You may have never heard of Belarus. It’s one of those former USSR territories that gained its independence in the early 1990s and hasn’t seen a lot of publicity since. It’s strongly tied to Russia (Belarus actually means “White Russia” even though no one has ever heard of the created-in-America drink) and currently has the same leader (some say...
The church looked awfully busy for a Wednesday afternoon. As I walked through the double doors, I immediately noticed there was something a little different about this house of worship. The pews had been replaced by tables and the altar was adorned with giant beer tanks. The stained glass windows and other church decor had been left intact when the building had been...
I’ve been to Vegas a lot of times. I’ve never considered myself a high roller except maybe by third world country standards. I’ve never flown to Sin City by helicopter, had afternoon tea with Steve Wynn or played blackjack in the high stakes room. I normally stay in whatever hotel I get on sale, run down to Fremont street at some point and see a...
I hear this phrase a lot: “They don’t like Americans over there”. Usually the person saying it is an American and has never been “there” or anywhere else for that matter. The world is easier to understand if you make assumptions and base opinions on what you thought you saw or read somewhere. Just apply the principles from what you learned in cartoons: The bad...
As we pulled next to the immigration booth, I turned up the volume of O’ Canada on the car stereo. The officer tried to hide her smile. Canadians are very patriotic as a rule and it’s doubtful anyone had ever played the Canadian National Anthem in quite that way or that loud before. We were just an hour from Vancouver and the drive from Seattle...
It was barely 8:00 and the line to Starbucks already looked more like the entrance to a Disney ride than a java shop. It was after all the original Starbucks, the Mecca of coffee, the place where it all began, and all the tourists wanted to say they’d “been there” and buy the $13 coffee mug to prove it. Half an hour later, coffee in hand, the...
To be honest, Minneapolis wasn’t high on my travel list until I came across a Spirit Airlines promotion that seemed to good to be true. From Houston, the round trip fare was $46. I can’t even get an Uber to the airport for that. I tweeted the deal and asked my friends and followers if there was anything worthwhile to do there. The response was fast and...
When you think of Jamaica, you’re likely to conjure up a mental picture of Bob Marley before you think of anything else. There’s no other country in the world where one musician seems to represent the embodiment of an entire culture like Marley is to Jamaica. The dreadlocks, the red/green/yellow color scheme seems sooooo Jamaican. But is it...
First Avenue Night Club in Minneapolis was starting to fill up. I sat on the end of the bar sipping a Purple Rain, a drink made famous by the 1984 Prince movie filmed in this legendary venue. Whether Prince ever drank one himself remains a mystery, but as I sipped my violet colored libation, I had to smile. I was going to visit Paisley Park the next...
I was sitting at a table in the zocalo of Oaxaca enjoying the perfect weather. A young boy approached me with a package of combs. “What was he trying to tell me?” I wondered as I ran my fingers through my hair self-consciously. Next appeared a newspaper guy, followed by a wooden craft lady, and then an older woman selling jewelry. Who needs a Walmart when...