Category: travel

Thanksgiving in New Orleans 2023

[2023 – Nov 22 through 25: Thanksgiving in New Orleans, LA, US]

I was all ready to go to London, UK for the week of Thanksgiving. However, the volcano in Iceland was about to blow it’s top so I canceled the trip (since I did not want to get stuck in England if it did spew ash into the air).

So I thought I’d just stay in my abode; however, last minute, I decided I wanted (British) afternoon tea and turkey for Thanksgiving. I searched on “british afternoon tea and restaurant open for thanksgiving” and New Orleans popped up. Did some quick sleuthing and I booked Hotel Monteleone to stay, starting on Wednesday. The hotel, although French sounding, was as British as you can get. Had the typical British umbrella in the closet. The room had both ‘still’ and ‘sparking’ water (as opposed to typical US hotels, nothing), and to top it off they had “Gilchrist and Soames” (not imported from the UK, it was made in the US – bummer) ameneties in the lou. Plus the hotel definitely had British vibes to it, like the hallway with stairs jutting out randomly in the hallway.

Once there, I visited their rotating Carousel Bar that night. The bar on the first floor of the hotel just to the right side of the front desk area is very popular. It rotates. It is cool. Never knew about it until I literally was sitting at the bar. =snort=

On Thursday, I went to hit Jack Rose for Thanksgiving Dinner. Three course dinner with wine pairing. It was awesome. For desert, I had their signature Mile High Pie 🙂

Then on Friday afternoon, walked over to Le Salon for Afternoon Tea. It was great. Bottomless tea of course! Although I do have two minor issues: (a) they did not have Pimms! Oh well, I had some minty concoction instead, which was good. And, (b) the serving tray was only a double-decker! Must be three! It doesn’t have to be, but it would have been nice. But no matter, it was great. I had, Earl Grey, hot – of course. (Although I didn’t say “hot”.)

So here are all of the pictures I took in chronological order, just click on the picture or link below:


Thanksgiving in New Orleans 2023

New Year’s Eve 2022 in Vancouver, BC Canada

[29-DEC-2022 to 02-JAN-2023 Vancouver, BC, Canada]

Traveling in winter is always tricky – especially when flying. Sometimes you don’t get there, get there late, and so on. Then of course the return trip could be a “side adventure” on it’s own.

Last time I was in Vancouver was 1994 (I think). So I decided to go there for an updated visit and planned a boat ride for New Year’s Eve. Visited a few restaurants/microbreweries while there, of course. The city has expanded since the last time I was there by a LOT – almost three decades (!) – therefore, a much longer visit would be needed – maybe in the summer…

The New Year’s Eve Boat trip was great, made a bunch of instant friends, then we all went off on our own ways. Flying back looked dicey. Massive snow in the US. Got as far as Denver. My home airport was snowed in!

Travel Tip 1: Take one day’s worth of extra clothes.

Travel Tip 2: Book at a hotel that has a restaurant in the hotel so you don’t need to venture out (unless you want to, of course).

Travel Tip 3: Get a hotel with an airport shuttle service. That will save you two Uber/Lyft costs…

Travel Tip 4: I was stuck in Denver for three nights! Use the extra set of clothes so you don’t smell bad (!) and do laundry at the hotel.

This was a great side-adventure. If you are stuck, whether you are happy or miserable is all in your own brain. Make the best of it and you’ll have fun! Made more instant friends and we had a blast during happy hour 🙂

Here are some pictures from this trip:


Steamworks Brewing Co, Vancouver, BC Canada

Fun in Portland, Maine US Nov 2022

[24-27 NOV-2022 Portland Maine, US]

Random travel to random spot for nothing in particular. Did go on a brewery tour with
Brews Cruise. Pictures from the tour below.

There is a narrow gauge rail that goes up and down the coast, about a 45 minute ride. I did not go on the train but I might try it next time in the summer time when they server beer 🙂 Information here:
Maine Narrow Guage Railroad Company. I have a few pictures of the train at the start point (no train station).

Otherwise noting else to report, click on the pic or the link below to peruse the pictures:


Shipyard Brewery, Portland Maine

Back to London 06-thru-10 OCT-2022

[06-October-2022 to 10-October-2022, London, UK]

As travel shut down from the pandemic, I did not go to London, UK for two years. That ended when I flew in October of 2022 for a quick whirlwind tour of the usual places I hang out at.

The Elizabeth line (the picture above is from Heathrow station) was still split in two: westbound to/from Paddington and eastbound to/from Paddington. (The Line is now now contiguous through Paddington since 05-Nov-2022 – so I guess I have to go back and take the Elizabeth Line from Heathrow to Canary Wharf.) Here is the official tube maps from TfL or Transport for London.

I stayed at the Kimpton Fitzroy (hotel website) right off the Piccadilly Line Russel Square tube station. One of my memory chips failed and I lost a ton of pictures but here are the ones I was able to salvage…

Click on the picture or link to view all of the pictures:


Kimpton Fitzroy hotel

Virgin Voyages Richard Branson Birthday Bash Cruise 2022-July

[17-July-2022 to 22-July-2022, Virgin Voyages Caribbean Cruise]

After being delayed for two years, The Richard Branson Birthday Bash Virgin Voyages took to the sea from 17-July-2022 to 22-July-2022. I booked through Shelby at travelfun.biz (or on Facebook here). The cruise left the Port of Miami to Cozumel and then to the private beach for Virgin on Bimini. But enough talk, here are the pictures – just click on the pic below or the link under it to go to the picture page. The first set are pictures I took followed by selected the pictures that were shared by the TravelFun group:


Pool Deck Party on Virgin Cruises

All shared pictures from the TravelFun group are Copyright © 2022 respective to the person who took those pictures and appropriate permissions are needed if used for any purpose other than personal use. All StarkRavingNomad pictures are Copyright © 2022 talcMedia Productions. All Rights Reserved.