We went back to Costa Rica this year after going last year for a week . This time was different. The purpose of the trip was to see what it would be like living there as a Plan B for retirement. We stayed in an Airbnb in Núcleo Sábana in San Jose for six weeks. It took us awhile to be “comfortable with being uncomfortable” with our limited Spanish. One of the things I have been researching is the…
This concert was a little different than most. While most of the time each artist comes out and does their set, they took turns doing a few songs each and did a few together. There isn’t too much else to say, it was pretty good. We stayed at the Omni Hotel and took the Marta train back and forth. State Farm Arena was in walking distance
Our next concert of the year was Ice Cube. He said that his “Mic was live” the entire concert, meaning no backing track, no lip syncing, no call and response. just him rapping live the entire night except for his few collabs. It was definitely the best rap concert we have been to and ties with the Wutang Clan . We stayed back at the Hyatt House . The concert was on a Tuesday. We stayed in Atlanta…
We saw that they were having the hip hop concert in Atlanta. The only person I really wanted to see was Too $Hirt since I haven’t seen him in concert and that was on my bucket list. Youngbloodz was a bonus. I didn’t really care about the rest. It was as good as expected. The only missing artist was Scarface. But we had seen him before and he was … meh. Then after we booked it, I found out that…
Niagara Falls has been on our bucket list since 2020. We were supposed to go that June but then a little world wide pandemic happened. Then we were planning on going in 2023 but plans changed and I went to the US Tennis Open in NYC. But we finally made it this year. We stayed at the Embassy Suites Fallsview . We were upgraded to the presidential suite with great views We met our friends from…
Well it’s been a crazy summer. I had a project at work that was supposed to be a 30 day project. But ended up extending two calendar months because of trips to DC, London and Niagara Falls. We originally planned to go to London a week earlier than we did. We found out that Lionel Ritchie was performing at the O2 the next week. We changed our flight to coincide. It was a direct flight on Virgin…
I didn’t know what to expect going into the WuTang Clan concert. I didn’t know any of their music and the only artist I knew anything about out of the nine was Method Man. I wasn’t disappointed. WuTang fans are another level. All of the members still had stage presence and have aged well. When my wife originally mentioned going, we said we owed it to ourselves to buy the tickets since it would…
We went to Cincinnati for the Queens Tour. We could have seen them in Atlanta. But Ohio was on our bucket list so why not? We landed late Friday night, did a food tour in the morning and went to the concert that evening. We got what we expected. Four legends including Gladys Knight who did what she could. But wasn’t as healthy or spry as the rest. Definitely worth it.
I wouldn’t trade lives with a soul. This one’s mine. I earned every inch of it the hard way. Not through luck. Not through handshakes or mentors or some neat little roadmap. I clawed it together out of mistakes, misfires, and moments no one saw but me. And now that it works, now that I can breathe, I don’t owe anyone the clean version. It cost more than anyone warned me. Not in money or…
We saw Anthony Hamilton and Fantasia. We went mostly to hang out with friends that were in town. We both agreed that the Fantasia concert that we went to in Chicago was better. I didn’t know too many songs from either of them. But Hamilton was pretty good.
DC has been on our bucket list since 2020 before COVID and we finally went this past week. It was cold and raining most of the time we were there. But we did get a chance to go to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture . We were not ready for the emotional toll it took on us. I can’t really say too much else about it. On a brighter note we went to the…
We took a quick trip to Atlanta GA last weekend to go to the Millennium Tour. We have learned to adjust our expectations of the performances when going to concerts of older performers, especially hip hop artists. One good thing was that they started on time, all of the artists started and stopped on time and there wasn’t a large gap between performers. This was definitely a mixed bag though. Nivea…
Platinum Medallion is the only Delta status we care about. It guarantees Comfort+ upgrades, which means extra legroom. The way we did it this year, and how we plan to do it going forward after Delta changed how status is earned, is a mix of flying, credit card spending, and the $7,500 MQD Headstart we get just for having three Delta Amex cards. That headstart is a huge boost—it means we only need…
Costa Rica was a wonderful vacation. As soon as we landed at SJO and went through customs we walked over to the domestic terminal to take our flight to Manuel Antonio . We boarded our flight to Manuel Antonio on a 15 passenger Cessna. And landed at XQP 30 minutes later. This is the terminal at XQP. Yes it’s a hut. After a short ride in a taxi, we were at Los Altos Resort . We spent five days in…
Our first trip of the year. It’s been way too long since I’ve been on a plane… This past weekend, my wife and I went to see New Edition in Las Vegas. I wasn’t sure what to expect because,, a lot of artists from that era haven’t aged well when it comes to live performances. When we saw Dru Hill and Luther Campbell, they were awful and I was especially disappointed when I saw Janet Jackson—the show…
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg describes third spaces as the social environments outside of home (first space) and work (second space) where people connect—coffee shops, gyms, bars, hobby groups, and other places that foster community. These spaces aren’t just about socializing; they create a sense of belonging. When I started working remotely after COVID in 2020, I lost more than an office—I lost my…
Going into 2024, we had no major plans besides selling our home in Atlanta. This ended up being the year of concerts with two in Atlanta, three in Las Vegas, two in Orlando and one in Los Angeles. We also went to two outdoor music festivals - never again. We were only able to remove two new states from our bucket list - Maryland and Hawaii . We kept going back and forth about getting a car and…
When we first bought our condotel , we were told that we could only stay in our unit up to 180 days. I looked at our paperwork, and everything we signed said “unlimited use as owners”. We tried to book our stay for a year and we were told that we can’t stay more than 180 consecutive days. Now, we have to pack everything we own in suitcases every 180 days, vacate our unit, store our belongings…
I was talking to my coworker and he mentioned that he was going to see Stevie Wonder. Seeing Stevie Wonder was on my bucket list and this may be his last concert. So I decided to do an overnight trip. The concert was pretty good. Too many guest singers, too much talking and my view on the floor wasn’t the greatest. It was nice to meet my coworker in person. I stayed at the AC Hotel in Downtown Los…
We flew to Honolulu Hawaii last month. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort . It was overly touristy, a lot of shops and it just felt old . There was a small pool and it wasn’t like we were expecting. We were expecting a more Caribbean feel or at least for it to feel like our own home in Florida. Traffic was horrible and getting around felt like driving in Atlanta. The…
We went to see Justin Timberlake at the Kia Center the day after coming back from Daytona . Not much to say. The visuals were great. The choreography was top notch and he put on a good performance.
We took a quick trip to Daytona beach to see my friend’s band play at Punk Rock Pizza. He is the lead singer of Anxiety Attack . It’s an independent band. I first met the lead singer as the bar tender downstairs. I just started going down to the bar to hang out with him on the weekend and found out he was in a band. It was fun, different and the food was good at Pirate’s Pizza.
Our third and final trip to Las Vegas for the year was to see Maroon 5. We flew to Las Vegas four days after returning from our cruise from Miami . It was a great show. He was a great singer and performer. The seats were amazing and he did part of his set right in front of us However, I am ready to take a break from Las Vegas after going three times in one year.
We usually aren’t into cruises. But we always seem to end up on one. When we do go, it’s usually more to hang out with friends than the cruise itself. This time was no different. We flew into Miami the day before and stayed at the Hyatt Regency Miami I don’t really have too much to say about the cruise. Just read the review It’s an all adult cruise. There isn’t as much entertainment as Carnival…
We were back in Las Vegas a second time in September to see Bruno Mars at Dolby Live. It was a great concert. He is a talented singer, the choreography was great, and he is also a wonderful songwriter. I don’t have any pictures of the concert since they made everyone put their phones in a locked bag. The best description of the concert can be found here