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I am back in Los Angeles. It feels good to be home, but don't let
me kid you, how I day dream of sitting on the beach at Waikiki, trying to
decide if I should go surfing or take a nap. I can't wait to go back!
Having my Dad around kept me quite busy and the Hawaii trip set me back a
couple of weeks. So here, I'll try and catch up.
Feb 1st was a
big step
for my career. I have been quoted in newspapers, given radio and
TV interviews, hosted online chats, but have never been asked to speak about
travel in front of 800 (live) people. When the LA Times called me to
ask if I was interested in being one of their panelists for their annual
Travel Show, I wasn't going to turn it down. Heck no! The last
two years that I attended their
travel show
which is located at the Long Beach Convention Center and it is regarded
as one of the best travel shows for consumers. They have hundreds of
booths filled with travel companies, convention and visitor bureaus all passing
out neat travel information. The best part is that they always fly in the
leading travel experts for their panels.
Last year
I took this picture with Rudy Maxa (from National Public Radio’s Savvy
Traveler), Don George (Lonely Planet Guide Books), and Peter Greenberg (NBC's
Travel Editor). I remember watching one of the panels last year from
the audience thinking "I can do this too, I know all the answers. I
mean, all I do is read about travel and get on a plane every third day".
Well, this year I got my chance and I was fortunate to be on the other side
of the table
.
Our panel was titled "Buyer Beware: How the Internet Can Save You Time, Money,
and Trouble"
My fellow panelists
were; Amy Bohutinsky, Hotwire's consumer travel expert and
Michael Shapiro
, travel journalist and author of the Internet Travel Planner.
Our moderator was Catharine Hamm from the LA Times. Well, we
all got along great and discovered we pretty much book our travels the same
way; online and research all the travel sites. I had my notes typed
up so if you want to read my answers
click here
.
They had some of the "big guns" from last year fly in and some notable others;
Wendy Perin of Conde Nast Magazine and
Terry Trippler
from Cheapseats.com. The featured speaker was the all mighty
Arthur Frommer. Arthur Frommer is to travel, like Michael Jackson is
to Pop music (maybe I shouldn’t use Michael as an example, but you know what
I mean). Mr. Frommer is a legend. In case the name for some crazy
reason doesn't sound familiar, then does Frommer's Guide Books or Budget
Travel Magazine ring a bell? If not, then you need to get out more.
I have always wanted to meet him for obvious reasons, so I figured this was
my big opportunity. When I walked into the speakers lounge, he was
there chatting with someone. I didn't want to interrupt, so I decided
to wait until they were finished. To my dismay, the stage crew interrupted
him and rushed him out to go on stage. Man, was I bummed.
I blew it!
Later that evening Amber Airplane, my Dad, Nancy and Michael Shapiro walked
across the street from the convention center to Shoreline Village for a quick
bite at Tequila Jack's. It's a good indoor-outdoor Mexican place with
a great
salsa bar
. (Tequila Jack's
is located at 407 Shoreline Village Drive in Long Beach tel. 562.628.0454.
While we were waiting for our drinks I saw a camera flash, and saw Paparazzi
taking pictures of the one and only Arthur Frommer walking by. Well,
besides the Paparazzi chasing him, he now had Michael Shapiro and yours truly.
I quickly talked Michael into introducing me since he knew him. When we caught
up with him he was excited to see Michael and then
Arthur
glanced at my Johnny Jet polo shirt and asked “Are you Johnny Jet?".
I said "You know who I am?" He then told his wife, "You have to see
Johnny's travel website, it's... (I can't even remember what exactly he said,
because I was a bit nervous. But all I know is he knew of JohnnyJet.com
and he loves it)! Yeah, baby, I felt like doing a Michael Jackson Moonwalk,
“Yeeeouw”! But I kept my composure.
Well, Arthur eased my nerves quickly because he is such a nice and down
to earth man. I invited him to eat with us so he could meet Amber Airplane,
my Dad and Nancy, but he had already been to dinner. Instead they did
sit down and had a drink
(Sprite) with us. What a treat it was to sit down and chat with
this man. Since I had met with his publishing company a few weeks’
back in NYC; I knew what questions to ask him. For example, instead
of asking him how many countries he's been to, I asked him how many he hasn't
been to. The answer: An incredible four (4) out of the 191 sovereign
nations. In case you didn't know, this is my goal. To one day
visit every state (only have a few states left) and countries in the world.
I know you are dying to know which four he hasn't been to, so I will tell
you now. I guessed one of them; Mongolia. (I know that's pretty much
of a lay up because who the heck wants to go there? Just the name alone
scares people). I know he said Tibet and Myramar but I can't remember
the last. Sorry.
One thing I do remember he said was that his hotel room was the worst he
has seen in a long time. He said it had stains, cigarette holes...
I was thinking to myself "Are you kidding me? The hotel clerk gave
ARTHUR FROMMER a bad room? I don't care what price he paid. If
Arthur Frommer was staying in the hotel I worked in, he would get a free
pass right to the presidential suite every time". I realize he probably
wouldn't want this type of treatment, but if this man was staying in my hotel,
he would have no choice. He has the power to make or break a hotel.
If that wasn't surprising enough, the night before he ate on the Queen Mary
and got food poisoning from the pate. Come on people? Get a clue.
I have a feeling the city of Long Beach won’t be getting that good of a write
up this time, do you?
Speaking of the Queen Mary(file picture), that's where we went after saying good night
to our guests. It's only about a mile from Shoreline Village so we figured
it was a good time to go. Obviously, we didn't go to have their
about to be world famous pate. We went because my Dad had never been and
he wanted to check it out. In case you don't know, the Queen Mary is
docked for good. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places,
and remains one of the most famous ships in history
. They have turned the ship into a hotel that has 365 hotel
staterooms, six restaurants, a wedding chapel and 16 Art Deco reception salons
for private celebrations. Not to mention: tours. The main attraction
is the Ghosts and Legend
Tour
. The tour costs $24.95 and runs daily between 11 am
- 6 pm.
We arrived around 7pm and the ship was hopping. There must've been
a couple of weddings, a prom, and who knows how many private parties.
We wanted to go on the tour but as you read it closed at 6pm. So instead
we blended in with the crowd and had our own private and not to mention "free tour
" (those are the best ones in my book). I am not sure if this
is allowed, but I wasn't going to ask in fear of being kicked off or having
to anti up $25. The ship is long; in fact it's 1,019.5 feet.
It takes a while to walk the decks, but the views and the ambience are amazing.
It's worth visiting just for a night time stroll. Inside the tour area
we watched a quick
History Channel film
and checked out all the replica
rooms
. Many of them were redesigned to show when the ship was used for
World War II. The others just showed the
facilities
the passengers had.
Some more interesting tidbits on the Queen Mary: It was launched
September 26, 1934 and made 1,001 Transatlantic Crossings. She departed
on its "Last Great Cruise" on October 31, 1967, and she arrived in Long Beach
on December 9, 1967. Two days later she was removed from British
registry (still has her English
phone booths
) and officially turned over ownership to the City of Long Beach.
Queen Mary
: 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, CA (562) 435-3511
Since my Dad was visiting me here in LA we were eating like Tim Zagat (Zagat
Survey's and BTW is pronounced “za-GAT” as in rhymes with “the cat”).
We decided to try some out-of-the-ordinary restaurant and that’s just what
we did. My dad read the rave reviews Zagat gave Taverna Tony in Malibu.
"Be prepared to dance with waiters, members of the band", a belly dancer,
"undulating female" patrons on the patio of Tony ("the party king of Malibu")
Koursaris' "boisterous", "festive" Greek; "hospitality is always on the menu"
here, as are "great starters" and "lamb like butta", but as it's "a hangout
for celebs", you might also find yourself saying "hello Helen Hunt!" or "if
it's good enough for Kid Rock, it's good enough for me." F: 21, D:
20, S: 20 C: $33. With that review, how could we not go and
check it out
? We'll, Amber Airplane and I aren't big on Greek food, but this
place was "fantastic"! No pun intended. The food, service, and
belly dancers
were awesome. Oh, by the way: Zagat was right on: People
were
dancing
on tables and with the belly dancers, and there were also a bunch of
celebrities, including the guy sitting right next to us. Taverna Tony, is located at the Malibu Country Mart, 23410 Civic Center Way (Cross Creek
Rd) 310-317-9667.
Have a great week and try not to break your back from shoveling all that
snow! Thanks for all your emails, of which I posted a lot of examples this
week below. Some are pretty funny, especially the last one.
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