Vintage and Antique shopping in Columbus, OH

Things change, I know, but so many great stores have disappeared from the C-bus landscape. For me, the most lamented is Avalon shoes. We stalked up and down High Street in the freezing cold thinking we missed something - but it is gone.

Rag-o-Rama on High Street still exists and reminds me a bit of Buffalo Exchange here in San Francisco. Great for used clothes but you won't really find much in the way of vintage here.

Mad 4 Mod - despite the name - has vintage from many decades. The store is clean and well organized, though I was a bit frustrated by the rack system. They had eye-level racks and above THOSE were another level of racks, which for short people, presented a problem. The staff were happy to help get things down for you with a hook and ladder, but still a bit odd. I was able to find some really terrific stuff here and our salesperson was able to negotiate with us on the prices. Everything I found was in good condition and without odd odors, stains or needing repair work.

Across the street is the Eclectiques Antique Mall. This place seemed endless, but in the basement I found racks of vintage clothes - though not in as good of condition as I had hoped (still bitter over the chiffon dress with the stains on the front). Tons of knick-knacks, kitchen tools, furniture, brownie cameras, old photos and tons of jewelry. What books I could find were not in good condition. It was fun to browse and poke around, but in the end we didn't buy anything here.

Down in the southend of C-bus we found the Greater Columbus Antique Mall. Much like Eclectiques, this place needs time and the energy to really be on a treasure hunt. The vendors here seem to focus more on furniture and "stuff", not clothing.

Finally - the mother lode: Captain Betty's in Delaware. She keeps odd hours: Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 5pm. However, this small store is packed with good, quality vintage. Feel free to snoop in the boxes and drawers and baskets for more clothes and jewelry. Betty herself is a unique lady - approaching 70 years of age, she knows her business and if she likes you, she will bring styles to you to try on and play dress-up on you. I have heard if she isn't in a good mood or doesn't like you, she can be rude - but we didn't experience this. She worked with us on prices and I walked away VERY happy. For the guys: she has a great collection of mens' suits and clothing.

All about Airlines: Part II - Hell Freezes Over: I can't complain (much) about Continental Airlines!

I haven't flown Continental in many years, and even then it was one of those "must I??" situations. However, they provide direct flights from SFO to Cleveland and on a recent trip to Columbus, this was much better than flying American with a 3-hour layover in Dallas. Even driving from Cleveland to C-bus, our travel time was shorter.

Check-in online was straight forward. No upgrades were available and the flight was packed, but overall no real issues. Baggage drop-off in SFO was fast (as in hardly any line - yeah!) but here comes my one major complaint: $18-20 a bag. No free checked bags. It seems it is $18 online if you pay before you get to the airport, $20 at the airport. This of course leads to all those people trying to stuff their wheelies into the overhead bins on the airplane so be warned - you'd better be able to get your stuff under the seat in front of you, be part of the elite first boarding groups or able to take down other people who are trying to steal your overhead space.

Flight attendants were pleasant and the staff we encountered were overall NOT surly. Shocking, isn't it? The planes were pretty clean (unlike SOME airlines - I'm talking about you United!) and one of our planes had DirectTV at each seat. Seats are average - nothing special there.

Here is the kicker: food. On our 4-5 hour flights, we were given real food. For free. I'm not making this stuff up, I swear. Breakfast was cereal and raisins and a muffin, lunch was a turkey hotdog in a croissant (gobble-gobble in a blanket?) with some salad and a Kit-Kat (which I ate first). I know this sounds lame, but I forgot food and was starving and that turkey hotdog was totally awesome at that moment.

Congrats to Continental Airlines for exceeding my (low) expectations for an airline!!

CNN: All about Airline Fees

This is such a great chart that I just had to share it! Fees, fees and more fees. And since this published, I believe a few have gone up. Quality customer service folks - this is what it is all about (that was sarcasm if you didn't recognize it).

Traveling with Pets

Recently we started planning a long trip to visit family and we want to take our Shiba Inu with us. He's too big for cabin travel (27 pounds) and most certainly will not fit under the seat. Folks with a dog under 20 pounds have some GREAT options. Petfinder.com did a fantastic job summarizing these and the top 5 pet friendly airlines for the 2009 year.

I called Continental since fuzzbutt isn't going to fit under any seat, any where. They have a 24 hour desk and the lady I spoke with told me the pets are in cargo, but in an area separate from the luggage. This area has the same temperature and air-pressure as the main passenger cabin. It is kept dark, but no one is down there with the pets during travel. Pet are loaded last onto the plane and taken off first by dedicated staff (not the regular luggage handlers). In talking to friends, I joked that I might almost prefer to travel in the "pet cabin" versus the main cabin (dark and quiet)!

Rates aren't cheap - but we are booking our fuzzbutt and will see how it goes. Stay tuned!

For those who live in some key cities (Chicago, NYC, DC, etc), check out Pet Airways. They ONLY fly pets and seem to have a first class service. Be warned though: they do not land in most of the major airports in those areas. For example, in LA they do not fly in/out of LAX but rather "Hawthorne". No idea. . .

All About Airlines - Part I

AirTran:

Budget airline. Need I say more? Ok then – I will! My flights were re-scheduled at least half a dozen times in the weeks before my actual vacation. I originally choose AirTran because on a flight from SFO to MCO, they connected through Atlanta, resulting in shorter travel time. By the time it was all down, I was connecting through Milwaukee, my travel time had increased by hours, and I was arriving in MCO much later than I had planned.

They charge for any checked bags. Unless you upgrade to business class. Which brings me to my next rant: I paid for a business class upgrade and when I arrived at the airport, I was told my seat was “broken”. It didn’t have a life vest (which is so clearly needed on a flight across LAND) but OK – I don’t know the FAA regulations. What was I provided instead? A bulkhead seat in coach – not too bad. Except it wasn’t a bulkhead seat. It was a seat right behind a business class seat which could still recline. However, I was not able to put up my armrest. I suppose that make it a “bulkhead”?

My final nits here: no headsets (they were out of stock), no TV, seats are average (at best) and no food or drinks available for purchase. If you upgrade, you get free booze and extra potato chips. That’s it.

What do they do right? Their staff are super nice. I really hate trashing them because they have such nice staff. And their unaccompanied minor fees are lower than most airlines. They do have in-flight wi-fi access that works pretty well.

Virgin America:

I totally heart Virgin America. Nice planes, nice staff, free games, some free TV and movies, headsets. The seats are decent with probably average legroom. The fact that I can order cocktails and food on the screen in front of me and swipe me credit card makes me very, very happy. Flights are cheap, upgrades are available (and reasonable) and your first check bag is free. The staff are friendly and when there have been challenges, they have responded well and handled things in a professional and courteous manner. Their unaccompanied minors fees are high ($75 per child, per direction) but they really go out of their way to help make this a good experience for the kids and the grown-ups.

And they fly to Vegas. Mmm. . . Vegas.

Oooohh. . .they just added a main cabin “select” class with more legroom and free drinks and beverages and dedicated overhead space. Now I’m even more in love!

JetBlue:

What happened to this airline? They use to have cheap, direct flights to great places and from coast-to-coast. DirectTV in the flights, decent seats (leather or pleather, not icky cloth seats that are stinky) and nice staff. Now I can never find direct flights and their prices are 2-3 times more than other airlines.Totally sux!

United:

I absolutely hate United. Unfortunately for me, they fly where I travel with the fewest stops and shortest travel time. When traveling coast-to-coast, they often connect through Denver which reduces the travel time. They also have good flights to Asia from the West Coast and they have OK flights to Europe. Their prices are usually comparable to other crappy airlines and they have lots of flights going. However, they crush all that with horrible planes (old, outdated CRT tube TVs? Really?) audio ports rarely ever work, seats are horrid, staff are surly (on a good day) and customer service is total shit. And let’s not forget the baggage fees for any checked luggage.

If you have status with the airline, much of this changes. Free upgrades to Economy Plus, first checked bag is free and their customer service starts to resemble something like customer service - but it is still not stellar by any stretch of the imagination.

Singapore: A few things to know

As you fly to Singapore, you are presented with the entry papers to fill out, nothing unusual there. Until you turn the card over and notice that they are informing you drug smuggling into Singapore is punishable by DEATH. Whoa. . .they do still take their laws very seriously and while they may seem odd to us (no gum), do us all a favor and just obey them, OK? I really do not need to hear about you getting caned in Singapore on CNN. And yes, it does happen - while I was there the news reported on a caning of a local for some offense or another.

About the airport - Changi:

I was a bit caught off guard by the airport procedure at Changi. Everything went smoothly until I arrived at my gate. Each gate has an additional security screening and there was no water or restrooms past this security point. Plan accordingly. There is the standard security screening as you enter into the gate area also – so two security gates.

What to avoid

Hotel Restaurants:

The Raffles Hotel restaurants: overpriced and frankly - just not worth it. The hotel itself is very lovely, but the food just didn’t cut it. We ate at the Long Bar, a steakhouse and it was super expensive and super pedestrian.

One-Ninety at the Four Seasons: Seriously? You are going to charge me that much for fried rice? Puh-lease. It wasn’t even that good!

Taxis:

Unless you call for a taxi, forget about it. The little taxi stands along the streets are worthless (you cannot flag down a cab, you must wait at the stand). We asked a local about this and were told that a cab driver makes more when responding to a call to pick up a specific person at a specific location. We would actually see cabs go by and turn on their “on call” light before passing us at the stand and then turn it back off. Either carry cards for some taxi services, use MRT or be ready to hoof it.

Durian:

If you have never smelled the horrible stench of this fruit, well, I suppose in some ways you ARE missing something but not a pleasant experience. People are forbidden to buy this and bring it back to hotels and such. The stench is strong, powerful, rotten and carries a long, long distance. Since I couldn’t get within 20 feet of vendor selling the fruit, I certainly did not TASTE it . . . and really, why would you??

One Perfect Day: Singapore

I was fortunate to be staying in the Four Seasons since I was on business travel. For female travelers, you have to realize tank-tops won’t get you into the temples and mosques and will cause you to freeze in the shops and air-conditioned places. I wore a long-sleeved white linen shirt, a skirt and slip-on shoes. Obey the local laws: no spitting, no chewing gum, etc. The upside of all the laws is that Singapore is an amazingly clean, modern city with a very polite culture and excellent service wherever you go.

First stop: “Little India”. It is a bit difficult to navigate Little India – sidewalks sometimes vanish or end up being very broken and sporadic. Compared to the rest of Singapore, this is a bit disconcerting. After exiting the MRT system, we found a great place called Mustards on Race Course Road. The server kept asking me about “gravy” and I never really did figure out what he meant, but the food was fantastic!

There is a very notable Hindu temple to Vishnu, Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple on Serangoon Road. It is open air and very elaborate, very beautiful. To the Western eye, it may seem like a bit much – but take a moment to realize Indian culture values color more than our culture. Look everywhere and notice everything. There are statues that are just stunning and carvings that are amazing. You must remove your shoes to enter. Continuing along Race Course Road the Buddhist temple, Leong San See Taoist Temple, also known as the Dragon Mountain Temple, was just stunning. Even someone as cynical I as can be truly moved by this place. Past the entrance is an open air courtyard. When I arrived the monks were singing a chant to their ancestors. There were birds in cages around the courtyard contributing in their own way to the chant – it was overall just an incredible experience.

Along the same street, there are a couple more Buddhist templates, neither as interesting as the first. The temple with the “great” Buddha (Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple) wasn’t as interesting as the Lonely Planet book made it seem. It did have an adorable “guard cat” who was hanging out with the worshipers at prayer. If I have my history correct, this is suppose to be one of the oldest temples to Buddha in the city and notable for making slight concessions to Hinduism.

Along the way, we found the Tekka Mall. If you have time, there are plenty of vendors here happy to fit a traditional Indian outfit for you. The shops are amazing and varied – silk, gold, purses, food – definitely a place to visit, though I suspect there is an aspect of “buyer beware” going on here.

Taking the MRT to Chinatown, when you come up out of the subway it is a bit surprising. Chinatown in San Francisco and New York are a bit gritty. The Singapore Chinatown has wider streets and is spotless. It is also very, very beautiful! The two or three story buildings are painted a vast amount of colors with shuttered windows and the odd advertisement painting on the building itself. The red paper lanterns strung across the streets must be really made of plastic since they survived the downpour I was trapped in. The streets are paved with brick and stone and no cars allowed. During said downpour, we ducked into a place called “8 Treasures” to get something to eat and escape the rain. Air-conditioning greeted us and we scored a window seat! The place had a colonial feel to it and the staff were fantastic. The food is all vegetarian but extremely good. The spicy Schezwan soup was amazing and the olive fried rice seemed to be missing the olives but was delicious just the same. The chrysanthemum tea was a new thing for me and I loved it!

Skip the Chinatown Complex – completely lame. We ran into it to avoid the rain (which had started up again) and it wasn’t anything special. There is that special fruit that smells horrid – Durian - and there was a vendor here selling it. The smell permeated the whole complex. Watch out for the jewelry shops. Seriously. They have A/C which draws you in “just to look” and you walk out significantly poorer. However, if you are good at saying “no” (and meaning it) and at bargaining, you can score some good deals here.

At this point, you should be thoroughly exhausted and it is time to call it a day!