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Showing posts from April, 2023

Nashville/Cookeville

So with a few segments away from getting 1K status on United , I decided to grab the cheapest flight and it ended with me going to Nashville. I haven’t been to Nashville in awhile and my partner wanted to visit some friends we haven’t seen in almost 10 years. Given the length of time, the Nashville International Airport has dramatically changed and modernized. I’m sure the growth in the state population had something to do with this. Because of the short time I had in Nashville, I bought a few local whiskeys from the airport gift shops. It was the closest I was going to get to these distilleries and bought a few bottles of only in Tennessee whiskeys. So I decided to check out the Conrad Nashville and spend the weekend at one of the newest US Conrads. The hotel is not in downtown (music row) but it is close via taxi. The area looks like a commercial area that is slowly changing or at least attracting a variety of hotels, restaurants, and bars.  Overall, I did enjoy my stay at the Conr

Oahu

On a segment run for United and ended up back in Waikiki for a quick weekend trip with my cousin. Since I wasn't trying to stay long, it was a quick two night at the Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki Beach . Without a car, I think it is better to stay at this end of Waikiki and even learned of a new part of the beach that I enjoyed. I didn't realize that the waters are calmer by the park and had always assumed that the entire beach had the same level of roughness. The hotel also offers access to free beach chairs to a third party vendor and they are conveniently located across the street from the beach.  I did spend a day driving around the island with a Zipcar . Although make sure you key in your correct return time as the penalty is more expensive than the extra hour you need. Dining Arancini di Mare - I tried their squid ink pasta. I am always willing to try squid ink pasta as it isn’t normally on many Italian menus and was happy to have enjoyed the dish. The pizza my friend ordere

Cabo San Lucas

Hopped onto a United flight to head down to San Jose del Cabo International Airport aka Los Cabos Airport. The priority pass lounge in the airport is nice, they recently renovated and the space and food options have improved.  Having to kill some points on the timeshare, my partner and I opted to go back to Fiesta Americana Los Cabos . We had options to go to another property but the all inclusive option brought us back to Fiesta Americana. With a lot of time on my hands, I wandered throughout the facility to see what I’ve not seen in the past. With the pandemic winding down in foreign countries, it was interesting to see how inflation had changed some of the practices. Observations at the Fiesta Americana The agents still try to convince you to sit in timeshare presentations; however, instead of food credit for one day they were willing to credit the entire stay. The cost of the inclusive option increased (not surprising). The flaming coffees are now an add-on price at some restaura