Unusual hotels around the U.S.

by Katie Hammel on

Ever wanted to stay in a treehouse? How about in a wigwam, a light house, or even 30 feet underwater? At hotels around the United States, you can indulge these wacky fantasies and more. From yurts to train cars, here are some of the most unique places to stay around the country.

Kokopelli’s Cave Bed and Breakfast – Farmington, New Mexico
Located in the cliffs of New Mexico, near Mesa Verde National Monument, Kokopelli’s Cave B&B is just what it sounds like – a hotel dug out of the rock, where guests sleep in a carved out cave 70 feet underground. It’s perfect as a home base for hikers who want to explore the surrounding area, or for couples looking for a luxurious, relaxing retreat.

Jules Undersea Lodge – Key Largo, Florida
Dive enthusiasts who stay at the Jules Undersea Lodge won’t have to go far to don their scuba suits. Actually, they’ll need to scuba dive just to get to the Lodge, which is located 30 feet below the sea. The Lodge still functions as an underwater research station and welcomes guests for overnight stays, but the claustrophobic may want to look elsewhere for accommodations.

Treebones Resort – Big Sur, California
Staying in a yurt, a kind of permanent tent structure, isn’t exactly roughing it at Treebones Resort. The yurts here feature hardwood floors and French doors, and restrooms and a large swimming pool are just a few steps away. The yurts overlook the Pacific Ocean and the resort offers several tours and activities.

Out’n’About Treehouses Treesort – Takilma, Oregon
Never had a treehouse as a kid? Here’s your chance to make up for lost time, spending the night in a souped up treehouse in the Oregon woods. The treehouses don’t have TV, phone, or air conditioning, but they do have comfortable queen beds, and some have kitchenettes and bathrooms. The treehouses are accessed by stairs, swinging bridges and zip lines and the resort offers a variety of active adventures for guests.

Dog Bark Park Inn – Cottonwood, Idaho
If you’ve ever dreamed of sleeping inside a two-story wooden beagle (because really, who hasn’t?), head to the Dog Bark Park Inn in north central Idaho. Billing itself as the “world’s largest beagle” the Dog Bark Park Inn may not be a destination unto itself – other than typical outdoor activities, there’s not much to lure you to Cottonwood, Idaho – but if a road trip brings you through the area, this will make for a memorable place to stay.

Aurora Express Bed and Breakfast – Fairbanks, Alaska
Sleeping on a train is nothing new. Sleeping in a retired rail car turned into a hotel is a little more unusual. Each train car on the Aurora Express Bed and Breakfast holds one to four hotel rooms, featuring lavish bedding and gilded decor reminiscent of the golden age of train travel. A dining car serves breakfast daily. The hotel is only open in summer months.

McMenamin’s Kennedy School – Portland, Oregon
For the ultimate trip down memory lane, head to Portland, Oregon and book a room at the Kennedy School, a hotel built out of a former elementary school. Many of the original furnishings remain and nearly every room plays on the educational theme. Sip a brewed on-site beer at the Detention Bar, party to live music in the gym, or tour the brewery housed in the former girls’ bathroom. Even the guest rooms get in on the fun theme. They are housed in converted classrooms and many still have their original desks and chalkboards.

Galley Gossip: A question about why flight attendants are fat, old, grumpy, lazy and ugly

by Heather Poole on

Dear Heather,

Here’s another you hate to hear but I will say it anyway… Why is it that US domestic flight attendants are so much more fat, grumpy, lazy and uglier than their foreign counterparts? They are ALL drop dead gorgeous, smile and don’t ask me for any money when I fly with them. Why is that?

Big Daddy

Dear Big Daddy,

Why am I not surprised that a question like this is coming from a person addressing himself as Big Daddy? Why is it that I shake my head as I read this question and wonder just how big Big Daddy is and whether or not Big Daddy is fatter, grumpier, lazier, or uglier than his foreign counterparts? Does Big Daddy not realize that flight attendants are people, too, and that a flight attendant has every right to grow older and get a little fatter and uglier as the years go by, and that a flight attendant can remain a flight attendant as long as he/she can perform the job? Doesn’t big Daddy realize that flight attendants are allowed the same rights as passengers?

Perhaps Big Daddy doesn’t know that the flight attendants working the US Airways flight that landed in the Hudson River last month were all senior flight attendants in their 50’s. Does Big Daddy honestly believe that all of the passengers who were evacuated safely off that flight and onto the wings and into the slide / rafts in freezing temperature really cared whether or not their flight attendants had hips a tad bit bigger, or a belly slightly larger, or faces not quite as pretty as their foreign counterparts? What is it, Big Daddy, that brings out such backwards thinking in people? And what will become of our foreign counterparts when they, too, get older and fatter and uglier, Big Daddy?

Just a couple questions, Big Daddy – are you married? Do you have children? Run with a good group of friends? If so, do you judge them as lesser than if they’re fatter and older than their foreign counterparts? So why are flight attendants any different?

As far as only experiencing grumpy flight attendants on board your flights, I only know what I know, and what I know is I always try to be kind and friendly with my passengers, always making small talk while serving drinks and doing whatever I can with what little is provided. Most of my passengers deplane with a smile on their face. I say most, not all, because one person can only do so much for 160 passengers (or more).

As far as lazy flight attendants go, there’s only so much a flight attendant can do in this day and age of travel besides offer a drink and apologize because we don’t have this and we don’t have that to a full flight of miserably cramped passengers. I’m sorry the airlines have had to drastically change due to the weak economy. I’m sorry that I have to constantly say I’m sorry. And I’m sorry you feel the level of service and the looks of your attendant are inferior. I’m sorry, always sorry.

But at a time when companies are going under, my airline is still flying strong. I’m proud of that. Even if that means I have to ask you to pay for your headset, alcoholic beverage and snack. At a time when companies are cutting back, my airline has yet to lay off within the last few years. I’m proud of that. Even if that means there are no more pillows and peanuts and the average age of a flight attendant is forty years-old due to the fact that we haven’t hired in years.

If all that matters to you, Big Daddy, when choosing an airline is a gorgeous flight attendant who smiles and doesn’t ask you for money, than yes, our foreign counterparts are by far superior. I hope that answered your question. If you have another question email me at Skydoll123@yahoo.com.

Happy travels,

Heather Poole

Photos courtesy of (black and white flight attendant) Alexindigo, (flight attendants) praziquantel – flickr

Galley Gossip: Interview with a flight attendant – ME!

by Heather Poole on

Dear Heather,

I know this is really random and weird, but I’m a Jr in high school and we were given an assignment to write a research paper over a job that we would like to do once we graduate and I have become very interested in becoming a flight attendant. Anyway part of the assignment is to interview someone that does the job we would like to do. It’s been very hard trying to find someone that is a flight attendant. Well I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions…

  1. How long have you been working at your job
  2. What kind of training/education is required to do your job
  3. Is college or a vocational school needed to prepare for this job?
  4. How have the things learned in school helped when beginning this line of work?
  5. What do you like most about your job?
  6. What do you like least about your job?
  7. What advice would you give a student that is interested in doing what you do?
Thanks for your time,

Lacy

Dear Lacy,

I’d love to help you with your research paper and thank you for including me. When you’re finished, can I take a peek at what you wrote? Oh and if you, or anyone else, have any other questions please feel free to ask!

How long have you been working at your job: I’ve been working for a major US carrier for fourteen years. Before I began working for my current employer, I worked three months for a low cost carrier called Sun Jet International Airlines, an airline that is no longer in business. I’ve even done a little corporate flying on a GV (gulfstream) owned by Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, which was actually purchased over the internet for $41 million, the largest internet purchase ever made. Talk about an amazing experience. My jumpseat alone was something to write home about.

What kind of training / education is required to do your job: It depends on the airline. However, I do not know many flight attendants who do not have a college education. Even with a 30% pay cut, longer duty days, and shorter layovers, all of which happened after 9/11, the job is still a highly competitive one to obtain. That means if you want to work for a major carrier your best bet is to go to college and get a degree.

Besides a college education, airlines are also looking for people who have good customer service skills. Remember, you will be dealing with people, all kinds of people and lots of them for up to 14 hours a day, and most of these people are not happy and want to tell you all about it. It’s important that you have the right kind of personality to handle this kind of job. Even people with the right personality can lose a little patience after a long duty day. Being flexible is also a must in the airline industry, as flights cancel and schedules change. And keep in mind, you probably won’t be based where you live now.

As for training the airline will provide, it was the longest seven and a half weeks of my life. It’s not that it was hard, because it’s really not, but there’s a lot of information to retain in a very short period of time. In training we learned everything from how to evacuate a smoke filled cabin to how to handle a “gassy” passenger without insulting them.

Trust me, it’s not all about doing a drink service. Things do happen in flight. Just a few months ago I walked out of the business class galley with a tray full of drinks and noticed the entire business class cabin had turned around in their seats, all eyes on me. That’s when I spotted the unconscious young lady lying on the floor. No one had moved a muscle. Immediately I went into action. Fortunately flight attendant training prepares you for anything and everything. Though I must admit I was completely unprepared once while working a Sun Jet flight when a passenger complained to me because she didn’t get a blueberry muffin inflight due to the fact that the flight diverted because of smoke in the cabin. Ya see, this is one of those times when customer service skills come in handy.

Is college or a vocational school needed to prepare for this job: I wouldn’t say it’s required, but as I mentioned above, the more educated you are the better your chances at getting hired, especially if you want to work for a major carrier. So if you have the opportunity to go to college, by all means go! If you are thinking about a vocational school, do it! I can’t tell you how many flight attendants I know who are trained in therapy and nursing. It’s just smart to have a backup plan in life, because even if you do get hired to work for an airline you never know what’s going to happen in the future. Airlines are struggling just to stay afloat in our weak economy and each month a different airline seems to be going out of business.

If for whatever reason college is not in the cards for you, don’t give up. Get experience! Customer service experience is what you’ll need, and you’ll need a lot of it! Try waiting tables (even if you are going to school), but not just at any restaurant, a nice restaurant. Years ago when I interviewed to work as a corporate flight attendant for a company called Million Air out of Dallas, I was asked about my experience with first class service. At the time I had none. Nada. Zero. Zilch. Oh sure I waited tables in college, but that was at a hole in the wall dive, so that didn’t quite count. Probably explains why I didn’t get hired. I’m sure the canary yellow suit I wore to interview in that day didn’t help matters, either.

Speaking other languages always helps, too. Airlines love to hire bilingual employees. Just the other day I saw that a major US carrier is currently hiring ONLY flight attendants that can speak Mandarin Chinese. Those who speak Mandarin Chinese do not need more than a high school education to apply.

How have the things learned in school helped when beginning this line of work: Honestly, I can’t think of one thing that I learned in school that did not somehow help me later on in life as a flight attendant, or any other job that I’ve held. Just going to school, for one thing, is an education in itself. You are multi-tasking, learning how to deal with different people, handling responsibility, while studying and learning new things every day. Trust me when I tell you that airline training is not easy. There’s a lot of information coming at you at once, so the better you are in school, the better off you’ll be in flight attendant training.

While most days you won’t be handling onboard emergencies, thank goodness, the majority of your time will be spent dealing with passengers, and that includes passengers who have problems. A flight attendant has to be able to communicate not only with the mother and child in coach, but also the CEO of a very large company sitting in first class. That means you have to be knowledgeable and up to date on current events, as well as what’s going on in the aviation industry.

What do you like most about your job? What I like most about my job changes every few years. In my early twenties all the days off seemed to be the best thing about my job. Back then I worked about 12 days a month. That’s it. As I began to make more money, it was traveling (for free!) that I began to love. There’s nothing like flying to Paris in first class on a whim. Now that I’m married (to a man who flies over 100,000 miles a year) and have a two-year old son at home, I have to say it’s the flexibility of the job that I love most. When my husband is out of town, I can stay home and take care of my son. If the husband has to go away on business to…let’s say…Japan, my son and I can go along with him. If I want to make a little extra cash for the holiday season, I can pick up extra trips from other flight attendants.

What do you like least about your job? Reserve. Because everything is based on company seniority, reserve flight attendants are the most junior flight attendants at each airline. When you’re on reserve you have no life. Except for a few known days off, you do not have a schedule, which means you’re at the beckon call of the airline – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until your official day off. Thank goodness I’m no longer on reserve. But that can always change. So now that I’m holding off reserve, I have to say that working holidays is what I like least about my job. Yes, I will be working Christmas day. Luckily I was able to drop my trip on Christmas eve.

What advice would you give a student that is interested in doing what you do? Finish your education and if you still want to be a flight attendant apply! Then, when you get called for an interview, make sure to read my blog so that you know exactly what you’re getting into, and talk a lot about customer service. Oh and whatever you do, do not wear a canary yellow suit. Think blue. Navy blue.

Hope that helps,

Heather Poole

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Photos courtesy of Heather Poole (yeah, that’s me!)

10 Ways to Get Yourself Labeled as an Ugly American

by Josh Lew on

“For some reason, the people I meet in my country are not the same as the ones I knew in the United States. A mysterious change seems to come over Americans when they go to a foreign land. They isolate themselves socially. They live pretentiously. They’re loud and ostentatious. Perhaps they’re frightened and defensive, or maybe they’re not properly trained and make mistakes out of ignorance.”
-Burmese journalist in the 1958 novel “The Ugly American” by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick.

The stereotype must have come from somewhere. Few Americans traveling abroad will admit that they are of the ugly-acting members of their nationality. Yet the stereotype persists. Loud, obnoxious, arrogant. Where did it come from? Is it actually true that residents of the United States have a hidden personality that only comes out once they have traveled outside of their borders? True or not, much of the world believes in the Ugly American phenomenon.

Not every US passport holder falls into the stereotype, however, it doesn’t seem to disprove anything in the eyes of people from other countries. You may get an incredulous “You’re American?” when you reveal your point of origin. Congratulate yourself if you are from the US and you hear such exclamations of surprise. You are not an Ugly American.

How can you avoid having such a negative adjective placed before your nationality? It easy. Just avoid the following actions:
1. Responding to someone who doesn’t understand English by repeating yourself word for word in a much louder voice. It’s not so much the fact that they are speaking at higher volume that is amusing, it is the expression of frustration on their faces when the louder sounds do not produce the desired level of understanding. Oops, your ethnocentricity is showing. “Everyone must understand some English. Maybe if I speak a little bit louder.” The whole we-don’t-speak-the-same-language dimension hasn’t even enter your head.
Of course, there is always the chance that the person you are trying to communicate with is pretending not to understand English because they don’t want to talk to you.

2. Constantly comparing a country’s government or infrastructure to the US. I’ve heard this many times: a statement complaining about some aspect of a country (usually the food, cleanliness standards or transportation) prefaced with “Well, in the US…” The reason you travel is to see something different, have some cool experiences (whatever that entails) and gain some understanding, right? Does anyone really travel to other countries for the sole purpose of loudly comparing their destination to their home country? The whole comparison thing is just another way of telling local people that you think their country sucks. How endearing.

3. Talking too loudly. This has nothing to do with being understood. For some reason, perhaps some subtle, acquired cultural trait, some people just start talking louder once they are outside the border. There is always some guy who seems to think that he is in a bar and he has to talk over the loud music. But there’s no bar and no music. If he happens to be in a bar, he adjusts the volume upwards further. Find this guy and ask him where he’s from. 90% of the time, he’s from the states.

4. Seeking out other ugly Americans to hang out with for the duration of your trip. Lots of people travel in groups. Fair enough. You’re in an unfamiliar place and perhaps a little on edge. You feel more comfortable having other people with familiar customs and habits around. That’s absolutely fine, unless the others in your group make it easier to perform the other nine actions on this list.

5. Wearing any sort of over-the-top patriotic apparel such as a t-shirt with an eagle holding the American flag in its beak. Come on, this is self explanatory. I get it. You are proud of your country. Fine. Nationalism has its place. But people are sensitive to fervent displays of American nationalism. Something to do with our willingness to flex military muscle.

6. Not interacting with local people unless you want something from them. This is, more or less, an issue of respect. Conversing with local people in a way that doesn’t bring to mind the uncomfortable memories of colonialism is always appreciated.

7. Acting like you can score with the local women (or men) because of your nationality. You’re ugly (physically) in the US and you are still ugly when you leave.

8. Not caring that you are totally unaware of the political or social situation in a country. For many people, this is the biggest one. Literature’s ultimate Ugly American, Pyle, from Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, is a perfect example of not understanding, or caring to understand, what’s going on in a country. Use the BBC to keep up with the news. If you can talk intelligently about the current events of a country you are visiting, no matter how obscure they are, you might even be able to cancel out one of the other nine nasty habits on the list that you indulge in.

9. Constantly breaking norms and customs. All you have to do is get the little travel book that tells you not to wear your shoes indoors or touch people on the head or whatever. It takes five minutes to read. Five minutes to learn how to not make an ass out of yourself.

10. Protesting any wrongdoing by saying “I’m an American.” Or worse, using that same phrase as an excuse when you are the one in the wrong. Yikes. You have just admitted that you think you deserve special treatment on the sole basis of your nationality.

Still worried about being labeled an Ugly American? Try wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a red maple leaf, the national symbol of Canada.

So, for the sake of all American travelers who, while perhaps physically ugly, do not exhibit the above-mentioned ugly behaviors, let’s try to change the Ugly American stereotype.

No Wrong Turns: Coca-Cola Removes Toxin from Mexican Drink

by Kelsey Mulyk on

According to statistics from the Coca-Cola Company, Mexico consumes the most Coca Cola per capita in the world. I am not a huge fan of soft drinks in general, but when traveling my intake of them often goes up due to unreliable drinking water and juices made with questionable ice. Diet drinks, like Coke Zero, freak me out with all those weird additives listed in their ingredients, but many people prefer these drinks to the original…even though they have proven to be dangerous.

Last month, Coca Cola had to remove the artificial sweetener sodium cyclamate from the Mexican Coke Zero formula. The sweetener was banned from the US in 1969 because it appeared to increase the odds of developing bladder cancer in rats during testing. Oddly enough, sodium cyclamate is readily found in many Canadian (such as Sugar Twin) and European products.

The sodium cyclamate was replaced with aspartame and other fake sweeteners, because they are undoubtedly so much better for you. Coke refuses to admit that the sodium cyclamate was removed due to the danger it posed to consumers and instead said that this alteration will make Coke Zero taste more like the original Coca-Cola Classic.

The director of communications for Coca-Cola Mexico stated that Coke Zero has sold extremely well since being introduced the Mexican market over a year ago despite the controversy over the sodium cyclamate. How could Coca-Cola not do well in a country where the people consumed over 500 Coke products per person last year!

Coca-Cola even launched a new pro-Coke Zero campaign to support this new version with a slogan that reads, “Everything can get better.”

I think “better” would be removing all the artificial sweeteners in their products…I think I’ll be sticking with the Coke Classic or better yet, bottled water.

“No Wrong Turns” chronicles Kelsey and her husband’s road trip — in real time — from Canada to the southern tip of South America in their trusty red VW Golf named Marlin.