Travel

San Diego Trip

Ever since Elijah was born, Tyla has had her eye on a specific resort down in San Diego called Loews Coronado Bay. This year, we decided to make that trip a reality. This was the first time any of us had been to San Diego. It was also our first major trip with Elijah that didn’t end at a relative’s house.

Tuesday
The trip down was pretty simple with a 2 hour and 20 minute direct flight. We bought Elijah his own seat even though he technically could have flown on our laps. It was nice having our own row and since it was a quick flight, it wasn’t too much money. He did pretty well on the flight despite only taking a 30 minute nap.

It was nice having a quick flight in the same time zone because we didn’t have to get up early and we arrived with plenty of time to set up in the hotel and then go to dinner. Dinner the first night was at Nicky Rottens in Coronado. We were actually looking for Coronado Brewing Company but found this place instead. We got there in time for happy hour, enjoyed some beverages, and had some delicious food.

Wednesday
We were a little bummed to see that the weather was not what we had hoped when we originally booked it. The forecast said it would never get above 70 and it would probably rain at least part of the time. Wednesday was forecasted to be the nicest day so we decided to head for the beach. The resorts sits on a very long strip of land that separates the Pacific Ocean from Coronado Bay. It’s basically a sand bar with an island at one end. A quick golf cart ride (which Elijah loved!) from the valet took us over to the state park beach. It was pretty deserted because of the cooler weather, but Elijah didn’t care because he got to play in the sand. There was also a big grader moving some sand around so we had to go check that out.

After a failed attempt at a nap, we visited the pool area of the resort. It consists of a kids pool, a very large family pool, an adult pool and two hot tubs. Elijah has been taking swim lessons for quite a while so he was very comfortable in the pool. I really enjoyed it becaues it was my first time swimming with him. Tyla had a floaty thing that kept him upright in the water and he was happy to float around by himself, blowing bubbles along the way. Pretty cool for a 23 month old kid!

On Tuesday we had visited Von’s (Safeway) to buy food for breakfast and lunch in the hotel room. We did that each day and then went out for dinner. Wednesday night we headed to Old Town Mexican Cafe. As the name implies, it’s in an old part of San Diego with lots of shops. The food was pretty good and from the way Tyla walked after dinner, the margaritas must have been great.

Thursday
We didn’t plan a lot of things to do because traveling with a young kid is unpredictable, but the one thing we did want to do was visit the San Diego Zoo. Today was the day! We got there right as the opened to get as much done as possible before Elijah collapsed from exhaustion. The zoo is HUGE! We started with a double decker bus tour. Elijah loves buses and it was a good way to see a bunch of the park very quickly. If you take the tour, I recommend sitting on the top of the bus on the right side. We were on the top on the left which was ok, but it was a little hard to see most of the exhibits as we went clockwise around the outside of the park for the most part.

On foot we tried to pick the highlights that we could hit before nap time. The pandas were at the top of that list. I didn’t really understand why they were such a big deal, but I learned that there are only 12 of them in the United States! We saw two of them and one was awake and eating. We saw lots of other animals before ending up at the petting zoo and then heading back to the car. Overall Elijah did a good job. He got a little tired of sitting in the stroller and walking the way that WE wanted to go, but for a two year old, you can’t ask much more. He zonked out in the car on the way home and finally got a good nap.

By the time he woke up, some rain had rolled in so we walked around the resort for a while and then headed to dinner. Dinner was down in Chula Vista at Project Pie. It’s a pizza place started by the same guy who started Mod Pizza. More on that in another post but the pizza was good! (There are a lot fancier/better places to eat, but with an antsy two year old, our choices are limited.)

Friday
Rain. What are the odds of visiting San Diego in May and getting rain? Very low. I looked it up. But that didn’t stop the rain. We made the best of it and headed to the USS Midway. Being a huge aircraft carrier, most of the area is inside and it kept us dry. Pro tip: Get there early! We showed up right around the time they opened and had to wait in the ticket line and also wait in line to get into the ship. If you have access to a printer, you can buy your tickets online and save some time.

Tyla wore Elijah in the baby carrier as we explored some of the rooms below decks. It was awesome to see all that living history, but we only scratched the surface since Elijah was along with us. They give you free headsets for an audio tour and the few stops that I listened to were really interesting. Elijah was happy to spend every possible minute in the big hanger right below the flight deck. It was a big space where he could run around and they also had bout 4 cockpits to sit in. For a kid who loves buttons and knobs, this was perfect. While Elijah played, Tyla and I took turns going up to the main flight deck in the rain. They’ve got it loaded down with a bunch of planes from many different decades.

If you had no other obligations, you could easily spend 4-6 hours there. We finished up in about 2. Elijah got a set of wings which he was pretty proud of and then we went back to the hotel.

After lunch and a failed attempt at a nap, we hopped in the car for a ~45 minute drive out to Cabrillo National Monument. It commemorates the first place where Europeans landed in the western US in 1542. There’s a statue and a lighthouse in the park, but I think the big draw is the view. It’s also a good spot to watch whales migrating during specific times of the year Thankfully the rain had cleared out leaving beautiful skies.

Dinner was at the Coronado Brewing Company. This was the place I had been shooting for on Tuesday night. The food was good and the beer was good as well. Nothing stellar but I had no complaints from the six different beers that I sampled.

Saturday
We had to leave for the airport around 11 so we spent the morning packing and walking around the hotel. We had hoped to go swimming in the heated pools one last time but it was so windy and cool that even the heated water didn’t seem very inviting.

The flight back went well. Elijah caught about 20 minutes of sleep on the way into the airport but somehow stayed awake for the entire flight. It’s incredible how much sleep he missed on this trip! He did a great job for being so tired though.

Thanks to Don and Nancy for giving us rides to/from the airport! We arrived home to find everything in order and then settled in to try and resume a more normal routine with Elijah.

While the trip wasn’t exactly what we had been dreaming about, it was still relaxing and enjoyable. San Diego is a nice city. Traffic was almost non-existent and it was easy to navigate. I think we’d both be happy to go back again. We want to spend more sunny time on the beach, check out Sea World and LEGOLAND, and probably visit the zoo again. Thanks Tyla for all the research you did leading up to this trip!

You can also view a Photosynth from our balcony and from the national monument. Note that you can click on any of the photos in this post for a larger view. Bonus points if you can figure out which photos were shot with our Canon T2i and which were shot with the our Lumia Icon phones. These phones take really nice photos!

benmartens May 20, 2015 Travel

TSA Known Traveler Number

Last summer, Tyla and I filled out the paperwork and did the in-person security screening to get TSA Pre approved. The basic idea of the TSA Pre program is that you do some extra up-front security checks, pay a fee, and then on most flights you’ll get to go through faster security screening. You get to leave your laptop in your bag, you don’t have to take off your shoes, etc. While I question the whole security show and this program, I want the benefits of it.

You’re never guaranteed to get TSA Pre marked on your boarding pass even if you have been approved. We’ve flown a couple times since getting approved but we have never gotten to use the TSA Pre line. I looked into it after seeing that we didn’t get it again for our trip to San Diego and … oops… when you get approved, they give you a Known Traveler number and you need to submit that number when you buy your tickets. Boy do I feel dumb! Thankfully a quick call to Southwest got it added to our tickets and we were able to reprint our boarding passes. Voila! TSA Pre approved! It’s amazing what happens when you follow the directions.

benmartens May 18, 2015 Travel

Seattle Waterfront

I’m an eastsider. Just about the only time I venture into Seattle is when we have guests in town. And since my parents were in town, we decided to head downtown to check out the “new” Ferris wheel. We started at Pike Place Market, walked down to the carousel, rode the Ferris wheel and then finished up with lunch at Anthony’s fish bar. Elijah woke up really early that morning but he did a great job even though he got a late nap. He was a little nervous in the Ferris wheel but ended up doing fine. We had never eaten at Anthony’s fish bar and only chose that because Ivar’s was closed during the construction on the waterfront, but I think we’ll go back. The food was good and they validated our parking for the parking garage at the art institute. Good deal!

benmartens March 13, 2015 Travel

Point Defiance Zoo

Over Christmas break, we took a trip down to the Point Defiance Zoo. It’s farther away than Woodland Park but Elijah and I had never been there and it had been a long time for Tyla. Unfortunately the day we picked turned out to be extremely cold (well for Seattle anyway) so we didn’t stay super long, but we did enjoy ourselves. It was nice having an aquarium right inside the same park so that we could spend time inside. Elijah was interested in some of the animals but the best part was the big slide on the playground.

Normally I’d carry our big Canon dSLR on a trip like this, but I decided to only use our new Lumia Icon phones and see how that worked. I was extremely impressed! I missed not having the depth of field options to work with, but the photo quality was more than passable. The Icon takes 43 megapixel images which is kind of silly, but the point is that there is a lot of detail there so you can crop the photo and sort of get an analog to an optical zoom. The Icon also saves images in both JPEG and DNG (a RAW format) which made it nice for editing later in Lightroom. While none of the photos turned out spectacular, I didn’t regret leaving the dSLR at home this time.

Note that with this new website platform, you can now click on any image to view it full screen.

benmartens January 21, 2015 Family, Photography, Travel

Lopez Island

While Dad and Mom were visiting, we spent a couple nights in a rental house out on Lopez Island. It was the first time any of us had been there and I really enjoyed it. It’s one of the smaller islands, and while none of the islands are “busy”, this one was very quiet/local. Highlights included some nice, quiet beaches and a short hike out to a rocky bluff where we could watch a LOT of seals. Our best meal was at Southend General Store and Restaurant. It’s not a place you would drive by and expect to have good food, but I think we would all be happy to eat there again.

I took a bunch of Photosynths. There’s the view from the deck, the park with the seals, and one showing the inside of the house.

Thanks to Dad and Mom for renting the house and letting us crash the party!

benmartens September 30, 2014 Panorama, Travel

Indiana Trip Recap

There have been a few posts that mentioned our trip to Indiana, but I haven’t talked about the overall trip yet. We went back over Memorial Day weekend so that Dad, Luke and I could attend the Indy 500. Tyla and I were unsure how Elijah would handle the flight, but he did really well. We got a direct flight into Midway and then Mom and Dad picked us up so that we’d only have one flight to get through. It wasn’t as easy as our trip at Christmas, but we couldn’t have asked for much more from a one year old who just wants to walk and crawl everywhere.

The weather was pretty nice so we spent quite a bit of time outside going on walks or just pushing Elijah around in a little car that belongs to his cousin David. That thing was a huge hit! Luke, Rachel and David were there for the weekend and Grandpa and Lynnette came for a day too. Since it’s rare to have everyone together, Mom organized a family photo.

It was a nice trip and a good vacation. We relaxed a lot, visited some fun places, and spent a lot of time with my family.

benmartens June 23, 2014 Travel

Back Home Again In Indiana

The longer I live away from Indiana, the more surprised I am when I step off the plane. On this last trip, I kept notes about things that caught my eye:

Billboards are everywhere! Uncle Dean calls them “litter on a stick.” Washington does a great job keeping signage to a minimum height.
It’s FLAT. Hills that I remember being huge are really just little bumps. I attribute some of this to my childhood memory and some to the scope of the hills that I see around me now.
People drive fast. In Washington, all lanes of traffic flow within 5mph on both sides of the speed limit. In the Midwest you might be flowing in traffic right next to a cop and you’re all going 20 over.
There are lots of potholes! Midwest weather really does a number on the roads. The Pacific Ocean keeps our temps mild out here in Seattle so potholes are pretty rare.
All of the trees around our house are so much bigger than I remember. It sounds silly because of course they have grown since I lived there, but it catches my eye every single day.
The clothing choices are different. In the Pacific Northwest, everyone dressed like they are ready for a hike.

Hopefully none of this sounds like I’m making fun of the area. Indiana will always have a special place in my memory!

benmartens June 16, 2014 Travel

2014 Indianapolis 500

Tyla, Elijah and I flew back to Indiana for Memorial Day. This trip was planned around the Indy 500. I lived a few hours away from the race for most of my life but I never went to the race. This year, I decided it was time to change that.

In it’s prime in the 90’s, the race drew 400,000 fans making it the biggest single sporting event in the world! There were some issues with the series, but the event still gets about 200-250,000 visitors each year. With so many people going to a single location, Dad, Luke and I decided we would get there early to fight our way through traffic. We planned to arrive at 9, three hours before the race started, and it worked out quite well. We had very little traffic getting in and found our reserved spot in the North 40 parking lot.

We killed some time walking around and a bit of the track and into the infield. The track is HUGE. It’s 2.5 miles per lap so we obviously didn’t explore very much of the overall festivities.

We arrived in our seats about a half hour before the race started with a cooler full of water and beer, and a backpack full of snacks. We also each rented the FanVision devices which combine driver radio scanners, TV broadcast, and headphones/hearing protection. It’s a great way to keep up with what’s happening in the race.

The weather was perfect making for a great race day. It was between 80 and 85 with not a cloud in the sky. Thankfully there was a breeze throughout the race to keep us from getting too hot in that mass of people. We stayed in our seats for the whole race (most people did) since it was a lot of work to work our way to the aisles.

The race was awesome. I can’t do justice to the sights and sounds of cars traveling in excess of 230mph and doing an entire 2.5 mile lap in less than 42 seconds. I actually felt a little queasy for the first quarter of the race and I think it was a combination of the hot sun and the fact that seeing cars move that fast just doesn’t make sense when you see it.

Watching on TV gives you a better view of the strategy involved in the race, but being there in person gives you all the emotion of the race: screaming fans, roaring engines, cars whizzing by, etc. It was an experience I’ll never forget! We sat near the top of the stands in Turn 3 which gave us a great view all the way from Turn 2 through Turn 4. The more expensive seats are on the front stretch, but I think we were all happy with our choice. Remember that if you buy tickets for a race, the higher you sit, the better your seats!

When the race ended, we took our time getting back to the car (not that we had much choice with the sea of humanity trying to leave). Instead of starting our car and moving a couple feet every 10 minutes, we fired up the grill and cooked some brats. That worked out perfectly and by the time we were ready to leave, the traffic was just dying down enough for us to get out without much trouble.

Our ride back took a little longer than planned because we got a flat tire. That’s normally not a problem for a car full of three guys but the safety cable that straps the tire to the bottom of the car was rusted on and we couldn’t get it off. Someone who lived nearby finally stopped to see what was going on and came back with just the tools we needed to get it loose. The rest of the drive was uneventful.

I’m so happy with how the day turned out and thankful that I could experience this. Thanks to Dad and Luke for going too! And thanks to Tyla for watching Elijah all day while I was playing! All that being said, this was more of a single experience than something I want to do every year. It’s great to try but I don’t need to do it regularly.

Photos and video don’t do this justice but it will at least give you a taste of what we saw and heard.

benmartens June 9, 2014 Sports, Travel

Portland Beer

I already wrote an article about our weekend trip to Portland, but our dinner deserves it’s own post. Tyla mentioned she was hungry for pizza so I headed to Yelp to find a place with good pizza that was also very family friendly. Hopworks Brewery showed up and I thought it could be the perfect dinner as long as Tyla didn’t mind celebrating our anniversary at a brewery. She was game so we went for it.

Absolutely incredible. This was one of the best restaurant experiences I’ve ever had. First of all, there were plenty of kids around and they even offered us a seat next to a play area (which we declined since Elijah isn’t really old enough to enjoy it yet.) Even though it was 6pm on a Saturday night, we were seated after only a 5-10 minute wait. Tyla enjoyed her pizza and I loved my habanero burger. The service was excellent and my 12 beer sampler platter was fantastic! Hopworks specializes in organic beer. That’s not normally something I filter my selection by, but whether it was organic or not, there were some delicious beers in the rotation. If I had to choose a winner, it would be the Velvet ESB. I’ll be on the hunt to find it locally.

Portland produces a lot of fantastic beer. I don’t know where Hopworks officially ranks on that scale, but they are tops in my book. More research is needed though.

benmartens April 23, 2014 Travel

Portland Weekend

Tyla, Elijah and I made a quick trip to Portland for a little getaway to celebrate our fourth anniversary. It was our first real family vacation and boy is it different with a baby! Between his naps on Saturday, we took him for his first swim in a pool which he loved, walked along the river and through the huge market which Tyla loved, and then had dinner at a brewery which I loved. Something for everyone! Actually, I think we all enjoyed all of the activities. The weather was beautiful so it was hard to complain.

The hotel left something to be desired as it had more road noise than any place I’ve ever stayed before. The room came with a white noise machine and we had that cranked up along with Elijah’s white noise machine and I could STILL hear the cars. Elijah thought it was great though. He spent a lot of time standing in the window watching the cars go by.

On Sunday morning we visited Pastor Johnson’s church. He was our vicar and youth group leader way back when I was in high school and I went to his church in Minneapolis a bit too when I was working there. It was great to catch up with him again and see all of his energy being poured into the Portland area. The trip back went pretty smoothly with Elijah sleeping about half the way. He woke up right next to an exit with a Dairy Queen. How could resist?

I hear lots of people say how much they love Portland. I don’t know that I’ll ever love any city. I’d much prefer a huge tract of land with nobody else in sight. But as far as cities go, Portland is nice. It’s like Seattle but even more eccentric. They have some beautiful parks, great food trucks, and awesome beer. The city layout was frustrating. Even with two GPS’s going I managed to make a wrong turn on just about every drive. I understand how that evolves on the east coast where cities are really old, but on the west coast there’s not much of an excuse for it.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

benmartens April 18, 2014 Travel

Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Just trying to get through life without looking stupid, so far it's not going very well.