Travel - Lili on the Loose

14 05, 2016

Souvenir Saturday: Bones Rum

By Lili|May 14th, 2016|Categories: Drinks, Food & Drink, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2011, bar, Bones Rum, Caribbean, Curzan, Curzan Rum, Pina Colada, rum, St. John, St. John 2011, St. Thomas, USVI|0 Comments

When you exit the St. Thomas airport, you are greeted with a sample of Curzan Rum. Then when you get off the ferry in St. John, you get...another sample of Curzan Rum! Not that I'm complaining at all! But on my second trip to St. John, I was happy to find a new store had opened up. It was a "Pour Your Own Rum Bar" featuring a locally made Rum: Bones Rum! Now usually I'm not a fan of dark rum mainly as its not great on its own, but Bones is smooth and tastes good every way you want to

13 05, 2016

Tulips at The M, Las Vegas

By Lili|May 13th, 2016|Categories: Hotels & Lodging, Travel|Tags: 2013, casino, Henderson, hotel, Las Vegas, lobby, Nevada, North America, Photo Friday, The M, The M Resort, tulips, USA, work, work trip|4 Comments

These giant tulips caught my eye in the lobby of The M Resort in Henderson, NV. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

12 05, 2016

Las Vegas 2016 Cost Analysis

By Lili|May 12th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Budget|Tags: 2016, Bellagio, breakdown, Canyon Ranch Spa, cost analysis, Ethel M chocolate, fossil, gambling, horeseback riding, Las Vegas, Le Rêve, Magic, Mandalay Bay, Neon Museum, Nevada, North America, Penn and Teller, shark reef, shopping, Spa, spending, taxi, The Dream, The Venetian, Travel Thursday, Treasure Island, trilobite, Uber, USA, Vegas Checklist, Zoltar|0 Comments

Wynn Carousel made of flowers. Opulence in Vegas is expected. The last time I was in Las Vegas for a vacation was in 2011. I tracked my budget back then and shared it in this post. I wanted to do the same with my most recent trip to Las Vegas as a comparison. This trip is a little different though. The bulk of my time was for a client event, and so I won't share those numbers here. So while I was in Vegas for 6 days I'll just focus on my free-time activities which accounts for a

9 05, 2016

Travel Missteps: Not the Hogwarts Express

By Lili|May 9th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, 2012, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Costa Rica & Orlando Adventure, Edinburgh, England, Family, Florida, Harry Potter, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts Express, Islands of Adventure, Kings Cross, Kings Cross Station, North America, Orlando, Orlando Adventure 2012, Platform 9 3/4, Scotland, Tain, UK, United Kingdom, Universal Studios, USA, Witches, Wizarding World, Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Wizards, York|0 Comments

England had some pretty disappointing train trips. I traveled there in the summer of 2002. I remember being a Senior in high school, and dashing through Kings Cross station late at night, to try to catch a glimpse of the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Why? Because I wanted to act out and take a photo pretending to gain access to Platform 9 3/4! Imagine my surprise and disappointment to find that platform 9 and 10 are in separate areas! (Now they actually have a photo op elsewhere in the station, but it was dark times for early fans.) So,

7 05, 2016

Free Comic Book Day!

By Lili|May 7th, 2016|Categories: Activities, Geek, Local|Tags: Boulder, Colorado, Colorado Movie Cars, comics, Free, Free Comic Book Day, freebie, Time Warp Comics|0 Comments

Today is Free Comic Book Day! The first Saturday in May many local comic book shops throw a party for Free Comic Book Day where you can get a few popular comic books today! My local shop, Time Warp Comics in Boulder does it up big! They usually have many of the Colorado Movie Cars on site, tons of people in costumes, and many more freebies. But don't forget to check out Time Warp for any of your geeky or comic needs outside of Free Comic Book Day. Their staff have always been very helpful and fun to talk to!

5 05, 2016

Springtime at Bellagio’s Botanical Garden

By Lili|May 5th, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2016, Bellagio, Bellagio Gardens, Free, Las Vegas, Nevada, North America, spring, Travel Thursday, USA, Vegas Checklist|0 Comments

The Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Garden is transformed each season with a different theme. I happened to visit one midnight evening when the gardens were closed off from the public so that they could take photos. This actually was spectral as from the edges I was able to get my own perfect images! This is 2016's Spring design, with lots of pink flowers, birds, and an Japanese theme. Made with over 82 thousand flowers including cherry blossom trees it is on display until May 14 when this will be changed out for the Summer season. Be sure to check it out, it

2 05, 2016

Museum Monday: Yousuf Karsh at the Bellagio

By Lili|May 2nd, 2016|Categories: Museums, Travel|Tags: 2016, Albert Einstein, Alfred Hitchcock, Bellagio, black and white photography, Gallery of Fine Art, Gallery of Fine Art at the Bellagio, Georgia O'Keeffe, Helen Keller, Jacqueline Kennedy, JFK, Las Vegas, Nelson Mandela, Nevada, North America, Pablo Picasso, photography, USA, Vegas Checklist, Yousuf Karsh|0 Comments

I remember a scene in Ocean's 11 here Danny and Tess talk about famous impressionist painters. This is what I was thinking about when I headed to the Gallery of Fine Art at the Bellagio. I had visions of Monet, Manet, and Picasso. After I paid my $16 entry fee and picked up the audio guide I stepped inside...to find out that once again Pop Culture had incorrectly shaped my knowledge of a place. Instead of grand paintings I was greeted with monochromatic portraits. That is when I learned the Bellagio Gallery frequently changes up its exhibitions and currently they

30 04, 2016

Souvenir Saturday: Tile Art of Mexico

By Lili|April 30th, 2016|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2013, art, Central America, Chichen-Itza, Latin America, Mayan Encounter 2013, Mexico, Playa Del Carmen, stormy, tile|0 Comments

The drive from Playa del Carmen to Chichén Itzá is about 3 hours one way. So it helps to stop a few times along the way. At the first rest stop, I saw a man on the side of the road painting. I like to get a piece of nice artwork when I find it, and so purchased this for $20 from him. Its quite small, but the quality seemed good. I was a bit shocked when he handed it to me and it was much heavier than I anticipated. I didn't open the back of the box until I got

29 04, 2016

Living Art at the Bellagio

By Lili|April 29th, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2011, 2016, Bellagio, easel, Flower Art, flowers, Girl’s Weekend, Las Vegas, Nevada, North America, Photo Friday, US, USA, Vegas Checklist|0 Comments

There are so many great fun & free things to do in Las Vegas if you just know where to find them. I really enjoyed walking around the flower garden in the Bellagio Hotel. This living easel has many wonderful flowers growing from in. The above is from my 2011 trip, and below my trip last month. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

28 04, 2016

Las Vegas Bucketlist

By Lili|April 28th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Planning|Tags: 2016, bucketlist, checklist, Las Vegas, Nevada, North America, Travel Thursday, USA, Vegas Checklist|0 Comments

I recently came back from my 6th trip to Las Vegas. There is so much to do in Las Vegas and I feel like there is still so much I would like to do. As a reminder to myself, here are some of the items I'd like to try on my next trip there: See a Cirque du Soleil show Go to the top of the faux-Eiffel Tower See the Grand Canyon Spend more time in Red Rock Canyon Visit M&M / Coke World See the Flamingos at The Flamingo Helcoptor Ride Mob Museum Natural History Museum Neon Museum at Night