September 2009
11 posts
Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun
It’s time for me to get out of California for a while (I’ll come back to it later). On to Arizona…The first time I visited Phoenix was about 25 years ago (picture below). At that time Phoenix was a small town and hadn’t begun the enormous growth it has.
Back 25 years ago there were a lot of dusty streets and the drive to Scottsdale seemed like driving across the Mojave. Wow, have things changed....
Why so much Hyatt
As I post my travel comments you will notice that most of my hotel visits have been at Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. This has not been by accident. I have been traveling on business and pleasure for over 40 years. I have stayed in major and some smaller cities, resorts in the desert southwest, and ocean front properties. I find that I get the best choices, rates, and comfort at Hyatt properties.
I...
Venice Beach, CA
Venice Beach is located relatively close to LAX and adjacent to Santa Monica. Enough said…Ok well there is more; I stayed at the Venice Beach Inn several times and it is quite enjoyable. Comfortable rooms and a nice morning breakfast. It is just a short walk to the beach and the boardwalk and there are several decent restaurants and gift shops within a block of the hotel.
Venice Beach has a...
Huntington Beach, Ca
If you like the ocean, sunshine, large sandy beaches, and surfing then Huntington Beach is for you. I have stayed at the Hyatt Resort in Huntington Beach several times. It is a really nice hotel/resort with a couple swimming pools, a spa, good restaurants, and easy beach access over the top of Pacific Coast Highway.
The hotel is fairly large but easy to get around in. The main swimming pool gets...
Garden Grove, CA
OK, there isn’t much in Garden Grove but there is an excellent hotel there, the Hyatt Regency Garden Grove. This is an excellent hotel, clean comfortable rooms, beautiful lobby, lounge and restaurant and very convenient to major freeways. It is just a few blocks from the main gate at Disneyland and just a few blocks from the I-5 freeway. This is my favorite hotel in the Disneyland area.
I...
Albuquerque, NM
I took a week off and visited New Mexico this summer (July). While I have traveled the American Southwest before and have changed planes in Albuquerque I never set aside the time to explore it.
Albuquerque itself was not very impressive, a city with a college, a bunch of freeways and an airport. Getting around the airport was easy but it doesn’t offer very many amenities. The food counters aren’t...
Santa Fe, NM
OK, here is what I think of Santa Fe, the Capital area.
Crowded, small streets, too many vendors selling the same thing, too few good restaurants.
Some how the people there think they are cool. They remind me of a bunch of old hippies from the 60’s who haven’t grown up. A lot of motor cycles and beer drinkers with wayyyy too many left-wing liberals for my liking.
We stayed at the Inn of the...