Carousel

It's Friday! woo! I'm very very happy that it's Friday. It's been a long week for me and frankly Friday is the day to celebrate the release! Carousel is a little bit different today, but I think you'll like it anyway.

You blew your shot with Saint Peter when you blew Peter Saint. But hey, no worries. You can save your soul online at reserveaspotinheaven.com. For less than the cost of a couple of cocktails, you'll get a certificate of reservation, registered in the Book of Light; a first class ticket to paradise (why climb stairs when you can fly?); an official ID card; and the heaven 101 mini informational guide (find out what's really behind those pearly gates). A few more bucks and you'll have VIP access to the Big Guy and a pass that gets you to the Land of Milk and Honey as well as Thug Mansion, where the cool angels hang.

Got enemies? Ensure they burn for all eternity; sign them up for one-way tickets to firey damnation at reserveaspotinhell.com. Sound familiar? well they do to me...oh that's right, we've played this game before; indulgences.

For those of you in DC, I have found the deli shop! It's a great gourmet shop and I stumbled upon it (don't ask me how) the other day. The owner, Steve Gatward came stateside to set up a new shop after selling gourmet meat in the UK and Australia. It gets daily deliveries from regional producers (Amish sausages from Pennsylvania, anyone?). And Gatward is happy to oblige special requests (hungry for ostrich?) with a day's notice, and grind beef to order for burgers. The store also stocks marinades, mustards and sauces along with striped butchers' aprons from England. Go ahead and pair your feast with Napa's best pinot. It's called "Let's Meat on the avenue" 2403 Mount Vernon Avenue, at oxford Avenue, Alexandria (703-684-6328).

I have been craving a vacation, and today I indulged in my fantasy of the perfect Caribbean vacation. There are so many options, but here is one.

Let me tell you, Nicaragua is the New Costa Rica; gorgeous beaches, adventure activities and a killer exchange rate...(I don't necessarily agree wit their politics though). Now you won't find five-star resorts or boutiques, but you will find $10 meals, and $60 beachfront rooms. And if you prize getting there before the crowds while getting away from it all, you've arrived.

So you arrive in Managua and turn around: You'll want to catch the first tiny plane off the mainland. The Corn Islands, off the Atlantic coast, are two of the last bits of unspoiled paradise in the Caribbean.

The culture in Big Corn is more Nicaraguan local than European backpacker. You'll want to zip around in a $1 taxi to waterfront bars and homey restaurants. The islands' most luxurious hotel (king-size beds, infinity pool) is Casa Canada. Relax with a cold Tona (the national beer) and a $10 lobster at Anastasia's on the sea, the only over-water restaurant on the islands.

If the bustle of the Big Corn island is too much, take the 30 minutes roller-coaster boat ride to Little Corn island - and leave civilization behind. Casa Iguana is a neo-hippie resort with beachfront cabanas, board games, and hammocks galore. Kick back on the deck to watch the sunset or join a communal dinner in the no shoes allowed restaurant. Prefer to keep your sandals on? The veranda-fronted rooms at Hotel Los Delfines may look a little dated (dig the mirrored headboard) but they have all the creature comforts right in the heart of downtown (such as one exists).

For an island only one mile square, little corn offers a surprising variety of food.Credit Euro expat hoteliers, like the Italians at bio farm Farm Peace & Love and the French and the Spanish at Ensuenos. The best eatery, Habana Libre (+505-848-5412), Serves authentic Cuban food with the fastest service in the country. Order the slow-roasted pork in advance.

If you tire of the many white beaches (the best are on the north end) go underwater with a snorkeling or scuba trip. Dolphin Dive can help you explore the local reefs and spot giant turtles. Not so aquatic? Hit the dirt dance floor at the Happy Hut reggae club and try the Nicaraguan version of bottle service; coca-cola and a bottle of Flor de Cana rum for about $5.

A bathing suit and a good book aside, you won't need much on the Corn Islands, but bring plenty of cash - there are no ATMs. But with prices so low, you can afford to say an extra day or two.

You've been sleeping around

On the topic of travel! I want to go to these as well! Enjoy a sort of mini carousel.I’ve spent the night in some mighty sketchy beds. Who are you to judge? Or deny, for that matter. In fact, I’m happy to up your ante with even stranger places to lay your head.

You won’t mind being a pod person at Whitepod, a tented Alpine ecoresort where you can ski or hike or just be. The single- or double-occupancy tents feature wood-burning stoves and organic bedding. This is Switzerland, after all.

Bond with nature in a deep way at Kokopelli’s Cave Bed & Breakfast, a one-bedroom cave carved 70 feet underground in 65 million year old stone. Why would you do this? Those views of Mesa Verde and the Four Corners sure are nice.

If you’d rather go up than down, climb 50 feet to your very own Mount Rainier tree house. How else do you expect to have morning coffee with the eagles?

It’s a mad, floating beach house when you invite a dozen pallies to bunker down on Lake Mead or Lake Powell with Forever Houseboats. (As far as I’m concerned, “pleasure Cove Marina” says it all...yaaaarrrr!)

Lone Ranger with your Tonto in an Alberta tipi. You get 350 square feet of solar-heated water and electricity. But what are you doing inside with those amazing plains right outside?

You got the band back together, uploaded tracks to Facebook, and sweat through a new tat. You’re ready to hit the road in a luxury tour bus that sleeps up to twelve. That’s plenty o’ room for the groupies.

What do you guys think?

Vacation dreams

I was sitting down yesterday on the metro thinking about all the things that I wanted to accomplish and what I wanted to do, when I saw a sign that read "where do you see yourself in 3 years?" It was an ad for an online school, but seriously it couldn't have been more appropriate. Life, the universe...whatever...was giving me a sign. So I started to thinking; where do I see myself in 3 years?

To be honest I don't know. I have a vague conception of what I want, but no real goal, or details. For example, a lot of my friends want to be married in three years, or starting a family. Granted a lot of my friends are older than I am, but not by much. I, personally, don't have that particular drive. I'm not ring hungry- nor am I baby hungry. I believe that I can wait for a while. This doesn't say I may not eventually have those things, but they are not in the forefront of my brain. So having established that I have life goals, but nothing specific I started narrowing down my thinking to something more tangible (and far less stressful)...where would I like to have vacationed in 3 years? Now that was something I could work with, and they are as follows.

I have many life-long travel goals and one of them is to travel the silk trail. I am fascinated by ancient trade routes, which is hardly surprising because I am enthralled by people and civilizations. While other little girls were wanting to be princesses (of the Disney version), I wanted to be a vampire princess of ancient Egypt. Strange? Perhaps. But I digress, I want to travel all the major trade routes, and one of the most infamous, is the silk trail. The silk trail is (also known as the Silk Road) is a series of trade and cultural routes connecting the Asian, European and African continents. Thousands of people across various periods of time have traveled through these routes ranging from religious pilgrims and monks, to soldiers, nomads, empires, and the very first hominids transgressing out of Africa to the rest of the world.

The trade routes extend over 5,000 miles on land and sea. It was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Indian subcontinent, and Rome, and has helped lay the foundations for the modern world (then again what hasn’t these days?). There are two main routes in the trail: the northern route and the southern route.

The northern route goes through the Chinese province of Gansu, and then splits into three routes. One passes north through the Taklimakan Desert (in Kyrgyzstan and Xingjian), to rejoin in Kashgar. The other, going north as well, shifts towards the Tien Shan Mountains, through Turfan, Talgar and Almaty (in Kazakhstan). All the routes join up in Kokand in the Fergana Valley, and across the Karakum Desert towards Merv, before joining the southern route for a short while. The northern route follows for a portion the Amu Darya River, and from here there are small tributaries to the silk trail that go through the Aral Sea, into the Crimean peninsula, around the Black Sea, through the Balkans and into Venice and Constantinople.

The southern route is mainly a single route running through northern India, into Mesopotamia and Anatolia. It runs south through the Sichuan Basin in China and crosses the high mountains into the northeastern part of India, following the ancient tea route. It then travels west along the Brahmaputra and Ganges river plains before passing through Pakistan and the Hindu Kush Mountains before joining the northern route (briefly) near Merv. It then follows a nearly straight line west through mountainous northern Iran and the northern tip of the Syrian Desert to the Levant. From here, Mediterranean trading ships plied regular routes to Italy, and North Africa.

Now if you were to follow the third trail, it’s only via sea, which passes through the Red River near modern Hanoi and into the Malacca Straits to Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, and India before heading onto the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. From the ports in Egypt there were other branches that led down the east African coast as far down as the delta of the Rufiji River in modern Tanzania.

It’s amazing how there is so much evidence of the silk trail being used before actual history records it. People in the Sahara imported domesticated (nonnative) animals from Asia between 6000 BC and 4000BC. Foreign artifacts dating to the 5th millennium BC in the Badarian culture of Egypt indicate contact with distant Syria. The gemstone Lapis Lazuli was being traded from its only known source in the ancient work-Badakshan (right now in northeastern Afghanistan) as far as Egypt, as well as Chinese jade and steatite plaque in Egypt.

A Major step in the opening the Silk Road between the East and West came with the expansion of Alexander the Great’s empire into Central Asia. It was then followed by the various roman and Persian empires, becoming most famous in the Mongol empire stage with explorers like Marco Polo. I don’t’ want to bore you with everything, but now you can see why I find it so fascinating, and why I want to go through this area. To be able to follow an ancient trail, in a completely different time era. It’s amazing.

Because all 9 to 5ers suddenly find so much joy in the weekend, you may have noticed that I don’t post much on the weekends. This is because I’m generally out and about trying out the things I’ve been longing to do all week. Granted nothing stops me from doing any of these things during the weekdays…but it’s very hard to get up at 5 am if you JUST went to bed an hour or two before.

Anyway, this weekend was a road trip weekend. I went up to the Delaware coast or Delmarva as the locals call it. I had never been there during the winter so it was an experience really. The town that I went to was Bethany Beach. It runs right along the coast and is just south of Rehoboth, Dewey, Ocean City, and Atlantic City. During the summer it’s great.

I am not a fan of beaches were I cannot see the bottom, but Bethany Beach is one of the few places that I don’t mind it so much. Most of the big denizens are just harmless tuna and dolphins. I still like to stay closer to the shore though…just in case.

What I love about Bethany is that it’s still relatively quiet, in comparison to its HUGE neighbors. So when I want to get away from crowds and noise, it’s a good choice. Plus the beaches are cleaner. However, if I want to enjoy the fruits of the 20th century which include heavy doses of kamikaze shots, then I am really just a quick drive to any of the other places (I always have a designated driver though).

So I’ve done a quick review of Bethany for you all to peruse.

Where to stay: I stay with a friend. But there are choices around the area. You can rent a house or you can stay at the Sea Colony resort. There used to be the Blue Surf motel, but it has since been taken down and is being made into a bunch of condos…I personally think that it’s a horrible idea, but I do not have a say in it.

Where to eat:
There are a lot of places to eat around Bethany, but you have to be sure what you want. The restaurants around the beach aren’t amazing. However, I have to note that there IS a difference between restaurant and food stand. Most of the food stands sell yummy, but guilty pleasures. Try board walk fries and TCBY treats while you walk along the beach at sunset. You’ll also find lots of “candy kitchens” which sell delicious little pieces of fudge. It’s right there on the board walk with many little stores. But if you’re looking for a sit down it’s hard to find a good place.

Baja Beach House Grill: Very Tex Mex, not amazing but if you’re craving that fajita they’ll have it.
Mango’s: right above the board walk, it’s got great views of the beach and the drinks are great…but the food is pretty average, neither bad nor amazing.
Patsy's Gourmet & Restaurant : not a bad place in and of itself. I have yet to experience the fullness of the menu so I have reserve a bit of judgment.
As you go farther up the price ladder you do get a few better options:
Five Guy Famous Burger & Fries: I don’t know what they make in their burgers but let me tell you, they are delicious! Great burgers! But you have to wait in line a while and a lot of times you have to put up with other people fighting for their own deliciousness.
Di Febo's Deli & Carryout: I like Di Febos, but it’s not necessarily cheap. I love their wine selection. It’s not the most sophisticated but they do a good job of it and it’s a really good choice. You can’t go wrong.
Grotto Pizza: I go here mainly because of tradition, but it’s really not that great. The pizza is ok, but everything else is pretty average. It’s a great family restaurant though, so let the little tots bounce around if they want.

Where I would like to go:

I am not really a local in Bethany Beach, so naturally I don’t know ALL the secrets, but I’m dying to try a few of these places:

Bethany Blues BBQ Pit: Sometimes you just want some good old BBQ!
Sedona: It’s fusion, which is always an adventure. And everyone knows how much I love adventures.
Things to do: You can do a lot in Bethany if you don’t mind amusing yourself. There are lots of beach shops that if you have time you can poke through and see if you find a treasure. But the draw of it all is the beach. I cannot tell you how beautiful it is. I personally love getting up early in the summer and walking along the beach just before sunrise. One you can see the dolphins hunting and playing, and you can walk the entire beach. Yes it’s a little chilly but so worth it. If you walk all the way down the beach you can reach the WWII look out towers. I did that one morning and found a pretty cool chunk of old metal that had a few markings on it and some small holes that look like bullet holes. I’ve been trying to discover what exactly it is. I like to think it’s a submarine piece.
Kayak and bicycle: If you don’t have a fear of sharks or dark water, go kayaking. Lots of times dolphins come up and play with you or swim along side you. Once I swam out (without realizing it) up to a kayak and swam a little bit with the dolphins. They’re HUGE creatures, but very majestic.
Buy books: one of my favorite pastimes. There’s a delightful little store, Atlantic Books, around the beach front that has several books. I warn you, it’s not a Barnes and Noble, but I also support small time stores.
Shopping: Little knickknacks, and beach stuff. There is however a jewelry store that I would like to go into…but never had the time now that I think about it.
Swimming: obvious
Put Put: There’s now a little put put stop in the center of town. It’s not complicated but it’s there.

If there’s anything else that you want to do/eat/go, Bethany is really just a five minute drive from other action spots. The best thing about Bethany is that it’s the “quiet resort”. Beautifully serene.