This is more of a "catch up" post, as I did recently make a couple trips, but the first was unexpected and most certainly not for pleasure, and the other I've already covered in my blog when I visited previously, so not much to write about either.
June 1-3, 2012 | Melbourne, FL
On May 18, my cousin Cullen was tragically killed in an accident while studying abroad in China. Because the accident happened on the other side of the world and required a lot of extra red tape, paperwork and time, there was a bit of a lag between receiving the news and the funeral being scheduled. One thing I did look into was Delta's bereavement fare policy. As it turns out, this fare did not qualify for a number of reasons. First, travel must begin within three days of purchasing the ticket. Because we had more time for planning, I had a flight booked over a week before the travel date. Second, the bereavement fare is only available upon proof this is an "immediate family member." Delta spells it out pretty clearly on their website - cousin is not included (but niece and nephew are, hmm?).
I had a 3:47pm flight departing out of LaGuardia on Friday, June 1. Although there were a couple options for airports to fly in to, my family would be driving in from Birmingham and going right past Orlando, so it was determined flying into Orlando would be our best bet, and they could scoop me up on the way to Melbourne where the funeral was to be held. I landed in Orlando at 7pm and by 8:30pm we were pulling up to City Tropics Bistro in Indiatlantic (near the hotel), where the rest of the family who had already arrived in town had gathered for dinner (there were nearly 20 of us). The restaurant was large and not particularly crowded, so they easily accommodated our group at a long table near the front. I had the blackened mahi tacos which were very spicy (maybe a little too spicy). We spent the next three hours catching up with family, most of whom we hadn't seen since our trip to Costa Rica back in 2009. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, it was kind of nice to just get to see everyone.
By midnight, we decided to call it a night and made the short drive over to our hotel, the Hilton Beachfront in Melbourne Beach. I spent some time out on our (beachfront!) balcony listening to the waves crashing and just reflecting on the day. The next morning, I woke up early to take a walk on the beach with my mom (not early enough, she beat me up by about an hour). It was a gorgeous beach day, not a cloud in the sky, and it only added insult to injury to get dressed in my dark clothes and sit inside a church all day. It was nice to have about an hour to feel the sand between my toes and the salt water lap over my feet - it's been too long, and reminded me I need a real beach trip soon! At 10am, my parents, brother and I sat down for breakfast at Jack's Seafood Bistro, the restaurant in the lobby of our hotel. It took quite a while for a waitress to come over, but we all ended up ordering off the menu; the buffet was overpriced and it was actually less expensive to order a la carte.
After lunch, we drove over to my uncle's home (gorgeous and right on the beach) where some other family was gathered to just chat a little bit. We stayed for an hour and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the funeral. The Funeral Mass began at 2pm at Holy Name of Jesus Church, straight across the street from the hotel. A slideshow played before the service began, which was a nice touch for such a young person's funeral. After the service, there was a reception in an adjacent room for all the friends, and then the family went back to my uncle's house for loads of food and wine. I had lots of time to catch up with my cousins, which again, despite the circumstances, was a welcome opportunity. After it got dark, we went out to the beach (where we were basically eaten alive) with Chinese lanterns some of Cullen's closest friends had brought over. We released them out over the ocean and watched them flicker away until we couldn't see them anymore on the horizon, a fitting tribute to Cullen's short life.
Chinese lanterns on the beach:
Chinese lanterns on the beach:
It was an early wake up call on Sunday morning for my 8:30am returning flight out of Orlando. It was also a long day of traveling; I wasn't so lucky on getting a direct flight out of Orlando, and had nearly a four hour layover in Atlanta (more time to watch the Queen's Jubilee at the gate, though!). I was back in New York by 3:30pm and snoozing shortly thereafter.
Miles Traveled Today: 2,308 (in black on the map)
June 8-10, 2012 | Mashantucket, CT
The second weekend in June found me heading back to Foxwoods Casino for another work trip. This time, however, my boss was not making the journey, so it was up to me to figure out how to get to Mashantucket on my own. I originally booked rental car through Hertz for the rather excessive weekend price of $356. However, through a little finagling I discovered as a perk of being associated with a show in the casino's theater, the casino would actually send a driver to fetch my boyfriend and me from the New London Amtrak station, a 30-45 minute drive from the casino. Had the casino not provided the pick up service, there was also a bus that could take us to the casino from the Amtrak station, but it would mean waiting over an hour at the station and a much slower journey than in the car. It's nice to be a VIP We took the Northeast Regional train, which left Penn Station at 5:42pm and arrived in New London at approximately 8:45pm, $80 one-way (Acela is $130 one-way). Once we were dropped off at the hotel by our driver and processed through VIP check-in, we scurried up to our room to drop off our things to make our dinner reservation. Since I would be working the rest of the weekend, this was our only opportunity for a proper meal, so I chose Tom Colicchio's renowned Craftsteak, which was located in the MGM Tower where we were staying. There are Craftsteaks in a number of major cities (New York being one of them), but I've never had the opportunity to try it out, so it was a good choice. Our reservation was at 9:30pm, and for a Friday night, the entire casino and restaurant were very quiet...still not sure why everything was so empty. We were almost the only table in the restaurant when we were seated, and by the time we left, we were indeed the only table!
We first got cocktails - Sean the blueberry ice martini and the craftsteak cocktail (rum and presecco) for me. Our waiter was very helpful in making recommendations on how to order and what to order, so after a thorough discussion, we decided to take the plunge and try the 10 oz. wagyu beef skirtsteak, priced at a modest $80 (!). The waiter also recommended having it cooked medium to medium-well to get the proper flavors and texture, so we went along with it. In addition, we had the 10 oz. filet mignon ($55) with sides of spinach and roasted garlic potatoes. Everything was INCREDIBLE. If I'm being honest, I'm not sure what the big deal is about the wagyu beef; it was tougher than regular steak and although very flavorful, I don't know that it is worth double the price of 'regular' steaks on the menu. The filet was absolutely fantastic, though - so tender and cooked to (medium rare) perfection - a good recovery from our steakhouse snafu in Napa. It was just a LITTLE too much food, so could have probably stuck with one side and been totally set. The bill topped $250, but luckily for me (I had offered up the meal as my treat), my company agreed to let me expense it.
Craftsteak:
Craftsteak:
After dinner, we walked through the casino and had a couple drinks, but as per usual, the smoke was intolerable so before our clothes were ruined, we made our way back to the room. The next morning, we got a late start and made the long trek from the MGM Tower to the main casino towers in search of breakfast (well, lunch at this point). Not having a taste for much of anything, we settled on California Pizza Kitchen, where I ordered a Thai chicken salad I was able to save half of and store it in our room's mini-fridge for a pre-show snack later. By mid-afternoon, I had taken up my post in the MGM Grand Theatre where I would continue to work for the rest of the evening.
The next morning, we had a few hours to kill before our pick up to take us to our train (departing at 3:15pm). We checked out of our room and had the valet check our bags until we were ready to leave. We then went back to the other end of the casino complex, settling in to a quiet bar and grabbing a few cocktails (because that's what you do on Sunday mornings in casinos, right?) and watched a soccer game on TV. By 1pm, it was time to eat, so we chose to go the tourist route and got a table at the Hard Rock Cafe inside the casino. I wasn't STARVING, so just ordered an appetizer, the Santa Fe spring rolls and a side, the twisted mac & cheese. This was MORE than enough food and sure beats the $20 burgers. The spring rolls were actually pretty amazing. Tourist spots aren't so bad...chains are at least consistent! Our one mistake was ordering two gigantic "souvenir" drinks. I felt like I could hardly stand up after drinking that thing...way too much alcohol for one drink, and for a family restaurant, for that matter. :)
After eating we made our way back to the MGM Tower and were escorted away in our car back to the train station. We had a nice chat with our driver about locals in the area, the relationship with the reservation, etc. It was a very interesting conversation! We were back in New York and on the way back to my apartment a little before 6pm. It was another fun weekend at Foxwoods!
Miles Traveled Today: 280 (in red on the map)
My trips:
Total Miles Traveled: 45,059
