Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Baggage Claim, A-Z Challenge

BAGGAGE Claim (or Baltimore Harbor)

Another challenge Post.  Baggage Claim can be a wild and frustrating part of travel.  Why?  Everyone is excited and anxious to get their bags and get on with their trip, or they're tired and want to get home if it's the return trip.

Everyone lines up 2 inches from the conveyor belt...crowding each other out and making it next to impossible see bags or for the person who's bag does arrive to retrieve it without hitting those crammed together.  BACK UP.  Yes, you really can see from a foot away, and yes you won't get hit, and yes you'll have room to get your bag.

Got twelve people in your group?  Do all twelve of you need to be there?  NO!  Station a few people to get the luggage and others well back to watch over the luggage as you get it.  Particularly if you have children in the mix.  Kids at the edge getting fingers caught trying to grab luggage not smart.  Kids sitting on the lip of the conveyor belt........really not smart.  Wake up parents.

How many people have black luggage?  THOUSANDS and then some.  Attach ribbons, bows, colorful something to your bag so you can spot it easier.  And while they...(airport officials) always tell people to look at the address label that should be on luggage, 9 out of 10 people don't look.  I've lost track of the number of times I see someone grab and go and minutes later someone finds out their luggage was taken by someone else.  Pay attention, yes it takes a few minutes; but far less time then filing a claim and going to the hotel empty handed or returning home waiting on the jerk to realize he or she has your luggage.

Travel isn't very civilized, but YOU can make it nicer.  Breath and take a few minutes, everyone will feel better if you do.

Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Airports, A-Z Challenge

And we begin at the beginning, a very good place to start.  Some of you may be playing today with April Fools Jokes, but lots of us are starting our Blog Challenge because it's April 1.  

Airports are a necessary evil of lots of travel, they can make or break you.  Think about your needs, your family needs don't just assume everything will happen the way you want or need it to.  Think BEFORE you go.  Airports are busy, loud, dirty and generally inconvenient places.  None of that makes for a pleasant day to start or end your travels.  

Food is generally expensive at airports, and typically not all that good.  What time are you traveling, can you...should you eat before?  Should you take snacks in your bag?  Often the place you might prefer to eat isn't where your gate is.  Look at the airport maps BEFORE you go, have a plan.  This is particularly important if you're traveling with small children and or a senior who walks with a cane or needs a wheel chair.  Airports are large and often not that easy to navigate.

I mentioned their dirty, do you really want to sit on the floor where thousands of people have walked with their shoes?  Parents this is particularly directed to you.  DON'T allow your children to wallow on the floor.  
Yes, airports are dirty and people who leave their trash behind them only make matters worse.  Don't be a slob and leave you chip bag on the floor along with your half finished big Slurpee.  It's guaranteed to get knocked over and cause a mess.  

Airports are loud, people are talking, there are announcements, radio's and games on.  Hello...you're not here along, turn down the volume or better yet plug in your ear phones.  There's no reason why the other 300 travelers crammed into that one gate need to hear your head banging garbage you call music...or the beep beep beep of the kids game.

Pillows, why do people drag their pillows with them?  I do mean drag.  They flop them on the suitcases, on the floor, on the seats both in the airports and planes where thousands have been before them, then they sleep on them with all those germs and wonder why they always get sick when they travel...hum!  If you must tote your pillow like it's your safety blanket but it in a plastic bag to keep it clean

Cell phones, wonderful tools.  Can't travel without them; but...........hold it to your ear and talk, like we all did back in the dark ages with a real phone.  Don't put the speaker on.  We really don't need or want to listen to several hundred conversations about who ate what for dinner the night before and like he said she said, know what I mean.


Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Antietam

  Though it's not quite time to start the A-Z challenge, as it begins on April 1, thought I'd do an A posting anyway.  This is a brief look at Antietam.  You could spend hours and hours there, trying to follow how the battle unfolded, reading all the monuments, admiring the beauty of artistic stones, and respecting the brave men.  Antietam was the single bloodiest day in the fighting of The Civil War.  The battle took place on the bank of Antietam Creek, thus the name of the battle.  Though it's near the town of Sharpsburg.  The South refers to it as the battle of Sharpsburg.  Some of these pictures are hard to read (was very sunny the day we were there), the above close up portion is of The 23rd Ohio Infantry Regiment.  This regiment had two men who later became President of the preserved Union, Rutherford B. Hayes, and William McKinley.

 There are a total of 9 Ohio Monuments, honoring The 1st Ohio Light Artillery, The 5th,7th, & 66th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 8th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 11th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 12th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 23rd Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 28th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 30th Ohio Infantry Regiment, and The 36th Ohio Infantry Regiment.
  The Ohio monuments were all dedicated in 1903.  Ten states have monuments to their dead: Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Ohio.  This was the first battle fought on Union soil.  The battle strategically was considered a victory for The North, but tactically was considered a draw.

The number known to have been killed were 2,108 for the North and 1,546 for the South (3,654 total); wounded numbers were staggering for sides 9,540 for the North and 7,752 for the south (17,292 total).  Add to that the number captured and or missing, 753 for the North and 1,018 for the South (1,771 total).
*****22,717 killed, wounded, captured, and or missing in 1 single battle*********
A horrible loss for our country.

The battlefield is something everyone should put on their list of things to see.  While we can't truly absorb it all, it is worth the try.

Pop in, Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

April Blogging Challenge, Travel as you Go

Can you believe it's that time of year again?  I joined the A-Z challenge last year on 4 of my 5 blogs which was quite a chore.  I scheduled posts ahead...just barely made it by got them all written with I think a day to spare.  Thus far, I've only signed up one blog.....this one.  Not sure I want to bite off that much this time round.  I put lots and lots of time into writing thoughtful posts and visited far more blogs daily then was suggested.  I felt like I put alot more into it then I got back in terms of blog visits and comments and followers.  Many people felt that way, but the majority felt it was a positive experience....and soooooooooooooo

Here we are again.  When I signed up I was blog #845, think that was over a week ago, and currently I'm #841.  That means a few folks have drop out or been eliminated already.  The number changes throughout the process.

What is the challenge?  Write a blog post daily (except Sunday) in alphabetical order.  Some people elect to blog in a theme for the whole month, others not.  There are categories which can be used or not.  I didn't choose categories last year on any of my blogs as I though the wide open was better and allowed more choices.  This year I did select TR (travel), since this is a travel blog.  I thought people would be open minded and visit all kinds of blogs last year...that didn't seem to be the case.  Example writers tended only to visit writers blogs.  Well everyone travels be it for work or pleasure so doesn't everyone enjoy a travel blog?  Apparently not, lol.  So, will see how it goes this year round.

So travel as you go; be it with your own blogging or your visits were you're traveling here on the net.  I'll be happy to have you accompany and the best part, you don't have to pack or do laundry!

The blog badge in the sidebar will take you to the blog to sign up for the challenge.  Come join us and have fun.

Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.