Highlights of France & Barcelona Reflections

It's been a week since I returned home from France & Barcelona and after recovering from jetlag I have had to tell everyone I've seen about my experience. So many people have opinions and ideas of what a "guided tour" is like. I sure did...and I sell them for a living. I'd bet that my perception of them was like many peoples. Here are 7 ways I was proven wrong and proven right on my opinions.

1. Guided tours are for old people - Wrong - Are you kidding me?! One day on the tour and an 80 year old would be in bed for a couple of days! We had extensive walking tours up and down the hills of cobble street villages. We did a lot of walking where we had to keep up with our guide. We were busy from 8am to roughly 6pm every day. By the time we checked in to our hotel and had dinner I was exhausted! I slept maybe 5-6 hours per night and catnapped on the bus just to keep up with the tour.

2. A guided tour will only have old people on the tour - Wrong - Our tour had a great variety of people! We had a family with 2 kids ages 6 & 11, a honeymoon couple in their late 20s, single travelers, friends, and couples. Our group ranged in age from 6 - 65.

3. You spend all day on the bus - True...Some days - Yes, this was partially true. We had a couple of days where we spent a lot of time on the bus. However, after looking at a map of the territory we covered on our tour it was understandable as to why we had to have a couple of long bus days. We visited a large part of France and some days had to be spent driving. Trafalgar did an excellent job of breaking up the long bus days by stopping every couple of hours at a fancy gas station or a chateau or a cathedral. Patricia spent some of the bus time telling us about the country or the place we were headed to and she also allowed us to have some quiet time (particularly in the morning) to sleep or read.

4. You have to up early every day - True - We had to be up early with our bags outside our door even earlier every day but 2 days. It was tough. I won't lie. It was mind boggling to set my alarm for even earlier on vacation than I typically do for work. However, now knowing how many places we visited during our tour I completely understand why we had to get up so early. If we had not be on the bus by 8am every day we would have missed out on visiting many of the wonderful places we spent time at. We covered a large part of the country and that required some early days. It was worth it, but I was excited to sleep in until 7:15am on our free day in Nice!

5. On a guided tour you are herded around like cattle - Wrong - We did have to travel as a group but when we did have a walking tour of a town we had little Vox boxes that allowed us to walk at our own pace or wander a little behind our group but still hear our guide talk about the places we were seeing. We also had a great amount of free time in each place we visited. We may have had a tour of the town with our guide but then we had free time to explore on our own.

6. Escorted tours are too touristy - Wrong - Yes, we did see the tourist highlights such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Las Ramblas in Barcelona. However, we saw a lot of places that I never would have even heard of had a not been on a guided vacation. And I'm in the business! I never would have known about Fragonard Perfumery in Eze, a hillside village near Nice, unless I was searching for that kind of experience. I would have missed the historic walled villages of St. Paul de Vance and Carcassonne. We were able to see a great variety of places that were popular and some hidden treasures.

7. Every tour is fast pace - Wrong - Guided vacations have changed a lot in the last 5 to 10 years. Guided tours used to be 1 night in each city and jam packed with seeing as much as physically possible in a week. Today, tour companies offer a fantastic variety of tour paces. Trafalgar has a Discovery pace that is the stereotypical 1 night in each city and multi-country tour. I did a Regional tour that focuses on 1 or 2 countries and will spend 1 or 2 nights in each city...still fast pace but a bit more focused. Trafalgar's most popular tour style is their At Leisure pace tours. These tours never leave the hotel before 9am and spend 2-3 nights in most cities. This allows guests to have more free time and not feel rushed in each place. After participating in a Regional pace tour I can definitely see why the At Leisure tours are the most popular. There were a lot of places I would have enjoyed spending a little more time in and it sure would have been nice to sleep past 6am each day.

Overall my Trafalgar Tour was an exceptional experience that I would recommend to anyone. Trafalgar has a tour style to fit anyone's interests. I saw so many places I would have missed by traveling on my own. I had a guide who acted like my walking encyclopedia by telling me the history and fun facts about each place we visited and my personal concierge by telling me the must see shops and restaurants during my free time. My cultural experience in France and Spain was well worth getting up a little early in the mornings and sitting on a bus for a few hours while watching the French countryside pass by my eyes.

London Calling

Ever since Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen went to London in 2001, I have been dreaming of the day I could step a rain boot clad foot in the city. Finally, 12 years later I achieved that dream and made my first, but not last, visit to London! After a rough sleepless flight to Heathrow from Charlotte, Leigh and I checked in to our hotel and crashed. When we finally awoke from the dead we bundled up and wandered out of our hotel, The Thistle Marble Arch, to Oxford Street. As we stood on the corner of one of the best shopping streets in Europe, across the street from Hyde Park, watching red double-decker busses and black taxi cabs whiz past it finally hit me that I was finally in the #1 city on my bucket list! 

We woke up the next morning refreshed and ready to explore! We purchased a 48 hour hop on hop off bus pass so we road the loop toward Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards. We arrived about an hour before the ceremony, but there was already a small crowd around the gates. What a site to behold! To stand in front of such a historic palace and think about the history of the city and people that have come and gone from that palace will really make one stop and stare in awe. As we were standing at the base of the Victoria Memorial, all of a sudden a parade of Royal horses appears from the side of the palace. Moments later we watched a black sedan depart the palace with a woman in the backseat who resembled the Queen, but we laughed it off until suddenly the British flag was lowered from the top of the Buckingham Palace and replaced with a Union Jack flag which is the symbol of when the Queen is in residence and when she's not. Leigh and I stopped laughing and stared at each other...we saw the Queen of England! 

We rode the bus to Westminster Square and got off to see the infamous Big Ben and Parlaiment, the River Thymes with the London Eye, and Westminster Abbey. As we passed stood on the corner waiting to cross the street, Big Ben struck 12 noon. Listening to that clock tower strike solidified itself as one of my "Ah Ha" moments in London that I will never forget. 

The afternoon was spent at the Tower of London getting sized for our new jewels from the royal collection. Ok ok, they just let us look at the jewelry. I didn't realize how large the Tower of London was or the history behind it until costing since our sole purpose was the see the Crown Jewels. 

Our second day in London was my personal favorite - although I think I could have been happy to stay in London forever! We strolled through Hyde Park to  catch the bus to Kensington Palace. I'll just admit it thrilled me to no end to wander through Kensington Palace knowing that Prince William, Kate, and baby George were somewhere on the same property as I was! We took our time visiting all of the King and Queens apartments. We got to see the Royal Dress Gallery and iconic fashions from Queen Elizabeth, Princess Dianna, and Princess Anne. My favorite, though,was Queen Victorias' apartment. I was captivated by her story of growing up in the palace and her love story with Prince Albert. 

We treated ourselves to high tea at The Orangery near Kensington Palace and that was truly a highlight of our time! Princess Dianna used to entertain guests at The Orangery so we felt quite special to be able to have high tea there. After tea, we rode the bus through the South Kensington neighborhood to the granddaddy of all department stores, Harrods! Leigh promised herself 30 years ago that she would never step foot in that congested 5 story madhouse again but...she loves me! We pushed through the masses and made it to the specialty tea selections where we stocked up and bought a cheesy token Harrods coffee mug. We survived shopping for an hour before we escaped back outside to see Harrods all lit up with Christmas lights! 

While I only had 2 full days in London, it was just as magical as I anticipated it would be! I was able to see the highlights of London, but quickly discovered that I barely scratched the surface of the historic city. My tea canister is almost empty so it's about time to begin planning my return trip to London! 

Beaches, Sunshine, and Rum!

The busy season for a travel agent begins after Christmas and runs through Easter. Once I survived the craziness of the AAA Carolinas busy months, it was time for a vacation! I grabbed my best friend from Clemson and we packed our bags for the islands!

Tiffany and I stayed at Beaches Negril in Jamaica for our first 4 nights on the island. We were greeted in the Montego Bay by the wonderful Sandals and Beaches staff and transferred to our resort by mini-bus where we were greeted by staff at the entrance and moved to the concierge lounge. Little did we know until we arrived that we had been upgraded to a Concierge Beachfront Suite!

Beaches Negril was absolute paradise! We spent our days sunbathing on the white sand stretch of 7 Mile Beach, snorkeling the crystal clear waters, listening to the Ring Man try and sell us phone cable jewelry, sitting under the pool bar cover during the brief afternoon rain showers, walking down to Margaritaville Negril, napping in the resort hammocks, and watching the cliff divers and fire red sunsets at Rick's Café.

 

On day 4, we transferred by private mini-bus to Beaches Ocho Rios on the Northeast side of Jamaica. Ocho Rios is completely different from Negril and the West side of the island. The West side has long stretches of white sand beaches while the Northeast side is more mountainous and has shorter stretches of beach with rougher waters. Again, we were upgraded to a Concierge Beachfront Suite and I'll tell you, I never thought much about the benefits of concierge versus a regular luxury room but it was really nice to have a number to call to arrange our dinner reservations and have priority reservations for any excursions.

 

With four days in Ocho Rios, we toured a nearby resort, Couples San Souci, and went on a catamaran excursion to Dunn's River Falls and climbed the freezing cold waterfalls before touring Sandal's Grande Riviera Resort, and then we spent a day relaxing on the beach and playing in the awesome waterpark by the pool.

 

By the end of 7 days in Jamaica, 4 books, Caribbean cocktails, countless cat-naps on the beach, strolls on white sand beaches, and endless girl talk, Tiffany and I had truly adapted to "island time" and had an incredible sun soaked relaxing vacation on the friendly beautiful island of Jamaica!

 

 

 



Holland America Cruisetour - Day 6

August 24, 2013

           Departing Tok set a new record for early wake up. We had to have our bags outside our hotel room by 6:30am. Marc, our tour concierge, said he felt my glare when I told the group our wake up time. He has quickly learned I’m a little slow in the mornings. Since we were back in the States and had phone signal I was buzzed out of my sleep by a text around 5am…apparently someone at home forgot I was 4 hours behind them. I was awake early enough to get in a little souvenir shopping before the bus departed at 7:30am.

          As we set off toward Fairbanks, Eric played a PBS movie for us about Alaska’s history. The Holland America tour directors and drivers have the schedule down to a science because soon after the movie ended we arrived at our morning coffee stop. We pulled off on a dirt road toward Rika’s Roadhouse. The roadhouse was set on the banks of the river and had a café, gift shop, historic cabins, and views of the Alaska Pipeline crossing the river. Marc and Eric planned a game of Moose Migration once we got on the bus. This bus game everyone starting with a piece of paper and drawing a body part of the moose that Marc called out. Once that part was drawn each person passed their papers in a specified direction and then another part was called out. Eventually we ended up with complete, but crazy looking animals!

 Our next stop was a surprise and is not included on every Holland America cruisetour. We went to the North Pole! North Pole Alaska is right outside of Fairbanks so we made a brief stop on our way in to Fairbanks. The town has truly embraced their name and created a children’s dream town. The street lights are in the shape of candy canes. There is a road called Santa Clause Lane. We stopped at the Santa Clause House where there was a 3 story tall Santa to greet us outside. The shop had an enormous variety of Christmas ornaments and decorations and plenty of gifts from the “North Pole”. I finally took my first picture with Santa Clause. As a kid I refused to sit on Santa’s lap each Christmas so finally, at age 24, my Mom will have a picture of me with Santa. They had a post office where travelers can mail post cards back home from the North Pole. I could have spent hours inside the Santa Clause House browsing all the Christmas goodies, but Marc limited us to 25 minutes. However, that was plenty of time to buy Christmas presents for friends and a few other souvenirs!

 

We arrived at the Steamboat Discovery in Fairbanks just in time for lunch. There were 8 busloads of hungry people waiting in line. We were seated family-style and ate a “miner’s lunch” of soup, pasta salad, biscuits, and blueberry crumbcake. We boarded the Discovery III steamboat with all 8 busloads of people and paddled our way down the Chena River. I have heard many a client say the Steamboat Discovery is their favorite part of Alaska aside from their time in Denali National Park. The paddlewheel tour was 3 hours and the narrator gave great insight on the Fairbanks culture and life along the Chena River. They had a float plane demonstrate take off from the river and landing alongside the boat. As we moved further down the river, we stopped in front of David Monson’s house. David and his late wife Susan raised and trained Iditarod dogs. Susan won four Iditarod races in the 1980’s and today David and their daughters continue to train dogs and compete in Iditarod races. They demonstrated how they teach the new puppies and then they harnessed some of the older dogs and the dogs pulled David on an engine-free four wheeler around their property. We paddled on down the river and stopped at the Chena Indian Village. We actually got off the Discovery III at this stop. They recreated an old Indian village and had native Alaskan employees talk about what life would have been life a hundred years ago in a fish camp village where temperatures can get to below 40 degrees. Back at the base of the Steamboat Discovery we browsed the visitor center and gift shop and I braved the “40 Below Room”. I think I had brief moment of insanity! Group by group we stepped inside a smaller room and then into a freezer –like room where they maintain a temperature of below 40 degrees. You go into the room without a heavy coat, just “as is”. I will admit that I lasted all of 1 minute in there! Long enough for the lady outside to take a picture of me shivering! I don’t know how the Alaskan’s deal with those extreme temperatures! It was such a dry cold that it was almost painful. Roy just laughed at me when I walked out of the room. At least I can say I tried it! We transferred to our hotel, the Westmark Fairbanks. This was the nicest hotel since the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver. We grabbed dinner in the hotel and talked to my Mom and headed to bed early.

 

 

 

Holland America Cruisetour - Day 5

August 23, 2012

             We packed up a new bus with a new driver named Eric. Holland America motorcoach drivers cover a certain territory so they become a master of the road and the history of that particular area. We waved goodbye to Chris and our blue whale bus and settled aboard our orange (!!!) moose bus with Eric. Poor Eric gets the short end of the stick with the routes because he had to navigate the dirt and gravel of the Top of the World Highway. We left Dawson City and crossed the Yukon River by ferry. We were amazed that our large motorcoach could fit on a little ferry boat! We didn’t even sink it! The Top of the World Highway is not for the motion sick traveler. We bounced and twisted up the mountains so we were well above the tree line. The roads were not paved so our bus quickly became as dusty inside as it was outside. Holland America truly has their travelers’ safety at heart because we learned at our first picture stop that we were actually following a “pace car”. Holland America hires a tow truck to lead the way for 2 motorcoaches when traveling from Dawson City to Chicken, Alaska. The tow truck radios to the motorcoach drivers about upcoming blind curves or hazards in the road. We stopped a few times for pictures since it really did look like we were on the top of the world. I have never felt as isolated as we were out there. You could see for miles and miles but there was nothing but trees and hills.

          We crossed the Canada/Alaska border at the most northern entry station in North America (bragging rights!).  As we made our way down the mountain we came to the little community of Chicken. Chicken Alaska has approximately 7 year round residents. I told you the towns keep getting smaller! Chicken had all of the necessary makings of a town…a café, a saloon, a liquor store, and a gift shop. It was a fun roadside stop that makes fun of it self! By day 9, the other travelers were warming up to each other so I chatted with an agent from Missouri for a while from Chicken to Tok. I really enjoy meeting other agents especially since I am so much younger I always learn so much from them!

 

We arrive in the crossroads of Tok, Alaska early evening to find that it is a larger town of 1200 people, but it is truly a crossroads! The town makes the shape of a T and that’s all there is. Most of the residents live in the mountains around Tok. We had 2 dinner options in Tok, the restaurant at our hotel or a truck stop a mile down the road. Guess which one we picked? The hotel restaurant! Home of the 40oz margarita! Roy chose to eat out of the fancy vending machine, but I went to the lounge with some of my new friends from the bus. We sat around until the bar closed and they kicked us out at the late hour of 10pm. They are big partiers in Tok!

Holland America Cruisetour - Tour Day 3 & 4

August 21 and 22, 2012
        
          My favorite part of Dawson City has to be the fact we didn’t have to be up and at the bus by a certain time. The whole day was at leisure. Roy decided we needed to get a wakeup call in the middle of the night if the Northern Lights were out so our phone jolted me from sleep at 2:15am and we layered on sweats over our pajamas and trekked outside in hopes of getting a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Thankfully we were not the only crazies wandering the dirt roads in the middle of the night. We recognized a lot of people from our group shivering with their cameras in hand and staring up at the sky. The Northern Lights were dim but we did see streaks of light green. I can only imagine how vibrant the colors will be in a few weeks. We were told that we would have a good chance to see the lights again in Fairbanks too.

Westmark Hotel - The Rainbow Row of Dawson City

 

                Since we were awake for a while during the night, we each slept in and then went our separate ways for the day. Roy went to Belinda’s, the Westmark’s restaurant, for breakfast then set off to explore the town of Dawson City. I move a little slower so I eventually set off for the only full service coffee house in town on Front Street. I sipped my chai latte as I walked along the Yukon River to the end of town. I then decided to walk every street of Dawson City and go in every store along the way. Dawson City had a great Visitor’s Center that told the history of the area through films and local workers. I signed the guest book and grabbed some useful pamphlets to take home. Dawson City is full of unique shops…they have everything from jewelry stores, a video rental store, cheesy gift shops, clothing stores, and an outdoor supply store. There are only 2 grocery markets in town and they were incredibly expensive compared to home! Dawson even had a mortuary! Would you like to know how long it took me to go in every store and walk every street in Dawson City? Two hours. Yes, two hours to slowly wander and shop. That should tell you what a metropolis Dawson City is!

 

         I spent most of the afternoon walking the town (again) and along the Klondike Millennium Trail by the Yukon River. Roy let his adventurous spirit take over and he followed the phone lines up and over a mountain and wandered in the woods until he found the Dempster Highway and walked back to Dawson City. We reconvened for dinner at Sourdough Joes, famous for their (you guessed it) Fish & Chips. You would think we were in the UK as much as we have had fish and chips on this trip!

Holland America Cruisetour - Tour Day 2

August 20, 2012

     Monday morning started off rough as we had to get up early again. I figured this would be ok since there was a Starbucks just down from the hotel so at least I could start my morning with a chai latte for the bus. Wrong. Apparently, Monday was Discovery Day in the Yukon Territory. Everything was closed to commemorate the first gold discovery. Lovely.
     Monday was spent on the road. We covered a lot of the Yukon Territory and the ride was not nearly as scenic as the ride from Fraser to Whitehorse. Chris and Marc, again, did a good job of planning stops every 1 ½ to 2 hours. Our first stop was in a 1 road town called Carcross. There was a church, a visitor’s center, a general store, a train depot, and a bakery. That’s it. The town has maybe 200 residents. The bakers should be fairly wealthy since the tour directors rave about their cinnamon rolls. The line was out the door when I finally made it to the bakery. Of course, I bought a cinnamon roll. It was huge and delicious!

        Since we had so long on the bus, I caught up on some writing and reading and we finally had a chance to really chat with other people in our group. Roy and I were the only people from the Southeast. A lot of people hail from California. There were a few from Australia, Canada, Texas, and the Northeast. Unlike my trip to Scotland with CIE Tours, I’m pretty sure I was the only AAA travel agent on the trip. Majority of the people were home based agents.

 

 

 

     We stopped for lunch at a little campsite on the Yukon River. The meal was served by our tour concierge and motorcoach driver. We continued on the road and stopped mid-afternoon at Moose Creek Lodge. Moose Creek was a quirky lodge with a gift shop, snacks, chickens, a game of horseshoe you could play, and a mosquito statue depicting the “state bird”. There was a map on the wall for guests to place a pin on their hometown and I am proud to say I was the first person to put a pin on Wilmington, North Carolina! Since our motorcoach driver is a regular at Moose Creek Lodge, he had created a ritual of feeding the birds Ritz Crackers and they would eat from his hand. He made me try it and the first time a bird flew toward me I flinched and the bird flew away but I tried again and the bird actually landed on my hand and ate the cracker!

      We finally made it to Dawson City mid-afternoon. Have you ever been to Dawson City? We were told it is a lot of people’s favorite stop on cruisetours. The town has 1 paved road which goes along the Yukon River. The town was the first capital of the Yukon. Today it’s a ghost town of the former gold rush city.

Holland America Cruisetour - Tour Day 1

August 19, 2012

     Rise and shine and load the train by 7:15am. These early mornings on vacation are going to kill me. We boarded the historic White Pass Yukon Train for a scenic ride up the mountains along the same route as the Klondike Gold Rushers. The history was alive as we passed through beautiful mountains, over rivers, and across bridges. Hint, if you are traveling this train, sit on the left side of the car. The train goes along the mountain and on the left you can see amazing scenery while the people on the right view the side of the mountain. It was a 2 ½ hour train ride that took us all the way into Fraser, British Columbia where we had to go through Canadian Customs again.

 

     We disembarked the train and were met with our luxury Holland America Line motorcoach and our driver, Chris. Our motorcoach was bright blue with a beautiful whale and the seats had enough room between them that I could barely reach the foot rest! Each seat had its own radio plug in with a variety of music stations. Our coach driver, Chris, was incredibly knowledgeable about everything we drove by. He drives the same route between Skagway and Dawson City for different Holland America groups so the knowledge he has gained was incredibly impressive! We rode from Fraser to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory but Chris and Marc planned stops for us to get out and take pictures of the scenery every 45 minutes. Some would think that is too much stopping, but the scenery was breathtaking and everyone wanted to get out and “ooohh and aaahh” over the panoramic views. The stops also helped to break up the trip so it didn’t feel like we were on the bus for hours.

 

     When we arrived in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, we checked into our hotel. We stayed at another Westmark property called the Westmark Whitehorse (clever huh?). The hotel was nicer than the inn in Skagway and there was free Wi-Fi in the room! I’m sure you’re all thinking I don’t know how to survive without technology and that is partly true. The other part of the WiFi excitement is that we could finally Skype with my Mom. It is the first time Roy and I have traveled just the two of us, so by day 6 of traveling, we were missing our mediator. Since we had been cooped on a bus, it was time to breathe in the fresh air and take a walk through Whitehorse. The hotel was located on the main street in Whitehorse so everything was walking distance. Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon Territory so it was a much larger town…it even had a Wal-Mart! We wandered down through the town and took the walking path along the lake.  We have had the best luck with weather and we have had sunshine almost every day. I haven’t even needed the 2 pairs of boots I packed! Roy spotted a bald eagle soaring above the lake and nearby mountain. Chris, our driver, had already pointed out the eagle’s nest as we drove into town so we knew one would be around somewhere. We walked for a good 2 hours then stopped by a BBQ and Salmon restaurant for dinner. It was music to my ears to hear Jason Aldean playing from the sound system. A little piece of home all the way in the Yukon Territory of Canada. Roy tried the Halibut Fish & Chips and I had the Halibut Chowder and Smoked Salmon on a Caesar Salad. I could really get used to every restaurant having so many seafood options!

 

Holland America Cruisetour - Cruise Day 4

August 18, 2012

     Docking in Skagway meant the end of our cruise portion of our vacation. Each cruisetour group met in the Frans Hal Theatre to meet our tour concierge, Marc Oxborrow. By the way, I learned the difference between a tour director and a tour concierge…a tour concierge takes care of your luggage so it magically appears in your hotel room each day while a tour director does not. Pay attention to what your travel agent is saying or what you are reading in a brochure. Marc has worked for Holland America for 7 years. We disembarked the Holland America Volendam by 8am and stowed our luggage at our hotel, the Westmark Inn. Roy and I spent the morning wandering the 3 streets of Skagway…the towns keep getting smaller the further into Alaska we get! There were lots of souvenir shops, jewelry stores, restaurants, and saloons. The town of Skagway has approximately 2600 people living there during the summer months, May through September. After the last cruise ship leaves, Skagway becomes a ghost town and dwindles to 800 year round residents. I thought getting off the ship would be so great because I would have Wi-Fi but then I learned that Skagway doesn’t have Wi-Fi. Nowhere. In the whole town. I’m serious.

 

 

     To get over this let down of no Wi-Fi or cell service, I went rock climbing. Little Miss Nature Lover (I hope you sense the sarcasm) climbed in a van with a bunch of adrenaline junkies and put on a harness and climbed a rock face. I can’t believe I did it either. The other excursions looked really boring to me and I figure if I’m ever going to try rock climbing it sure wouldn’t be in Wilmington so I might as well try it in Alaska. I survived and I actually made it to the top of the rock wall not once but twice! It was fun until about ¾ of the way up you realize you are scared of heights! I can’t say that I will jump at the chance to go rock climbing again but I can say that I have done it and survived. Roy chose a less intense excursion in Skagway and he went on a drive North to a suspension bridge and short hike that ended with a salmon bake…what was I thinking deciding on rock climbing, right?! He saw black bears and beautiful mountains and lakes and ate his fill of salmon. While Roy feasted on salmon, I ventured to the Red Onion Saloon and ate one of their famous personal pizzas.