30.12.07

Year in Review (Part 2)


Over the holidays, I received feedback from my father that he was upset at my first attempt at a "year in review" column. So, in my continued attempt to satiate my father's hunger for my writing - I'll write more.



Best Dinner of 2007: This happened before I moved to Washington. I was with my mother in Philadelphia - we tried a new Spanish restaurant near my apartment called Tinto. What a place! Amazing wine, amazing service, amazing food. My mother and I started the meal off with some Spanish cheese and honey. A combination that obviously affected my mother - during Christmas she had various cheeses and honey for appetizers two different nights. It's a restaurant that I'd recommend to EVERYONE that has time for dinner in Philadelphia.



Best Book of 2007: This is an easy one for me. I read Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point over a couple days in June. I had just moved to Washington and had about 10 days before my new job started. Each day I'd hang out at my pool and read Malcom's book. Really great stuff. Very easy to absorb, and totally applicable to everyone's everyday life - much like Tinto, it's something I'd recommend reading to EVERYONE.



Worst Airport: This is a very hard category. I've been to so many awful airports this year....I think I'll break this into a couple different categories.



Worst Airport Late at Night: This is a no-brainer. New Orleans International Airport. After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina a tornado hit the airport just a couple weeks later. It hasn't recovered from either. It's a HUGE airport - with the capability of processing thousands of people a day. After the flood, flights were slashed into MSY and after the tornado, the infrastructure was in trouble. Even at peak times during the day, the airport feels empty, vacant, and kinda creepy. Late at night all of those feelings are multiplied. You walk into an airport designed to compete against the largest, busiest in the country, and you find yourself alone, a stranger in a quiet superstructure.



Worst Airport Overall: This is a tie. It goes to RNO & BNA (Reno, NV & Nashville, TN). I hate both airports. Reno is under so much construction/renovation that you feel like you're walking down Chestnut St. in Philadelphia while a new building is being built alongside you. Uncomfortable, crowded, and unnecessarily glitzy - I pine to figure out what the airport's GM thinks on his drive to work each morning. Nashville's airport is different. It's being redesigned as well and I just hope it's for the better. BNA is a skelton of what it used to be. American Airlines used to have significant operations here, but after they pulled out, the airport found itself with about 30 more gates than it needed. Much like New Orleans, it's empty, quiet, docile, and annoying. Security lines are long for no reason, there are hardly any food options once inside security, and the highways around BNA aren't easy to navigate.



Best Domestic Airport: Of the airports I visited this year, this is a hotly contested category. Here's my Top 5:
1. Washingon - National
2. Tri-Cities (TN)
3. Denver, CO
4. Ft. Smith, AR
5. Rapid City, SD
Besides Denver, these airports are all small, efficient, and friendly. After growing up in Philadelphia, the idea of breezing through both check-in and security still gets me excited. At TRI, FSM, RAP, & DCA this is a reality of everyday travel. It's also nice to be offered free wi-fi at these airports (at DCA I access free wi-fi at the Delta Crown Room Club) - it's great to be able to do work prior to getting onto the plane.



Favorite Destination of 2007: Chicago. I'd never really spent time there before November 1st. I had to go there for a conference and despite only being there for one day, really enjoyed everything about the city. The airport (ORD) isn't too fun - but it's an easy cab ride to downtown - and once I was checked into the Westin Michigan Ave, I felt very much at home. Great restaurants, shopping, nightlife, and living opportunities were all close by - hopefully, I'll get the chance to spend more time there and learn more about the Second City.



One last thing - the picture at the top of this column is from Salt Lake City. Taken on my return trip to Washington this past week, it made me really want to hit the slopes....ideally, in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Tooch, it feels like your running out of steam on your blog. We're all still checking in and reading, so don't slack off. Give us that 3 minutes of bored-at-work entertainment that we desperately need to get through the day.

I think you need a call slogan or blog sign off line. Something like: "Keeping in Tooch from the Skies above" or "Until next time I Tooch down". Both of these play on your name using "Tooch" to represent "touch". It's quite clever I think, but feel free to be creative in your own special way. Add your own special Tooch. See that? See what I did there?

Happy New Year dude.