Sights and Bites #4

Looking for a fun weekend away, maybe with your family, gal pals, or significant other?  The city of Providence, Rhode Island is a great place to explore for a few days. The city offers shopping, culture, sports, and history.

When I visit Providence, I really enjoy staying right off of I-95 near the state capitol building.  If I'm going budget friendly, I tend to choose the Courtyard Marriott, but for more of a splurge, I love the Biltmore.  This historical icon of Providence has been in business for almost 100 years and after an interior remodel in '06, it is ready to take on another 100 years of visitors.  The Biltmore name glowing on the Providence skyline is one of the first things that comes to mind for me (and many others) when thinking of this city.

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Once you have settled on a place to stay, go explore the unique and varied shops on Thayer Street. You'll find cafes, specialty gift shops, hipster clothing stores, and other spots that fill up the blocks of this college-y part of town (college-y is a word right?).

Next up is finding a solid lunch to energize you all afternoon long and I recommend Geoff's. This tiny, chaotic sandwich shop is down the hill from Brown University and R.I. School of Design, placing it away from the heavy traffic of Thayer Street, but certainly not keeping away its customers.  This busy, no-frills shop is lined with chalkboards that list all of their different sandwich creations from top to bottom.  Geoff's exudes a little bit of "what are you looking at " attitude yet still boasts nice customer service. 

There are probably 50 different types of sandwiches available and they all are named anything but your typical "Ham and Cheese" or "Reuben on Rye."  The employees seem to love shouting out the funky name of your sandwich upon it's completion, getting particular joy from naughty names like the "frigid bitch" or the "sloppy ho".

If you want something more substantial, check out the Federal Hill area.  Atwells Ave is lined with tons of different sit down restaurants and some neat architecture.  There are also a few good bakeries that always catch my eye as I walk down the street with their big window displays of cakes and pastries.  Parking here can be a bit hard to find, but most restaurants offer valet parking to lessen to hassle for you. 

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During the summer and early fall months, I highly recommend ending your day with something called Waterfire.  The river that winds through the downtown area is dotted with giant, cauldron-like firebowls.  These get filled with split logs of wood and are lit at sundown.  People line the sidewalks, bridges, and grassy areas to relax and take in the beauty of the fire that seemingly floats on the river, the smell of wood as it crackles and pops, and the sound of the music played in the background. 

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I love to bring a blanket, set it down on a grassy hill and get settled in for a relaxing evening.  To go with the blanket, I always pack some cheese, crackers, grapes, and wine to make the night a little more special.  High romance for for a zero dollar admission fee!

If Waterfire sounds a little too lovey-dovey for you, how about checking out the Paw Sox?  The Boston Red Sox's Minor League team plays in Pawtucket, RI, which is just a short drive away from Providence.  The tickets are reasonably priced and you can choose to sit either on the grass past the outfield or in the stadium seating.  Grab your baseball cap, some cracker jacks, and get ready for an American classic.

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If none of the above strikes your fancy, you can always just stick with good ol' shopping mall time.  The Providence Place Mall has great stores and restaurants, but beware, you do have to pay to park here in their garage.

There you have it - just of the few things that can keep you busy for a weekend away in Providence, Rhode Island.  Where do you love to go for a short getaway?

Until next time, travel on...
Maggie

Resolving to Keep Calm and...

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about resolutions for 2013.  How can I be better, healthier, smarter, kinder, happier?  On January 1st, promising to improve something about myself for the entire year sounds so refreshing, yet it also seems like a simple way to set myself up for disappointment.  What if I find my goal to be a lot harder than expected, what if I hit road blocks along the way, or what if I just throw in the towel all together?

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This year, I have decided to make 12 mini-resolutions - one smaller goal that I can work towards each month.  This way, I can have little successes every 30 days or if need be, 12 chances to be better at staying on track with future months' goals. 

For January, I have decided that I need to use my iPhone less while I'm driving.  I call friends and family on my ride home from work, I use my phone as my GPS when I travel, and I admit, that if I get stuck in traffic or if I sit at a really long red light, I don't hesitate to check my emails or quickly scroll through facebook.  Problem is, I don't always put it right back down once traffic lets up or the light turns green.  So far, the hardest part of correcting this behavior is even being concious that I'm doing it.  I often don't really notice that I have grabbed my phone as it has gotten so instinctual to have my fingers flipping from app to app.

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Seeing a status update of what someone had for breakfast or deleting another junk email is not nearly as important as keeping myself and all the other drivers around me safe on the road.  So, here I am before you all here in the bloggy world, promising to be a less distracted driver.  Next month, I'll let you now how this works out as well as what is on the list for my February resolution.

Until next time, travel on...
Maggie

Traveling? Forget the map, get the app...

Gone are the days of flipping and folding paper maps with your route highlighted in milky yellow ink.  Gone are the days of pouring over travel brochures before heading to a destination.  Nowadays, our phones have become our hub for restaurant reviews, road trip music mixes, traffic-defeating directions, and more.

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Before you take off on your next journey, here are some highly rated travel apps that I think are most worth the download. 

(I have not been compensated for these reviews, nor do I have any affiliations
with these companies, just honest thoughts from a frequent traveler!)

XE Currency Exchange
Heading to another country, perhaps even as close as Canada? Converting amounts to different currencies can cause a brain freeze faster than a Friendly's Double Thick Fribble.  Just enter in your default currency and add the others that you want to keep track off.  This app is reliable and will even keep rates saved on the phone for those times that you lose internet connection but still need to convert dollars to francs or yen or euros.

Google Translate
Ever try to beat the clock while you flip through an English-Spanish dictionary for the right way to express "Bathroom, STAT"and your toddler does the potty dance?  Not only can Google Translate assist with text translation, it can also take what you say out loud, then show and speak the translation back to you in the language of your choice.

Expensify
One of the most hated parts of business travel for a lot people is dealing with expense reports.  Matching up crinkled, faded receipts to pages of credit card bills can be a hassle (and that is if you can actually find all of your receipts once you get home).  Expensify to the rescue!  Use your phone's camera to record all of your receipts and then the app will organize all of them into one PDF for you to submit upon your return to the office.  One note of caution - ask your finance department about this before you travel - some offices will still only accept original receipts.

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Tipping Bird
Picture this, your taxi is pulling up to your final destination or you are ready to pay your bill after a sit down meal.  Do you tip?  How much?  This is a tough question when you are traveling to places outside of the U.S. as some cultures actually find the practice of tipping to be quite rude.  The Tipping Bird app allows you to not only indicate what country you are in, but more specifically, what situation you are in (hair salon, bell hop, shoe shine?) so you will know how much is appropriate to leave.


HappyHoured
After a day of surviving through hours of meetings in an ugly hotel conference room in a city that you aren't familiar with, the last thing you want to do is end up at the local, rundown Denny's where you can't even get a drink.  Use the HappyHoured app to look for local deals on drinks, apps, and more.  You can search for pubs that have food, wine bars, spots that feature mixed drinks, or your classic 2 for 1 cold brew.


TaxiMagic
Perhaps you took advantage of the previous app, went to a Happy Hour and then became a little too happy to drive yourself home.  TaxiMagic lets you type in where you need to be picked up, watch your taxi move on a map as it comes to find you, and finally allow you to pay for the ride instantly on your phone.

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What apps would you never leave home without?

Until next time, travel on...
Maggie

Be A Hometown Tourist

Looking for something new to do this coming weekend?  Depending on where you are from, you may or may not be able to get away with this one, but I challenge you to be a tourist for a day in your town.  If you are like me, you probably have your favorite couple of restaurants that you tend to go to or a coffee place that you always grab a cup of joe from each morning, but have you really ever explored the area?

Imagine you were taking a trip somewhere far away, what you would plan on doing?  Would you look for cute shops to poke around in or maybe have a bite to eat at that "hole in the wall" restaurant only known by the most local of locals?  Would you stroll through a historical park or a spend an afternoon at a museum to take in some culture?
 

The town (or city, I suppose) that Mr. C and I lived in together for the past 3 years had parks, historical mansions, a river, restaurants, shops, cafes and more.  We really loved living there, but we probably missed out on plenty of gems by not looking around more closely in our time spent there.  We have just moved into our first true home together in a new town and a slightly new part of the state.  I'm really looking forward to becoming a local, but for now, we truly do feel like tourists in this new place as we search for the best pizza delivery place, maybe a mini golf spot, and perhaps even a small cafe that can become our perfect place for coffees and the Sunday paper.

Let me know what you find in your area by exploring like a tourist!

Until next time, travel on...
Maggie

Keep Calm and Relax (Differently)

The start of a new year has such a fresh, crisp feeling to it.  A feeling of a clean slate, or perhaps a clean calendar just waiting to be filled with meetings, appointments, brunches, concerts, and of course vacations and travel!

When thinking about the year ahead and picturing how I would like to spend my 2013 vacation days, I was realizing that we all picture those relaxing vacation days in very different ways.  Mr. C and I really enjoy traveling up north to Vermont in the winters and hunkering down in front of a crackling fire at small B&B.  In the summers, you can usually find us exploring restaurants, breweries, and landmarks in a new state that is a just a short plane ride away.

The Four Columns Inn - one of our favorite B&Bs in Vermont

How do you envision your precious days off?  Do you like to spend the day lounging on the couch or perhaps would you rather be rolling through the tall weeds of an African safari?  Do you enjoy trying to hit the big jackpot at a casino on the Vegas strip or would you be found on a Habitat for Humanity trip repairing dilapidated homes?  There is no right answer - it all depends on what makes you happiest!

 

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Studies show that every generation relaxes differently. This past summer, Princess Cruises revealed survey results about how Millenials and Boomers think about vacations.  It divulges how many of them actually use their vacation time, who still feels the need to update their facebook status while away, and who feels guilty about leaving the kids behind!  The survey results, which can be read about here, are even humorous at times, mentioning that Millenials would like to meet people like Marshall and Lily from "How I Met Your Mother" while on a trip, whereas Boomers would rather befriend Phil and Claire Dunphy from "Modern Family". 

I find generational differences to be so interesting. - if you want to look into it more, I recommend reading any of Neil Howe and William Strauss' books.  Anyway, let the planning begin!  Here is hoping to a year full of well-spent vacation days, no matter if you are a homebody, a world traveler, or someone in between.

Until next time, travel on...
Maggie