Scoop Airport/Hotel/Travel Thread

[pbiflyer]

Headed to the PNW in a week and could use some recommendations for food and drink in Seattle and Portland... and anywhere in between.

Portland
Ringside Steakhouse, old school steakhouse been around for 80 years.
Voodoo donuts - the original location
Mcmenamins - comfort food, now they're kind of everywhere. Original was the John Barrycorn location but I like the more nature setting of Cornelius Pass.

[dgies9156]

Headed to the PNW in a week and could use some recommendations for food and drink in Seattle and Portland... and anywhere in between.

A couple of places:
Andina — Probably the best in PDX.
Jakes — If still around, a great steakhouse with good wine list in PDX.

Seattle — Has been a while but my favorite is Wild Ginger downtown. Brooklyn Grill is a great steak place (and great seafood too).

I'm partial to eating at the Mariners games if they're in town.

[pbiflyer]

I think there are a bunch of good coffee places in Seattle.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTSL-gEN1OmyCsoPCwD0ZsyfIA48UV8mO&si=uTFyAaeFzQSAV9o4

[MU82]

Call MU82.  He might even buy.

I would most definitely buy ... a beer!

Headed to the PNW in a week and could use some recommendations for food and drink in Seattle and Portland... and anywhere in between.

PMed you.

[dgies9156]

On the plane with Ms. Dgies to Seattle this afternoon. Hotel rates were off the charts due to World Cup. Will be staying across the street from Boeing/Everett and driving to Bellingham tomorrow to stay there.

Headed out of Vancouver on a cruise for Alaska Saturday. Will end up in Fairbanks with friends for a couple of days.

[MU82]

On the plane with Ms. Dgies to Seattle this afternoon. Hotel rates were off the charts due to World Cup. Will be staying across the street from Boeing/Everett and driving to Bellingham tomorrow to stay there.

Headed out of Vancouver on a cruise for Alaska Saturday. Will end up in Fairbanks with friends for a couple of days.

We here in friendly Seattle welcome one and all!

[MuggsyB]

If memory serves, there are a few Scoopers that have been to Malta.  Remind me of your overall impressions and how many days you would go?  Ty. 

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

If memory serves, there are a few Scoopers that have been to Malta.  Remind me of your overall impressions and how many days you would go?  Ty. 

Muggsy - My daughter went two years ago and raved about Malta so much that my wife and I going the end of July.  She said we should stay in Valleta so we are. 

[MuggsyB]

Muggsy - My daughter went two years ago and raved about Malta so much that my wife and I going the end of July.  She said we should stay in Valleta so we are. 

Oh...cool.  I'm looking to go in Sept.  I plan to dive for two days so I was thinking a week total.  I hope you share your thoughts after your trip there.  Ty. 

[JWags85]

If memory serves, there are a few Scoopers that have been to Malta.  Remind me of your overall impressions and how many days you would go?  Ty. 

Absolutely LOVED Malta. One of those places that is truly unique and doesn't really feel like anywhere else.  It's obviously tiny, you can drive from one side of the island to the other, the long way, in a half hour (10 min the shorter dimension of the island).  You could walk the entirety of Valletta, I mean up and down every street in the grid, in an afternoon.  So based on that, you could really explore the island of Malta in a day or two, plus another day to go to the Blue Lagoon and Gozo, the smaller of the two islands.

That being said, we spent 3.5 days there when my wife and I went, and I left wishing we had another week.  There is just so much cool stuff you end up encountering once you start roaming around.

If you're a history buff/nerd in any way, Malta is absolutely PEAK. Greeks and Romans both controlled it, so did various Arab kingdoms, the Knights Hospitalier...oh and the Brits and French both in modern times.  So the cultural and historical influence is just all over.  And because it's still fairly sparsely populated and not overly developed, the ancient and medieval buildings are still everywhere and in excellent condition.

The diving is supposed to be excellent, so that will be great, but yea I don't think you'll regret another 4-5 days there.

Muggsy - My daughter went two years ago and raved about Malta so much that my wife and I going the end of July.  She said we should stay in Valleta so we are. 

You'll love it.  We stayed in St Julian, but found myself wishing we stayed a night or two in Valletta.  Very jealous

[MuggsyB]

Absolutely LOVED Malta. One of those places that is truly unique and doesn't really feel like anywhere else.  It's obviously tiny, you can drive from one side of the island to the other, the long way, in a half hour (10 min the shorter dimension of the island).  You could walk the entirety of Valletta, I mean up and down every street in the grid, in an afternoon.  So based on that, you could really explore the island of Malta in a day or two, plus another day to go to the Blue Lagoon and Gozo, the smaller of the two islands.

That being said, we spent 3.5 days there when my wife and I went, and I left wishing we had another week.  There is just so much cool stuff you end up encountering once you start roaming around.

If you're a history buff/nerd in any way, Malta is absolutely PEAK. Greeks and Romans both controlled it, so did various Arab kingdoms, the Knights Hospitalier...oh and the Brits and French both in modern times.  So the cultural and historical influence is just all over.  And because it's still fairly sparsely populated and not overly developed, the ancient and medieval buildings are still everywhere and in excellent condition.

The diving is supposed to be excellent, so that will be great, but yea I don't think you'll regret another 4-5 days there.

You'll love it.  We stayed in St Julian, but found myself wishing we stayed a night or two in Valletta.  Very jealous

Absolutely LOVED Malta. One of those places that is truly unique and doesn't really feel like anywhere else.  It's obviously tiny, you can drive from one side of the island to the other, the long way, in a half hour (10 min the shorter dimension of the island).  You could walk the entirety of Valletta, I mean up and down every street in the grid, in an afternoon.  So based on that, you could really explore the island of Malta in a day or two, plus another day to go to the Blue Lagoon and Gozo, the smaller of the two islands.

That being said, we spent 3.5 days there when my wife and I went, and I left wishing we had another week.  There is just so much cool stuff you end up encountering once you start roaming around.

If you're a history buff/nerd in any way, Malta is absolutely PEAK. Greeks and Romans both controlled it, so did various Arab kingdoms, the Knights Hospitalier...oh and the Brits and French both in modern times.  So the cultural and historical influence is just all over.  And because it's still fairly sparsely populated and not overly developed, the ancient and medieval buildings are still everywhere and in excellent condition.

The diving is supposed to be excellent, so that will be great, but yea I don't think you'll regret another 4-5 days there.

You'll love it.  We stayed in St Julian, but found myself wishing we stayed a night or two in Valletta.  Very jealous

Sounds excellent JWags!

Thank you very much!

It occurred to me that I don't know how Maltese became a language.  The fact that they have their own language is fascinating. 

[21Jumpstreet]

Headed to the PNW in a week and could use some recommendations for food and drink in Seattle and Portland... and anywhere in between.

Love Seattle, walk everywhere even if it seems far. Take a water taxi to get some spam and kimchi fried rice, kick around for a drink or two. Lots of delicious Vietnamese food and teriyaki, walk to Capitol Hill. Of course, watch the fish throwing at the market, enjoy Piroshky Piroshky, Rachel's Ginger Beer, Mee Sum, and Beecher's. Farmers Market out of town, don't quite remember the neighborhood, but I do remember a troll, a pie shop, raclette, and immense joy. See music. A favorite memory was walking out of the disgusting gum wall, seeing a dude in a cool hat with a guitar, realizing holy buckets that's Dave Grohl, then seeing him and Brandi Carlisle busk near the market. Pretty cool.

[pbiflyer]

Side note on David Grohl. Evidently there was a problem with his luggage at PBI. So he sat down, broke out his guitar and played for a while.
Cool dude.

[Shaka Shart]

Portland
Ringside Steakhouse, old school steakhouse been around for 80 years.
Voodoo donuts - the original location
Mcmenamins - comfort food, now they're kind of everywhere. Original was the John Barrycorn location but I like the more nature setting of Cornelius Pass.

@Hards Alumni

Skip voodoo. You can get it in the Denver airport, Chicago, etc now.

Portland has every single type of food you could imagine, but depending on your price range, transportation, and where you are hanging out here's my top within spitting distance of downtown

Nodoguru: $250 a person Japanese chefs menu with the best single dish I might have had in my life

Guero: tortas on the near east side, pretty reasonably priced

Eem: Texas bbq Thai fusion, smoked lamb curry will change your life

Nimblefish: excellent omakase sushi place

Laurelhurst market: butcher/steak place that's more contemporary, won't be your traditional white cloth place but very high quality

Oregon fish market: grab fish and chips from the window, you won't regret it

Paper bridge: unreal northern Vietnamese place, just got write up in NYT though so get reservation

Dimos: New Haven style pizza place with other Italian options.

Top burmese: Burmese place in northwest, may be currently my favorite non premium restaurant in the city.

Bottos bbq or Matt's bbq, bottos has a brisket smash burger that's out of this world and cheap

Honestly to get a real cultural experience here, go to one of the big food cart pods and sample a bunch of things. Hawthorne asylum is huge with a ton of choices, but there's food carts everywhere and as long as you quickly verify


Feel free to let me know more specifically what you might be looking for. If it exists I've probably either tried it or have some friends who have

[MuggsyB]

Just a warning to those who travel quite a bit:  Never, and I mean ever, rent a car from Sixt.  They sent me some bcrap claim about a scratch on the car 2 months after I returned it to the Miami airport.  These people fked with the wrong customer, and matters have been taken care of, but these scumsuckers tried to scam me out of $1600 dollars.  Under no conditions rent a vehicle from them.  Period.

[Hards Alumni]

Just a warning to those who travel quite a bit:  Never, and I mean ever, rent a car from Sixt.  They sent me some bcrap claim about a scratch on the car 2 months after I returned it to the Miami airport.  These people fked with the wrong customer, and matters have been taken care of, but these scumsuckers tried to scam ms out of $1600 dollars.  Under no conditions rent a vehicle from them.  Period.

Yeah always do a video walk around before and after your rental.  I've dealt with some super shady places as well.  In Miami, we got some off brand place and they transported you to their location away from the airport.  Then they required you to buy their insurance or prove to them you have insurance by providing all of the information.  They could have mentioned this prior to arrival, but they don't because they pressure you into buying their insurance... which is VERY expensive.  It added an hour to our rental pick up... so you can bet your ass that we did a full run down of the car we rented.  Video inside and out.

Anyone who tries to come after you should be dismissed.  They're just fishing for suckers.

[JWags85]

It occurred to me that I don't know how Maltese became a language.  The fact that they have their own language is fascinating. 

Its fascinating but makes a tremendous amount of sense.  Its much like how many large islands have unique animal life that didn't evolve/blend with similar species and are thus completely unique.  I read a bunch about it for a few days after leaving Malta.

It was basically uninhabited for a few hundred years after the Arabs invaded and drove out the Byzantines.  Then the Sicilian Arabs recolonized it, and brought the Sicilian-Arabic base language. When the Normans conquered/took over Malta like 50 years later, they were pretty chill about letting the population exist as they were.  So that, combined with the fact that Malta was isolated enough in the Middle Ages that there wasn't constant immigration and emigration influencing the native population (other than traders and merchants of course), let the language continue there for a few hundred years while Sicilian Arabic (and Arabic in general) basically vanished from the European Med as the Muslim Caliphates got pushed out en masse.  Italian influenced it, to be sure, but it had that Sicilian Arabic base for hundreds of years.  By the time the French and then British took over, it had a base of 500+ years as a language and it had VERY little in common with French or English, so it wasn't going to morph with them like Creole or the like.

Yeah always do a video walk around before and after your rental.  I've dealt with some super shady places as well.  In Miami, we got some off brand place and they transported you to their location away from the airport.  Then they required you to buy their insurance or prove to them you have insurance by providing all of the information.  They could have mentioned this prior to arrival, but they don't because they pressure you into buying their insurance... which is VERY expensive.  It added an hour to our rental pick up... so you can bet your ass that we did a full run down of the car we rented.  Video inside and out.

Anyone who tries to come after you should be dismissed.  They're just fishing for suckers.

Funny enough, on that same Malta trip, we headed to Crete after and I had the worst rental car experience of my life.  We went to a smaller/non international Greek rental agency.  Had a good rate, found it through Kayak, everything seemed legit.  They didn't have a shuttle so we had to walk like a KM or so down the road from the airport at Heraklion.  Annoying but ok.

Got there, started to do all the paper work, handed them licenses and passports, then was informed that since neither of us had an International Drivers License, they couldn't give us a car.  Informed us that if we were found driving without it, we would be arrested, the car impounded and they would be fined and could be shut down.  This was nowhere in our rental agreement, wasn't on the site when I made the booking, and when I asked them to show me, they stated it was simply company policy which overrode everything.  As a result, they wouldn't refund our pre-payment, said we can't get any money back since we didn't follow their rules.  After arguing with them for a few min, I had enough.  It was like 9PM, we had 2 delayed flights coming in from Mykonos, whatever.  But I noticed a branded courtesy van parked right outside the office, so I said, "can you at least drive us back to the airport?"  Only to be told, "sorry sir, the van isn't operational"...I rolled my eyes and as we started to walk out, we saw an employee get into the van and drive off 

Fortunately, as we walked out, a lovely couple from Manchester had been at the counter getting their car and waited for us to walk out.  They were on their honeymoon and just arrived from Athens where they had a near identical experience (down to the lack of communication/documentation from the rental company) and the husband actually ended up getting an IDL through AAA in Athens cause he didn't want to burn a week long rental.  They felt terrible for us and drove us back to the airport and offered to wait for a bit while we tried to figure out a plan.  We told them not to worry and enjoy their night to which they replied "sorry about those Greek c***ts" with a smile and a wave.

We walked to the Hertz counter (which we originally avoided cause the rental would have been about $400 more for the week) and asked for a car.  I mentioned not having the IDL and the women chuckled and said "that's not an issue, I have your US license and passport, not a worry" and we were literally in a car within 10 min of leaving the Mancunians.  I disputed the Greek rental charge with Chase the next morning, which was immediately refunded.  The agency called/emailed 3-4 times about the chargeback.  I ignored them and we enjoyed the rest of the vacation and had no issues.

So yea, there are still plenty of issues with big rental agencies, but they are usually far easier to navigate, contest, and resolve.

[MuggsyB]

Yeah always do a video walk around before and after your rental.  I've dealt with some super shady places as well.  In Miami, we got some off brand place and they transported you to their location away from the airport.  Then they required you to buy their insurance or prove to them you have insurance by providing all of the information.  They could have mentioned this prior to arrival, but they don't because they pressure you into buying their insurance... which is VERY expensive.  It added an hour to our rental pick up... so you can bet your ass that we did a full run down of the car we rented.  Video inside and out.

Anyone who tries to come after you should be dismissed.  They're just fishing for suckers.

Ya....I always take photos but you're right about video.  I have dismissed Sixt permanently, and in a perfect world they would be completely eliminated from existence. 

[Hards Alumni]

Wags, I was going to ask if you did a charge back, because that's exactly what I would have done.

[MuggsyB]

On the plane with Ms. Dgies to Seattle this afternoon. Hotel rates were off the charts due to World Cup. Will be staying across the street from Boeing/Everett and driving to Bellingham tomorrow to stay there.

Headed out of Vancouver on a cruise for Alaska Saturday. Will end up in Fairbanks with friends for a couple of days.

Brother Dgies,

If you have time in Vancouver hit Chambar  or Miku for sushi on the harbor. 

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Oh...cool.  I'm looking to go in Sept.  I plan to dive for two days so I was thinking a week total.  I hope you share your thoughts after your trip there.  Ty. 

Will do!