Paris, August 8-12, 2024
Date: March 7, 2024
Subject Line: Ton dossard pour le 42,195 km du Marathon Pour Tous Paris 2024
Subject Line, Translated: Your bib for the 42.195 km of the Marathon Pour Tous Paris 2024
Me: OMG OMG I think I think… is this real!?
#MPTParis24
Date: March 7, 2024
Subject Line: Ton dossard pour le 42,195 km du Marathon Pour Tous Paris 2024
Subject Line, Translated: Your bib for the 42.195 km of the Marathon Pour Tous Paris 2024
Me: OMG OMG I think I think… is this real!?
Body:
Félicitations Gary !
Tu as gagné ton dossard pour l’épreuve du 42,195km du Marathon Pour Tous Paris 2024
Body, Translated:
Congratulations, Gary!
You've won your race number for the 42.195km race of the Paris 2024 Marathon for All.
Me: Holy shit, it’s real. I’m in!
And that’s how I found myself taking an absolutely unplanned trip to Paris. In August. During the 2024 Olympic Games. To run the same fucking marathon course as the Olympic athletes.
Before we get to the fun on Parisian soil, let’s talk about how I got there. I booked a fairly solid 66K round trip redemption in Economy with Air France using Flying Blue Miles which also included a transfer bonus at the time from one of my points currencies (I lose track of which one after a while). Of course, weeks later, I would see a 55K fare on the outbound segment in Business (the important one to have a lie-flat in) but missed out because I didn’t figure out the least painful way to cancel/rebook without stranding miles in Flying Blue. Which was silly because I hardly need an excuse to fly with Air France to somewhere in Europe. Not to mention this was a flight departing at 1 am so it would have been really nice to have a bed to sleep in. Oh well.
Cut to the afternoon of Wednesday, August 7, when I receive messages starting that this flight would be leaving closer to 3 am. Which, yikes, now I REALLY wish I had rebooked into Business Class. I tried everything I could to rebook to an earlier flight but the one that had seats available was leaving in an hour and I was still home at the time so that was a non-starter. I even tried to get to the airport to change to one of the flights that left between 10 and midnight. No dice.
In the end, I resigned myself to killing nearly four hours in the Air France Lounge - yes, I have enough self awareness to know this is beyond a first world problem - waiting for my increasingly very delayed flight to depart. Whilst continuously gorging myself on some decent lounge food and alcoholic beverages, I checked to see what the price of an upgrade to Business Class. First few times I checked, it was well over $900 (I won’t even mention how much in miles) but over the course of the evening, it eventually dropped just once to just over $800 which, for a flight that wouldn’t end up taking off until nearly 3 am, was totally worth paying for the bed alone. With less than a handful of open seats left in the cabin, I didn’t think it’d drop any further and bit on the upgrade. Good thing cuz that bird went out without a single empty seat in Business.
I haven’t done a trip report that included flying in Business with Air France so let’s dig a little deeper into the experience. This was actually my first (as of now, still only) time flying on their A350, let alone doing so in Business Class. Even better? I got their latest product which includes a privacy door and the whole thing just looks so sleek with the clean white and dark contrast throughout.
With takeoff not until nearly 3 am, I was fairly impressed at how quick the meal service was on this flight (not always the case with them) with champagne coming out at 3:15 am, my tray with starters at 3:39 am, and the main at 4:04 am. By 4:24 am, I’d made my bed for the night with a glass of cognac bedside. Night night.
I managed to get nearly four hours of sleep which isn’t too bad when the bird spends barely six hours in flight. By the time I woke up, we were already over France and, less than 30 minutes later, we were on the ground at everyone’s favorite airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG). I’d transited through it many times in the past but this would be my first time actually leaving the airport on the ground. It was really nice just looking for the airport exit transit signage instead of which terminal 2 and which gates to transfer to next.
The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad
Despite leaving over 90 minutes after scheduled departure, we managed to arrive only 38 minutes late, which says as much about how much time gets blocked for JFK flights as it does about how much time we actually made up in the air. Of course, one can assume that had we left one time, we’d have arrived maybe an hour or so early. The timing would be key because I had somewhere to be not too long after I arrived in Paris. By the time I got to my Airbnb and got myself in a presentable state, it was already time to hustle to the first stop on my trip - the Stade de France for Athletics, Session 14. Just check out the list of events for the night:
W 1500 Metres Semi-Final
W Shot Put Heptathlon
W Long Jump Final
M Javelin Throw Final
M 200 Metres Final
W 200 Metres Heptathlon
W 400 Metres Hurdles Final
M 110 Metres Hurdles FinalI may have been sleep-deprived but the excitement in the place that started with the medals being awarded for the morning session that rolled into the beginning of the evening session’s events and built with each successive event brought me back to life. It probably helped that this was an alcohol-free event, as was the case for all the events of the Games (at least for the general public from what I saw - may have been a different story for the high rollers).
Highlights of the night included seeing Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan set an Olympic Record in the Men’s Javelin Throw, American Tara Davis-Woodhall take Gold in the Women’s Long Jump and run to her Paralympian husband in the stands to celebrate, and seeing Americans Grant Holloway and Daniel Roberts nab Gold and Silver in the Men’s 110 Metres Hurdles. But the absolute standout moment of the night was seeing American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set a new World Record on her way to capturing Gold in the Women’s 400 Metres Hurdles. Just an incredible night watching the world’s best track and field athletes compete.
That was Night One of the trip - what was in store for Night Two? How about Beach Volleyball, Session 39 which featured the Bronze Medal and Gold Medal matches in Women’s Beach Volleyball… in a stadium with the an absurdly beautiful, most stunning backdrop!? That’s what we got Stade de la Tour Eiffel, a beach volleyball court and stadium set in front of the fuckin’ Eiffel Tower. Just amazing.
The Food and Drinks
It’d been nearly a decade since the last time I was in Paris and the restaurant where I had the best meal of my last visit was no longer (RIP Spring) so, really, this trip was a blank canvas for me to work with, dining-wise.
I hit up two Michelin ⭐️ restaurants and both were absolutely wonderful and I’d totally recommend both, especially for lunch as that’s where you get the best bang for your buck. With that said, the best meal I had on this trip was at Maison where a seat at the counter for their €85 multi-course lunch was just a treat. Food was wonderful (the most important thing) but it was the service, both behind and in front of the counter, that elevated the visit. Also, it’s just always a joy watching a busy kitchen where everyone working in it knows what their roles are and executing at a high level.
It’s Paris so you damn well better be sure I got me some pastries. Alas, this trip was too short and too crammed with activity for me to do a true bakery crawl but the standout bakery on this trip was Boulangerie Utopie, with croissants so good, I stopped in there twice. Also, they had a solid baguette that I may or may not have accompanied with supermarket charcuterie at 3 am on the couch in my Airbnb. Nope, sure didn’t. (I did)
No trip of mine would be complete without some tipples and I am hear to report that Paris continues to be a wonderful place for a drink. There’s obviously all of the wine wherever you dine - Septime La Cave was an especially good place to pair the wine bar experience with bar food - but it was a better craft beer city than I recall it being in 2016. I enjoyed both breweries I visited with Paname Brewing Company offering canalside seating whislt watching Team USA take Gold in Women’s Basketball and Gallia Paris having a wonderful outdoor space with pillow-cushioned seats - a wonderful Sunday afternoon unwinding and relaxing after a taxing Saturday (over)night.
Closing out my last night in Paris was a trip to the aforementioned Septime La Cave, followed by a quick cocktail at The Honey Moon which was fine but there’s not much cocktail artistry when they’re all being served from taps. The final stop of the night at Moonshiner though was a treat - you start by walking through a pizza joint to the back and then you’re led into a speakeasy. Maaaany cocktails were had here - all of them delicious - and the service was top-notch. Service so good that it extended past my visit as one of the bartenders actually chased me down a few blocks away to return the charging brick I had left on my seat. Like I said, incredible service.
A Marathon For All
Taking it back to the beginning and why I ended up unexpectedly in Paris during the 2024 Olympic Games - Marathon Pour Tous (Marathon For All). The organisers of the Paris Olympics announced that they would be holding a marathon for non-Olympians to run, on the same course that the Olympians would run. At the time, I don’t think anyone knew what that meant - would we be actually running it during the Olympics or would it be sometime before or after the actual Games? It seemed crazy to do the former but that’s just exactly what they ended up announcing would happen and it didn’t stop at that - they announced they’d hold it between the two Olympic races which meant this was gonna be a night marathon.
As you can imagine, with only 20 thousand-ish spots available to the general public, this was gonna be a tough entry to score. They created a system where aspiring entrants could sync their miles, garnering them points, with 100K being enough to get into the lottery. They created an app with challenges that earned you chances for specific draws for a number of spots. Over the next few years, I did both, hoping for my chance to win. No dice. By the time they did the lottery in January 2024 and didn’t hear anything, I figured that was it and put it out of my mind.
Now you can understand my absolute shock and giddiness when I got that email in March that said I had won a spot. My guess is that they did a second drawing after folks from the first drawing declined their spot which was understandable considering the logistics of planning a trip to a major world city during the insanity that is a citywide, world-class event. Me? I had zero second thoughts about taking this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run the same Olympic marathon course that Eliud Kipchoge would run, trip logistics be damned.
Fun fact, this would be the fourth time Kipchoge and I would run the same marathon. He set a world record each of the first three times we ran the same race.
This was my first ever night marathon but not my first every night race thanks to a 10-mile one I ran in the middle of the night in Bangkok earlier in the year (that trip report is coming soon!). This one started at 9 pm so it was both easier and more difficult to prepare for. I didn’t have to get up around 2 am like I did in Bangkok but I also didn’t want to just go about my day and roll into the race so I had to force myself to nap, even through the start of USWNT playing the Gold Medal match in Women’s Football. When they sealed their victory around 7 pm, that was my signal to head out to the start of the race.
Getting to the start line was… a struggle. Just absolute chaos in that part of Paris with a lot of pedestrian traffic and people getting pushed into barricades. Eventually, we got some help from local police as they waved runners through the crowd so they could cross the streets necessary to get to the start area. Once we got there, we were treated to yet another gorgeous Parisian sunset along the Seine.
Waiting for the race to start, it was a party-like atmosphere with loud music and light shows but if you thought that kind of atmosphere would just be at the start and finish lines, you’d be dead wrong. The whole damn race was one giant party, with DJs, smoke machines, and lights all along the course. Marathon Pour Tous was a night marathon and Paris 2024 was gonna deliver with nightclub, but make it running.
This was still a race after all and at this point in time, I was still holding out hope I could run a BQ at some point in the fall so I wanted to use this marathon to see where my fitness was at. This was, after all, an insanely difficult course with a 1 km-long climb going into the 29 km mark that was borderline torture though it was a nice touch to run though glowing rings that made it feel like Rainbow Road in Mario Kart but way less fun. It was not for the feint of heart.
Fun fact, this would not be the fourth time Kipchoge and I would finish the same marathon. That climb destroyed him. Me? I survived it. Ignore the fact that I wasn’t going nearly as hard as he had and it was much lower stakes for me. But, I guess you could say… I beat Kipchoge? No, no, you can’t. I won’t. He’s the GOAT and an absolute killer.
But this medal? I’ve got one and he doesn’t so maybe I did beat him, in a way.
This marathon was not the easiest one I’ve ever run - if I had to rank this in terms of degree of difficulty, I’d probably put this one behind only the one at Mt. Fuji. But was this the most fun I’ve had running a marathon? You bet.
And that baguette with supermarket charcuterie at 3 am? Yeah, that came after I got back to my Airbnb and it was accompanied with the best chilled supermarket rosé I’ve ever had in the middle of the night. A successful night in many ways, in my estimation.
Final Thoughts
I’m gonna level with you - I’d never actually been a big fan of Paris. I liked it enough but I never loved it like I do some other cities in Europe like London or Berlin. I don’t know why that was the case, it just was for me.
That is, until this trip. Say what you will about the hokiness of this next sentiment but there’s something about The Olympic Spirit infusing an entire city with an energy that changes it while it’s there. Maybe it was just what few locals remained being on their best behaviour but it just felt, well, nice being in Paris this time. I’m not sure I’d vault it over the aforementioned cities but I’m willing to put it alongside them but I’d like to do another visit soon to affirm that thought. Heck, even wanting to go back there is testament enough to my 180 on this city.
The List
Restaurants
Kodawari Ramen Tsukiji | @kodawariramen
Maison | @maison_sota
Kodawari Ramen (Yokochō) | @kodawariramen
BÀNỘI | @banoirestaurant
Villa9Trois | @villa9trois
Restaurant Pantagruel | @restaurant.pantagruel
Bakeries
Boulangerie Utopie | @boulangerieutopie
Ten Belles Bread | @tenbelles
Breweries
Paname Brewing Company | @panamebrewingcompany
Gallia Paris | @galliaparis
Bars
La Robe & La Mousse | @larobeetlamousse
Prescription Cocktail Club | @prescriptioncocktailclubparis
Septime La Cave | @septimeparis La Cave
The Honey Moon | @thehoneymoonparis
Moonshiner | @moonshiner_cocktail_bar
Places
Stade de France | @stadefrance Paris 2024 |@paris2024
Stade de la Tour Eiffel, Paris 2024 | @paris2024
London, February 14-18, 2025
What’s this? Another trip report so soon!?
What can I say - I’m on a roll!
This is yet another trip that came about for an absolutely absurd reason - I had originally booked a round trip on JetBlue (B6) Mint to Seattle (outbound in cash, return on points) in August 2024 to see the Mets when they were in town. Except! I booked it for the wrong fucking weekend. By the time I realized my mistake, the fares went up by a ridiculous amount so I cancelled the trip knowing I had until mid-October to use the cash credit. In a fortuitous coincidence, I would end up needing that weekend freed up so I could run some race in Paris (that trip report is coming - it’s in my backlog, I swear).
#COYSTrip25
What’s this? Another trip report so soon!?
What can I say - I’m on a roll!
This is yet another trip that came about for an absolutely absurd reason - I had originally booked a round trip on JetBlue (B6) Mint to Seattle (outbound in cash, return on points) in August 2024 to see the Mets when they were in town. Except! I booked it for the wrong fucking weekend. By the time I realized my mistake, the fares went up by a ridiculous amount so I cancelled the trip knowing I had until mid-October to use the cash credit. In a fortuitous coincidence, I would end up needing that weekend freed up so I could run some race in Paris (that trip report is coming - it’s in my backlog, I swear).
Anyway, let’s move forward to early October and I’ve still got that travel credit in the bank and the clock is ticking to use it or lose it. As it so happens, Tottenham Hotspur would be hosting Manchester United during Presidents Day weekend and JetBlue flies to London. Not only that, I could book Mint going out and Core coming back and the amount not covered by the credit wouldn’t break the bank too much. And, really, if you’re gonna book a lie-flat seat, might as well do so for a transatlantic red-eye and take full advantage of being able to get a more decent sleep. It’s the best way to make it worth the cost.
Friends, it was totally worth the cost. Keeping in mind, the only other domestic business class experience I’ve had is with Delta (DL) and the only other transatlantic to London was on Virgin Atlantic, this may top both of those, at least when it comes to the onboard experience.
Let’s talk hard product first - for a seat/suite comparison, putting it up against the ones in Delta One on their 767-300 (763) or 767-400 (764), this wins hands-down. The JetBlue Mint suite seat is more intact than the Delta 763 and way more plush than on the 764. Having a door isn’t a big deal to me but, as a point of comparison, there is one in this JetBlue product and none of Delta’s 767s do. The IFE screen in Mint is much better than the one in Delta One on the 764 and is comically, astronomically better than the one on Delta One on the 763. The only point in Delta’s favor is the IFE selection as they have a lot more movies and television shows to select from. With respect to the only other transatlantic to London business class product I’ve flown, the JetBlue Mint suite compares favorably to Virgin Atlantic (VS) Upper Class on their A350-1000 and A330-900neo.
When it comes to the soft product, both DL and B6 give out slippers but VS doesn’t though they do give out pajamas so I kinda wanna give the edge to VS here. The content of the amenity kits are equal amongst all three but the bag that they come in on VS comes in last. As for food, DL is in third while B6 comes out on top for quality though VS shines when it comes to the variety of options.
Where JetBlue disappoints is in the on-the-ground experience with very little in the way of a business class check-in and no lounge whatsoever. Whereas Virgin Atlantic has their Clubhouse at JFK and Delta has not just two SkyClubs but a Delta One Lounge just for D1 passengers. If the flight is departing on time, getting to the airport and clearing security with minutes to spare before boarding is all you need for flying B6 but, man, if you get there early or if your flight is delayed, that lack of a lounge to escape to while you wait for your flight to board becomes a very acute problem though I’ll note it’s a very first world problem.
As for the flight itself? Wonderful. Service was spectacular and super-attentive. As already mentioned, the food was incredible for a US carrier and having cocktails (mocktails too) made-to-order is always a nice touch. Most importantly, I got over four hours of sleep on a seven-hour flight which I think is the best I’ve done flying to London, and that’s without skipping either meal.
One last grumble on the on-the-ground experience… there was also obviously no arrivals lounge at Heathrow so I wasn’t able to shower until I checked into my room in the afternoon. Again, totally a first world problem (apologies to anyone downwind of me if I was smelly).
The Food and Drinks
I’ve been to London a number of times in my life (four times alone in 2024) so it’s nice to not have to chase after anything in particular. But it’s also London, so there’s always some place I want to try on my list that I’ve yet to hit up and this trip was no exception. I dined at two Michelin ⭐️ restaurants and when picking which of the two I preferred, I’m gonna split the baby and say both, each for different reasons.
Lunch at Chishuru was an absolute bargain for the quality on offer in their Modern West African fare. Every dish on the three-course menu was stellar but the Akara, a bean fritter with chicken & duck liver parfait, was my first bite on the ground in town and it really hit the spot -perfectly fried, light and airy balanced with the richness of the liver parfait, yet not overwhelmingly so.
Dinner at BRAT Restaurant is meant to be a shared experience and, dining solo, was not an inexpensive affair, clocking in at £150 for two starters, two mains, bread, a cocktail, and a glass of wine. To be fair, you’re paying for quality food product, prepared well and cooked over open fire. The portions were decent and could easily have fed two (maybe with another starter or two thrown in). Every dish was. a. banger. I could drink up all the juices left from the scallop and the langoustines - fear not, I let the bread do the work of sopping that up. I’d definitely go back but preferably not alone unless sitting at the bar - the tables are really close together (something they are very upfront about on their website which was very much appreciated) so it’s not ideal if you’re self-conscious about solo dining.
I spent nearly the entirety of my Saturday afternoon at The Kernel Spa Road, the new location in Bermondsey for… well, The Kernel Brewery. I’ll miss the charm of the old location in the railway arch but there’s no denying this new spot is better positioned and better laid out for more folks to gather and drink copious amounts of beers. The long bar alone allows for more bartenders behind the bar to serve several customers at a time.
As is tradition now (two years in a row is tradition!), I met up with a friend from NYC (hi Blankman!) because we now only hang out when we’re both on holiday in London. I don’t make the rules - it’s tradition, after all. All kidding aside, great to catch up and chat baseball for a few hours, accompanied by friendly service from our buddy Mauritz. Also? Have some of the excellent Japanese Izakaya-style food from the Yagi Izakaya residency before it’s gone!
Over the many trips I’ve made to London, I’ve found quite a few cocktail bars worth visiting and I’m pleased to say that all three I got to over this long weekend were worth the visit and worthy of a revisit on a future trip. Side Hustle was the fanciest with prices to match but also the quality to justify - it was also the most poppin’ of the three (also, it was a Friday night). Happiness Forgets was fancy - they had big cubes of ice - but not overly so and the prices were commensurate. It wasn’t too busy but I also got there close to when it opened at 5 pm on a Monday night and was gone a little after 6 pm. Home Bar was just that… a place that felt like home - a cozy place to chat with the bartenders and other patrons. Again, all three bars I’d recommend without hesitation - it just depends on the vibe you’re looking for.
Hey, A Race!
Since I was already gonna be doing a long run on Sunday, I figured I might as well run a race. Classic runner brain there, I know. I signed up for a 10-mile race in Victoria Park which was perfect since it was a mile or so from my hotel so I could run out there to warm up and get maybe 11-12 miles in for the day.
Too bad it got cancelled the week of the race.
Needing to find another race to run (again, classic runner brain behaviour here, searching for another race when I could just take the L and sleep in), I had several options - a 5K here, a 10K there, but all were about an hour or so by public transport.
So, of course, I chose a half marathon that required traveling over 90 minutes by bus and train.
I ended up running the Hampton Court Half Marathon, a race I actually signed up for last year but ended up bailing on because the rail service had bustitution along the route and I couldn’t be bothered to do bus to train to bus. No such problem this time so, after the long commute by public transport, followed by a frigid walk to the start area and then some waiting, I was off and running through Thames Ditton and surrounding villages.
Well, running, sure, but hardly running hard as the goal was to stay in HR Zone 3 for the first 10 miles and see how I felt, ideally at an 8:45 pace or better which I barely managed, going 8:44/mile. I felt good though so I decided to just send it at that point for the final 5K and ran each mile progressively faster. Still only got it down to a 7:36 pace those last 3.1 miles but I didn’t feel awful afterwards so that’s a win, I guess.
Glory, Glory, Tottenham Hotspur 🎶
Finally, the reason for this trip which, duh, the #COYSTrip25 hashtag. For the second consecutive year, I caught a Spurs match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a stadium I just absolutely love going to. It’s a large multi-purpose stadium but still really feels like a football stadium first. The food options (at least on the 100 level) are great and the beer selection is solid - It’s even got a Beavertown Brewery taproom in the concourse!
I eschewed food and drinks whilst at this match, still full from the Sunday Roast at lunch and wanting to keep the stomach primed for BRAT, leaving me all the time in the world to really soak it all in. My seat was in the 400 level in the North Stand, easily the best I’ve sat in of the four times I’ve been to the stadium. I had a great view of James Maddison scoring in the 13th minute and then a wonderful view of Guglielmo Vicario holding onto dear life, maintaining that one-goal advantage for 49 minutes in the second half, for the clean sheet and a 1-0 Spurs victory. An absolute white-knuckle affair for club and supporters both.
The List
Restaurants
Chishuru | @chishuru
Bone Daddies | @bonedaddies
The NoMad Restaurant | @thenomadhotel
Yagi Izakaya at The Kernel Spa Road | @yagi_izakaya
On The Bab | @onthebab
From The Ashes BBQ at The Five Points Brewery & Courtyard | @fromtheashesbbq
BRAT Restaurant | @bratrestaurant
Breweries
The Kernel Spa Road | @thekernelbrewery
The Five Points Brewery & Courtyard | @fivepointsbrew
Saint Monday | @saintmondaybrewery
Mikkeller Brewpub London | @mikkellerbrewpublondon
Blacklock | @blacklockchops
Bars
The Craft Beer Co. | @craftbeerco
Side Hustle | @sidehustlelondon
Happiness Forgets | @happiness_hoxton
Home Bar | @home_on_ravey
Coffee
Monmouth Coffee Company | @monmouthcoffee
Places
Sky Garden | @sg_skygarden
Pacific Northwest, January 16-20, 2025
Hey, a trip report! It’s been a hot minute, I know.
This trip came about for an absolutely absurd reason - I had Regional Upgrade Certificates (RUC) from Delta that were use it or lose it by January 31 and I sure as hell wasn’t gonna lose them after spending an equally absurd money with Delta in 2023. But to actually use them had proven harder than I had anticipated, with several waitlist attempts in 2024 going by the boards. Finally, I settled on finding Delta One or First Class experiences I wanted to try in January, reasoning that the Main Cabin MQDs would get me going on the next status quest for 2025.
#PNWDoubleDip
Hey, a trip report! It’s been a hot minute, I know.
This trip came about for an absolutely absurd reason - I had Regional Upgrade Certificates (RUC) from Delta that were use it or lose it by January 31 and I sure as hell wasn’t gonna lose them after spending an equally absurd money with Delta in 2023. But to actually use them had proven harder than I had anticipated, with several waitlist attempts in 2024 going by the boards. Finally, I settled on finding Delta One or First Class experiences I wanted to try in January, reasoning that the Main Cabin MQDs would get me going on the next status quest for 2025.
In the end, I settled on a round-trip to Seattle so I could fly on an A321neo in First Class on their newest hard product with, if you believe the decidedly mixed reviews, an emphasis on hard.
The reviews were not wrong. These seats are haaaaard. On a two-three hour flight, they’re perfectly fine though woe be unto you if you are in the window seat in a non-bulkhead row and one or both seats in the row in front of you have reclined - you’re gonna have one hell of a time trying to get into the aisle. The problem is that this is the seat they’re putting on planes intended for narrowbody transcontinental flights and these seats just do not have enough padding on them for a transcontinental flight. You will absolutely feel it on your butt and tailbone on a longer flight. My advice? Sit on the provided pillow if you don’t need it for sleeping.
It wasn’t all bad for the hard product - the large IFE and the Bluetooth connectivity for headphones were absolute highlights. Leg room too but, again, if the seat in front of you reclines, they’re kinda on top of you. As for the soft product, the preorder-only Beef And Lamb Kofta was a welcome change of pace from the usual beef short rib dish. As with most times, the service in First Class was pleasant and attentive.
After landing in Seattle a little before 11 pm, it was off to a hotel by the airport. Why? So I could catch an early flight to my actual destination for this trip - Vancouver. Excepting a three-hour detour in Windsor while in Detroit back in 2023, this would be my first extended stay in Canada since the pandemic.
Man, did I miss this country. Man, did I enjoy my time in British Columbia. Sure, if I were into snow stuff like skiing or snowboarding, coming here in winter would make more sense. Even still, it turned out to be a great deal warmer in Vancouver than it was in New York City while I was out there so this was practically a winter escape 😂.
Vancouver is a lovely city though it is most certainly not a big city - you can pretty much walk and see all of its downtown in a day, maybe two. Its beauty, really, is in its immediate surroundings with majestic mountains and bodies of water. I’m certain I lucked out with respect to weather in January as it was incredible bright sunshine all three days I was there.
On most trips, I try to hit a museum or some other cultural institution but since the temperatures while I was there were positively balmy, I took full advantage of it, spending the majority of my time outdoors. There were the nine miles (14ish kilometers since this is Canada) of walking on Friday in Downtown and East Vancouver as I pinged between restaurants and breweries, the four hours spent on Saturday wandering around Granville Island, and then a late Sunday afternoon into early evening at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. Oh, and a couple of 7ish mile runs, to boot.
The Food and Drinks
Obviously, all that time spent outdoors in the winter, even if it was somewhat mild, worked up an appetite for some food. Vancouver certainly didn’t disappoint in that respect and with the exchange rate being what it was, it was practically free. Alright, not quite, but not having to calculate sales tax on top of the bill meant less of a sticker shock at the end though the increasingly ubiquitous service charge made its appearance at more than a few stops.
The standout meal in Vancouver would have to be the one at PiDGiN, an Asian-European restaurant in Gastown. I enjoyed every bite I had there but the foie gras rice bowl was just outstanding and deserving of being singled out. The szechuan pepper beignet was a lot of volume at end of the meal but the tingling numbness from the peppercorns made for a really nice savory-sweet finish.
Of course, no trip is complete without hitting a few local breweries and bars; I managed to get to seven breweries in Vancouver, six of them alone on the first afternoon in town, all of which were no more than a 10-minute walk apart from the other. If craft beer is your thing, East Vancouver is the neighbourhood to hit while in town.
But Wait, There’s More
I actually booked JFK-SEA and SEA-YVR as two separate round trips - again, had to use those RUCs - which meant booking my return flights from Vancouver to Seattle and Seattle to New York with as much of a time gap between them in case of any delays coming back to the States. This meant I ended up getting into Seattle a little before 11 am with a flight leaving Seattle around 11 pm. Oh no, what would I do with a twelve-hour layover…
Yep, you guessed it - I ate and drank my way through the Emerald City and even caught up with a friend (hi, James!) I hadn’t seen in nearly a decade since he moved out there. A great and relaxing way to end a long weekend out of town.
The List
Restaurants
The Ramen Butcher | @theramenbutcher
PiDGiN | @pidginyvr
The Lobster Man | @thelobstermanvan
Kaisereck | @kaisereckdelicatessen
Lee’s Donuts | @leesdonuts.ca
Top of Vancouver Revolving Restaurant | @topofvancouver
Bar Haifa | @barhaifa
Kam Wai Dim Sum | @kamwaidimsum
Oriental Mart | @omart1973
Le Coin | @lecoinseattle
Breweries
Strathcona Beer Company | @strathconabeer
Luppolo Brewing Company | @luppolo_brewing
Strange Fellows Brewing | @strangefellowsbrewing
Off the Rails Brewing Company | @offtherailbeer
Bomber Brewing | @bomberbrewing
East Van Brewing Company | @eastvanbrewing
Granville Island Brewing | @granvillebeer
Urban Family Brewing Co. | @urbanfamilybrewing
Fair Isle Brewing | @fairislebrewing
Great Notion Brewing | @greatnotion @greatnotionwashington
Distilleries
The Liberty Distillery | @tldistillery
Bars
Parker Rooftop | @parkerrooftop
Stampede Cocktail Club | @stampedecocktailclub
Coffee
Monorail Espresso | @monorailespresso
Places
Vancouver Lookout | @vancouverlookout
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park | @capilanosuspensionbridge
Nashville, November 19-22, 2021
I’m writing this as I fly out to Rome if you want an indication of how far behind I am on these recap posts and how busy these last few weeks have been. Anyway, Nashville - this trip was actually a backup trip for a trip to New Orleans that never happened the weekend previous to this.
Beers 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Cocktails 🥃🥂🥃🥃
Hot Chicken 🐔🐔🐔
Ramen 🍜🍜
Breweries 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻
Flights ✈️✈️
#hotchickenrun
I’m writing this as I fly out to Rome if you want an indication of how far behind I am on these recap posts and how busy these last few weeks have been. Anyway, Nashville - this trip was actually a backup trip for a trip to New Orleans that never happened the weekend previous to this. Why Nashville? Why not Nashville? Plenty of history, breweries, and, most importantly, hot chicken. Coincidentally, this weekend was Rock 'n' Roll Nashville and the half marathon would be the perfect tune-up for my marathon in Pisa on December 19.
Let’s talk about the hot chicken… I had three different versions but I’m going to focus on the two Nashville heavyweights. Between Prince's Hot Chicken and Hattie B's Hot Chicken, it’s hard to choose a winner. I felt Prince’s had better flavor but that Hattie B’s was better executed. Gun to my head, I’d probably go with Prince’s but I’m not all too committed to that choice. Sorry if you were hoping for a definitive verdict here but if you want one, just do a hot chicken bang-bang!
Of course, there would be ramen - after all, I did have a race to carbo-load for, though that only explains the first bowl. But the other one at Black Dynasty, a “secret” ramen joint inside a Bearded Iris taproom? Their Turkey Miso Paitan was the best and most interesting bowl of ramen I’d had in some time.
The standout meal was a branch of a place I’d been to before in Charleston but to say that that Butcher & Bee and the one I dined at in Nashville were the same would be nuts. Some similarities, sure, but totally different restaurants owing to the use of local ingredients and different chefs at the helm. Whatever the reason, while I liked my meal in Charleston, I absolutely loved the one in Nashville.
Okay, food’s done - let’s talk about the beer. Boy, is there a beer scene in Nashville. I made it to nine breweries but I think there were still a few more I could have hit with some more time and stomach capacity - there’s only so much room for everything, even with flights or half pours! Of the nine(!), if I had to pick a favorite, it’d be a toss-up between Southern Grist and Bearded Iris. Only one of those has a pop-up ramen shop in it so that may nudge Bearded Iris ahead… at least until Southern Grist adds their own dynamite ramen pop-up.
The Race
Unlike a marathon, I don’t really think too hard about what goals I want to hit for a half marathon but I definitely wanted to beat my PR of 1:49:58 from 2014(!). The conditions were pretty good for that to happen with a starting temperature in the mid-30s and clear skies. Also, the course was pretty flat though there were definitely some hills and, as I would be told several times by pacers, a big one around mile six.
I started a few seconds behind one of the 1:45 pacers but quickly caught up to him which had me feeling pretty good... until I fell off the pace after a hill. The funny thing is that I was still going under 8:00/mile which meant the pacer was going faster than his prescribed pace. Sure enough, I eventually caught him after four miles and then passed him for good in the sixth mile. I knew I had 1:45 locked after a u-turn where I didn’t see the pacer on the other side until 30 seconds after I’d made the turn. At that point, I went for it, wanting to see just how much I could get under 1:45.
I finished the race in 1:42:52, a new PR by over seven minutes! As far as tune-ups go, this was as good as it gets, four weeks out from the Maratona di Pisa.
The List
Restaurants
Prince's Hot Chicken
Shokku Ramen
Liberty Common
Butcher & Bee
Another Broken Egg Cafe
DeSano Pizzeria
Hattie B's Hot Chicken
Breweries
Bearded Iris Brewing
Southern Grist Brewing Co
Living Waters Brewing
Crazy Gnome Brewery
Smith & Lentz
Yee-Haw Brewing Co.
Czanns
Fat Bottom Brewing
TailGate Brewery
Coffee
Crema Coffee Roasters
Places
Belmont Mansion
Cheekwood
Houston, October 28-November 1, 2021
I made a visit to Houston late last month to visit my brother and his family; more importantly, I got to see my nephew for the first time in nearly two years!
Beers 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Cocktails 🍸🍸
Meats 🐄🐖🐓🦆
Seafood 🦞🦀
Breweries 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻
Flights ✈️✈️
#AstroworldButNot
I made a visit to Houston late last month to visit my brother and his family; more importantly, I got to see my nephew for the first time in nearly two years! What a difference from the last time I saw him in 2019 - where he was quiet and reluctant to play with his Uncle Gary, this time around there were no issues getting him to do stuff with me. In all honesty, the kid absolutely wrecked me (but in the best way possible), wanting to play with his toys all the time. When my original flight home on Sunday was cancelled and I was rebooked for Monday, I’m sure the kid just thought that he’d get one more day to destroy me… which he did, but in the best way possible! Love the kid.
Thankfully, there were a bunch of breweries for me to find some quiet solitude when I needed a break. If I had to pick a favorite among the six I visited, I’d go with Urban South - HTX. They had an absurd number of beers available to pour and it wasn’t all IPAs either as they had a variety of sours to choose from. I’ll also give Brash Brewing a shout as they had decent beers on tap but probably the best physical space, indoors and outdoors, of the breweries I visited this time. I mean, how often do you get to have a beer with a skeleton as your drinking buddy?
No trip to Texas would be complete without barbecue and with Truth BBQ, I had some damned good barbecue. As I did in Dallas, I made sure to try the turkey if it was on the menu, reasoning if you’re gonna make turkey at a barbecue joint, it’s gotta be good - and it was! Another standout meal was at Rosie Cannonball - great food, stellar cocktails, and excellent service.
I’d really gotten into Japanese Breakfast (Michelle Zauner) after she’d released her memoir, Crying in H Mart, earlier in the year. Then they released their next album, Jubilee, and I really got into them - one of my favorite albums of the year. When I saw that they’d be in Houston when I was, I made sure to block out Saturday night so I could see them at White Oak Music Hall.
And what a show it was. Zauner’s voice was ethereal, light, and airy, yet still strongly soaring above a phalanx of instrumentation. Zauner also has a command of the stage and, consequently, the audience as she energetically bounded about throughout their performance. This was my first show in a GA pit since the pandemic and it felt cathartic to just be on the floor of a medium-sized venue, just soaking it all in.
Japanese Breakfast at White Oak Music Hall
The List
Restaurants
Southern Yankee Crafthouse
Truth BBQ
Hai Cang Harbor
Pho Ben
Rosie Cannonball
Golden Dim Sum
Breweries
Southern Yankee Crafthouse
Urban South - HTX
Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co
Eureka Heights Brew Co
New Magnolia Brewing Co
Brash Brewing
Coffee
Agnes
Bars
The Raven Tower
Concert Venues
White Oak Music Hall
Chicago, October 8-11, 2021
Ah, Chicago Marathon, we meet again.
Beers 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Michelin ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ramen 🍜🍜🍜
Cocktails 🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹
Breweries 🍻🍻🍻🍻
Flights ✈️✈️
Transit 🚇🚌🚕
#WindyCity262x2
Ah, Chicago Marathon, we meet again. But before we did, I actually had to, ya know, get to Chicago and that alone was quite the adventure. Scheduled to depart at 6:45 am, DL556 was delayed to a 7:45 am departure at 5:45 am, only to then be delayed to an 11:30 am departure at 6:15 am. Hilarious. At this point, everyone was scrambling to change their flight to an earlier one and by the time I got onto the app while everyone rushed to the gate agent, the next available flight was for 10:15 am. Fine, whatever, better that than the11:30 but still not great.
With my flight rebooked, I debated going home for a few hours and then coming back - it was 6:30 am now and I wouldn’t need to be back to LGA until 9:30 or so. As I walked back to security, I detoured to the Sky Club to see if I could get any help getting onto an earlier flight but I wasn’t a member so they couldn’t/wouldn’t do anything for me. Again, fine, moving on; next up was to maybe find a Delta rep at a counter but it was too early for it to be manned so I picked up a black phone to wait to speak to an agent.
So now I’m on the phone, listening to some lovely hold music when a Delta rep makes her way to the counter. It was barely 7:00 am and it normally would be unmanned for a little while longer but a similarly delayed customer got her to look into options for rebooking her flight. As she’s being helped, I position myself to be next in line while staying on the phone, cord extended as far as it can go, just in case someone on the phone would beat out the IRL agent. No surprise here, I ended up hanging up the phone so I could speak to the agent at the counter.
The first thing the agent did was to ask me for my boarding pass. As I handed it to her, I made it a point to address her by name which I had to strain to make it out from her badge as it was off to her side. After scanning my boarding pass, she saw that my original flight had been delayed and that I had already rebooked myself for 10:30 am so she asked, maybe wondering, what more she could do for me. I asked if I could be put on standby for the 8:05 am flight, figuring it was worth a shot. She thought so too so she put me on it and now I figured I might as well ask how far down I was on the standby list. She told me there were 18 people ahead of me and I laughed ruefully, knowing there was zero chance I would get off the list.
This was when something awesome happened for me. The agent told me should would “do something nice” for me and changed my 8:05 am standby to a confirmed seat. Daaaaaaamn. I thanked her, told her I loved her, and booked it back to the departure gate as it was now 7:15 am and the flight was going to start boarding in 10 minutes.
End of story, right? Nope. This flight was oversold so while my confirmed seat may have jumped me ahead of standby, I’d still need some luck in the form of a no-show or someone taking an offer to be voluntarily bumped. The latter seemed like a non-starter as this flight was full of fellow Chicago Marathoners who had zero intention of missing this flight. Now I’m standing by the gate agent as they call boarding group after boarding group as they keep upping the offer all the way up to $1000 and still no takers. This entire time I’m schmoozing the guy and he keeps checking the flight for me, finally landing on a likely no-show. He kindly offers me the $1000 if I’m willing to wait for the next flight but I politely decline and then he gives me the seat for the no-show. Thanking him and my lucky stars, I gather my bags, grab the seat confirmation, and get onto the plane.
The Race
The training for Chicago started off rough with back pain and PT for it in June but by mid-July, I was back on track. By the time I finished my third and last 20-mile long run, I felt like this had been the best marathon training season I’d ever had. This was reinforced with a PR by over four minutes at the Bronx 10 Mile, two weeks out from the marathon.
After that PR, I came up with my three goals for the Chicago Marathon. Here were the goals:
PR: Sub-3:50:52
Sub-3:50:00
Sub-3:45:00
With two weeks to go, I felt really good about hitting all three of those goals. Then I saw the forecast for race day the Monday before and it was lows in the mid-60s with highs in the mid-70s. That forecast would only get worse throughout the week, peaking with lows in the low-70s and highs in the low-80s. As tempted as I was to re-adjust the goals, I figured I’d trust the training and bank on having trained in a traditional NYC summer.
I started the race with every intention of following the 3:45 pacers but I actually started a few feet behind them so that meant a quicker than expected first two miles to catch up with them. After that, it was just running a consistent 8:35ish mile, doing as much as I could to stay below the pace through the first half so as to bank some seconds for a decent cushion as it got warmer. When I hit the halfway mark at 1:51:21, I’d built a solid 69 second cushion. That’d come in handy because it definitely got warmer and the sun started to peak out from behind the clouds a little more than it had the first two hours of the race.
Honestly, there was very little drama in this race. Mile after mile, I kept churning out miles close to 8:35 though most were above the mark but that’s what the first half cushion was for. The only potential problem was the ol’ IT band barking after 23 miles but it stopped bothering me less than a mile later. I just kept telling myself “trust in the training, trust in the training” like it was my fucking mantra and shut everything else out. By the time I hit Michigan Avenue for the last few miles, I knew I was in good shape to hit some goals. But just how many goals?
I finished the marathon in 3:44:21. I crushed all three of my goals. This was my second time running Chicago and this was now my second time setting a marathon PR running it. I love this race.
Everything Else
The standout meal on this trip was at Mako, a Michelin-starred Japanese sushi omakase restaurant. This was some of the best sushi I’ve had in some time, certainly since I was last in Japan in 2019.
Another great meal was at Moody Tongue, a two Michelin-starred restaurant/brewery. While the food was spectacular, their beers were aggressively okay - fine to go with a meal but nothing worth bringing home.
The two days in town leading up to the race, I carbo-loaded the best way I know how - with ramen. Of the three bowls I had, my favorite was at High Five Ramen. The bowls I had at Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya and RAMEN-SAN were also excellent.
The List
Restaurants
RAMEN-SAN
Moody Tongue
Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya
High Five Ramen
Mako
Breweries
Moody Tongue Brewing Company
Haymarket Pub & Brewery
Cruz Blanca Brewery
Pilot Project Brewing
Bars
Clark Street Ale House
The Aviary
Beermiscuous
Coffee
Caffe Umbria
Marathon Splits
Half Splits
| Split | Time |
|---|---|
| Half | 1:51:21 |
| Finish | 3:44:21 |
5k Splits
| Split | Time |
|---|---|
| 5K | 25:55 |
| 10K | 26:40 |
| 15K | 26:35 |
| 20K | 26:27 |
| 25K | 26:28 |
| 30K | 26:49 |
| 35K | 26:56 |
| 40K | 26:35 |
Mile Splits
| Split | Time |
|---|---|
| 1M | 8:08.8 |
| 2M | 8:18.7 |
| 3M | 8:31.7 |
| 4M | 8:32.5 |
| 5M | 8:32.3 |
| 6M | 8:35.7 |
| 7M | 8:28.8 |
| 8M | 8:33.0 |
| 9M | 8:41.9 |
| 10M | 8:38.1 |
| 11M | 8:32.2 |
| 12M | 8:30.5 |
| 13M | 8:22.1 |
| 14M | 8:24.7 |
| 15M | 8:35.5 |
| 16M | 8:36.1 |
| 17M | 8:37.0 |
| 18M | 8:40.2 |
| 19M | 8:36.0 |
| 20M | 8:47.8 |
| 21M | 8:37.4 |
| 22M | 8:37.8 |
| 23M | 8:38.1 |
| 24M | 8:47.3 |
| 25M | 8:32.9 |
| 26M | 8:38.6 |
Reykjavík, August 19-23, 2021
For the first time in 563 days, I got on a plane and left the United States of America.
Beers 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Breweries 🍻🍻🍻
Cocktails 🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹
Ramen 🍜🍜
Hot Dogs 🌭🌭
Foodstuff 🐓🐑🐄🐖🦐🦞
Baked Goods 🥖🥯🥐
Museums 🏛🏛🏛
Runs 🏃🏻♂️🏃🏻♂️🏃🏻♂️
Flights ✈️✈️
#reykinat41
For the first time in 563 days, I got on a plane and left the United States of America. That was the longest I’d gone without traveling to another country since going nine-plus years from 2004-2013. For my inaugural international trip (with a new passport, to boot!), I settled on Reykjavík even though I’d been there before. That familiarity wasn’t an inconsequential factor in my choice of destination; it didn’t hurt that Iceland had done a very good job with vaccinating their residents. All in all, i felt incredibly comfortable going back there.
The weekend I visited was supposed to when they held a marathon but it was cancelled a few weeks before the trip. I had planned on running that one as my second 20-mile training run for Chicago. August in Iceland is ideal running weather as the temperature never leaves the 50s with the only complicating factor being precipitation. I ended up doing my long run following most of the marathon route with a 70% chance of run only to never encounter a single drop. Glorious. The only real impediment to my runs was the fowl traffic.
Last time I went, I did the a bus tour of the Golden Circle. This time around, I opted to see South Iceland. There were waterfalls, glaciers, and a black sand beach - all of it was breathtakingly beautiful. Seeing it all in one day was a lot with a few 30-60 minute stops sprinkled throughout a 10-hour out-and-back bus ride. It’s just enough time to take in the beauty of it all but it could feel rushed at times.
Speaking of beauty, let’s talk about the food in Reykjavík. There are a lot great restaurants in the city, some of which are Michelin-quality. The standout meal on this trip was dinner the first night at Sumac Grill + Drinks, a place that served Middle Eastern cuisine made with fresh Icelandic ingredients. Everything about this meal was excellent between the cocktails, the food, and sitting at the bar, talking to the chef throughout the night. Reservations go quickly here but if you’re rolling solo or just a pair, a spot at the bar across from the open kitchen is the pro move.
Standout meal 1a would go to dinner at Matur og Drykkur, which was originally intended to be a post-marathon celebratory tasting menu tour de force. This one was a more traditionally Icelandic though gussied up and modernized, of course. I had lamb multiple times during this trip (it’s easily the most plentiful of the land-based animal meats) and the lamb served here was the best I had the entire trip.
One last note about the food in Reykjavík - there’s actually decent ramen to be found! I had two bowls of ramen and while one was merely decent (wouldn’t go out of my way to go there again), the other was a great bowl that I would have gone back to if they had been open on Sunday. The TANTAMEN Nº11 at Ramen Momo, the combination of a great broth and house-made noodles, was delicious.
Ramen Momo TANTAMEN Nº11
No discussion about eating (and drinking) in Iceland is complete without talking about the cost. You’re gonna pay a lot for just about everything. At least with the drinking part, there’s plenty of happy hours to be found, starting as early as noon each day with most going from 4 pm to 7 pm. If you’re gonna go for some alcohol, happy hour is the time to do it. The price of food is more or less gonna be what you get so it actually makes more sense to work meals around where you want to go for drinks.
The List
Restaurants
Ramen Momo
Sumac Grill + Drinks
Skal!
Messinn
Matur og Drykkur
Hi Noodle
Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur
Grandi Mathöll
Lava Restaurant
Coffee & Baked Goods
Sandholt
Reykjavik Roasters
Brauð & Co.
DEIG workshop
Bars
Skúli Craft bar
Session Craft Bar
Frederiksen Ale House
Jungle Cocktail Bar
Breweries
Barion Bryggjan Brugghús
Bastard Brew & Food
RVK Brewing Company
Museums
The National Gallery of Iceland
Reykjavík Art Museum Hafnarhús
The Culture House - Museum
Denver, July 2-5, 2021
For the long holiday weekend, I took my longest flight during the COVID-19 pandemic, flying from LGA to DEN.
Denver City Farmer’s Market
Beers 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Breweries 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻
Games ⚾️⚾️
Flights ✈️✈️
Ramen 🍜🍜🍜
Doughnuts 🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩
Museums 🏛🏛
#milehighbeersandbaseball
For the long holiday weekend, I took my longest flight during the COVID-19 pandemic, flying from LGA to DEN. I’d only been to Denver one other time and that was well over a decade ago for GABF, so it was long overdue. Denver is only two time zones west but flying out early in the morning to get a full day in took more out of me than I expected. It’s either rust from not having traveled much in the last year or it’s just another sign that This is 40. Don’t even ask me how my runs at altitude went (spoiler alert: they didn’t).
Anyway, to the point of this trip - crossing another MLB ballpark off the list. Coors Field makes for 26 ballparks visited, leaving me with four to go. With luck and an ever-improving pandemic outlook, I’m hoping to get this done in 2022. There’s increasing uncertainty of just how rooted in Oakland the A’s are, so there’s certainly the possibility of having to visit a new home ballpark of theirs before I get the current set of 30 done if I don’t pull this off next season.
What did I think of the Rockies’ ballpark? I liked it a lot but it’s been around a while and there have been enough new stadiums built since they opened in the mid-90s that it’s feeling a little dated. Among the 26 I’ve been to, it’s solidly mid-tier. The sight lines from the locations I sat in at the two games I went to were spectacular, even from the last section in the upper deck along the 3B line. My only real gripe was the lack of an open concourse above the field level but it’s a minor one on balance. I’d visit it again, for sure.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Colorado Rockies, July 2
Coors Field, July 4
If going to a new-to-me ballpark was reason 1 to travel to Denver, reason 1-A was to check out the craft beer scene. When I’d last been out here, most of the breweries we visited were a drive out of Denver to the surrounding areas; this time around, almost all of the breweries I visited were a walk or a quick bus trip or rideshare away. There’s so many breweries where craft beer can be had fresh that it’s pretty much made old-school craft beer bars like Falling Rock Tap House obsolete which is a shame, really.
Most of the breweries I visited had fine, if not spectacular, beers on offer. Even in a beer mecca like Denver, the explosion in the number of breweries per capita hasn’t led to much of an increase in quantity of incredible beers being produced. While I’d revisit just about every brewery from this trip, I’m struggling to think of anything I had that was truly memorable.
Finally, let’s get to the last, best part of most of my trips - the food! There wasn’t anything particularly Denver that I felt I had to eat so I just went nuts with random cuisines. Of course, there was ramen (when do I not have ramen) and two of the three bowls I had there were great with the other one being adequate but would not make a point of eating there again. The best bang for the buck was Bourbon Grill which is a place that serves the kind of grilled chicken that wouldn’t be out of place in a mall food court. You know, the kind that always gave out the free samples you go back to for seconds and thirds when you’re in high school and college; except this place was actually good.
The standout meal was at The Wolf’s Tailor, a Japanese-influenced Euro/American restaurant. Tons of flavor combined with farm-fresh ingredients results in a spectacular five-course meal. As far as blowout meals go, $95 for a pre-fixe menu is a pretty solid price to pay.
The List
Breweries
Denver Beer Co
Cervecería Colorado
Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery
Banded Oak Brewing Company
Baere Brewing Company
TRVE Brewing Company
Diebolt Brewing Company
Cerebral Brewing
Ratio Beerworks
Great Divide Brewing Co.
Woods Boss Brewing Company
Spangalang Brewery
Restaurants
Walter’s303
Uncle
Bourbon Grill
The Wolf’s Tailor
Oishii Ramen
Osaka Ramen
Bars
Star Bar
First Draft
Coffee & Baked Goods
Jubilee Roasting Co
Rebel Bread
Little Owl Coffee
Voodoo Doughnut
Museums
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver Art Museum
Buffalo, June 5-6, 2021
If you’ll recall from my last trip to Tampa- St. Pete, I was able to catch a Toronto Blue Jays home game in Dunedin because of COVID-19 restrictions keeping them south of the border.
Beers 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Breweries 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻
Games ⚾️ ⚾️
Flights ✈️✈️
#ballpark32
If you’ll recall from my last trip to Tampa- St. Pete, I was able to catch a Toronto Blue Jays home game in Dunedin because of COVID-19 restrictions keeping them south of the border. Well, those restrictions are still in place but with summer approaching, the club had to find a new home or fall victim to the warmer, more humid weather to come.
Enter Buffalo - Sahlen Field, the home of their Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons would become the new temporary home for the Jays.
Sahlen Field, June 5
Sahlen Field was built with the intention of possibly being a home for an MLB team. Well, a little over 20 years later, it happened with the Blue Jays playing their home games there in 2020 due to the pandemic. With US-Canada border still closed, it was pressed back into service for 2021 as their home after they finally “broke camp”, leaving Florida after their final homestand in May.
You can tell that there were higher ambitions for the ballpark as it’s a fairly large one by MiLB standards. That said, it’s still too small a footprint and would need considerable upgrades, even more than the ones made the last two years to have it be serviceable as a temporary home for an MLB team. That’s no knock on the stadium itself - it’s an awesome minor league venue and a fantastic place to take in a game of any caliber. It’s just not a major league stadium. It was, however, the 32nd ballpark I’ve seen an MLB game.
Also? I caught my very first foul ball here!
Sahlen Field, June 6
The start time for the Saturday afternoon game was a very Toronto home game time - 3:07 pm. That left me with just enough time to take a tour of a Frank Lloyd Wright home - Martin House. Alas, photography was not allowed inside the house on this tour so you’ll just have to take my word for it that the interior is phenomenal. Several rooms were incredible but the kitchen may have been the standout of the spaces we had access to.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House
The List
Breweries
Resurgence Brewing Company
Thin Man Brewery
Big Ditch Brewing Company
Lafayette Brewing Co.
Pressure Drop Brewing
Bars
Anchor Bar
Coffee & Baked Goods
Public Espresso + Coffee
Tampa-St. Petersburg, May 15-16, 2021
Looking at the 2021 MLB schedule when it was released last summer, I knew I’d be coming down this weekend to see the Mets play the Rays and notch Tropicana Field off my ballpark list.
Beers 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Breweries 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻
Games ⚾️ ⚾️
Ballparks 🏟🏟
Flights ✈️✈️
#ballparkdoubledip
Looking at the 2021 MLB schedule when it was released last summer, I knew I’d be coming down this weekend to see the Mets play the Rays and notch Tropicana Field off my ballpark list. This trip, of course, depended on the state of the pandemic and whether Florida would be in the clear by mid-May. I shouldn’t have had any doubts - it’s Florida, after all (interpret that however you want) and so I was off to Tampa-St. Petersburg.
Tropicana Field
What can I say about Tropicana Field that hasn’t already been said? It’s definitely a bottom-tier MLB ballpark and only the Oakland Coliseum rivals it for worst stadium in MLB. Having a roof prevents the rainouts in the summer months that the Marlins used to fall prey to when they were in Joe Robbie Stadium but not having it be retractable or at least transparent makes it feel like they’re playing baseball in a tent. It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon and you couldn’t tell from inside the stadium. I’m just bummed I didn’t get to see the wacky ground rules regarding the ceiling rings go into effect. If I’m being charitable, I can say that the sightlines from just about every part of the stadium are clear and unobstructed. Also, the local food and craft beer options are spectacular.
TD Ballpark
When I planned this trip, I planned to just make it to one game; after all, this was Tropicana Field and the way the flight schedules worked out, it was just easiest to come in Saturday morning and leave Sunday afternoon. What I hadn’t anticipated was the Canadian reticence to let the Toronto Blue Jays host games at home, owing to the cross-border traffic that would be required for them and their opponents to come to Toronto. This meant that the Blue Jays would not be able to break camp and head north after spring training, choosing instead to stay in Florida to open the season. As luck would have it, they were home the same weekend I would be in Tampa-St. Pete and, even luckier, their game would be at night. So, after leaving Tropicana Field (with a pit stop at a nearby brewery), I made my way up to Dunedin and to TD Ballpark.
I’d actually been here before for spring training but to see an actual MLB game at a spring training stadium was quite the experience. Sure, the tickets were way more expensive than you’d normally pay for a game here but look how close fans are to the action!
TD Ballpark
As always, there were breweries to visit and while I made it a point to revisit Green Bench and Webb’s City Cellar, their offshoot next door, everything else was new to me. It’d only been maybe three years or so since the last time I was down here and there were still plenty of places to try for the first time. If you’re ever in the area, I’d make it a point to go up to Dunedin and walk/bike along the Pinellas Trail - there’s at least a handful of breweries you can stop in at to whet your whistle.
The List
Breweries
Bayboro Brewing Co.
Avid Brew Company
Green Bench Brewing Company
Woodwright Brewing Company
Cueni Brewing Co.
HOB Brewing Co.
3 Daughters Brewing
Grand Central Brewhouse
Webb's City Cellar by Green Bench Brewery
Dallas, May 1-2
For the first time in 453 days, I flew on a plane!
Globe Life Field
Beers 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Breweries 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻
Games ⚾️ ⚾️
Meats 🐄 🐖 🦃
Sweets 🍩🍩🍦
Flights ✈️✈️
#beersbbqbaseball
For the first time in 453 days, I flew on a plane! With my first flight since the pandemic, life felt like it was finally returning to normal if, ya know, “normal” includes wearing a mask the entire time I was on the plane. But once I got to my final destination of Dallas, TX, it was a mask-free weekend. Freedom from the tyranny of masks! 🙄
I’ll admit to being incredibly nervous at times when it came to mask wearing. Now, there’s no mask mandate in Texas so it’s not like there’s any mask compliance to meet. But after spending the entire last 14 months in the northeast, to actually see how the other half is living, like the pandemic had ended (or worse, never happened) was jarring. Still, this is their turf so just gotta mask up and stay as safe as is possible and pray that J&J is effective. 🤞🏻
So why was I in Dallas? Well, they’ve got a brand spanking new ballpark that I haven’t been to yet and I had tons of Southwest Airlines voucher credit to burn through so Dallas it was! The last time I was in Dallas four years ago, I visited the Texas Rangers’ previous ballpark, Globe Life Park and after attending that early July game, I was convinced as to why a 20-something year-old ballpark already had to be replaced. Without a roof and climate control, it was unbearably hot in the stands until the sun set behind the stadium. I swore there were more fans in the concourse common seating areas than there were in the stands for the first three innings that night.
Globe Life Field, May 1
This new stadium, Globe Life Field? Heat is not a problem though the sun can still be since the roof is constructed with plenty of glass panels. Under direct sun light in the upper concourse, it can still get hot but that’s the cost of having an abundance of natural light, even for a roofed stadium. Of all the post-Camden ballparks I’ve been to, this is the first one that feels big, like it’s not trying to go after that hit of nostalgia every ballpark of the past 25 years seems to have chased.
Globe Life Field, May 2
But what about the barbecue!? The first time I was in Dallas, I made a point to try Pecan Lodge and I was not disappointed. Beyond that, though, I had been forewarned that Dallas proper didn’t have the great barbecue. Would I be disappointed!?
Dear reader, I was not. My first stop after dropping my bag at the hotel was to The Slow Bone, arriving there just as they were about to open and that was some damn good meats. We’re talking prime brisket, hickory sausage, and pork ribs, all of which I could have finished in one go if I didn’t have any shame. If that weren’t enough, they tossed in a free slice of turkey breast so I could have a try; I would have gladly gotten a portion of that if I hadn’t already gotten more than I could possibly eat.
The other standout barbecue was Hurtado Barbecue in Arlington which i am sad to say I have no photos of as I actually had to put in a large order to pick up on my way to the airport Sunday afternoon to ensure I got to try it as I had been shut out the previous day.
The List
Breweries
Peticolas Brewing Company
Texas Ale Project
Legal Draft
Division Brewing
Pegasus City Brewery
Manhattan Project Beer Co.
Restaurants
The Slow Bone
Lockhart Smokehouse
Hurtado Barbecue
Coffee & Baked Goods
Urban Donut
State Street Coffee