Travels with Tish Girlfriends’ Getaway Guide

Midwest Airlines and PayPal have teamed up to help you get away to your favorite destination with an extra $50 in your pocket. It’s too good to pass up this summer. Midwest has no blackout dates, either. That’s $50 off per ticket on your reservation. So if 4 of you fly, you’ll save $200! Like I said — too good to pass up! You’ll need to purchase your tickets online and use the special promo code. Get that promo code here and get away for a few days with your friends.

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On my 4th trip to Kansas City, I’m still amazed at how much I have not yet explored. My focus this time was on visiting the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I had heard it had a fine collection and a brand new wing that opened this spring. (In fact, Midwest Airlines is one of the museum sponsors and offers a discount for travel to Kansas City to see it. Just book your ticket online at Midwest Airlines and use promo code CMZ8005 to save 10% on airfare to Kansas City.)

An Impressive Art Collection.
My benchmark for a great art collection is the Art Institute of Chicago. I grew up visiting that art museum and am always blown away by its grandeur. Well, the Nelson-Atkins is no slouch — I was blown away by its grandeur and the impressive depth of its art collection. One of the first galleries I entered had several major sculptures, including Auguste Rodin’s Adam. In its expansive outdoor sculpture garden, I would discover yet another Rodin, The Thinker. Not a copy or imitation, but one of Rodin’s actual bronze castings. Rodin himself had supervised this casting before he died.

Ancient to Modern Art
I was amazed at the breadth of the Nelson-Atkins collection. Ancient arts included massive Egyptian limestone works, terra-cotta Greek vases of superb quality, and even more massive Italian marble statuary. The museum even has a reconstructed 14th Century medieval cloister from an Augustinian monastery.

Some of the prominent artists include Gaugin, Degas, Joan Miro, Kandinsky, Picasso, Renoir, Manet, Monet, Pisarro, El Greco, della Robbia, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Rembrandt, van Gogh, Rubens, Gainsborough, Georgia O’Keefe, Winslow Homer and William Merritt Chase. Lautrec’s original and quite famous can-can girl, Jane Avril, is on display — I recognized it because it is so often reproduced as a vintage French poster. The Baroque period paintings were enormous, perhaps 10-12 feet high. The detail was extraordinary and the fabric painted on the canvas was vibrant and seemed real enough to touch.

Well-Designed Galleries
I felt that each gallery was beautifully designed with color and layout to really highlight the artwork. Wall colors were dramatic, galleries were spacious. A very enriching environment. And the building itself is a work of art with marble staircases and columns. The newly-opened Bloch Building, in contrast, is ultra modern and houses the very modern works of art. The outdoor sculpture garden is magnificent and a pleasure to stroll through.

TIPS:

1) Nelson-Atkins Museum is just 3 blocks from the very chic Country Club Plaza shopping district. Lots of hotels and restaurants.
2) Admission is free to the museum, but the parking garage charges $5.
3) Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art is also a block or so away from both the Nelson-Atkins and the Country Club Plaza.

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So maybe you have a visual image of New York in your head. Skyscrapers. Broadway theaters near Times Square. Elegant hotels and restaurants. The Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero. Empire State Building. Regular tourist stuff. It’s all good, but…

New York City is all of that and so very much more. It has crazy fun places to visit and oddities to explore. If you let it, the city can surprise you, delight you and entice you to visit again and again. I’m hooked!

What will I see on my next trip? YOU VOTE.
After hours of online research, I came up with a list of possibilities. Why don’t you pick one or two that you’d like to hear about and vote for it by adding your comment below this post. I’ll try to incorporate the most popular items into my itinerary.

1) Canal Street. For me, this is a must-do. I just can’t visit New York without catching the latest trends in knock-off purses and where the hot deals are being made. “How good of a knock-off can I find on this trip?” is always my goal.

2) A Cruise Around Manhattan Island. Ladies, we have a number of choices in this category and I’d like to try at least one of them. A Happy Hour Sail on the Harbor, Sunday Brunch or a Sunset/Harbor Lights Sailing on an 82 ft. double masted Maine schooner. Sounds very classy. Imagine sailing around the entire island of Manhattan! Check out the Classic Harbor Line.

3) Free Kayaking on the River. Seriously, free kayaking at the NYC Downtown Boathouse on the Hudson River.

4) Visiting the Trapeze School? Oh, that’s another rare commodity — a real trapeze school in a big top along the river. Has to be interesting!

5) Hookahs and Thick Coffee? Okay, this is a crazy thing, but it could be fun to check out the cafe — a somewhat clandestine little place in The Village that makes you feel like you’re in a foreign country. (Mmm, I wonder which of my girlfriends would be game for this one?)

6) Food/TV Fantasies? It might be fun to see if the real “soup nazi” (featured on Seinfeld) serves good soup and if he really tells people “No soup for you!” His soup kitchen is in midtown. Or maybe I should stop at the Magnolia Bakery, made famous in Sex and the City. That’s down on Bleeker Street.

7) Funky Shoe Shopping. My tip for shoe shopping is a couple of years old, but sounds worth pursuing. It’s a whole street of shoe shops — from sneakers to ballet flats all at bargain basement prices. I don’t think they’re designer brands, but sounds like they’re pretty trendy.

Rocky Horror Picture Show, Anyone? If you’re a people watcher, you might get a kick out of this. A theater in Chelsea features Rocky Horror Picture Show nights every Friday and Saturday. People come in costume, bring props, sing and dance and have a great time. Something quite unique to NYC. (I have no idea why that smiley face is replacing the number 8. I can’t change it. Crazy, isn’t it?)

9) Williamsburg in Brooklyn. This neighborhood sounds like it’s a must-do. Lots of up-and-coming designers, little shops, vintage stuff, emerging street art, lots of new restaurants. It’s an art scene that is quickly becoming the new Village. One of the clubs hosts a bi-weekly Williamsburg Spelling Bee for adults. I’d like to see the area before it goes mainstream.

10) Monday Night at The Iridium. Les Paul, well into his 90s, is a music legend who plays guitar every Monday night at this club at 51st and Broadway. He invented the electric guitar, has many Grammy Awards to his name and is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. His Gibson guitars are used by top musicians, like Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Steve Miller, Brian Setzer and others, who are also known to show up at the club to jam with Les. I’d like to be there when they do! (By the way, Les Paul is revered in his hometown of Waukesha, WI.)

11) Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market. If you watch Law and Order, you’ve probably gotten the idea that Hell’s Kitchen isn’t such a great place. But my research radar tells me that it’s becoming a bit more upscale than locals would like — well, relatively upscale. Some very good and inexpensive restaurants are there as well as a weekend flea market that has become a hot spot for local celebs to frequent.

12) Washington Square. This NY landmark is rich in history. Probably made most famous by the “beatnik” era of the 50s. You’ll see street performers and artists almost every day, making it an entertaining spot to visit in Greenwich Village.

VOTE NOW. Just fill out the comment form below with the top places you’d want me to visit, so I can report on them after my next NYC visit.

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TIP: Don’t forget that you can see a lot of this stuff in just one day, saving the cost of a hotel. Check out this post for a $200 roundtrip fare.

Just came back from a summer getaway in Las Vegas. Hot, but that’s not a problem because you’re inside most of the time. Here are some ideas for your trip:

1. Gaming. Try a new game. Blackjack, Craps, Texas Hold’em and more. Most casinos offer free gaming lessons. Here’s a list to check out. And if you like a little schmalz with your gambling fun, stop at the Riviera and try the $40 of slot play for $20 deal. They also give you lots of freebies — hats, key chains, bags, fun little chachkes. By the way, you’ll find penny slots at every casino — they’re very popular.
   
2. Vegas Art is More Than Skin Deep. You truly can take in some fine art exhibits in Las Vegas. Bellagio’s Gallery of Fine Art is featuring Picasso ceramics. The Venetian offers Madam Tussaud’s gallery of lifelike wax celebrities plus The Guggenheim Hermitage Museum featuring modern masters like Manet, Picasso, van Gogh and Cezanne. The Luxor features an exact reproduction of King Tut’s tomb. And don’t forget the Liberace Las Vegas Museum — as spectacular as the man himself.
3. Go Downtown. If you’re staying on the Strip, cab it downtown to the Golden Nugget, an elegant casino, fine dining and a AAA 4-Diamond hotel. Check out the Fremont Street Experience, an evening light show just outside the Nugget. A few of the less sophisticated casinos are across from the Nugget, but are very fun. (But be sure to keep your purse or wallet close while in the crowd watching the light show.)
4. Get a 99 Cent Hot Dog at Slots-A-Fun. Toward the north end of the Strip, next to Circus Circus, is a very fun casino that is far less sophisticated. One of its highlights is a HUGE hot dog (enough for 2) for just 99 cents. Great on a gambler’s budget!
5. Enjoy the Free Shows. Most casinos have free entertainment in their lounges or right on the casino floor. The Riviera had a great Frank Sinatra singer that we enjoyed while we poked around the tables and machines. Circus Circus still features world-class circus acts that you can see for free in the casino. At Binion’s Horseshoe Casino (across from the Golden Nugget), you’ll find the Binion Dollar Babes entertaining mid-casino throughout the evening — very fun.
6. Luxuriate at a Spa. About a dozen of the “best spas in Las Vegas” are featured in this about.com post. Pick one out and treat yourself. On my recent trip to Las Vegas, we stayed at the brand new Hilton Grand Vacation Club on the north end of the Strip — and I indulged in an 80-minute aromatherapy massage treatment in the Club’s elegant spa — at $130, it is perhaps a tad less expensive than those at the big hotels.
7. Jungles and Wild Animals. Step into the Tropical Rain Forest at the Mirage, filled with orchids, waterfalls and lagoons. Also at the Mirage is Siegfried & Roy’s Royal White Tiger habitat. At Mandalay Bay, you’ll find a walk-through Shark Reef.

Getting to Las Vegas
Midwest Airlines offers roundtrip, nonstop service between Milwaukee and Las Vegas. Also has easy and convenient connections in Milwaukee to get East-Coast’rs to Vegas on “The best care in the air.” Starting in October, Midwest will add a 4th daily nonstop roundtrip to its schedule. By the way, Midwest also offers very competitive airfares.

Our Vegas Accommodations.
Three of us stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club timeshare toward the north end of the Strip. A very new, all timeshare-suite hotel — that also offers rooms and suites for rent to non-timeshare-owners. Very luxurious. Concierge. It’s like a hotel. Health club and great pool area. Its deli offers a wide range of really good food (including frozen to make in your suite), fresh-to-order sandwiches and much more all at reasonable prices. So if you choose to save a few dollars by popping something into the oven, you can do that as most rooms come with fully-appointed kitchen and in-room laundry. Looks like rates for a 1 BR King (with living room, kitchen and laundry) start at $139/night. Studios are $99. A great place to stay if you want to relax during the day between casino visits. Also, the trolley and Las Vegas Strip bus stop in front.

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2nd Morning of our 2-Day Trip.

The Today Show. The five of us headed for the Plaza at Rockefeller Center for the Today Show. Even though it was strictly a girls’ getaway, we were from Midwest Airlines and thought we’d bring little packs of our famous chocolate chip cookies to hand out to other folks watching the show on the Plaza. Oops! The security guards — and there are plenty of them, said we could not hand out food. The guards were very nice — ex-NYC police officers. They liked our Midwest Airlines baseball caps, so we gladly offered our hats to them.

Although chilly at 7 am, the show was fun to watch. Meredith, Matt, Ann and Al came out a number of times and made a point of greeting the people lined up along the barricade. Three of us — Marie, Jan and Jackie, got up to the front and were personally greeted. Ann particularly made very personal observations and comments to each person she greeted. Ann liked Marie’s lipgloss color! Kind of a thrill. My other friend — another Marie — and I ducked into Dean & Deluca’s for a hot coffee.

Ground Zero, Century 21 and Canal Street.
After that, we split up 3 and 2 as we had different goals for the day. Three took the subway down to Ground Zero (click to see live cam) and the great discount department store across the street –Century 21. Two of us stopped at a store called Daffy’s as we headed back to the hotel and then down Madison Avenue for some sightseeing. By early afternoon, we met our friends in Chinatown and searched for great deals on the latest purse styles. Two of the gals also bought colorful pashmina scarves at 3/$10. Now that’s a deal.

Jackie really wanted a Louis Vuitton tote bag. We were directed down to a “corner” on Canal where the LV business is done. No shop. Just people asking you what you want, telling you to wait there and then some showing up with the piece you wanted. Then the haggling begins and Jackie did a pretty good job. Marie, however, did even better on a small LV clutch. The seller wanted $35; Marie said she had bought one awhile ago for $15. He said no, $30. She said no. They went back and forth. She finally said no and we started to walk across the street. The seller came chasing after us with final price within $3 of Marie’s original offer. Success! It pays to be persistent and walk away if the price doesn’t suit you!

NEXT: Strolling Through SoHo

TIPS:
1) Use the Subway. It’s efficient, very busy and filled with people and only $2 for a quick ride up or downtown.
2) Haggling is the Thing. Don’t ever pay what the shopkeeper asks for a purse or pashmina, sunglasses or jewelry. Start low. If you buy more than one thing, you have better bargaining power. So consider putting your purchases together to get a better price.
3) Use Cash Only. Be well prepared with cash when you visit New York. Canal Street — use only cash. Even a few of the smaller restaurants accept only cash.
4) Check Flickr for More Photos. I’ll add more photos from this New York trip on Flickr — in the right column of this blog. You can click on the pictures for larger viewing and to see the rest of my collection.

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