Posted by Andrew Hickey on Mar 3, 2010 in
Guest Nomad,
Travel 
This week’s Guest Nomad is Kirsten Alana. Kirsten is a recently-single photographer and avid traveler who learned the hard way in 2009 that the secret to happiness doesn’t include only fulfilling the expectations of others, while ignoring her own desires.
She now tries to live each day as if it were her last, fully pursuing her love of adventure while also trying to serve others in big and small ways wherever her travels take her. You can check her out online at her website and twitter account.
As the daughter of an artist who did many murals on many buildings during my growing-up years, I’m intensely fascinated by public art. Just ask some of the brides and grooms who I’ve posed in front of graffiti.
Show me a mural on the side of a building and I get a little giddy. That is a backdrop just waiting to be taken advantage of in my opinion. Never mind that actual graffiti is still considered destruction of property to many. I’m a fan!
So, it is probably no surprise that I make it a habit to take a walking tour of every city I visit and one of my main objectives is to find all the public art I can.
Museums are wonderful, and I most certainly visit those whenever possible, but public art has one advantage over most museums: it is free. And usually charged with political and/or social opinion that I almost always learn from.
During a recent trip to San Francisco, I was quite pleased to find it a town of abundant public art. No matter the neighborhood – from Dolores Park to The Mission, everywhere I walked I was able to find public art to marvel at and photograph.
While some art was more hidden or subversive, some was blatant and often famous in one way or another. Some murals directly paid homage to famous artists, such as Frida Kahlo. Some art was evocative of historic periods long past, like the age of Art Deco.
I even had one extensive conversation with a shop-owner who seemed more proud of the mural on the side of his building than he was of the shop he owned.
As a photographer, and a woman descended from artists, it’s mostly likely not shocking that I have this fascination. But I hope you will agree, looking at these images, that public art is something we should cherish and try to preserve whenever possible. I also hope it will make you more aware of art in the places you travel to and live in.
Tags: art, california, san francisco, Travel
Posted by Andrew Hickey on Jan 6, 2010 in
Travel
Airlines kick off 2010 with major sales.
If you are looking to plan that 2010 getaway, now might be a good time to check airfare. Virgin America, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue have all announced some pretty good sales this week.
Virgin America is offering discounted seats if you book by January 11 and fly between January 7 – March 10. There are even a few select seats available through June 20. A three day advance purchase is required. Some one-way fares include:
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San Francisco to Las Vegas – $39
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Seattle to San Francisco – $59
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Boston or Washington DC to Los Angeles or San Francisco – $99
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New York or Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles or San Francisco – $109
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For more information and fares, check out Virgin America’s website.
Southwest Airlines is offering “3 Days of Deals” with some pretty decent deals. Hurry because you only have until this Thursday January 7, 2010 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time to grab a seat on sale. Travel is good through May 14, 2010 and a 14-day advance purchase is required. A few one-way fares that caught my attention include:
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Chicago to Long Island – $80
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New York to Baltimore - $59
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Denver to San Diego – $92
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Milwaukee to Ft. Lauderdale – $101
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For more information and fares, check out Southwest’s website.
Finally, if you are looking to “shake up the new year” and jet for less, check out JetBlue’s first sale of the new year. What is great about this sale is that you can either purchase tickets or use your TrueBlue points. You must book by January 13, 2010, travel by March 24, 2010 and blackout dates do apply. Some of the one-way fares that stood out include:
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New York to New Orleans – $84/$89
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Austin to Orlando - $79/$89
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Fort Lauderdale to Nassau - $29
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Boston to Chicago - $67/$79
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For more information and fares, check out Jetblue’s website.
Tags: boston, chicago, fort lauderdale, jetblue, Las Vegas, los angeles, new orleans, new york, San Diego, san francisco, southwest airlines, virgin america, Washington DC
Posted by Andrew Hickey on Dec 14, 2009 in
Travel 
A few months ago I wrote a piece called “25 Interesting (And Odd) New York Facts” for my blog. It received many “re-tweets”, a few comments and a lot of clicks to my site. It is still in my top 10 most read blog entries since I posted it back in July. So I figured why not mooch off that story’s popularity with a sequel featuring another U.S. state.
California is a part of the United States that provides travelers with many great attractions such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Lego Land, Highway 1 and tasty Mexican food. But it is also home to the likes of Paris Hilton, the “Governator” and the Brooklyn…er I mean Los Angeles Dodgers. So sit back, relax and enjoy a little California love.
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California is bigger than eighty-five of the smallest nations in the world.
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Nicknames include The El Dorado State, The Golden State, The Grape State, and The Land of Milk and Honey.
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Death Valley is the hottest and driest place in the United States. Summer temperatures reach over 120 F!
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About sixty percent of the world’s tallest trees can be viewed along the 31 mile Avenue of the Giants.
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California is the king of dairy production in the United States.
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Do not even think of molesting a butterfly in California. A law on the books will fine offenders $500.
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Like turkey? California produces more of the gobbling bird than any other state.
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Los Angeles ranks as the fourth largest economy in the United States when compared to other states.
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The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles is the world’s largest outdoor amphitheater.
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The Raisin Capital of the World is located in Fresno.
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The Artichoke Capital of the World is located in Castroville.
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The world’s largest almond plant is located in Sacramento. It turns out 12 million pounds per day in during the high season.
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With more than 300,000 tons of grapes grown each year, California produces 17 million gallons of wine annually.
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San Francisco is home to the Classic Toy Museum, Pez Memorabilia Museum and American Antique Slot Machine Museum.
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One out of every eight music festivals in the United States is held in California.
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The oldest Jazz Festival is held every September in Monterrey.
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California has the largest economy in the United States.
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If the size of California ’s economy were to be measured by itself to other countries, it would rank the 7th largest economy in the world.
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More than 87 million people board a plane each year in California.
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The massive migration caused by the Gold Rush was the largest in the history of the world.
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Between 1848 and 1852, four short years, California’s population grew from 14,000 to 223,000.
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The first motion picture theater in the United States opened in Los Angeles on April 2, 1902.
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San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge has enough steel wires in its to circle the earth’s equator 3.5 times.
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Blue jeans, Barbie Dolls, the pill, white zinfandel wine, soda, the computer “mouse,” the wetsuit, and theme parks were all invented in California.
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One out of every eight United States residents live in California.
Tags: california, los angeles, sacramento, San Diego, san francisco
Posted by Andrew Hickey on Nov 20, 2009 in
Travel
San Francisco: One of the two cities eliminated this week.
Another week of voting has come to an end and this week not one, but two cities were kicked off the island…er I mean eliminated. To just backtrack before I give the results, to show you how unpredictable this voting has become, last week’s favorite city Montreal was in dead last for six out of the last seven days. It was not until late last night that a few votes put the popular Canadian city back in the competition.
Over the last two rounds we saw one west coast city eliminated each week. San Diego was out followed by Seattle. Well the dark cloud of the left coast continues with double elimination due to the bottom cities receiving the same amount of votes. So I will have to part ways with Portland and say sayonara to San Francisco as both were the least voted on cities this week. It is now down to six cities and they are New Orleans, Quebec City, Montreal, Vancouver, Chicago, and Austin. You can start voting now for week four.
Here are the results from week three:
1. New Orleans – 27%
2. Chicago - 18%
3. Vancouver - 16%
4. Austin - 12%
5. Montreal - 10%
6. Quebec City – 7%
7. San Francisco – 5%
7. Portland, OR – 5%
Tags: austin, canada, chicago, illinois, louisiana, montreal, new orleans, oregon, portland, quebec city, san francisco, seattle, texas, vancouver, washington
Posted by Andrew Hickey on Nov 13, 2009 in
Travel 
Another week and another city gets the boot. As I mentioned on Twitter and hear in previous weeks, I am looking to go away in early 2010 and would like for you to help me out with the location.
I am calling it “send me somewhere” and I ask for a single vote each week until nine of the cities have been kicked out and one remains. That final city will be chosen and announced on January 1. For more information on the “send me somewhere” idea just click here.
Now on to this week’s results. While the Emerald City hung on by the skin of it’s teeth in the previous poll, this week Seattle fell flat and was unfortunately the city with the lowest votes.
Two weeks in and two West Coast cities eliminated. No Sleepless in Seattle moment for me I guess. Start voting now for Round 3, with eight cities left the voting should soon start to get really interesting.
1. Montreal - 26%
2. New Orleans – 23%
3. Portland, OR. – 10%
3. Vancouver - 10%
3. Chicago - 10%
6. San Francisco – 6%
6. Quebec City – 6%
6. Austin - 6%
9. Seattle - 3%
Tags: austin, chicago, montreal, new orleans, oregon, portland, quebec city, san francisco, seattle, vancouver
