Pensacola, Florida + Derry, Ireland
It's a guest googler episode, with our new friend Raj Jaiswal. And let's just say we can't even get through the episode summary without erupting into fits of giggles. Raj is starting a podcast, and while we were at She Podcasts Live at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis last weekend, we inundated him with suggestions. Did he go with any of them? No he did not. His soon-to-be-released podcast is Unprescribed, and you should check it out!
Raj is obsessed with serial killers. That sounds like we should be worried about sitting in a room with him. No worries, he's safe enough, just prefers Mindhunter and How To Get Away With Murder for his Netflix binges. Alison is obsessed with calendars and schedules. With two kids going in a million different directions, her color coded iCal is what her dreams are made of. Lulu is obsessed with American Elite status. The sole reason being that she gets a free drink on her flight.
Raj would really like to go to New Zealand. He starts describing a place he's heard of, a lake with incredible views, with a Maori name he can’t recall. We are pretty sure he is talking about Lake Tekapo, mostly because Ash has been there and concurs that it (along with the entire country) is absolutely breathtaking. Alison's wishlist is related to her calendar obsession. She wants an app where she could put an address and a time into a calendar and tag her husband, and if he wasn’t there at that time it would make an awful noise that wouldn’t cease until he had arrived. I'm sure that is NOT on her husband's wishlist. Lulu wants the HyperVolt massage gun, which in addition to relaxing tight muscles, it reduces soreness and speeds up recovery time from workouts!
Alison is very excited to hear what Lulu does in the panhandle, as she was born in Pensacola. Well, Lulu is embracing the Florida lifestyle and is staying on the 52-ft "Breathe Reel Deep" boat she rented through Airbnb. This boat has 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, so if anyone wants to join her, they can. She is bringing more than enough Dramamine, doTerra DigestZen oil, DigestZen capsules, and Relief Bands to help alleviate any and all motion sickness for a small army. Now this boat is technically docked in Orange Beach, Alabama, but that is only 45 minutes away from Pensacola, so she can just jet over to her intended location real quick. Lulu heads back on to dry land to head to Native Cafe for your typical southern breakfast of biscuits and gravy, and adds a Bloody Mary in to the mix.
Now her Airbnb boat host offers fishing packages, at $175/hour. Lulu knows nothing about fishing. Absolutely nothing. She does know she needs a fishing rod, so she goes big and gets the Eat My Tackle Pro Jigging Saltwater Rod and Reel Combo - Blue Marlin Tournament Edition. That's a lot of words to describe a $400+ item. Lulu is assuming that the guide on this boat will have a cooler for all the fish she plans on catching, so she dons her Relief Band and heads out to open waters. To make this thus-far-average day a little more luxe, she hires a sushi chef to make sashimi and other such things for her and her guide with their day’s haul!
Still craving a bit more seafood, and maybe some meat, she heads to Jackson’s Steakhouse for some surf and turf. The chefs are trying to remove the invasive lion fish from the reefs, so they serve it as a special of sorts. Lulu skips the lion fish however in favor of their rib eye, lobster, oysters, and a side of grits. She's downing it with a $600 of Hundred Acre Cabernet Sauvignon, as well. After her dinner she is craving some sweets, so she heads over to Bubba’s Sweet Spot where she buys all of the gummy candy.
WIth all of this, she is still at only $6,500. Hard to spend money in Pensacola, Florida, apparently. So she spends the rest of her 10K on a car rental. Not just any car rental, she gets a Bugatti Veyron Roadster for the day. Or for as many minutes as her roughly $3500 will get her. It is a 2 million dollar vehicle, after all.
Alison is a little early, but she is already feeling the Halloween spirit. She is heading to Derry, Ireland. If you don't know anything about Derry, you can check out Derry Girls, the show on Netflix with accents so thick even our mostly Irish producer has to pay close attention to understand. Alison knows that the Irish invented Halloween, that Derry is THE place to celebrate in Ireland, and that Lulu is very much going to hate her day.
The Ardtara Country House where Alison is staying looks cozy and chic, but it also seems a little creepy. Turns out a former lady of the manor haunts the place, which should make for an interesting stay. She chose their “Last word in luxury” package which for a two night stay includes breakfast cooked to order both mornings, a chilled bottle of Moet & Chandon in your room upon arrival, along with flowers and chocolates. This package also includes a 6 course tasting menu in their on-site award-winning restaurant, two tickets to the Seamus Heaney Homeplace and an afternoon tea. Thinking this sounds like a great stay? You're not alone, many celebrities love staying there too, including our friend, Bill Murray!
Now while all this is well and good, Alison is here for the Halloween festivities. So let's get to it. The entire town of Derry is really committed to the costume game. Alison wants to show up with her costume topping them all, so she gets "The Flight" from Etsy. This copper Steampunk Victorian gown complete with period accessories and a corset, is accented by moving, 8-ft high,12-ft wide wings. This costume costs $6,000, and when you look at the picture, $6,000 seems like an appropriate price. It is beyond intricate and the wings are unreal. Wearing this costume all day is going to be tricky, so she looks for help on Ireland's craigslist. Services (click) --> Labor (click)--> "19 yo male looking to make some quick money”. Probably not what he was looking for, but he's going to get $325 to literally be Alison's wing man. Punny, no? No? Okay moving on.
Haunted Houses and Haunted Walks make Derry an annual stop for those looking for the fear-factor. A private tour of Derry’s looming 400-year-old walls to hear about the city's thousand+ years history is a good day-time activity, and Alison is especially excited to participate in the Awakening The Walls performances and installations.
A little nourishment is needed at this point in her day, so she goes for a quick stop for lunch at Browns In Town, where she gets the smoked chicken and sweetcorn risotto. Next she heads to Walled City Brewery where she does their Beer Masterclass where you learn about the 9000 year old history of brewing, while drinking their 10 house brews, of course! They also are the first in Ireland to offer a school entirely dedicated to brewing called The HomeBrew Academy, where you learn how to craft beers at home! She takes part in the academy, and gets a homebrew kit to try her hand at it back home.
Ready for a few scares, Alison checks out the Cooneen Ghost House. A little over 100 years ago a widow and her children were plagued by a poltergeist there, and while the locals believed it was because the family was practicing black magic, there was a previous owner who was murdered in the house before they moved in, lending weight to the haunted tale. So it's just a little too creepy for Alison's taste, so she is hiring a local named Gleann who has a degree in Irish History and leads walking tours in Derry to go with her. In case you don't recall, Alison is wearing a costume with a 12-ft wingspan, so how is she going to get out to this haunted house? Well thanks to WD Carriages, she is going to get around in a horse-drawn hearse!
Alison is a little hungry after braving the haunted house, so she heads to Browns Bond Hill where she selects a few items off the à la carte menu. For her last spooky excursion, Alison heads to Lock N Load Derry where every year at Halloween they stage a zombie apocalypse nerf gun war. Literally Alison's dream come true. And the perfect end to her day.
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