Palm Springs, part 2

"I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany."















I have a wonderful job where I get to travel to some really neat places. The problem is, most of the time, I never make it out of the hotel room to truly experience a city.

I was in Palm Springs for a total of 55 hours. I spent 12 hours on planes getting to Palm Springs, 8 hours in airports waiting for connecting flights, 12 hours sleeping, 7 hours at dinners or receptions, 4 hours at bars unwinding from long work days and about 12 hours in meetings. It doesn't give you much time to experience anything else.

The quote above, from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, pretty much sums up my thoughts on Palm Springs. It is a beautiful place but more geared towards an older crowd. While I would call it a sleepy, "snowbird", desert community now, one day it was a hot spot for those looking for some time away for the limelight and glitz of LA.
















This trip though made me realize that as I grow older, I definetly want a place to retire to during the winter that is warm. This is the view from my hotel room and while I am not much of a golfer, what a beautiful site in the morning.

Palm Springs, part 1

I arrived in Palm Springs yesterday and it is quite lovely. Many of you know that I have an obsession with flying. Yesterday, I had a great seat on my Boeing 757 from Chicago to LA, 9A. 9A is in the exit row on a 757 and it is also where you get onto the plane. Look at this leg room I had.














In LA, I had to switch planes to a little prop jet that took me over to Palm Springs. It is so funny to be on a plane that still has propellers.
















On the approach to Palm Springs I was filled with excitement having just spent a weekend in the "New Palm Springs." I had high expectations for my Palm Springs experience. On the flight in I got some great aerial shots and realized that Palm Springs is full of golf courses.
















For our meeting, we are staying at the Marriott Rancho Mirage, which is a lovely resort. Many of the rooms are right on a golf course. While I am an awful golfer, I can appreciate the beauty of a golf course.














One of the main differences between Palm Springs and the "New Palm Springs" is actual palm trees.

Subscribe to my blog!!!

I have found a way that you can subscribe to my blog so that if there are every updates, you will receive an e-mail and then you can click to the blog since I know you are all interested in my travels.

Here is how you do it. Go to www.feedblitz.com

It takes only a few seconds to set yourself up - and then you'll see! So grab the feed URL for your Blog and let's go!

1) Register for the service (all you give is a valid email address and a password)
2) Click the link in the email sent to the address to confirm your registration.
3) Log on!
4) Select "New Subscription" from the menu on the right.
5) Enter the URL of your feed XML: manshioweek.blogspot.com
6) Submit the form - that's it!
7) Shortly after midnight, eastern US time, you will get an email of your blog postings for the day (if any)

Feel free to pass this along

11 Hours in D.C.

I departed my home at 6 a.m. to catch an 8 a.m. flight to Washington D.C. today where I would be attending a reception for work. Since hotel rates were outrageous, I decided to come in this morning, arriving at 11 a.m. eastern time and depart this evening at 10 p.m. eastern time. It was a quick trip but I wanted to know how much could you see in DC in a short time.

Our reception started at 5:30 so I figured, I had about 4 hours, 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. I wanted to make sure I was at the reception early to do my job.

My flight arrived on time at Reagan National Airport. This is probably one of my favorite airports and I make sure to have a window seat when flying in here. From the runway you can see the Washington Monument and the capital building.
















I jumped on the blue metro line at Reagan and headed for the Pentagon. I got a couple of quick shots but they don’t do the building justice. It is hard to capture the essence of this enormous 5 sided structure from ground level.















Next it was off to the yellow line to the Smithsonian area. Here I was able to get up-close shots of the Washington Monument, the Capitol Building, the World War II Memorial, a far off shot of the Jefferson Memorial and 1600 Pennsylvania Ave (pictured below in order).

















































It was getting to be about lunch time, so I headed off to Chinatown hoping to pick up something unique.














I ended up at Five Brothers which is a burger joint, which has been featured many times prominently for its cheap eats and good value. A heart-stopping cheeseburger, fries and root beer later, I figured it was time to head to work.














I arrived at DuPont circle about 2 hours early. It was such a beautiful day, so I sat by the fountain for a couple of hours and was just quiet and contemplative. It is the middle of a very busy and trying week it was nice to sit, be quiet and think.
















I finally arrived back home at midnight. There is a busy day in the office tomorrow before flying to the Old Palm Springs, Palm Springs on Wednesday morning.

What makes Omaha the "New Palm Springs?"

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to explore the “New Palm Springs.” I have been to Omaha many times before but during this trip I decided to look at it not as Omaha but as the “New Palm Springs” I noticed I had a different perspective.

So my friend Nick Dietz and I set out to explore the “New Palm Springs” and what a wonderful experience it was, I hope I can do it justice here.

Brendan, Mary, Meghann, Nick and I set out for breakfast at a hot spot, Wheatfield’s. Look at this cinnamon roll, an indication of the type and quality of food served in the “New Palm Springs.”
















After a brief hiatus to take Brendan and Mary to the airport and allow Meghann the opportunity to study Nick and I drove around. Here are a few of the sites we observed.

Tricycles and pick-up trucks are a staple of the “New Palm Springs.”




















We saw a picture yesterday of Nick and Brendan emulating the look of the new Palm Springs but fashion also reins supreme, look closely at those blue pants.
















The highlight of my day was a trip to Rosenblatt Staidum home of the College World Series for a triple A baseball game. It was a boring game so I made friends with the mascots and took some pictures with them.



















What a day, in my humble opinion, the "New Palm Springs" lives up to its billing. I am excited to go to the "Old Palm Springs", Palm Springs, later this week. Off to DC tomorrow but first I leave you with one last picture that I think sums up the "New Palm Springs."

"An Evening in the New Palm Springs"

Today, after a very rough morning, I arrived in Omaha, Nebraska, dubbed by my good pal Jon Ramsey as the "New Palm Springs." I met my friends Brendan McKelvey and Mary Feise (soon to be McKelvey) and the Dietz's, Nick and Meghann for some lunch and cocktails while enjoying a beautiful afternoon in Omaha.

The highlight of our evening was the wedding of our friends, Scott Lauer and Katie Kalhorn. After a lovely ceremony, we all attended the reception. At the reception, this man, Russell, introduced me to one of the staple cocktails of the "New Palm Springs", vodka/Squirts.















Squirt, is a lemon lime drink popularized in the late 80s early 90s. It is a staple at all the hip lounges and countRy clubs in Omaha for its ability to refresh the palate without being overly tart.

At the reception, held at the "New Palm Springs" Botanical Gardens, many of the attendees looked like my friend Nick "Mav" Dietz. "Mav" orignially from Cincinnati but now a two year resident of the "New Palm Springs" has found a new image.
















Mav is the "New Palm Springs." Characterized by those big glasses, moppy hair and a general look of disbelief residents of the new Palm Springs are concerned with their image, making sure to only attend hip lounges off of Dodge St and the Cornhuskers. After seeing many of these residents during the wedding, my friend Brendan McKelvey decided to go for the same look, he will be bringing it back to St. Louis















After the reception was over we stopped at one of the "New Palm Springs" hotspots, King Kong. If you look closely, you can see neon palm trees in the windows.

















It was a great night and I am looking forward to frolicking around the "New Palm Springs" on Saturday.

All Good Things Must Come to an End....

My trip to Japan is over and I am both happy and sad. I am happy to be back in "the States" where I can read a menu, see trash on the ground constantly and find paper towels in the bathroom but most importantly I am happy to be back where my friends are. I am sad because I don't have the sense of adventure each day that my Japan experience provided me.

A lot of people have asked me about my trip. After reflecting on it for a while the most important thing this trip taught me was to experience the experience.

My first year out of college, I traveled the US and spent many days in cities that I would have never explored had it not been for my job. There were cities and places I loved and there were places I hate and hope never to go back to again but without venturing out and experiencing it I would have missed out on many experiences that have made me the person I am today.

While my Eyewitness Japan guide helped, the experiences that made my trip were those not found in the travel guide. 48 straight hours awake exploring the real Tokyo, dinner in a random alley restaurant in Osaka that was one of the best meals I have ever eaten and an early morning trip to Osaka Castle to take pictures of the beautiful plum bossoms at sunrise.


There were some comments encourgaing me to keep up the blog. While I love Chicago and have some random adventures that I am sure you would all enjoy reading, I have chosen to update the blog on my travels. Check in each month and see where work and personal travel takes Manshio.

April provides trips to Omaha (the new Palm Springs) (April 21-23), D.C. (April 24) and the old Palm Springs, Palm Springs (April 26-28).

I want to thank each and everyone of you whoc viewed my blog and kept up with my travels. Your comments kept me going eager to seek out new adventures.

I leave you with one of my favorite pictures of Tokyo. In my opinion, truly a world class city!