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Joe H

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Everything posted by Joe H

  1. At the risk of being redundant I travelled 100-125 nights a year for more than 30 years. Several years more than 200. Eight or ten years ago I had an experience with a hotel where I had booked the room online. They (don't remember who) told me that because I had booked with someone else, they were who I had to talk to. I have never booked another room with anyone else except the hotel itself to this day. And I never will. Very simple: if you stay at Marriott-book with Marriott, with Starwood, with whoever. For a hotel book directly with the chain or, if an individually owned property, with whoever is responsible for the room AND IS IN THE BUILDING that you can get a decision from when you are there. i book directly with airlines, with car agencies, with hotels. With perhaps 4 to 5,000 nights in hotels in America and overseas (real number) I refuse to use a secondary internet agency. I don't care what they advertise about price. If you want the absolute best price and are unsatisfied with the price given by the central reservations system CALL THE HOTEL DIRECT. Telephone call. Marketing and "guaranteed lowest price" aside you will be surprised at how much flexiiblity the individual hotel can have. If you book directly with them. I must note here that I am really insistent about this: I make the phone call (again, yes, a telephone call) myself even if it is with an individually owned hotel in a small town in Europe. As for Ericandblueboy's original post there have been a half dozen or more nights over the years where a significant percentage of my room cost was waived because of an interruption.
  2. FWIW several weeks ago we heard a police helicopter overhead early in the morning and I called the Fairfax County police in their Reston station. I did not call the 911#, believing that someone would answer in the station and this didn't seem to be quite a true emergency. A computer answered and gave me a half dozen choices for which button to press. It took almost two minutes to hear all of them including several other extensions. I hung up and called 911. The helicopter overhead sounded like it was going to land in our backyard. I am still outraged that any police # would have this kind of response. What I was told by the emergency operator was interesting, too: "there is a fugitive and a chase-we should lock our doors."
  3. Middleburg's Fields of Athenry belongs in any discussion of the best supplier of chicken in the Mid Atlantic.
  4. I have been a huge Washington state fan for a long time. 2012 is perhaps their best year ever. 97 points for the vintage from the Wine Advocate with some individual wines representing the absolute best of the state-ever. But this is about two wines. One is locally known as the "Eagle Eater": 11/14/15 - "10 Things We Don't Know About Screaming Eagle" by W. Blake Gray on winesearcher.com is an article about Screaming Eagle which includes a very interesting comment, the sixth one down. It notes that a '12 WA wine, Woodinville Cellars '12 Reserve "once again" beat Screaming Eagle in a brown bag tasting. Several friends of mine and I were struck by this. Especially since Woodinville Cellars '12 Reserve has not been reviewed by anyone and, there are only our barrels of it-none of which come East. We bought three cases @ $40.00 a bottle with free shipping. ($50 list): 2012 Woodinville Wine Cellars on woodinvillewine.com and took delivery of them two weeks ago. Three of us could not wait and opened one of the bottles. Initial swirl and sip after only a couple of minutes of air for the bottle was "at least a 94-96" from all of us. An hour later we opened a second bottle-the first bottle was now "in the high '90's." We also all agreed that if this had been $150 a bottle we would not have been disappointed. It was that good. An absolutely remarkable wine regardless of what it cost. Never mind the $1500+ per bottle release cost of a single bottle of Screaming Eagle-the '12 Woodinville Reserve would hold its own against anything. Having said this, considering the cost, we picked up the phone and bought two more cases. The 2012 Woodinville Reserve really is the "Eagle Eater" described. We now have a total of 5 of the approximately 90 cases that were made. With all of them at hand I can tell the world: as I write this there are only a few cases left and I have no financial interest in them in any way. Until a few weeks ago I knew nothing about them. Now, having talked to the winemaker, Sean Boyd, whose father was the original editor of the Wine Spectator in the early '80's (!), I have to share my enthusiasm. A few DC restaurants really should have this on their wine lists. This speaks well, really well, for Washington-both state and D. C. the city. And, there is another '12 WA state wine: Bergevin Lane Moonspell cabernet. The '11 picked up 92 points from the Wine Spectator which is especially remarkable since it is a $28 wine. One of their highest ratings for the price for the year. The '12 Moonspell is better. I actually think much better. Almost breathtaking the kind of point rating that this $28 wine might receive. I have now bought six cases of the '12 Moonspell-three for me and three for friends. I also know Bergevin Lane having bought their cabs (Intuition, Moonspell) every year since 2007. But this is their best. A remarkable value that is jammy, unctuous, mouth coating and full of fruit. Full bodied, too, 14.5+ %. They are still trying to sell the 92 point WS '11 Moonspell and have not actually started trying to sell their '12. But they will. They, similar to Woodinville, do not have a distributor in the D. C. area-you will have to call them and buy direct. Annette Bergevin at Bergevin Lane, Sean Boyd at Woodinville. This is the website for the '11 Moonspell. Both wineries will hold their wines and ship in the spring. I am actually wondering if I should have bought a little bit more of each? Happy New Year !!!!
  5. I have 110,000 Starwood points left over from 30+ years of heavy travel (United almost two million miles, 1K six times). We have used hundreds of thousands of Starwood points over the years at various hotels in North America and Europe. Paris is one of the worst to use them. Most hotels are category 6 or 7 with, I believe, only the Le Meridien a Category five (12-16,000) points a night. Category 6 is 20,000+ and Category 7 is 30,000+. Depending on where, the fourth night or the fifth night may be "free." For comparison Westins in downtown D. C. and Georgetown are category 5 which are 12-16,000 and Westins in the suburbs are all category 4 which is 10,000 points. Not all European locations require as many points as Paris-it is one of the absolute worst. I would save my points for other cities where the most expensive hotel is a category five (12,000) points and consider this alternative for Paris: call the U. S. Embassy and ask for their list of hotels which they give visitors. These will all be hotels in the 7th and 8th Arr and they will accept government per diem. This means you'll be literally in the center of Paris a few blocks from the Champs d'Elysee and paying about E 150 a night or less. More than likely the hotels will be 25-50 rooms and not have room service or a restaurant. They will have feather pillows, good sheets, cable TV with flat screens, rooms comparable to a Marriott or Hilton, staff that speak English and are eminently affordable. I used hotels like this in a number of European cities for more than 20 years-all from calling local American Embassies. I always stayed in the 7th or 8th even though I did business near DeGaulle. When the Euro strengthened it no longer made sense to pay E 300 or more a night so I started calling the Embassy. (I paid my own expenses.) I should note here that my wife who then worked for NSF had a good friend in the American Embassy in Paris and told us that MANY people called asking for the list of preferred hotels who accepted per diem. They were happy to supply it. For Starwood points in Europe most German cities have excellent properties that are category 4 or 5. Problem with Paris (and major cities in Italy such as Venice, Florence, Rome) is that hotels which fit these categories are either older or tend to be in suburban areas. FWIW we are using Starwood points in Vancouver in May at a new Westin in the center of downtown for about 10,000 points a night (fifth night is free). The Seattle Westin for a couple of nights, too. The points that these SEVEN nights will "cost" us total about 60,000. That would be equal to the St. Regis for TWO nights in Paris. We are also flying on United miles.
  6. Carl's in Fredericksburg which has original Electro Freeze machines. The only original Electro Freeze machines left in the state of VA. Frozen custard there (when it openes in the spring) tastes exactly as it did sixty years ago. And, in the summer, the lines will be as long. Best wishes to Neilsen's and The Dairy Godmother.
  7. Went to the Barcelona in Reston a week ago and toasted Estadio and its owner who sadly has passed. Barcelona was mediocre chain but I liked the ambience. Estadio was special. We did not have paella but I make paella (bomba rice, serious chicken stock, smoked papripka, saffron, chicken from Fields of Athenry...) and have become hesitant to order it in any restaurant this side of the Atlantic no matter the reputation. Actually it's really difficult to find a good paella in Spain, too.
  8. I mentioned above that I have almost two million miles on United, 65 trips to Europe in a ten year period and other ad nauseum fluff. For most of the 30+ years that I was in my industry I was also a straight commission salesman paying all of my own expenses. (title aside this is what it came down to) This meant that it might have cost $750 to fly from Dulles to Cleveland or $850 to fly from National to Charlotte. At some point I decided to drive when the fares were this high. Even if I had driven from Reston to BWI (for Southwest or a competitive fare on United) by the time I factored in that drive, the flight, renting a car and then driving X miles to where I was going it really was only an hour or two longer to drive. It made sense. And $500+ cheaper which allowed a hotel room and enough left over for a case of good wine. I drove a lot. And bought a lot of wine. As I type this I am sipping on a glass of '04 Clio that I bought a case of after a driving trip to Sandusky, OH instead of flying. I remember the trip, remember that I really did not want to drive. But there were so many trips like this that the fares, rental car, etc. really added up. That morning @5:00AM I left for a noon lunch and afternoon presentation at Cedar Point. I was home that night by midnight and spent $500 or so buying the case of Clio from NJ. There were a lot of trips like that. Now, retired and with 7 or 8 years of age on the wine, I am toasting a good decision. In retrospect if I hadn't flown so much I would have even more to drink... '04 Clio is seriously good.
  9. Ryan Air is an interesting experience. So was World Airways from BWI to Gatwick in the mid '80's for $299 roundtrip. As I type this, given the 30 years, that actually doesn't sound nearly as cheap as it was at the time.
  10. Astrid, I know a bit about United: I am a Million Mile Flyer and 6 time 1K who now has close to two million miles actually flown. In the '80's and '90's (or sometime many years ago) Economy Plus didn't exist. My friend asked for an exit row which, at one time, usually meant more room. Those seats weren't available. I also did not say that he (and I) asked the person not to recline. We asked if we could compromise and the person "would only go back one "notch." From your perspective the person in front had the right to recline on any flight, perhaps especially on a red eye. But my friend also had the right to cross his legs. Especially on a red eye. If, when he as a 6'5" passenger crossed his legs, he knocked the fully reclined seat a bit then that was part of the price that the person in front of him paid for their refusal to compromise. FWIW, I'm 6'1" and I really don't think Economy Plus is that spacious (pick a word). There is, however, a lot to be said for seeking out specific seats on certain planes (i.e. row 21 on a trip 7 overwater which is directly behind the rows where the crew sleeps and has more leg room than even first class, exit row by a window seat of a three seat row behind a two seat row, exit row by a door, etc.). One of the reasons I have so many miles on United (aside from 30+ years of heavy travel) is that I don't qualify for the equivalent of an Economy Plus seat on most other airlines. The result is that i try to fly on United. Having said this I used to think of Southwest as a cattle airline. Today, it is better than most others. Again, there was a time when Economy Plus didn't exist, On most airlines traditional coach seats had a bit more leg room.
  11. I have a friend who is 6'5". A number of years ago we sat next to each other on a full coach flight where he was assigned the middle seat. Soon after taking off the person in the seat in front of him pulled his seat lever and reclined all the way back. It hit my friend's knees. Several times both my friend and I politely asked the person who had reclined all the way if we couldn't "compromise" and, perhaps, he would only go back one "notch" which would help my 6'5" friend. Essentially he said no, he had bought his seat and felt that he had the right to recline-it was his "space." Besides it was a red eye from LAX to IAD and he planned on sleeping. Over the next five hours my 6'5" friend had to cross his legs a number of times. As I type this I am certain that the person who refused to compromise and insisted on their seat being all the way back did not get very much sleep. In fact his back probably became a bit sore from my friend's knees knocking him in the back. I also remember my friend resting a blanket on his knee so when he crossed it it would not bother him. Only the person trying to sleep in front of him with their seat all the way back. Of course today airlines no longer give you a blanket on a coast to coast flight but that is another matter.
  12. We have not been-yet-but will go soon for a birthday. Several friends, whose opinions I trust, insist this may be the benchmark for restaurants in Washington today. Specifically, the Chef's Table ($150 prix fixe for 8 to 10 courses), which may be the best of its kind in D. C. I've also heard this compared to Laboratorio. Another friend noted that it was "the best Chef's Table" they have experienced "in years." I believe the Chef's Table seats six, communally, and is adjacent or directly across from the kitchen. There are also four seats at the kitchen counter which, similar to Rose's Luxury' counter seats, front directly on the kitchen. These last seats, I believe, are available for the regular menu. There are only two comments in this entire thread from someone who has eaten at Masseria. Has anyone reading this experienced the Chef's Table or the kitchen counter? Photographs of the kitchen counter and the Chef's Table are shown here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/going-out-guide/wp/2015/07/15/union-market-is-about-to-get-its-first-standalone-restaurant-in-nick-stefanellis-masseria/
  13. Two players on the '65 DeMatha team went to Notre Dame: Bob Whitmore and Sid Catlett. They established a link and a tradition between DeMatha and Notre Dame which Mike Brey, a '77 DeMatha graduate and Notre Dame coach proudly continues.
  14. When I saw your mention of "denim" I thought of jeans which seemed inappropriate for a dinner that realisitically would be $1,000 per couple. Now "Miami Vice" is a different matter: that would be appropriate. More than appropriate, I would applaud! Especially if I could lose a few pounds and look good dressed like this. Sorry: before there was Don Johnson there was Davey Crockett. I really am old!
  15. I have found over the years that friends and neighbors want to go where other friends and neighbors have been to. For many an early trip to Europe should be about where there can be a reference. For many Americans Italy is thought of as Rome, Florence and Venice while France is mostly Paris. For the English the same is true for the south coast of Spain, for Russians the Egyptian resort in the press recently, for Germans almost anywhere in Italy, even in distant Argentina. St. Petersburg-Florida-is home to a great many Quebecois as is Old Orchard Beach and Myrtle Beach. Vancouverites go to Palm Springs as well as Victoria. And so forth. My point is that many visit, take vacations where their friends and neighbors may have a frame of reference. I am only suggesting that some of these "typical" destinations are not necessarily the most beautiful nor the most interesting. Even in the destination itself. So many look for that which is familiar, that which they can talk to a neighbor about. As I noted above I can imagine that many Europeans have walked on the Mall in D. C. but few, if any, have walked the Wilson bridge or, in the Spring, the Chesapeake Bay bridge. Certainly they've never even heard of Fort Washington. (!) I love Cortina, I based business trips in Soave, stayed in Bolzano while travelling from Munich to Verona. I rarely met an American in Cortina, never met an American in Soave and wished I could speak German in Bolzano. I should also mention that a Milanese developer had moved into the 1,000+ year old walled city and was renovating ancient structures for sale to those who spent weekends nearby. With the Euro @ 1.06 as I type this these are condominiums worth a fantasy. Certainly worth a discussion. Perhaps a first trip to Europe should be to the familiar. But for second trips, for a life's adventure I urge anyone reading this to explore. Almost 25 years ago I was in another Italian walled city, Montagnana. After my business was over I had the next day free. The company who entertained me suggested that I should see Venice-that it was beautiful and I would have a memory when I returned to America to discuss with my friends and neighbors. Not Montagnana which was adventurously, enchantingly beautiful (and unheard of) but Venice which, for many of my American friends and neighbors, would be familiar. Several years later I was in Venice, having a glass of wine sitting next to a couple from, I think, Munich-at least somewhere in Bavaria. We were in Alle Testiere a small restaurant that I passionately love. We talked about where we, Americans, had visited in Italy and where they, Germans, had discovered. At some point they mentioned a walled city somewhere south of Verona. One of them thought the name was Montagnana but couldn't spell it in German let alone Italian. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Montagnana. A discovery for someone from Germany. Unheard of to an American: a walled city where nobody I ever met had even heard of. Yet, I was sitting next to a couple from another country who like me had fallen in love with it. For your second trip, go and explore. Get lost. Perhaps you'll meet someone from elsewhere that one day you'll remember and write about. You may even have a memorable glass of wine which would not taste as good if you were in America. You may even bring the empty bottle back in your luggage and, one day, look at it and remember the night you had a glass from it.
  16. There is much to be said for literally getting lost and sharing the adventure of discovery. My nod to tech is a navigation system that will always allow me to find my way back to my hotel-if I want. There is great pleasure in research; there can be great pleasure too in finding what one might have never heard or thought of. Some times, perhaps often, the Internet can be a huge distraction from what is outside the window or through a door.
  17. Guides aside, there is much to be said for walking down a street, looking in a restaurant or a bistro and getting a "feeling" about it. If you walk in the door and don't hear a word of English it is even more interesting. Talking, perhaps in broken English, with the couple who sit next to you and, say, live in the Parisian suburbs can add to the experience. On my earlier trips to Paris I went to starred restaurants along with popular and touristy attractions. Over the years I built friendships as part of my business travel there and began to look at Paris from a different perspective. A good friend's wife who lived north of CdG would not go into "the city." She was born there and didn't like going to the "city centre" or centreville. Myself, born in D. C. and having lived near the Cathedral, Silver Spring and Reston I have friends who feel the exact same way about Washington that she did about Paris. Still, a native born Parisian saying this was interesting. But she had done the sewer tour. And, like me, she grew up with Jim Morrison and the Doors and had been to his grave. She, and her husband, had also played bocce ball near the base of the Eiffel tower. Over time I began to feel comfortable with their suburban neighborhood much as I felt and feel comfortable with Silver Spring and Reston. Yet other Parisians I knew didn't go into the suburbs-they stayed in the city. In the 7th, 8th and elsewhere. They didn't have a car, they didn't have any interest in much of anything outside of the Peripherique. Much like many in D. C., in Adams Morgan, Bloomingdale or Capitol Hill, do not venture into our suburbs. I'm not sure how many reading this have seen the White House or have been in the Air and Space Museum. Or stood in line for Rose's Luxury as other tourists do today. I'm also not sure how many Americans have been to Paris and only seen the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and invested in a Michelin starred restaurant. But as D. C. is truly beautiful to walk along the C & O Canal towpath-even to walk the Wilson Bridge or the Chesapeake Bay bridge, to sit on the steps of the Library of Congress or to modestly walk into the majesty of the National Cathedral so is Paris-if you get away from where all the other tourists go. I'm not sure how many tourists-or locals-have even seen what I listed above. There is much to be said for the Eiffel Tower. But having played bocce (or to be locally correct "petanque") a hundred or so meters away from it, that is the memory that I cherish the more.
  18. "Everyone in France evidently believes that illness comes from exposed necks. Almost all women and many men wore scarves, even on rather warm days." It's not just France-it's most everywhere in Europe. Cashmere and silk feel especially nice against one's neck.
  19. I could not disagree with you more about not trusting Michelin outside of France. I found, over the years, that I tended to agree with their starred restaurants in Italy and Germany as often as I did with their opinions about starred restaurants in France. Gault Millau, L'Espresso and others were valuable as well. Often I would take a consensus of those opinions as well as research someone whose opinions had tended to reflect mine at other restaurants. Simple example: I agree with Tom Sietsema far more than I disagree with his evaluations. I agree with Todd Kliman far less. A Sietsema rave will have more importance to me than Kliman. If Dave MacIntyre raves about a particularly jammy, fruity full bodied red I am probably going to buy a bottle before the week is out. I would not say this about many other wine writers-but I think I understand Dave's taste and feel that some of his preferences mirror mine. There is another source, however: chefs. If, say, Roberto Donna would tell me about a restaurant he likes I will find a way to go. This includes a Turkish/Lebanese/Greek restaurant in Frederick that he introduced me to which was wonderful. A fair question for an accomplished chef overseas is where they would go for an anniversary meal? Of, if there was one chef within 100 km who would they want to have eat at their table? The next question is what would they serve him or her and, of course, I would immediately order it for that evening.
  20. You are going to do what you need to do and what you believe. I wish you the absolute best.
  21. There is a great deal of fear right now in Paris-it is not going to be the same experience that it might have been before last Friday. For myself, if possible, I would cancel the entire Parisian portion of the trip and instead go to Verona, Venice and Cortina. I believe you will eat certainly as well (three star Le Calandre outside of Padua, three star Dal Pescatore outside of Mantova, what I wrote above about Venice. The Dolomites are spectacularly beautiful, Verona is romantic and Venice is unmatched anywhere else on earth. Especially in November without many tourists. Stay at Giabbio D'ior in Verona You'll literally be in the middle of the ancient city and can walk everywhere. Autostrada and train are nearby, Venice is an hour train ride, Padua an45 minute drive for dinner and Cortina one hour northeast up into the high moutnains where you should get lost exploring. There is also a superb Michelin starred restaurant there that is unearthly beautiful. Go to Paris when you will feel comfortable-not now. Fly out of Verona or Venice our if you want a nonstop back the closest airports will be Milan's Malpensa and Munich's. Also consider Strausberg and the German Kaiserstuhl along with the German Black forest. THE SINGLE BEST RESTAURANT ON YOUR ENTIRE TRIP WILL BE IN BAIERSBROON, Germany: Schwarzwaldstube. It is the first three german three star and the most difficult reservation in the 85 million Germany to get. I think it is better than anywhere in Paris. Certainly as good as anywhere. Call them and ask. They are also in one of the most beautiful places on earth. The Kaisterstuhl is the German wine country and it is idyllic-not known by Americans but that is part of its charm. Honestly, I much prefer all of this, the German/Strausburg stops and the KaisterstuhlBlack Forest excusion along with an alternative to Northern Italy than anywhere in France. Good luck,. I've had 15 or more trips to Paris since the late '90's but would not go right now. I wouldn't hesitate to return to the others.
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