Where’s my hand tossed?

San Antonio, Texas is beginning to be known for more than just great Mexican food. In the last few years several pizza parlors have cropped up, which makes talking about San Antonio and pizza seem more and more natural. Freetail Brewing, Miss Ellie’s, and Dough Pizzeria have each made a splash lately, bringing folks back to small batch pizza and away from the national brands. One such small batch pizzeria with a flair for the creative, is Pizza Italia on Thousand Oaks near Jones Maltsberger.

Pizza Italia has been around for several years and many locals in the area will attest to its focus on creative pizzas and a wide selection of craft beer. Involved in a fire in 2009 that destroyed the building, the restaurant showed its resilience by re-opening in 2010 across the street from the old location.

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With the proliferation of the internet, just about anyone and everyone with a keyboard can write something and be touted as an “expert” on topics ranging from politics to molecular fusion. It may be accurate to say – the keyboard is mightier than the sword.  In the travel industry, there are countless numbers of travel guides and reviews available on the web written by just about anyone who has traveled outside of their home zip code.

Call me old-fashioned, but I still prefer reading printed travel guides than reading it on a computer screen just as I still prefer taking a bite into Dave Thomas’ Classic Hamburger with its square beef patties over the ones served in other fast food restaurants. Yes, times have changed especially when we’re talking about how technology has improved our lives, but there’s just something about the virtue of a book, where you can scribble in your notes, highlight passages, or even bend a few pages to mark your spots.  But times have changed, and many companies have found it necessary to change to an online marketing model in order to keep pace.

One company has managed to do both:  Fodor’s.  Just as how Coca-Cola has become an international icon that resonates something original or classic, Fodor’s has been a trusted name to travelers for generations. Since 1936, Fodor’s yellow and orange colored travel guides have remained a reliable source of information for travelers to get the scoop about their destination of choice.   And in recent years, Fodor’s has rolled out its online presence and beyond, including a mobile application.

Since my college years, I have collected literally boxes of Fodor’s travel guides that I used throughout my travels, including the ones given to me by friends who returned from their trips. The travel guides themselves tell their own stories of the journey as it served me and my friends well as an improvised pillow, photo and business card holder of the many interesting people we met and the hotels where we stayed, but ultimately it served us greatest as the trusted source of everything I ever needed to know for my trip to Bali.  But there are other travelers who have never purchased a single travel guide, and prefer to do their research online.  And there are still others, like many folks in our office, who started their traveling careers using printed guidebooks, but because of the ascendancy of the Internet (and getting hired by UpTake!) have transitioned to exclusively online research.

With sites like Fodor’s, one can have the best of both worlds – printed and online. Regardless of how you research your next trip, sometimes nothing beats revisiting a classic.

 From Nancy D. Brown of What a Trip

Mendocino’s Glass Beach

1. Give five adjectives that you would use to describe the “feel” of Mendocino and its residents?

Creative, rustic, cultural, political, unpretentious.

2.     What is your favorite neighborhood/area of Mendocino?

Main Street, where all the shops are located, is a neighborhood favorite.  Across the street you can walk the bluffs at Headlands State Park.

3. Which cuisine do you think Mendocino does best?  What is the runner-up?  (feel free to share your favorite restaurant)

Mendocino is known for its locally grown, organic produce and California cuisine.  Ravens’ Restaurant at the Stanford Inn is a vegan restaurant that pleases even non-vegetarians.  Café Beaujolais features flavorful French cuisine and the Little River Inn serves a wonderful brunch.
   
4. What is the best free thing to do?Whale watching from January to March on the bluffs is free.  For an indoor activity, the Gallery Bookshop offers free book events featuring authors, discussions, writing workshops and such.  Art lovers will enjoy Second Saturday, where galleries and businesses stay open late with public receptions, featuring food and music for exhibiting artists from 5-8 p.m.

5. What is your favorite type of entertainment?Mendocino offers wine and food events year-round.  The world’s only Abalone Festival & Cook-off takes place in October.
   6.     List the best family friendly activity?
 Big River Beach is a family-friendly beach.  Look for the sometimes appearing natural lagoon.  
7. What spot would you send a couple looking for a romantic weekend?
Start your day with breakfast on the porch at MacCallum House Inn.  Take a hike at Big River and circle back to Mendocino for lunch at the Bay View Café, which does offer a great view.  Cruise the galleries, stopping by the Papa Bear’s Chocolate Haus on Main Street for the fresh raspberry and chocolate bark and finish with a sunset dinner at the Albion River Inn. 
8. Describe the perfect day…one that captures what your area is all about? In three sentences or less.

To jumpstart your perfect day, begin with the best latte and a fresh pastry from Mendocino Bakery, home to Thanksgiving Coffee Company.  Walk the redwoods and Big River and immerse yourself in art at the local galleries.
     
9. Tell us about a place that you love to go whether it is in the guidebooks or not.The Mendocino Art Center is a wonderful place to spend some time.
  
10. What question did we not ask that we should have?

Where do the locals go for breakfast?  Check out what’s happening at the Caspar Community Center.  The small town of Caspar is located between Mendocino and Fort Bragg.  Every fourth Sunday from 9 to11:30 a.m. the center hosts a community breakfast.  The cost varies from $8-$11 and is very upscale, yet low key.

Want to be our next “local expert”?  Send us an e-mail or comment on this post!

 
 
 

 

It’s no big secret that there’s a love-hate relationship between New York City and its tourists. NYC loves the dollars flowing in every year from 39 million American visitors and 9 million foreign tourists, but hates having to put up with insensitive and clueless tourists. So here’s some tips for NYC visitors which will help you blend in. Oh, and if you’re looking for the opposite, here’s a list of things to do in New York.

1. Walking -  You walk fast, and you expect the person in front to keep walking. In a straight line. You can’t just simply stop walking in the middle of the sidewalk and start taking pictures. You want to stop walking, then you move to the right and get your bags out of the way. Secondly, if you’re in a group, don’t walk in a row holding hands and block the people behind. Jaywalking is considered normal.

2.  Talking – Again, time is money. People will respond normally enough if you have a question. But you have to make it quick to avoid a brush-off. This applies especially when you’re ordering food. Think about what you want beforehand. If you start asking questions at the counter, you’re dead meat.

3. Eye Contact – No one makes eye contact, or smiles at strangers (exception for attracting the oppposite sex). If you want to blend in, never make eye contact, smile without reason, or start a conversation unless necessary.

4. Subway etiquette – I could write 13 rules just for the subway. But in a nutshell, observe rule No.3 without exception, and if there’s a crowd, keep the doors clear – stand left or right, wait for the people getting off to do so, and don’t push your way in using elbows. Once inside, don’t block the doors for people trying to get out. And don’t stand in the middle of the subway exits – People go in and out real fast with their heads down, and someone is likely to knock you down.

5. Tipping – 15 to 20% is the norm when you’re tipping. Especially for the taxis. Believe me, you don’t want to tick off an NYC cabbie by short-charging him on tips. And if you leave coins at a restaurant, then don’t go back. Ever.

6. Culture Shock – Some of you might be shocked by the colorful nature of some people you encounter - as in drag outfits and/or tasteless, bizzare dressing styles. Don’t be. Nobody cares, except you. On a related note, this isn’t California, so please leave your shorts and sun-glasses at home. See, the way this works is that dressing bizzare is acceptable, but walking around in shorts with sun-glasses with NYC t-shirts marks you as a tourist.

7. Food - Remember the thing about ordering fast in rule No.2 and tipping in rule No.5, and get a regular coffee (with cream and sugar), or a beer. No tea. You get fries on the side with most everything, so you don’t need to order it seperately.

8. Tourism – There’s no need to go visit the Statue of Liberty or take a Circle Line cruise. You can get a pretty good view from the Staten Island ferry, and its free to boot. Other than the crowd and the neon signs, Times Square is pretty much a tourist trap. Stay away if possible. And Museums have pay-what-you-wish days. Only tourists land up on the other days to pay the full admission price.

9. Local transport – Avoid cabs and driving your own car as much as possible. The subway works just fine, and you can get MTA NYC Transit Metrocards which are valid for both the subway and the buses. Depending on the duration of your stay, you can get anything from a 7-day unlimited card to a 1-day fun pass.

10. Shopping – Fifth Ave is a strict no-no for shopaholics, unless you have Macy’s coupons. You want the exact same designer wear and branded accessories and stuff at 40 to 80% discounts over retail prices, you go to Century21 or Gabay’s or Syms.

11. Homeless/Oddballs – You’ll see a lot of them, if you walk around a bit. They might even try to talk to you or make gestures, and if you make eye contact, or act like you’re interested, they’ll try to follow you. Just ignore them and move on. Same thing applies for flyer distributors. Its not rude to ignore kids or old people handing out flyers.

12. Ground Zero – Touchy subject. If you don’t know how to get there, better not ask a stranger on the street. If you must ask, then walk into a store or a restaurant, buy something, and then ask the staff.

13. Umbrella etiquette – First, never walk around without an umbrella. If you’re using it, you need to bob it up and down so you don’t knock out someone’s eye, or crash into another umbrella. Its a fine art as to who raises the umbrella and who weaves left or right a bit, but you’ll get the hang of it after one of two attempts.

Photo credit lynza.