Inside Travel Talk
Explore Your World! The Inside Travel Talk Podcast is filled with destination information and travel, cruise and vacation tips and tricks. Its the Christmas catalogue of Travel! We are here to help you get out there and Explore Your World.
Inside Travel Talk
Charting Your Getaway: Mastering Travel Reviews, New Orleans Spotlight, and Air Travel Etiquette
Ever wondered how to sift through those endless trip reviews to plan the perfect vacation? That's just the start of what Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, unpack in our latest travel-centric podcast. We're your guides through the thicket of online feedback, balancing professional travel advice with real traveler experiences to ensure your next escape is nothing short of fantastic. And hey, because we've all been there, squeezed into that tight airplane seat, we're also laying down the law on the unspoken rules of air travel etiquette, because no one likes an armrest hog.
But we're not just about the skies—our conversation sails through the possibilities of cruising during an active hurricane season. With insights into Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings' new ships and revamped private islands, you'll be itching to hit the high seas. Plus, we'll let you in on some secrets to snagging the best cruise deals and share a little slice of our hearts with tales of the ever-enchanting Cozumel, Mexico. It's like having your own personal travel agent whispering in your ear!
And because travel isn't just about where you go, but how you get there and back, we're taking a look at the upcoming Global Entry e-gates and the best frequent flyer programs to sweeten your journey. We even throw in a side trip to the vibrant streets of New Orleans, from its ghostly past to its gastronomical present. So, join us on this globe-trotting episode where we bring you the world, one story, and one tip at a time.
The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacation s. com contains travel deals, promotions and offers that may be time-sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity-controlled and subject to change without notice.
Show Voice:Explore your world. It's the inside travel talk podcast and radio show presented by blue planet vacations dot com. Text the show now 801-649-3700 801-649-3700, and check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. And now here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, my goodness, it is time for another Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Good morning Just a little after 10 o'clock here in the Mountain Time Zone. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside my good friend, long time friend, mark Faldmoats. Good to see you. It is time to talk travel. My friend, we're going to talk some good topics today.
Patrick Wiscombe:I have a question for you, right at the very top of the show Do you, mark, trust user-generated trip reviews? Sometimes, also, when it comes to travel and I'm talking specifically on airplanes when you have a three seats across by three seats across, the aisle goes down the middle, what is proper airplane etiquette? We're going to give you the answer, and then we're also going to talk about the best frequent flyer programs in the country. So those are three stories that we're going to talk about during this week's Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Thank you for tuning us in and taking us along this morning. Let's get right into the travel news of the week. You sent me this story, mark, about the new Jet Zero, new aircraft type. I thought that Jet Zero was Jet Blue Delta United. I thought it was a company, but there's some talk about a new aircraft type. Let's start there. I thought it was such a maybe not a revolutionary idea. Well, I don't know. This is pretty evolutionary.
Mark Faldmo:I think it's evolutionary. For years, passenger aircraft have been built on the same airframe, basically a cylinder with wings and a tail. This new company called Jet Zero is developing a passenger aircraft that's a blended wing, so similar to the B-2 bomber. It's a flying wing so similar to the b2 bomber. It's a flying wing, basically a triangle. Yeah, that's a good word. It will hold about 200 passengers, so about the same size as a 767, but it will be 50 percent more fuel efficient than current aircraft out there so fuel efficiency is the name of the game now.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and they have quite an ambitious goal of having these flying by 2030. Oh, so quick Six years from now. So to get a new aircraft approved they have to go through quite a bit of regulatory stuff so they might have prototypes and things ready by then. It probably won't be in service by then, but it's a pretty interesting concept and I think will be a very interesting airplane.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, Flying triangle. That's really good. I was just trying to visualize you know, communicate that to listeners what it looks like. All right, Is TripAdvisor more of a travel advisor type website or is it more end user experiences from clients?
Mark Faldmo:Well, it's more of the experiences from clients, but their big thing is those user generated reviews.
Patrick Wiscombe:TripAdvisor has blocked about 2 million fake reviews. Is that really the case? Million fake reviews Is that really the case? I mean two million reviews, that's a lot.
Mark Faldmo:This is why I say don't always trust TripAdvisor. Now they've gone in and they've removed these where they can find them and know that they're fake, and they did put out a report that in 2022, about 4% of all reviews were fake. There are people that go out, companies that pay people to post reviews either. Good reviews about them or bad reviews about their competitors.
Mark Faldmo:And these are the reviews they're trying to filter out, but it is important to look at reviews. I think user generated reviews are important, but also look at the professionally generated reviews and then also the advice of a good travel advisor. You need to take all three of those into account when researching travel.
Patrick Wiscombe:In segment one of the show every single Saturday morning, first segment, we always talk about the hot travel deal of the week. Regardless of destination, this is the best deal we can find for our Inside Travel Talk listeners. You and I are headed to Puerto Vallarta here in. How fast are we going About three weeks? What do we have for listeners this week?
Mark Faldmo:So we're going to talk about Puerto Vallarta, one of my favorite destinations in Mexico, and the hotel I'm looking at is the Villa Premier, which is a five-star all-inclusive hotel.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, is that the one that you were showing me before the show that was.
Mark Faldmo:Okay. So, and I chose this deal just because that is where we're going to stay and we're going to do the radio show from in three weeks Awesome, from Salt Lake City. This is five nights hotel, round-trip airfare and transfers between the airport and hotel Starts at $1949 per person from Salt Lake or $1859 per person from Los Angeles.
Patrick Wiscombe:How long of a flight is it? From Salt Lake to Puerto Vallarta? About three hours, okay. So it's not really that far, not too far.
Mark Faldmo:And then I did add in another five-star hotel, the Riu Palace Pacifico, which is a little bit less at $1,369 from Salt Lake City and or $1,289 per person from Los Angeles.
Patrick Wiscombe:So is that a five-star?
Mark Faldmo:That is a five-star as well.
Patrick Wiscombe:Wow, that's quite a difference. Is it the all-inclusive piece then?
Mark Faldmo:Both of them are all-inclusive. Oh, they are. So what the difference in is these is the Riu Palace Pacifico is a large all-inclusive hotel. The Villa Premier is a small boutique hotel. Okay, so a little more hands-on Hands-on, more service. I think they have better rooms, and the thing I like about the Villa Premier is they're located. They're probably the closest hotel to the Malacon, which is the main kind of downtown area of Puerto Vallarta.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, and we're staying there right.
Mark Faldmo:We are. That's where we're staying. So it will be a great radio show from that hotel.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, I know that Nikki's excited to go, I know I'm excited to go, and anytime you can get to Mexico, I know you're excited to go. Yes, what are some of the things we can do in Puerto Vallarta before we go to break?
Mark Faldmo:In Puerto Vallarta some of the great things to do are whale watching. We'll be there kind of at the tail end of whale watching so it might not be as good, but there is great whale watching between November and April. My favorite thing to do there. It's called the outdoor adventure. You take a zodiac raft across the bay, then you take a four-wheel drive vehicle up the mountain and then as far as that vehicle can go, and then you take a donkey up the mountain a little bit higher and then you zip line down with some water slides and rappelling. Are we doing?
Mark Faldmo:that while we're down there, we probably won't have time to do it, but we can see if we can fit that in.
Patrick Wiscombe:I've always wanted to ride a donkey.
Mark Faldmo:Those are some of my favorite things to do. There's lots of other things that we can talk about on other shows. But you know, Puerto Vallarta is kind of colonial Mexico it's what you think of in Mexico, you know not like some of the other places that are a little bit more touristy and built up.
Patrick Wiscombe:And how much was that again? Let's do the two hotels again from Salt Lake.
Mark Faldmo:So the Villa Premier from Salt Lake was $1949 and the Riu Palace Pacifico was $1369. Both five-star all-inclusive but again, different experiences depending on what you're looking for.
Patrick Wiscombe:I am excited to go. If you want to book that trip, man, if you just want to come with me and mark, call mark in his office, 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717 is how you get a hold of Mark to book that vacation. Or if you just want to plan your own vacation, need some assistance? Call that same number. We can help you. When we come back oh man, I hear the winds a-blowing here in 2024. And I'm also talking about NCL's largest ship order. We'll give you details on that. The Just Cruising segment is next and we've also got a killer deal a Caribbean cruise from New Orleans. That is next. Segment two, coming up Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick.
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Show Voice:Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show right now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700, and check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Welcome back to segment number two of the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show. This is the I don't know that I can call it infamous. This is the Just Cruising segment, where we talk about the cruise news of the week and we also talk about the cruise deal of the week which we will get to. It is going to be a Caribbean cruise from New Orleans, a terrific, terrific destination, the Caribbean. That is coming up here in just a couple of minutes. But before we get there, let's talk about the cruise news of the week and, mark, I saw this article that the 2024 summer season, I guess, fall to some degree. There is expected to be a large number of hurricanes.
Mark Faldmo:Hurricane season, which runs June 1st to November 30th. They are predicting a more active season this year than the last few, Although I will say I've heard that for several years it never pans out.
Patrick Wiscombe:But there's always it seems like there's always kind of three big ones, yeah, and maybe some tropical storms they predict there's a 62% chance of a major hurricane hitting the us coastline this year which is up 19% from last year and 23 named tropical storms, which includes 11 hurricanes.
Mark Faldmo:So that is above normal, if those predictions come to be. I think. One thing that's interesting about this is it's from Colorado State University nowhere near the ocean. But anyway, maybe we have to see what Miami University has to say, what their researchers. That's one thing to consider when planning travel to tropical regions Mexico, Caribbean, even Florida June through November.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, it just seems like June through November, but it seems like it really kind of cranks up in August to October.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, September is usually the most active, is it Okay? And then you have late August and mid-October, and then it dies down in November.
Patrick Wiscombe:Norwegian Cruise Lines. I think they ordered what? Eight new ships.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so this was Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which is a company that owns Norwegian Cruise Line Oceana and Regent Cruise. Lines, so three cruise lines, and they have eight ships, two for Oceania, two for Regent and four for Norwegian, and this is the biggest ship order that they have ever made. And those ships are going to start coming into service in 2026, through the next 10 years, through 2036.
Patrick Wiscombe:When it comes to cruises, I didn't realize how much planning like years in advance planning maybe not so much for the cruise where they're cruising to. That's usually anywhere. What about two years out roughly?
Mark Faldmo:Two years out and even that changes fairly regularly.
Patrick Wiscombe:And I'm just talking about ships that they can forecast how many ships they're going to need. What needs to be replaced or maybe they're just adding more ships to their fleet Is that the?
Mark Faldmo:right word. Yeah, they're doing it all. And then, another thing that came out of this announcement which I think is Very interesting is they've announced a renovation to their private island in the Bahamas. They are going to add a two-ship pier to that. Right now you currently have to tender in, so take smaller boats ashore and a lot of cruise lines. Disney's private island has a pier. Royal Caribbean has recently added a pier the last couple of years, so you don't have to tender in MSC has their own private island.
Patrick Wiscombe:private island, yep, and it has a pier oh, it does have a pair you and I are headed on that.
Patrick Wiscombe:By the way, there's still room on that cruise. That MSC Maravilla, may 19th through the 26th is when mark and I are going. I'm excited to go. Yeah, that'll be a great cruise. Let's get to the cruise deal of the week that I mentioned right at the top of the segment. This is a Caribbean cruise. I don't know the ports on this, mark, but I'm assuming you do, and I think what you told me during the break is that we're embarking from New Orleans.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, I chose this sailing just because we talked about the hurricane season and you do get lower cruise rates in the hurricane season oh, I didn't know that Especially September, October. So this is the end of October, so you're right at the tail end of hurricane season and doesn't mean that the hurricane's going to affect your cruise, but you do get better rates. So this is from New Orleans and the price for a balcony cabin starts at $9.99 per person plus taxes and fees, and an inside cabin starts at $6.49 per person plus taxes and fees.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you're going to the Caribbean, just get a balcony. Unless it's just purely monetary, get a balcony every time. Is this a seven-day cruise?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, this is a seven-day cruise and one of the reasons why I like this itinerary is because it has four ports. A lot of cruise lines on a seven-day will only have three ports, so this cuts out a day at sea and adds an additional port. The ports are Costa Maya, which you like, which I like, that's in the southern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, harvest Key, which is a private island it's actually part of Belize and then Roatan, which is an island on Honduras and Cozumel, Mexico.
Patrick Wiscombe:Nikki saw Roatan and she goes, we're going there. Yeah, I mean she was like, hey, let's book something, we're going.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, I love Roatan. It reminds me a lot of Tahiti. Just yeah, tropical lush greenness of it. I love Roatan as well. Actually, I like all of these ports well, maybe not as much Cozumel why?
Patrick Wiscombe:why is?
Mark Faldmo:that Cozumel because every ship goes there and I've been there 40 times okay, so it's more of a frequency thing, but I the last couple of times I've in Cozumel, I've actually just stayed on the ship and worked.
Patrick Wiscombe:It's a I've been there so many times it's like, eh, whatever, yeah, okay, let me rewind the clock there for a second. The first time you saw it, maybe the first two or three times, one to three times. What was it that you really liked about Cozumel?
Mark Faldmo:Well, I like the water activity. The first thing that I ever did there was a submarine, and it wasn't one of the submarines that fakes you out on top. It was actually a submarine that dove down to the reef oh really, with windows, with windows. So I really enjoyed that. There's good snorkeling, good scuba in Cozumel. One thing I like to do in these Mexican ports is I like to just go to the main town square and get chips and salsa and just sit and eat chips and salsa.
Patrick Wiscombe:You know what? That just sounds like fun Sometimes. It's just fun to just relax and do nothing. Yes, but in a different location. As we go to break, go ahead and recap the price on that. Was it $999?
Mark Faldmo:So $999 per person plus taxes and fees for a balcony and $649 per person for an inside cabin.
Patrick Wiscombe:And the dates on that one more time. It was October 27th. Oh, that's my sister's birthday. Awesome, that could be a really good birthday gift. Yeah, she would never see that coming. Mariel, it's coming.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, maybe I shouldn't be on record saying that yeah when we come back, we've got the destination spotlight and we're going to talk about the best frequent flyer programs. And I thought this was kind of interesting. The global entry e-gates are coming soon. Mark will describe that. But as we go to break, if you want to take advantage of the Puerto Vallarta the hot deal of the week or the Caribbean cruise out of New Orleans, call Mark in his office, 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717, or just go to blueplanetvacations. com. We will be right back.
Show Voice:You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700. That's 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. We'll be right back.
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Patrick Wiscombe:The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by blueplanetvacations. com contains travel deals, promotions and offers that may be time sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity controlled and subject to change without notice.
Show Voice:This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show right now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And now here are your hosts Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Mark Faldmo sits to my right as we broadcast from the Wiscombe Faldmo Radio Studios, we're taking the show on the road, Puerto Vallarta, here. In three weeks you and I will be in Key West. We're going on the I'm blanking on the name of the ship Margaritaville at Sea. Yeah, coming up here in about. Is that 10 days, 10 days? Yeah, so we're going to do the show on the road of the ship . Yeah, coming up here in about. Is that 10 days, 10 days, yeah, so we're going to do the show on the road from there. And then, may 19th through the 26th, we're going to be on the MSC Maravilla, cruising out of Brooklyn, new York, all the way down to the Bahamas. We do have room available on that ship if you want to come with us 888-718-7717, I think, rooms. What do they start at?
Mark Faldmo:uh, it was pretty reasonable yeah, about six hundred dollars per person. Yeah it.
Patrick Wiscombe:it would just get yourself to New York, but it was very, very affordable. Coming up in this segment of the show, this is the Destination Spotlight. We're going to be talking about the best frequent flyer programs, what to do in New Orleans that's the topic and we're also going to talk about the global entry e-gates that are coming soon. In fact, let's just start there, if you would, for anyone who doesn't know what are global entry e-gates.
Mark Faldmo:So if you have global entry, so this is customs coming into the US. Currently, right now it's pretty slick. There's a kiosk. It takes your picture, verifies you are who you are, prints you out a receipt and then you walk up and show that to a customs agent. But now they are going to go kiosk free and there's just going to be a series of cameras and you basically just walk straight through and you don't have to even interact with the customs officer. So this is for those that have paid for the global entry and gone through the background checks, all of that. But it's a really good program. You also do get TSA pre-check if you're a global entry member. How much was it, do you remember? I renewed it was about $185 for five years.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, you did the renewal, yes, oh, okay. Last time we talked about this, you still had to do it. Is it easier to get it redone if you have already done it? Do you have to fill out a new application or is it like, okay, yeah, we know this guy. We have some travel history on him.
Mark Faldmo:It is, and I actually misspoke. The cost is a hundred dollars for a global entry. You have to go through your previous application, make sure all of the information is correct, and then you pay the fee and then submit it.
Patrick Wiscombe:So did you get approved already?
Mark Faldmo:I did.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh so you're done.
Mark Faldmo:You know, one thing that's been hard is getting the interviews for global entry for both me and my wife. We just got an approval letter back and said no need to talk to anyone, so that was a nice little perk for that so otherwise you have to try and schedule an appointment to meet and get a physical you have to get a physical get a be physically present. Oh, I'm like an in-person interview.
Mark Faldmo:You have to drop your shorts to get a global entry so you have to be an in-person interview with a customs officer. Please cough yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe:All right, let's get to the best frequent flyer programs. Let me start kind of basic on this one. What is considered according to the airlines, what is a frequent flyer, how many times per year or per month, or what's considered frequent?
Mark Faldmo:Their programs are called frequent flyer because they're trying to attract you to fly more, so I don't know if they have a set.
Patrick Wiscombe:I guess it would vary from airline.
Mark Faldmo:A business traveler can travel once a week. A leisure traveler might travel twice a year, but a lot of people are collecting miles for future travel.
Patrick Wiscombe:I know that I am right now I'm in the hoarding phase of trying to get on Delta. Yes, right now, thanks to you. So what am I on Delta right now? You're a gold medallion. Is that good? Or is that kind of the remedial You're getting started?
Mark Faldmo:Well, they have the basic member, oh, and then they have silver, okay, and then they have gold, which you are Okay. And then they have platinum, and then they have diamond, and they have a very exclusive club called Delta 360, which is by invitation only.
Patrick Wiscombe:And you're not there. You're in the diamond, I'm diamond, okay, yes, what's the best frequent flyer program?
Mark Faldmo:This was a study done and they determined that American Airlines had the best overall frequent flyer program.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh really.
Mark Faldmo:They looked at the cost to redeem points, how you earn points and the availability of award seats Seats where you can just get a free ticket where you can redeem your points for a travel award on that.
Mark Faldmo:They did these statistics based off of 2019, so pre-COVID, compared to 2024. In 2019, the average cost to redeem an American was 23,700 points for a round-trip domestic ticket and that has dropped to 17,820 points. So basically, less expensive, less expensive, to redeem points. Now, if you're looking at it overall, southwest Airlines is the best. They 14,000 points is what it takes now to redeem an average domestic ticket, but they've also had the largest jump, from 7,000 to 14,000 from 2019 to 2024. And then you know other airlines are quite a bit more than Southwest or American?
Patrick Wiscombe:Who is your favorite airline to travel? Just generally speaking, your go-to airline every time is who?
Mark Faldmo:Delta, okay, they traditionally have had the best program. It has been devalued the last two years. If you travel a lot, they still had the best program. It has been devalued the last two years. If you travel a lot, they still have the best program. But if you don't travel a whole lot, either American or Southwest are going to be your best bets if you want to try and collect and use miles.
Patrick Wiscombe:What's the name of Delta's club, the Sky Club? Oh so it is the Sky Club. Sky Club, by the way, the one in Salt Lake City, in the Salt Lake International Airport. Phenomenal, it is gigantic, but that place was full. I could not believe how many people were in there. No wonder they've tried to for lack of a better way to say this kind of thin the herd. Yes, I mean, I can understand why they're devaluing it a little bit, because, man, I couldn't believe how many people were in there.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, they can get pretty crowded and they can be hard to get into certain times of the day.
Patrick Wiscombe:You know I start peppering you with questions and I realize that we have to go to break. We were going to talk about New Orleans and what to do there. We'll just move that to the next segment Coming up more travel news. This is Delta related and I've got a big question for you, mark. What airplane etiquette do you follow if you sit next to the window? What rights? I don't know if that's the right word what privileges does the middle seat have and what privileges does the person sitting on the aisle have? We'll talk about that next. Does the person sitting on the aisle have? We'll talk about that next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. If you want to book any of the vacations that we've talked about in segments one and two of the show, call Mark in his office, or if you just need help planning your own vacation, call him there, 888-718-7717. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday morning. We'll be right back.
Show Voice:They've literally traveled millions of miles to answer your travel related questions. Yeah, they really have. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. America's best travel advisors, Patrick and Mark, will be back after these messages.
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Show Voice:America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And now here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Now here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo Final segment of this week's Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. I'm Patrick Wiscombe alongside Mark Faldmo. During the break, mark and I were planning. One of the cool things that we're going to be doing coming up literally in the next few weeks, is we're going to have a YouTube channel. We're actually going to be highlighting the properties that we're going to, so that is something to look forward to. We'll let you know when it is live and when we have content that you can actually see about the properties that we stay and visit can actually see about the properties that we stay and visit. Coming up in this final segment, we're going to talk about what to do in New Orleans. In segment two, the Just Cruising segment, we had a Caribbean cruise from New Orleans for $999 per person plus taxes. That embarkation was out of New Orleans, so we want to talk about what to do in New Orleans. In fact, let's just start there. What is there to do down there? I've never been there.
Mark Faldmo:There's a lot to do in New Orleans. New Orleans is one of my favorite places to visit. I think I've said this before about New Orleans Some people could take it or leave it, but I love New Orleans. New Orleans is all about the food and I love food.
Patrick Wiscombe:So do.
Mark Faldmo:I Beignets, yeah, beignets. First of all, just some of the fun things to do in New Orleans. My favorite is to go out to the old plantations, go out to Oak Alley.
Patrick Wiscombe:Plantations.
Mark Faldmo:Really. So you go out and you tour the plantation houses. A lot of them still have the slave quarters that you can go look at and they talk to you about how that worked and it's really kind of a history lesson.
Patrick Wiscombe:Every time I hear the word plantation, I always go ugh. I have terrible visions of slavery. What were they harvesting down there? Sugar cane.
Mark Faldmo:Oh, okay. So these plantations were all along the Mississippi River because they would harvest the sugar cane and bring it out to the river, load on barges to go down to the sugar processing plant. I mentioned Oak Alley, which is probably the most famous. It's the, you know, you've seen at the White House with big oaks, a tunnel of oaks. Yeah, okay, so that's what's famous about that. Laura Plantation is another one that's a few miles away from that.
Mark Faldmo:You say Laura, Laura Plantation what's that? That's just the name of one of the ladies that live there. Laura Plantation.
Ad Voice:Okay.
Mark Faldmo:And that's where the stories of Brow Rabbit came from. Oh, and all of that history came from that plantation, oh, wow. So that's one thing you can do. Another thing if you have a day, you can go out to Avery Island, which is where Tabasco sauce is from. So I guess that does relate to food, but they have the most wonderful cafeteria where everything has Tabasco sauce in it.
Patrick Wiscombe:I sweat at ketchup, so I can't imagine turning up the heat more, and it's probably not that much more for normal people, you can get Tabasco, root beer, tabasco chocolate, tabasco, chili, tabasco, everything.
Mark Faldmo:And so I actually came back with a lot of their chili starter because, because the chili is really good, their chili starter oh man.
Mark Faldmo:But back in New Orleans proper there's horse-drawn carriages through the French Quarter. Do that in the evening time. You can take a paddle wheel boat on the Mississippi. That should be fun. I think I would do that. That's fun and they're also one of my favorite things to do at night time Is you can take the Ha haunted New Orleans walking tour and walk around the French corner corridor and have your guide tell you about all the buildings that are haunted there's. Bourbon Street is fun during the day. I wouldn't go at nighttime.
Patrick Wiscombe:It gets too crazy and wild Is that kind of a one and done. Once you've seen it, it's like OK, we're good.
Mark Faldmo:It is I with my wife. We actually stayed there on Bourbon street and it's loud until 4 am. You get about an hour's worth of sleep and then the street cleaners come through and wake you up at 5 am.
Patrick Wiscombe:That does not interest me.
Mark Faldmo:You know. So it was a one and done thing. It's fun to sit on the balcony and people watch. And then again, coming back to me, it's all about the food. Yes, one of my favorite things to do there is called the New Orleans School of Cooking, where you go and you cook a meal from New Orleans, divide up into teams and do a different dish and then have a meal afterwards, which is very fun. And then Cafe du Monde get your beignets, the gumbo shop get some good gumbo. What is gumbo? It's like a soup.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, it is yeah, so so when does? Soup become stew? I have no idea. I don't either. Before we close out the show, let's talk about some airplane etiquette, and I'm talking about the configuration is three seats on the left side of the plane, there's the aisle and then three seats on the right. What is standard etiquette if for the person who sits near the window, the person who sits in the middle which, by the way, I feel sorry for that person every time and the person who sits on the aisle?
Mark Faldmo:So first of all, a background of what brought this up. There was a story in the news about a gentleman sitting in the window seat and the person in the middle seat kept reaching over and closing the window shade.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh boy.
Mark Faldmo:He would bring it back up. She would reach over and close it the whole flight. Wait, she, yes, so was she in the middle? She was in the middle seat, oh boy. So this can't end well. Um person got pretty vindictive, would open it and then would find the sun on his watch or his phone and reflected into her face. And then after the flight he did some other vindictive things, like walking in front of her and then just stopping all of a sudden. That's not very good, but that does bring up proper etiquette for window seat, middle seat and aisle seat. I'm a window seat person and I look out the window the whole time. I don't like to put my window seat down, but I do look at where the sun's at and if it's going to be shining in on someone, I do lower the window. Okay, the middle seat person gets both armrests. No question, they get both armrests, yeah, yeah. And then the aisle person doesn't get anything special because they can get up and leave whenever they want.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, they have their one armrest on their, I guess, left or right side, depending on what side of the plane they're on, and because they can spill over into the aisle a little bit.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, so that's etiquette for window middle and aisle. And also one thing on this if you are a window seat person for takeoff and landing, you should always put your shade up.
Patrick Wiscombe:Have you ever been evacuated in your nearly 4 million miles? Have you ever had to evacuate an airplane? Never, like under emergency circumstances. Never, no. But you have been called back to the gate for For various mechanical reasons or whatever. Okay, all right so that has happened to you, but just not in an emergency situation. Yeah Well, that's going to do it, we're done.
Mark Faldmo:Should we go home? Good show today.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, that was quick. If you need to uh book a vacation any of the uh, any of the deals that we talked about during the show call mark in his office, 888-718-7717 888-718-7717. We had the Puerto Vallarta Via Premier all-inclusive, five-star $1,949. From Salt Lake, $1,369 if you stay at the Riu Palace Pacifico. Both are five-star properties. In case you didn't know, we, mark and I, like to stay in. We like luxury. We do. Yes, yeah, we, mark and I, like to stay in. We like luxury. We do. Yes, yeah, we do. And also we've got the $999 balcony cruise in the Caribbean seven-day cruise. Contact Mark, 888-718-7717. That's it, my friend. Have a terrific week. If you haven't subscribed to the podcast, please do so. We're on all the podcast platforms. Please leave us a four and five star review so we can continue getting traction with the uh, with the podcast platforms. Thank you so much. Have a terrific week. We'll talk to you next Saturday.
Show Voice:That's it. That's the end of the show You've been listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.
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