Check out My Adventures to read about our trip to Palm Springs, California and see pictures on my Photos page or by clicking into the album through one of the images posted.

Will and I are always looking for interesting places to visit, especially when food is involved! I don’t remember how we first heard about Blue Hill at Stone Barns but, the minute we did, we knew we had to visit. Stone Barns is a farm on the Rockefeller estate near the Hudson River in Westchester, NY. It has existed since the late 1800s and was intended to teach the children in the family about agriculture and food. In 2004, David Rockefeller opened a restaurant on the property called Blue Hill with executive chef, Dan Barber.

What makes Blue Hill so special? All the food served in the restaurant is produced locally, most of it on site at the farm. The gardens are pesticide free and everything is run in an eco-friendly manner. As a result, there is no specific menu at Blue Hill. When you enter the elegant dining room, which seats about 80 people, you are handed a list of ingredients that may or may not be used on that particular day. Basically, you tell the waiter what you can not or will not eat and the meal begins. Don’t expect to be served the same things as your neighbor. We saw all kinds of interesting plates being brought out, including bone marrow, mini beet sliders, cauliflower steak and lamb medallions. The dishes are inventive and delicious and, though the portions are small, it adds up to a lot of food by the time you are finished.

Reservations can be made up to two months in advance and they often are. Prices are fixed at $75-$135/person for 3-8 courses depending on what day and time you visit. This doesn’t include drinks and any additional courses you may order, so it is expensive, but a visit to Blue Hill is truly an experience. It also gets a fair amount of celebrity guests (the Obamas stopped in on a recent visit to NYC) so don’t be surprised if you see a familiar face at the table next to you!

Blue Hill at Stone Barns

My friend Matt over at NetManOne posted this hilarious video of a girl entertaining herself while stuck overnight at Pittsburgh Airport. Since many of you have been in the same boat, or are currently, I thought you might like it. Enjoy!

Check out CheapOAir’s blog to see the guest post I wrote for them about South America:

CheapOAir’s Blog

And while your over there, you might want to check out their main website Cheap Flights to search for cheap airfare, hotels and car rentals. I particularly like that they have a business class search engine.

Since most of the country is battling a brutal winter, you might as well make the best of it and find some fun cold weather activities. The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. is famous for its world class art exhibitions, but it also features an ice skating rink in its beautiful sculpture garden. The rink is open until mid-March, has a state of the art sound system and a cafe serving up snacks, hot chocolate and wine. Art, food and fun……the perfect combo to chase away the winter blues!

National Gallery of Art Ice Rink

This month we’ll be heading to Texas to check out Austin and San Antonio. It’s not exactly tropical, but it should be warmer than it is here in the Northeast!

Check out Will’s video from our zeppelin ride with Airship Ventures!

The video is in HD so if your computer can handle it, switch to 720p or 1080p once you hit play for the best picture.

Read about our trip to Sintra, Portugal over in My Adventures and check out pictures on my Photos page or by clicking into the album through one of the images posted.

If you are an avid collector of frequent flier miles, and you really should be with the way airfares are right now, a good mileage calculator is essential. Airlines aren’t always clear about what your going to earn for a flight so I like to use MileCalc. It lets me enter my itinerary, including multi-stops, and calculates the mileage I’ll earn based on the airline I’m flying, any bonuses or promotions and my booking class. It’s particularly helpful if you are chasing elite status or trying to earn a specific number of miles for a trip you’re planning.

People sometimes laugh at me when I say I have a bucket list (list of things I want to do before I die). I know I’m only in my 30s, but life is short and my list is long! One thing I’ve long wanted to do is ride on a blimp. I did some research several years ago and learned that it was highly unlikely I would get my wish without knowing a person that had access to one. I pretty much put that dream on a back burner until I got an e-mail from my sister about Airship Ventures, a company that began offering zeppelin rides in San Francisco and Los Angeles last year. The difference between a blimp and a zeppelin is that a zeppelin has a rigid skeleton which makes it easier to steer and allows the engine to be carried away from the gondola making it much quieter. Suddenly, the impossible was possible and we signed up for a ride.

We decided to ride the zeppelin, Eureka, in Los Angeles and it turned out to be a good decision as weather in San Francisco can be unpredictable and often causes cancelled flights. Eureka holds 12 passengers at a time, as well as a driver and a flight attendant. Although we had to sit during takeoff and landing, we were free to walk about the gondola during the flight and enjoy the view from the huge windows. We even got to stick our heads out of the two windows that open! The ride was smooth and quiet and truly unlike anything we’ve ever experienced.

Thanks to Airship Ventures for making one of my dreams come true!

Airship Ventures