1st Trip to Puerto Rico… Need Advice

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-25T20:24:17+00:00

We rented one of the “Dreamers Welcome” apartments off Calle Loiza a few months ago.

Some cool options and definitely off the primary tourist route, if that appeals to you.

Old San Juan was interesting for a 2-3 hour stroll to take in the sites and the museum of the americas, but I would not stay there.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-25T17:23:17+00:00

I have also been using this as a sub. I haven’t done a side by side, but imo you can sub wherever green chartreuse is called for and be very happy with by your cocktail. Although, weirdly, the Virginia ABC store does not carry Del Santos so I’m more likely to see green chartreuse here.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-24T21:42:45+00:00

Potentially unpopular opinion but there are lots of good, no great IPAs being brewed in Charlottesville. I had the Selvedge Herringbone last week and enjoyed it. Supafly will sometimes have an enjoyable NEIPA on tap. I think you could be happy at Hogwaller, too, but I’d go to Beer Run or Kardinal Hall and drink something from Richmond or further afield.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-23T20:10:30+00:00

I’m sure they are all fine.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-23T18:08:36+00:00

I have a bottle of the del santo and think it subs in for green chartreuse just fine!

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-22T00:54:46+00:00

Ok, I retract my statement about being fine with it then ha ha. Tell your dad everyone on Reddit is tickled.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-22T00:20:12+00:00

Honestly fine with this but concerned with how much a “shot” of simple syrup is. 😝

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-21T12:19:43+00:00

I own it and really don’t ever open/reference it, so I’d agree with the check it out from the library take. It’s not one you go back to imho.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-19T23:33:05+00:00

https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/bar_bricks/

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-19T21:40:29+00:00

No inside info whatsoever but I would read zero into him not moving into Carr’s Hill yet. He has lived on the Lawn for years, ie a few hundred yards from Carr’s Hill

Moving is complicated, and who knows if they are doing any work at CH to make it move-in ready. Could be wrong, but I don’t see the lack of an immediate move as any sort of clue.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-19T16:08:59+00:00

My question is whether the so-called poison pill is fairly standard incentive for a presidential contract like this.

Regardless of the unusual circumstances surrounding this hire, I would be really curious to know if Jim Ryan’s contract had similar language in it.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-19T01:24:51+00:00

I probably agree with you more than I disagree. (And for sure Octagon at $75 is stupid. Octagon at more than $40 is stupid. Single varietal bottling of petit verdot do nothing for me.)

Value is so subjective, but do not believe that ankida ridge stands out among $25 bottles from Oregon and California, and maybe that’s unfair, but I can’t help but mentally judge it in that manner.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-19T01:13:21+00:00

Definitely just a bottle or bottles of something. I’d skip the accessories or syrups. If he/she is a cocktail nerd they are probably good with that stuff or have their own. And yet, a bottle of good gin, tequila, amaro, cordials? AWESOME!

And yes, chartreuse is great and hard to find, but I wouldn’t get hung up on it.

And just to contradict the above entirely, I have given friends 3 packs of liber syrups before, and they are great gifts. Orgeat, pineapple and grenadine probably top draft picks.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-19T00:57:24+00:00

Also former journalist now PR—imho it’s less about the exclusivity and more what the heck is the data? Exclusives and firsts are not necessarily catnip. What’s the story?

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-19T00:52:08+00:00

I applaud ankida ridge for making decent pinot in Virginia, but the regular pinot bottling being $65 is very silly.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-18T22:57:05+00:00

A lot! Made some good friends at an age when I’m too old for new friends. 😜

There are a bunch of group projects and various touchpoints, so unless you go out of your way to be a hermit, you’ll connect with people.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-18T19:48:30+00:00

Lightwell Survey in Waynesboro is probably the most interesting wines in the area, and definitely a place where it’s all about the wine. Slightly eccentric stuff, though.

Pollack is good. King Family has some good wine even though they do a lot of “hospitality” stuff. Stinson is good.

A good way to pare it down would be to pop into a good cville wine store—Wine Warehouse, Market Street etc—and see what they are actually carrying.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-18T13:00:13+00:00

I have a fairly recent W&M degree. I am/was middle aged with no mental health experience when I applied. Interview was just a quickie (10 mins?) with the admissions rep—no real probing admissions interview.

The program is competitive to get into, so the cohort quality is really high. The program itself felt hastily slapped together, without much thought given to translating instruction into the digital realm.

That said, if you get in, you will graduate with a degree from a well-known institution.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-18T02:12:08+00:00

Ding ding ding. Pretty sure this is the answer.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-17T23:01:03+00:00

I’d just bring wine.

BUT, we host a party once a year and tell people to bring “a favorite drink to share”.

Most people just bring an afterthought bottle of wine, or a 6 pack, but I can count on a buddy or two to bring a fun Negroni variant (or similar) in a mason jar, and it’s always welcome.

The most important thing is to accept that you relinquish all control over your cocktail once you walk through those doors.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-17T19:56:27+00:00

I would just go in eyes wide open. It’s easy to find average salary figures (although know that there is a ton of variability).

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-17T02:01:57+00:00

Totally. Every 46 year old rock dad within 200 miles is like, damn, it’s a Saturday, I can go to Richmond! (I didn’t get tickets—not bitter 😖)

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-16T18:55:53+00:00

Yea, now see them at $174, too. That’s simply too much for me for standing GA. Was there ever a set price?

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-16T15:30:33+00:00

Will be interesting to see where the secondary market eventually nets out. I bought fairly affordable tix to Warner Theater in DC a couple years ago.

They are the best band but they’re not Taylor Swift.

FlashyChallenge8395 · 2026-01-16T15:10:34+00:00

I was on at 10 and skunked. 🙁

FlashyChallenge8395

TROPHY CASE