White Castle

We did go there..I have a pic in my phone that wasn't sent

Saturday Summary

So I am pretty sure I had a good night because I just woke up in all my clothes with my face buried in the germ filled bedspread at the Clairmont. I also believe I forgot to blog the last bar, the Tremont, and I feel like I need to use the bathroom White Castle style. Please tell me we didn't eat there.

We saw so many friends last night. I made friends with so many martinis last night. I hope everyone else feels like I do because I am miserable. We are meeting the peeps at the new U, aka the new Union Station for brunch. This is a bar we used to frequent that has just relocated up the street from where it was. Perhaps a bloody mary would balance out last night and take the edge off. I better not.

my straight boyfriend

so I love his girlfriend, but I flirt with him

Mother and Father

Our Columbus family

Club Diversity

We made it home to Club D and snatched a picture with Jack. Kevin & Deanna are playing tonight so I am unbelievably excited about this evening!

House Party

Patty Cake and Big Sally invited us to tour the new home. It is fab! The DC peeps continue to be shocked by the size of homes in Columbus!

Club 185

We just finished a brief tour of our old stomping grounds including German Village, Downtown, The Arena District, and the Short North. We've settled into Club 185 for a quick dinner and then we're off and running!

Round Bar

We have arrived in Columbus and are checked in to the Clairmont. Can't wait for the round bar experience. We are taking a 60 minute break to wash our parts in preparation for tonight!!!

The heart of it all

Destination state! we tried to blog the WV sign, but it doesn't look like it went through when we originally sent it. Tom says WV is a digital and internet free zone.

West Virginian Virginity

First of all...is there such a thing?

Since this is Catrina and Rob's first time in WV. We felt it important to stop at the Welcome Center for a photo. The nice information desk gentleman that took it fumbled a bit with the camera and his buddy laughed and said he was pretty sure Bobby was not very good with the techiconolgicy. I think he mean technology, but I don't speak West Virginian and there was no interpreter handy.

We weren't too happy with our location so we bolted as soon as Randy was finished shopping at the Shriners roach coach coffee stand. Reality friends - Reality.

(note: post backdated to picture time)

Take out your teeth

Bye Bye Pittsburgh

Anna's last words as she walked out of the Westin, "She called me Mrs. K***." This, my friends can't be true.

Look out Columbus, here we come!

Pamela's Diner

Brunching in the burg. Thank God Bill and Tom got here early and reserved a table. We are only capturing the exterior to protect the identity of one missing participant. This participant is now located, but not yet with the party. Flight risk.

Eat Fish

couldn't resist

The Sun Will Come Out...

damn. It already did and it is already tomorrow.

Status Report:
1 Person - confirmed missing (per their roommate)
2 Persons - allegedly missing (they are no call no show)
5 Persons - hungry and going without them to Pamela's

I feel like day two could be a so-called 'ride of shame'

Night

OK...so now we're really going to bed.

Man Down

I was trying to be done with blogging and just finished the manual uploads. This, however, I couldn't resist! The road trip resumes at 10:00 AM tomorrow. Good night.

Friday Summary #2

So...when we were at Images, Bill's baby bro, Bert (Robert) made a fantastic quote, worth documenting. A really hot stripper was dancing on the box (Randy may or may not have been slipping dollars in his stringy thing at the moment) and he asked for a "Breeder Filter." This he described as something he could put over his eyes to make the dancing man turn into a dancing woman. Cute.

This pic, unrelated, is where Rob took one for the team. He convinced these hot men (especially hot to Randy) to join our pic. The one Rob spoke with thought he was G-A-Y and gave him extra special attention in the photo shoot. Rick took the pic...I talked about that stranger in the previous post....hence the new relationship with his peeps.

Friday Summary

Well Michael and Catrina left after the regular bars closed, but the rest of us went to the Queer as Folk Babylon Party at The Saloon and whatever the after-hours bar upstairs from that is called. We shot some pics and posted them (as you know) but these are some regular camera pics that give a little more idea of what the evening was like. We met Anthony's alter-Pittsburgh-ego. Truthfully, he looks much more like him from behind, but we made fast friends after the original photo that he thought was a pick-up line. We nearly joined Ron, Rob, and Rick for a hot tub party, but sadly weren't invited. Digits, however, were exchanged.

I think they were afraid of the size of our party. I said our party, not the size of our....get your mind out of the gutter. Big Tom, Tim, and I just came back to the hotel and Randy, Rob, & Anna went to some place called the Dirty O. I hear one must have to cross a bridge to get there. We said no. We aren't like TB....cross no bridges unless absolutely necessary. Here is an additional Babylon pic taken with the regular camera. We affectionately call this one Anna Sandwich.

Babylon # 5

anthony's stand-in...close as we could get. this is actually rob and luke. We took a better pic with real camera - will post later.

Babylon #4

Robert finds a woman who can handle him. She'll probably cut him up and make him into a handbag, but one way or another...Anna is there to balance out the pic with some femininity.

Babylon #3

Anna quickly gets personalized service...

Babylon #2

now that's bar service...the little snow queen strippers are everywhere.

Arctic Babylon Party at The Saloon

Open till 7 AM. Michael and Catrina fell out. This my friends, is a road trip! That's me with the big glowing light over my head. I must be channeling some religious dead person tonight.

Images

We are free from the bondage of soccermomness

Baloney & Cheese

Pittsburgh Style! The only real native food is served with cole slaw and french fries piled right on top.

Primanti Bros

Food. Then we'll ditch the van and it will be my turn to catch up! Blurry pic...f the stranger that took it. You get the concept...drunk people about to eat. Maybe the pic is fine and we are all just jittery?

Wrong Tom

Bill climbed up on the wrong Tom. Big Tom didn't turn him away so Bill nestled right in his lap. About to leave for food. DC is hungry.

Nuance formerly known as True

Neighborhood bar merely a block from Bill's new house! This was historically my favorite Burg bar, but it is a bit dead since the re-opening. Fortunately with the entire party relocating here we will have a fun crowd. Bill and Tom have fantastic friends and we are having a great time.

Galveston House Party

...and the party grows at formal destination #1. We've only just begun.

The Original Fish Market

We're at the Westin bar waiting for Anna and Randy to finish getting ready and then we're off to see the boys! I'm the DD and drinking air. Everyone else is priming.

arriving in pitt

pitt better watch out we r rollin u street style

Gypsies

Rita Jean purchased some ice cream from the turnpike gypsies and now we're back on the road!

Potty Break

These are the giant windmills as seen from the rest area. The sun is shining again.

"This is the longest I've been sober around you people...and I actually like you!" (Big Tom's acceptance speach)

Monsoon Turnpike

Hydroplaning Raining and Sunshine. All Jay wants is a smokey treat.

Burger King

we made our first stop at Burger King. Here we are (except me behind the camera). we had it our way!

Memorial Day Road Trip START

there r 8 but u only see 2. We forgot 2 get a pic before we left, will take @ first pit stop. Look out Pitt the U Street\bridge & tunnelers r on the loose.

Sunday Funday Bye Bye

Randy threw a great party on Sunday for Toya. The weather was beautiful and many of our friends were there to send her off in Sunday Funday style. I even have a photograph of Anthony doing acrobatics on the roof (He's in mid air - I may have to upload that one to this post later!) We lounged around his rooftop lawn and ate delicious food. I believe many bottles of champers were consumed! We were good boys in preparation for a long week and came home before 8:30 and went immediately to bed.

This week has been socially uneventful, with the exception of Toya's departure. I've been so very busy at work that I've unfortunately missed most of the festivities.

Tomorrow begins Memorial Day Weekend Road Trip extraordinaire! There are nine of us going so it should be a blast! I'm certain there will be some mobile blogging along the way! Be very afraid. Off to work.

Isle of Capri

so we are still at Greek fest but out of smokes...Randy bummed one. A really long one. He also caused a car accident with this giant cig, but you'll have to ask me about that in person.

Greek Festival

...this is us in a few years with a bottle of wine at the local festivals.

Dam Vegas

I intended to make this post on Sunday, but didn't get around to it. Angel, Tim, and I went out to Lake Mead on Sunday afternoon and took a tour of the Hoover Dam. This was probably the highlight of the trip! We drove to the AZ side and took a bunch of pictures, then came back to the visitor's center on the NV side. We paid for the tour to go down to the generators and through the tunnels and elevators in the dam. It was awesome! I wanted to take the $39 helicopter ride over the dam, but Tim and Angel would have nothing to do with it.

Tim went home on Monday and I laid by the pool and then had a beer ($1.50) at a bar down the street from the hotel. I took a long nap until my boss got here and then had a few drinks with him. I spent all day Tuesday and this morning at the round table discussion for work and am now getting packed up to head to the airport. We had dinner last night at Envy which was a phenominal restaurant. Overall it was a great trip for work and fun, but I am anxious to get back to the office and buckle down on all of our projects. I'm also tired of losing money in the slot machines :-)

Wet Vegas

Timmy left this morning and I sunbathed (or rather sunburnt) by the pool and finished my first book for the trip and started a new one. After playing in the water for awhile, my phone came so I can mobile blog again. I just left the Blue Moon and checked into the Renaissance and am waiting for Angel to come hang out.

Angel & Kenny

We went to a few fun local bars in the afternoon while we waited for Kenny to get off work. We first tried Flex but there was only one car in the parking lot. Then we both lost $11 playing the machines at another local hangout called The Escape Lounge. It was pretty dead and everyone had their face in a machine. Our final afternoon choice was the alleged oldest gay bar in Vegas called Snicks. While the website made it look like an old man hangout, the reviews in the local rags touted it as a fun conversational bar and we needed to find people to talk to! Research! This was definitely the place. We were greeted by a drunk azz local who was ridiculous. The bartender, Nick, was great. He introduced us to a few regulars and we ended up staying there for a few hours.

The highlight of the trip was going to Angel and Kenny's house. It is a really cool 80's contemporary, which is a style that Tim and I both adore. The moment she opened the door, it was like those seven years instantly disappeared. We went to dinner and then to a little local club called Freezone. The entire evening was spent with endless stories about homes, friends, family, and all the things that happen in seven years. It is amazing how much time can go by. We both agreed to never let this happen again and I'm trying to convince her to come East for a visit! I'm looking forward to today's adventures. While Kenny has to work, his son Nick, Angel, Tim, and I are planning a trip up to some mountain with great trails and views!

With the time difference, we were exhausted around 1 and went back to the hotel. We had then been going strong for 24 hours considering how early we had to get up for the flight. We ended the evening with a relaxing sit in the hot tub for about an hour. There weren't many people in the pool area-assume they were still at the big Pride Ball event. We, on the other hand, crashed hard.

Naked in Vegas

Well...not really naked, but I left my cell phone at home so no email or phone calls and no mobile blogging. This makes me feel very naked. Thankfully Toya was able to overnight mail it to me and I will have it again by Monday afternoon. I guess I subconsiously really wanted what happens in Vegas to stay in Vegas.

We arrived this morning. Our flight was 50 minutes early. Yes, I said EARLY. We went shopping and then to the Pride festival. It was nice, but I have yet to find one that compares to Columbus or DC. We just relaxed by the pool (yummy eye candy) and now we're taking a nap before meeting Angel and Kenny at 7:30 PM PT tonight!

I am amused by the sensory overload that started in the airport. More later.

Vegas Baby

We went to Duffy's anniversary party and then stopped to see the Box at Sollys. Running on 3 hours of sleep, but made it up! Getting ready to leave for the Sin City. Very exciting!

baby

T watching Pam's baby and I'm working from home...what an adventure we have today.

Movie Night

I had a productive trip to CA last week and got back late Friday night to crash early. Saturday I did the Gold Cup with Dave and Heather. Anthony was supposed to come along, but you know her...flight risk. I drove down alone because Timmy had to work. It rained and was quite unpleasant so we went back to Joanie/Richard's house and chilled out.

I've been working my ars off this week. Last night I had dinner at Tonic, which may be my new favorite place. Awesome bar food; tasty, and fast!

Tonight is Movie night! Gotta run and buy a card for Cat since her B-day is Friday and I might not see her this weekend. We're going West and they are going north.

Got my haircut today. Subari 'made' Andrea raise her prices to $35 so it now costs $50 for a cut and eybrow wax. My body is too expensive - perhaps I should cut off my head.

Later

Orange County Awaits

We made it back from Philly on Sunday in time for Bob Scott's 40th birthday party and then after 1 beer I curled up on the sofa and watched two weeks of Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty. Four hours of mindless escape into the tube. Last night Michael cooked out and invited us for burgers. They were delicous. I sure wish we could have a grill on our balcocny. As much as he likes to grill out, I'm not sure what he'll do if they move to a condo where grills are prohibited. I think it is a DC ordinance rather than condo policy. Apparently it is illegal to have a grill on a wooden balcony? I've not researched this so it could be myth.

I'm off to our office in CA for some problem resolution and relationship building. I'll be back on Friday night. It's a good thing we have a temporary roomy or Timmy would be bored. I have to travel in 2 weeks to an executive roundtable in NV so I'll be leaving him alone then too.

Patiently waiting at DCA for my flight.

Sunday Funday Philly Style

Actually...we're being good this morning because we have to drive home and go to Bob's 40th Birthday party this afternoon. We've left messages for both of our friends who are supposed to join us for brunch before we leave. We had an awesome time yesterday, visiting several key tourist neighborhoods. We drove through some with explanations about their significance with Merritt, parked in others and did some exploring.

Our first tourist adventure was a drive up Benjamin Franklin Parkway through the Fairmont Area. The street is lined with museums and provides a good glimpse of some cultural opportunities to explore in the city on a longer trip. I would have loved to visit the Rodin Museum. I captured a snapshot of the famous "Rocky" stairs at the art museum. The facade is under construction, but the stairs are certainly recognizable.

We Walked through Old City and did a tour of Betsy Ross' house. I mailed some postcards to Whitney and Cole. While we wanted to go through Constitution Hall, our tickets were for 4 hours later and we decided not to wait. We did a walk by of all the key historic places, but didn't go in most of them.

Merritt use to live in Society Hill so we spent alot of time walking the neighborhood and listening to stories about it. My favorite was the alley by the Countess' house where Merritt was rolled for his groceries.

We drove the full length of South Street and captured some excellent pictures. It reminds me of what the Short North in Columbus used to be. While there are still an abundant number of unique stores and destinations, the likes of Gap, Starbucks, and other mundane chains have moved in to parts of it. The conformity of America. Hate it.

As can be seen from yesterday's post, we had an authentic Cheese Steak in the Southside and also drove through Bella Vista and the Italian Market. It seems more Asian than Italian these days, but you can still feel the history of the neighborhood. One small street still had holiday lights strung across from house to house. Lots of aluminium awnings.

Fag world is along 12th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood. Our favorite pictures came from a stroll down Quince St. I can't imagine how they drive down the narrow cobblestone Streets in this city. They seem like alleys to me, but Merritt says we can't ever call them that for fear of offending the residents. We returned to this neighborhood and did all the bars in the evening.

Merritt lives in Rittenhouse Square. It is a lovely are filled with exquisite shops and magnificent Brownstones. We also saw some amazing old churches. One was quite gothic, which I love! We also found a little nasty bar called, "The Post," in an alley. Frightening!

Time to get ready for brunch at 11 with one of Timmy's old work customers and our friend Merritt.

The Continental

Dinner in Philly

fun in Philly

doing the sites with Merritt and have to dodo S Philly for a cheesesteak!

Hounddog's

fun times in cmh

what a beautiful day

for a cocktail or two!

Success!

It was a little frustrating to take the new MacBook and Airport back to the Mac store. They both worked perfectly fine. I have no idea what the issue was, but it may have had as much to do with the internet connection as it did with the system. I moved the modem into the living room so it is in the middle of the house. Perhaps there was too much interference in the bedroom with all of our gadgetry plugged into both sides of that wall.

Regardless, it seems to be working now and I have 12 more days to return it if I hate it. Time for bed - exhausted.

Excited about MacBook

So it doesn't work and I was on the phone with AppleCare for over an hour. I went to Solly's to have a cocktail to soften my frustration and ran into acquaintances who own them and swear by them. If the appointment tomorrow at the Apple store resolves these issues I think I'm gonna love it.

MacBook

I rewarded myself with a new MacBook today. It took me all evening to get the Airport Extreme router to work properly, but I finally have a fast connection! After many years of PCs, I'm going to Mac for home use. Hopefully I'll be able to integrate all my movies and pictures into some fun DVDs!

Time for bed as I'm exhausted from staying up late with taxes the last two nights.

Taxes are done!

Here they are! Ready for the post office. I worked 12 hours straight on Sunday and 7 hours straight last night to finish them. Not bad for 2005 and 2006. That's what I get for being a procrastinator. Fortunately I will be getting money back for both years. I may have to pay some penalties for late filing of the LLC, but I will accept that for my stupidity in delaying. Overall I am pleased with the return and proud of being able to accomplish filing in 3 states and 1 city for both personal and corporate returns. I knew I could do it, I was just dreading the process. Thank god for TurboTax! After manually completing the 05 corp returns, I used TurboTax for 05 personal and 06 Corp/Personal.

Tonight I will celebrate - (yes I know it is a school night.)

Poste Moderne Brasserie Review

Editors Note: When I left the Poste Restaurant, there were no managers in sight to discuss my experience. I was told by the hotel front desk that no comment cards were available and that I needed to go online if I wanted to comment. I got the names and email addresses of two restaurant managers, Thomas Hanson & William Silcot, from the website. This email was sent to both of them and I received no reply so I was compelled to post it here (backdated to the date of the original email.)

Poste Managers,

I feel obliged to tell you about our experience at the Poste on Saturday for lunch. While the food was fantastic, obtaining it (especially what we ordered) was a terrible experience. The waitress took the order and then came back to the table because she forgot the requested temperature for the steak. We saw the food being prepared and two men started to carry it in our direction. They stopped and took it back to the counter. I thought perhaps something was missing or wrong, but I had a clear view of the counter and about five minutes later, the same food was delivered to the table.

My friend ordered Truffle Frites with her steak, but obtained Pomme Frites. They promptly corrected this issue, but neither the waitress nor the people assisting her noticed that I had not received my food. Oddly enough, at a table of only four people, they apparently thought I wasn't interested in eating. After I brought it to the attention of the hostess (who brought the corrected frites) the kitchen scrambled to get my order. From the looks of the staff and the review of the order on the terminal, it was fairly clear that the waitress had not entered the order in the first place. When my Grilled Chicken Cobb salad was delivered, I was shocked to find it did not include any chicken. I was not going to wait for this to be corrected and ate it without. The salad was delicious; it wasn't what I ordered. I asked the waitress to only charge me for a side salad since that is what it appeared I had received.

Other than water, our waitress didn't ask for another drink order until all four of us had bone dry glasses. With no offer of coffee or dessert after dining, the check was quickly placed on our table. I guess she thought we were done so we went up the street for coffee.

The waitress made half hearted apologies with every error along the way, but made excuses and blamed everything on the kitchen. I would have respected her more if she admitted her part in the errors. We are all human and humans make mistakes. I was also surprised there was no apology by a manager with such a large number of issues in a single dining experience. This is not the type of service I would expect at what I perceived was a higher level of dining establishment.

Your advertising talks about your competent and capable chef. Unless you also hire competent and capable staff to support him, your restaurant will not be ready for prime time. I'm disappointed we selected the Poste restaurant to entertain out of town guests.

Poste Moderne Brasserie - Hotel Monaco

**Copy of letter to the managers at the Poste Moderne Brasserie - I clearly do not recommend it**

Managers,

I feel obliged to tell you about our experience at the Poste on Saturday for lunch. While the food was fantastic, obtaining it (especially what we ordered) was a terrible experience. The waitress took the order and then came back to the table because she forgot the requested temperature for the steak. We saw the food being prepared and two men started to carry it in our direction. They stopped and took it back to the counter. I thought perhaps something was missing or wrong, but I had a clear view of the counter and about five minutes later, the same food was delivered to the table.

My friend ordered Truffle Frites with her steak, but obtained Pomme Frites. They promptly corrected this issue, but neither the waitress nor the people assisting her noticed that I had not received my food. Oddly enough, at a table of only four people, they apparently thought I wasn't interested in eating. After I brought it to the attention of the hostess (who brought the corrected frites) the kitchen scrambled to get my order. From the looks of the staff and the review of the ordering terminal, it was fairly clear that the waitress had not entered the order in the first place. When my Grilled Chicken Cobb salad was delivered, I was shocked to find it did not include any chicken. I was not going to wait for this to be corrected and ate it without. The salad was delicious; it wasn't what I ordered. I asked the waitress to only charge me for a side salad since that is what it appeared I had received.

Other than water, our waitress didn't ask for another drink order until all four of us had bone dry glasses. With no offer of coffee or dessert after dining, the check was quickly placed on our table. I guess she thought we were done so we went up the street for coffee.

The waitress made half hearted apologies with every error along the way, but also made excuses and blamed everything on the kitchen. I would have respected her more if she took ownership of the situation and turned a negative into a positive. We are all human and humans make mistakes. I was also surprised there was no apology by a manager with such a large number of issues in a single dining experience. This is not the type of service I would expect at what I perceived was a higher level of dining establishment.

Your advertising talks about your competent and capable chef. Unless you also hire competent and capable staff to support him, your restaurant will not be ready for prime time. I'm disappointed we selected the Poste restaurant to entertain out of town guests.

interesting

A blue line train to Franconia picked us up at the U St. metro and this was on it. Didn't know lacey hoop skirts were in this season?

Drunk Kids Bowl

I actually only had 2 beers all night, but Tiff gave it a fun theme name. My scores were 70, 111, 129, and 88. I suck! We bowled too late and now I'm sleepy and have to drive home from Bethesda.

In Jail

That's the text I sent to Timmy last night! I drove to Pittsburgh yesterday to see Bill's new house and pick up the disk of pics from out canopy tour. Ridiculous. I then came to my parent's farm and went to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse in Wooster. We finished the night with a few drinks at the Old Jaol. Fun times.

Getting ready to get my baby girl at 10! Mom's going with me and I'm not sure what the day will bring.

Show me your treasures..

This really needs no commentary, but was seen in Millersburg, OH, on my way home for Easter.

Happy Birthday Michael

We celebrated Michael's birthday with a bunch of friends (~18) at Pollys. He got a carton of cigs and a fridge barrel of Heineken! Had only 2 because I want to go to the gym tomorrow. Doubt it will happen! Ben's chili bowl for din din!

Happy Birthday Jym

We celebrated our return to DC with a Sunday Funday style Sinful Saturday that culminated in a fun party for Jym. Too much champers and the night ended in madness.

Back to San Jose

We drove Miss Carriage back to San Jose and flew home. A bit of drama, but fun nonetheless!

I'll add more detail later.

J

Canopy Tour

Today was our canopy tour day. B/T went with me and the rest of the drunkies went to the beach and shopping. I had a great time, but recommend doing such an adventure early in the vacation when there has been little alcohol consumption and alot of sleep the night before!

Sailing is fun

We took an afternoon snorkeling, dinner, and sunset cruise. Wow

Ocean Pacific

...or rather Pacific Ocean. We spent mid-day at M/C's pool bar and then the afternoon at the beach. It was breathtaking. I've never seen nicer waves, a wider beach, or such beauty at the ocean. Swimming naked at La Playita (clothing optional beach) was also quite interesting. One must take the waves head on or back on. Nothing sideways will do. I'm sure you get the picture.

Manuel Antonio - Holla

We drove to Manuel Antonio today. OMG - the bridges, the roads, the cliffs, the one way places. Ridiculous. And to top it off, there was a detour through a shanty town.

M/C's hotel is awesome with a fantastic view. It is called La Mansion Inn and was quite secluded. They delivered champaigne and fresh fruit to the room shortly after our arrival. Very nice. The rest of us stayed at Villa Roca which is not quite as plush, but has an equally impressive view.

We ate dinner at Aqua Azul and ended the day in our pool. After nearly giving up, our clothes arrived at 8:58 PM

Alive and Well - but in the same clothes

The trip started as an adventure. Tim, Catrina, Michael, Anthony, and I decided to go out on Friday night (shock) and we all powered through except Timmy who went to bed so he could drive us to the airport.

Flight from DC - Philly was delayed 2 hours (walkway thing had a flat and couldn't pull to the plane)

They told us we missed our connection and would have to wait until today to get the 9:45 flight to Costa Rica. Fortunately our connection was delayed and like the movies, I ran like wild and got to the gate just in time for them to hold it for us! We made the flight yesterday, but our luggage did not. I tried to borrow clothes from Anthony, who was on a different flight, but a pair of shorts for each thigh wasn't working out so well.

Needless to say, in our travel sweats and t-shirts we didn't go out and explore the nightlife. We sat at the bar and drank a gagillion beers and vodkas AND had dinner. Total Bill $83 US for seven people. Friends - this is fantastic and this is at a 5 star hotel bar too. We finished the night in the casino, which was on the 17th floor with amazing night views of the city.

Ms. Carriage is fantastic. She wasn't the one in the pic I've been carrying, but similiar. She's sorta pale yellow green. Hysterical.

We're meeting everyone at 8:30 for breakfast and then driving to the beach. US Air says our luggage will be delivered to us this evening, but they don't electronically track baggage in this country so they said not to bother to call for status because they won't be able to tell us until it is dropped off. We may be going shopping because the four of us can't possibly wear these clothes another day. Thankfully our next hotel is clothing optional at the pool...it is an option. Better than stinky sweaty travel clothes!

Bill and Tom were on our connecting flight and Anthony had his own adventures on his flight, but that's a story for another day!

Hope all is well and hope my DC friends are showing Lisa a good time!

Power Through

All the others are in bed. I am trying to wake them up because I was the undesignated self-elected power through boy. We have to leave for the airport in 45 minutes! Time to shower and roll out! Text messages are distributed...lets see what happens!

I will not miss my plane!

Vacation Kick Off

Peyton just cleared our table. I'm drinking vodka and everyone else is drinking beer. Just kidding-those are from the March madness drunkies, but I have had my share of drinks and shots. Definately a disproportionate (sp?) amount for the 1.25 hours I have been here since packing.

Ms. Carriage

Yup - the name is disturbing, but it won out over Vanorexia and a few others I probably shouldn't post out here on the interweb. Seven of us leave at 5 AM for Costa Rica in the AM. My sister and our new roomie are housesitting while we are gone.

Our agenda includes renting a 12 passenger van (I'm the designated driver) and driving from San Jose to Manuel Antonio through the rain forest. We're calling her Ms. Carriage and pray she'll get us through. Actually we just pray she is remotely modern. The pics of the vehicles on Central American car rental websites may not accurately depict our transportation. At this point we believe she is a Kia Pregio, or similar.

We've packed all the bug spray and sunscreen as required and will update as possible along the way. I'll probably end up backdating my journal entries as time behind a computer is not really on the agenda for our trip! In fact, not much is on the agenda besides sun, beach, cocktails, and a few zip-line and rappelling excursions. Fun times!

Welcome to America...I mean U St.

My best girlfriend Tish's sister Toya moved in with us today...well yesterday since the clock turned. Love the mobile blogging from Solly's Tavern.

Sunday Funday

We crossed the moat for Sunday Funday at Freddies where we had a nice buffet brunch and all the champers we could drink for $14.99 per person. Several enjoyed the fact we could smoke in side, but CS was sick and she would have enjoyed it the most. We celebrated RK's latest birthday. I think he's 35 (again.)

JM was visiting from Cincy and it was great to have her with us for the weekend. Fun times.