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Posted: **Mon Feb 27, 2023 8:53 pm**

Got two trips planned this year for Grand Canyon in May/June and Olympic National Park in September. Grand Canyon includes both north and south rim, antelope canyon/lake Powell, and jaunt over to petrified forest.

Olympic includes a few nights near Port Angeles and a few nights on the coast near Ruby beach. Possibly a day or two in Seattle as well.

Anyone who’s been to any these place got good hiking adventure tips?

Posted: **Mon Feb 27, 2023 9:44 pm**

Jimbo wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 8:53 pm Got two trips planned this year for Grand Canyon in May/June and Olympic National Park in September. Grand Canyon includes both north and south rim, antelope canyon/lake Powell, and jaunt over to petrified forest.

Olympic includes a few nights near Port Angeles and a few nights on the coast near Ruby beach. Possibly a day or two in Seattle as well.

Anyone who’s been to any these place got good hiking adventure tips?

Are you flying into Phoenix or Las Vegas?

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2023 7:33 am**

Tree wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 11:05 am
jeff fox wrote: Nunan's in Cape Porpoise
When I was out there we hit the Cape Porpoise Lobster Co's shack because my mother-in-law orders their lobster for her birthday every year and it was one of the best meals I've ever had, ate right there on the pier. Lobster bisque, crab cakes, Shipyard lager, Maine blueberry pie, all that. I'm going to assume Nunan's is at least that good, so you should be golden there.

Beer: Maine is a pretty great beer state. Aside from no self-respecting eating/drinking establishment going without having Allagash white on tap, there's Bissell Brothers in Portland, Maine Beer Co in Freeport, and Oxbow in Newcastle, plus a bunch of small places that are probably pretty reliable. The latter two I mentioned are a bit northeast of Portland, but New England breweries tend to be pretty physically beautiful destinations and Oxbow specializes in saison/farmhouse/mixed ferm shit if that's your thing. In the touristy area of Saco/Biddeford, there's Sacred Profane which has two beers: a light Czech lager and a dark Czech lager. One of the owners is a woman who posted on Instagram a couple years ago asking for stories of sexual harassment/abuse in the beer industry and got over 700 stories, resulting in some comeuppance for a few creeps, so give them your money if the spirit moves you. People also swear by Palace diner in Biddeford.

Maine is a fun state to explore in the summer and I'm guessing FM twelvepoint will chime in here at some point for ya. Given your dates, you are probably going to arrive just in time for the beaches to fill up.

I grew up in Maine, visit several times a year, and these are beer suggestions that are helpful for me! I will add that my go-to is a place in Portland called Bunker, behind St John St. This is the area that used to have a place that looked like this, but is now a strip mall, but I digress...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Sta ... d,_Me..jpg

Anyway Bunker is fun and I feel like it's the scrappy alternative to Maine Beer Co or Bissell. If you like minor league, you could also catch a Sea Dogs game. There's also shows at State Theater, Genos, SPACE, Sun Tiki Studios and maybe more.

Long shot here, but if you're a hiker and you have the time, Katahdin is amazing.

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2023 7:49 am**

Jimbo wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 8:53 pm Got two trips planned this year for Grand Canyon in May/June and Olympic National Park in September. Grand Canyon includes both north and south rim, antelope canyon/lake Powell, and jaunt over to petrified forest.

Olympic includes a few nights near Port Angeles and a few nights on the coast near Ruby beach. Possibly a day or two in Seattle as well.

Anyone who’s been to any these place got good hiking adventure tips?

My mom and brother live in Port Angeles. They followed my (now deceased) dad there, who moved to PA/Sequim over 20 years ago.
Such a lovely place! We are trying to get back every summer now, post-initial-pandemic. We camp because we can't stay with family, and it's great, though more expensive. What are you guys planning on doing, Jim? Camping?

This is where we stay outside PA:

https://www.crescentbeachrv.com/

Posted: **Thu Mar 02, 2023 3:49 pm**

Dave N. wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 9:44 pm
Jimbo wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 8:53 pm Got two trips planned this year for Grand Canyon in May/June and Olympic National Park in September. Grand Canyon includes both north and south rim, antelope canyon/lake Powell, and jaunt over to petrified forest.

Olympic includes a few nights near Port Angeles and a few nights on the coast near Ruby beach. Possibly a day or two in Seattle as well.

Anyone who’s been to any these place got good hiking adventure tips?
Are you flying into Phoenix or Las Vegas?

Haven't bought our tickets yet but most likely Vegas, since it's a little closer than Phoenix to our start and end points. Ticket prices from o'hare to vegas are insanely high for some reason, like $600, and have been since last fall.

Posted: **Thu Mar 02, 2023 8:03 pm**

I'm spending four days in Manhattan soon! Hanging around the art museums and staying the Upper West Side. Hit me with your dinner recs!

Posted: **Fri Mar 03, 2023 9:16 am**

Leeplusplus wrote: I'm spending four days in Manhattan soon! Hanging around the art museums and staying the Upper West Side. Hit me with your dinner recs!

What do you want to eat and how much do you want to spend?

For the UWS, I've got nothing b/c I don't live anywhere near it. However, I could offer you a host of dinner recommendations downtown if you're at all interested, from inexpensive Chinatown thrills to prix fixe joints w/incredible wine lists.

Posted: **Fri Mar 03, 2023 10:25 am**

Leeplusplus wrote: Thu Mar 02, 2023 8:03 pm I'm spending four days in Manhattan soon! Hanging around the art museums and staying the Upper West Side. Hit me with your dinner recs!

I only have a couple recs in lower Manahattan (Noho, East Village, Flatiron) from a recent trip:
1) If you find yourself around Union Square and are feeling some higher end dining, Craft was excellent. Spendy but not insane,
2) McSorley's Ole Ale House in Noho is one of the best tiny brewery/bars I've been to in ages. Older than dirt. There are only 2 kinds of beer here, light or dark. You get two at a time and they keep bringing them until you say stop. Go with the dark.
3) Go to one of the Other Half Brewing locations if you can (we went to the one in Brooklyn)
4) If you want bagel and/or fish type things Russ & Daughters was excellent. Pro tip, order online and skip the insane line.

Posted: **Fri Mar 03, 2023 10:35 am**

tommy wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 10:25 am2) McSorley's in Noho is one of the best tiny brewery/bars I've been to in ages. Older than dirt.

Not to be pedantic, but McSorley's is in the East Village, not NoHo.

But yeah, it's a good time and definitely worth checking out if you like old-timey bars, especially if you can hit it at an off hour, when it's not crammed w/bros and college kids. But everyone goes there, don't let that deter you. It's an institution, the prices are good, the beer is ok, and it's a somewhat unique experience.

For a completely different take on a brew pub, check out the unfortunately named but totally righteous That Witch Ales You, in Chinatown. Open only on the weekends, well off the tourist trail in a funky corner of Manhattan, Asian-inspired craft beer that usually works, and inexpensive fried stuff on the menu.

https://www.thatwitchalesyou.com/menu-1

Posted: **Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:01 am**

OrthodoxEaster wrote:
tommy wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 10:25 am2) McSorley's in Noho is one of the best tiny brewery/bars I've been to in ages. Older than dirt.
Not to be pedantic, but McSorley's is in the East Village, not NoHo.

But yeah, it's a good time and definitely worth checking out if you like old-timey bars, especially if you can hit it at an off hour, when it's not crammed w/bros and college kids. But everyone goes there, don't let that deter you. It's an institution, the prices are good, the beer is ok, and it's a somewhat unique experience.

Yes -- Abe Lincoln had a beer there after (or before?) his famous address at Cooper Union across the street, it still kinda has that vibe. Haven't been there in ages.

I grew up on UWS, my fave spots:

- Sal & Carmines, 102nd & Bway -- maybe the best slice.

- Cathedral of St John the Divine -- amazing place even if you don't dig Church. There's a cool Keith Haring altar at the very back.

- Riverside Park

- Jerusalem Falafel -- 104th & Bway

The Metropolitan Museum is (of course) across the park but it's truly incredible and one of my most favorite places in the whole city. You can wander aimlessly for hours and everything you find will be amazing. American Museum of Natural History on the west side is also super cool.

Also - Last week my buddy saw Flaco the fugitive Eurasian owl chilling in Central Park near 96 st on the west side.

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