Luxury or Sammamish in Seattle

My mind was still in South America as the plane took off for Seattle. I was surprised to be detained while security screens for the Swine flu and happy that while on the plane, they served Tortilla’s filled with ham and cheese. Arriving in Seattle was surprising also, it was sunny. I could actually see the city glinting up at me as we flew over. My friend Erin was nicely waiting for me at baggage claim, it’s been 5 years since I’ve seen her and she still looked just as I remember her, all Seattle through and through, pale, healthy and organic.

Before she dropped me off at what I consider one of the best luxury hotels in Seattle, she took me to Queen Anne for brunch. I barely could wait for my first bite of the Eggs Benedict. I missed American food tremendously. I missed my friend horribly. We had a great time catching up with what’s happened to us in 5 years. After lunch, she drove me through the city to show me what’s new, I felt like I had my own personal tour guide, but one who dissects the city apart like a surgeon looking for a bleeder.

Erin again offered for me to stay with her, but I politely declined, explaining to her once again, how I adore staying in a luxury hotel where every whim of mine is met. She laughed and told me that her parent just bought a place on Lake Sammamish and not that she could meet all my whims, the place was absolutely gorgeous and lazy. She said I could lay back on the dock and fish, or skip stones. This time it was me who laughed. As she dropped me off at the front lobby of my hotel, I told her to come to my room and spend the night, so we can catch up some more, and I’d make sure her every whim would be taken care off by the staff of the hotel and then tomorrow, she can drive me out to her parents place.

It only took her two seconds to say yes.

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The Viper Room in Los Angeles

Los Angeles if full of celebrities and those who desire to become celebrities. That is a common belief about the city, which is manifested in the consciousness of people from around the world. It also happens to be true. Many film and television stars live in or around Los Angeles as well as the numerous writers, directors and other industry professionals. In addition, it is home to numerous establishments that are owned and sometimes operated by some of the celebrities and field professionals. The Viper Room is one of these establishments that in itself has become something of a city icon.

The Viper Room was opened in 1993 and one of its part owners quickly became the name associated with it. That of course is the legendary actor Johnny Depp. And although Depp was only legally associated with it as one of its owners until 2004, his name is still strongly associated with it and one of the reasons it has remained such a major city landmark, musician and tourist destination. The Viper Room is also known for a much more tragic reason than celebrity ownership. It is the bar that actor River Phoenix died outside of from a drug overdose in 1993.

The club has been associated with major Hollywood and music names since its opening. Depp himself requested that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform at the club’s opening night party and since then major performers have played there. In the early days of the club’s existence it was a popular hangout for Hollywood’s film and television starts. Sean Penn and Jennifer Aniston are just two stars who were known to frequent the club. The Counting Crows lead singer Adam Duritz is known to have hid out at the Viper and work as a bartender to escape from his fame. The club is located on Sunset Strip near some of the cheap hotels in Los Angeles, which has made it easy to find, and an attractive tourist sight seeing feature since it was established.

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Fooled in NY

It doesn’t take long for someone like me to get the hang of how these gambling schemes work. I can see pretty easily how they play into your desires to get something for nothing. It’s a lot like living in those cities where big things happen to people all the time, just for showing up. I understand the game. It’s a pretty tricky game, but I’m a pretty tricky fellow, and it’s hard to pull a fast one over on me. Like those guys who throw those three cards on tables in New York City street corners. The guys named Monty. They have something pretty sweet going on, but it’s easy to see the trick once you get the hang of it. They have fast hands is all, and they all are named Monty, and that’s trickery of the highest degree.

I can appreciate it, though, and once I started to appreciate it so much, that I appreciated a month’s salary away, being there on the sidewalk, appreciating Monty. However. When I have the opportunity to see how it’s really done, how gambling really works, I take it. There’s a site right here where you can set yourself up for a great weekend with your friends and family members of all ages to enjoy a million kinds of fun.

I don’t go for the casinos any more. That had to stop a long time ago, and I learned my lessons. It’s not that I don’t get it, I mean, I am a smart cookie, I understand it. But I get to understanding it so much that I forget it’s an experiment on my part and end up throwing all sorts of money on things that look interesting. And in these places, everything looks interesting. These days, I love the buffets and the entertainments. There’s something for everyone. There’s a trick to these things, too, and they can’t pull one over on me, because I see that the trick is that they do things you want to see, and they give you the food you like to eat, and that’s enough for me.

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Key Largo to Key West

If you have found an elegant hotel located in Key Largo, than maybe you will be willing to drive a little farther. If you follow Highway 1 (interstate 5) all the way down to Key West than you can see some of the most beautiful areas long the way and end up in the place of brilliant minds. This is were many writers and presidents have found a little bit of peace and creation. If you want to be where the famous are then you sometimes have to go a bit farther because they are hiding in the harder to get to paradises around the world.

Ernest Hemingway is a writer that actually lived on the island for eleven years. He wrote his most famous book, For Whom the Bell Tolls, on these shores of Key West. When he tore himself away from writing he was out fishing or drinking at the Sloppy Joe’s Bar. Another writer who spent time here was Robert Frost. He wrote, The Gift Outright, when he was staying at The Heritage House and now there is a Poetry Festival held there every year. Then you have to point out that playwright Tennessee Williams spent time here as well. He wrote the famous works, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. He also spent time at the Heritage House.

Then you have the great Presidents who spent time in the Keys, Harry S Truman, who stayed in the area enough that they named the officers quarters of the naval station, the Harry S Truman Little White House. Other presidents would stay here in the future. John Kennedy stayed and held a summit for a day with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Jimmy Carter had a family reunion here in 1996. Then there was the visit of General Dwight D Eisenhower who came to have meetings about the Defense Department, fell in love with the area and returned as President who needed time to get well from a heart attack.

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Philadelphia’s Own: Hall & Oates

There’s never been a better time to visit Philadelphia. There are some fantastic local productions and products, like the Mummers festival, and the famous Cheese Steaks, and there is also a good deal of world class entertainment. For many years, Philadelphia was seen as a kind of suburb to Manhattan, where people would be able to enjoy a similar urban environment, with a little less noise and a lot less rent. Today, it’s become a very distinctive place, with many neighborhoods that are constantly defining themselves. Sometimes it takes awhile for the world to catch up to what the locals have always known. This is a fascinating place, with a lively core of residents who are doing very interesting new work.

Visiting Philadelphia is pretty easy, and it’s an awful lot of fun. You can check out www.philadelphiacheaphotel.com and get some fantastic deals on lodging here, that will make your stay in the city an enormous pleasure. You can see a dizzying array of entertainments here, with some of the most innovative works in performance in the world. It’s truly a cutting edge city, where artists are a bit freer than in other cities to create vital work, because the economic restraints are not so high. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of competition, though. The history of music is also very illustrious here, having produced acts as notable as Hall & Oates.

The duo had a steady stream of top 40 hits beginning with Sara Smile, all the way up to Maneater. They met at a dance, and were both running for the same elevator when a gang fight broke out, and when they started talking, they realized they had a lot of the same ideas about music. This lead to some early experiments in defining their sound, which is now widely known for its catchy pop flavor with some solid r&b influences. They were one of the defining musical acts of the 80s, and caught as much attention for their music as they did for their hair. They continue to work together, and sometimes give concerts, although the heyday is still living in the bright years of MTV’s birth.

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Tex-Mex Cuisine in Dallas, Texas

Dallas is one of the major metropolitan cultural centers in the great state of Texas. It is known for being the home of the famous Dallas Cowboys NFL football team as well as many other entertainment and cultural aspects. One of the more popular features that is enjoyed by most of the residents and tourists who visit the city and stay in a hotel Dallas is the food genre known as Tex-Mex. This popular regional cuisine combines American Hispanic flavors with traditional recipes and dishes from Mexico, as well as some standard American fare to create this dynamic and flavorful food.

The term Tex-Mex is frequently accepted to be synonymous with the more broad reference of Southwestern food. This is associated with the more rustic and sometimes traditional foods of the southwestern states and the foods generally share similar names and ingredients they do sometimes vary by state and or region. Fajitas, chili rellenos and various steak and pork based dishes are common to Tex-Mex and Southwestern foods. Many of the dishes associated with genre originated in Texas and the state stands out as an authentic quality source.

Some of the standard dishes that are associated with Tex-Mex cuisine are chili con carne, which can vary from mildly spicy to incredibly hot. It frequently contains chili peppers and is more often spicy than mild. Garlic, onions and cumin are also typical to the ingredients and spice list. Of course beans and meat are necessary ingredients to this staple dish. Chile con queso, which means chili with cheese, is another Tex-Mex dish and should not be confused with the soup dish. This is generally served as an appetizer and is more of a cheese dip spiced with peppers and eaten with tortilla chips. It is a popular and common feature on most Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurant menus. Chile con queso originated in Texas though it is frequently served throughout the southwest and all the way north to Alaska.

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Finian’s Rainbow at New York’s St. James Theatre

Finian’s Rainbow is one of the current fabulous musicals playing in New York. It is at the St. James Theatre on West 44th Street and while it opened in October of last year, it is scheduled to close later this month. It has been extremely popular with audiences and the final weekends of its run may prove to be difficult to get tickets to, which is just one of the reasons it is recommended tickets are purchased as far in advance as is possible. Many of the guests staying in one of the four star New York hotels are lucky enough to have tickets for this show as well as reservations for a great dinner before they attend.

The musical is set in a mythical southern state that happens to have much in common with real life societal elements. The mythological state is called Missitucky, and as one might suspect it involves and Irish character who is quite a fantastical dreamer. The production is full of charming and entertaining elements and features a leprechaun, which is always a welcome sight in any Irish themed event. This one however, often proves to be quite pesky. And as is true for many light hearted musicals, there is a romantic affair that becomes complicated by the many different circumstances presented in the story, which shall be no further described here.

The St. James Theatre is one of the many long standing icons of the New York theatre scene. It was designed by Abraham L. Erlanger and opened in 1927 at the site of what was formerly Sardi’s restaurant. It’s original name was The Erlanger. It was renamed the St. James Theatre after Erlanger’s death and its takeover by the Astor family. The theatre has produced many great hits and is known for its productions of Oklahoma!, Hello Dolly! 42nd Street and the Producers, among many others. It produces some of the best musicals and dramatic as well as comedy plays in the city.

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The Ice Man of Tennis: Bjorn Borg

Bjorn Borg ruled the tennis courts in his heyday. However, though his career as a professional tennis player was a phenomenal and outstanding one, it was also very short. What are some of the moment in his career that make him such an unforgettable player and immense influence on tennis as we know it today? Right before he turned 18, he triumphed at the Italian Championship. And then, when he had turned eighteen and only a few weeks later, he won the French Championship as well. At the time of both these wins, he was the youngest player to win such glory. Even today if her were at the upcoming Austrialian Open, he would still be quite a star.

Further glory occurred when he turn nineteen. He won nineteen single matches in a row during the Davis Cup in 1975 with his 3 to 2 win against his Czech competitor. During his many tournaments, he provided new accomplishments for future generations to try and break and hold for themselves. He provided tennis with some of its greatest moves and moments ever seen and raised the level of tennis players, setting standards for years to come. Those playing in the soon to be held Australian Open Tennis Championship still after all these years have a lot to live up to.

Perhaps what made him such a great player was his strength. He had an extremely strong upper body, and though a slightly bowlegged run, he could run very quickly and with great agility on the tennis courts he graced. His style has been described as kind of rough and jerky, which suits his burly looking appearance.

His greatest rivalry was against John McEnroe, whom some claim put him out of business and ended his professional tennis playing career. However, though great rivals on the court, they have a healthy dose of respect for the other and their playing styles. They function as ying and yang in many ways, from their playing styles, to their looks, and to their personalities. Born was called the ice man precisely because he was so cool and level headed during his games and interviews, whereas McEnroe made a name for himself through his talent but also through his temper.

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