Vegas: Gambling, Glitz and . . .Groceries

We’re ‘at home’ just a half block off the Las Vegas Strip, that  sexy sounding multi-lane asphalt path that visitors follow from one glitzy, glamorous casino to another. 

The Villas at Polo Towers is where we’ve been ‘playing house’ in a timeshare unit that feels much like a regular condo. Our views out over the mountain ranges to the south, gives no indication that we are anywhere near the Strip’s  glitz and glamour.

However our location puts us an easy walk from many casino – the  MGM Grand to the left, City Center to the front and Planet Hollywood, Bellagio and Paris to the right.
And heading south on The Strip - just a short ride on the public transit – there’s . . .the grocery store.

Some of you might balk at the thought of grocery shopping and cooking on vacation, but when that is the only household duty  required, it really does take on the feel of an adventure – not a chore.

And grocery stores always provide a ‘local’ flavor, like the honey we purchased: Local Desert Honey, a produce of Mojave Desert plants. 

The maid arrives each afternoon to change towels and remove the garbage and does a thorough cleaning mid-week, giving us plenty of pool or reading time.

Four years ago we entered the timeshare world and have found we like the ‘home away from home’ comforts of these temporary digs.  One of the nicest parts of our timeshare lifestyle allows the flexibility to trade our time and place for others around the world.  We can also take advantage of owner getaways and perks. . .like this one. 

Did I tell you this week’s stay is free as part of a promotion through the timeshare exchange  company, Interval International?  Because we booked that week back in February at The Jockey Club here in Vegas, we earned a free week’s stay to use at any number of places. We chose to return to Vegas – the only thing we paid was a  $139 booking fee.

Note:  These units can be rented through sites such as Expedia, or Diamond Resorts - you don’t need to own a timeshare to stay here..

Vegas: A Desert Storm

The High Plains Drifters are settling into their home away from home only footsteps off The Strip in Las Vegas. We came seeking sun and warmth. We got the warmth - today's predicted high temperature is 90.
As for the sun. . .that seems to be a continuing quest.

The Strip is known for its late night bright lights and thunderous music. This afternoon The Strip was lit with bright light when lightening filled the skies, and thunder rattled the windows and then. . .no joke, the rain came pouring down in Seattle-like buckets.  Weather forecasters said Sunday it would be the first winter storm of the season. Sigh.

Our one-bedroom, one-bath condo at The Villas at Polo Towers, that I wrote about last week exceeded our expectations with one exception, the internet connection -- they say it is there, my computer says it isn't.  So this post is being written on one of those communal computers in the lobby where fellow guests wait a impatiently for their turn at emails and Facebook. 

I have tales and photos and some Strip Tips to share but it's going to be a few days before those are posted. Now, I am heading upstairs to dig out those Seattle umbrellas that I never travel without.

TP Thursday: That moment in Crete

That moment.

We all have them in our travels; that one particular moment -- the scene -- that comes instantly to mind when you think of a particular place you’ve visited. I captured that moment on Crete during our trip there last year.

It was afternoon in Loutro, a small village on Crete’s southern shore. We’d taken a walk on the town’s main ‘thoroughfare’ – a sidewalk that looped from the ferry dock bisecting the dining decks of handful of restaurants, and display areas of stores that ring the crescent shaped shore on which it is located.
 Loutro, can only be reached on foot or by boat. This boat was one of three or four in the harbor that afternoon. The ferry had departed, the day's hustle and bustle had ended. The sunlight cutting through the crystal clear water as it lapped against the shore turning rocks below into mosaics was mesmerizing.

Notes: Click to enlarge the photo.
If you want more about our Loutro visits, follow this link:
Loutro
The link above the photo takes you to the official Loutro site, where accommodations for 2012 are advertised as starting from 12E a person, per night!

To see the other photos in this week's  Travel Photo Thursday, visit Budget Travelers Sandbox.

High Plains Drifters Kick Off ‘Sun-Seeking Season’

The High Plains Drifters (that’s us) will soon be celebrating ‘Sun Seeking Season'. That’s the time of year when our Pacific Northwest days begin and end with the same gray, dreary weather. . . and we start seeking sunny destinations.

We kick off this year’s Sun Seeking Season in Las Vegas at The Villas at Polo Towers on The Strip (3745 Las Vegas Blvd. S.). 

Polo Towers, just a block or so from the better-known Paris Resort (photo above), will be our base for a week. Our one-bedroom, one-bath condo -- with full kitchen, living and dining areas -- will be one of our sun-seeker  ‘homes’.  We plan to bask in the sun at poolside, read some books, do some cooking ‘at home’ and, of course, explore all that we can.

Then we’ll aim our rental car south, so that we can spend a few days in Scottsdale, watching those magnificent sunrises at the same place we stayed last spring, The Scottsdale Links Resort (16858 N. Perimeter Drive).

Both of these  ‘homes-away-from-home’ are ‘time share’ resorts. We don’t own at either place, but our timeshare ownership at other properties allows us to participate in the exchange management company, Interval International’s  ‘Getaways’ program that offer accommodations at greatly reduced rates, literally, at a fraction on of a cost of a hotel stay.

Although we were reluctant to enter the timeshare world a few years ago, now that we’ve taken the plunge, we are sold on the concept.  It is much like having a second-home, but without the responsibilities of full ownership. The other nice thing is that our ‘home’ can be anywhere in the world . . .where the sun is shining!

Washington D.C. ~ Monumental ‘Wanders’

A week ago today I was flying to Washington D.C. for one of those whirlwind trips that conference attendance often generates. The kind that allows only a few hours on either side of the event to get out and explore the area.

To those of us living on the West Coast, Washington D.C., on the opposite side of the country, is the ‘other Washington’– the one that requires an almost six hour flight to reach from ‘our Washington.’

That ‘other Washington’, is our nation’s political engine. That fact alone is a turn-off to many would-be tourists, who see it as a haven of politicians; a grandstand for their rhetoric and bickering. Others, like me, also see it as a treasure chest of wonders; museums, monuments and memorials showcasing so much culture and history that it would take weeks to visit them all.

So where to wander in a matter of  hours?

Three of us West Coast Washingtonians caught METRO and for $2.45 each way, whizzed  from Arlington, Virginia (where the conference was held)  to the National Mall’s  underground Smithsonian Station, from where we emerged to the sight of the Washington Memorial (pictured) to our left and the U.S. Capitol Building to the right.

From there we set out to pursue our own itineraries:

I headed to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (14th Street and Independence, 202-448-0400).  It was my third visit – and I could still return ten times over, each time learning/seeing  something I’d missed on a previous trip. You don’t tour this four-story archive of 1930’s – 40’s European history, you experience it. I used most of that afternoon’s free time pondering and shuddering at the story told through its 900 artifacts and 70 video monitors about  Hitler’s rise to power and the devastation that followed.

One of the displays  tells of the Hitler-ordered book burnings across Germany in the Spring of 1933.  Books authored by Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis,. . .Helen Keller, among them.

It wasn’t until this visit that I noted on the display window, a chilling quote written decades in advance of Hitler’s reign:

“Where books are burned, in the end people will be burned.”

Heinrich Heine, 1797 –1856, German Jewish Poet.

Admission is free.  What you experience here, stays with you for a long time. Photos inside the Museum are not allowed. I took the photo to the right as I walked to the Museum Café  housed in the building on the left; the Washington Monument in the distance.  The sculpture is titled, Loss and Regeneration.

*******

We managed another monumental ‘wander’ during the three hours after the conference’s end and our flight home. We again hopped Metro and for $2.20 each, emerged from the underground station at Arlington National Cemetery.

We opted – because of the short amount of time we had – to take the narrated, 45-minute shuttle tour ($8.50 per person) with the idea we’d see the whole place and if time allowed go back to those particular places we wanted to see a bit more in-depth.

We scrapped that plan when we arrived at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier within minutes of  the Changing of the Guard – an event that I now know shouldn’t be missed. 

We were walking toward the Tomb when in the distance we heard the echo of a 21-gun salute. . .we were told that some 25 military burials take place each day. . .

As we waited for the human guards to change, we watched a Bald Eagle, our national bird and our country’s symbol, soaring  overhead, as if the ultimate guard of the more than 320,000 servicemen and women buried within Arlington’s 624 acres.

And then the Changing of the Guard:

Travel Photo Thursday: New Angle on ‘Paris’

Travel Photo Thursday made me think about how we all can influence a photo by the angle we use to cut out people, signs, graffiti, garbage cans that might otherwise distract from the scene. Sometimes a snippet of the full scene is all it takes to bring back good memories.

Joel and I were celebrating my summer birthday, sitting on the patio at a Parisian café when I looked up and decided this photo would capture that moment:



I should add, we were dining at  Restaurant Mon Ami Gaby ~ right in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, but you wouldn’t know it from the photo, would you?

Travel Photo Thursday was started by Budget Travelers Sandbox, so just click this link to see photos from other travel blogs.  Click the photo above to enlarge it.

Travel Photo Thursday: Medianoche Magic

Madrid comes to life at night – not only its people ,but its buildings as well.  This week’s Travel Photo Thursday shot was taken on our last night in this enchanting city last spring.

On this particular night, at medianoche, or midnight, the streets had an almost magical feel about them. We’d skipped the early evening ritual tapeo, the parade between tapa bars for sipping and sampling, opting instead to dress up and head to the elegant bar at The Westin Palace Hotel, just a couple blocks from our apartment. 

Built in 1912 by King Alphonso XVIII, the building looks and feels like a palace.  We’d walked across an expansive, elegant lobby to reach the cozy dark-wood paneled  bar where we sipped wine and people-watched the night away.

But too soon medianoche, that magical hour (and bedtime) was calling. As we stepped out of  ‘the palace’ we saw this magnificent structure – perhaps another ‘palace’  - across the street:


(Click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Washington Wednesday: Road Trip Sips

A couple of weeks ago we focused on nibbling your way through our Evergreen State, so today we're sipping through Central Washington – legally, of course.

We love stopping in the small town of Cashmere on our road trips to Joel’s hometown, Chelan.  Its main street is simply a Norman Rockwell painting come to life.

But it wasn’t until last month that we finally followed directional signs posted throughout the town and into the orchards that surround it to the Cashmere Cider Mill.



Cider is a term used in the United States for a non-alcoholic beverage made from fruit; primarily apples.  And at the Cider Mill they have ratcheted up the art of cider making!  After the lady at the tasting counter insisted we sip one flavor, we quickly worked our way through four flavors and left  with two bottles of those we liked best -- one a traditional apple and another pear – promising them we'd be back and stock up again the next time we were in town.

Don’t let that plain warehouse of a building in the photo above deter you because they've transformed the cavernous inside into a charming store that, besides featuring their ciders, offers a tasting counter for other products and edible souvenirs galore.

A lush green garden area with plenty of seating borders the parking lot and makes the perfect spot to eat and drink the goodies you’ve purchased – and there's an art barn (pictured on the left) for more shopping!

For those who want to sample some of the area’s local wines, head a bit further east to the Wenatchee Valley Visitors Center, in the town of Wenatchee, where this summer a new wine tasting center opened.  For $4 you can taste wines from seven wineries and another artisan cider (this one a  hard cider – that is, one with alcohol.)

If You Go: Click the link above for hours of operation at The Cider Mill, 5420 Woodring Canyon Road, Cashmere, 509-782-3564.  Wenatchee Valley Visitors Center, 5 South Wenatchee Ave., Wenatchee, 800-572-7753.

Getting There:  Cashmere and neighboring Wenatchee are in central Washington State. Fly from Seattle to Wenatchee’s Pangborn Memorial Airport, four miles outside town.  Or take a scenic 2.5 hour drive from Seattle through Washington's Cascade Mountain range.