Author Archives: Paul

A second trip to Japan

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In June, I had the fortune to be able to return to Japan for work. As Suzanne couldn’t take the time off, my mom joined me instead. We had a great two weeks, one of which was work for me. We visited Kyoto, Kanazawa, Tokyo, and DisneySea (one of the parks at Tokyo Disney). My mom also visited Kamakura while I was at work. I spent a night in Niigata to give a talk at the Protein Society of Japan. It was great to return and I hope to get back again at some point in the future.

In Ikebukuro, Tokyo

Trip to New Mexico

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Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe

More photos.

A few weeks back, I headed out to New Mexico for the 2018 OpenEye CUP scientific meeting (which is excellent if you in the field of molecular modeling, computational drug discovery, or the like). Our good friend Paul Murphy lives in southern New Mexico so it was the perfect time to get together. A few years back, I headed down his way. This time, as he wanted to see some things around Santa Fe, he headed up North. I flew in Friday, arriving to Santa Fe around three o’clock, after an excellent taco lunch at El Paisano (a supermarket with a lunch counter). I was upgraded to a huge room with a fireplace at my hotel, the Old Santa Fe Inn. I spent the evening hitting some of the local breweries/brewpubs, including the excellent Second Street Brewery at the railyard.

Kiva at Pecos National Monument

In the morning, I wandered around town a bit, it was my third trip so I had seen most of the central historic district, before grabbing a tea and doing some reading in the plaza. It was fairly warm, just on the edge of t-shirt only weather. Paul Murphy came into town around one so we met and headed out to Pecos National Historical Park, remains of an Indian pueblo and Spanish mission church. A real highlight was being able to go down into a reconstructed kiva. For dinner we headed back to Second Street Brewery and then hung out in town for a bit before calling it an evening. (Paul was staying with his aunt about 15 minutes from the center of town.)

On Sunday, we met up early, grabbed some breakfast at Denny’s, and headed out for the some hiking at Bandelier National Monument. The drive up was quite nice. The park itself was really cool as the main trail was though the remains of a pueblo and then along the remains of cliff dwellings, mostly carved from the soft rock. A few you could even climb up into. We did a second hike out along the Falls trail to some waterfalls. Next up was the drive to Valles Caldera National Preserve, an ancient volcanic caldera and the newest National Preserve. We did the short hike around La Jara Loop Trail. We then headed down the “other side” of the mountains into Jemez Springs, include a brief stop at Soda Dam followed by lunch at Los Ojos Saloon. The latter was interesting as they had lost electricity. They could still cook but it was dark. We snagged a table next to the window so we could see and they did get power back after we had been there 30 minutes or so. We finished driving down the mountain, heading back to the highway a bit north of Albuquerque and then headed back to Santa Fe.

Paul Murphy at Tent Rocks

On Monday, it was another early morning. For breakfast, we took Paul’s aunt to The Pantry (at her suggestion) which was great (and way better than Denny’s). After, we headed out to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. This was a very cool hike through a slot canyon and then up to the top of a mesa. It was a bit tricky in spots but well worth it. We then headed back to Santa Fe as Paul had to head back home after lunch at Tortilla Flats. I checked into the conference hotel, the Inn and Spa at Loretto, before doing some work and heading out to dinner of pizza and local beer at Draft Station. My conference ran all day Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so nothing exciting to report about that time (aside from it being a really good conference).

On Friday morning, I made sure to have a phenomenal breakfast burrito at Tia Sophia’s. After another wander around town, a bit of work, and some final packing, I got back in the car and headed back to Albuquerque for my flight home. This was a great trip and I loved seeing some things outside of Santa Fe. We’re thinking of heading out to NM for our summer vacation, but there’s some other contenders.

Valles Caldera National Preserve

Disney World Photos

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Cinderella’s Castle

Back in August, we spent a wonderful week at Disney World. We had been in October before but with Kyle getting older, it’s harder to pull him out for a week to go to Disney. When we looked at it, the week right before Labor Day is supposed to be fairly unbusy. As this week worked well for us, and we got free dining, we decided to go. Overall, it wasn’t so busy, especially Wednesday through Friday. (We headed down on Tuesday as Kyle had something for incoming 6th grade students on Monday.) However, it was hot. In terms of hotel, we splurged a bit and stayed at Wilderness Lodge which was really nice and we would certainly stay there again.

We had some excitement on the flight down as there was smoke in the plane cabin just after takeoff from Newark. We turned around and landed right away. While they brought out fire trucks, there was nothing going on. It was quite unsettling. After a three and a half hour or so delay, we finally headed out.

My mom came over Tuesday as well and spent until Friday evening with us which was great. After arriving and a quick swim, we headed to Disney Springs for dinner at T-Rex cafe. Wednesday was our day at Hollywood Studios. It was quiet enough here that we did Toy Story Mania! three times and I did Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster five times (three right after each other). We ate at Mama Melrose’s on the Fantasmic! package.

Kyle at Chefs de France

Thursday was Animal Kingdom with dinner at Tusker House as part of the Rivers of Light package. This was my first time on Dinosaur which was cool, and Kyle loved. We managed to snag Fastpass+ for Flights of Passage which was exceptional. Friday was Epcot day one with dinner at Chefs de France. This was a first for us and we enjoyed it, though I had the very German-like roast pork shank (Schweinehaxe in German). Kyle loved the “more intense” orange level on Mission: Space, enough that we did it 5+ times over two days.

Saturday was our first day at the Magic Kingdom. It was a bit busier here. We took a short break for dinner at Ohana (at the Polynesian resort). This was excellent but we were stuffed afterward. Sunday was a second day at MK. We took a midday break back at the hotel followed by dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe (at Wilderness Lodge) which was good. Monday was our last park day, back at Epcot. Dinner (late lunch) was at the Biergarten.

Tuesday morning we just hung around the hotel before heading out to the airport for the (delayed) flight home. Overall, the trip was good. We liked experiencing some new rides, new shows, and new restaurants. Did I mention it was hot? Even my mom (who lives in Florida) agreed that was the case. We also had a few times of rain.

Photos

Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom

Fran at Hollywood Studios

 

Junkyard Trip

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I recently had the opportunity to spend a morning on a Richard Lewis photo workshop at a salvage yard/junkyard in Atco (in the Pine Barrens in south Jersey). While it may not seem like a great place to take photos, it really is as there’s a lot of details and thinks to “see”. It was a very cool place to spend a morning taking photos and spending time with other photographers. It was amazing how they just let us wander, scrambling over and around stuff. If you get a chance to go here, or on any of Rich’s workshops, I’d highly recommend it. Of course, there’s some photos.

 

Photos from New Orleans

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Photos are at May & Jun 2017: New Orleans.

Back in late May/early June, I headed down to New Orleans for the 2017 American Crystallographic Association (ACA) meeting. The meeting went well (even considering I had to run a workshop on my own due to some colleagues flight from London being canceled). The meeting ran Friday through Tuesday. I stuck around until Friday to see some of the city as I had never been. On Wednesday, I moved hotels from downtown (right next to the Superdome) down into the edge of the French Quarter, specifically Maison Dupuy. This was a great hotel a close to Bourbon Street but far enough to have a calmer feel. After checking in, I wandered through the French Quarter, had some beignets at the famous Cafe du Monde, and visited the Old Mint and the French Market. I also visited the Katrina exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum which was excellent.

On Thursday, I spent the day at the phenomenally good National WWII Museum. This was one of the main reasons for me staying longer and I wasn’t disappointed. (You may ask why there’s a WWII museum in New Orleans – two reasons: 1) Stephen Ambrose, who was truly one of the leading WWII historians, lived and taught in NoLa and 2) the Higgins Boat landing craft, made famous during the D-Day landings, were invented and manufactured in NoLa. The museum was excellent and I can’t recommended it highly enough. That evening I was able to catch some decent Blues at one of the bars on Bourbon St.

I had a couple of hours on Friday before my flight home so I poked around the French Quarter some more before heading to the airport. New Orleans was kind of cool and I’m glad I visited. I don’t feel a pressing desire to return but wouldn’t turn down a trip.

Photos from my trip to Japan

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Last month, I ended up going to Japan two and a half weeks, one for work and the rest to do some touring. I had always wanted to go to Asia so this was my chance. I spent a total of 10 days in Tokyo, 5 in Kyoto, and then a final three in Tokyo. I had a great time and would highly recommend going given the chance.

Yasaka-jinja Shrine in Kyoto

Photos and report from our trip to Rome

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Over Christmas, we spent a wonderful two weeks in Italy. We spent eight nights in Rome, two nights in Naples (to visit Pompeii), and then the final two nights in Rome. This was our third trip and the longest one yet. (Our first was only three full days.) We saw a ton of things, some we had seen before and some that were new (including Trajan’s Market, San Giovanni in Laterno, Gesú church). We enjoyed Naples, but did find it grittier than Rome, and loved Pompeii. The weather was really quite good aside from a couple of so-so days. Of course, I took a ton of photos (a bit over 5000).

Report and Photos from my trip to Mérida, Mexico

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In Plaza Grande in Merida MexicoPosted photos as well.

A few weeks back, I headed to Mérida, Mexico (on the Yucatan peninsula) to attend the Latin American Crystallographic Association (LACA) meeting along with a colleague. We flew down Friday, arriving in town around 9pm. We had originally planned to attend the whole meeting, leaving the following Friday. However, due to some things going on at work, we ended up changing our plans a week or so before and headed back to the US on Tuesday morning. It was a short trip, but I really enjoyed it. I had only been to Mexico once before, and that was when I was four and was to Tijuana. For this trip, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Mérida, which was the conference hotel. This was a very nice hotel, especially the very large breakfast buffet. We ended up eating at the hotel’s buffet dinner Friday and Saturday night.

At Cinvestav in Merida MexicoOn Saturday, we headed to CINVESTAV (something akin to a national research lab) for a short opening ceremony, to check out the room for our Sunday workshop, and to get a tour of some of the labs. It was quite a nice place and decently equipped. After finishing and waiting a long time for a taxi, we headed to the center of town and Plaza Grande. We walked around a bit, visited the cathedral, and found somewhere to make the printouts we needed for Sunday. After lunch at Los 2 Toros Yucatecos for some very good regional cuisine, we walked some more, including a visit to the Mercato Portales, before making the trek back to the hotel. We spent a good chunk of the evening in the lounge with some other conference attendees. For dinner, we headed to the hotel’s buffet with some other attendees.

Sunday was our workshop day. We boarded the bus back to CINVESTAV, got set up, and got right to it. The workshop went really well. We finished a bit after noon when ICDD took over for their part. For lunch, we headed to Galierias M?rida (a local mall) all as a group and ended up at San Cerdito. Once the workshops were done, we boarded the bus back to the hotel and hit La Exquina for some excellent tacos. It was a good, but long day.

In Plaza Grande in Merida MexicoMonday was the first day at the conference. Some of the talks were good but many were in Spanish which made it not really possible to follow. For lunch, we headed out to Trattoria La Pasta for a change of pace from tacos. After I presented my poster in the evening, which also went well, we headed to Cubaro. We had tried to find this Sunday night but went the wrong way from the hotel. (Actually, Google or Yelp had it in the wrong location on the map.) This was an excellent meal and it was great to sit on the second floor deck overlooking the Mayan monument. Tuesday morning, we headed back to the airport for our flight back to NJ.

Overall, it was a really good trip. Our workshop, talk, and poster went over very well. I would have loved to see more of the area, the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza are only 45 minutes away, but it was not to be this trip. I’m kind of glad we decided to head home early as I’m not sure I would have gotten much out of many of the talks given that many were in Spanish. It was also amazing how inexpensive food was. Our most expensive meal (Cubaro – steak, shrimp, beer, and tequila) was only the equivalent of $45 dollars for two. Most meals were much less. Perhaps I’ll make it back at some point for work or for a personal trip.

In Merida, Mexico

Trip Report and Photos for our trip to Antietam and Gettysburg National Battlefields

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I’ve posted photos as well.

Kyle at Antietam National BattlefieldKyle had the first couple of days of October off from school for Rosh Hashanah. We had been wanting to go to Gettysburg, a bit over three hours away, for awhile and decided this was a good time to go. As we had four full days, we also added a visit to Antietam, another hour past Gettysburg. We left Saturday morning and headed down to Hagerstown and Antietam National Battlefield. After arriving a bit after an early lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the battlefield. I had only a vague knowledge of the battle but did a quick read of Stephen Sears’ Landscape Turned Red the week before. This was an excellent history of the battle and well worth the read. (His Gettysburg, which I read before our trip there in 2004, is also excellent.) It really is amazing and sobering to visit the site of the deadliest day in American History (around 23,000 soldiers killed or wounded on Sept 17, 1862).

For dinner that night, we had made reservations at the Schmankerl Stube Bavarian restaurant in Hagerstown. I had called ahead to reserve the schweinshaxe (roast pork shank) as well and am glad I did as it was incredibly delicious. Even Kyle loved it. After dinner, we simply headed back to the hotel (the perfectly adequate Sleep Inn) and called it a night.

John Brown's Fort at Harpers Ferry National Historic SiteAs we had seen all of Antietam, for Sunday we decided to head to Harpers Ferry National Historic Park as it’s only 40 or so minutes from Hagerstown. This is the site of John Brown’s raid on the US Armory in 1859 and played a significant role in the lead up to the Battle of Antietam. We hadn’t realized that the park had reconstructued/preserved the main town and it was a wonderful surprise. After an enjoyable morning and lunch at one of the cafes in town, we headed back to our car and out to Gettysburg. As it was on the way, we did stop at Catoctin Mountain Park for a short hike. Catoctin is a lesser known park but is the site of the Camp David presidential retreat.

After checking into our hotel in Gettysburg (the Comfort Suites near Gettysburg Battlefield) we headed to the visitors center for Kyle to get his Junior Ranger book. (We could get the others online but not Gettysburg). We weren’t sure we were going to do the museum and cyclorama but were very glad we did. The cyclorama is really quite something to see and even Kyle enjoyed it. We hadn’t seen it in 2004 as it was undergoing renovation. It’s really amazing that something like this was created 125 years ago. After an excellent dinner at Food 101, we walked around town a bit before stopping for ice cream and heading back to the hotel.

Kyle in Devils Den at Gettysburg National BattlefieldMonday was our day to tour the battlefield. We started at the visitors center and went through the excellent museum before doing the driving tour around the park. Kyle liked seeing the park but it is a bit hard to wrap your head around what was happening during the battle as it’s fairly large and was a three day battle. On this trip, we actually made it to Culp’s Hill, which has a nice observation tower, which we hadn’t before. Our visit took up the whole day to the point that we were worried we might not make it back to the visitors center in time for Kyle to get his Junior Ranger badge (third of the trip) but we did make it. (We could have gone back the next day anyway.) We did also visit the national cemetery, where Abraham Lincoln delivered the famous Gettysburg Address during the dedication of the cemetery in November 1863. Back in downtown Gettysburg, we had dinner at Mamma Ventura and  stopped for ice cream.

Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge National Historic ParkOn Tuesday, we headed back home. As it wasn’t that far out the way and we had been wanted to go for a while, we stopped by Valley Forge National Historic Park. (If you’re counting, that made five National Park Service sites in four days.) We watched the movie and spent a couple of hours visiting the park before grabbing some lunch and heading back home. We did a fair amount of driving but saw a lot of American history in a short time and had a wonderful weekend.

 

At Observation Tower at Gettysburg National Battlefield