Took a last minute vacation last week (the Fiancee[1] and I determined rather late that it was the only time we could take a vacation all summer due to prior (mostly wedding related) commitments). We went to New Orleans, and then Vancouver. I know, an odd combination.

In New Orleans, we wondered around in the heat and drank cold beverages and ate good food. First night we ate at Olde N'awlins Cookery, which we just wandered into. It was surprisingly good. Second night we ate at Bayona, which was also quite tasty. Third night was Emeril's, though the chef was no where to be found. All around good food.

Vancouver was beautiful (well, except for the patch between Gastown and Chinatown that we wandered through, which seemd to include a crack alley). Seemed like as many homeless people as in SF, though their routine was a bit different. The weather was perfect.

You know, this trip made me think of showers in hotels. For some reason, showers in hotels are generally bad. I'm not sure if this is just a hard thing (plumbing for so many), but being tall and liking hot showers with lots of pressure, I'm usually disappointed by hotel showers. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton Maison in New Orleans, and the shower was fabulous, while Courtney loved the oversized bath tub (complete with candles, no less). The shower in the Pacific Palisades in Vancouver on the other hand... the shower head was too low, the pressure was ok, but the temperature kept varying from cold to scalding hot. Unpleasant. It was better than our hotel in Monterey last year where some crap bubbled up through the drain.

The other amusing thing to note is how the prices of hotels don't vary all that much. You can spend $150-200 on a crappy hotel, or on the Ritz Carlton Club hotels, depending entirely on fate. Did I mention I hate airline pricing too?

[1] Weird, didn't know that there were two ways to spell fiance, one male to female the other female to male. Definition