This is what it looks like to hike down through the Grand Canyon. Rocks on one side, a sheer drop on the other, clouds below you, and a path that looks like it’s going to fade off into the enormous blue sky. The trails wind along the sides of the canyon in a snake...
For a city surrounded by desert, Las Vegas has a lot of sea creature metaphors. There are sharks, whales, and minnows — all of which can be found at all hours in the Mandalay Bay casino. Deep inside the tropical-themed resort, you’ll find sea creatures of the non-metaphoric kind. The Shark Reef at Mandalay...
I went back and forth on this for days. We’ve had so much heartbreak in the past year. I process negative things more privately than many people, mainly because I don’t think everyone’s voice always needs to be heard and I’m sure I fall into that category more often than not. But, this time it’s Boston:...
I was lured to Holstein’s by one thing and one thing only: alcoholic milkshakes. Sometimes called “adult milkshakes” (or bam-boozled shakes on this menu) these magnificent beverages are an unusual combination of cocktail, dessert, and childhood favorite. I saw some alcoholic milkshake variations pop up on other Vegas menus, but I couldn’t bring myself to...
A truck with a billboard advertising buffets drove next to our taxi all the way down Las Vegas Boulevard. It prompted this conversation between Alan and I, and then a challenge was issued. “I’ve never been to an all-you-can-eat buffet.” “Neither have I.” “I’ve always wanted to go to one.” “How much do you...
I arrived in Las Vegas on two hours’ sleep. It was and freezing at 3:30am when I left for the airport, but the bright sun of early morning Sin City woke me up before I even left McCarran. (Note: The city is significantly less sinful in the daytime.) Airports start to look the same after...
You’ll never guess where this is. Go on, give it a shot. Hint 1: These are tallest sand dunes in North America, as you can probably tell by that tiny little solemn backpacker in the corner of the photo. Hint 2: This is in the US. Hint 3: There is no ocean nearby. Give up? It’s...
Introducing… Friday Photo! I have so many photos that never make it to posts, so I thought I’d introduce a weekly Friday photo segment. I wanted to use this picture from January for the first ever installment because at first it seems plain, but it still has an element of mystery. It’s of me...
Every New Year’s Eve, no matter who I was with, we’d ask each other the same question. “Would you ever go to Times Square to watch the ball drop?” And every New Year’s Eve, no matter who I was with, the answer was always a resounding no. Until one year, I found myself standing...
It’s shocking to see your neighborhood change dramatically overnight. It’s even worse when that change involves damage and destruction everywhere. Halfway through the week, Alan and I decided to go back to Hoboken and see if our apartment was still there. At that point I didn’t know exactly what was going on (or that I’d...
I never thought I’d have to travel just to find the essentials. In another chapter of the “being forced to travel” book (apparently a manuscript produced by Hurricane Sandy, Inc.) comes something we’ve only read about in history texts: rationing. I can’t tell you the number of people who said — verbatim — “Rationing?!...
Here in the Northeast, we don’t get a lot of natural disasters. Sure, in the past couple of years we’ve gotten hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and floods, but they weren’t devastating. They were just freak weather occurrences that managed to lull us into a false sense of security. The truth is, those numbers and statistics...
Seeing the river was the final straw. I had taken Seamus for his nightly walk along the Hudson, a few blocks away from our apartment. All day long weather forecasters had been predicting that the river would probably flood into Hoboken, a town that floods regularly when there’s a bad rainstorm. After seeing the...