Traveling with the Jones

A Quick Start Guide to Traveling With The Jones

Janis — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:31:33 +0000

While some of you have been reading this blog since 2007, many of you are fairly new readers who may be looking for some specific travel information.

To help you better find what you are looking for among the more than 400 posts, we’ve developed this Quick Start Guide to Traveling With the Jones.

We share travel discoveries –both our own as well as those of others — to inspire travelers of all ages and all levels of travel experience.

We travel for work — enough to qualify as road warriors — and we make the most of frequent flier miles and hotel points to see the world when we can fit in a quick break. We also spend a significant portion of our disposable income on travel, and make the most of credit cards that reward us with points and miles. We minimize security lines and hassles by being approved for Global Entry and TSA Pre-Check.

Although we currently live in Kansas City, Missouri –thousands of miles from an ocean — we love exploring the world from a cruise ship. These are some of our most popular posts on cruise tips:

For more cruise tips, check out Planning a Cruise? 12 Helpful Tips.

Jeff, frequently referred to as Mr. Jones in blog posts, was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, and is one of the state’s biggest fans. We visit Alaska several times a year. Our most-read posts on Alaska include:

To find more posts on Alaska from Glacier Bay to Homer, check out Planning to Visit Alaska? 23 Insights to Help You Have a Better Trip

Destination Discoveries highlight places that we’ve found unique — both close to home and around the world.

Find discoveries posts detailed by destination in A World of Destination Discoveries.

Like many of our readers, we enjoy exploring local food and wine when we travel.

Here’s a sampling of our popular food posts:

We became wine fans when we lived in San Francisco and got married in Sonoma County. Places that have the climate for growing good wine grapes are destinations we enjoy visiting. Here are some of our most popular wine posts:

Learn more about some of our favorite wine destinations in Enjoying Wine Round the World.

If you enjoy geography-related trivia, check out these Fun Facts posts:

We like to hear about other travelers’ discoveries and experiences as much as we like making our own, so we started ”Travel Chat” interviews with other travelers and with travel insiders. Some examples include:

Here’s a recap of 25 Travel Chats, covering a wide range of travel destinations and travel styles, from exploring National Parks to going local in Hawaii, to insights from expats who lived abroad.

We accept Guest Posts from travelers with discoveries to share. These are some of the most popular ones:

If you want to write a guest post for this blog, please read the details for submitting guest posts in Are You A Traveler? An Invitation To Share Your Discoveries on This Blog.

Six years and going strong.

We started this blog in May, 2007 when we quit our jobs and traveled in Europe for five months, mostly by cruise ship. While many folks have the kind of summer adventure in their 20s, we did it in our mid-forties. We think travel changes one’s life for the better, and that most anyone, regardless of age or income can find a way to explore the world. Learn more about our passion for travel in A Girl, A Guy and Their Travel Love Story.

Is there a travel tip or destination that you’d like to learn more about? If so, please share your question in comments below.

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A Peek Inside New York City’s Hilton Times Square Hotel

Janis — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:30:54 +0000

We spent three nights in New York City last weekend, staying in the Hilton Times Square. Here’s a quick photo tour of our stay.

Our room, # 4411, was on the hotel’s top floor. The hotel lobby is on the 21st floor, requiring an elevator ride from the lobby. After registration, you take another bank of elevators to access the hotel’s guest rooms. The six elevators to the guest rooms were speedy.

This hotel recently completed renovations of its guest rooms during the spring of 2013.

Room 4411 is spacious, dominated by a king bed with a massive headboard and a huge window picture window running the length of the room.

Looking out the window down over 42nd street, one can see the golden hand over Madame Tussauds. Taxis and pedestrians appear to be miniscule.

The view to the left includes the East River.

The view to the right, looking towards Times Square.

Artwork in Room 4411 has a media and entertainment theme.

This hotel room as a plethora of plugs near the desk and each side of the bed.

The bathroom features a shower tub.

Amenities include our favorite Peter Thomas Roth mouthwash.

If you want to be in the heart of Broadway and Times Square, this hotel is in an ideal location.

Our bottom line:

We found this hotel room generously spacious by New York City standards, and ideally appointed for business but located better for a leisure stay.
Hilton Diamond members’ breakfast benefit included a generous complimentary buffet in the 21st floor restaurant. There is no Executive Lounge.
The location is in the heart of tourist attractions, making getting in and out of the hotel a little crazed.
We’d stay here again, but prefer the quieter location of the New York Fashion District Hilton.

What’s your favorite New York City Hotel?

Other New York City-related posts……

Are you planning a trip to New York City? 3 books to help your trip planning….

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: New York City

The Best Things to Do in New York, Second Edition: 1001 Ideas

The New York City Bucket List – 50 Places you have to see before you leave

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Weekend Wanderings in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas

Janis — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:20:30 +0000

This post is by Danielle Smith, a recent graduate of the University of Arkansas.

Downtown Dallas Photo by Dallasboy

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about 5 Weekend Getaway Spots on this blog. The Dallas-Fort Worth area was on my weekend bucket list.

During the first weekend of May, my fiancée Will and I had the opportunity to spend a few days in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and were able to check this weekend getaway off of my list.

Here is a look at our exciting weekend in the Dallas Fort Worth area and some of my suggestions on what to do if you visit.

We started our trip in Downtown Dallas by visiting The Ann & Gabriel Barbier Mueller Museum: The Samurai Collection.

The museum offers an introduction to the fascinating world of the samurai while presenting an intimate viewing experience of their spectacular armor and accoutrements. One section within the exhibition highlights helmets from around the world. Admission is free.

Source: The Ann Gabriel Barbier Mueller Museum Facebook Page.

The traveling exhibitions of The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum: The Samurai Collection has showcased a variety of works from the family’s collection, which has been built over a span of twenty five years.

This quaint museum is nestled above one of Downtown Dallas’ finest restaurants so head downtown, grab some lunch, and spend a little time exploring the rich culture of this exquisite collection. They even have Samurai armor that is available to try on and take photos with! Learn more at Samurai Collection.

Next Will and I continued on our museum tour by visiting The Sixth Floor Museum. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza features the story and legacy of John F. Kennedy and explains the complex mystery of Kennedy’s assassination.

This Downtown Museum is a must see and is open everyday from 10:00-6:00 and 12:00pm- 6:00pm on Mondays.

After spending a few more hours in Downtown Dallas shopping at the outlets and having lunch, we made our way to the Fort Worth area.

When we arrived in the Fort Worth area we of course decided we needed some authentic Tex-Mex food. We headed to one of our friends favorite restaurants — the Baja Grill in Southlake — and enjoyed some of the most fabulous margaritas and made-fresh-at-the-table guacamole. Yummy!

The next day we spend some time in the historic Fort Worth Stock Yards visiting the shops and enjoying the beautiful day.

After visiting the Stock Yards we walked down the street to eat at the famous Joe T. Garcia’s restaurant.

Customers come from all over to experience the food and atmosphere of this restaurant that seats over 1000 people on one huge patio filled with gardens.

You won’t find a time when the line isn’t down the street to get into this restaurant, but everyone who experiences it says it is well worth the wait, including myself! Joe T’s has quite a unique history.

We finished our weekend trip by attending a Texas Rangers baseball game at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Whether you are a Ranger’s fan or not this ballpark is one to visit. The atmosphere and crowd make it fun for everyone and the beautiful park is worth visiting.

We had a blast on our weekend getaway to Dallas-Fort Worth and I recommend everything that we did to anyone who visits! But, there is still so much more to see so I think we will have to make a trip back soon.

A native of Stilwell, Kansas, Danielle just returned to the Kansas City area upon recent graduation. Danielle just completed a social media internship with VentureTime Travel. When she isn’t working or in classes, Danielle enjoys traveling the world with her fiancé Will. Learn more about Danielle here.

Have you ever visited the DFW area? What was your favorite thing to do there?

Other Posts You May Enjoy……

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Outrageously Delicious Italian Food in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Janis — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 03:23:51 +0000

While in San Juan, Puerto Rico last week for a quick visit, we hoped to find great food.

We had a dinner reservation at one of San Juan’s highest-rated restaurants. But when our waiter at another restaurant, and our food tour guides both independently recommended that we try a new Italian restaurant in the away-from-the-tourists Santurce District of San Juan, we took notice.

We canceled our reservation, and instead dined at the new Nonna Cucina Italiana. It was a great reminder to listen to the locals.

Nonna, Italian for grandmother, is a warm, inviting place to relax and enjoy fresh, filling Italian food.

“Eat, that makes you well!” is its slogan.

We selected an unfamiliar bottle of wine from a well-priced list with the help of our waiter who said, “if you do not like it, I will drink it!” We were confident that he meant it.

The wine was a malbec blend from Argentina – 2007 Las Perdices Reserva Don Juan — and after the first taste we knew it would be a great meal.

While we were getting our wine, a waitress brought out a small plate with fresh herbs and garlic, and poured olive oil followed by a splash of balsamic vinegar to accompany the bread.

We had a difficult time narrowing down our selections from the menu, resulting in us ordering too much food. The portions are large but sharing is encouraged at Nonna.

We started with two appetizers. The vegetables included 4 dishes of antipasti: Caponata Siciliana (Sweet and Sour Eggplant) and Funghi trifolati (mushrooms) Peperonata (stewed peppers) and Cannellini beans (garbanzos). The polpette — pork and veal meatballs — with mozzarella in Marsala sauce over mashed potatoes (or was it polenta?) Regardless, they were delicious.

Trying to control ourselves, we did not order the fresh mozzarella “fior di latte” with tomato marmalade, hazelnuts and fried rosemary, which we hear is delicious.

The risotto con champagne contains peas, capers, fresh herbs and champagne with a significant amount of lobster. Despite the fact that Mr. Jones hates peas, he ate every bite (except those that I stole) of this creamy deliciousness stuffed with large chunks of lobster.

I ordered the rucola pizza with prosciutto, mozzarella, arugula and shaved parmesan. It contained bit of a sweet, nutty flavor, which we later learned was walnut pesto.

Outrageously good. One slice is quite filling.

If you are visiting San Juan Puerto Rico, head to Nonna at Calle San Jorge #103, 00911 San Juan, Puerto Rico. (It was about a $10-$12 taxi ride from the San Juan Marriott).

Our waiter didn’t have to drink our wine.

What’s your favorite restaurant in San Juan? Please share in comments below.

Other dining and drinking posts that you might enjoy:

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