Fernando Arce-Larreta

October 12, 2022 ~ Day 1

I went to workout at the Planet Fitness gym near my home. This is a great fitness chain because for $30 p/month I can go workout at any local gym throughout the country. And there always seems to be one near my hotel. I am not a big fan of the hotel gyms because they’re usually cramped, have poor air ventilation and at times there’s not even a towel or a treated wipes to clean the equipment. Its for these reasons that I’m big fan of Planet Fitness.

After my workout I returned home to eat breakfast and shower before leaving for the Houston airport. After going through Clear security I was able to visit the United Club Lounge to enjoy a quick coffee and snack. While at the lounge United sent me a notification that I had been upgraded to First class for both legs of my trip. Woot, woot! It pays to be loyal to an airline.

During one of the flights I saw the Netflix documentary, The Redeem Team. Its an interesting story of how the skill levels of the world’s professional basketball players caught up with those in the NBA. The documentary highlights how the USA men’s basketball team had to regroup and select players that would be willing to dedicate themselves to the team for three years. This enabled them to learn how to play together and compete at a higher level. The documentary reflects a lot on the influence Kobe Bryant had on his teammates. There are many stories told by the players that demonstrate what an amazing competitor and leader Kobe really was in the game of basketball and life.

Upon arriving in Philadelphia

I started thinking about the Netflix series Chefs Table where Cristina Martinez was featured for making Barbacoa with the same recipe and cooking style as her hometown in Capulhuac, Mexico. The barbacoa tacos featured in the episode looked delicious.

I was very excited to try out this food. However to my disbelief the restaurant is only open on the weekends!

Still the thought of tacos would not leave my head and I began to look for another option. Yelp guided me to restaurant called LMNO. After reading the reviews this placed looked like a good option. It took 30 minutes to reach this location from the Philadelphia airport. I decided to try out a Gringa taco since this is one of my favorite type of tacos to get from the Tizoncito restaurant in Mexico City.

The taco was good but it was a bit expensive at $14. I assume the price is due to the location and high rent. While eating the taco I began to think about the neighborhood and if it was dangerous. I opened the Newsbreak app and noted an article’s headline, “Philadelphia’s Most Dangerous Neighborhoods.”

I then determined, via Google maps, that this restaurant was in one of the profiled neighborhoods. The author recommended to not to walk alone or be there after dark. I then looked out through the restaurant’s window and saw that the sun had already gone down. Different scenarios began to dance around in my head that all ended badly. While it was very unlikely something would happen I figured it was best not to wait and find out. I asked my server for the check and quickly left the restaurant. I was able to make it back to my car safely and without an incident. It was a good taco.

I then made my way to a local Whole Foods to stock up on Apples and Oranges. This fruit provides me a healthy late night snack while in my hotel room. I also tend to purchase Protein shakes that get me through the mornings and early evenings.

Downtown Philadelphia (view from Whole Foods parking lot)

October 13, 2022 ~ Day 2

I started the day by making my way to Planet Fitness for my early morning workout. It is always tough to start early in the East coast when you’re used to Central time.

After eating breakfast and getting ready for the day I left my hotel to the local service center. I was meeting with a new sales representative, Angelo, to onboard him into his current role.

After our morning meeting we headed to lunch at the Village Pub in Swedesboro, New Jersey. The food was good and we had a great conversation about the challenges and rewards of the job.

After a series of afternoon meetings we had dinner at the Olive Italian restaurant in Sewell, New Jersey. The food was good but the conversation was even better. After dinner was concluded I headed back to my hotel to get some sleep for an early morning flight the next day.

October 14, 2022 ~ Day 3

This morning I had a 6:00 AM flight that required me to get out of bed at 3:00 AM. I was hoping to get into Houston early in order to attend our neighbors son’s funeral.

As we were about to board an announcement came over the PA system that one of the flight crew members was extremely sick and would be unable to fly. United had to scramble and found another flight crew in Chicago! Unfortunately, we all had to wait for the crew to arrive and would now board at 11:00 AM!!! Who needs sleep? At least the United Club was open and provided me a place to rest and eat.

As I was waiting at the airport I began to think about my scheduled afternoon tennis match. I recall thinking that it was going to be a challenge to remain active and alert. Then my stomach began to rumble. I decided to get up and walk around the airport looking for some different food options. I eventually settled on having a Geno’s cheesesteak sandwich. It was quite delicious and made my hunger disappear.

Not long after my meal did I finally board my flight back to Houston. I always enjoy coming to Philadelphia. It’s a great city with a lot of culture, excellent food and history. I’m already looking forward to my next visit.

Massachusetts

Day 1

October 4, 2022

I traveled to the great state of Massachusetts to visit some customers and spend time with my local sales rep. I once again was leaving from Houston’s IAH (aka George Bush International) airport. I had to arrive around 7:00 AM in order to hold my weekly 1-1 team meetings at the United Club lounge at Terminal C. I love this lounge due to the private “phone rooms” found in the back of the sitting area. By being inside these rooms no one has to hear all the bad words from the sales reps or myself for that matter.

Around noon I boarded my United flight and four hours later landed at Boston’s Logan Airport. This airport is well run but getting to the rental car location can be somewhat of a hassle. After getting my suitcase I had to huddle outside the baggage claim area with a large group of fellow travelers looking for a local bus to arrive. Luckily Boston was experiencing a warm fall day which made the 15 minute wait time bearable.

As I was leaving the airport a strong craving for a Lobster roll came into my mind and stomach. I thought to myself, “when in Rome you should try the local delicacies.” I used the trusty Y elp app to find the Alive and Kicking Lobster restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Needless to say it was worth the stop and satisfied my craving. I then headed out to my final destination the Doubletree Hotel in Milford, Massachusetts. This is one of those large hotels that was designed in the 80s and provides to me a nostalgia of a time when we were all less busy and living without so much technology.

As I was driving into this city the remnants of Hurricane Ian were still being felt as rain was constantly falling on my rental car’s windshield.

After a long day of traveling it was great to Facetime with the family before finally going to sleep.

Day 2

October 05, 2022

I started the morning by meeting with my sales rep, Andy Speer, at the local service center. We had a great in depth discussion about his territory before going to meet with our first customer.

After a productive meeting Andy recommended we try some Peruvian food. I went back to the Yelp app and found Sazon Peru in Lawerence. This restaurant seemed to be in a tough neighborhood but those tend to be the best places for ethnic foods. Andy and I had a great time trying out multiple menu options and left the place very satisfied.

Afterwards we headed to back to Milford before making a stop at the Nashoba winery.

This orchard is unique because you can have wine, beer and whiskey all made from apples. As I walked into the vineyard’s tasting room house I noticed how quaint and nice all the wood around the place felt and looked. It really reminded me of a vineyard in Grand Junction, Colorado but instead of peaches its apples. I ended up buying one of their liquors to take home. The server recommended trying to combine it with bacon and for some reason I couldn’t get the idea of this sweet liquor and bacon grilling together and hitting my taste buds.

Afterwards I made my way to the Longfellow Tennis Club where I had signed up for a tennis drill. This is a very nice facility where the instructor was able to effectively manage four courts and 14 players. The lesson of the day was focused on movement and consistency. The instructor said that this was the main difference between a 4.0 and 4.5 player. I was surprised to hear that power was not one of them. I will make sure to keep this in mind during future practices and matches. Honestly, I feel that this is one of the best things to come out of a training class in a while.

This is a link to a video highlighting some tennis drills you can do to improve your consistency.

Day 3

October 06, 2022

Andy and I made our way in the morning to New Haven, Connecticut to meet up with another customer and visit their project.

After having a great discussion and meeting with some of amazing people we were told that New Haven is a well known hub for American pizza. It has many restaurants where you can go have, how do they say, “Apizza.” Their claim to fame is that they cook their pizza with coal instead of wood or in an oven. Our customer recommended several places and we settled on Frank Pepe. This establishment is famous within the American pizza community and here is a video of a review of this restaurant. Andy had the white clam pizza and I got a typical pepperoni pizza. It was good but I still prefer a Margarita pizza cooked in a wood fire stove.

If you are ever in Houston please visit Impero Italiano as it is the most authentic and tastiest pizzas outside of Italy, at least here in Houston.

On the fourth day I made it back to the Logan airport before boarding my flight to Houston. I left Massachusetts with a warm feeling and remembering fondly of when I used to live in Somerville. It really has to be one of the best cities in this country and am looking forward to coming back with my family one day soon.