Blog Archives

I took Jeff to a cozy neighborhood eatery in the Mission for his birthday. Spork…named in reference to the restaurant’s location…a former Kentucky Fried Chicken. A hearty inside-out burger made a fitting (and filling) meal, but it was the warm apple crisp (served with a spork) that made it a HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🙂

I had hoped that this photo from the stylish Moss Room restaurant in the new California Academy of Science would be accompanied by actual photos of the museum itself. On Saturday night, we had a really yummy dinner at the Moss Room…joined by friends Chris, Brad, and Brian…as an early birthday present for Jeff. This intimate room is in the lower level of the museum, with a grand two-story wall covered with living plants.

The museum is only open until 5pm, so Jeff and I planned to return Sunday to visit this striking new building, with its buzz-generating green roof, walk-through aquarium, and high-tech planetarium. The museum opened in October, and lines to get in are notoriously long. Sunday was no exception. One glance at the line of families snaking along the Golden Gate Park Music Concourse was enough to send us on our way.

So, for now, you just get a photo of the mossy restaurant wall 🙂

I had a very nice work visit in Colorado Springs this week, with a visitor’s office and hotel room with views of snow-capped Pikes Peak.  

While I’m busy clearing out some missed photos from the last several weeks, I wanted to share some images from my family weekend in St. Michaels in late December. These are some of more artistic shots from that chilly weekend. As you can see from the icicles in the third photo…the temps were frigid…but inside we had a roaring fire.

Well, I am happy to report that my technical (and psychological) barriers to blog posting have been resolved…or at least minimized…and I can begin to catch back up on some recent trips.

So, first off, is a colorful trip to Las Vegas last week for the Consumer Electronics Show. I had the great fortune to try out the Bellagio, which has always been on my must-try list. With the dip in attendance this year at CES, the rates at some of the premium hotels were quite aggressive…a silver lining I suppose.

One interesting bit of timing was that I arrived in time to catch the final day of the hotel’s Christmas display in their flower conservatory. On Tuesday, it was a festive winter wonderland…and the next, the display came down to get ready for the Chinese New Year display. Like clockwork.

As usual, I tried some wonderful food over the few days. Most of the photos came out too dark…Vegas loves dark and moody…but I really liked this colorful sushi plate I had from Samba Sushi in the Palazzo. And yes, it was as yummy as it looks. I also had a morning brioche from this wonderful patisserie in the Bellagio…the brioche below is filled with luscious Nutella…YUM.

I liked this shot of a towering fountain of chocolate in the Bellagio. Its got criss-crossing streams of white and dark chocolate. Amazing to watch.

And finally, what travel post would be complete without my required hotel window photo. with views of the Bellagio pools. Believe it or not, even in January there were a few folks swimming.