Related California Favorites Tips

Favorite thing: One of the great positives about California, especially Palm Springs, is that in January, February, and March, the weather is delightful.

Each day Allan and I would walk for an hour or more. The photo that I've selected for this text shows how beautiful it was in January on a typical morning walk.

Note the beautiful flowers, the manicured grounds, and the great Palm Trees. By March, I had lost about twelve pounds from all that walking, and from the looks of this photo, I needed to lose it.

Fondest memory: The nicest time to visit the Desert Communities of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage, Indio, La Quinta, Cathedral City, and Desert Hot Springs is during the winter.

The temperature ranges between 70-85 degrees with little rain and lots of sunshine! Also, since this is the most active time for an influx of tourists, there are many wonderful activities available such as art shows, festivals, concerts, Film Festival, Follies, Street Fairs, Golf Tournaments, and Village Fest.

I highly recommend visiting the Desert during the winter months!

Favorite thing: An exciting adventure while visiting Palm Springs is to ride the PALM SPRINGS AERIAL TRAMWAY; it is quite a trip. Y

ou travel across two and one-half miles of cable, soaring from the warm desert sands to the cool mountain air at the beginning of the 13,000 acre Mt. San Jacinto State Wilderness. This Wilderness park is full of hiking trails (they claim 54 miles) and it has eleven primitive campgrounds.

The Valley Station is located on the north edge of Palm Springs.

There are two 80-passenger tramcars, and the ride is so smooth, but if you have a fear of heights, it will certainly frighten you.

Fondest memory: I think that the best part of the ride is seeing the desert, the forest, and the mountains.
It is really quite breathtaking; somehow, it makes you feel small in the whole scheme of the world.

Take Tramway Road of SR111 and go three and one half miles up the hill to get to the Valley Station.

(760)325-1391

Favorite thing: Laguna Beach is an interesting area and town. It is somewhat of a tourist mecca; yet, it maintains a certain charm.

The area is a good place for golf, for fishing, for fine dining, and for shopping.

At Dana Point Harbor you can do whale watching, shop, or eat. In the town itself, there are many fine places to dine, lots of shops, and landmark hotels.

This is an art community with many Art festivals, studios, and art students.

Some places of interest:

Pottery Shack has been around for 65 years.
1212 S. Coast Hwy
Laguna Beach
www.potteryshack.com

Sportfishing and Whale Watching at Dana Wharf
34675 Golden Lantern
Dana Point, CA
(949)496-5794

Friends of the Sea Lion Marine Mammal Center
(949)494-3050
It rescues and rehabilitates sick and injured marine mammals, then releases them back to their natural environment.
Open daily 10 am-4pm

Laguna Playhouse
(949)497-ARTS
Professional Theater with performances year round in Laguna Beach.

Len Wood's Indian Territory, Inc.
305-D North Coast Hwy.
Laguna Beach, CA
(800)579-0860
Nation's largest gallery of antique Indian art.

Historic Mission San Juan Capistrano
949-234-1300
Historic Spanish adobe Mission, landscaped gardens, and courtyards.

Laguna Art Museum
307 Cliff Drive
Laguna Beach, CA
(949)494-8971
American art museum with focus on art of California

Crystal Cove State Park
8471 Pacific Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, CA
949-494-3539
Miles of bluffs, beaches and tidepools, canyons and wilderness campgrounds

Newport Harbor Nautical Museum
151 East Pacific Coast Hwy
Newport Beach
949-673-7863
Three museum galleries, nautical gift shop, and waterfront dining.

Fondest memory: This area has beautiful sunsets, lovely beaches, lots of art, whale watching, excellent dining, and friendly people.

I highly recommend it.

Favorite thing: You just cannot visit Languna Beach, California, without at least stopping by the famous Hotel Laguna. It is situated on its own private beach, and it is right in the heart of the city.

They have 65 guest rooms, two of which are Mini-Suites. They serve you complimentary continental breakfast and deliver the Los Angeles Times to your door on Monday through Saturday.
They provide a chaise lounge, umbrella, beach towels, and a wait staff to serve lunch or cocktails from the Beach Club menu.

This is an old European style hotel that does epitomize "California Riviera."
The hotel has several places to eat.
We ate in the restaurant called "The Terrace". Most of it is outside overlooking the private beach. We had shrimp and salad and drinks. It was quite lovely. There is also a small Bar area with comfortable furniture to relax and enjoy a cocktail with a view.

Fondest memory: They are most famous for the formal dining room called "Claes Restaurant/Wine Cellar"

There is a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean. This restaurant is a local favorite, especially the Sunday Brunch.

The brunch has assorted bakery goods, many salads, fruits of the season, California Rolls, French Toast, Mexican Scambled eggs, Maryland Crab Cakes, Eggs Benedict, Angus New York Steak, Chicken a la Provencal, Wild Mushroom and Spinach Frittata, Alaskan Lingcod, Rock Shrimp and Crab Omelette, Mediterranean Bouillabaisse (crab, mussels, clams, fish, shrimp, and lobster in tomato Tarragon), Hawaiian Onaga, and California Eggs Benedict.

A real FEAST!

We had no camera with us at the hotel, but this is a photo of Allan and I the day we ate there.

Favorite thing: While in Palm Springs, Allan and I celebrated Valentine's Day by seeing BILL COSBY at one of the area casino's in their huge auditorium.

Before we went to that show, we ate in downtown Palm Springs and enjoyed a romantic dinner for two, via candlelight.

The food was excellent, live music was soothing, and each woman received a red rose for Valentine's Day.

Fondest memory: The Bill Cosby Show was so well done. It's amazing how Bill commands respect and attention. I don't think that he plans what he is going to say until he is up on the stage. He makes everyone laugh without being cruel to others, without being "potty mouthed", and without being racist.

It is so refreshing to listen to someone who is genuinely funny in such a wholesome manner.
After the show, we stayed about an hour at the Casino. I won about $20.00 playing, of all things, the nickle slots!

The photograph was taken with an old Poloroid before we left. We had some of our favorite wine and saluted the value of love.

Favorite thing: Similiar booklets to this one, you can pick up just about every where in most hotels, shops or you can find this one at IHOP or Denny's restaurants. It contains loads of hotel discount coupons for hotels all over California and Neveda. It has very helpful maps too to locate where each hotel is located at that has an advertisement in it. It has a internet site to check out information and there is another one that you can print out Room Saver Coupons.

Hotel Coupons
or
Room Saver

Fondest memory: When I took this picture was my first trip to the United States and it is also the furthest away from Thailand I have ever been. I spent my first day in northern Los Angeles in an area called the San Fernando Valley. One of my first excursions in this large metropolis was a trip through Malibu Canyon and a drive down the Pacific Coast Higway. I've included many of the photos from my trip to the beach here in this travelouge.

Favorite thing: Because of its almost perfect climate, scenic location on San Diego Bay, and miles of sandy beaches, San Diego is known as "America's Finest City."

In 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed into San Diego Bay and claimed the area on behalf of the King of Spain. He called the new territory San Miguel. In 1602, Sebastian Vizcaíno explored the area and renamed it San Diego de Alcalá. Up until 1769, however, there was not any sort of Spanish settlement. That changed when Father Junípero Serra established the first of a string of missions along the California coast. Over time, a small town grew up around the mission.

During Spanish, and then Mexican, rule, San Diego remained an unimportant outpost far from the center of power in Mexico City. It only gained importance during the Mexican-American War, when a major battle was fought near the town. San Diego eventually fell to American forces, and the treaty ending the war ceded California to the United States. In 1850, California was admitted into the Union, and San Diego was incorporated as a city.

The city began to grow in 1885 when the transcontinental railroad reached it. With easy access by train, people began moving into Southern California for its climate. San Diego went through periods of boom and bust, and even lost population on a couple of occasions.

It was not until the First World War that the city's fortunes were assured. The military established several bases in the San Diego area, and in 1919 the United States Navy chose San Diego as the home base for the Pacific Fleet. Thousands of sailors and Marines passed through San Diego during the Second World War. After the war, many returned and settled in the city, mainly because of the climate they had grown accustomed to when they were stationed there. Since then, the population and economy has continued to expand, and now, San Diego is the center of a contiguous metropolitan area (which includes Tijuana, Mexico) of about 4,950,000 inhabitants.