The Langham Huntington Hotel is one of the great historic hotels in the United States. Built in 1907 by Henry Huntington, the Huntington has been a landmark hotel since it opened over 100 years ago. Located on 23 acres of manicured gardens, the hotel has an Olympic-size swimming pool, a full service spa with 13 treatment rooms as well as a selection of Traditional Chinese Medicine services.

The hotel’s Fitness Center offers yoga, pilates, body sculpting and aerobics classes on most days. During our stay, we got up early and attended a yoga and pilates class. A sleepy Aidan Quinn joined us for the pilates class and we all pretended we didn’t recognize him.

Old Town Pasadena is only five minutes away and is a fun place to explore and appreciate the turn of the century architecture. Pasadena’s historic district has more than 600 buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The best way to explore the district is by foot. Take one of the self-guided walking tours to see Craftsman bungalows and a Frank Lloyd Wright designed home. Old Town is also a great place to shop with over 130 boutiques, shops, galleries and bistros.

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SPRING SPECIAL: Book today, March 5, 2012 on their website using promo code SPRING and get 30% off your hotel stay.

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The Huntington Library & Gardens were also created by Henry Huntington. The botanical gardens are spectacular and cover 120 acres with 14,000 different species of plants. If you’ve seen The Wedding Planner or Memoirs of a Geisha you’ll recognize places on the estate where scenes were filmed.

Langham Huntington Hotel  |  Pasadena  |  Huntington Library & Gardens

Last weekend we went on an epicurean girls’ trip to Sonoma for Wine Road. The idea is simple – you buy a weekend or day pass and can then stop in at wineries for a specially prepared wine and food pairing.

We stopped at quite a few wineries and sampled some great wine (red zins, cabs, chardonnay, port) and food: braised beef short ribs, fennel sausage over risotto, Mrs. Scorsese’s lemon chicken, bacon-wrapped dates, chocolate terrine - to name just a few. We also each got a cookbook with the recipes of what we sampled on the Wine Road to take with us.

Almost 100 wineries participated in the event – some had live music, one had a Texas BBQ and one had a soft serve machine with pumpkin ice cream!

All the places we stopped at were really enjoyable. Some of the wineries had beautiful settings - our favorites were Bella, Dutcher Crossing, Francis Ford Coppola, Mazzocco, Rued, Sbragia, Trentadue and Wilson. It’s no wonder this event is popular - buy tickets early because they sell out!

Wine Road

It only takes one summer visit to San Francisco where you’re shivering, surrounded by the infamous summer fog, to learn that June - August is not the ideal time to visit. For the best weather, plan your visit to San Francisco in late September or October. One of the big events in October is Fleet Week which occurs over Columbus Day weekend. This past Columbus Day weekend we happened to be in San Francisco and experienced what it had to offer.

The sunny skies and 80 degree weather were perfect conditions to enjoy the Blue Angels perform their amazing aerial acrobatics above the sailboats in the bay. One of the best places we found to watch the show is the beach-front bleachers at Fisherman’s Wharf, just below Ghirardelli’s chocolate.

On Sunday, don’t miss the Columbus Day parade. We headed over to North Beach, otherwise known as the Italian district, where hundreds of locals dine alfresco while the Columbus Day Parade passes by. After I walked by table after table of beautiful pasta dishes, I was definitely hungry for Italian food. Luckily there are plenty of choices in North Beach.

After the parade we headed over to Marina Green to see the Marines exhibit for Fleet Week. Not only were the guys nice and very polite, but it was interesting to see the mobile command center, popup kitchen and the MREs that Marines eat in the desert.

The Marina District’s Chestnut Street is just a few blocks from Marina Green so our next stop was Susie Cakes on Chestnut. This is my new favorite place to get huge slices of cake and share with my friends (coconut and chocolate are both great choices). Chestnut Street has some of the top restaurants and pubs in the city and is always buzzing with activity. While we were on Chestnut the bars & pubs were overflowing with people cheering for the Giants baseball team as they won their NL league championship.

Since Tucson is home to two destination spas we had to include a visit to at least one during our weekend visit. We’d all booked a Spa Day Pass at Canyon Ranch which included a 50 minute spa service, lunch and unlimited access to Canyon Ranch’s fitness classes and activities. Established over 30 years ago in Tucson, Canyon Ranch was one of the first destination spas in the US. Now with several locations around the country it’s a regular on Travel & Leisure’s Top 10 Destination Spa list.

 

On Saturday after a quick check-in, we found ourselves at Canyon Ranch’s hiking center. Outfitted with a pair of high-powered Bushnell binoculars and a day pack, we headed out for an early morning bird watching walk. It was a gorgeous Arizona spring day and the birds didn’t disappoint us. We almost immediately spotted our first Gila woodpecker in a towering saguaro cactus, followed by iridescent hummingbirds, cactus wren, quail and many others.

With the spa offering over 40 fitness activities a day there was plenty to choose from. We tried a sampling of yoga, zumba, world beat with live drummers, foot fitness, stretch class and hiking. Between classes, massages and facials we had a leisurely lunch at the pool-side café.

People go to destination spas for different reasons – all out pampering, meditation, relaxation and fitness. At Canyon Ranch the focus is on exercise/fitness and – if you can afford it - it’s a great place to kick-start a change to a more active lifestyle.

“Would anybody else like another scone?” My three sisters and I had just checked into the Arizona Inn in Tucson, and were relaxing in the library with afternoon tea. A novel experience, compared to our normally hectic daily routines. With one of us celebrating a milestone birthday, we’d opted for a weekend at a luxury hotel with a spa day at Canyon Ranch.

Opened in 1930, Arizona Inn has a fascinating history with beautiful architecture and gorgeous flower-filled landscaping. We stayed in a generously-sized casita with its own private porch, grassy yard and outdoor lounge area. The inn has about 100 private casitas, each different and tucked away across the inn’s 14 acres. After tea we headed to the pool to soak up some perfect 75 degrees-in-March weather. The inn has had so many movie stars stay there that their DVD library is comprised only of movies featuring past guests. Stars like Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, James Stewart, Clark Gable and Gary Cooper.

For dinner we headed just up the road to Guadalajara’s for margaritas and Mexican food. This place is fun but extremely popular so be prepared to wait at least an hour on weekend nights.

Returning to our place via the light-scaped paths, we saw that our beds had been turned-down and signature chocolates placed on each pillow. I could definitely get used to this!

The Arizona Inn is a gem - although expensive, you can share the cost with your girlfriends.

Other unique hotels: The Del, Huntington, Empress

Flagstaff is one of those towns not many people know about, but is definitely worth a visit. Located just an hour and half north of Phoenix, Flagstaff is a quaint college/ski town set in the mountains. Because of its high elevation, its summers are much cooler than Phoenix and it offers good skiing in the winter.

A group of us spent the 4th of July weekend in Flagstaff and we knew we’d made a good choice when we arrived on Friday evening. Although the downtown is small there are plenty of restaurants, hotels and activities to choose from. The town’s central park was our first stop, where the lawn was filled with people relaxing and listening to a rock band performing. Since it was the first Friday of the month, the art galleries were hosting ArtWalk where people are encouraged to go gallery hopping and can enjoy refreshments along the way.

After a Mexican dinner at San Felipe’s we walked around the corner to a Michael Jackson dance party tribute at the Orpheum. Hundreds of people were there, some in full Michael Jackson attire, and all were dancing to his greatest hits.

On Saturday morning, after stopping in at Late for the Train for much needed coffee, we made our way to the town’s 4th of July parade. It was a perfect small town parade, featuring a dog drill team, vintage tractors and several distinguished veterans including the Navajo code talkers from WWII. That evening the symphony played in an outdoor amphitheater followed by fireworks at dusk. All in all, a great place to spend the 4th of July.

When my sister suggested we go for a “spring break” to Loreto Bay, Mexico it was almost impossible to find a reason to say no. Especially after she said that we could split the normal airfare using her Alaska Airlines companion fare voucher and that lodging would be free. So I really had no choice – being a good sister and all – but to accompany her down to where the weather is perfect and the margaritas are plentiful.

It was the first time I’d been to Loreto Bay, which is a resort just outside the town of Loreto in Baja Mexico. Unlike popular destinations like Cancun, Cabo San Lucas or Puerto Vallarta, Loreto is still somewhat undiscovered and small. Loreto Bay is a new resort containing adobe style homes, a Troon golf course, hotel and private beach on the Sea of Cortez.

We stayed in one of the adobe homes during our stay which had an interior courtyard, 2 bedrooms/ baths and upper decks with sweeping views of the Sierra de la Giganta mountains and the Sea of Cortez. During the day, we would walk over to the hotel and go to the pool, check-out kayaks or swim at the beach.

When we wanted to go into town, we could catch a taxi and shop at the pedestrian market or try one of the many good eateries including Las Mandiles, Loreto Islas, Oasis and the Giggling Dolphin. With a 14:1 conversion rate (pesos to dollars), everything seemed very affordable. Tip: Since some merchants give less than the current exchange rate, its best to use a credit card or get pesos from the bank’s ATM machine (located on east end of the pedestrian market).

One of the great things about Loreto & Loreto Bay is how friendly everyone is – especially the expats and US/Canadian visitors. It didn’t take long before we’d met lots of interesting people and felt right at home.

At Loreto Bay I bumped into a group of eight girlfriends who were having a girls getaway. They’d graduated together from the same California high school over 40 years ago and it was clear they were having great time together. You go girls!

Link: Loreto Bay

Oahu is a fun place to try new foods – K-pig, poi or spam sushi anyone?  Unlike Anthony Bourdain, we weren’t looking for extreme food adventures on Oahu, just an introduction to Hawaiian cuisine. 

On our first day in Oahu, we had dinner at the Yard House Brew pub, located a block off of Waikiki Beach.  With 150 beers on tap, this place is great for burgers and beer.  I ordered a Shock Top with a Hawaiian burger and wasn’t disappointed by either one.  Stop by during their happy hour for the best deal on beers.

A few doors down is Roy’s, which started on Oahu back in 1988 and introduced Hawaiian fusion cuisine to many on the mainland.  During our visit to Roy’s the evening temperature was perfect, so we sat outside under a thatch umbrella, surrounded by tiki torches.  Roy’s has a prix fixe menu in addition to their normal menu that includes an appetizer, entrée and dessert.  We ordered from the prix fixe menu and enjoyed perfectly prepared ahi, short ribs, spring rolls and grilled salmon.  The service was exceptional – unobtrusive, but very attentive.   For dessert I had the molten chocolate cake and ice cream.  Yum! 

Oahu is also home to many local eateries unique to the island.  Be sure to have plenty of cash on hand, since some local businesses don’t take credit.  Here are a few eateries worth visiting:

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