Category: Travel

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Blogs/Weblogs Photography Travel Web/Tech WordPress

About that Header Image – Overlooking Luggala

When I launched this new WordPress-powered version of my blog over the weekend, I quickly looked through some recent photos to find one that would be suitable for use in the header image. The one I picked, which I’ve loosely titled “Band on the Run!“, was taken on November 19, 2010, in County Wicklow in Ireland. Seems like a near perfect shot for an album cover, doesn’t it?!

We’re standing on a cliff overlooking Luggala – the Guiness estate. We had just jumped out of our tour bus (Wild Wicklow Tours – highly recommended!) and were headed over to capture the views when I snapped this photo with my Canon PowerShot S95. My Glenbrook partner Carol Coye Benson and I were in Ireland teaching our Payments in a Mobile World workshop earlier that week. That’s Carol out in front of the band in the photo!

Here’s a page showing all of the header images that I’ve used over the years on sjl.us.

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Food and Drink Travel

A Ham Dinner at Wildwood

Earlier this week, my Glenbrook partner Carol Coye Benson and I were in Portland, Oregon for a Private Payments Workshop with one of our clients.

Upon our arrival the night before, we headed for Portland’s Wildwood Restaurant – one of our mutually favorite spots in this city of great restaurants.

We both spotted an unusual entree on the menu – ham. Curious, we asked our waiter about it. Turns out the ham is house cured at Wildwood – part of their effort to use as much of the “whole hog” as possible.

We both opted to try it – and were delighted with the flavor combination. This wasn’t the usual clove-spiced or honey-glazed ham – far from it! This was just a small stack of sliced pieces of ham on a bed of sautéed spinach and salsify cream with some wild mushrooms on top. Very nice, very tasty.

To accompany the ham, we had the Scott Paul 2006 La Paulée Pinot Noir – a delightful Oregon Pinot!

Another great Wildwood dinner!

Categories
San Francisco/California Travel

California Travels

One of my favorite local blogs is California Travels by San Jose-based Tom and Margaret Husband.

Tom and Margaret do an outstanding job of sharing their adventures around the Bay Area and Northern California. Tune in to their posts for a real treat!

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Food and Drink Travel

A Special Healdsburg Weekend Away at Honor Mansion

We headed off to Healdsburg early Friday morning – for a 3 day weekend away.

IMG_2474.jpgStaying at the Honor Mansion – a truly outstanding B&B within walking distance of the downtown square in Healdsburg – we caught up with good friends now living in Healdsburg for Friday lunch, wine tasting and dinner.

Our Friday lunch wine tasting at Williamson Wines just off the square was truly amazing. Williamson specializes in food and wine pairings – and does a superb job of bringing together just the right food with just the right wine together in your mouth. I’ve never experienced anything like what we had at Williamson!

Healdsburg is still small enough to enjoy on foot while within easy reach of some of the best wineries in California out in Dry Creek Valley. On Saturday, after the morning Farmers Market, the Healdsburg Art Festival was underway. We enjoyed visiting with the artists before heading back to the Honor Mansion for some swimming pool coolness and downtime before dinner with friends. A record 103 degree temperature made the pool an extra special treat!

Early this morning, I wandered out before sunrise to capture the Halloween display at a home just up Grove Street from the Mansion. Happy Halloween – indeed!

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Santa Cruz Travel

Laffing Sal in Santa Cruz

Laffing Sal - Photo by Scott Loftesness

While wandering around the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk earlier this morning, I stumbled across Laffing Sal – she’s the original from the old Playland at the Beach in San Francisco. Brought back memories!

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Lighthouse Photography Santa Cruz Travel

A Lazy Sunday in Santa Cruz

Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse - 2011

It’s been a rough few days. I’ve been grinding away on some research and pulling a presentation together and, feeling sorry for myself, I just HAD to get out of the house this morning for some R&R! It looked like a beautiful day at the beach – so I gave Lily a quick walk around Sharon Park and then headed south on 280 to Santa Cruz. My attitude was sort of summed up in today’s Harley-Davidson ad in the New York Times: Screw it! Let’s ride! (All I was lacking was that Harley!)

This photo is of the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse at Lighthouse Point on West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz – taken with my iPhone 3G. The lighthouse is part of the Lighthouse Field State Beach and overlooks the Steamer Lane surfing hotspot. Note that the flag is at half mast – in honor of the four Oakland Policemen?

After shooting some surfer photos, I headed south to the Boardwalk, caught some riders on the Giant Dipper, and then headed down Portola past Twin Lakes to Live Oak Library – thinking I’d finish up some work there overlooking its lagoon. Unfortunately, due to library funding cutbacks, it’s closed on Sunday – was any library funding part of Obama’s stimulus package? So I headed home back through Santa Cruz, then up Route 1 over to Pescadero and back on Hwy 84. By the way, AT&T’s network coverage really is very, very poor along Route 1 – like non-existent!

I drove by Harley Farms Goat Dairy but didn’t stop – lots of cars outside, looked like business was booming! As I drove through Pescadero, two photographers were out on foot walking – reminded me of the trip Chris and I did a couple of months ago.

Categories
Living Travel

Rick Steves’ Iran on KTEH in San Francisco – 2/1/09 10 PM

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, Rick Steves’ Iran – Yesterday and Today is being broadcast on KTEH Channel 10 on Sunday, February 1, at 10 PM.

For more background on Rick Steves’ Iran trip, see my earlier post about Rick’s recent talk at the Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley.

Check the schedule for additional airtimes in your area.

Categories
Aviation Travel

Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport – Frozen in Time?

I was down in southern California this week teaching one of our Glenbrook Payments Boot Camps with one of my partners, Carol Coye Benson. We had a great time with a great group of folks.

Flying home from Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport last night on Southwest brought back memories. When I worked for IBM in the 70’s, I used to spend a fair amount of time in and out of that airport – mostly for visits to Lockheed across the street. From the looks of things, nothing has changed at this airport in the 30+ years since!

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The best part about Burbank’s airport is its compactness. Landing, it feels like the aircraft comes to a stop, makes a quick turn left and you’re at the gate. No jetways, just old-fashioned ramps at both the front and rear of the aircraft. Felt a lot like San Jose Airport circa-1970.

Inside, there’s a sign displaying the airport’s mission statement – I smiled when I read it strived to provide a “state of the art” airport experience. But now that I think about it, I enjoyed the whole experience of flying in and out of Burbank – much more that I would flying in/out of some of my least favorite airports (Atlanta and Denver come immediately to mind!) Burbank is indeed providing a state of the art experience – the way things used to be!

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Photography Travel View From My Window

The View from My Window

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The view from my window this morning – Marriott Warner Center Hotel – Woodland Hills, California.

Categories
Living Travel

Musings on Iran – Changing Perceptions with Rick Steves

Rick Steves at Commonwealth Club Silicon ValleyLast night I attended Rick Steves‘ “A Perspective on Iran” presentation at the Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley. The event was a sell out – no surprise given the popularity of Rick’s European travel guides and tours.

This presentation wasn’t a travelogue but, rather, a sharing of Rick’s learnings from his 11-day visit to Iran last May told as a story with some great photos as a loose accompaniment. Checkout that first photo – on the building behind on the left is a huge banner saying “Bring Down the US” – where the red stripes are bombs falling!

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