An InterContinental Valentine
February 1, 2010 by Melanie
Filed under California, Los Angeles, Southern California, Southwest, The Americas, USA
Valentine treats from Jin Patisserie at the Intercontinental L.A.
Adam and I won’t be together on Valentine’s Day this year. I’ll be on the Love Boat (that is, the Crown Princess) and he’ll be, with any luck, skiing down a mountain. So when the InterContinental Los Angeles offered us a little Valentine’s getaway this past weekend…it felt like kismet.
Bolsa Chica Wetlands: Preservation Takes Flight
November 4, 2009 by Melanie
Filed under California, Huntington Beach, Southern California, Southwest, The Americas, USA
Huntington Beach is now celebrating its centennial, and city planners have been hard at work carving a whole new world out of this oil industry town. The result is an impressively clean and quiet ocean community of shops, restaurants and a few nice hotels…bordered by derricks and refineries.
One of its greatest achievements, though, was actually created over 30 years ago: the Bolsa Chica Wetlands, one of the largest untouched coastal ecosystems in Southern California.
The Bolsa Chica are vibrant, living proof that, in a region renowned for gated developments and endless strip malls (read: Orange County), there are a lot of local folks who view preservation as progress.
Huntington Beach Hyatt: Staycation Vacation
November 3, 2009 by Melanie
Filed under California, Huntington Beach, Southern California, Southwest, The Americas, USA
Main pool at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach
We’ve been spending more time in Southern California lately, and after a year of far-flung travels (that aren’t yet done), the proximity to home suits us just fine.
Take Orange County’s Huntington Beach, for example: For those weary of L.A., with an hour’s drive you can kick back at the Hyatt and immerse yourself in a laid-back, endless summer. It’s the perfect compromise between vacation and staycation.
Utterly Bazaar: SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
October 16, 2009 by Melanie
Filed under Beverly Hills, California, Los Angeles, Southern California, Southwest, The Americas, USA
Private guest entrance for the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
Who doesn’t love a little theater now again? Well, we do.
And amidst the styli-verse of L.A.’s SLS, you can find a full-blown production: Sometimes cool and quiet, sometimes funny and warm, and sometimes…breaking out in song at the top of its lungs.
Watch a human parade that will challenge your grasp of what’s cool. Indulge your inner child with whimsical toys, or indulge each other with feathers and pasties. See an olive get broken apart and formed anew as…an olive.
Safe to say, this place is a complete trip.
Desert California: From Anza-Borrego to the Salton Sea
October 15, 2009 by Melanie
Filed under Anzo-Borrego Desert, California, Salton Sea, Southern California, Southwest, The Americas, USA
Continued from
A Grand Olde Tyme in Julian
and
Whiling Away at Lake Cuyamaca
Heading home from apple country last weekend, we decided to take the long way home. The very long way, through several counties…and the most southerly swath of wild desert in California.
