My Travels

Haven't been in this city for almost 10 years. Alot has changed since my last visit. The town was in a "revitalization mode" last time I was here and just opened up the aquarium. They've seemed to build themself around the antique arts theme. In general, a cute enough town. Stayed at the historic Sheraton Read Hotel in downtown. Very nice, I dig the traditional wood and trim styles typical of the South in the 1800s. The room w as very nice, was given a suite. Chattanooga seems to be a hotbed for weddings as there were about seven weddings going on this weekend in various hotels in the city. Had some very tasty breakfast at Aretha Frankenstein's, the best breakfast potatoes - they used garlic and jalapenos in the mix. Also, I've actually found scones!! Well, they called them biscuits but they looked and tasted like scones from the UK except they were the size of my fist. I also wondered through a fair and found some cool chicken sculptures from Hammock Ironwork

For a change, I'm staying in Denver for more than a day. NAGAP is having a conference in Denver and I'll be in town for 4 days. Unusual, since I only visit Denver to go to UC-Boulder and that is usually an overnight trip. I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn near the Convention Center. Very nice hotel, unlike any other HGI I have stayed. Full bar and restaurant and the decor is very modern. They've strayed away from the typical HGI layout. The rooms have your typical amenities of microwave and refrigerator but the decor is far nicer than I've experienced. The hotel is very new and the inner workings show it but they try and I will give them that credit. Lately, I've noticed the online Hilton reservations website isn't as good as it used to be. This is the second time where I've had a different room rate in the hotel's system versus what I booked online. I typically make reservations far in advance and check the hotel rates intermittenly to see if the ra