Archive for the 'Paso Robles' Category
Napa Valley wine travel: Use Twitter and Facebook to nab a deal during ‘Crush’ season
October 1, 2009 5:56am
TripAdvisor recently named Napa Valley the “undisputed American capital of wine” in its list of Top 10 North American Wine Destinations. Second place went to Sonoma and third place went to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. To celebrate, Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa put up a sale on rooms through Twitter and Facebook for their fans during the 2009 “Crush” grape harvest season. It’s a 72-hour sale that started Sept. 30, so book your rooms by Friday if you want to take advantage of a good deal during this annual event.
Deal: Rooms start at $99 (Sunday through Thursday) and $199 (Friday and Saturday) for stays through Nov. 14. That’s a significant markdown, considering that rates typically range from $209 to $259 weekdays and start at $279 on weekends. The lowest weekday rate I found (on sale) at Hotels.com was $159 per night. This deal is only good on Twitter and Facebook. It’s also worth following the Marriott on Twitter (@napamarriott) because it sometimes gives out free tasting passes to its local winery partners to tweeps who visit. Note that the offer is only good through .
Higher fees at California state parks start today: Where to find details
August 17, 2009 5:34pm
Starting today, Aug. 17, it will cost you more to visit and camp at many California state parks. In some cases, the cost has doubled.
The increases stem from California’s budget crises, which has put the state billions of dollars in debt. “In these dire economic times, we can longer afford to keep our fees at their current levels,” State Parks Director Ruth Coleman said last week in announcing the fee hikes.
Officials waited until today to release a park-by-park rundown of the new fees for day use and camping. Among Southern California parks affected, with sample fees:
> Anza-Borrego Desert State Park: Parking went from $6 per day year-round to $5 to $8, depending on the season. Borrego Palm Canyon developed campsites with hookups were $24 to $29 per night, depending on season; now $35 year-round.
Roundup: 6.4 earthquake in Greece; Paso Robles for an old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration
July 1, 2009 10:40am
> A magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook the Greek island of Crete on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 75 miles from Iraklion. Early reports did not indicate any injuries. As of posting, the Crete Gazette did not show any news of damage; rather, it went with the news that July 1 marked the day that a new ban on smoking in public places went into effect today in Greece.
> Here, here to Paso Robles, Calif. Congrats on being named one of the Top 10 July 4th Road Trips from the Road Trip Families website. Travelers can expect an old-fashioned small-town Fourth of July celebration at Barney Schwartz Park with a great big fireworks display.
> This Just In scares us just a little bit with their post 196 airlines to avoid. Thankfully they are quick to note that no North American airlines are on the list and that it is a list of airlines blacklisted in Europe. But you might want to check out the pdf if you have plans to travel within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Angola or the Republic of Indonesia.
– Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger
Photo: Mediterranean luxe: Villa Toscana in Paso Robles has richly decorated suites, views of the Martin & Weyrich vineyards and murals by local artist Stephen Kaylor. Credit: João Canziani / For The Times
Dining at the source with Outstanding in the Field
May 31, 2009 8:01am
Talk about eating locally. If you’re a traveler of the foodie sort, eat where the goods you’ll ingest are grown — with those who helped grow it — on farm-dining tours offered by Outstanding in the Field.
The small Santa Cruz-based operation arranges events on farms all over California, the U.S., Canada and even Europe that take in guided tours before shifting into sit-down dinners with the food’s local producers. At each event, a long table for dining is set somewhere close to where the food was sourced. Usually that’s a farm, though, according to the website, it might be a ranch, a winery or — wow, picture this — a sea cave.
One of these events typically runs four to five hours, with the cost ranging from $180 to $220 per person. In addition to the farm tours and talks provided during dinner, the price includes a five-course meal with wine.
Can your tummy growls now be heard in the next room? If so, join the club. Read the rest of this entry »
Mt. Waterman Ski Resort open today through Monday
February 13, 2009 8:53am
“Snow from the heavens not from the hoses.”
That’s the sweet note on the top of an e-mail that landed in my mailbox from Mt. Waterman Ski Resort inviting folks to revel in fresh powder at the Angeles National Forest site just 34 miles north of the 210 Freeway on Highway 2.
Recent storms have dumped enough fresh powder–and maybe more coming this weekend?–to open all three chairs. As of Thursday, the resort claims a 42-inch base with 2 to 3 inches of fresh snowfall Wednesday night.
12 books of Christmas: ‘Route 66 Backroads’
December 21, 2008 6:00am
Whenever I crank up my 1912 Columbia Grafonola, my mother asks why I’d want to play that old windup phonograph when digital music is so much clearer. She’s right, but there’s just something authentic about hearing it on the original.
It’s the same principle with Route 66.
Sure, the interstate will get you there faster, but driving the Mother Road gets you closer to history. If you know someone who’s enchanted with the double six, “Route 66 Backroads,” by Jim Hinckley with photos by Kerrick James, Rick Bowers and Nora Mays Bowers, may be just the ticket (Voyageur Press, $24.99).
Haunted hotel? Stay in a ghostly room at Paso Robles Inn for Halloween
October 9, 2008 11:09am
There’s something mysterious in the air at the historic Paso Robles Inn. You see, once upon a time — on Dec. 19, 1940, to be exact — hotel guest J.H. Emsley, who was staying in Room 1007, discovered a fire on the second floor of the hotel. He quickly sounded the fire alarm and then immediately keeled over from a heart attack. Because of his quick-thinking heroism, however, all of the other guests made it safely out of the hotel.
Though the incident occurred almost 70 years ago now, the hotel’s front desk still receives inexplicable calls from Room 1007. A recent release by Historic Hotels of America said: “At first the inn’s management wrote the calls off as a glitch in the system. However, when a member of the maintenance staff inspected the phone line, he witnessed it light up and call the front desk on its own. When he tried calling the front desk himself, the phone, which has two lines, cut him off and called the front desk from the second line. The spirit has even gone so far as to place a call to 911. When police responded to the call, they found the room unoccupied.”
Don’t believe in ghosts? Read the rest of this entry »
Apple-picking in California
September 22, 2008 9:40am
If apple-picking sounds like an East Coast kind of thing to do, you might be surprised to learn that California is among our country’s top apple-producing states. According to the California Apple Commission, Washington, New York, Michigan, California, Pennsylvania and Virginia — in that order — are our country’s primary sources of apples. California has more than 25,000 acres of land dedicated to the undertaking.
So venture out and get a first-hand taste of fall’s fiber/pectin-rich fruit: Some orchards and farms welcome visitors for picking trips or even overnight stays.
Read a Los Angeles Times article from last fall, “Finding autumn amidst Oak Glen’s apple orchards,” for a rundown on places to visit in Oak Glen, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles. Read the rest of this entry »
Northbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Coast Starlight service resumes after Metrolink crash
September 16, 2008 5:51pm
Train service between Los Angeles and points north resumes today (Sept. 16) after being interrupted since Friday’s deadly Metrolink crash in Chatsworth, according to a press release from Amtrak. The railroad service initially planned to resume service Monday, but the tracks hadn’t been cleared by officials investigating the accident.
The closed tracks affected the Pacific Surfliner route, which usually operates between San Luis Obispo and San Diego via Los Angeles’ Union Station, and the Coast Starlight, which runs between L.A. and Seattle. (Service between L.A. and San Diego was unaffected by the track closure.)
Northbound Pacific Surfliner service was supposed to start this afternoon, the release said. The Coast Starlight started north from Santa Barbara this morning (with coach transportation provided between L.A. and Santa Barbara) but is expected to begin in L.A. Wednesday when service in both directions returns to normal.
– Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times staff writer
[Photo: Santa Barbara Amtrack train station by Robin Rauzi / Los Angeles Times]
Amtrak’s L.A.-Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo service canceled through Tuesday in wake of Metrolink crash
September 15, 2008 12:16pm
Update: As of 2 p.m. today (Sept. 15), Amtrak reports that it will not be resuming service today or Tuesday as planned because the National Transportation Safety Board and Metrolink have not opened the portion of tracks involved in Friday’s deadly crash, according to Amtrak’s Vernae Graham. Sections of Pacific Surfliner and Coast Starlight service, as detailed below, will not be back in service. The L.A.-San Diego part of the Surfliner route is running on a regular schedule.
[Original headline: "Amtrak to resume L.A.-Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo service this afternoon in wake of Metrolink crash"]
Amtrak announced that normal service would resume this afternoon (Sept. 15) on its Pacific Surfliner route between Goleta/San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles, according to an Amtrak press release. The route had been shut for two days due to the deadly Metrolink crash Friday.
Resumed service, including Amtrak’s connecting coach service, starts with Train 775 northbound from L.A.’s Union Station at 2:55 p.m. and Train 784 southbound from San Luis Obispo that’s set to arrive in L.A. at 4:55 p.m. The L.A.-to-and-from-San Diego portion of the Surfliner route was unaffected by interruptions.
Read the rest of this entry »
