Welcome to the Inside Coach. This will be a reoccurring post composed by an industry insider. From working the check-in counter to boarding planes, I have been there and encourage you to use my advice in your travels. Many of these tips are common sense that will help make savvy travelers and more enjoyable journeys.
It's a well known fact the most educated, calm and collective persons' brain turns into mush when stepping through those airport doors. Although there is no excuse for rude ticket agents, keep in mind that they typically see hundreds, even thousands, of people everyday. Each person generally has the same questions for these agents, and although you may have been quite nice to the agent, maybe the person before you yelled, called them names, or even threw their coffee at the agent. It seems that even the most normal people drastically change when traveling. The bottom line...keep cool and you will typically get what you want.
If you have questions or travels tips you would like to share, please send us an email.
With the United States unemployment rate climbing to around 7.5% and expected to hit 10% in the near future, what is one to do with all that extra time? Besides the obvious, how about using some of that time to travel? I currently have this dilemma and ran across IntrepidTravel.com's Laid off? How about taking off? promotion.They are currently offering a 15% discount on small group adventures for people who have been laid-off work. So if you have saved your pennies and have the itch for something a bit more exotic than your average trip to the beach, you may want to check them out.
Have any good tips to help with recession travel planning? Share them with other travelers in the comment section. JJ
Welcome to the weirdest bar on Earth (unless you’re an alcoholic expat septuagenarian.Then it might seem perfectly normal).If you’re not, don’t let that prevent you from having a wild time.It takes all kinds at Andale’s.
El mejor hora feliz en Vallarta, ci!
From noon to 6 pm, they offer delicious two for one priced margaritas in five different flavors.The astounding price of one is 25 pesos.Check the exchange rate, people!This is often less than $2 US.I swear to Elvis it’s true, I wouldn’t lie about the price of booze.My favorite flavor is platano, actually made with fresh bananas.Seems almost healthy, doesn’t it?After 6 pm the price goes up to 55 pesos, but inexplicably, the cocktail triples in size & contains three shots of tequila.Once, my bar tab was 225 pesos for an entire night of drinking.Do the math.
Honestly, the Andale’s experience is nearly indescribable, but I’ll give it my best shot.This bizarre dive is simply a concrete cave wallpapered in cardboard egg crates.Budget soundproofing?Perhaps, because it’s often extremely loud in here.However, it looks like it was built by alien bees.There’s all manner of junk hanging from the ceiling, including a tacky blow-up doll with a collar reading “Alice” around her neck.It goes with the bar’s theme song, which is repeated several times a night, & by which you can judge the drunkenness of the clientele.The more intoxicated they become, the louder they shout out the song’s tagline in unison.Good rationale for those egg crates.
Another anomaly of the universe that occurs at Andale’s & nowhere else is that you can pay a good looking, reasonably young woman 50 pesos & she will loudly, repeatedly blow a referee whistle while pouring multiple shots of a sweetened red tequila concoction rapidly down your throat.Once you swallow it, she continues to toot obnoxiously on the whistle while administering a purple nerple, followed by shoving your face into her cleavage & shaking it all about as if she were performing the Hokey Pokey.Another thing I promise you I am not making up.Surely, many unsuspecting friends & family wish I were.For the love of Elvis, tip this girl well.Especially if you ask her to do it to your dad.
It is necessary to describe the citizens of Anadale’s.It doesn’t just have staff & patrons.For the most part, the employees are young, attractive Latinos.They’re fun & infinitely patient.The regulars, conversely, are generally rowdy white elderly expat Canadians & Americans.They arrive nightly to over-indulge in well crafted, low priced drinks & dance like geriatric frat boys in boat shoes & white linen, which goes a long way toward explaining why one can walk anywhere within three blocks of Andale’s & hear the hits of Neil Diamond & CCR blasting away.Songs everyone of every age knows & can shout along to, which is amusing even if everyone here does look like your grandparents.
What’s good about this crowd though, is that everyone is welcome.No one in this amazing dump cares if you’re 19 or 99, what your sexual orientation is, or gives a river rat’s ass about your fashion choices.There could be a drag queen riding a donkey into the bar.Spontaneous friendships may occur.Swingers might approach you.Strangers will dance with you. All these things have happened to me here. I will always return.
Andale’s will take care of you.The bar has clean, interesting bathrooms.You can eat dinner at Andale’s on the sidewalk café or in the restaurant on the 2nd & 3rd floors.You can stay in the bar & drink a multitude of tequilas until 4 am.Just be careful walking home, the streets of Viejo Vallarta are riddled with broken steps, potholes & surprises.On second thought, maybe you should just sleep at Andale’s in the hotel rooms & suites above the restaurant or up the block.It’s only two blocks from the yellow sand beach of Vallarta.See, they’ve got you covered.Enjoy yourselves & be sure to take care of their staff. FP
Olas Altas 425 Col. Emiliano Zapata Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico 48380
I’ve always dreamt of being in a rock band, touring the world. Being on stage while hundreds of your most enduring fans follow you from town to town, signing along with all the hits. Wild parties! Groupies! Cruising to your next gig while hearing your latest single on the radio! Rock n’ Roll!!! Is that how it goes?
Well, maybe if you are Van Halen, Kiss, or possibly even Foghat.I think the experiences above are few and far between.Maybe they’re only something you see in movies or on VH1 Classics.The fact is, most of the bands I follow rock harder than the bands living the “dream”; they just haven’t sold their souls.And that is how I would want it.Unfortunately, as I inch closer to my late 30’s, I realize that it’s just not going to happen for me.Now that I think more about it, I would probably hate life on the road.I can’t imagine being cramped in a van with a bunch of smelly dudes who haven’t showered for weeks.Playing on a Tuesday night in Dubuque in front of 10 people?Yeah, on second thought I’ll just pay to see the next band I like in a small dirty rock club.Better to live vicariously through those that are brave enough to accept the challenge.It’s just not me.
A challenge I can accept is a good old road trip following one of my all-time favorite bands as they tour the West Coast.Let’s just be clear, I am not talking about hopping in the old VW bus with 10 of my new best friends that I met while camping, bartering my vegan burritos and discussing the godhood of Jerry Garcia.No, I am talking about loading the MP3 player up and staying in moderately priced hotels.Maybe a few will even have pools.
So that is our next adventure as we follow the Murder City Devils on their latest reunion tour.I can’t wait and expect it to be a great deal of fun.Will I be able to stay up past 11pm on consecutive nights?I sure hope so.
I’ve told you the beginning of our story. Now you should share your rock n’ roll road trip tales. How was life on the road as you went from city to city for the sake of rock n’ roll? Do you have any advice? Leave your comments with all the juicy details. Hell, I’ll even forgive you if it was the Foghat ’93 reunion tour. JJ
“One week of the road.One week and I'm already wrecked.” -Ready for More, the Murder City Devils
Times are tight and we all need to save our pennies. Here is a great article from Budget Travel about boutique hostels. Apparently these are not your parents hostels. Private baths and nice clean beds?! Sounds like our kind of place. The SSBDT crew is hoping to check out Stay in L.A. in the Spring. If it all works out we will make sure to give you our thoughts. Until then...go somewhere. JJ
Here in Austin TX USA we find ourselves a fine ol’ place called the Mohawk.Not exactly a dive bar, yet it is muy fantastico.As you can see, I’ve placed their web address above for you to click upon.I don’t wish to seem as if I’m bragging, but here goes – that lil’ window that keeps popping up on the upper right corner of their site - I was at that show in the picture.It you look real hard, you still won’t see me on the roof of the bar watching the Murder City Devils 2007 reunion.That, dear friends, was the reason I found myself in what I thought would be the Elvis-forsaken wastelands of Texas.But guess what?Texas ain’t so bad, really.
Thing about Austin that I quite like, & I wish there were more of in LA, are outdoor bars.Austin is warm & most places where folks congregate have outside areas. Yay for drinking outdoors!The Mohawk is no exception.In fact, the space outside may be close to double the indoor area.This makes the whole place seem huge.The “yard” includes a large concrete area with a medium sized stage at the end opposite the building.There is a”2nd floor” that wraps around the side of the “yard” & stage, or follow the staircase up to the roof.You can watch bands playing from either vantage point.The stage view is swell!There is rustic outdoor furniture for your lounging pleasure.
I don’t know if they have food, but if you get hungry, there is a Tex-Mex restaurant up the street called Jaime’s Mexican Village that has a sign in front about how they welcome breast feeding in their establishment.I swear I’m not making that up.
The Mohawk serves Texas booze, of course.Lone Star tallboys for sure & probably Shiner & I saw a Texas brand of vodka, too.That was kind of weird.It’s fun there & a lot of good bands come through because it is an excellent place to see a show.Outside.FP
Pies & Pints In Seattle the weather is frightfully cold. Might as well be part of the Yukon Territory. Therefore, there is an undeniable need for warm, cozy bars. Some even have fireplaces. Pints & Pies does not, but it does have a wood burning stove. I can’t tell if it’s real or one of those electric deals, but it’s toasty enough.
Pints & Pies is a decent place, but it’s not far from a major university & it’s in a semi-residential neighborhood. You may find grungy college dorks or sock & mandal wearing dads here. Not always, though. You might also find dirty punks & a pack of bears just off their shift at the firehouse (I’m guessing that’s where they came from, they had suspenders on) on Saturday afternoon. They make me feel safe.
One thing I don’t like about this place is that the front portion allows the underage. You might trip over a couple ankle biters if you arrive before happy hour. Just head straight for the back, settle into a comfy armchair or vinyl booth & for Elvis’ sake order a Rasputin Stout from the friendly, relaxed staff. They won’t pester you, you can lounge like a fool. The main thing, the best thing, you should know is that they serve absolutely incredible individual size homemade savory pies. Served fresh from the oven, they go with beer like nothing else. I swear to Elvis it’s better than nachos. Once you taste one, you will cease to view that last statement as sacrilegious. I especially care for the beef burgundy pie. If you feel gluttonous, you can have yr lil’ pie crowning a pile of mashed potatoes or floating in gravy or soup. Genius! They have Guinness chocolate layer cake, too. It’s damn good. No jukebox, but they’re usually playing perfectly acceptable mix of rock/punk/alt-country music. You won’t hulk out over it.
So during the rainy time, go there, snuggle up with the paper, enjoy many delicious rotating beers (they have cocktails too, of course). Play pool. EAT PIE. FP
Welcome to the Inside Coach. This will be a reoccurring post composed by an industry insider. From working the check-in counter to boarding planes, I have been there and encourage you to use my advice in your travels. Many of these tips are common sense that will help make savvy travelers and more enjoyable journeys.
