travel thread

[Phil Titola]

Getting your document of covid recovery is a much less stressful way to get back into the country.

First time coming back through customs at DIA. 40 minutes from touchdown to centurions lounge. Impressive.

[Skipper44]

anyone in here ever been to Costa Rica?

Yep, loved it. We stayed at Tulemar on the pacific coast by the Manuel Antonio nature reserve. rough ridin' sloths outside our window, monkeys running all over the place, and loads of parrots and crap. Amazing. The place we stayed was nice. We got one of the cheaper “bungalow” things and it was perfect for us.

this is what I'm looking for. I want to be as far away from corporate all inclusive resorts as I can get.

What time of year did you go? I've heard conflicting things about dry/rainy season.

Resort looks fantastic. I'm curious about flights. Did you take the regional from SJO or drive?

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i flew into Liberia in 2016 but would do San Jose if I go back, the rain forest in the nortwest part of the country was a little underwhelming.  Was there in June which is the rainy season and while we only had 1 totally rainy day but it was cloudy almost the entire week.  Rental cars are super expensive.

[IPA4Me]

anyone in here ever been to Costa Rica?

Yep, loved it. We stayed at Tulemar on the pacific coast by the Manuel Antonio nature reserve. rough ridin' sloths outside our window, monkeys running all over the place, and loads of parrots and crap. Amazing. The place we stayed was nice. We got one of the cheaper “bungalow” things and it was perfect for us.

this is what I'm looking for. I want to be as far away from corporate all inclusive resorts as I can get.

What time of year did you go? I've heard conflicting things about dry/rainy season.

Resort looks fantastic. I'm curious about flights. Did you take the regional from SJO or drive?

Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk

i flew into Liberia in 2016 but would do San Jose if I go back, the rain forest in the nortwest part of the country was a little underwhelming.  Was there in June which is the rainy season and while we only had 1 totally rainy day but it was cloudy almost the entire week.  Rental cars are super expensive.

Hmm. Sounds like the regional for $200 r/t might be the way to go. $400 is probably significantly less than a rental.

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[MakeItRain]

Guys, Portland is really rough ridin' dirty and gross, no gEing either. My irl friend who is a Portlandia'r said that they've really had a hard time recovering from the summer of 2020. I've never seen so many homeless people, bird crap, and boarded up windows. You'd think they laid off their public works employees too

[Pete]

anyone in here ever been to Costa Rica?

Yep, loved it. We stayed at Tulemar on the pacific coast by the Manuel Antonio nature reserve. rough ridin' sloths outside our window, monkeys running all over the place, and loads of parrots and crap. Amazing. The place we stayed was nice. We got one of the cheaper “bungalow” things and it was perfect for us.

this is what I'm looking for. I want to be as far away from corporate all inclusive resorts as I can get.

What time of year did you go? I've heard conflicting things about dry/rainy season.

We went over Thanksgiving week.  It was perfect.  Rained for a little bit here and there, but nothing that changed our plans.  They said that they occasionally get more rain that week, being at the end of the rainy season.  We flew into San Jose and got a private car service to take us to the resort.  Was about three hours, but the dude stopped to let us stand around at the bridge that has 800 giant crocodiles under it with people flinging chicken bits at them.

We loved every bit of it.  The nature was great, and the little town was fine for a bite to eat.

[Pete]

Guys, Portland is really rough ridin' dirty and gross, no gEing either. My irl friend who is a Portlandia'r said that they've really had a hard time recovering from the summer of 2020. I've never seen so many homeless people, bird crap, and boarded up windows. You'd think they laid off their public works employees too

Are you talking about their "inner city" areas mostly?  I've never been, but I was led to believe that they have pretty quaint suburb areas.

[420seriouscat69]

Guys, Portland is really rough ridin' dirty and gross, no gEing either. My irl friend who is a Portlandia'r said that they've really had a hard time recovering from the summer of 2020. I've never seen so many homeless people, bird crap, and boarded up windows. You'd think they laid off their public works employees too

I'm sure you're there for work and I haven't been since crap hit the fan, but if you get a chance, go drive out to god bridge and the falls. Checkout the major breweries as well and their famous comedy club. They usually have someone big playing.

[kstate4life]

Guys, Portland is really rough ridin' dirty and gross, no gEing either. My irl friend who is a Portlandia'r said that they've really had a hard time recovering from the summer of 2020. I've never seen so many homeless people, bird crap, and boarded up windows. You'd think they laid off their public works employees too

Why?

Was just there a few weeks ago... there is still a lot of remnants from the riots.  Homeless camps strewn about, needles on the sidewalks, etc.  It is unfortunate, but the city hasn't done much to clean it up yet.  Bend, OR would be a much better spot in the PNW to visit.

Yeah, that sounds awful. Especially on vacation. Woof! The whole point of vacation is to get away from the noise. Good advice, K4life!

Yeah it's tough.  We are moving to Vancouver, WA next spring (across the border from Portland), and even our friends that live there tell us to stay away from Portland.  I live in Denver now, so a lot of what I mentioned above isn't uncommon here either, but it is definitely worse there, at least for now.

Yeah I mentioned this back in September.  Sad to see it hasn't gotten any better.  Not super excited it's about to be our closest big city, but there is still a lot to do around it.  If you are still there, you should check out downtown Vancouver, WA.  Amaro's Table is a great place to eat.

[MakeItRain]

Yeah, I'm staying downtown. When I travel I prefer to stay in the city core and not the burbs. It's so bad. I did have a very good meal last night at a kitchy bowling alley, grand central bowling. Because I like to take public transport, I took a bus and a trolly from the restaurant back to my hotel, which I like a lot. I've never been so scared while walking to and waiting for that bus. There are many areas within the core/downtown areas that have been completely neglected.

I once walked from the LA Coliseum to the corner of Florence & Normandy, where the LA Riots started, and I wasn't scared at all because the neighborhood had so many people out and lots of street lights. Then I took a bus from there to Randy's Doughnuts in Inglewood, again not scared. Last night I was convinced I was going to get stabbed.

Wacky, I went to Deschutes, it's pretty close to the hotel, it was okay. Going to @Justwin recommendo of Podnah's for lunch today, will report back.

@Trim you sold Acrop short. My local buddy told me that the owner of acrop owns a strip club and a cattle and the steaks he sells are from his herd. Farm to table steaks! That being said, I haven't been in a strip club since 2005 and I won't be breaking that streak this week.

[MakeItRain]

Also food here is more expensive than San Diego, and that's unacceptable.

[Trim]

@Trim you sold Acrop short. My local buddy told me that the owner of acrop owns a strip club and a cattle and the steaks he sells are from his herd. Farm to table steaks! That being said, I haven't been in a strip club since 2005 and I won't be breaking that streak this week.

I specifically said to get steaks at a-crop. They actually have a window you can order from to get the food without even entering.

I learned of it from the same girl who pitched me on the Oregon coast trip I later made. JMart backed out the night I wanted to go for dinner and I ended up going solo for awesome steak and eggs on Easter sunday brunch. There were whole groups of people coming in seemingly post-church.

[Trim]

Also food here is more expensive than San Diego, and that's unacceptable.

A-crop has the flavors and prices you crave.

[kstate4life]

Also food here is more expensive than San Diego, and that's unacceptable.

That's disappointing.  Also, if I remember right, you are a big ice cream guy?  Try Salt and Straw if you get a chance, good stuff!

[Trim]

https://www.vice.com/en/article/ywmvax/inside-the-insane-feud-between-a-vegan-strip-club-and-the-steak-house-next-door

https://www.wweek.com/bars/2019/06/06/dont-freak-out-iconic-portland-steakhouse-strip-club-the-acropolis-has-closed-but-only-temporarily/



It’s all as Portland as it gets.

[420seriouscat69]

https://www.vice.com/en/article/ywmvax/inside-the-insane-feud-between-a-vegan-strip-club-and-the-steak-house-next-door

https://www.wweek.com/bars/2019/06/06/dont-freak-out-iconic-portland-steakhouse-strip-club-the-acropolis-has-closed-but-only-temporarily/



It’s all as Portland as it gets.

It all checks out now:

I ate at some Mexican place in Portland and got up to go to the bathroom and accidentally walked into a strip club, because I chose the wrong door. True story. Mrs. Wacky decided we should just go to the strip club after dinner, because when in Rome. So random. Strip club was literally in the back of the Mexican restaurant.

[MakeItRain]

Also food here is more expensive than San Diego, and that's unacceptable.

That's disappointing.  Also, if I remember right, you are a big ice cream guy?  Try Salt and Straw if you get a chance, good stuff!

Oooh, on it.

I learned of it from the same girl who pitched me on the Oregon coast trip I later made. JMart backed out the night I wanted to go for dinner and I ended up going solo for awesome steak and eggs on Easter sunday brunch. There were whole groups of people coming in seemingly post-church.

Yeah, but you didn't tell me ol boy has his own cows. Strip club steaks, particularly at those prices, don't connote fresh.

[Trim]

Yeah, but you didn't tell me ol boy has his own cows. Strip club steaks, particularly at those prices, don't connote fresh.

I can’t vouch for the cows, plus it appears from the articles he’s dead.

[KCFDcat]

anyone in here ever been to Costa Rica?

Yep, loved it. We stayed at Tulemar on the pacific coast by the Manuel Antonio nature reserve. rough ridin' sloths outside our window, monkeys running all over the place, and loads of parrots and crap. Amazing. The place we stayed was nice. We got one of the cheaper “bungalow” things and it was perfect for us.

this is what I'm looking for. I want to be as far away from corporate all inclusive resorts as I can get.

What time of year did you go? I've heard conflicting things about dry/rainy season.

We went over Thanksgiving week.  It was perfect.  Rained for a little bit here and there, but nothing that changed our plans.  They said that they occasionally get more rain that week, being at the end of the rainy season.  We flew into San Jose and got a private car service to take us to the resort.  Was about three hours, but the dude stopped to let us stand around at the bridge that has 800 giant crocodiles under it with people flinging chicken bits at them.

We loved every bit of it.  The nature was great, and the little town was fine for a bite to eat.

Thanks for the info. looking at staying at Nayara Springs in June, sounds like they get a nice rain shower in the afternoon but other than that should be good.

[XocolateThundarr]

Also food here is more expensive than San Diego, and that's unacceptable.

A-crop has the flavors and prices you crave.

Is that the place we went to with JMart on the Beasley trip?  If so, the marrow bones were the icing on the cake /steak.

[Trim]

Also food here is more expensive than San Diego, and that's unacceptable.

A-crop has the flavors and prices you crave.

Is that the place we went to with JMart on the Beasley trip?  If so, the marrow bones were the icing on the cake /steak.

Lol, no, couldn't be more different. JMart's classy.

[XocolateThundarr]

Also food here is more expensive than San Diego, and that's unacceptable.

A-crop has the flavors and prices you crave.

Is that the place we went to with JMart on the Beasley trip?  If so, the marrow bones were the icing on the cake /steak.

Lol, no, couldn't be more different. JMart's classy.

Holy crap..a fast food steak joint.

['taterblast]

The Acropolis Steakhouse has my attention

[Phil Titola]

That's not like cow meat at those $ right? 

[Trim]

That might be old. Here's a site with a few versions and it looks like the special may now be SEVEN bucks.

https://restaurantguru.com/Acropolis-Steakhouse-Portland/menu

[420seriouscat69]

That's not like cow meat at those $ right?

Vegan, hipster cows