Traveling with the Jones

When the weekend comes, we like to get away together or meet up in a fun city. Sometimes we fly in on Saturday morning and leave early on Sunday… still time for fun, like on our recent weekend wandering to Portland, Oregon.

7 Reasons to Visit Portland, Oregon

 

1) PDX – The Portland International Airport is spacious, sparkling clean and has terrific food, coffee, beer, wine and shopping. Often, there are musicians providing free entertainment. With the MAX Light Rail just steps away from the baggage claim, you can be in downtown Portland in less than an hour.

 

2) The MAX Light Rail — It’s easy to get around Portland on the MAX Light Rail system that connects downtown Portland with Beaverton, Clackamas, Gresham, Hillsboro, North/Northeast Portland and the Portland International Airport.  You can travel from the Portland International Airport to Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland in about 50 minutes or less — for as little at $5 round trip.

 

3) Voodoo Doughnuts — While in the Portland Airport, you are likely to see people carrying large pink boxes tied with string. They’ve been to Voodoo Doughnuts, and if you are going to Portland, you’ve got to head to 22 SW 3rd Avenue to see why all of the excitement over sugary pastry.  Plan to wait in line, and it helps to study the doughnut menu ahead of time.

 

Try the Portland Cream  — “Raised yeast doughnut filled with Bavarian cream. Topped with chocolate and two eyeballs, representing the vision of our great city,” reads the description of this one. Notice the mist from the light rain, while enjoying on the pink picnic tables outside.

 

 

4) Powell’s Books  — Nirvana for book lovers, room after room at Powell’s are filled with new and used books on every subject imaginable.

 

5) The Veritable Quandary –there is no shortage of great restaurants in Portland.  Through Yelp we found this one on a visit several years ago.  We’re thrilled to report the food is just as fabulous as we remember it.  The menu changes daily but often features some of our favorites such as the Roasted Wild Mushroom & Baby Spinach Salad, Osso Bucco and Seafood Stew, plus the restaurant has a terrific wine list.

 

6) Oregon Pinot Noir — It’s fun to head on a side-trip to the Willamette Valley and Dundee Hills wine regions, but if you can’t spare the time there’s plenty of Oregon Pinot to be had in Portland.  We enjoyed this bottle of Scott Paul Pinot Noir with dinner at the Veritable Quandary restaurant. A good wine bar or restaurant will serve it in the special Oregon Pinot Noir Glass.

 

 

 

7) Powell’s Books @ PDX Airport — if you can’t make the downtown location, or if you just need a second “Powell’s” fix before your flight, this airport shop makes a flight delay seem almost welcome.

What’s your favorite reason to visit Portland, Oregon?  Please share in comments below. 

Recommended Books for Further Reading on Portland:

Insiders’ Guide to Portland, Oregon,

Portland City Walks: Twenty Explorations In and Around Town

Newcomer’s Handbook for Moving to and Living in Portland

 

Check out these other Weekend Wanderings posts: 

• Weekend Wanderings: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Weekend Wanderings: Chicago
• Postcards from Milwaukee

 

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This guest post is by Brenda Richman, a Kansas City-based small business consultant. 

Sydney Harbor Photo by Gnangarra. 

 

Are you thinking about visiting Sydney, Australia? Here are 9 Fun Facts About the Top Tourist Sites In Sydney: 

1) Sydney is the largest city in Australia, with a population of 4.6 million people who call themselves Sydneysiders.  Seeming to stretch on forever. the city of Sydney sprawls over 670 square miles. It is a bustling center for industry, business, manufacturing and a major world port.

2) Sydney’s splendor is its harbor – one of the most beautiful harbors in the world with over 180 miles of shoreline. One of the best ways to enjoy this exceptional harbor and get a different perspective on the sights of Sydney is to sail in the harbor via a tour boat, ferry or cruise ship.

Bondi Beach                                                                                              Photo by Athena Lao

 

3) Sydney has 34 grand beaches are within easy reach of downtown. Bondi Beach and Manly Beach are two of the most famous. Sydney is surrounded by superb coastline with golden beaches, dramatic headlands, quiet bays and river estuaries – a haven for all things sun and water.  Great swimming, surfing, fishing and boating abound.

4) Sydney’s 342 sunny days each year and warm subtropical climate make it an outdoor city. Summer daytime temperatures average 78 degrees, and winters are mild with daytime temperatures averaging 61 degrees. Rainfall averages 47″ per year.

5) Sydney proper lies on one side of the harbor and North Sydney on the other with the famous Harbor Bridge spanning the bay to link the two areas. It is the world’s second largest single-span bridge and carries vehicles, rail, pedestrian and bicycle traffic.   Nicknamed “The Coathanger” because of its arch-based design, climbing the bridge is a popular activity with both tourists and locals.

Sydney Opera House            Photo by 

Jacques GrieíŸmayer

 

 

 

 

6) Sydney’s Opera House is the international symbol for Australia. Besides being gorgeous to look at, you can tour it, take in a performance, or better yet do both. In the late 1950’s, the government decided to build an opera house on Bennelong Point – a beautiful headland bounded by the Harbor on three sides and the Royal Botanic Gardens on the fourth. They invited architects worldwide to submit designs. Of the 223 entries submitted, Danish architect Joern Utzon’s was selected. From inception to completion, took 17 years and $100 million which was paid for in only two years with a lottery.

7) British Captain Arthur Phillip and 1,000 convicts set foot on the shores of Sydney Cove in 1788 to start a penal colony. At The Rocks, this historic area of town, you can see some of the settlement’s restored buildings and browse shops, galleries, and restaurants.

 

Giraffes at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia

 

8) The Taronga Park Zoo on a north shore promontory overlooks the harbor and downtown Sydney. It’s just a quick ferry ride across the harbor. The zoo’s environment is open and natural for the animals, which makes a visit more enjoyable for you as well as for the critters.

 

The  Blue Mountains                    Photo by Sardaka

9)  The Blue Mountains just west of Sydney, are a popular destination for rock climbing, mountain biking, and hiking as well as other adventure sports. They were named for the blue tinge the mountains take on when viewed from a distance. They consist mainly of sandstone plateaus, dissected by gorges up to 2490 feet deep, and thick eucalyptus forests. The highest point is Mount Werong at 3,986 ft.

Where would you like to see  in a visit “downunder”?  Please share in comments below. 

Entrepreneur, Brenda Richman, has a passion for experiencing the world through travel adventures.

Learn more about Brenda’s travel experiences here, and her consulting work helping businesses increase market penetration and enhance the quality of their client experiences here.

 

If you will also be visiting New Zealand, you might enjoy”;”;.

• Destination Discovery: Rotorua, New Zealand
• Destination Discovery: Bay of Islands, New Zealand
• Destination Discovery: Exploring Auckland and New Zealand’s Northland

 Other “Fun Facts” posts “;.

• 26 Fun Facts to Know About Hawaii
• 12 Fun Facts You May Not Know About the Great Wall of China
• Visiting Alaska? 22 Fun Facts You Might Want to Know
• 15 Fun Facts about Cornwall, England
• 14 Fun Facts to Know About Rotorua, New Zealand

 
Recommended Books for Further Reading:

 Top 10 Sydney

Frommer’s Sydney Day by Day (Frommer’s Day by Day – Pocket) Sydney, Australia Travel Guide – 3-Day *Best-Of* Itinerary

 

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Obtaining Global Entry and TSA Pre-Check Was Our Best Travel Find of 2012

We typically fly internationally an average of two to six trips per year.

As much as we love to explore the world, we don’t love long immigration queues after international flights to re-enter the U.S.

Earlier this year, we spent $100 each to apply for Global Entry. It was the best decision we made. Even if we only left the country once every year or two, we would consider our Global Entry cards a fantastic deal at a cost of only $20 per year.

What’s Global Entry? 
“Global Entry is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. Though intended for frequent international travelers, there is no minimum number of trips necessary to qualify for the program.”

What this means is that if you apply for and are approved for Global Entry, you skip the regular Customs line when you enter the US and go to a special automated kiosks at select airports.  You scan your passport in the machine, put your fingers on the pad for fingerprint matching, smile for the camera, answer four questions, and then the machine spits out your clearance.  After collecting your bags, you go through another special line (past all those angry glares of those waiting in the long lines) and out you go, on your way.  There is always the possibility that you get an X on your form, which requires further screening, but it is still expedited.

We’ve used Global Entry twice since October, and couldn’t be more thrilled and amazed with the program.

Global Entry involves  a detailed application process and background check, with your fingerprints matched when you enter the country.  That’s okay, we wouldn’t want the approval process to be too easy.  But for those who are willing to pay the fee and submit to the background check, there are two fantastic benefits:

• fast entry through Customs & Immigration
• simultaneous approval for TSA PreCheck Expedited Screening Initiative

When approved for TSA PreCheck, you qualify for expedited screening through designated screening lanes at some U.S. airports.  When going through a TSA PreCheck screening lane, you generally DO NOT have to remove your shoes, light outwear/jacket, belt, nor do you have to remove your clear quart bag holding liquids nor your laptop from your carry-on luggage.

How to Apply For Global Entry and TSA PreCheck

To apply, you first register online, and fill out a somewhat extensive application that includes your work and international travel history over the past five years.

You pay a $100 fee. (Some airlines and hotel loyalty programs paid for the application fee of their best customers.) Once approved, Global Entry is good for five years, so for $20 a year, it’s a great deal.

Next in the process is the in-person interview and fingerprinting. The interviews are only conducted in select locations.

We live in Kansas City and our nearest location was Chicago.  However, while we were on a layover in Boston, we went by the office without an appointment, and since we had time to wait, they fit us in between other appointments.

Not Every Airline Participates in the TSA PreCheck Expedited Screening Initiative

Currently only five US airlines participate in TSA PreCheck Expedited Screening: Alaska, American, Delta, United and US Airways. Even when flying on these airlines, TSA PreCheck is only available at these selected airports.

TSA PreCheck isn’t a perfect solution:  even when you have qualified for TSA PreCheck and you are clearing security at a TSA PreCheck Airport i.e. Seattle, if your ticket is on Southwest, then you can’t use the PreCheck lines.

In addition, passengers are always subject to random, unpredictable screening measures.

These issues aside, we heartily applaud the Global Entry and TSA PreCheck initiatives.  If you travel internationally even one time a year, we recommend that you consider applying.

Are you already a Global Entry and/or a TSA PreCheck traveler?  What do you think about the programs? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

Other travel tips you might enjoy reading”;.

• How to Get an Onboard Credit For Every Cruise You Take
• How I Saved $85 on a Rental Car with Hotwire (and you can too!)
• Dealing With Guilt From Your Cat When You Travel
• Find a Better Seat on Your Next Flight: 2 Tools to Help

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