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Travel Log: Cleveland (May 2017)
Cleveland is one of those cities that kind of unfortunately (for them) gets a bad rap for a variety of reasons (the Browns, dirty river on fire, Drew Carey, etc.) and because I’m from Cincinnati, I must assert my in-state superiority complex by making fun of it relentlessly. To be fair, I had been there a few times in my life… but always for sports and the city itself was an afterthought. I’ve been to Jacobs Field a few times (when it was still called Jacobs Field), and to Quicken Loans Arena a handful of times for hockey games, but never really explored the city beyond that. The boyfriend had never been…
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2016 Travel Log – Part II (Dallas)
One of my soft goals for each NHL season is to see my beloved Columbus Blue Jackets in a new arena. Before this season, in addition to their home arena, I had seen them in Nashville, Detroit, St. Louis (x5), Carolina (Raleigh), Tampa, Florida (Sunrise), and Washington. And for years, my long-time twitter bud (and Dallas Stars fan) Jason and I had been looking to go to a game together, but Jackets/Stars never seemed to work out favorably on the schedule until this year. Game #3 on the season happened to be a Saturday night in Dallas — so, as expected, off I went to NHL Arena #9! I like…
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2016 Travel Log – Part I
I did a lot of traveling in 2016. For most of my adult life, little getaways have been a luxury that I embrace fully. Whether it’s jumping in the car to a spot a few hundred miles away for the weekend or hopping a plane to a place I’ve never been, I revel in the chance to see new places and experience new things. (Though I have a print from Natterdoodle that says, “No matter how far I roam, Ohio will always be home sweet home.” Because I still love it here!)
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#JuddFest2016 – part the seventh [5/27]
At last we have made it to the seventh and final [full] day of my trip. A travesty! I fell more in love with New Orleans than I already had been (although I’m certain I couldn’t live there, only visit). It’s a wonderful city and there really is so much more to it than what people associate with it — Mardi Gras and devastating hurricanes. The culture is phenomenal and the food is delicious! And I’m forever thankful to the friendly people who are certainly exhausted by the endless tourists but are always willing to point you in the right direction anyway. Day seven started with another trip to Café…
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#JuddFest2016 – part the fifth [5/26]
Day five saw two more members of our group arrive from Cincinnati (hi, Craig and Ashley!). Our first stop of the day was for lunch, where we walked from our hotel to the St. James Cheese Company. Who doesn’t love cheese? I was playing it safe again, and went with the tomato/mozz ciabatta. Why don’t I cook this all the time? It was delicious. From there, we took a nice warm walk to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. This was one of those niche places that is probably not on many people’s radars, but for $5, it was actually pretty interesting and a solid addition to the trip. There…
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#JuddFest2016 – part the fourth [5/25]
As I suspected, it would take me forty-seven years to finish writing about my trip, but here I am back with more. Day four! A lot of our day was improvised, I think, but that was part of the charm. As any self-respecting tourist does, we started our day with a trip to the legendary Café du Monde. The first time I tried it (last summer), I wasn’t a big fan of the coffee – I guess the chicory didn’t do it for me. But maybe it grew on me? Anyway, I could eat beignets every day forever if they had actual nutritious value. And also, this place teaches you…
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#JuddFest2016 – part the second [5/23]
Day two started with high hopes for digestive luck (joke’s on me!) and brunch at the Camellia Grill, a quaint little diner with counter service. It was the kind of greasy-spoon place you know is going to be delicious the moment you walk in the door. The veggie omelette was the size of my entire head (and much larger than my stomach), but absolutely delicious. If it’s not yet evident, we ate a lot of food on this trip, and almost all of it came from New Orleans originals. Next, we swung through the French Quarter briefly and checked out the Voodoo Museum. Talk about a tourist trap, there…
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#JuddFest2016 – the epic vacation, part the first [5/22]
If we’re friends on Facebook or Snapchat, you’ve probably seen the extravaganza of photos and updates from New Orleans over the last ten days. On the 22nd, I hopped a flight from CVG to MSY to join four of my favorite people for a week of pre-nuptial festivities (and for me, post-graduation celebrations!). First of all, shout out to Allegiant for the absolutely painless experience. It was my first time flying with them; I’m loyal to Southwest to the end, but sometimes it’s nice to actually fly out of the airport closest to my house. Oh, and also very nice to spend $150 on an airline ticket. And neither of my…
