Old Town Scottsdale

Old Town Scottsdale is a vibrant, walkable area that is worth a visit for shopping, eating, entertainment and the arts.

The Scottsdale Fashion Square, home to more than 200 retailers, is at the north end of Old Town. The area continues south for about one mile from Camelback Road on the north to Osborn Road on the south.

Old Town consists of nine neighborhoods, each filled with galleries, restaurants and shops. Several museums are also in the area, including the Museum of the West.

We visited on a Sunday morning when crowds lined up outside numerous restaurants for brunch. The area also has numerous nightclubs for evening entertainment.

At the far southeast corner of Old Town is Scottsdale Stadium, spring training home of the San Francisco Giants.

Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum

A great stop for people of all ages is the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum located about 30 minutes outside of Tucson near Saguaro National Park. The museum is about a two-hour drive from Phoenix.

Located on 21 acres, the museum has more than two miles of walking paths through various habitats with exhibits about a multitude of plants and animals.

We arrived around 9:30 and learned that we were just in time for the raptor show that starts at 10 a.m. (Daily except for Wednesdays, Oct. 30-April 10). The 25-minute show featured four types of birds in free flight with lengthy narratives about each type of bird. The birds land in trees very close to the spectators and sometimes fly just inches above their heads. It's an impressive show.

From there we took the half-mile desert loop trail that highlights numerous desert plants and also includes coyotes and javelinas. The path continued into mountain woodlands where there is a mountain lion, black bear, gray wolves and mule deer.

From there we went underground into a cave that highlights the history of the Earth as well as gems and minerals.

Wandering to the next section of the grounds, we went into the hummingbird aviary where several species of hummingbirds dart around feeding at colorful plants and feeders throughout the building. Further on the trail there is another enclosed aviary with other species of birds. We saw a tanager, cardinal, quail, ducks and more.

Kids will enjoy the opportunity to touch and feed stingray. The final two stops for us as we continued on the trails were Cat Canyon and the Riparian Corridor. Cat Canyon features a bobcat, ocelot and gray fox. In the Riparian Corridor, you can see a river otter and a bighorn sheep.

The museum also has an aquarium and reptile exhibit. There is a gift shop and several options for food.

Adult admission is $24.95.

We spent just under four hours at the museum and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Superstition Mountains (Arizona)

The Superstition Mountains are about 50 minutes from Scottsdale and make for a great day trip. 

Our first stop was Lost Dutchman State Park where there are multiple trails for hiking and mountain biking. Dogs are welcome on some trails but not all. 

We chose to hike the 2.4-mile Treasure Loop Trail. It was rated moderate, but was fairly easy for 90% of the time. There was a short section that was steep and wasn't as smooth as the rest. The hike, which had a 500-foot gain in elevation, took us to the base of the mountain. As we hiked in spring, the terrain was fairly green with plenty of cacti and wild flowers.

Just a few miles away from the state park is Goldfield Ghost Town, the remnants of an 1893 mining town that has been converted into a tourist attraction. You can stroll the main street, visiting shops and businesses to learn about the history of the town and life in the wild west. Attractions include a zip line, train ride, mining for gold, a reptile museum and more. There are several options for food.

On weekends, a group of local volunteers stage a gunfight in the street every hour from 12-4.

Finally, we made a 25-minute drive to Canyon Lake, a recreation area for boaters and beachgoers.

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

 I've driven along I-70 many times and have seen the signs advertising the National Museum of the United States Air Force but I had never had the opportunity to visit until today.

Located in Dayton, Ohio, the museum is near interstates 70 and 75, offering easy access to travelers from all directions.

Best of all, admission is FREE! That's right, four hangars filled with planes that will take hours (or multiple visits) to fully enjoy, and there is no admission fee.

The exhibit starts with the history of flying, which makes sense since the Wright brothers lived in the Dayton area and perfected their early airplanes nearby.

This is an Air Force museum, so most of the planes and the educational information about them travels through history to the cadence of wars. After the early years of flying, it's less than a decade until planes were used in World War I. Another decade and you're into World War II followed by Korea, Southeast Asia and then the Cold War. It is fascinating how quickly planes developed through the decades to fly higher, faster, further and to deliver more lethal payloads.

While all of the information and exhibits are great, I enjoyed the fourth hangar the best. The fourth hangar is home to the "Presidential Gallery" and includes planes that were used by multiple presidents. And best of all, you can board and walk through most of them. First you can climb aboard the plane that first flew a president - the "Sacred Cow" purpose-built for Franklin D. Roosevelt. Planes that served Presidents Truman and Eisenhower are next before you get to climb the stairs to the plane that served eight presidents, beginning with JFK. You walk through the aisle past the spot where Lyndon Johnson took the oath to serve as president after JFK's assassination.

Ft. Lauderdale on-demand ride share

Fort Lauderdale and other cities in South Florida offer affordable on-demand ride sharing using electric vehicles.

The service is called "Circuit" in Fort Lauderdale and provides transportation to many of the hotels, beaches and the popular Las Olas Boulevard.

During our recent trip to Ft. Lauderdale we wanted a ride back to our hotel after a long morning of walking.

Our electric vehicle, with two row of seats for two, cost only $4.

Upsides: Low cost and decent coverage area

Cons: It's a ride share program so you'll probably wait a bit longer to get picked up than with other services like Uber or Lyft, and you may make a couple of pickups or drop offs en route to your destination.

We weren't pressed for time and enjoyed the ride with a driver who pointed out highlights of the area.

Manuel Antonio National Park

 Manuel Antonio is the smallest national park in Costa Rica, but it is home to a diverse array of plants and animals. 

You'll definitely want to take a guided tour to help you spot the animals and insects. The guides not only know where to look, but they carry high-powered spotting scopes to zoom in on things you would never see on your own. The picture of the crown-nymphed hummingbird below is one such example.

We took a two-hour guided hike down the main trail in the park to the snack area where we were treated to fresh fruits and juices (and later saw a group of white-faced monkeys raiding the trash bins for leftovers). Note: The snack area is the only area in the park where food is available, and no outside food may be brought into the park.

There are two beaches at the park. Changing rooms and restrooms are available.

We spent 5-6 hours in the park, hiking several trails and enjoying the beach.

 

Hotel Parador - Costa Rica

 From Arenal, located in the central part of Costa Rica, we headed west to the southern Pacific coast. It was about a five-hour drive from La Fortuna to Quepos, which is near Manuel Antonio National Park.

Our home for three nights was Hotel Parador situated on the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. The hotel has a sunset terrace that I assume offers spectacular views of the sunset. I can only assume that however because our trip came during the rainy season and featured thunderstorms every day around four or five o'clock.

The resort is beautiful with three pools, including an adults-only pool. A small mini golf course is on the grounds as well as a tennis court with complimentary equipment. A nature trail offers views of the Pacific as well as flora and fauna.

Monkeys were in the trees everywhere during our stay. We saw dozens of white-faced monkeys. Usually they were in groups of six or eight. During our first morning at Hotel Parador a group of squirrel monkeys came onto our balcony and stayed for several minutes while others were in the trees right behind them.

A flock of scarlet macaws lived in the tree across from the lobby.

The resort offers a two-minute golf cart ride to a trail to Biesanz Beach. The five-minute walk leads to a crescent shaped beach where we enjoyed 3-4 hours in the water.

Several evenings we took a taxi into town ($10 each way) to eat at local restaurants. There is also a hotel shuttle that runs between the town and the resort multiple times per day.

The breakfast buffet was ample and delicious with fruits, pastry, made-to-order eggs and other hot foods.

Mistico Park / Hanging Bridges - Arenal, Costa Rica

 

Another highlight of our time near Arenal Volcano was our two-hour guided hike through the hanging bridges of Mistico Park.

The park has a two-mile paved trail that includes more than a dozen bridges at various heights through the rain forest. Some are ground level, some are mid-canopy and a few a above the canopy. Six of the bridges are suspension bridges.

The trail and bridges are well-maintained and very safe.

We saw a great deal of unique flora and fauna during this hike starting with the yellow-throated toucan and a coati before we even started our hike.

The picture to the left is of a group of white-faced monkeys playing on the final bridge. We waited and watched them for a good 10 minutes before we could cross.

Everyone's wildlife experience will differ, but some of the things we saw included a beautiful roufous motmot, the poisonous dart frog, two types of vipers (very small), howler monkeys and spider monkeys. It was a treat to watch the spider monkeys fly from tree to tree.

White Water Rafting near La Fortuna

White Water Rafting is the only thing we did in Costa Rica that I don't have pictures from. It's kind of hard to take your camera along on the rapids. The rafting company took 80-some pictures of us, but I had already purchased a photo package from the zip line company the previous day, so I opted out of the rafting pictures.

Rio Balsa is near the town of La Fortuna. Our trip coincided with the beginning of the rainy season in Costa Rica, so the river was at a good level. The river offers both a Class IV section as well as a Class II and III section. We opted for the latter for two reason - one, none of us had ever been white water rafting before, and two, there is a minimum age of 12 to do the Class IV tour. Our daughter was 10. (There is a min. age of 8 for the Class II/III tour).

We were picked up at our resort and taken into La Fortuna where the bus picked up a few additional people at the company's headquarters. From there we drove about 40 minutes to the put-in.

Each raft accommodates six people plus the guide, so we had a boat to ourselves which was very nice.

For this particular tour, there was no breaking in period for us first-time rafters. Immediately after putting in we were in the midst of the rapids. We had a great time navigating through the rapids while staying safe as well.

We stopped at a couple of locations to observe sloths and a poison dart frog. We also saw several types of herons.

We were on the river for approximately two hours. After rafting we were driven to a sugar cane farm where we enjoyed a native lunch of rice and chicken with beans and fruit juice. The lunch stop included a presentation about how they make sugar cane juice and sugar cane "moonshine" with samples of both.

The entire tour lasted approximately five hours and was one of many highlights of our trip.

La Fortuna, Costa Rica

We spent several hours in the small town of La Fortuna one evening. The town has numerous restaurants and souvenir stores. The central park is a popular area where we happened to see dozens of green parakeets at the top of the trees. Shop around for the best deal and don’t be afraid to negotiate the price. My son was able to save several dollars on his souvenirs by negotiating.

Zip Lining near Arenal Volcano

One reason many people travel to Costa Rica is for various forms of adventure, including zip lining.

There are numerous places to zip line near La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano. We selected a place that features 13 zip lines and a Tarzan swing. The lines are above and through the canopy of trees. We didn’t see much wildlife during our zip line adventure, but it is possible to see wildlife at the top of the canopy. The zip lines are fast and range in length from roughly a few hundred feet to more than 1,400 feet. This was a safe and fun adventure for all of us.

Arenal Springs Resort & Spa

Arenal Springs Resort & Spa is located five minutes outside of the town of La Fortuna. There are several room categories, but every unit faces Arenal Volcano. 

Breakfast is included with most reservation. Breakfast includes fresh fruits, pastries, made-to-order eggs, pancakes and other hot dishes. There are also two other restaurants, including a swim-up sushi bar. 

The resort has several hot springs fed naturally by Arenal Volcano. In fact, many of the resorts and hotels nearby feature hot springs.

There is also a pool that is open until 10 p.m. every night. 

We spent our first morning on the porch watching numerous tropical birds, including hummingbirds, tanagers and an oropendola.

 

Costa Rica: San Jose to Arenal

San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica and lies in a valley in the center of the country. It took us about an hour to go through immigration and meet our driver. He drove us up the mountain of the Poas Volcano. That area featured numerous coffee farms including a coffee farm owned by Starbucks. We also passed La Paz Waterfalls and Gardens, a popular tourist attraction. We drove back down the other side of the mountain into another valley. The drive to La Fortuna, the small town located near the Arenal Volcano took about four hours. 

Because Costa Rica is closer to the equator, its hours of daylight don’t fluctuate as much as most of the United States. For example during our trip in June sunrise was a little after 5 a.m., and the sun set by 6 p.m. There is a two-hour time difference from eastern daylight time, so when we arrived around 6 o’clock in Costa Rica it felt like 8 p.m. our time.

What I'm anxious about for my next trip

My son graduates from high school in a few days.

Several years ago I decided it would be great to take a "big" trip as our "final" family vacation. Our family trips have almost all been within 8-12 hours of driving distance. I wanted to go somewhere international.

The original plan was Europe for the summer of 2021, but due to some other anticipated summer activities we opted for Spring Break of 2021.

In late December I purchased our airline tickets for a trip to Costa Rica in March. Days later the US government announced that all travelers entering the country would need a negative COVID test.

After much consternation, I decided to postpone our trip to June. The possibility of testing positive (even a false positive) wasn't worth the risk in March when the kids would miss two weeks of school and athletics, and I would miss two weeks of work during a busy time of year.

So here we are - the trip is just a few weeks away. I'm not worried about travel delays. I'm not worried about exchanging money or how much this trip will cost. I'm not worried about any of us getting COVID (2 of us have been vaccinated and none of us have pre-existing conditions that would likely lead to a serious illness). My biggest worry is the possibility of a positive test that would require some or even all of us to quarantine in Costa Rica for an extra 14 days.

Such a requirement wouldn't necessarily be as inconvenient in June as it would have been in March, but it would be very inconvenient nonetheless.

As the trip nears, I hope my concerns ease, and I also hope I can enjoy my time in Costa Rica knowing the test (and results) won't come until the last few days before our departure.

Are you thinking about travel in 2021? What are your biggest concerns?

The Paris Museum Pass

The Paris Museum Pass offers free admission to dozens of sites in Paris, including most of the top attractions. Is it worth it?

That depends!

Before you go investigate which sites you want to see and how much those will cost. It could very well be worth it.

The pass also includes a Metro card, so you'll be able to use public transportation at no additional cost.

There is also a savings of time as most attractions allow pass holders to skip the entry line and go directly in.

For our short 3-day visit, we did not get the pass. We spent around 180-200 Euros total for the attractions and transportation we needed. The pass was 155 Euros per person.

It's worth investigating though before you go.

Arc de Triomphe

If you haven't walked enough while in Paris, here's your chance to work out your legs with a 284-step climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

Once you're at the top, you have stunning views in all directions. Stare down the length of the Champs-Élysées, or get a great photo of the Eiffel Tower or the golden-domed Invalides.

In addition, spend some time watching the chaotic traffic below as 12 boulevards feed into one roundabout.

Sainte Chapelle cathedral

I've been fortunate to visit some very impressive cathedrals in Europe, but I was absolutely stunned by Saint Chapelle.

It's relatively small compared to many of Europe's cathedrals, and the 11 Euro entry fee seems high, but it is beautiful inside.

This is a two-level cathedral that was built to house the supposed crown of thorns that was placed on Jesus' head. King Louis IX paid three times as much for the crown as he did to build the cathedral.

The second floor of the cathedral is where you'll find the splendor. Fifteen stained glass windows line the walls depicting more than 1,100 scenes from the Bible. It will take your breath away.

Sainte Chapelle is located on Ile de Cite, a few blocks from Notre Dame. Walls around Notre Dame include pictures and descriptions of the fire that destroyed part of that cathedral in 2019.

Chateau de Versailles



Eiffel Tower



The Louvre

It would be hard to visit Paris and not go to the Louvre. It's one of the largest museums in the world and, of course, home to the Mona Lisa.

The Louvre frequently has long lines so consider buying a ticket in advance. You will have to wait in a security line no matter what.

We listened to Rick Steves' audio tour, and I would highly recommend it. You'll start in the Ancient Greece area and see Venus de Milo.

You'll also see some key Roman statues, including Winged Victory. The tour continues through medieval and renaissance art, including the Mona Lisa.

Da Vinci's painting draws huge crowds, but they manage those by forming two lines. At the front of the line, small groups of 8-10 are allowed a couple of minutes for pictures with this famous artwork.

After the audio tour, we ventured into the much-less-crowded near eastern antiquities area for a few minutes.

You'll want to allow several hours to visit The Louvre.