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Hard Rock Hotel, Chicago

Whenever you travel to a major city even typical franchise hotels known for having quality accommodations can often be rundown just because of the constant use and traffic. In Chicago, the world-famous Hard Rock Hotel is not the least bit rundown, but it is an edgier place to stay designed more for younger travelers who don't mind loud music playing  all of the time out in the hallways and main area. It's decorated in a modern decor and each room is dedicated to a particular musician or group and memorabilia is sealed up and on display on all of the walls. The hotel is unlike other franchises that have manufactured artwork, and each room has its own theme, which means never the same experience twice. If you want to stay somewhere a little different and unique and you love rock music, you should definitely stay here.

Tips on Tipping

The mysterious tipping process. How do you know when, who and how to tip? Different occasions have different tipping ideas. You can use the following information to help you decide how to tip when you're on vacation.

Cruise Ships -- You can now pre-tip per a specified scale before you get on your cruise ship. Some passengers don't like this idea. They want their servers to earn their tips and give more or less dependent upon good or bad service. Tips on cruise ships go to: cleaning and maid service, head steward, table service waiters and waitresses and head waiters, and chefs. You can expect to pay roughly $350-$450 in tips on a weeklong cruise. If elect to tip more then you may pay more. 

Resorts and Lodges -- Tips should go to your bellboy or girl. Recommended tip per piece of luggage is $5 each piece. Now a bellboy who does nothing more than remove a piece of luggage from your trunk, give him or her a $1 per luggage. 

Restaurants -- You can tip your waiter or waitress the standard 15%. If they do an exceptional job, 20% is always a generous tip. In California, an easy trick is to simply double the sales tax to come up with your tip amount. 

Spas -- Recommended tip for spa service is the same as restaurants, 15%. Spa services are generally pricy in the first place, so if you drop it to 10% you are still likely to be giving your service provider a healthy tip. Unlike waiters and waitresses who barely make minimum wage, spa providers make a decent income outside of tips. So a 10% tip still helps and keeps your services to an affordable level. 

Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs -- New Mexico

After the hectic holiday season, many of you may need a great, quiet escape perhaps to somewhere sacred. Ever thought about taking a vacation to Northern New Mexico and staying at one of the resorts and spas? The famous Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs is known for its sacred mineral water that is suppose to enhance health and healing. This four-star spa and resort is absolutely stunning and classic New Mexico with Pueblo fireplaces. The resort offers several different cliffside and Pueblo suites as well as standard rooms. The clean and chic elegance of the spa is designed for pure relaxation. Families will want to come with older children who will appreciate serenity. What makes this spa famous is its 10 pools, which offer sulfur-free, mineral waters that flow from a subterranean volcanic aquifer. A soak in these pools is said to be healing to the body, and if nothing else will bring peace to the soul.

 

Marina Del Rey

Marina Del Ray on the coast near Los Angeles is a quaint seaside fisherman-like town. It has old-style buildings and docks that you would expect to see in a fisherman's village only updated and more commercial. The docks, of course, sit right off the beach where you can enjoy an afternoon of shopping and gazing at the Pacific Ocean. Now it's not like a Hawaiian beach where you expect to see palm trees and tropical foliage. It's really a shopping area backed right up to the beach front. You can eat fresh seafood at any number of restaurants and play on the beach. You can also schedule a boat tour and travel out to sea for the afternoon. Weekend parking is packed and crowded, especially on a nice, clear day. You might want to park further back from the shore and stroll to the beach lest you spend the afternoon driving in circles in search of a spot. The Marina Del Rey Hotel sits right up against the docks, so if you're seeking a nice ocean view, do stay there -- and it's especially convenient if you're planning a boat tour since the dock is right there.

Last-Minute Summer Escapes

August is winding down and Labor Day is just around the corner. If you’ve been itching to get away on a quick trip, now is the time. Here are three great weekend escapes if you live in the greater Sacramento area and you don’t want to travel more than three hours either by road or air.

San Diego (one hour, air) – What’s not to do in San Diego? You have the ocean and great regional activities to enjoy. The world-famous San Diego Zoo and Sea World are located here. If you have small children, you can always enjoy Lego Land, and if you travel by car or rent one, you can drive a little over an hour north back to Disneyland in Anaheim. Spend the day on the beach or take a boat ride around the harbor to enjoy the ocean air or fish. Venture down to La Jolla and shop in some of the cute beachside boutiques or enjoy one of the great restaurants along the beach with a gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean.

Santa Cruz (2.5 hours, car) – Another fun beachside town to enjoy the shopping, local seafood cuisine, or beach fun. You have, of course, world-famous Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk, which just finished a major facelift on many of the buildings and rides. Enjoy the old-fashioned carousel or the rickety Big Dipper Roller Coaster – both are old-style amusement park treats. Don’t forget to enjoy a few fatty calories with the corndogs or ice cream cones. You can also catch a train ride through the redwood forest to the boardwalk at the Roaring Camp Railroad in Felton. If you would like to stay in a more upscale area to spend the night, you might head about 10 miles up the road to Capitola and make reservations at the Capitola Inn. Capitola is another seaside village that contains dozens of boutiques to shop or spend the day at the beach.

Willets (3.5 hours, car) – Willets is a nice town on the edge of the redwoods and makes a wonderful launching point to hike and picnic in the redwoods or take the Skunk Train to Fort Bragg. You can leave your car in Willets, travel through the redwood forest to Fort Bragg, stay the night, and return the next day or you can stretch it a few days in Fort Brad and enjoy the beach. Midway on the Skunk Train, they stop at an open-air market where you can eat and shop. You might consider a bed and breakfast in Fort Brag since most of the hotels are nothing more than hotels with few amenities. You can also camp in Willets at the KOA and catch the train no more than a mile up the street and only do the mid-way trip and return that day to your campground.

Two Great Boating Lakes

 

Avid boaters probably already know about these boating lakes, but if you're new to boating or you just don't happen to know the prime spots, here are two suggestions.

Lake Shasta -- this is a prime house boating destination. Famous for the house boats and regular boats, Lake Shasta offers numerous house-boat rental outfits to choose from. Google house boat and Shasta and you'll see what I mean. Even better contact World Less Traveled, and we will put together a Shasta package vacation with house boat and other regional activities such as the famous Shasta train dinner trip. House boating is a super fun way to pass the day. Wake up fish, swim or just rest on your house's deck. Not recommended for families with small children who cannot swim. You will spend the entire trip worried the little one could fall overboard, and that is not fun. 

Folsom Lake -- regional readers can make this one a day trip. Out-of-towners can camp at Beal's Point and boat and hike throughout the day. Folsom is most famous for water skiing. You can also just float around, swim or fish. Numerous bike trails also surround the area so plan to spend some quality biking time. Watch out for major holidays and July traffic because the lake becomes crowded and sometimes even hazardous. So consider choosing a mid-week trip or avoid the month of July, which is prime vacation time everywhere.

 

Henderson, Nevada

If you want to plan an actual family trip to Las Vegas, but you don’t want to expose your children to the common perils of the infamous Strip, plan a trip to stay in Henderson, a community outside of the mainstream casinos. Vegas does offer family fun with its sky-high amusement park and various shows that are not R-rated; but for the most part it is a city filled with adult subject matter. If you think that a casual stroll down the Strip will be PG rated, you are absolutely incorrect. The main casinos are casinos without a doubt. Picture of showgirls in barely there costumes are everywhere. Suggestive material can be found at every corner. So, if you want to enjoy the adult fun, stay somewhere like the Springhill Suites Marriott in Henderson, which is outside of all the mainstream antics. The Marriott was running extremely low rates for a full suite at a shocking $80. Since the facility was new, you did not encounter that smoke smell. They provide a full breakfast. The kids cans swim during the day and you can hire a sitter to go out at night. You are promised no exposure to unseemly material that you may not want to introduce to young children. Henderson itself is a typical suburb with lots of shopping and is surrounded by the austere mountains that are quite beautiful. As you drive down the highway, watch for some interesting rock formations.

 

Half-Moon Bay Beach House

The Half-Moon Bay Beach House gets high marks for being clean, lovely and very spa-like. The design is modern and upscale from the minute you walk in the front doors. It sits right on the beach near the ocean, but a break is built in the front of the ocean, which means that even with your slider and windows open you will not hear the rhythmic crash of the waves. The views facing the southern side are of the gorgeous beach just yards south up the road, and the views in the back are of the beach and bay. Wild flowers line the beach, so you will enjoy the sprinkle of color and some small trees in your view. On the southern side of the building, find two small enclosure, one for the pool and one for the large-sized Jacuzzi. If it’s cool out, your children will play in the Jacuzzi and can go back and forth. The facilities get very high marks for upscale, modernized rooms with full kitchen. They served complementary wine and your room may have a fireplace if selected. It’s nice to wind down with a glass of wine and a fire. They also had two televisions so the kids could watch their shows while you watched yours in the same, big room. Full-sized showers included a separate nozzle to pull down and rinse your kids off if they happen to get sandy from the beach combing and swimming. And finally, a full continental breakfast is served complete with homemade bagels, Danish and toast, and coffee and juice. This resort is the type of place stay and never leave the grounds. Recommended for a long weekend or a true vacation escape. Costs range from $175 to $215 per night.