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| Hartford Connecticut |
For this first leg I flew into Hartford. Hartford's Bradley International Airport is easy enough to navigate but lots of area to cover. The biggest issue for me was the car rental return area. The rentals returns are literally 3 city blocks away with sky walk connects. When you're on a tight schedule this can be exasperating, since its about a mile walk.
My first trip took me to the Southwestern part of the state to a town called Southbury. One thing I found, was there are lots of "bury's and boroughs" in Connecticut, seems every town was one bury or another! A quaint area filled with lots of greenery and crazy cow town roads, it was most definitely a keep your eyes open all the time driving experience! That is probably the one thing that stands out the most to me when traveling in the New England area is the crazy roads. I've often asked the locals what their city engineers were thinking, but apparently it has much to do with the original settlers roadways than anything. Next time I go I will be sure to get a picture where the 7 different roads intersect and there are no traffic signals. I kid you not I've seen it!
As always I like to check out the local eateries and play foodie for the day. I was not let down. In the town of Woodbury ( yes bury, bury, bury) I found a great little place by the name of Good News Cafe. I was intrigued by the egg shaped sculpture that stood outside and the canopy and flowers were even more inviting. I was however quite befuddled when I stepped inside. I had expected a very quaint country type setting and was pleasantly surprised with the crisp clean, very contemporary bright syle and color scheme.
My colleague and I were greeted by a very friendly server who promptly seated us and recited the daily specials. I was immediately won over by the service and attention we received. We ordered our usual unsweet iced tea and were brought an interesting starter of peppered flat bread. Very tasty, it looked more like an unusual table sculpture than an appetizer, delicious none-the-less.
After
we scanned the menu and placed our order, I took a few minutes to take in
my surroundings. The table partitions were scattered with cute little
sculptures made of erector sets and various machinery parts. I found these
to be quite intriguing and spent a bit admiring the careful works of
the artists who submitted them for display. I was told that the Cafe
show cases different works every so often and being the artist that I
am, I was just a little giddy inside. I ordered smoked salmon with a cauliflower flan and spring salad. The visual of the dish alone had me salivating. Ah-maz-ing! Truly the best smoked salmon I've had in years, the entire dish was one to remember. I will definitely return to this wonderful cafe for their culinary delights! |
| Pepper flatbread |
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| smoked salmon with cauliflower flan |
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| mini erector sculpture |
Road warrior, frequent flyer, seasoned traveler, just of the few of the things I’ve been called as a person who travels on a regular basis. When people ask what I do for a living and I tell them, it often sparks a conversation full of questions and comments. The question I am asked most often is “Do you like it?” Simply put, yes. Yes I do. In fact I love it. I love my job. I do think though, traveling is not for everyone. Business travel that is. I believe it takes a special kind of person to do this on a weekly basis and not burn out in the first month. This week I’m going to answer some of the questions most often asked of me as a weekly traveler.
I started “regular” travel as I call it, for my job in 1998, meaning I was on a plane every week at least once. So I have been on the road “full time” for 14 years. Considering that my job took me out at least 45 weeks a year, that was a good amount of travel. Today my job takes me out twice a week, every week and still l will work at least 45 weeks out of the year. Barring
any travel woes as I call them, that puts me on a plane a minimum of 90
times a year which doesn’t include connecting flights. So I literally could be on a plane 360 times per year. That’s pretty astounding if you ask me.
“You must have a ton of frequent flyer miles!” All I can say is, I wish! Yes,
I have perks, I am a veteran flyer with several carriers but because I
am cost conscious for my company, I will fly literally the least
expensive carrier to my destination. So
tier level may increase but when you’re flying literally six different
carriers at any given time, it takes a while for those points to
accumulate. Don’t get me wrong I’ve had a few free tickets here and there but I fly coach, not first class!
“It sounds exciting traveling all over.” It can be and sometimes not. Those who know me well, know the frustrations I face on a weekly basis. Over booked flights, delays, bad weather, late flight crews and last but not least the dreaded lost luggage. I have certainly experienced them all. I will say, there is not any one carrier that is a more of a repetitive offender. The fact is, it will happen at any given time by any given carrier, in any given state. It’s part of the travel package. As frustrating as it can be at times, I have learned to expect that it is part of the job. I’ve learned to accept it. I
will still fuss and rant over it, but to the airline folks I deal with I
try to be as diplomatic and nice as I can be (even though they have
totally botched up an entire itinerary!)
“Staying in a hotel all the time must be pretty cool.” I laugh at this one quite often. When I first started traveling I thought it was cool too. I mean most people only stay at a hotel a couple times a year, when on vacation or attending about of town wedding. When
you travel weekly that novelty soon wears off (usually after the first
two weeks on the job!) and you long for the comfort of your own bed,
your own pillow. Weekends home secretly become your mini vacations, a
chance to bask in those “fragrances of home” and dare to tread barefoot
on the floor in the shower, because you know your own home and the fear
of the unknown bacteria isn’t there. I
half kidding say that, but when you travel like I do and read about
some of the things that happen in hotels you exercise caution even when
laying your hair brush on the bathroom counter! One day I’ll blog some travel tips, yeah you learn a thing or two on the road.
“Do you get to keep your hotel points?” Yes I do. This is one thing I really appreciate that my company does for us. I am sincerely grateful that they know what we go through as we travel and allow us to
retain those points. It is a perk that I use most often. I have been able to use those points when I vacation with my family and they come in quite handy sometimes. I think my kids will attest to that!
“Do you get sick of eating out all the time?” That is a huge yes! It may not be true of everyone, but I enjoy cooking. A home cooked meal is a treat and a hobby for me. I think my guy appreciates it as well as he’s left to fend for himself when I’m not home. He’s quite self -sufficient and I love him for that, but I think he likes it when he gets a home cooked meal too. Depending on where my travels take me, I often will buy groceries and eat in my room. I
find I can get healthier options that way. I just need to make sure I
have a room or a hotel that has a fridge and a microwave accessible. On
the other side of that coin though, is the chance to try different
cuisines while I am out and I do try to get to some fun and interesting
places. I like to try new
things and have found I’ve become somewhat of a foodie. Which accounts
for the additional pounds I have put on over the years! I like to blog about some of the neat places I’ve found along the way. Some
of the best places I have tried are ones I’ve read about or heard about
from the locals. you would be surprised at some of off the beaten path
places that are recommended by the locals who live there and turn out to
be a real find. The flip side of that one is the town that has only
one place to eat and you tire of the menu in a heartbeat. I have had
both the unfortunate and fortunate experience of eating at the same
local diner for 6 weeks in a row. This is when the grocery store
becomes especially important!
That's it for the Q&A for now!
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