"The Magic City"

Miami Beach.... is located on a barrier island between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean; the Bay separates Miami Beach from the city of Miami, Florida. It is about 3-4 hours drive from Cocoa Beach, where we lived for five years. We love visiting Miami... a lot of interesting places to see. Miami Beach's Art Deco Historic District is the largest collection of Art Deco architecture in the world and comprises hundreds of hotels, apartments and other structures. One of the more popular areas of Miami Beach is the famous... South Beach... we dinned at one of the restaurants along the Ocean Drive and spent the day people watching. The Port of Miami is recognized as the "Cruise Capital of the World" and "Cargo Gateway of the Americas". Miami is recognized as a global city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts and international trade. The city is home to many company headquarters, banks, and television studios. Miami also has a huge population of Cubans... (some of them were lucky enough to get out of Cuba before it feel in the hands of Fidel Castro... some fled later on using small row boats and rafts...between 1959 and 2008 at least 213,000 Cubans survived the boat trip and either entered the U.S. or were returned to Cuba. An estimated 16,000 – 20,000 probably died at sea. Once they managed to put both feet on dry land, they are allowed to stay. However in 1995, anyone picked up at sea has been returned to Cuba).

It would be interesting someday... Cuba as a cruise destination... which lies just 50 miles of the southernmost tip of Key West.

Bayside

Star Island boat tour

I think... this is Elizabeth Taylor's House

Shaquille O'Neal's House

owner of Imax... ?

Gloria Estefan's House (behind us)

alayna's dream boat :D

Palm & Hibiscus Islands... man-made islands

relaxing after a fun-filled day

Alayna dancing to a Cuban music

Bayside

South Beach

Port of Miami

Inter-coastal bridge to Palm Beach

the Rodeo Drive of Palm Beach...

half of the population here is gone during summer-time...

the so-called "snowbirds" come down here only during winter time to flee from the harsh wintery weather of the north

Palm Beach

*****

Our first visit to Miami was during our 6th wedding anniversary. We stayed at the Radisson Hotel in South Beach. T’was apparently the old hang-out of the original Rat Pack (I’m sure you’ve heard of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davies, Jr). The hotel has seen better days, i thought... it’s dated and could use a revamped (still pricey)... seems like the buildings in the neighborhood are changing and getting taller and better. I felt like we landed in New York from all of the high-rise condominiums sprouting along the beach. Hard to believe that Miami was once a farmland... although that was a century ago... Now, and has been for decades, Miami is continually attracting people from everywhere. Its gorgeous white sandy beaches, friendly people and definitely... a fun place for a vacation or a place to live all year long! Although, the people of Miami have to deal with hurricanes every year... small price to pay for living in a gorgeous place...

@ the Radisson Hotel

pool area... having pina coladas, my fav drink

my baby... 11 month-old

Ocean Drive... restaurants row on one side of the street and the beach on the other

outside Versace's Mansion

driving in SoBe

The Entertainment Capital of the World

Las Vegas, Nevada... established in 1905... it’s amazing that 100 years later, it has become an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Probably known for being “The Entertainment Capital of the World”.

It is about 3 1/2-hour drive from where we used to live in Corona del Mar, California. Bill & I went there once in awhile for a weekend getaway. The first time, we stayed at Mandalay Bay when it was newly built. It really is a grand hotel (well, one of the many grand hotels in the strip). The top few floors of the hotel is actually the Four Seasons Hotel. A five-star hotel on top of a four-star hotel, interesting. The room we stayed at had the best view of the strip. Just awesome... we got to enjoy the view while sipping our morning coffee and the grand show case of lights at night time. It was August when we went there, so the heat was almost unbarrable during the day. Staying inside the hotel was more appealing than taking strolls outside in the 115-degree heat... yieks! We just sight-see while driving in our airconditioned car... seemed more fun at that time.

If ever we’ll go back there again, we’ll definitely make an effort of checking all the interesting hotels and also not go there during summer. We’ve heard that there are even more fancy hotels built since we visited Vegas several years back. It would be interesting to see it again.

Mandalay Bay

the beach...

outside Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino

me @ the casino slot machine... trying my luck :))

view from our room... (digital cameras were not popular back then) we could have had better photos :))

***

Another time, my husband & I got intrigued by Lake Las Vegas, which is a 3,592-acre lake, located 20 miles east of the Strip. The movie “America’s Sweetheart” was shot there when it first opened. At the time, it was the only hotel in the area and some houses being built around it and golf courses... The Ritz-Carlton resort & golf course was still being built. Last time i checked, it’s all done and functioning now. I’m sure the place looks like an oasis in the desert.

this was the fun part of our trip...

looking at model homes in the lake las vegas area...

we were actually considering of moving here!

we stayed here

view from our room... it has a very nice balcony

casbah village behind the pool area

staying away from the hot sun

here's Bill working on his tan

night time...

we ended up driving all the way in Lake Mead... missed our turn to the hotel

30-minute drive from this Lake Las Vegas

San Simeon, California

It has become a tradition for my husband and I to travel on our anniversaries. Every year, we contemplate on which vacation spot to visit... someplace where we’ve never been to and make it an adventure or a place that we enjoyed so much and come to love from previous visits. Most of the time, a place that is even just a few-hour drive from where we live.

San Simeon... was one of those places that pop-out in our mind after hearing about it from a couple of our friends who have visited the place. They indubitably love it. At the time, we lived in Corona del Mar which was about a 4-hour & 30-minute drive to Cambria/ San Simeon. Pacific Coast highway is the best way to get there. It does take you longer, because of the traffic lights along the way, but I love the scenic route and it is all worth it, I may add. You might want to consider that instead of taking the freeway. Sometimes, the drive is about a third of the short weekend getaway so, might as well be entertained by the beautiful scene along the way. Making a reservation for a place to stay, especially the well-known inns was certainly difficult and most lodging have no vacancies. Maybe it was during high season being in november that made it more challenging for us. The average hotel rate is higher compared to any small town anywhere in the US (seems like it anyway). We indeed-up staying in a quaint inn. In our first night, we dinned at Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill located just right across the beach, the view is awesome, fair prices and delicious food. It is definitely a charming small town, but quite popular... situated in the Pacific Coast line between Los Angeles & San Francisco... dominated by lodging, although fine restaurants are also available. It is also an artsy crafty town with miles of unspoiled beautiful beaches.

Our main intention of visiting San Simeon was to see the “Hearst Castle”. I have read about the history of the place and how interesting it is. The photos from the website was very intriguing (considering that i’ve never seen a castle in person before). For those of you who have never heard of it or seen it. Hearst Castle was owned by William Randolph Hearst, an important figure from the twentieth century whose influence extended to publishing, politics, Hollywood, and beyond. With his power, money and vision allowed him to pursue one of the most ambitious architectural endeavors in American history, the result of which is the “Hearst Castle”. He spent a fortune in building and furnishing the castle. Lots of very expensive & Renaissance stuff mportant from Europe. The Hearst Castle was also the venue of many Hollywood parties from the 20’s, which was hosted by Hearts’ companion and confidante, Marion Davies. She was an actress from that era, who have made 46 movies in her acting career. During the end of the Great Depression, the Hearst Corporation was hit hard financially. It was later known that Ms. Davis gave Hearst a check in the amount of 1 million dollars in order to bail his company out of debt. Years later, Hearst & Ms. Davies left the castle for the last time. In December 1957, the Hearst Corporation donated the “Hearst Castle” to the state of California. Since then it has become an enchanting Tourists attraction and one of the states historical monuments. Nowadays, the Hearst Family are considered to be richer than ever and listed as billionaire in Forbes Magazine.

My husband and I love these type of vacations, not only that we get to scape from our normal activities, but also come face to face with a historic monument. Words can’t describe the lavishness of the whole place. You can see from the photos, but a 6x4 postcard can’t capture the grandeur of the Hearst Castle. You would have to see it in person to fully understand it. One thing that was disappointing was once you’re inside the castle, taking photographs was prohibited. Reason being, camera flashes would hurt the centuries old furnishings. Oh well, we bought postcards and books for safe-keeping. Also, it was overcast in the few days that we visited the area, so the bought postcards came in handy... See below...

views of the Pacific Ocean and coastline just south of Big Sur

Saddle Point Rock

"I love this ranch. It is wonderful.

I love the sea, and I love the mountains

and the hollows in the hills,

and the shady places in the creeks,

and the fine old oaks..."

~ William Randolph Hearst

The Assembly Room... Renaissance tapestries hang above 400-year-old walnut choir stalls from Italian monasteries

in the background is the 27-foot French Gothic fireplace

one of the many guest bedrooms...

indoor Roman Pool... sparkle on tiles of 18 carat gold fused glass

Neptune Pool

photos taken before digital cameras...

on our way up the mountainous road to the Castle...

Moonstone Beach, Cambria...