Inspire Me ThursdaySelf help blog to improve day to day living

If there’s ever a place one could use luxury hotels DC is it.  Washington DC can be an exhausting spot for tourists as they attempt to see everything there is to see in a matter of a few days.  Coming back to a hotel room that is designed specifically for comfort can help you recharge your batteries for the next day of museums and monuments.  Every time I go to the nation’s capital city, I find myself exploring something new.  One time, it’s the White House and the FBI Headquarters.  The next time, it was the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History .  In the former, you’ll find actual recovered space capsules from the Apollo era; in the latter, you’ll journey back to the time of giant ground sloths and see their skeletons.  Then the last time, I made time for the Mall, including the Washington Monument, the Capitol Building, and the National Archives to see the original copy of the Declaration of Independence.  Out of all of these, I keep finding myself returning to the Museum of Natural History.  There’s always something amazing to see.

You will usually find the Hope Diamond on permanent exhibition at the Natural History Museum, but right now you’ll find the Hope Diamond paired with the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond .  These are amazing, rare blue diamonds and Smithsonian scientists are at work to determine if they, in fact, come from the same mine (it’s known that both these diamonds are from India).  The Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond hasn’t been seen in public for fifty years and its story, which you’ll learn about at the museum, may be traced back as far as three hundred and forty years.  The Hope Diamond just had another anniversary; it’s been fifty-two years since Harry Winston gave the diamond to the Institute in November of 1958.  The diamond is 45.52 carats and cut from a stone in India about 350 years ago (similar to the Wittelsbach-Graff stone), and was formerly a part of the French crown jewels.

From the skeletons of giant sloths to diamonds, from skeletons of dinosaurs and elephants, from exhibits that will, later this year, explore the ocean and our understanding of the human origin, the Museum of Natural History is a must-see in Washington that’s constantly evolving.

Day two here in Richmond, Virgina, although my first day was spent on buses. I took Amtrak and buses in order to cut down on my traveling expenses so I could afford to stay at one of the luxury hotels in Virginia . Let me tell you, it was worth it! My accommodations are fabulous, I feel like someone important and I can get quite use to the great treatment all the hotel staff gives. But, the reason I’m here is to visit with my longtime school buddy and best friend.
 
She came a picked me up at my hotel, but before we could do anything, she pulled out her bathing suit and said she wasn’t about to miss the opportunity to play in a luxury hotel. For me it was too cold, but that didn’t stop my friend. We also had some drinks at the poolside bar. After she showered in my hotel room’s wonderful shower, we headed off to her home in her beat up Volvo. I’m glad to know somethings have never changed about her.
 
When we arrived, we hung out in her kitchen and all these people kept dropping by, they heard so much about me from my friend that they all wanted to meet me. I don’t remember how many people came by or for that matter their names. It was nice to see that she had made tons of friends here in Virginia, I was secretly hoping things might be miserable here, but she’s extremely happy and she has her own business selling import pearls on-line. It doesn’t make that much money for her, but she’s her own boss and it pays the bills.
 
She told me that tomorrow, she’ll give me a tour of Richmond, but for now it’s catch-up time and party time back at my hotel’s spa and bar. It seems that I might just have to move down here instead.

We woke up a little late on Thursday morning, but we packed quickly and checked out of our first hotel, we didn’t like it and while we were out and about yesterday, we found one of the better hotel suites in New York and booked the rest of our stay there. When we checked out, we grabbed some breakfast at a deli that served the best pancakes with real maple syrup.

We when to our new hotel to see if we could check in early, the gentleman at the reception desk took our names and say we’ve been upgraded to a very nice suite!!!! Wow! What a difference it makes moving from a no-star hotel to a five-star.  We acted all cool when he told us this, like we’ve experienced excellent service and expect excellent service. He told us that the difference between the suite we booked and the one we were bumped up to is it’s 900 square feet and several thousand a night, but of course we will be paying for the price we originally booked for. We didn’t even look at each other, but we were squeezing each others hands hard! This was truly an amazing hotel. However, we couldn’t check in early, because the room wasn’t quite ready for us. We left our bags with receptions, to be brought up when the room was ready and we headed back outside.

When we thought we were far enough away, we stopped, turned and looked at each other and screamed! We love New York! We decided to do some shopping and visit Bryant Park , then to the Central Library, but the library was surrounded by scaffolding, so we went back to the park. We sat on a bench and people watched and wondered what a 900 sq. ft suite could possibly look like. We couldn’t believe our fortune and we wished we could share our windfall with someone. So, we decided that we’d do our best to make friends with another couple and if we liked them, invite them up to our grand suite!

There are so many historical sites of interest in the Massachusetts city of Boston that it is sometimes overwhelming decided which to visit first.  One of the many popular tourist sites the city is the Rowes Wharf . The location of the Wharf is in the historical neighborhood which used be named the South Battery.  Many of the early settlers during the Seventeenth Century called this neighborhood home, and there is architecture here that will astonish you with its charm.

Many of the hotels of the city are located close by, and there are quite a few to choose from, check it out . The merchants of Boston had a lot to do with the development of the city, and the Wharf is one of the endeavours of a man very influential.  John Rowe purchased the land during the middle of the 1760′s, and constructed the first wharf which extended just a bit out into the Harbor.  At the time it was used for mainly industrial ship traffic, and over the years became a central hub, connecting to railroads, and elevated train and ferries.

As many locations in the cities throughout the country, and the world for that matter, the location fell into a bit of disrepair.  Now though, this is the Seaport District of the city, which houses hotels, condominiums and all things necessary for a maritime way of life.  The man who redesigned the wharf is Adrian Smith.  The courtyard is beautiful and covers the entire area of the plaza which leads up to the water’s edge.

There is an observatory on the wharf which offers panoramic and incredible views of the Boston Harbor and of the city.  During the warmer summer months, bands and theatrical performances are nightly occurrences on the free-floating stage he designed.  And once again, there are water taxis providing transport and a bit of fun as well.  The city is in the midst of designing a large park over the “Big Dig” freeway renovation which will bring even more people down to this now again, desirable and historic area of the city of Boston.

After living in Los Angeles for over fifteen years, one of the great respites in this city remains the pleasure of traveling into Santa Monica and wandering around the pier and park, overlooking the ocean, and then walking along the shops and theaters of the Third Street Promenade.  While there are other streets in the Los Angeles area dedicated to great shops and restaurants, the Promenade has always felt a step above other neighborhoods dedicated to shopping and entertainment.  Perhaps it has something to do with its proximity to the ocean, less than a couple of blocks away, or something to do with the variety of food you can get — everything from McDonald’s to French crepes and fine coffee.  There’s abundant parking here, free for two hours in the day, and a small fee after six for the night, as well as bookstores and night clubs, and so on.

The Promenade is a few north/south blocks of Third Street closed to traffic, interrupted by west/east bound streets, with a variety of shops that have been in the community for years.  Start out on Broadway and work your way north through the many shops.  Along the way, you’ll find street performers and vendors among the dinosaur-shaped hedges and water fountains.   Be careful on the rare sighting of a mime who might follow you down the street.  At the intersection of Santa Monica Blvd and Third, you’ll find just around the corner a number of shops dedicated to the Anglophile in all of us: tea shops, souvenir shops, pubs and restaurants, some with a number of imports and foods from Great Britain.  The Promenade stretches all the way to Wilshire Boulevard, three blocks long, where you’ll find a three story Barnes and Noble bookstore.

There are also plenty of hostels and hotels in Santa Monica , so it’s easy to arrange a trip there and stay close to the beach, which, after all, is one of the city’s main attractions.  If you’ve never been to the Third Street Promenade, there’s a bit of a chance you’ve already seen it in movies.  It’s been featured more than once, although the only time I really remember clearly is in a sequel to The Brady Bunch movies, A Very Brady Sequel .

I took the bus down to Los Angeles and had mixed feeling about what would it be like. I’d heard so much negative things about LA during my trip down the California Coastline , especially from people who didn’t have their own transportation. I was planning the stay 2 nights at Santa Monica and then a few nights up in Hollywood. I had to catch a couple of different buses to get to Santa Monica, which took me only a half hour longer. So, after hearing about all the bad things that can happen to me on buses, I was pleasantly surprised that the bus drivers were friendly and helpful. The buses were fine, which made me wonder how those people who only had negative things to say, just how they see life in general.

I arrived in Santa Monica and located my hotel, which I managed to book on-line at this site: http://www.santamonicahotel.net, and it was only about three minutes from the beach. I absolutely love it here. I found Santa Monica Boulevard with all these fantastic shops, restaurants and all these street performers. I met some great people stay at the same hotel I am and we had a few meals together. The main street: 3rd Street Promenade, is a pedestrian street . There’s absolutely no smoking on the entire street. The street is well maintained with no signs of graffiti or litter. They masterfully trimmed these huge hedges to look like dinosaurs.

It was great to eat at any of the cafes or restaurants, because no matter where it was there was bound to be a street performer. The atmosphere here is really a pleasant one, laid-back and totally safe.

I wondered down to Venice Beach from the pathway from Santa Monica, it only took me about 40 minutes. Santa Monica Beach has a series of workout equipment along the path, but at Venice Beach that’s where the ‘Muscle Beach’ is located. I saw men dressed in the smallest speedos, which looked really ridiculous. Venice is also the home of one of the biggest skate parks. I just loved to watch all the children flipping over gaps and practicing grinding the ledges. There are also numerous shops and stalls along the path, including an actual doctors advertisement stating his service to write prescriptions for medical marijuana!

California, you gotta love it, and so far I do. This really is a laid-back place.

I started out early with the hopes of walking through the Golden Gate Park, then making my way north so I could walk across the bridge. I’ve seen photos of the Palace of Fine Arts in some of the travel books, so I also hoped to see that too.

While walking through the Japan Center Mall, I saw many pastry shops and decided to check one out and have some breakfast. My San Francisco cheap hotel , was awesome and the free continental breakfast was good, but with all the walking I’ll be doing, I need more sustenance and pastries seems like it would be just the ticket. After breakfast, I got a good idea of which direction to head in, I thought best to skip the bus and walk to the Golden Gate park. I thought, I later regretted toward the end of the day. But, the city was so awesome, how could I help but walk? It was so incredible to see the huge rolling hills and all those homes built on them, plus it was great to see how the cars navigated through them.

I walked through the resting fog that sat over some of the bigger hills; it reminded me of paintings I’ve seen. Before I made it to the park, I stopped at a small corner grocery store and picked up a few snacks and a toothbrush! I can’t believe I forgot to pack one! The weather was in my favor, but the forecast was predicting rain through out the day, but it only sprinkled here and there, just enough to whet my whistle with a layer of mist.

When I made it to the park, for some reason I was comparing it to Central Park in New York. It was so different, it was like walking through a forest. The trees were larger and the tree trunks were so big I think a bus could have driven through them if they were carved out, no joking, they were huge. There were so many different areas of the park and there are two museums. I stopped at the History museum hoping to score some tickets to see the King Tut exhibit , but being on a tight budget, I couldn’t afford the price. I instead walked through the gift shop and bought a friend a t-shirt. HA!

I must have spent hours walking through the park, I was so taken with all the great visual sensations that I almost forgot to have lunch! Almost. I made it out of the park and found a nice NY deli and went inside for a much needed respite and much needed substance for my journey across the Golden Gate Bridge. After enjoying a great Meatloaf sandwich, my feet began to ache and I was beginning to fade. There was no way to cross the bridge that day, so I headed back to my hotel room via Trolley car and took a much needed nap.

Todd Oldham went from a lucrative position as a fashion designer, to a television host of his own show, to a book writer.  He stated that while the fashion industry did yield many opportunities and friendships, it was just a bit too pretentious for his biological make up.  He co-hosted a show for a bit, with Cindy Crawford…called “House of Style” and did a short stint on the Bravo reality show, “Top Design”.  And while design is always fascinating for Oldham, these shows too, just didn’t quite fit.

His book, released last November in 2009, is “Kid Made Modern”.  His love of books throughout his lifetime, and his desire to create and nurture child artists is what has him fascinated now.  The art world of the United States is centered around this city, from the poets in the cafes of the Village, to the musicians on just about every street corner, to the paintings that hang in the galleries and on the walls of the 4 star hotels.  New York has been the breeding ground for some of the most influential artists of all mediums for many years.

Now, Oldham surrounds himself with people who love the world of art and design , for its own sake, without pretension and without snobbery, and what better world to be in than the world of a child.  Artists of every genre and every discipline have within themselves the need to do it on their own, without the constructs of others telling them “what they should be” doing.  This is when Oldham is at his happiest, and notes that children operate in this manner when they are producing works of art.  He has been deemed the “Pied Piper” of art, not only for the children of the city, but for his colleagues and peers as well.  Oldham will go down in the art history books as one of the most influential individuals of the New York art scene .

So you have taken the family to New York, and you want to see a live show.  Trouble is, you are traveling with young children, middle age-range children and teenagers.  So how do you find a show the entire family will enjoy?  You look to the bright lights of Broadway of course.  Many of the shows, in fact all of the shows, will be appealing to adults as well as to children of all ages.  During the months of January and February, there is a special happening in the Broadway theatres, which is titled Kids’ Night on Broadway .  This program offers free tickets for children ages six through eighteen, one free ticket for each adult paying full price. This can make for an incredible night out, with dinner before the show at one of the best restaurants. New York City experience at its finest, all the way.

One such show is “The Lion King”, full of song and dance and the marvelous puppetry designs of Julie Taymor .  Another old time favorite running in the city at the moment is Mary Poppins.  This is one in which most likely, the parents themselves watched as kids and grew up singing along.  Fans of the “Wizard of Oz” will thoroughly enjoy the show “Wicked”, which accounts the story of Oz through the perspectives of the witches themselves, instead of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tinman and the Cowardly Lion.

Some of the most vibrant, entertaining and quizzical shows are those put on by the notorious ” Blue Man Group “.   This group took center stage years ago, and there are now many bands of “Blue Man” brothers that tour the cities of the world.  The show in New York will be running just about every day for the next few months, and although after that there are no dates on their calender posted online, you can bet that they will be back to carry the beat throughout the summer months as well.  Whichever show you decide to take your children to on Broadway, will no doubt be one of the most memorable times of their lives, as well as your own.