Celebrate Mothers’ Day like a Vegas Local

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You don’t have to spend a lot of money to celebrate Mom’s Day. The City of Las Vegas has a fistful of options to make the day special. Make mom breakfast in bed (then offer to change her sheets for her so she can have that clean sheet freshness to end the day on!) Mother’s Day Celebration (all ages) Saturday, May 9, 10 a.m. to noon. Register by May 3. Doolittle Community Center 1950 N. J St., 229-6374 Enjoy a Mother’s Day breakfast with mom. Fee: $3 Mother’s...

May 5th, 2009 | Lynn Goya | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: City of Las Vegas, locals, mothers day, music, Performing Arts - Theater & Dance, Scenic & Short Trips, Sound Like a Local - Local "speak", vegas

Out of Vegas: 2009 Boulder City Spring Jamboree

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The 32nd Annual Boulder City Spring Jamboree features skilled artists, great games, fun rides, a street dance, food vendors from all over the western United States and combines them with many talented entertainers from Boulder City and the Las Vegas Valley. The Pandraggers Car Club will bring in over 200 cars for the annual Rod Run held in conjunction with Spring Jamboree and the Quilt Old Town outdoor quilt show exhibits locally made quilts along with the Antiques and Collectibles show. Brazzo’s...

April 30th, 2009 | Lynn Goya | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: 5K run, antiques, Bark in the Park, basketball tourmament, beauty pageant, Boulder City, Brazzo River Band, classic car show, collectibles, dog show, Food & Beverage, History & Information, Just a Bit Weird - Fun & Quirky Places, Nikki Anderson run, Pandraggers Car Club, People - Interesting Local People, Rod Run, Scenic & Short Trips, Sound Like a Local - Local "speak", Sports & Recreation, Spring Jamboree, Vegas day trip

Nevada Silver — Still the One

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To early silver miners, Nevada’s desert sands shimmered with great expectations – and few places in the world have delivered as profusely. Silver and other precious minerals, including vast gold deposits, continue to bring wealth to Nevada a hundred years after the Civil War, when we became the “Silver State” largely in order to replenish the Union’s diminishing treasury coffers. Nevada’s silver is a byproduct of gold mining, and gold mines are far from tapped out. If Nevada were a...

April 28th, 2009 | Lynn Goya | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: Buckaroo Heritage, History & Information, Jim Butler Day, Just a Bit Weird - Fun & Quirky Places, Nevada gold, Nevada minerals, Nevada silver, Nevada State Championship Mining Competition, People - Interesting Local People, Scenic & Short Trips, silver, Silver State, silversmith, Sound Like a Local - Local "speak", Sports & Recreation, Tonopah HIstoric Mining Park, Tours, Turquoise, vegas, Virginia McCuin, Western Art

Sunday Brunch at Wave Hill

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Wave Hill Views of the Palisades courtesy of Flickr Wave Hill is not what you typically envision when you think of the Bronx. Inspiring enough for Mark Twain and Theodore Roosevelt’s parents to rent out for a few summers, this.once-upon-a time private estate features a 28-acre public garden brimming with abundant wildflowers and shady pergolas overlooking the Hudson River and New Jersey’s Palisades. Vistas stretch all the way up to the Tappan Zee Bridge. Once the estate of George W. Perkins,...

April 25th, 2009 | Steve Mirsky | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: Attractions, Bronx, Food & Beverage, Must-See Sights, Palisades, Photos, Riverdale, Scenic & Short Trips, Sunday brunch, Wave Hill Park

Flower Power at Valley of Fire State Park,

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The desert is blooming and people who get out will be treated to a great show. Although not as spectacular as 2005, I’ve been pretty happy with the flower display with blankets of white flowers covering the desert floor, lavender sand verbena peeking out and now the cactus showing their astonishing flowers. With spring temperatures still here, make an effort to visit one of our great local parks, like Valley of Fire. The park offers a number of special programs throughout the month that...

April 15th, 2009 | Lynn Goya | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: bloom, desert flowers, History & Information, park, petroglyphs, Scenic & Short Trips, Sound Like a Local - Local "speak", spring, State Park, valley of fire, vegas

REVIEW: Boulder City Airport Terminal Boosts Las Vegas Tour Companies

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Vegas visitors often take advantage of their proximity to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam to catch a quick helicopter or small plane tour over these and other local sights. Airplane tour highlights typically take in the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and do flyovers of the dam, the Strip and the Colorado River. Half-day airplane trips typically cost less than $300 and get you back to your hotel within about five hours after a little less than an hour and a half of flight time. Longer...

March 28th, 2009 | Lynn Goya | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: airplane tours, Boulder City, Grand Canyon, helicopter tours, hoover dam, Lake Powell, las-vegas-tours, Monument Valley, Scenic & Short Trips, solar energy plant, Tours

Free Family Films in Vegas

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The City of Las Vegas has done an excellent job making this town into a home for those of us who have made a commitment to live here. They host festivals, art events, local dances and family activities that get better and better each year. Despite the economic downturn — or perhaps because of it — these events are especially appreciated by both the locals and visitors who want to move beyond the Strip. Children play in Splash Park in Las Vegas One of the most fun for those of us...

March 26th, 2009 | Lynn Goya | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: Family Friendly, films, fun, Las Vegas, outdoor, parks, picnic, playgrounds, prehistoric animals, Scenic & Short Trips, Sound Like a Local - Local "speak", splash park, Sports & Recreation

REVIEW: Black Canyon Bliss

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For my son’s 15th birthday, we joined Desert Adventurers, a Boulder City tour company that specializes in kayaking, mountain biking, horseback and ATV tours into local scenic byways. The spring is always a fabulous time to get outdoors in Vegas. The sun is warm, but not hot; the breeze is cool but not cold and the hot springs, while still H-O-T, are balanced by ambient temperatures that can cool a body back down. Black Canyon is the stretch of the Colorado River below Hoover Dam. ...

March 24th, 2009 | Lynn Goya | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: black canyon, Colorado River, hike, hoover dam, hot springs, Just a Bit Weird - Fun & Quirky Places, Kayak, lake mead, Las Vegas, outdoor, Scenic & Short Trips, Sound Like a Local - Local "speak", tour, Tours, waterfalls

REVIEW: Start Your 2009 Desert Wildflower Hunt

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We’ve been spoiled by two recent spectacular wildflower years, but this spring will offer a moderate display that should make wildflower aficionados happy. Gentle rains over the fall and winter led us to hope for another breathtaking year, but rains stopped in Death Valley a few weeks too early for maximum blooms this year. Wildflower blooms will peak from now to mid-April in Death Valley at lower levels, say park naturalists, as they skip elaborate flower displays and put their energy...

March 22nd, 2009 | Lynn Goya | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: death valley, desert, Scenic & Short Trips, Sound Like a Local - Local "speak", spring wildflowers

Vegas’ Top Irish Pubs

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Here’s the story of Paddy”s Whiskey, from an Irish friend who would know, as it came from his father, an Irish drinker from the hardscrabble streets of Ballymun. Once there was a young Irishman who sold whiskey from the Cork Distillery called Cork Distilleries Company Old Irish Whiskey. A gregarious fellow, as Irishmen often are, Paddy was heartily welcomed where ever he made his sales calls. At each site he’d offer the patrons a free drink, a tradition that delighted the pub goers...

March 16th, 2009 | Lynn Goya | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: Barack Obama, heritage, History & Information, Irish food, Irish pubs, Irish roots, music, Paddy's Whiskey, Performing Arts - Theater & Dance, Scenic & Short Trips, vegas

Shore Birds

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The wind chimes were going mad Saturday morning, a clear signal for my husband, Alan, to stay in bed instead of rising before dawn to put on his waders to go fishing. Lake Mead’s proximity was one of the major reasons we moved to Boulder City fifteen years ago. Most weekend mornings will find Alan in his float tube on the lake. The shore fishermen (mostly men) get there when the sky is still black, float in the water or stand in their armpit-high waders, casting their lines...

February 12th, 2009 | Lynn Goya | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: birds, fishing, lake mead, photography, Scenic & Short Trips, Sports & Recreation

A romantic weekend of wine, gourmet food in the North Georgia mountains

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It is possible to have a romantic weekend at a secluded but luxurious mountain cabin and still not have to lift a finger in the kitchen. Smithgall Woods-Dukes Creek Conservation Center, a 6000-acre state park, has 14 bedrooms spread among five cottages, a noisy trout stream and a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef, Mac Parks. Located about an hour and 15 minutes from Atlanta, the Lodge at Smithgall was named a top 10 Culinary Country Inn by Bon Appetit Magazine and BOA Magazine called it...

February 6th, 2009 | Linda Erbele | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: Chef Mac Parks, georgia state parks, Great Places to Unwind, Hotels & Places to Stay, north-georgia-mountains, romantic weekend, Scenic & Short Trips, Smithgall Woods, the Lodge at Smithgall, Wine Weekends in the Woods

Savannah and books – What’s not to love?

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If you are a book lover, you will not want to miss the Savannah Book Festival this coming weekend. This is the second year for the annual event, and unlike a lot of smaller book festivals, Savannah does not just pull in all the locals. (Although they will have Paula Deen for a special brunch on Sunday.) Also, unlike many other book festivals – the venues are free. Humorist Roy Blount, Jr. will give the keynote address on Friday evening at 5:30, then Saturday morning over 40 authors will address...

February 4th, 2009 | Linda Erbele | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: Alan Furst, Bailey White, books, David Bottoms, Events, Ferrol Sams, Hollis Gillespie, J. A. Jance, Ken Wells, Mary Kay Andrews, Paula-Deen, Roy Blount Jr., Savannah Book Festival, Savannah's City Market, Scenic & Short Trips, Tapas by Anna

Monument Valley: the place you want to film

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The Navajo people believe they walk in beauty. Perhaps that’s why they are the stewards of the land on which sit these familiar rock formations in the picture above. It was taken at Monument Valley–the place where John Ford filmed many a Western movie, including a classic, “The Searchers,” and “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.” It’s also the place where Tom Hanks ended his long run in the movie, “Forrest Gump”. The on-site trading post offers...

January 22nd, 2009 | Heather Wright Schlichting | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: Attractions, History & Information, Hotels & Places to Stay, museums, Must-See Sights, Scenic & Short Trips, Tours, Travel Tips - General Information

New Year’s Resolutions: 10 Things I Will See in Seattle This Year

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When you live in Seattle, you have your favorite neighborhood hangouts. They may not be special to anyone but yourself, and sometimes that suits you just fine. As a writer about Seattle, I try to share the big well-known attractions with you, as well as to give you a glimpse into some of the often over-looked, yet still special, spots. It forces me to get out of my comfort zone, explore new places, and try new things. And that’s a lot of fun! As I was making a list of things to write...

January 16th, 2009 | Mary Jo Manzanares | Read More | Comments: 4
Filed under: activites, Attractions, day trips, Events, Hotels & Places to Stay, Must-See Sights, Scenic & Short Trips, Sound Like a Local - Local "speak", things to see, Travel Tips - General Information, weekend trips

Hidden history

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I love to go to antique and 2nd hand shops when I travel. It’s a chance to look in people’s closets — even if the closet is no longer there. You always get a sense of place because most antique shops are stocked with goods found through locals. I remember going to Florida and looking for pink flamingos and coming up short. That’s when I found out that live pink flamingos were never part of Florida’s heritage and could only be found in zoos. Ceramic pink flamings,...

January 8th, 2009 | Lynn Goya | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: antiques, arts, Boulder City, henderson, History & Information, Just a Bit Weird - Fun & Quirky Places, Las Vegas, People - Interesting Local People, Scenic & Short Trips, Sound Like a Local - Local "speak"

This Weekend. . . the Tacoma RV Show

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This weekend. . . . . . head to Tacoma for the Tacoma RV Show. With the price of gas continuing to drop, the forecast is that more travelers will be taking driving vacations than flying this summer. These RV’s may guzzle a bit of gas, but when you factor in the reduced food and lodging charges, it may just pencil out to be the perfect budget vacation option for you and your family. Location: 2727 East D Street, inside the Tacoma Dome (map it) Date & Times: January 7th – 11th,...

January 8th, 2009 | Mary Jo Manzanares | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: camping, car-trips, Events, Family Friendly, Getting Around - Local Transportation, recreational vehicles, Scenic & Short Trips, Sports & Recreation, Tacoma, This Weekend

Rail travel popular again in the U.S.

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Speaking of light rail and trains, train travel made a comeback in popularity in 2008, according to an article in World Hum, a travel publication that speaks to the global world. The author indicated it had to do with our carbon footprint, that train travel makes less of a dent than other forms of travel. I think train travel is about to get more attention this month in the United States. If you haven’t heard this already, President-elect Barack Obama is expected to ride into Washington D.C.,...

January 2nd, 2009 | Heather Wright Schlichting | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: Announcement, Attractions, Getting Around - Local Transportation, History & Information, Must-See Sights, Resources, Scenic & Short Trips, Travel Tips - General Information

Have I missed the peak of fall leaf color?

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While most media reported the “peak” around the 8th of November, it’s a nebulous term. You can find yourself admiring one view thinking, if just those spots would spring into color, this would be peak. Almost overnight those trees will light up in yellow, but you’ll discover that the flaming maples that completed the picture have sent all their leaves to the ground in a brown puddle. The thing to do is JUST GO. Anytime in October or November it’s beautiful in the mountains....

November 17th, 2008 | Linda Erbele | Read More | Comments: 0
Filed under: fall leaves, north-georgia-mountains, Scenic & Short Trips

This Weekend. . . Hang Out With Marilyn Monroe & Jimmy Carter

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This weekend. . . . . . get away from the city with a drive to the Columbia River Gorge, home of the Maryhill Museum where you can catch the final days of the Andy Warhol and Other Famous Faces exhibit. The Maryhill Museum is a castle-like structure on a 6,000 acre site overlooking the Columbia River Gorge, and is home to a collection of art ranging from early 20th century European art to more current Native American art. The setting also includes beautiful gardens and grounds. Famous Faces...