Travel Tips & Adventures

There must be something magical about boardwalks, since so many cities have them. People stroll, check out the scenery and window shop.

On a recent trip to Wilmington, North Carolina, we took our time exploring the sites from the boardwalk that looked out over the Intracoastal Waterway.  Putting one foot in front of the other, we received the benefits of an energetic walk as we saw the USS North Carolina, numerous boats, and many shops and restaurants. (more…)

When you’ve finished visiting Old Town Scottsdale and Scottsdale Fashion Center, there is more shopping up the road!  Shopping in Scottsdale could be a daily experience for weeks and you might still not see everything!

Traveling up Scottsdale Road, you see other major retailers like Crate & Barrel, restaurants like Cheesecake Factory, and several shopping plazas.  Although it might seem counterintuitive with Arizona’s months of extreme heat, most of the newer shopping locations are open air centers  where you travel outside from shop to shop.

A street in Kierland Commons

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If you love to shop, Scottsdale is the mecca.  Everything from high-end couture to kitsch is yours for the price.  The shopping areas are reminiscent of everything from the old west to modern America to an Italian courtyard.  Let’s start with “Old Town” – (more…)

Even people who can’t play a note will find a trip to the Musical Instrument Museum a fascinating exploration of music, cultures and instruments.  A new museum near Scottsdale in Northern Phoenix, Arizona, it is not quite six months old.  The facility itself shows vision, with large spacious galleries, engaging displays and musical instruments of every description – everywhere.

When you arrive, you pay your admission fee ($15 per person for adults) and are handed a set of headphones with a transmitter.  Unlike some museums, the music follows you.  No need to turn the receiver on or off if you arrive at a display and your timing is off.

Gorgeous inlaid floor with the continents - entrance to a Mim gallery

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Previously, we’ve visited Scottsdale in this blog, but we have some new items to share and some new perspectives.  Scottsdale really is a state of mind, like being in Boca Raton or Palm Springs.

Trendy Kazimierz World Wine Bar calls itself a speakeasy and has its entrance around the back!

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We spent two terrific days in Boise, Idaho and wished we had more time.  After starting in West Yellowstone and driving west on Interstate 86, then Interstate 84, and contending with construction traffic, we finally arrived.

Hyatt Place

We checked into the Hyatt Place Boise on North Milwaukee Street not too far from the highway, our first experience at a Hyatt Place.  We were impressed!

The friendly staff was smiling and efficient.  If we hadn’t had so many questions as first-timers, we could actually have used the automated check in.  However, our host was eager to show us around in the lobby.  Everything is easy to access.

The décor is sleek and inviting.  We really liked the room, too.  Technology is very much accounted for- you can use the free wireless Internet connections or dock your iPod. The bed is in an alcove-like arrangement so there is a feeling of a suite.  The “living room” has a fabulous couch that wraps around with an ottoman.  In the “office area” a desk with connections faces away from a small fridge with a wet sink and a coffee maker. http://boisetownesquaremall.place.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/place/index.jsp

Great space!

Boise Farmers Market

If you’ve been reading the blogs, you know that we wouldn’t miss a Farmers’ Market.  Boise’s Farmers Market is certainly worth seeing!  Such fun – and four blocks worth of scrumptious fresh produce, hand made items and entertainment in downtown Boise every Saturday, from 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM.

Boise Farmers Market

A fun way to spend a Saturday

The atmosphere is entertaining and everyone seems to be in a festive mood.

Entertainers at Boise Downtown Farmers Market

Fresh cheese, delicious brittle pine nut candy, and some hand-carved wooden items were some of the great items we purchased.  If we had lived there, we would have chosen fresh eggs, meats, flowers and – well, it would be hard to hold us back!

Boise Farmers Market has almost everything everyone would ever want to eat - cheese, eggs, meats, fresh produce, candy - and crafts

Then, we decided on a fun café/pub-like restaurant, the Brick Oven Bistro, at 801 Main Street.  After review of an enormous menu of soups, salads, main dishes with so many choices I had trouble choosing, I had some terrific food.  The portions were enormous and the staff was competent, efficient and friendly.  I spilled my soup as I sat down and a staffer was so nice about cleaning up my messy spot at the table. Reasonable prices, great food, fun atmosphere – we recommend Brick Oven Bistro! http://www.brickovenbistro.com/

Come back next week when we take a jaunt to a penitentiary where they cultivate flowers!

After a long trek around the University of Arizona campus, resting my tired feet while trying out the Old Pueblo Trolley was much anticipated.  The Old Pueblo Trolley, billed on their Web site as “an operating transit museum” is a short, evocative experience. (more…)

Traveling to Spooky Jerome, Arizona

A few miles and up the hillside – a very steep hillside/mountain – from Clarkdale and Cottonwood, Arizona is the historic town of Jerome, Arizona.  The fact that residents pride themselves on their probable insanity is based on the location of the former mental asylum and the fact that the town is perched precariously on hillsides.  Ironically, you drive through “Deception Gulch” to reach Jerome.

Sign in shop window - the mental state of Jerome

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Near the picturesquely named Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, Arizona, the Blazin’ M Ranch – and Dinner Theatre- conveys a feeling of the Old West, both its hospitality and its rambunctious good times. (more…)