Former blog
Note: This trip report is by Lance Mannion, a friend of PFD who is rumored to hang out on Flyertalk.
I have had a very stressful past few weeks, as my startup company has not been doing as well as I predicted. My idea of offering in-home frappuccino making classes is a good one but I just haven’t found the right market willing to pay my prices…yet. Teach a man/woman to fish and they can eat for a day, as the saying goes. [Read more…]
Over on Twitter, René of DeltaPoints has urged his followers to vote for him for the Frequent Business Traveler awards. Here’s what that looked like:
And here’s a close-up:
Do you notice anything missing? Here’s a screenshot from the Frequent Business Traveler website:
See what’s missing in the upper right hand corner there? That’s right, René scrubbed out our pal Travel Blogger Buzz from his graphic. Why do you think he would do that? I have two guesses, maybe you can think of more:
This isn’t exactly a hard-and-fast scientific rule, but one way to tell which side you want to be on in a dispute is who’s laughing the best. TBB has been known to needle other bloggers for not doing their jobs very well or for being thinly-veiled shills for the credit card company, and he always seems to have a great time doing so, as do his readers. Some folks accept the criticism well, others not so much.
But so far, nobody’s had anything funny to say about TBB. Humor is an effective way to speak truth to power, deliver criticism and win people to your side: people are very good at ignoring rational arguments, but they damn sure don’t like being laughed at. If George started a serious academic journal called “Travel Blogger Quarterly” and made careful arguments about why the current system of selling credit cards via bloggers produces suboptimal results, nobody would read it and nobody would care.
But instead, he publishes a blog and consistently points out that the emperor has no clothes while having a good laugh about it. And that, my friends, is why DeltaPoints is doing odd things like what you see above.
I don’t read DeltaPoints too frequently so I can’t evaluate George’s criticisms too well. When I have read it, it’s struck me as a typical boardingarea.com blog, and I don’t mean that as a criticism. There are a few blogs so bad I won’t even mention them by name, and DeltaPoints certainly doesn’t fall into that category, not by a longshot.
But based what we’re seeing, I’d say George has struck a nerve.
In light of the upcoming Mile Madness seminars, Matt asked me to write a little about my hometown. I’ve lived in Charlotte for almost 15 years now and I love it. It’s not the overpriced, overcrowded world-class city that, say, New York is, but on the other hand it has better weather, a lower cost of living, lower taxes, nicer people, and less traffic, which is why New York has exported so many of its citizens to Charlotte the last few decades .
You might be wondering: is there enough to do in Charlotte to fill a weekend? Absolutely! Here are some ideas:
UPTOWN / DOWNTOWN MUSEUMS: The terms “uptown” and “downtown” are used interchangeably here. Don’t ask why, it’s a Charlotte thing. Anyway: downtown Charlotte is clean, safe, and has plenty of nice scenery. Within walking distance of the hotel there are several museums: the Mint Museum of Art (traditional art stuff), the Bechtler Museum (modern art), and the NASCAR Hall of Fame (worth it if you’re a NASCAR fan, otherwise a little overpriced).
While you’re uptown, you can walk up and down Tryon Street to take in the skyscrapers–the frescoes at the B of A headquarters are worth a look. And just to let you know how important banking is to Charlotte, it’s the only city in the world with a statue of a miner pouring gold on Alan Greenspan’s head:
You could also check out Romare Bearden park and the Fourth Ward neighborhood, or you could just decide to hang out at the Epicentre, home to about 300 bars and restaurants and a CVS. (Although I’m 0 for 2 buying Vanilla Reloads at that particular CVS.) And don’t forget to take your picture with the Disco Chicken:
If you want to venture out of downtown, you could drive a couple of miles up Davidson Street to Noda (watch out New York, we’re stealing your population and your neighborhood naming conventions!) to take in some art galleries, hippies, and a bite to eat at Cabo Fish Taco, one of my favorite restaurants. Also there is Amelie’s French Bakery, open 24/7. Not too far from there is the Chicken Box, my favorite hole-in-the-wall fried chicken place. And as long as we’re talking about unhealthy food, for BBQ I’d recommend Mac’s Speed Shop, which is a mile or two down South Blvd to the south of downtown. Mac’s is on the edge of the Dilworth neighborhood, aka Mistressville USA. Also adjoining Dilworth is Freedom Park, which is so nice even The Onion has noticed.
If you enjoy walking, you could go over to the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. It’s about three miles long and is great for strolling, jogging, and biking. I recommend parking by the Midtown Staples / Best Buy parking garage and starting your trip from there. Bike rentals are available at that location as well as various locations downtown.
About 20 minutes away by car is the U.S. National Whitewater Center, an artificial whitewater course. They also have hiking, ziplines, and a climbing wall. It’s pretty cool.
A similar distance away is the Billy Graham Library, which is not my cup of tea but some people love it. Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens is very nice, and you could also go to Crowders Mountain State Park, about 45 minutes away, for a hike up a small mountain / large hill.
As for nightlife: ladies, there aren’t too many ways for your husbands to get into trouble if you’re worried about that sort of thing. If you enjoy gambling, you’re out of luck as the nearest casino is hours away. Drinks? Last call is 2 am here.
Sold yet? Hopefully I’ll see you all in Charlotte!
I had some fun with a Lay’s potato chip promotional site. Despite the lack of popularity, I think this flavor would have a small but devoted base:
Lay’s asks for the inspiration behind your flavor, so I made sure to let them know this great new chip was inspired by prepaid debit products.
Vanilla Reload chips would certainly be more popular than this flavor, which would most likely leave a sour taste in one’s mouth:
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