vances's Reviews

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Average priced "Hotels & Accommodations" in Centerville, Ohio, USA
Another business trip, another Holiday Inn Express. I truly enjoyed this one, owing to the attentive service. The desk clerk who checked me in was l…
Very cheap "Sights & Attractions" in Montgomery, Texas, USA
Driving back to Houston last week from College Station I went past an old ‘scene of the crime’ and had to pull over to grab a picture. Though sol…
This review was featured on Friday November 20th, 2009
Average priced "Hotels & Accommodations" in Houston, Texas, USA
A departure from my usual routine of driving back to Houston Airport (from College Station) the morning of my return flight was to get the road trip o…
Average priced "Hotels & Accommodations" in College Station, Texas, USA
I’ve stayed here several times over the years but never written a review, so that oversight is corrected with this entry. The Aggieland Holiday Inn…
Average priced "Sights & Attractions" in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
Needed a break from unpacking this afternoon, so I fulfilled a promise to my daughter to drop in at Tregembo Animal Park, touted as North Carolina’s…
Average priced "Sights & Attractions" in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
Little did I know that my latest residence is home for the largest movie studio east of LA in the US. I’m pretty clueless about TV these days, but …
Very cheap "Sights & Attractions" in Oak Island, North Carolina, USA
Oak Island hosts the most recent lighthouse built in America. The Oak Island Lighthouse was raised in 1958 to replace one on nearby Bald Head Island …
Very cheap "Sights & Attractions" in Southport, North Carolina, USA
Inaccessible and hardly impressive, Price’s Creek Lighthouse is still a noteworthy beacon because of its history. Just twenty feet tall, the lighth…
Very cheap "Hotels & Accommodations" in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, USA
So I've stayed at Microtels everywhere, man, and amassed a lot of free nights. I usually just apply the freebies for business travel, but redeemed on…
Cheap "Sights & Attractions" in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, USA
An inviting tidbit around our new home is that it is the native environs of the Venus Fly Trap and the plant only occurs in the wild within sixty mile…
Very cheap "Sights & Attractions" in Kure Beach, North Carolina, USA
Although very short and very flat (my trail guide indicated an elevation gain of seven feet, lol), the Basin Trail makes far a pleasant diversion from…
Average priced "Sights & Attractions" in Kure Beach, North Carolina, USA
The family went on a field trip last weekend to a nearby institution, the North Carolina Aquarium. This is one of three state sponsored aquariums, an…
This review was featured on Friday September 19th, 2008
Average priced "Restaurants, Cafes & Food" in Morehead City, North Carolina, USA
While attending the NC Seafood Festival we decided to duck into the Sanitary Fish Market, lured in by the unusual name. If I recall the history prese…
Cheap "Sights & Attractions" in Georgetown, Maine, USA
Seguin Island Light is a landmark Maine beacon for several reasons. Sitting two miles into the ocean at the mouth of the highly trafficked Kennebec R…
Cheap "General Tips & Advice" in Bowdoinham, Maine, USA
If you are serious about visiting Maine, I have a book recommendation that most folks would never consider a ‘travel’ volume. Kerry Hardy’s “…
Very cheap "Hotels & Accommodations" in Portland, Maine, USA
Dunno if this is justified by the rate or not. A pretty crappy lodging experience, but relatively cheap compared to other options I had for Portland …
Expensive "Hotels & Accommodations" in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
My wife and I stayed at this top rate hotel nestled in the North Hills Shopping “area” - I’m not really sure what you call these shopping malls …
Average priced "Restaurants, Cafes & Food" in Savannah, Georgia, USA
The other restaurant we enjoyed in Savannah which warranted a review was Corleone’s Trattoria – a top notch Italian eatery that is right downtown.…
Cheap "Restaurants, Cafes & Food" in Savannah, Georgia, USA
Located in Savannah’s Historic District far enough away from downtown to feel like a true neighborhood, Clary’s Café was a delight. The diner h…
This review was featured on Saturday August 8th, 2009
Expensive "Hotels & Accommodations" in Savannah, Georgia, USA
Our children get their first exposure to travel on their 13th birthday – they choose the destination for a long weekend that is within a five hour c…
Very cheap "Hotels & Accommodations" in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
This is a live review as I sit in my room - can't complain too much because I was just seeking a cheap place to crash near the Harrisburg Airport toni…
Average priced "Restaurants, Cafes & Food" in Delft, Netherlands
An excellent purveyor of Indian cuisine in Delft. We started with garlic nan, the first in years, and it was scrumptious! Kim ordered some tea that …
This review was featured on Saturday June 20th, 2009
Average priced "Restaurants, Cafes & Food" in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Just a few blocks beyond the Anne Frank House in Jordaan lies a terrific place to enjoy the Dutch version of pancakes…but not for breakfast! The Pa…
Average priced "Restaurants, Cafes & Food" in Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Bird Thai restaurant is a winner. It started as a take-away in 1993, but their tasty offerings led to success and a full service restaurant in 19…
Average priced "Hotels & Accommodations" in Amsterdam, Netherlands
We loved Citizen M’s newest location in Amsterdam. It is a bit outside of downtown, but near the Museumplein and right next door to the Amsterdam Z…
Average priced "Sights & Attractions" in Montreal, Canada
My wife surprised me with tickets to see John Pizzarelli perform this week and we reminisced about the first time we got to enjoy this talented jazz g…
Very cheap "Hotels & Accommodations" in Dayton, Ohio, USA
My usual lodging when I visit Dayton for business, which I jokingly refer to as my "fleabag motel" (because it costs less than half of what everyone e…
Cheap "Hotels & Accommodations" in Dayton, Ohio, USA
Got stranded in Dayton this evening, so an opportunity to write a review while enduring sub-zero temps and waiting to catch a flight home tomorrow mor…
Ridiculously Expensive "Hotels & Accommodations" in Saint John, United States Virgin Islands
The premiere resort on St. John in the USVI is Caneel Bay. The resort sits within the boundaries of the Virgin Islands National Park on 170 acres and…
Average priced "Restaurants, Cafes & Food" in Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands
There is virtually nothing on the beautiful little British Virgin Island of Jost Van Dyke with the exception of goats, some lovely beaches and a coupl…
Cheap "Sights & Attractions" in Charleston, South Carolina, USA
A great way to spend your Saturday morning in Charleston is visiting the Farmers Market in Marion Square (on Calhoun Street between Meeting & King). …
Free! "Sights & Attractions" in Charleston, South Carolina, USA
The family dropped in on Charleston last weekend, and our welcome to this fun destination was crossing the Cooper River on the splendid Arthur Ravenel…
This review was featured on Friday November 28th, 2008
Free! "Sights & Attractions" in Asheville, North Carolina, USA
Enjoyed a brief junket to Asheville, NC last weekend with my wife and it is a beautiful place. We will definitely return and I hope to provide furthe…
Average priced "Sights & Attractions" in Pittsboro, North Carolina, USA
The return from Seattle last week was grim. The lavatories began leaking fluid and we made a u-turn a little over an hour after lifting off! Between…
Free! "Sights & Attractions" in Whidbey Island, USA
Congregated with work associates on a business trip to Seattle last week and since we arrived Tuesday afternoon with no meetings until the next mornin…
This review was featured on Wednesday October 22nd, 2008
Very cheap "General Tips & Advice" in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA
Perhaps some day I'll get around to composing a blog about my family's trip to Arizona a few years back. Of course one of the stops had to be the Gra…
Ridiculously Expensive "Hotels & Accommodations" in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, USA
My wife and I were looking for a quiet getaway before the over-scheduled Christmas holidays and found it at Litchfield Plantation in Pawleys Island, S…
Average priced "Restaurants, Cafes & Food" in Beaufort, North Carolina, USA
Beaufort is a charming village along North Carolina’s coast, and Clawson’s is a fabulous eatery there. My wife wanted to bring us here to sample …
Free! "Sights & Attractions" in Ocracoke, North Carolina, USA
The current Bodie Island Lighthouse has been in operation since 1872, although this was the third one built to service this portion of the Banks. The…
Average priced "Sights & Attractions" in Corolla, North Carolina, USA
A terrific light house. Unlike the other classic stations in the Outer Banks, this 158-foot light house retains its beautiful brick exterior with no …
This review was featured on Tuesday July 1st, 2008
Average priced "Sights & Attractions" in Southport, North Carolina, USA
The family enjoyed a pleasant outing to a sweet little village along the southern coast of North Carolina today. Southport sits on the mouth of the C…
Average priced "Hotels & Accommodations" in Kingfield, Maine, USA
I’ve been negligent in covering the ski scene in Maine, largely because we haven’t gone downhill since kids arrived (though everyone in the family…
Average priced "Sights & Attractions" in Portland, Maine, USA
Portland Discovery is a relatively new land & sea tour operator in these parts – when I lived here there was no regular service to Eagle Island. Of…
Very cheap "Sights & Attractions" in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA
One of the most readily accessible jewels of Maine lies in Cape Elizabeth, adjacent to Portland. The jewel is Portland Head - Maine’s oldest lighth…
This review was featured on Sunday April 6th, 2008
Average priced "Sights & Attractions" in Portland, Maine, USA
For sure, the most awesome neighborhood in Portland, Maine is Old Port. The remarkable part is that I lived here when this was a decrepit warehouse d…
Ridiculously Expensive "Restaurants, Cafes & Food" in Portland, Maine, USA
I try to avoid restaurant reviews because they seem so fleeting and I find it strange photographing my meal, lol (though I will confess TB is revising…
Very cheap "Sights & Attractions" in Portland, Maine, USA
Portland Breakwater Light, more commonly referred to as Bug Light, is a teeny beacon in Portland Harbor. A 24-foot high granite tower built in 1875 (…
Cheap "Sights & Attractions" in Portland, Maine, USA
Please don’t confuse the Portland Observatory with astronomy. The octagonal tower atop Munjoy Hill in Portland was never intended to see the stars…
Free! "Sights & Attractions" in Cundys Harbor, Maine, USA
Since you’ve ventured across the cribstone bridge, there’s no sense in stopping now. Continue winding through the delightful cottages of Bailey I…
Average priced "Restaurants, Cafes & Food" in Cundys Harbor, Maine, USA
During our latest return to Maine we were disappointed to learn that Holbrook’s, an incredible lobster shack on the water at Cundy’s Harbor, had c…