German Reisling, Ridiculously Long Airports, and Leviticus
I was going for a title that would encapsulate the past week of my life.
Last Wednesday morning, I headed out of Hector International Airport, right here in the lovely metropolis of Fargo, North Dakota, on my way to a conference in San Francisco. Having never been on a plane that only has two seats on either side of the aisle, I was unpleasantly surprised at what a horrible landing we had in Chicago. They even made us get off the plane on the tarmack! I suppose the plane was too small to attach to one of the gates? Who knows. Anyway, I then boarded a Boeing 777 and headed for the great state of California. Aside from being a nervous WRECK the entire day (I hate flying), I made it to California safely and in one piece. That night we checked into our hotel, which was a mere three blocks from Fisherman's Wharf on the Bay, and headed down to the Wharf to see what we could scrounge up to eat.
We went into the first place that looked good - Alioto's. It was a fancy restaurant, where I had a glass of German Reisling (I don't know much about wine - is all Reisling German?) and one of the most delicious dishes I've ever eaten: Seafood Cannolini. Scrumptious. Crab and shrimp inside a cannolini noodle with cream sauce. Yum. Then, we had dessert: a fruit tart, which I have to say, was no where NEAR the level of tastiness that Nichole's Fine Pastry delivers. Since it was 11:30 pm (our time) by the time we finished, we headed back to the hotel to catch some zzz's.
The conference was excellent, the accommodations were excellent (the best hotel bed I think I've ever slept in), and the people at the conference were great. In our off time (what little of it we had) we went down to the Wharf to eat clam chowder in bread bowls, or stroll through all the chocolate shoppes. On Thursday night we ate at Neptune's, which was a lot fancier than the guy who recommended it to me had made it sound. I had another fine dining experience which consisted of Dungeness Crab Pasta with tomatoes and asparagus in a Chardonnay sauce, with some sort of Sunset something to drink (read: Bicardi Limon, orange Vodka, and cranberry juice...) and warm rolls of crusty sourdough. I love food.
The trip back on Friday was also uneventful, but still stressful for me. At least at this point I wasn't hyperventilating just stepping onto the plane. And by "hyperventilating," I mostly mean freaking out. Anyway, when we got to Denver, we were told to go to Gate B93, which was about 2.4 miles away from the gate where we exited! Denver Airport is extremely long. So, we hopped on the moving sidewalks, which I love, and headed down....to the END OF THE WORLD. Literally, it was the last gate in the entire place. Then, there wasn't really a gate - just a fenced-in sidewalk area to walk through, then up some steps and into the plane. Craziness. THIS is why I hate living in Fargo. Because the jets that fly into Fargo are miniscule. Anyway, we had to fly around some thunderstorms, which made things a bit bumpy and when we landed I thought for sure we were going to land on top of 19th Avenue instead of on the runway.
All in all, it was wonderful, and I've decided that I'm not going to be scared of flying anymore: I love traveling too much. I needed that break from reality, so to speak.
San Francisco seemed to me to be a rather dirty town. I was discussing this with the guy sitting next to my on our mini-jet to Fargo Friday night. He speculated that since they don't have the four seasons, there isn't snow to wash away all the filthiness on the roads and sidewalks. It was also rather smelly. Being near the docks where all the fish and sea lions live is rather pungeant. But, it was definitely a great experience to have and I was thoroughly delighted to be there.
One travesty: I got some cash from the hotel ATM, and was charged $2.95 for the transaction (which I wasn't too surprised at) then, my bank charged me another $2.00 because it wasn't a US Bank ATM, which I was aware of. All in all, I spent $4.95 for the luxury of having $40 in cash in my wallet. Ridiculous.
Anyway...
I arrived home, and proceded to sleep for 10 hours. Memorial Day weekend was so nice and relaxing. We just bummed around and did whatever. I was also pleased to find out that on Saturday night, my new friend, Leviticus Sloan Evans was born! I've been waiting to meet him for a long time, and he made his rather lengthy debut about 9:45 pm that night. I got to see him the next day, and I have to say, what a beautiful baby. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a perfect newborn. They will call him Levi.
And now, back to reality.
Reality bites.
Last Wednesday morning, I headed out of Hector International Airport, right here in the lovely metropolis of Fargo, North Dakota, on my way to a conference in San Francisco. Having never been on a plane that only has two seats on either side of the aisle, I was unpleasantly surprised at what a horrible landing we had in Chicago. They even made us get off the plane on the tarmack! I suppose the plane was too small to attach to one of the gates? Who knows. Anyway, I then boarded a Boeing 777 and headed for the great state of California. Aside from being a nervous WRECK the entire day (I hate flying), I made it to California safely and in one piece. That night we checked into our hotel, which was a mere three blocks from Fisherman's Wharf on the Bay, and headed down to the Wharf to see what we could scrounge up to eat.
We went into the first place that looked good - Alioto's. It was a fancy restaurant, where I had a glass of German Reisling (I don't know much about wine - is all Reisling German?) and one of the most delicious dishes I've ever eaten: Seafood Cannolini. Scrumptious. Crab and shrimp inside a cannolini noodle with cream sauce. Yum. Then, we had dessert: a fruit tart, which I have to say, was no where NEAR the level of tastiness that Nichole's Fine Pastry delivers. Since it was 11:30 pm (our time) by the time we finished, we headed back to the hotel to catch some zzz's.
The conference was excellent, the accommodations were excellent (the best hotel bed I think I've ever slept in), and the people at the conference were great. In our off time (what little of it we had) we went down to the Wharf to eat clam chowder in bread bowls, or stroll through all the chocolate shoppes. On Thursday night we ate at Neptune's, which was a lot fancier than the guy who recommended it to me had made it sound. I had another fine dining experience which consisted of Dungeness Crab Pasta with tomatoes and asparagus in a Chardonnay sauce, with some sort of Sunset something to drink (read: Bicardi Limon, orange Vodka, and cranberry juice...) and warm rolls of crusty sourdough. I love food.
The trip back on Friday was also uneventful, but still stressful for me. At least at this point I wasn't hyperventilating just stepping onto the plane. And by "hyperventilating," I mostly mean freaking out. Anyway, when we got to Denver, we were told to go to Gate B93, which was about 2.4 miles away from the gate where we exited! Denver Airport is extremely long. So, we hopped on the moving sidewalks, which I love, and headed down....to the END OF THE WORLD. Literally, it was the last gate in the entire place. Then, there wasn't really a gate - just a fenced-in sidewalk area to walk through, then up some steps and into the plane. Craziness. THIS is why I hate living in Fargo. Because the jets that fly into Fargo are miniscule. Anyway, we had to fly around some thunderstorms, which made things a bit bumpy and when we landed I thought for sure we were going to land on top of 19th Avenue instead of on the runway.
All in all, it was wonderful, and I've decided that I'm not going to be scared of flying anymore: I love traveling too much. I needed that break from reality, so to speak.
San Francisco seemed to me to be a rather dirty town. I was discussing this with the guy sitting next to my on our mini-jet to Fargo Friday night. He speculated that since they don't have the four seasons, there isn't snow to wash away all the filthiness on the roads and sidewalks. It was also rather smelly. Being near the docks where all the fish and sea lions live is rather pungeant. But, it was definitely a great experience to have and I was thoroughly delighted to be there.
One travesty: I got some cash from the hotel ATM, and was charged $2.95 for the transaction (which I wasn't too surprised at) then, my bank charged me another $2.00 because it wasn't a US Bank ATM, which I was aware of. All in all, I spent $4.95 for the luxury of having $40 in cash in my wallet. Ridiculous.
Anyway...
I arrived home, and proceded to sleep for 10 hours. Memorial Day weekend was so nice and relaxing. We just bummed around and did whatever. I was also pleased to find out that on Saturday night, my new friend, Leviticus Sloan Evans was born! I've been waiting to meet him for a long time, and he made his rather lengthy debut about 9:45 pm that night. I got to see him the next day, and I have to say, what a beautiful baby. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a perfect newborn. They will call him Levi.
And now, back to reality.
Reality bites.
posted by Heather | 10:10 AM
1 Comments:
I like your last word-age. "Reality bites." Funny. Plus, what exactly is a sea lion? And, is Fargo really called a metropolis? And what is the difference between a town, city, metropolis, etc? I'm really glad you had a good time!!!
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