Texas-Ranger Travels

Bachelor Weekend in Montreal

In honor of a good friend’s upcoming wedding in May, the group of groomsmen decided to venture to the great white north to celebrate the momentous occasion. Although I have been to Canada a few times now, this would be my first excursion into Quebec, and first visit to Montreal.

Snowy and cold. Averaged around 25 degrees for our trip!

We actually landed on Montreal kind of randomly. The original plan was to go snowboarding out west somewhere, but we ended up having two individuals that didn’t ride or ski. Off the recommendation of a few others (and all of us being big hockey fans), we finally decided on the French-Canadian city only a quick two hour flight away. My good buddy Timur was tasked with planning the weekend and finding our accomodations, and he did an incredible job. Our Airbnb was a six bedroom house smack dab in the middle of the historic district of Montreal. The location was incredible; we could (and did) walk to everything we needed. The house had plenty of space and of course had an awesome game room up top–complete with foosball and a giant card table.

The group of 10 arrived at various times throughout Thursday. After switching up my flights a bit, I was into Montreal around 5pm. A short uber to our place downtown and I had arrived. I plopped my bags down and grabbed a celebratory beer. A lot of the group had gotten there early and already explored the immediate area a bit. I got unpacked and ready to make our way to our 8pm dinner reservation.

Our Thursday night dinner was at a steakhouse called Gibby’s. It was quite possibly the best steakhouse experience I’ve ever had. My other favorite steak was from Mastro’s in Scottsdale, but this one was definitely up there with it. Right in the middle of old town Montreal, this place had an awesome vibe–with fantastic food to go along. The steak was cooked perfectly, but the star of the meal was a loaded twice baked potato that was absolutely phenomenal (and probably super healthy, what with all the cheese and bacon). The service was also top notch as our band of idiots is probably not the easiest to deal with. They of course surprised us with a delicious shortcake at the end of the meal to top it all off.

After a quick walk back to the house, we all recharged and made the decision to test out a local bar. Nothing terribly exciting but we had a good time. Its tough to find a place that’ll accommodate 10 dudes without any heads up, but we found a great place called Taverne Midway. The staff was awesome and really made us feel welcome. Just an hour or so later and we decided to head back and get some sleep for the weekend ahead.

I decided to bail on the group activity we had planned. I wasn’t feeling so hot and decided to stay back and rest. After an hour or so, I went down the street to have some recovery brunch. It was a fantastic decision, and I instantly felt rejuvenated. Although the afternoon wasn’t super eventful, I was happy to be feeling back to normal. We did explore downtown a bit though and I was able to snag a couple good shots of the area. Such a beautiful city with an awesome heritage.

Beautiful Notre Dame cathedral minutes down the street from our house.

Friday evening’s dinner was at a Mexican place called Escondite where we actually ended up doing a family style meal. It turned out to be a fantastic choice as we got just the right amount of food for a fairly good deal. The food was also fantastic. We had a little of everything–6 different courses in all I believe. With delicious churros to top it all off. So freaking good. We stumbled upon two more dive bars on the way home but overall another pretty uneventful night. Some of the group did decide to venture back out, but I was content to call it a night.

The gang crammed in the table for Mexican on Friday night.

Saturday started pretty slowly with everyone sleeping in nice and late. Our brunch reservation was at a restaurant called Brasserie 701, and just like Gibby’s it was also one of the most fantastic meals I’ve ever had. The food was so fresh and delicious, the servers were super cool and attentive, and the atmosphere was perfect for a Saturday afternoon. The apps were incredible–scones with the freshest strawberries, croissants with homeade jam. Everything was absolutely delicious. Not to mention the chicken & waffles I had as my main. So perfect, and just the right amount of food to boot.

As soon as we were done brunching we hoofed it back to the house to try and catch the second half of a Hurricanes game. The Canes ended up winning and our group ended up snoozing. The brunch had taken it out of us. But we new we had a great last night in store, so it was a necessary recharge.

Once everyone had woken from their afternoon stupor, we dusted ourselves off and made it across the street to an awesome sports bar for a quick dinner and drink. We returned to the house with a case of beer to pregame the night’s event: a concert at a downtown nightclub with the German DJ Robin Schulz. After an hour so of getting psyched up, we all hopped in Ubers to head down to the club. The venue was called New City Gas, and it was absolutely unreal. It was in an old brick building but the interior was updated and super modern. Definitely one of the better nightclubs I’be been to. We ended up purchasing VIP tickets to have access to a private balcony area that turned out to be real nice. The concert itself wasn’t too crowded but it was awesome to be able to have our own area where we could all hangout together and still communicate.

The show itself was great but I began to suspect something was up when the second opening act continued playing for well over an hour. It started to get pretty late and it looked as if Robin Schulz was not going to show. That unfortunately turned out to be the case, as the opener ended up playing close to two and a half hours and closed the show out. You could tell the DJ duo was caught off guard and didn’t have much to play after their initial set was through. All in all though we still had a fantastic time raging together as a group. Not something we get to do very often with all of our friends scattered throughout the US these days. We’re getting old!

Opening DJ looking badass from the back bar.

Black Caviar, second opener and fill-in for Robin Schulz.

Sunday hit us like a freight train. We were finally able to get ourselves together and get the place cleaned up. Our departures were scattered throughout the day, with one group already on the way home (leaving the house at 3am and not sleeping after the show!). Two of us grabbed and Uber headed to the airport around 9am before suffering through a two hour delay out of Montreal. I ended up cutting it ridiculously close for my connection in Charlotte. After sprinting through the airport from one terminal to another, I was the last one to board the plane to Raleigh just 6 minutes prior to scheduled departure. The gate agent event opened up the gate door for me! Super nice and very lucky. After another short flight, I was home safe.

It was an awesome trip to Canada–the group had so much fun celebrating our good friends special occasion. The city was absolutely amazing and the people were super welcoming even with the language barrier. We are already looking for excuses to return…

– Walker

NC Mountain Weekend

The gang decided to hit the slopes the final weekend of February to get one last ski trip in for the season. While typically pretty late in the NC ski season, we got incredibly lucky with some great conditions and weather, making for an epic three days.

We landed on a two bedroom AirBnb just a couple miles from the center of Boone in the town of Banner Elk. The place was literally on the side of a mountain–a steep gravel incline the only way in or out. Thankfully we brought my four wheel drive vehicle for this trip and were able to traverse with relative ease. The house was three different levels that had a jacuzzi and pool table on the first floor, the main living and kitchen area on the second, and a loft-type third bedroom and bath on the top floor. The house was secluded and warm; I could’ve stayed for much, much longer.

My girlfriend Olivia and I arrived late Thursday evening after she got off work around 8. After a quick rinse in the jacuzzi and a solid night’s rest, we decided on Beech Mountain for our first day of riding. I had only skied Sugar Mountain in the area, so I was excited to experience a new resort. We got super lucky with the weather as both mountains reported snow each day in the ballpark of 3-4″, in addition to the man-made snow they were blowing the entire trip. The snow-making turned out to be somewhat a nuisance but it was a small price to pay for the excellent conditions.

As the girls chose to stay behind with the pups, the bro and I shredded Beech pretty hard. I was surprised by the decent amount of variety; maybe 3-4 different runs we could choose from, all off the same lift. Each run had great snow, a mix of man-made and natural. There were a few little jumps and off-trail sections we hit that made for some awesome fun. All in all, we made about 8 or 9 different laps down the mountain, culminating with a beer at the highest bar this side of the Mississippi (so they say). We called it an early day around two and headed for the rental home.

Rhett and I enjoying a beer at the summit.

From there, we grabbed a quick lunch at the crib and hit the tub. There is nothing better than a warm hot tub after a day on the slopes. Thankfully, the jacuzzi was super nice and very clean, just as the rest of the AirBnb was. After a quick shower, Olivia and I decided to head into town to grab a rental board for her to ride the following morning. After checking out some of the boards while waiting to be helped, Olivia fell in love with one of the pre-built setups. About an hour later, she was the proud owner of a new snowboard, boots, and bindings. Plot twist! Upon return, grill master Rhett took to the Weber to cook us up some burgers for dinner. A couple drinks and a few board games later, we were all ready to hit the hay.

Since the dogs can never let us have our sleep, we were once again up early Saturday morning. This was fine by me, as I was anxious to get back out on the slopes after another night of snowfall. This time, we decided on Sugar as it was about 15 minutes closer to where we were staying. Olivia and I went early and took a few laps before meeting up with my brother and his girlfriend Logan, as she still had to rent gear. We arrived around 9:15 and got some great early morning turns in.

This year, Sugar debuted a brand new high speed quad lift on their beginner slope. It was a very welcome change, as we carved up “Easy Street” multiple times to get warmed up. Halfway through, we met up with one of Olivia’s good friends and her boyfriend and ended up riding together for the remainder of the day. A few more laps on the bunny slope and we were ready to conquer the main lift. Thankfully, everyone handled it just fine and we ended up taking multiple laps before meeting up with the bro. We all did one last group run on Easy Street and decided to call it a day.

Returning home to another rinse in the jacuzzi, Olivia and I showered and headed back into town to pickup a Mellow Mushroom pizza for the evening. Mellow never disappoints, and this evening was no different. With everyone’s bellies full, we put on a Netflix show and began to sink into the couch. Another relaxing end to a fantastic day.

Sunday morning clean-up was tough as none of us were ready to head home. We sluggishly got ourselves together and packed up our things. After a quick pitstop at Bojangles on the way out of town, we were back on the road. Unfortunately it was a quick trip, but it was much needed. Everyone had an awesome time, all the dogs got along great, and it was overall just a nice escape from the grind in Raleigh. I feel super fortunate to have this beautiful place just a short three hour’s drive down I-40.

– Walker

Caniacs in Vegas

I was fortunate enough to attend the World of Concrete tradeshow in Las Vegas for four days the first week of February this year. Check it out here. It is the second largest tradeshow in Vegas, only slightly smaller than the yearly Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Spoiler alert: it did not disappoint in the slightest. Even better, my hockey team (Carolina Hurricanes) were scheduled to play the Vegas Golden Knights the Saturday evening after the show concluded. Of course I had to be there. Lucky for me, I had 4 good friends tag along. Let me give some backstory on how this all went down…

Ever since the Knights were announced as a franchise, I knew I had to be at the first game against the ‘Canes. I have a particular affinity for Vegas after an epic 21st birthday there with my family, for New Years no less (among several other incredible trips). Not that I’m a huge gambler or some degenerate boozer but there’s something about the energy of Vegas that I love. And it never lets up. The city is literally going 24/7–which is always a shock in the light of a hungover morning.

It was two years ago that I made the trek out to Vegas for their inaugural game against the ‘Canes. I somehow convinced my good work buddy Mike to join me on that trip. The game was incredible and it was awesome to see a good turnout from the Caniacs, something that would hold true on this years trip. Eventually making it all the way to the shootout, the Canes were victorious off a Phil Di Guiseppe goal and a save from my all time favorite player, Cam Ward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiEtmBLwA44

This wasn’t just another win for the veteran netminder though. It was the 300th of his career. I was absolutely ecstatic to be there. I was in PNC (then called the RBC Center) for his first ever career win against the Pens back in 2005. Of course, that game also went to a shootout with Cam stopping Ziggy Palffy, Mario Lemieux, and a rookie Sidney Crosby. From then on, I knew he was going to be special–just like witnessing his 300th. Two nights I will never forget. Anywho…

Our seats from the game in December of 2017.

When the Hurricanes released their schedule for the 2019-2020 season, my eyes immediately scanned for the Vegas tilt. What do you know, the game is scheduled for a Saturday night! The same Saturday I’m already planning on being in Vegas for the World of Concrete show. How lucky! Guess it was meant to be. As soon as I realized the dates, I shot off a few texts to see who might join me for this go-round. We ended up having five of us total, with two committing the week before the game! It was shaping up to be an excellent week in the desert.

The tradeshow itself was great. We had a good amount of traffic come through our booth, in addition to some great team dinners and an excellent hospitality event hosted at the Lily Lounge in the Bellagio. With two of my buddies arriving late Thursday afternoon, we decided to meet shortly after to catch the ‘Canes play the Coyotes. We landed on Blondie’s Sports Bar in the Miracle Mile Shops of Planet Hollywood. It was a solid meal–shared a pizza and a couple pitchers and were treated to a Carolina win. Good first night with the boys.

They even printed us a postcard to remember the meal! LOL

As the rookie of our work group, I was tasked with shutting down the booth/end of show for the team. Thankfully, that only meant three hours in the morning followed by a quick tear-down of our booth display. After meeting back up with the guys, we played a few hands of blackjack waiting for the other two to arrive. With everyone in around 6:30, we were finally ready to let the dogs out. Our Friday night dinner resy was for 8:30 at China Poblano in the Cosmo. After a couple of rounds of our soon to be favorite game (Fortune Cup–check it out), we were ready to grub.

And grub we did. The meal was absolutely incredible. It was a mix of Chinese and Mexican dishes that were all phenomenal. They had a crazy menu, complete with duck tongue tacos (which I did not try unfortunately). The best dish by far were the steamed buns, as they had both traditional and a fried style with awesome dipping sauces. But both the chicken and beef tacos I had as well were incredible. In addition to an awesome margarita. Hell of a start to the trip together.

From there we snuck in some more table games and I’m sure found our way back to Fortune Cup. We eventually made a super spur the moment decision to see the world-renowned DJ Alesso at XS down the street at Encore. The cover charge was hard to swallow, but once we were in we realized it was extremely worth it. Although the club was far from the most extravagant I’ve seen, it had a cool setup and we were able to move throughout no problem. Alesso was great and I ended up recognizing most of his hits. After a return trip to the Cosmo for late night secret pizza, night two was a wrap.

Saturday morning started pretty slowly, but we finally were able to drag ourselves to the brunch buffet around 11. Bellagio brunch never disappoints and is always the best way to get the day started, specifically after a long night with the crew. From there we decided to check out the pool situation. We were extremely fortunate to have highs in the mid-70’s for the weekend, so we grabbed three pool chairs and hungout in the sun for a few hours. Such an excellent recovery and lead in to the night’s upcoming evening events.

After meeting up for a quick bite at the newest Chick-Fil-A location on the strip, the group headed south to the New York New York for all the pregame festivities. We of course went straight to the sports book to put money on the ‘Canes. From there we were able to catch the drumline/cheerleader parade and walk-up. After a few quick hands, we decided to make our way to T-Mobile.

The initial sight of the arena is always breathtaking, and we were able to snag a few pics to remember. After what looked like a huge security line, we were quickly in the building and finding our seats. The location of our seats turned out to be perfect (the loge deck), as we were on the side for every Hurricanes goal and multiple other big plays. Just a short time later, the house lights dimmed and the Vegas sideshow pregame activities took place. I think it’s awesome how they do a custom intro for EVERY home game and tailor it to the team they are playing. It is super Vegas and I am all for it. Their entrance is always so extra and perfectly fitting for the team.

The game itself started poorly for the away team. After going down on multiple occasions, the boys exploded for 4 unanswered goals in the 3rd period. Just when I thought the victory was sealed, the Canes netminder had a bad blunder behind the net and turned the puck over to the Knights for an easy goal. After 60 minutes tied and an action packed overtime, the game was headed for the shootout–just as my last visit to Vegas. Thankfully for us, our veteran leader Justin Williams was able to bury the winner and put a fantastic capper to the game. One of the best I have ever witnessed, and I like to think I’ve seen some great games.

For the victory celebration, we headed over to Omnia at Caesar’s as we had tickets to see Steve Aoki. While heading to the entrance, we bumped into 4-5 Canes players (Aho, Mrazek, Edmunson, Foegele, maybe some others) and chatted briefly. Shortly after, my very first goaltending coach way back in the day–now equipment manager of the Canes Jorge Alves walked past me. I instantly recognized him and started talking a bit after congratulating him on the game. Our luck, he said the team was headed into the club to see Aoki as well. Here we go…

The club was PACKED. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait to get in, but as soon as we were in it was very difficult to move around. Even just going to the bar for a beer was an excursion. The crowd did thin out as the night moved along, so perhaps we came at the busiest time. We found were the boys had two tables reserved and made our way down to the pit area pretty much right in front of them. Although the DJ was awesome and Omnia is always an incredible atmosphere, me and my buddy Harris were fangirling so hard over the NHL players in front of us. It was so awesome to see them in a setting like this, and it genuinely looked like they all enjoyed each other’s company–also cool to see. They were also super nice guys as we grabbed a few pics with some of them. After another late night slice on the walk back to the hotel, we called it a night. A night for the freakin books.

Our trip wrapped up early Sunday as three of us met for a meal at Holstein’s in the Cosmo. An order of chicken and waffles later, I was on my way to the airport. I was so fortunate to be able to experience this and even more so to be able to pair it with my professional life after a week at an industry-renowned tradeshow. It was a week I won’t soon forget.

– Walker

An Empty Park at Six Flags Magic Mountain

After concluding our three day vacation at Disneyland in Anaheim, we decided to up the thrill factor a bit by heading north to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia. I was very much looking forward to this park visit, as my last time here in 2018 was derailed by a violent stomach ache. I was only able to get through 6 out of a possible 14 credits that day, so I was psyched to get a chance to return.

After a quick hour car ride up from Disney, we found ourselves in a nearly empty parking lot at MM. This was somewhat expected as we were visiting on a Thursday in January, but I always wonder how operations are going to be on slow days. Minus one big whiff (Twisted Colossus being down), this was not an issue for us. The park was just that dead. The only wait we encountered all day was a station wait for Superman.

Beautiful entrance fountain at the front of the park, with Tatsu and New Revolution in back.

Our tour around the park started with a ride on Full Throttle, one of the coasters I hit on my previous visit. This ride is one of my favorites; the launches are great, the hangtime in the loop is nutty with the lap bar restraints, and I don’t seem to mind the short ride duration. IMO it packs enough action in its short layout; especially as a walk-on with no wait.

We then made the short walk over to New Revolution. This one surprised me–I really enjoyed it. The loop was forceful and the rest of the ride was a smooth journey around the hillside of the park. Good fun and a classic that should stick around for some time to come.

Speaking of classics, the next ride we took on was Viper, one of the sleeper hits from my last visit. Granted I am a sucker for Arrow loopers, I thought this one was incredible, especially in the front. I can imagine the transitions in the back of the train are pretty janky, but my two front row rides have been awesome. Here’s to hoping they preserve this incredible ride for years to come.

X2 was up next. This unique ride is quite possibly the scariest roller coaster experience I have ever encountered. It is absolutely ridiculous, even after a second ride. Face down on the drop is something I’ll never forget. It has a reputation for jerkiness but the two rides I’ve had have both been relatively smooth. Another one of my all time favorites, mostly for the shock factor alone.

We began the slow climb up the “magic mountain”/big-ass hill with a stop at the B&M flyer Tatsu. Another beast in it’s own right, this thing is incredibly forceful. The pretzel loop is one of the most intense moments you can experience on a coaster. With a downright gorgeous setting, this one also manages to crack my list of top coasters. It could benefit from a repaint, however.

Further up the mountain we conquered Ninja, an extremely fun Arrow suspended coaster (and one of the last remaining). Another solid ride that I hope stays put for awhile. We then made the quick walk over to Superman. Perhaps the one I was most disappointed about missing on my previous visit, this ride did not let me down. I thought the launch was forceful, especially facing backwards. The station theming was pretty sweet and it was definitely a unique experience. After a quick lap on the park’s mine train Gold Rusher, it was time for a quick break to enjoy our favorite park snack (a blue raspberry ICEE).

We headed toward the back of the park to attempt to get on MM’s latest addition, West Coast Racers. Unfortunately, this ride was down for our entire stay. It looked like a fun ride and I was bummed we missed it, but there were so many other great attractions it was hard to be too upset. We instead opted for a ride on the park’s woodie, Apocalypse. This one was another hidden gem that provided a smooth ride with some good airtime and lats. Another sleeper hit of the day.

After a quick ride on the park’s new giant discovery Crazanity (also sketchy as hell), we queued up for Riddler’s Revenge. This one was a bit of a dissapointment for me. I generally enjoy stand-up coasters, but this one was a bit much for me. Wish I could’ve gotten one more lap on it, but I thought it was a little rattly even in the front row. Layout was awesome and the airtime hill was super unique for a stand-up, but I was left a bit underwhelmed. I typically have a high tolerance for rides such as these, as I enjoyed a similar experience in Green Lantern at SFGAdv back in the fall. Like I said, I wish I could’ve gotten one more ride on Riddler.

Our next stop was Batman. I freaking love these invert models, and this one was no less intense than the three others I’ve experienced. Olivia enjoyed her first Batman, and we were able to do it in the front row no less. I still prefer the OG at Great America, but this one was great as well. After a quick drop on Lex Luthor’s (also extremely terrifying), we were on to our last ride of the day…

…on Goliath! This was another that I missed on my last visit, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. The helixes were as intense as advertised, and I thought the one good airtime hill was solid. It was definitely a fun ride, and a good one to end on as rain clouds began to gather in the area.

Absolutely epic entrance sign to Goliath.

All in all it was an awesome day at Magic Mountain. I was upset about missing Twisted Colussus as I thought Olivia would’ve loved it. RMC’s are her personal favorites so this would’ve been another good one for her to try. But it definitely gives us a reason to return. In terms of the crowds, we couldn’t have asked for a better day as we literally did not stand in a single line. That definitely made up for the ride closures.

After a slow ride in LA traffic back to the airport, we were on our way to Raleigh the next morning. It was an incredible week long trip, but we were certainly glad to be back home with Eleanor! Until next time…

– Walker

The Happiest Place on Earth

We arrived in sunny (and hazy) California on the afternoon of Tuesday the 14th after a short flight up from Cabo. After sitting in the typical LA traffic on our way to Anaheim, we finally reached our hotel. Olivia and I had a room at the Hampton Inn near the Anaheim Convention Center. It turned out to be a fantastic hotel–just a short 15 minute walk to the park gates and plenty of food options nearby. Not to mention it felt brand new and offered a great breakfast in the AM. We threw our luggage in the room and were on to the park.

After deciding on California’s Adventure, we arrived at the park right around sunset. With an 8pm closing and a dessert party reservation for the World of Color show, we attempted to knockout as many rides as possible. Of course, we had to start with the Incredicoaster. It was a great ride to kickoff the trip and I was super surprised by how intense the first launch and loop were. After seeing these west coast Disney rides on TV and the internet or wherever for the past 20 years of my life it was a fantastic feeling to finally be there and ride (although this one was called California Screamin’ most of my life).

From there we headed to Goofy’s Sky School, a fun wild mouse attraction in the corner of the park. After two dark rides (Little Mermaid and Monsters Inc., both of which were great), it was time for our first fastpass for Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. This is the attraction that was re-themed from Tower of Terror, and a version that I was never able to ride. Nevertheless, GotG was fantastic. Although there wasn’t much of a story to the ride (like the original Tower of Terror in Disney World), the ride itself is just plain fun. We ended up doing this one 4 or 5 times over the course of our three days at the resort.

New-look facade of Guardians of the Galaxy.

After snagging one last fastpass ride on Soarin’ (always a classic), we headed to our dessert party reservation. This was an arrangement I made about a month or so earlier that allowed us private seating for the World of Color show, a dessert package, and two drinks. The party was totally worth it. Our host was excellent and described everything in our tray. She was even awesome enough to take our picture on multiple occasions.

The show itself was incredible. I went in with low expectations and was blown away. I did not think it would be able to top Halloween Horror Night’s new Monsters of Mayhem show that we saw for the first time this past September, but it stepped it up to the next level. The music was awesome and the projections were clear. The water effects were blended perfectly with the lights, lasers, and even fire. This is definitely a show I would not recommend missing.

Olivia and I after the show. The cast members were great about taking our picture.

On the way back to the hotel, we hit up the bar area at Cheesecake Factory for a quick bite to eat. A solid capper to our first day.

Wednesday morning was all Disneyland. After our quick hotel breakfast, we hoofed it to the gates and were inside the park by 8:50 for a 9am opening. As soon as the opening announcement began, we quickly made a beeline to our first ride of the day: Matterhorn. This classic attraction was a hoot. Although somewhat jarring, it was a great way to start the morning. Olivia had the front row and flying through all those caves and near misses definitely woke us up.

Gotta love starting the day with a classic like Matterhorn.

From there we decided to knockout another classic attraction right next door in Space Mountain. I am always going to be biased to the one in Florida but I really loved this edition as well. It was certainly as intense if not even more so than the southern counterpart. It’s much darker inside the ride and its strange sitting two across but I still thought it was great. Honestly all of the mountains will never get old to me.

With still a short wait in the early morning, we hustled over to Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. This is a ride I was super pumped for and unfortunately came out slightly underwhelmed. While still a fantastic dark ride, I think my expectations were just a bit high. The queue and story were fantastic, but Universal still has my heart when it comes to these highly technical attractions. Transformers and Spiderman are just so awesome to me. I have heard certain rumors saying that the ride is in desperate need of a refurb, so maybe that contributed to the somewhat lackluster experience. I would love to give it another shot after an update.

We then made the quick walk over to another GOAT, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Although I do prefer the Orlando version, I thoroughly enjoyed our two rides on this classic. This one had some cool extra effects on the lift hills that were a nice touch.

From Big Thunder, we headed back to Fantasyland to check out two classic dark ride attractions: Pinocchio’s Daring Journey and Toad’s Wild Ride. Both of these were awesome and I hope they never change–Toad’s especially. They still hold up over time and are a nice change of pace from the thrill attractions. We unfortunately did not get a ride on either Snow White (down for refurbishment) or Peter Pan’s Flight (line was consistently 45 mins+). Always something for next time.

After a quick ride on Star Tours–complete with an awesome update for the new film–we decided we needed some sustenance. I snuck in one last walk-on ride on Splash Mountain (go figure) and we exited the park to grab some grub in the Downtown Disney area.

We landed on the Ballast Point Brewpub and decided to sit in the outdoor bar area which was awesome. A much needed escape from the park. We were able to get some delicious food and a couple of drinks. I started with an order of some meaty buffalo wings and (of course) finished with a cheeseburger for an entree. Once we were recharged, we decided to take a quick walk around shop area. This inevitably led to a spending spree at the Disney Store…

Once we were back in the parks, we headed for a few more classic attractions–Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean. It was awesome to see the differences in these attractions compared to their counterparts in Orlando. If you can believe it, this was only my second ever experience on Jungle Cruise, so I was lovin’ the corny jokes and outdated animatronics. Haunted Mansion was all dressed up in its interesting holiday overlay which I had never seen before. I much prefer the original, but this was a nice change (and I love Nightmare Before Christmas). Olivia has yet to ride the original so hopefully we can get on the Orlando version shortly.

The rest of the night consisted of mostly re-rides of our favorites–including a few back in California Adventure. We checked out Oga’s Cantina in Galaxy’s Edge for some crazy drinks, and finished off the night in the jacuzzi at our hotel. It was an incredible day to say the least.

Definitely felt like we were in Star Wars.

Our last day on vacation started bright and early. After a quick hotel breakfast, we were on our way back to the parks for a few last morning rides. We hit: Alice in Wonderland, Finding Nemo, Space Mountain, Radiator Springs Racers, and Guardians of the Galaxy. An epic conclusion to our time at Disney. We hopped in a quick uber to a nearby Enterprise location. After being offered a cheap upgrade (had to), we grabbed our things at the hotel, a quick lunch at Jersey Mikes, and were on the road to our last destination: Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Stay tuned for another update from our west coast vacation!

– Walker

Cabo San Lucas in January

A quick video recap of our vacation!

Olivia and I recently returned from a week-long vacation that began with sun and sand in Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Even with a 6am Friday morning departure, the flight over wasn’t the worst, with only a quick layover at Chicago O’Hare. Upon arriving in Mexico and clearing customs, we exited the airport to be surrounded by 6 different bars, music pumping, and people everywhere. It was chaotic but also a fitting welcome to this very different country.

After sifting through the raging arrival party we found our private suburban to take us to the resort. We spent 5 days/4 nights at Dreams Resort & Spa and had an excellent experience. Although beginning a bit skeptical on our Friday afternoon arrival, my concerns for the all-inclusive resort were quickly put to bed after a great lunch by the pool. Tasty, fresh food with plenty of different options. She’ll play.

If not for the gusty wind it would have been a perfect first afternoon by the pool. Still, with plenty of sun and temperatures in the lower 70’s, you can’t really complain. A great start to the trip. After another great meal (room-service) for dinner we decided to call it an early evening.

We began early Saturday morning (7am!) with a sprint workout on the beach checking out some of the neighboring properties. After breakfast at what turned out to be our one and only spot (the buffet) we spent the afternoon hanging by the pool. We caught Tech win a big basketball game over NC State, had lunch by the hot tub, and drank plenty of adult sodas. We had a late dinner at the Italian restaruant at the resort and it turned out to be our highlight of the trip. Although the portions were tiny, the food was amazing. We came back for more Monday evening as well before leaving.

After the morning hustle for a pool chair (our main gripe with the hotel), we were by the pool again early. After a quick breakfast and a return to poolside, the clouds refused to break. After an hour or so, we eventually decided to get dressed and arrange a cab to take us to downtown Cabo San Lucas. A fantastic decision.

Our main goal was to hire a water taxi to take us to the arch, but we were quickly overwhelmed with all the drinking options as soon as we arrived. After indulging in a quick marg, we decided to explore the beach we were at (Redondo Beach). After a quick pic with multiple iguanas, we were able to hire a water taxi for $10 USD. Turned out we were the only ones and had an awesome captain. Took us super close to the arch and towards nearby sea lions playing in the rocks. Another highlight of the trip.

Upon returning to land, we explored the oceanfront a bit more, drank a bit more, and eventually ended up at The Office on the Beach for dinner. It was a beautiful evening; the food was fantastic and the setting was unreal. Eating dinner with your toes in the sand? Unbeatable. We were even serenaded by a mariachi band. Pretty damn epic.

Our last full day began with a dune buggy excursion that Olivia had arranged as a birthday gift. It started with an hour-long ride through downtown Cabo to pickup two more guests joining us on the trip. The long ride definitely turned out to be worth it though. After getting registered and geared up at a sketchy side of the road operation, we were off in our two-seater dune buggy. Although appearing pretty janky the things moved pretty damn quick. We traversed beach terrain, mountain terrain, and even broke the front axle of the first buggy they had us in! It was an awesome experience and well worth the time.

Our chariots for the afternoon. They don’t look like much, but they scooted pretty good!

The last part of our afternoon concluded just as the trip began–poolside. We ordered our favorite quesadilla meal and had a very relaxing final afternoon. After another stop at the Italian Restaurant, we retired to the room to watch the LSU Clemson game.

Taking advantage of our entire final morning, we were up early and in the gym by 7 and poolside by 8. One last breakfast, and our time in Cabo had concluded. It was tough to leave but we were excited for the next leg to come: Disneyland!

– Walker

Home Park Visit: Carowinds

The day started abruptly with a 6:30am fire alarm at the Courtyard Marriott. In what turned out to be a blessing, we were able to get an early start by grabbing breakfast and heading to lineup at the park gate. We arrived around 8:20am for the 9am park opening and took our place in line among the group of approximately 40 other diehards.

When they opened the gate (shortly after 8:40am), the race to the parking booth was on. It was hilarious to see all the minivans and tiny sedans loaded down with 5+ family members jockeying for position.

After racing to our parking spot in the front row of the lot, we made our way to the park entrance to pick-up season passes.

We headed straight for Copperhead Strike, the new for 2019 attraction. After a short wait (with Fast Lane), we got our first ride in the front row. We ended up doing it once more later on in the back, but I definitely preferred the front on this coaster. Fun launches, awesome hangtime–it is a great new addition to the park and I am excited to get back on it again later this season.

The rest of the day was a pretty typical visit to Carowinds: minimal lines and a healthy amount of rerides. The only coaster we missed this trip was Afterburn (yes, we even hit Nighthawk). That was a bummer as Afterburn is my second favorite in the park behind Fury. Definitely gives us something to be excited about for next visit though.