Phila Airport Parking Vacations

One of the very best getaways for a beach vacation in California is sunny Huntington Beach. With many diverse sports such as surfing, biking, boating, skateboarding, fishing, golf, tennis, and beach volleyball – everyone can get into the game and find something to enjoy. Even after the sun goes down, you’ll find something to do on Huntington Beach.

Even the briefest of family beach vacations to Huntington Beach should include a visit to the International Surfing Museum, where some of the most treasured surfing artifacts are stored.

Other attractions ideal for Huntington Beach include the Huntington Beach art center, and the surfer’s hall of fame. There are plenty of other things to do here besides the beach, which is perfect for families who want more to do than swim.

Kids of all ages will enjoy a trip to Huntington Central Park, which is one of the largest city parks in Southern California. With picnic tables, barbeques, restaurants, sports complex, the Adventure Playground, and even a golf course, this is a great place to spend some time away from the beach.

Any beach vacation can be a honeymoon instead of a family vacation spot. Beaches are great locations for romantic walks, finding the child inside and building sandcastles together as well as just spending some time together.

Huntington Beach is also within short traveling distance to many of Southern California’s most popular attractions and sights. Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Wild Rivers Water Park, and the Aquarium of the Pacific are all less than 20 miles away from Huntington Beach. After a fun day of exploring and riding rides, the beach is an ideal place to return to.

With a lot to offer you and a lot of things to do nearby, Huntington Beach is one of the best areas Southern California has to offer. There is always something to do for your entire family, even if your family is hard to please. Huntington Beach is that good – and your family will soon see that!

Pamela Kazmierczak is an expert in the wedding industry. If you enjoyed this you should go to her website now! Sign up for her free newsletter, learn more about the perfectHoneymoon or Caneel Bay – A Great Beach Resort – or just to browse at her store.

Del Mar California is the quintessential dream beach town – a quaint, yet chic Southern California community overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Like La Jolla and San Diego, Del Mar’s aura of paradise comes in a large result from its world-class beaches and persistently clear blue skies. Add to all that a unique fairgrounds, horse track and a quaint, upscale “downtown” village, and you have activities for everyone.

1. The Place To Be Is Epazote

Del Mar’s downtown area has a definite European flavor. More than seventy unique shops, cute hotels and 23 restaurants offer enough variety to please everybody. The artsy “Italian” outdoor mall, Del Mar Plaza, is at the north end of town at the corner of Highway 101 and 15th Street, where you will find trendy shops and unique bistros among the ironwork and tiled fountains of an Italian piazza.

One of our favorites for outdoor “ocean-view” dining is Epazote, a great place for lunch. It’s sunshine-splashed outdoor patio swells with sea breezes and sweeping panoramic views of the ocean. Epazote is also one of Del Mar’s popular night spots featuring a fun but noisy bar with an upscale and sophisticated feel. You can have a few margaritas and walk back to your bed and breakfast or hotel. The fare at Epazote is creative, tasty and unique.

2. Take A Hike Through Time

If you enjoy a nature hike with phenomenal scenery, Torrey Pines State Reserve is for you, with nearly 2000 acres of natural habitat along the ocean. The reserve was created because this is where the rare and beautiful Torrey Pine tree grows. You will find 6 or 7 trails for hiking, each with it’s own brand of awesome views: wind bent Torrey pines, abstract rock formations and lush wildflower displays, all framed by the magnificent Pacific Ocean. Parking Tip: You can park outside the park along the ocean and Highway 101 for free, then walk up the drive into the reserve for a great workout with magnificent views. Take your camera – especially in the spring when fields of wild flowers are in bloom and everywhere you look are fantastic views of the ocean.

3. Come Sail Away In Your Beautiful Balloon

Thought by many to be one of the best balloon rides in the world, a sunset flight from Del Mar is an extraordinary way to see Southern California. A coastal Del Mar Sunset flight is an unforgettable experience – up there the air is clear, the sun seem to shine brighter and a sense of relaxation overcomes you. You can soar through the sky and glide effortlessly above the hills and valleys – a calm, peaceful and relaxing way to panoramically take in the enormity of the Pacific Ocean and San Diego countryside.

Google the following companies to compare itineraries and rates: Panorama Balloon Tours, Skysurfrer Balloon Tours or Sky’s The Limit Balloon Adventures. On clear days you can see San Clemente and Santa Catalina Islands, 60 – 70 miles off shore. It doesn’t matter if you’re staying at a hotel in Del Mar or an Encinitas Bed and Breakfast, you’re just minutes away from experiencing a lifetime treat.

4. World-Class Beaches

For good reason, Del Mar is one of the most popular beach communities in San Diego County. With more than two miles of world-class beaches, the usually warm, calm water makes for near-perfect conditions for surfing, swimming, boogie boarding or just catching up on that beach novel. Del Mar also has two seaside parks – Seagrove and Powerhouse, both great for picnicking, playgrounds for the kids and stunning ocean views. Often referred to as “Malibu South,” Del Mar beaches have gentle waves and warm water, making them the perfect beaches to learn to surf. Beachgoers can also find good, cheap lunches at Roberto’s Mexican Restaurant on Carmel Valley Road just east of the Penasquitos Lagoon parking lot. Out-of-town visitors love the quiet, romantic Encinitas Bed & Breakfast near the ocean, Inn at Moonlight Beach.

5. Pedal Around Town

Bike riding is one of the simplest ways to have fun, enjoy the wonderful Del Mar scenery, especially if you’re staying at a Del Mar B&B or other vacation lodging. With near-perfect weather all year, enjoying the great outdoors is a way of life for most Del Martians who enjoy riding down quiet residential streets along the ocean. Del Mar is full of paths and trails that give cyclists an opportunity to relax, exercise and explore. Any way you cut it, Del Mar is a great place to have fun, get fit, and relax!

Even if you’re not a big fan of the Beach Boys, I bet it’s hard for you to not sing along or tap your foot when they all hit the harmonies to “Little Old Lady From Pasadena.” Of course, it was a hit for Jan & Dean, those purveyors of all things surf related, first — but I digress. The song is couched in the history of Pasadena, California that few people know about.

It was the case that many refugees from the Dust Bowl of the Twenties, Thirties, and Forties made their way to settle in sunny Pasadena. During the Fifties and Sixties, when many of these transplants began dying, it became folklore that the husbands would die off before their wives, leaving the widows to drive around in their husbands’ cars.

It became something of a phenomenon in Southern California for car salesmen to pitch cars with something to the effect: “This car was owned by a little old lady in Pasadena, who only drove it to church on Sunday.” Hence, it was a barely-used car in excellent condition. Of course, the song turns that perception around, casting the “Little Old Lady” as a drag racer, firing her Super Stock Dodge up and down Colorado Boulevard.

Besides the little old lady and Jan & Dean, Pasadena has managed to hold its own against the renown and infamy of its southern neighbor, Los Angeles. In fact, it has carved itself out as a haven for artists and engineers alike. Between the students at Caltech and the California Arts Club, the city has a rich selection of cultural and artistic organizations.

And certainly, there is the Tournament of Roses Parade and the affiliated Rose Bowl. When it comes to the college game, the Rose Bowl is considered the “Granddaddy of Them All.” Although Los Angeles tends to take the lion’s share of notoriety and prestige, most people who know a thing or two about Southern California know the real class and history reside in the city that made the little old lady famous. The only way to know for yourself is to scour the Pasadena hotels, book a room, and get here as fast as your Super Stock Dodge can go. [I:http://phila-airport-parking.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/JamesGilbertPynn11.jpg]

Who doesn’t remember Johnny Mercer’s beloved song: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe? You know, the one made famous by Judy Garland in the movie The Harvey Girls? Come on, you hipsters — isn’t it cool to dig that big band sound and old movies? Well, trust me, Mr. Mercers ode to the old railroad line was a hit in its day — it even won an Oscar for Best Original Song.

One of the largest railroad lines, the Santa Fe was the brainchild of the indomitable Cyrus K. Holliday. Commissioned in 1859 by Congress to connect Topeka, Kansas to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Though named for the New Mexican capital, the Santa Fe would never be able to directly serve the city, as the terrain was too difficult to blast through. Ah, the irony. Regardless, the Santa Fe’s tracks managed to reach Pueblo, Colorado in 1876. To compensate for the fact it took fifteen years to reach Colorado from Kansas, the railroad parceled the land granted to it and sold the parcels as homesteads. Not a bad idea: build towns that you will later serve. Note to self…

Without the wherewithal to fully capitalize on its innovative idea, the Santa Fe was a pioneer of interconnected freight services. The railroad owned a tugboat fleet and an airline (Santa Fe Skyway). This model allowed, in theory, Santa Fe to collect the revenues for all faces of freight delivery. When the railroad embraced passenger lines, they expanded their services with a bus line that delivered passengers to any number of locations.

Mind you, this isn’t the story of the Santa Fe, per se; its a story of how this massive railroad company infused a then-small town in California with a new vitality, one that is self-evident today. In the 1880s, no one seems to be sure exactly, the Santa Fe reached sleepy Pasadena. From that point on, the City of Roses became a resort destination for Midwesterner and Easterner visitors eager to escape the brutal winter.

Built within a stone’s throw of the Santa Fe station, the Hotel Green, in particular, would begin a boom in Pasadena motels and hotels that did not stop. As the tourists streamed in, Pasadena’s reputation as the Athens of the West was born. Now with a Beach Boys song and the spirit of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers infusing it, Pasadena remains something of a throwback to the glory years of California’s early statehood and the twilight of the once wild West.

“It’s the little old lady from Pasadena . . .” Those lyrics will bring back memories to anyone over 50 who was listening to radio in the 1960s . . . especially if they were Beach Boys fans! Even if you’ve never visited this Southern California town, you’ve no doubt heard about it. Pasadena is famous for many things: the New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena Playhouse, and Norton Simon Museum of Art. Each of those is famous in its own right, but to have them all together in one city in the middle of Los Angeles County is amazing.

So what is it about Pasadena that makes it so unique? Other cities in sunny Southern California have an interesting past, but none stands out the way Pasadena does. As with most California towns, Pasadena was first inhabited by Native Americans – a tribe related to the Shoshone. One of the early settlers was the honorable Benjamin Wilson, who established his Lake Vineyard property in the area. In 1873, a doctor from Indiana visited Wilson, in search of a place he could bring clients with respiratory ailments. Soon afterward, the newcomers incorporated their community as an Indiana Colony. The name they eventually gave themselves, Pasadena, comes from an Indian phrase meaning “of the valley.”

Pasadena quickly became a popular winter resort for people from the east coast and Midwest. These new arrivals helped to build the scientific and cultural institutions for which Pasadena is so well known: the Norton Simon Museum, founded in 1922 now contains a world famous collection of art from all over the world, the Pasadena Playhouse, performing seven different shows every year and the Art Center of College and Design, founded in 1930. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was founded in 1936 by scientists who wanted to bring the technology of rocketry out of the realm of fiction – the JPL is now one of the top centers for NASA spacecraft design, as well as robotics.

Once an agricultural community, Pasadena saw a building boom from 1886 to 1888. The Old Pasadena Historic District represented the focus of commerce and industry for the entire San Gabriel Valley. During the 1920s, the Spanish Colonial Revival style of architecture gained popularity. Visitors today can see remnants of that era by looking at the facades on buildings facing Colorado Boulevard. Perhaps the city’s #1 claim to fame is the annual Tournament of Roses, a New Year’s Day tradition that has been traveling the same route through town for decades. The event started in 1890, courtesy of Pasadena’s Valley Hunt Club. As former residents of the East Coast and the Midwest, Californians wanted to let their friends back East know about the state’s beauty and mild winter weather. As one professor said, “Let’s hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise.”

And since 1902, the Rose Bowl has been another Pasadena New Year’s tradition. This game is sometimes known as “The Grandaddy of them All” and has sold out consistently every year since 1947. While the game is televised, there is nothing to compare to being at the game in person. If you’re planning to go, have a look at Pasadena hotels and lodges online.