyft ride -that's OK.

If you are in to Thai food you should try this place:

https://lotusofsiamlv.com/

I've never been there but many say it is the best Thai food they have ever had.

It’s been a lot of years but I really enjoyed China Poblano in the Cosmopolitan

I went sky diving in Honolulu in March 2019 in June 2019

The company I jumped with had a terrible crash here are the results

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/aggressive-takeoff-caused-hawaii-plane-crash-killed-11-77047119

How terrifying that must have been for those on board. Glad you went skydiving with that company in March instead of June of '09!

I'm a regular viewer of "Air Disasters" on the Smithsonian Channel and I don't recall them airing that incident, yet.

https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/details/series/air-disasters

The company I jumped with Oahu Parachute Center was permanently closed after the disaster

Anyone been to Cincinnati? Recommendations on things to see or do there?

Never been. I guess you can eat some chili?

I can't recall specific names of places, but the Over The Rhine neighborhood, and the area around Great American Ballpark were quite nice when I visited a decade ago.

If you are Facebook friends with me you saw me post about this over the weekend.

My wife and I took a little weekend getaway and stopped at this place along the way. Most surprising that my wife had heard of it and I hadn't despite it being so close by.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/45-x-90-geographical-marker

I've passed it up but never considered stopping. I can't decide if this is more Cliff Clavin or Clark Griswald.

Did you get your commemorative coin?

No because we were there on a Sunday and the CVB was closed. I did call them today and they said I can mail them a request along with $6 for shipping. You bet I will be doing that