For many American’s 2009 was a year of challenges. We faced job loss, pay cuts, furlough days, home foreclosures and empty promises. Despite the economy’s efforts to bring us down, we have banded together and remained strong. Now as we move deeper into 2010, it is time to rely not on the government but on ourselves as we plan for the future.
We are learning quickly what we really need and what we can live without. Many of us are on tight enough budgets that there is not much room, if any, for saving. As life would have it, those are often the times when the car breaks down, the heater on the house goes out, or a child becomes sick. When it comes to covering those unexpected things, having money in savings is the ideal way to handle the situation. For those who are just fortunate enough to be able to pay their monthly expenses much less think about savings, they are often led to payday loans for those unexpected emergencies. Payday lenders like money mutual montel Williams offer quick and easy payday loans that can get you the cash you need in a hurry. You can also visit moneymutual.com for more information or to apply online.
The level of economic insecurity and uncertainty about the future that this country has faced in the last year is something that most of us have not experienced before. It has forced us to look at ourselves and re-examine our priorities. It has also drawn us closer to our friends and families as look to one another for support. Because we have struggled through this time together and allowed it to draw us together instead of ripping us apart, we will be stronger as individuals, as parents, as loved ones, and as friends.

The forest and the trees analogy can easily be applied to the past and present in New York City.  For people who live here, the past is evident everywhere, and most know some of the multiple histories that make up the people who live in the city, but the specter that haunts is always in the present.  The energy here is very profound, and impossible to avoid, and it’s always based on where the citizens are, right here and right now.  Part of the rawness of the city is its immediacy, and it’s never easy to get over, but there’s probably no reason to try.  Coming here to look at the works of dead artists on the walls of museums has a very important role in how artistic personalities get shaped and nurtured.  But there’s a lot more to it than that.

When we arrived to the boarding desk, the attendant explained that since we’ve been upgraded to Business Class we could have boarded the plane to New York a while ago. We don’t know how we got bumped up, but we didn’t care, because there was free champagne, which I drank, since my husband would be the one driving our car hire in New York City.
 
We planned to sleep on the plane in order to avoid any jet-lag, but Business Class was way too exciting. Our seats turned into fully reclining beds, our meals were served on porcelain plates with real cutlery and real glasses. The hit it off with another couple on the plane, who were heading to New York to visit their family. When we arrived in New York and since we were in Business Class, we were the 2nd people off the plane, well, right after first class. What this meant was a quick trip through security and immigration. We collected our bags, and collected our car hire, a lovely Lexus hybrid.
 
We went on a small tour of Manhattan, before we headed out on to the highway, we were off to upstate New York for a conference. But, while in New York City, we just had to see some of the more interesting points of interest, like driving to Times Square, to Central Park, up Fifth Avenue, down Broadway, over to the Empire State Building and when we found parking, we parked and went to the closest restaurant, which was at Sardi’s!  We didn’t care how expensive it was, we just cared that we managed to get a table without reservations. After a marvelous meal, and a celebrity sighting, Sam Waterston from ‘Law and Order’, he was eating at a table across from us, all by himself! That was thrilling. We couldn’t believe our luck and finding parking, and it’s near a famous restaurant and we got to see a celebrity all within two hours of being in New York.
 
Too bad we couldn’t ride this ‘luck’ wave, because we really did need to be on our way. Maybe on our trip back to the city, our luck will still be with us

Mardi Gras is soon approaching, and for some people, that means that New Orleans and its legendary hospitality and hotels are about to be put to use for Fat Tuesday, the big blow out before Ash Wednesday, and forty days of Lent.  The French Quarter’s reputation precedes it for most people who have ever traveled to New Orleans, those college-aged and those who wish they were still college-aged looking forward walking on Bourbon Street, collecting Mardi Gras beads and drinking Hurricanes (red rum in “to go” cups) from the famous Pat O’Brien’s.  Everyone knows that the French Quarter is one of the places in the world to be on Fat Tuesday, but fewer people may realize that another time of year is almost as interesting.

For those people who want to experience the energy and excitement of Mardi Gras without all the crowding, then next year think about visiting between Christmas and New Year’s.  Throughout the week, the expectation of a new year and New Year’s Eve grows.  The hotel prices do jump up on December 30th and 31st, as the day approaches, but until then, the rates are extremely reasonable.  In the streets, there’s plenty of people to see and things to do.  Coffee in the morning at Cafe du Monde, one of the oldest coffee stands in the country, serving delicious coffee and beignets, a French-style doughnut.  Walking tours of the French Quarter in the day, and ghost tours at night.  Check into shops selling Voodoo items, listen to jazz from a number of bars, take a look at a shop devoted entirely to vampirism, and explore your future with psychics on the plaza in Jackson Square (although be warned, the psychics may be a bit pricey, so make sure you establish a price before they start giving you a reading).

As the nights go by, you’ll soon see people, drinks in hand, walking the street, willing to do quite a lot for a handful of beads, just like they do during Mardis Gras festivities.  It’s perfect for those who like the excitement of Bourbon Street without too much in the way of crowds and pressure.

By the time I landed in New York City, went through customs, then took the C train all the way to Penn Station and walked to my New York hotel, which wasn’t too far away. I had dinner at the hotels restaurant and felt some what delusional. The combination of jet-lag, travel fatigue, being up for 28 hours and culture shock and disorientation made my feel like I was on the deck of a boat, and that boat was in choppy water. I went up to my hotel room and collapsed. I basically sleep through a whole day.

When a awoke, I was refreshed and up and ready to jog through Central Park, then looped around the reservoir and then through midtown. It took me 2 hours, but did I need the workout. However, I found that most of the people I was running with, or by, or who passed me by, are incredibly fit. It was an incredible morning, crisp and sunny.

After a nice shower and fresh clothes, I headed to the Upper West Side to see the Seinfeld restaurant and Columbia University, walking this time. I walked the whole distance from midtown to downtown and to Ground Zero, which is still under construction, it’s a huge hole in the ground, but there are now several stories underway. I then visited Battery Park and then the Brooklyn Bridge. There are so many other sites I’d like to see, like the MoMa, the Met, but my legs will only let me see so much in one day.

The next day, and my final day, I took the shuttle bus that my hotel offered and headed off to LaGuardia Airport. But when I boarded and sat for almost three hours without pulling out, the pilot explained how the planes computer wasn’t working and we all had to exit. Maybe the faiths were telling me to stay another day.

South of Jacksonville, Florida, along the First Coast, lies the oldest European settlement in America, the city of St. Augustine, established in 1565.  Also known as the Ancient City, St. Augustine is an excellent spot for travelers wanting to take in four hundred and forty-five years of history in the New World.  It’s easily reached by any number of luxury hotels Florida has throughout the area, and offers the history buff a number of interesting sites, such as Fort Matanzas, the Castillo de San Marcos, or the Lightner Museum.

Fort Mantanzas was built around 1740 to 1742 and served as a watchtower fort for the Spanish.  The fort enabled the Spanish to see enemy vessels as they came from the south along the Matanzas River.  Major conflict occurred in that time as European nations struggled to control the New World; the fort is now a national monument.   Like Fort Mantanzas and Fort Moses (to the north), the Castillo de San Marcos (the Castle of San Marcos) also acted as protection for St. Augustine.  Constructed in 1672 to help Spain defend its city, the Castillo changed hands many times over the decades to follow, from Spain to the British to Spain again, and finally, to the United States.

In the whole of St. Augustine, one of the more interesting museums is the Lightner Museum, due to its unique collections, including mummies and shrunken heads, crystal and stained glass.  When it opened in 1889, the building was Henry Flagler’s Alcazar Hotel, a place with an indoor pool and a retractable roof, with a casino and a spa, even a movie theater.  Chicago publisher, Otto C. Lightner purchased the hotel from railroad magnate Flagler, and then lived there, keeping this varied assortment of objects here.    The museum, featuring “relics of a gilded age,” was opened in 1946 and later given to the city of St. Augustine.

Phoenix is a collective series of multiple contradictions, beginning with the lawn.  The city was designed on an idea of Americana, where the picket fence sensibility was transplanted here in the 1950s and has stayed for reasons that are perhaps lost by now.  The lawns are still here, however, and some of the greenest lawns in the world dot the suburbs, despite the geography of the desert.  At the same time, there are many who claim that it is still a desert in terms of sensibility and culture, but the demographics suggest otherwise.  It’s one of the largest cities in the U.S., with a diverse population whose sensibilities certainly find their way into the art scene.

There is an art scene here, too, and it is thriving.  Perhaps not economically, but then, what city can claim this these days, but in terms of ideas and creative people, there is a lot to see here.  The summers, of course, are incredibly hot, with unearthly temperatures that make pit bulls shudder, but the rest of the year, it is truly a paradise.  The deep beauty of the desert is apparent everywhere, and there are plenty of urban adventures as well.  For accommodations in Phoenix, luxury hotels are very popular, because the sensibility here is very high on hospitality, and the locals know how to have fun.  During your stay, if you happen to be lucky enough to be in town for a Stray Cat production, check it out.

It’s a hot ticket, and they do sell out pretty quickly, so plan ahead.  The company began in the new millennium, which seems somehow appropriate.  This is theatre for a new generation.  Some of the best elements of contemporary U.S. realism work their way in to a decidedly experimental aesthetic.  Some of the best local performers work with this company at one time or another, and local director Ron May has been getting some of the attention he deserves.  He isn’t the only director at Stray Cat, but he’s one of the most interesting in the country, and it’s terribly exciting to see his work evolve in a rather spectacular direction.