California

Heather and I LOVE Mardi Gras - well, actually we just love New Orleans and the spirit of Mardi Gras goes along with that. There is something liberating and fun about a time of year when you can just let loose and celebrate all the good things in life including friends, family, food, and of course drink! 

Unfortunately, not everyone can make a trip to New Orleans in person, so the next best thing is to find a great Cajun or New Orleans restaurant near you and celebrate that way. In our case, this meant seeking out Bud's Louisiana Cafe in San Diego. I was a little concerned when I discovered it was located in an industrial park in a suite that would normally have held a logistics office or moving company, but as I've learned about great food down south - never judge something by the exterior appearance.

That was true here as well and I am thrilled that we spent our evening here enjoying authentic New Orleans food and of course Abita beer!

Most of you guys are going to be spending tons of money this Valentine's Day on roses and romantic dinners, but for those of you in San Diego, I've got an alternative Valentine's Day Idea! Why not make it a full date night experience with a great dinner, gelato, and then grab some cheese and chocolates to share together back home. Alternatively, you can skip the restaurant entirely and make a great picnic on the grass in the park next door. Whatever your preference, this is a great San Diego date night spot!

Heather and I tested it out earlier this week to see if we could do a date night for under $100 and we were pretty successful, follow along as we celebrate Valentine's Day early courtesy of The Headquarters!

Sometimes in life you discover great new things completely by accident. That's how we found Viva Bar + Kitchen actually... we had gone to have dinner at a different place that sadly we left feeling we needed to go somewhere else to eliminate the "bad feeling" left in our belly. When we walked by Viva, the super friendly hostess on the sidewalk told us it was "taco Tuesday" and so we figured, "what the heck" and walked in to check it out.

That taco and that experience was good enough that before the end of our snack that we had already booked our New Year's Eve dinner here the next day.

The Gaslamp District is the destination to go for nightlife in San Diego. It's the place to be seen and it's no surprise that it is home to some of the most popular restaurants in the city. Last night I had the pleasure of dining at Acqua Al 2 for an opportunity to taste my way through it's delicious cuisine direct from Florence Italy.

Many Italian restaurants trace their inspiration back to Italian roots and Acqua Al 2 is no different - except that they actually have a location in Florence itself. Many years ago, owner and Executive Chef, Martin Gonzalez went to Italy to learn Italian and better understand the customs and way of life. To do so, he enrolled in cooking classes at the prestigious Instituto Culinario Apicius where he was award the title of "Best Student". 

Last month, Heather and I set forth to escape the summer heat in San Diego and head north to Carmel-by-the-Sea, located just south of San Francisco. Our host on this trip was the absolutely beautiful Carmel Country Inn, a bed and breakfast that offered us a 2 bedroom suite.

A trip to a salon might seem like a strange idea for a guys weekend activity but that's just what we did recently at the newly opened 18/8 Fine Men's Salon in North County San Diego and it was a blast! If the idea of doing something to make yourself look and feel good seems like something more for the girls than the guys, you should think again.

Years ago, the concept of the "metrosexual" was talked about, but today it's just something that a lot of guys enjoy without worrying about labels. As such, entrepreneurs are starting to create specific locations that cater to guys with an environment that is for the average guy. While there are GREAT places like Grooming Lounge in DC and SIR Spa in Chicago, I haven't found a mass-market product with locations across the country that was designed to pamper guys with not just a great haircut, shave, or facial but a chance to relax before hand while sipping a beer and watching the game. 

This is the first of an ongoing series talking about social media and the travel industry. I find it fascinating that there is a whole industry devoted to semi-professional travel blogging today, yet almost no one ever asks "what are they looking for". On the other side, the PR people at the travel brands are almost afraid to ask us for specifics out of concern that it may cause a bad reaction or interfere with the individual telling the story.

To help shed some light on this challenge I set out to interview a series of 10 travel brands that work with bloggers to learn more about what they are looking for when working with bloggers as well as social media in general.

There's more to cruising than the big three - (Carnival, Royal, and NCL) and I have been wanting to try Princess for quite a while, but never had the opportunity. Last month, we took a quick weekend escape out of Los Angeles on the Golden Princess and finally got to experience what it means to "Escape Completely".

The Golden Princess is a grand class ship, measuring 109,000 gross tons and carrying 2,600 passengers (double occupancy) plus 1,100 crew members.

Princess launched Golden in 2001, but retrofitted the ship in 2009.