I got some great shots of
downtown Seattle from the air as I was landed at Sea-Tac.
That is the Space Needle down there.
After landing in Seattle,
I checked into the beautiful W Hotel in downtown Seattle where our
Summer Refresh Meetings were held.
I was upgraded to a nice Spectacular high floor room due to my status
with Marriott BonVoy.
I liked having a Nespresso machine in my room too!
I was allowed to fly in a day early so I could hang out with my
fraternity brother in Seattle too. We went to Ivar's Fish Bar
for a snack after I checked into my room.
I was impressed with the fish and chips and red chowder at the original
Ivar's Fish Bar in downtown Seattle!
Although it was raining earlier in the day like usual in Seattle, it
turned out to be a beautiful day! This is the waterfront in
Seattle.
We checked out the fish market at Pike's Market next where they throw
the fish in the air!
The Seattle Public Market has lots of cool independent vendors and
stores. I bought a cool art piece too when I was there.
Since the original Starbucks was so busy, we stopped into LePanier for
macaroons and coffee there.
I did not realize how large the Public Market was. I got some
cool items at a collector's store including an Ivan Rodriguez Starting
Line Up toy from the 1990s.
My buddy showed me around some of the other attractions in downtown
including the art museum.
My buddy and I had dinner at Din Tai Fung in Tukwila which is south of
downtown Seattle.
To start off, I got a Whistle Pig 10 Rye. I love Whistle Pig!
The food at Din Tai Fung was amazing as usual!
My meetings did not start until 1:00 on Monday so I was able to sleep
in and order room service for breakfast at the W.
I was checking email and getting a little work done on those
comfortable couches in my room after working out with an iced Nespresso with the amazing view of downtown
Seattle!
That was my view!
I enjoyed getting ready in the bathroom at the W with the nice robes
too with the luxury toilteries.
I am all dressed up and ready to head down to the meeting rooms for our
lunch.
There was lunch waiting in our meeting rooms at noon.
They had plenty of snacks and beverages brought in to our meeting rooms
both days, but this Nitro cold brew coffee was amazing!
We ended our meetings a little early so we could make it down to the
dock to catch a harbor cruise as a teambuilder.
My boss started a tab for us all at the bar on the boat. I
got a rye from a local distillery called Fremont Mischief.
We are departing the dock here for our harbor cruise of Seattle in
Puget Sound.
The tour took us to the port of Seattle where we saw them load the
large containers on oceangoing ships.
The views of Seattle from the water were AWESOME!
We headed to Michael Mina's Bourbon Steak after the cruise for an
AMAZING dinner!
Michael Mina opened up Bourbon Steak in 2021 after closing his original
restaurant due to the strict Covid protocols in Seattle. I
got an Angel Envy's Rye to start off.
My steak was amazing! I got an 8 oz filet mignon.
Of course, the meat was prime.
Here are some of the sides we ordered for the group, and those sauces
are $5 a piece! Dinner was not cheap, but it was paid for by
the company!
We ordered a few desserts, but the smoked s'mores dessert was really
cool and delicious!
Here is a nice view of downtown Seattle as we left Bourbon Steak to
walk back to our hotel.
I enjoyed the healthy breakfast the next day in the meeting room after
that heavy brioche French Toast on the first day in my room!
The meetings were only about half a day on Tuesday, and then my boss
took us down to the original Starbucks to get drinks!
I came here with Joy before, but I think they redid this store since
then.
The Starbucks founder signed that in the store.
We enjoyed our walk down to the original Starbucks.
About a week after my meeting, I was up in Reno for meetings and got to
attend the Justin Moore concert at the Reno Rodeo. I am
getting some Don Julio 1942 here with my buddy at dinner.
My buddy and I took an Uber down to the Reno Rodeo Fairgrounds. A lot of folks were going into the concert.
My buddy and I went to the Jack Daniels Party Tent to get our booze
early!
Cowboy Roy drinking his Gentleman Jack!
Back in line for more Jack Daniels!
Justin Moore has a lot of great hits! I love his music!
Justin Moore did an amazing job!
A few days after the concert, I was off to New York's LaGuardia for
meetings on the east coast. Of course, I get to use Premier
Access for check in!
All I had to do on Monday was travel to Greenwich for the meeting so I
was dressed casual in the Spyder hoodie my company got us a gift for
our kick off meeting this year. Pulm Nation means we are the
pulmonary team!
I had a layover in Denver so I got a nice lunch at Elway's.
Here is a replica of the Vince Lombardy at Elway's Denver Airport.
They had a local Colorado spirit called Strathan's so I had to get it.
I loved my prime filet mignon. To be healthy, I got a side of fruit with it.
My luggage was out quickly since I had the priority tag on it.
My car service was waiting for me outside baggage claim at LGA Airport in New York City. They sent a Suburban for me.
I enjoyed my roughly 45 minute drive up to Greenwich, CT in the car service that my company booked for me.
This is Citi Field where the NY Mets play in Queens.
I got this picture of NYC with the sunset in the background as we crossed the bridge from Queens to the Bronx.
The Hyatt Regency in Greenwich had a cool atrium.
This was my view from the room. I liked those adirondack chairs
on the lawn. Old Greenwich is one of the richest places in the
country with an average income around $300,000. One sees lots of
luxury car services waiting outside!
We got this cool speaker as a gift for this meeting.
The macaroons at the dinner and evening cocktail reception were delicious!
I went for a walk in Old Greenwich after the reception to burn off some
calories. This is the old stone marker for the Conde Naste
Publications which were based there before.
The desserts at our meeting meals were amazing!
We got a tour of our labs at headquarters in Tarrytown on this trip where we develop our biologics. It was cool!
I made reservations for a few of my colleagues and me at City Island
Lobster House in City Island which is a small New England style island
off the Bronx.
I ordered the dual lobster tails for my dinner.
One of my colleagues got the seafood paella. We shared our two entrees.
We had a van arranged through the car service my company uses in the NY Metro area to take us back to the hotel from dinner.
They went a Lincoln MKT the next day to take to the airport from the Hyatt Regency for my return trip home.
This was a cool water feature at LGA Airport.
I had dinner at the Brooklyn Diner at LGA Airport since I wanted to
have a "Seinfeld" experience since I was in NYC after all. LOL.
Here is a cool Welcome To New York sign at LGA Airport as we were
getting ready to take off. I was a little scared of LGA since
planes have slid off the runway before into the water!
This was a nice view of NYC as I took off from LGA.
We went to another concert when I got back from that East Coast trip.
We saw Brantley Gilbert in concert at the Hard Rock Live near
Sacramento.
June of 2022 was a
busy travel month for work! I started off the month with a three
day trip to Seattle for our Summer Refresh meetings. Since I have
an old fraternity brother in town, I decided to fly in a day early to
hang out with him. Flight options from Sacramento to Seattle on
Monday were not as good too so I would have risked being late to our
meetings which started at 1:00 PM on Monday. After arriving into
Seattle, I checked into my spectacular view room at the W Hotel in
downtown Seattle. Afterwards, I checked out some of the Seattle
sights and got a snack at the original Ivar's Fish Bar. Pike's
Market was cool to explore. I even found a couple of cool
collectibles to get as well as a nice art piece. We ended the day
with dinner at Din Tai Fung, who are known for their amazing soupl
dumplings.
The next day, I had the whole morning to relax
before my meetings started in the afternoon. We only met for a
few hours since we went on a harbor cruise in Puget Sound as a
teambuilder. On the cruise, we got amazing views of downtown
Seattle from the water including the Space Needle. My boss had a
tab for us at the bar on the ship so we were able to enjoy a few drinks
too. After the cruise, we went to Michael Mina's Bourbon Steak
for dinner. Michael Mina does not disappoint at all! We
loved the service, food, and amazing list of bourbon and whiskeys!
I got a few Angel's Envy Rye drinks that night. For dinner,
we had a lot of great appetizers including the oysters, truffle
hamachi, and fries with assorted dipping sauces. Some salads
followed. Afterwards, we got our entree selections. I got
the 8 oz prime filet mignon. We had a lot of family style sides
too. One of my colleagues and I shared two of the signature
sauces which were $5 a piece! LOL. I love life! For
dessert, we got an assortment of items, but the smoked s'mores themed
dish was amazing!
I had my usual business travel that month, but for
one of my usual overnight stays in Reno, I was up there during the Reno
Rodeo Kick Off Concert so I went to see Justin Moore in concert with my
buddy up there. After dinner and drinks at Casa Grande in Reno,
we took a ride share down to the Reno Rodeo Grounds so we could keep
drinking at the concert. LOL. The Jack Daniel's Party Tent
was set up where we could get a decent selection of JD or beer.
The Reno Rodeo is known for having the richest purse in the whole
rodeo circuit. Justin Moore did a great show for us! I love
so many of his songs! The weather was great too!
A few days after the concert, I had to fly to New
York City for a training meeting in Greenwich, CT. I took United
from Sacramento NY LaGuardia (LGA). In New York, the company
arranged a luxury car service for me to take me to the Hyatt Regency in
Greenwich, CT. Our meetings started on the second day since the
first day was a travel day for us. After getting our cool meeting
gift, we had our workshops most of the day before a nice dinner and
reception at the hotel.
The next day, we got a fun tour of our corporate
headquarters. A colleague from our lab showed us how we develop
our biologics and grow the cells which become the proteins that we put
into our injections. I was so proud of the work my company does
to advance the treatement of rare diseases too. After the tour, a
few of us went to dinner at City Island Lobster House in NYC.
City Island is a small island off the coast of the Bronx.
The drive in was about 30-35 minutes. City Island is like a
New England fishing village. We loved our dinner at City Island
Lobster House! The seafood paella was amazing! After we got
back to the hotel via the car service van, we were up for a few more
hours drinking high quality bourbon that a few colleagues had
"Doordashed" to us. My colleagues are fun to hang out with!
I returned back home the next day after more
meetings in the morning. The car service took me back to LGA.
On this trip, I kept thinking back to the old Seinfeld episodes
since they were based in NYC. There was a Brooklyn Diner at LGA
that said "The Finer Diner," and I thought of that quote from Jerry
Seinfeld in the episode with the Bubble Boy where he wrote "Nothing Is
Finer Than Being In Your Diner." LOL.
Joy and I went to see Brantley Gilbert perform at
Hard Rock Live near Sacramento on that Saturday after I got back from
New York. I always wanted to see Brantley sing "One Hell Of An
Amen" live. He killed it!