25 September 2008
Texans converge on.... Barnsdall?
After a LONG day in Tulsa yesterday, my parents and I decided to stop on the way back home for takeout burgers from Andy's Hamburger's in Barnsdall.
My parents went in the tiny cafe, and I plopped down at an outside picnic table to watch the goings on.
(Andy's Hamburgers, in Barnsdall, OK)
A pickup truck pulled in, a guy got out, and proceeded to ask* me where a public restroom might be found.
I told him I wasn't from Barnsdall but Houston, but that there was a convenience store and a grocery store, and they probably had a restroom he could use.
"No McDonald's?"
"Nope, Barnsdall's too small for anything like that."
"What part of Houston are you from?"
"Midtown, south of downtown."
"I'm from Pearland. And after that damn storm, it's good to be away from there! You take care now."
"You too!"
And he drove off in search of a restroom.
The burgers at the venerable Andy's are still damn good, by the way. Highly recommended.
---
* People do this all the time, usually when I am traveling and barely know where I am. It's become kind of funny.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/25/08 13:29 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
22 September 2008
Continental (wisely) backtracks
Continental Airlines today backtracked on one of several recently announced changes that had been widely denounced. Here's the email I got today:
Earlier this month, we announced that OnePass® members will earn the actual miles flown rather than a minimum of 500 miles per flight for tickets purchased on or after Nov. 15, 2008.
We've listened, and our Elite members think this change unfairly dilutes the benefits of the OnePass program. Therefore we are exempting you from this change, and Elite members will continue to earn the 500 mile minimum on all segments flown under the current policy.
We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you again soon.
Sincerely,
-s-
Mark Bergsrud
Sr. Vice President, Marketing Programs and Distribution
Until the recently announced changes, CO had done a good job protecting its elite members from nasty moves. They truly biffed the 500-mile policy (and the Platinum bonus policy), so it's good to see them backtracking on one of them. If the company isn't going to try to protect its best customers from nasty changes, then it is effectively telling them to go for the lowest fare on whatever airline -- and that's dumb. Now they need to reconsider that Plat bonus, since those affected are CO's very BEST customers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/22/08 16:39 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
03 August 2008
London's Texas Embassy Cantina not sufficiently Texan?
All need not reply to this 'reply all' column (Ken Hoffman, Houston Chronicle)
Just got back from my vacation in London. While there, I stumbled across the Texas Embassy Cantina near Trafalgar Square. They serve Mexican food and barbecue — not bad, considering the location.
What I found tremendously irritating, though, was, in spite of the name, they had a large Mexican flag displayed prominently in the dining room. There was no Texas flag to be seen. This was an affront of diplomatic proportions! Can you use any of your vast political connections to get someone to send them a Texas flag to display? Yours till the revolution.
Lee K. Gleason, Houston
Maybe the Texas flag was at the cleaners. You really can't accuse this restaurant of ducking its Texas connection. After all, Texas is in the restaurant's name, and the Lone Star is all over the menu. T-shirts in the souvenir shop are emblazened with the Lone Star. The Texas Embassy Cantina is the No. 1 Tex-Mex (Tex gets top billing) restaurant in London.
Weird.
I didn't make it to the place this last trip, but I've always thought it was sufficiently "Texan."
The food is only so-so, though. Good salsa, decent quesadillas, not-so-good margaritas. The Texas Embassy Cantina should be visited at least once -- and after that, go for Indian food instead when in London. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/03/08 21:15 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (6)
26 June 2008
More decent IAH international fares
Poking around on FareCompare earlier, I found a couple more good international fares on Continental.
Houston - Berlin is running around $650 all in through most of March 2009.
UPDATE: Some early March dates on CO's website are coming up just under $600 all in. That's quite a fare in the current environment.
Houston - Frankfurt is running about the same, also through most of March 2009.
It looks like other carriers are pretty close to these prices, in case you have loyalties to another FF program. A trip to Berlin is looking really tempting. Hell, that's cheaper than CO's (obscene) rate to Springfield, MO at the moment!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/26/08 21:24 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (1)
25 June 2008
Good fares from IAH
A couple of good fares from IAH have popped up.
You can fly IAH to St. Louis for $157 roundtrip on NWA, with pretty good availability. I was just able to book a weekend trip in late September that will get me in on a Saturday morning, off to a Cards game that night, and back out on Sunday evening. NWA's weekend fare finder is very helpful for this sort of thing.
The down side to this fare code is that it will only earn 50% EQMs for CO fliers (100% regular miles). I'll be fine for elite requalification this year, so the cheap fare sold me, but your requirements may vary.
Also from NWA (and United, for you Houston-based Star Alliance fliers) is IAH to London-Heathrow for around $650 (that figure seems to include taxes, fuel surcharges, and all the other semi-hidden nonsense, as far as I can tell from a quick search). This one is also a 50% EQM earner for CO fliers on NWA, but it's still a darn good fare for someone looking to save on a London getaway.
Best advice is to book these quickly if they look at all interesting. Sales have been hard to come by in the current price environment, and these are some good ones.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/25/08 10:29 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (1)
14 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/14/08 (Weds) -- AMS to IAH (The End)
From 05/08/08 on, I had pretty much stopped writing up my bullet notes in my written journal. I may fill them in a little here, but this is mostly just a chronological dump from what's in my notebook. I regret that I've inevitably lost some detail this way, but I really got into Paros and didn't feel like writing in detail.
- Walk to the airport from the Hilton. Plenty of time. No surprises. This is how I like it.
[Read More]Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/14/08 23:57 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
13 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/13/08 (Tues) -- Rafina to ATH to AMS
- Bus trip to the Athens airport from Rafina (no more strike!). The bus actually picks us up early, which is fine.
[Read More]Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/13/08 23:49 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (1)
12 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/12/08 (Mon) -- Leaving Paros
From 05/08/08 on, I had pretty much stopped writing up my bullet notes in my written journal. I may fill them in a little here, but this is mostly just a chronological dump from what's in my notebook. I regret that I've inevitably lost some detail this way, but I really got into Paros and didn't feel like writing in detail.
- Breakfast... where else?
[Read More]Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/12/08 20:40 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
11 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/11/08 (Sun) -- Winding down on Paros
From 05/08/08 on, I had pretty much stopped writing up my bullet notes in my written journal. I may fill them in a little here, but this is mostly just a chronological dump from what's in my notebook. I regret that I've inevitably lost some detail this way, but I really got into Paros and didn't feel like writing in detail.
- Callie and her mom off to church first thing in the morning. No thanks!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/11/08 20:12 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (1)
10 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/10/08 (Sat) -- Toodling around paros
From 05/08/08 on, I had pretty much stopped writing up my bullet notes in my written journal. I may fill them in a little here, but this is mostly just a chronological dump from what's in my notebook. I regret that I've inevitably lost some detail this way, but I really got into Paros and didn't feel like writing in detail.
- Breakfast at the coffeeshop
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/10/08 23:59 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
09 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/09/08 (Fri) -- Toodling around paros
From 05/08/08 on, I had pretty much stopped writing up my bullet notes in my written journal. I may fill them in a little here, but this is mostly just a chronological dump from what's in my notebook. I regret that I've inevitably lost some detail this way, but I really got into Paros and didn't feel like writing in detail.
- Breakfast at the coffeeshop just underneath our room at the hotel. The hotel offers breakfast during the high season, but we're still a bit early, so the coffeeshop is just fine (the omelettes are actually quite good, if pricey). We get to watch all goings on. And the Parian waitress is cute, so that's nice too.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/09/08 23:59 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
08 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/08/08 (Thurs) -- Goodbye Amorgos, Hello Paros
From here on, I stopped filling in my bullet notes in my written journal. I may fill them in a little here, but this is mostly just a chronological dump from what's in my notebook. I regret that I've inevitably lost some detail this way, but I really got into Paros and didn't feel like writing in detail.
[Read More]Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/08/08 23:59 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
07 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/07/08 (Weds) -- More (cold and windy) Amorgos
Awake after a good night's sleep. The beds are really comfy at the studios, although the heater clicks and clacks all night long. The showers are also nice (not always the case in some Greek hotels/studios), as is the homemade breakfast of (really orange!) scrambled eggs, Greek coffee, toast and biscotti. We're slow risers again, which is good, as I'm still dragging for some reason. Delayed jet lag? Beats me.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/07/08 23:59 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
06 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/06/08 (Tues) -- On to Amorgos
05-06-08 (Tues)
We're leaving Naxos today....
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/06/08 23:59 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
05 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/05/08 (Mon) -- NW Naxos, and last night on the island
We're slow getting around for and after breakfast today, but that's okay -- we're on vacation!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/05/08 23:57 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
04 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/04/08 (Sun) -- More Driving 'round Naxos
Callie and Kulla headed off to church WAY too early this morning. No thanks!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/04/08 23:59 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
03 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/03/08 (Sat) -- Driving 'round Naxos
The breakfast at Hotel Glaros is pretty light. Nice to have the coffee, but happy I brought some South Beach meal bars. I like a decent breakfast.
[Read More]Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/03/08 23:59 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (1)
02 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/02/08 (Fri) -- Naxos
We had a nice stay at the Piraeus Dream Hotel. Here are pluses and minuses:
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/02/08 23:59 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
01 May 2008
Greece Trip: 05/01/08 (Thurs) -- We made it!
It's my first time through Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG). It's big. We walked tons. And took a train. And rode conveyor belts. And sorted out confusing signs. But eventually found our way.
[Read More]Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/01/08 23:59 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (1)
30 April 2008
Greece Trip: 4/30/08 (Weds) -- Inauspicious beginning
We head way early to IAH to drop bags (we checked in online) and problems already. KLM IAH-AMS has been delayed, and we won't have time to make our AMS-ATH connection. I had booked it this way knowing that there was a later flight AMS-ATH. It's KLM's hub, so no biggie, right?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/30/08 23:59 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
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