Well, sorry for all of the silence, but I have been on vacation and it has gotten me thinking about this summer and great places to go. I know that we reserve most of our banter for Charlottesville, but one of the things that I love about Cvillain is the networking potential, and so, to avoid a stinker of a vacation, I want insider trade secrets.
Where should we go this summer, what should we avoid when we get there, what do we absolutely have to have once there? Any ticket booking sites that you love? What’s the skinny? Let’s save each other from roachtels and tourist holes and set our sites on bright lights, blue skies, and ice cold cocktails resplendent with teenee bikinis and grape smugglers. No, no, just the cocktails…and the blue skies.
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Tagged as: Idiots, learning, rookies
You stole my vacation picture from my flickr account- that’s not right
-all you had to do was ask-
ah, Layla… just yesterday we were discussing the huge way you landed on the scene only to immediately disappear. nice to see you return, even if it’s with jealousy inducing talk of “vacation.” As for tips, I got nothing. I mean, I do check travelzoo all the time, so maybe you can count that as a tip.
yeah welcome back to the internet.
Best place to go for the true dirt (and I do mean dirt) on hotels: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ Just regular folks, posting reviews, many with pictures. Ranks the hotels in any given location, by average score. U.S. and international. I’ve been very pleased with it. It has really saved my life when trying to figure out where to stay in Europe. Guidebooks just don’t tell the half of it.
Yes, yes, sorry for the disappearing act…I’m back in action, wishing I had a tan and thinking forward, so I promise to be all over this for the foreseeable future.
To post a tip to my own request, I’m a big fan of http://www.bookingbuddy.com because you can price compare. Also, never be duped by Ultimate Fares. They drop their prices significantly and then compensate for it by charging an ungodly amount in taxes.
Also, don’t ever travel with Parlie…he turns into a leprechaun and keeps all the lucky charms for himself.
Parlie travels? Outside the basement? Okay, who loosened the leather restraints?
Dammit. I knew I should have made them tighter!
i must recommend kayak.com for all your pricing needs
i second the kayak.com.
also a big fan of hostels
/would like to run one someday…
For traveling in the local area, beyond the obvious of the Outer Banks, I would say hit up Asheville, NC for some good time in the mountains. Try out the Grove Park Inn–nice golf course and also has a spa for the lady folk. There’s the Biltmore House which is really cool to check out, downtown Ashevegas is pretty diverse, and then there’s gobs and gobs of outdoor pursuits to take on. Hiking, climbing, paddling, biking in all directions–some of the most beautiful views this side of Colorado. It’s only 5 hours away and it’s a different world compared to C’ville. Highly recommended.
A little further away, I would say check out Cumberland Island, GA/FL. It’s a barrier island on the border of GA/FL and it’s got totally undeveloped beaches, wild horses, and groves of live-oak forests. An amazing and magical place to hang out. But either be prepared to drop some serious dough to stay in the Bed & Breakfast on the island, or bring a tent and get a license from the Park Service. If you’ve never been, your missing out on a really special place.
Thank you Clarence - this sounds like fun.
There’s also a tree house hostel (Hostel in the Woods, I believe it’s called) between these two locales that would make for an excellent 1/2 way stop and small adventure unto itself.
anyone who pays for a hotel room is a sucker. couchsurfing.com is the way to go. stay for free with random strangers anywhere in the world. i am seriously considering selling a bunch of stuff and trying to make it all the way around the world by couchsurfing. ill let you know how it goes.
indiedork- i forgot about that phenomenon! please tell. and wherever i am, mi coucha es su coucha…
indie, that is the kind of love I’m looking for. There’s a book called something like “Wierd America” that helps you plan your trip based on sights like the World’s largest spider, biggest ball of string etc. Combine that with couches, and you’ve got yourself a top notch adventure. Or a total clusterfuck, I guess it depends on what kind of traveller you are.
As per the picture of Borat:
did anyone else see someone in this costume this past Halloween? I saw two different dudes down on 7th Street in Ybor City (Tampa FL.) wearing this costume. What brass. I remember thinking: “this is the take no prisoners, chicks dig self deprecating humor costume of the season……… The male equivalent of that schoolgirl in stripper heels handcuffed to cat woman costume that screams……..SOMEBODY is fucking me tonight!.
but what happens when those two dudes end up in the same bar together? it’s like the temporal paradox everybody worries about with time travel (nobody actually worries about this): if you exist as the single most ridiculous thing in the entire physical universe, then how can you possibly be standing right next to… THE SINGLE MOST RIDICULOUS THING IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE? THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!
then we do another tequila shot and the borat guys go home alone because they tried too hard.
17: No, no, no, that’s all wrong. They have a jello wrestling contest to determine the One True Borat Impostor! Two men enter; one man leaves.
Did someone say jello wrestling? Yes please.