My Travels

Checked into the Embassy Suites San Luis Obispo for a friend’s wedding at the Madonna Inn . It looks like this Embassy Suites was recently renovated and the interior is very modern looking. Although the breakfast buffet wasn’t available, the hotel did serve hot food. Rates have gone up in the summer and I was able to use hotel certificates for the two night stay. I’m always surprised when room rates can exceed $300 for a weekend night but I guess people need to make back some lost revenue. Dining At the Madonna Inn, I did order a strawberry cake (seasonal) before the wedding reception. The catered menu was bbq chicken and tri tip. A traditional bbq meal and it was tasty. Nipomo Ranch BBQ - I enjoyed a plate of brisket with the tri tip nacho fries. Two Broads Ciderworks - Since I went to Santa Maria earlier in the year, I was given a $40 gift certificate (from the local spend in San Luis Obispo). I haven’t tried their cider and they aren’t open yet for in person tasting. So I used th...

It has been over a decade since I was last in the Fingerlakes region. I have always wanted to come through the area on a vacation rather than for work. With no international trips planned for 2021, I opted to explore this part of the States. Hopped on a multi stop itinerary (stops in San Francisco International airport and Dulles Airport) on United Airlines to land into Syracuse International Airport. Airports do seem livelier these days but still low volume of people. I was glad to see at SFO that there were a few food options still open in the evening time. Normally, I would run into the United Lounge but the entire airport felt like a lounge given the low number of people to open eateries ratio. Dulles was much more packed probably because I landed in the morning and people are trying to fly to Europe.  At Syracuse, I didn't find a better rental car rate than Enterprise via Priceline when I booked the flight months ago. I had hoped the rental car shortage would have improved but...