I stopped at the bank the other day asking for checkbook registers.
The guy looked at me and was like don’t you do online banking? Yes, as a matter of fact I do (and I know quite a few who have not yet embraced it). But I am really anal and I don’t trust the bank so I like to keep a record as well. It took him a few minutes, but he was able to scour up two checkbook registers.
Are these obsolete? Am I the only one who keeps track with these still…aside from the non-online banking people?
I feel like all travel advice is good advice. It’s up to you if you want to take it.
While living in London I had found out I would be off for the week between Christmas and New Years. I had a few days to play with so I went to one of the local travel agencies and told them the dates I could be away and that I was up for going anywhere, being that I had only been to Paris and London since I was about eight weeks into my living abroad stint.
The woman at the travel agency suggested Belgium as it was a quick train ride, and I easily agreed. I left London for Brussels the next day. I knew I was going to spend two nights in Brussels and then the next two nights I was debating going to the country of Luxembourg (I didn’t really have much of a plan where I would go once I was there but I had my Let’s Go Europe in my backpack!) or the Belgian city of Bruges. I was traveling solo so the plan was mine to make.
On the train, I wound up sitting next to an American ex-pat. She was on her way to visit her boyfriend’s family in the countryside of Belgium and we got to talking. I told her my “dilemma” and she told me in no uncertain terms, go to Bruges. She had been to both – Luxembourg She had told me it was a lovely city and would be beautiful this time of year…December.
I went. And it turned out it was one of my favorite cities ever. Brussels was beautiful, and Bruges was even more so.
I was there for the first snowfall of the season. All the locals were out on bikes from morning to sunset. Parents climbed up windmill hills with their kids and their sleds and it was quite the sledding spot! Fries and mayo. Amazing beer.
I don’t know if it was the best advice ever. But it was great advice for that trip. I fell in love with Bruges. They call it the Venice of the North, and it was stunning.
But now I still need to get myself to Luxembourg so I can decide for myself!
This happened again years later. I was in London for work and I had a few extra days to myself. I didn’t have a plan but I knew I wanted to go somewhere on the Continent for a long weekend. I was at a Christmas party with the London office and my British colleagues suggested Switzerland. I went to the travel agent (yes, this was years ago, and I still had a valid student ID) the next morning, and again, left the following day. Was heading to Zurich…but missed my flight, so basically spent the day at Heathrow, a night in Zurich, Lucerne in the countryside for two nights, and another day/night in Zurich at the end of the short trip…made shorter by oversleeping for a very early morning flight. Again, I was traveling alone so the plan to make was mine. With some guidance by people who had been there, I took their word. And again, had a wonderful trip.
With all the advice on the internet, and trust me, I use it, sometimes it’s nice to reflect on how we picked places before it was made so easy. Or maybe that’s just before I compiled my master, monster wanderlust wish list.
Thought this was hilarious.
How I interpret my picks:
Water – Short flight or ridiculously long flight
Apple juice – I want to go to sleep
Wine – I nearly missed my flight, or it was super delayed
Bloody Mary – It’s an early morning flight
And I have to agree. I think ginger ale is magic sky juice. I sometimes get it on the ground, but not a flight over 5 hours goes by without me ordering a ginger ale.
What I hate is that they always pour perfectly warm juice (yes, I like warm juice) in a cup overflowing with ice. I have sensitive teeth and I can’t drink crazy cold beverages with ice. So, I used to ask for a straw, which they never have, but then I realized the coffee stirrers dual as straws. So now I say with a stirrer. Problem is when you are on a flight where the stirrer is, just a stirrer. Then the flight attendant says, do you mean a straw?
Yes dammit. I was making things easier for you!
I’m not offering $50 like Wandering Earl…but I am curious.
Wandering Earl had asked his readers (I’m one of many!) last week what gets you excited about travel?
Here was my answer. Tell me yours! Or tell Earl (his contest is over, but there are some great answers out there)!
My ‘moment’ is as soon as I press purchase for airline tickets. Since I’m always researching and planning and dreaming, the ‘purchase’ button seals the deal. When I booked the flights for my recent trip to Argentina, it was nearly midnight, I had work the next day and all I could do was jump up and down on the bed in excitement. And I should add, I’m in my thirties.
Yes, it is hot out today. It is really, really hot. And as for someone who was recently diagnosed with environmental allergies, it’s even a little hard to breathe.
But guess what? It’s really hot for those in loads of gear serving our country in crazy-ass heat in the desert thousands of miles from home. I have the luxury of wearing a summer dress and flip-flops and the only thing I have to carry is my pocketbook. Those guys and gals, they have full on uniforms and pounds upon pounds (not sure how many but I am sure it’s not light) of gear.
When I want to complain, I stop myself because of those men and women serving. And also, because it is not snow and cold and ice.
At least it is acceptable for me to eat ice cream every day in the summer. In the winter, not so much.
Unfortunately I was recently reminded, yet again, that life is too short.
The below is an excerpt of an email I sent to friends and family soon after going to a funeral of a childhood friend last year. After the news I heard last week, it’s time for yet another reminder.
Take the time out of your day to make time for those close to you. If distance is an issue, consider the alternative. Six feet under is far away. Everything else is much closer.
The never-ending to do list and the mundane things that keep you from spending time with friends and family don’t really matter much when you are dead. It’s the time you spend and the experiences you have with friends and family while you are alive that truly matter.
This WHY Wednesday should be a good one. Spending four days at the beach. So many observations to be had. So many WHYs to be had…
Stay tuned! Check out the categories on the right, there’s a whole section for WHY Wednesday. Take a read at previous ones.
And if you have any WHYs, feel free to send me a note at simplythreecents@rocketmail.com and I can post yours as an upcoming post on WHY? Wednesday.
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Update: post-trip
There were probably a few WHY Wednesday posts that could have come out of my girls getaway to Cape May. But the biggest question of all…is WHY don’t I have a job that allows me to be at the beach all day, every day…in a town that clearly doesn’t take themselves all that seriously.
We saw so many of the same faces, and before you ask, they were locals. They weren’t on vacation. What do they do for income that allows them to sit at the Rusty Nail for several days straight? And WHY don’t I have one of those yet 🙂
Soon. I will be home soon.
If you are all caught up with my blog posts, visit Simply Three Cents on Facebook and become a fan. Each daily post will appear in your feed so you don’t have to remember to check the site everyday. Or sign up. On the right hand side, you can enter your email and you can choose to receive my posts daily or weekly right to your inbox. It’s like a daily paper. Except I don’t have to ride my bike at 5am to make sure you get it on time. You can read at your leisure.
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Update post-trip
Tuesday morning we got up early, had some breakfast, since the beach chair people wouldn’t set up til at least 9. So with breakfast in our bellies, we went to the beach for another two hours or so. Then made the sad drive home. The NJ Parkway is kind of pretty far south but as you go farther north and then transfer to the NJ Turnpike, boy is it ugly.
The only good part about the NJ Turnpike is that for a few exits the planes over head are taking off and landing from Newark Liberty Airport and it’s cool to watch from the road.
The traveler in me always wonders where they flights taking off are headed and where the flights landing had just come from.
Time to plan another!!
This is just a placeholder of scheduled posts. But check back in a few days and I will be sure to post thoughts, observations and travel tips from my girlie getaway!
Feel free to read around other parts of the blog. What categories interest you? Apartment living? Food? Holidays? Shopping? Things that make me smile? Travel? Wanderlust?
Check out the categories on the right. Wordpress allows me to categorize posts, so that my readers, all five of them, can check out my posts by what interests them. So go on, check it out.
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Update post-trip
Oh Monday. Two of us went for a bike ride, and one for a run. The houses in Cape May look like gingerbread homes and each is prettier than the last. Check out some of my favorites.
We rode our bikes to breakfast at Uncle Bills Pancake House and then after speaking to our waitress – who looked 16 but had to be at least 21 from her stories helping further declare that we are old – decided we would bike it to the Cape May Winery, a few miles away. Over a bridge that had a huge hill, ongoing construction and no shoulder in one direction.
But people, yes, they are nice down there. Three bikers en route to a winery holding up traffic while pumping those pedals up hill. And not one car horn. (Wait, it gets better on the way back).
Made our way to the Cape May Winery which I highly highly recommend.
We were not expecting much but all three of us were pleasantly surprised. Our experience was top notch. Plus it was a Monday. After our tasting, we each bought a glass and shared a cheese plate. Sitting outside on a day with perfect weather looking at the grapevines on a Monday, scores an A plus in my book.
The ride back…oh you pesky bridge. This time we had to merge with traffic but couldn’t ride up the hill. So three of us walked our bikes, with traffic backing up behind us. Not one beep. Not one. Once we made it to the top, we got back on the saddle and basically flew back to our hotel down the big hill.
Post-winery, we hit up the Rusty Nail (yes again, don’t judge!). It is part of our hotel, the Beach Shack. And how convenient because Monday from 11 til sunset is no shower happy hour. $1 Miller Lite bottles. Winning.
After a couple of rounds, we headed to the beach and took to some good reading, and napping. Around six, we left the beach, got ready for dinner and rode off to return our wheels (the bikes) by 7p.
Dinner on our last night. Where to go. Well, I can tell you where three 30-something ladies with no kids don’t want to go. That would be the restaurant where we actually sat down before realizing it was kid’s night. And not just kid’s night dinner specials. Clowns, face painting and balloon animal making. It took us a hot thirty seconds to get up and get out. But should you have a child, I highly recommend.
We went to a more family style restaurant. Looked right out of 1975. Carpet, wood walls. Our food took a long time but it was our last night so we weren’t in much of a hurry for dinner to end. Typical bar food. We had quesadillas, burgers, crabcake sliders and fries at our table. Headed back to the room around 10p. We were able to get in two rounds of Rummy 500…which on the prior year’s girls trip to St. Lucia, we had played plenty since it rained every single day except the day we left.
We did not have that problem this year. The weather was gorgeous.
Gotcha again with my previously scheduled posts. But check back in a few days and I will be sure to post thoughts, observations and travel tips from my girlie getaway!
Aside from my travel posts, these are some of my favorite posts. Take a read.
Translation Trouble, WHY would you eat there, Spectacular Smells, Hello, is this the fire department, House of Hell
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Update: post-trip
Sunday we stopped at the Welcome Center where we got some info, and it just happened to be right next to the bicycle rental place. So we rented bikes so we could visit the Cape May Lighthouse. We rode there, took a few shots of the lighthouse…
visited the gift shop and biked back to town. This was a few miles each way so when we returned, we visited the Ugly Mug bar for lunch and to watch the end of the women’s final soccer game. Post lunch, we hit up the pool, and the poolside beverage service. We had bought three day beach passes so we could have merely crossed the street, but today, today would be a pool day.
Sidenote: Yes, we had to pay to get on the beach. I think New Jersey is the only state that charges people to get on the beach. For that matter, the state charges you to drive on their roads too. And yet somehow the state is still ridiculously over budget. Go figure.
Post-pool we went to return the bikes with a stop at the local Acme to stock up on jugs of water and some snacks. When we were about to hand over the bikes, one of us had the great idea to keep them for another day. So with a brief stop at the bike shop we handed over payment and secured the bikes for an additional twenty-four hours.
Dinner was a late one on Sunday night at the Blue Pig Tavern, at the Congress Hall Hotel. This hotel is a sister property to where we stayed but has been in business since the 1800s. After dinner we took a leisurely walk back to the Rusty Nail (I told you we spent some time there!) for some live music. As you can imagine, a Sunday night was much quieter, but still a very chill, relaxed feel.
And then off to bed. I should note that while on vacation I had some crazy dreams. In fact, I think it was Sunday night, I dreamt that I was Kate and Wills (oh yes, the royals) personal tour guide around New York City. It was a nice dream.
simply three cents 