Costa Rica: It's About to go Down!

Less than 24 hours to our Honeymoon trip to Costa Rica, and I can barely sit still.  Yes, I know, we waited several months to go on our Honeymoon but hey, that's just how the logistics worked out.

We're set for a 9 day, 8 night trip that will take us into San Jose, then to Alajuela province to stay at the northern base of Arenal, and finally to Puntarenas province to stay at Manuel Antonio-- and I've resloved to venture over to Jaco Beach for a looksey.

Lots to do, lots to share, so keep the feed rolling as I'll be blogging from Tico-Town for the next week!

Destination: Pierpont Beach

A little slow to the draw, I know, but here we go.  We spent last weekend at Pierpont Beach in Ventura;  a nice getaway not too far from home.  The house we stayed at is available at HomeAway, and was a perfect location and layout for our family.  Of course the weather was a bit overcast most of our trip, as can happen in August in Oxnard and Ventura, but I still managed to get a bit of a tan.  The house was right off of the Pierpont bikepath, which runs from the north end of the marina at Marina Park to the north end of the Ventura County Fairgrounds.  I highly recommend this location for a local beach getaway; there's even a quaint little restaurant row on the west end of Seaward, and you have to go to Duke's burger shack.  Best of all, we went during the Fair, and there's a shuttle that leaves from the Ventura Marriott at the entrance to the neighborhood.  Here's a shot I got from the Ferris Wheel...

Carmageddon: Really?

The upcoming weekend's 405 closure between the 101 and 10 freeways, which has been dubbed "Carmageddon," is fast approaching.  With just a little more than 2 days to go, media hype has crescendoed and the entire LA area is being made to believe that this is practically the end of the world.  Get out of town, stay off the roads, and brace yourselves seems to be the dominating message. 

How about this one: does anybody remember the 1984 Olympics?  Granted, I was rocking some huggies at the time, but residents were told before the Games to do as much as they could to stay off the roads.  Yes, there was still a warning message prior to the event, but those that reported the upocoming event didn't speculate over the length and extent of delays.  They reported that in order to avoid gridlock and delays, the public's cooperation would be required. 

Today's journalists just like pouring gasoline on any tiny flame in the hopes of turning it into the next towering inferno.  Sensationalism sells second only to sex, apparently.  That's why reality TV is- gasp- scripted, after all.   Sure, there will be a bit of a spillover of traffic into the canyons and onto some of the side streets, but I'm thinking that overall the effect just won't be that bad.  Of course some drama queen in West Hollywood is going to perform some over-the-top lementing to the on-camera news reporter because the 3 square blocks around Coldwater Canyon were more congested than normal, and people had bad tempers, honking their horns and such, but come on...Drama Queen?...We-Ho?... it's not professional to stage newstories, people!

I plan on finding a good vantage point from a distance on Saturday morning, to assess the damage- or lack thereof- that Carmageddon is creating.  I see a problem, so I'm offering a solution.  Facts oriented observation of the issue at hand, as it unfolds this weekend.  Keep the feed rolling (blogosphere version of stay tuned)....

Catching Up

Okay, so I definitely owe an update from San Diego.  We spent a long Memorial Weekend at Paradise Point in Mission Bay, which is like traveling into a whole different world.  Picture Hawaii without the humidity, except you are just a minute from the So-Cal sun-n-surf.  But Paradise Point was great, it's pretty much a self-containing resort, with a pretty popular and very 'San Diego' restaurant called the Barefoot Bar and Grill.  Live music right by the docs, facing Mission Beach and local brews on tap make this place a spot even locals will frequent.  Quick note:  If you do stay there and order food from room service, it's the Barefoot menu you're ordering off of.

There's also a putt-putt course, tennis courts, a basketball court, table tennis, paddle boats, wave-runners, sailboat and speedboat rentals, bike rentals, surreys, and a water taxi service that just started (currently only goes to Sea World, but they plan on expanding to make a Mission Beach stop).

We made our standard stop at Hacienda de las Rosas, a wine tasting room in Old Town.  It's run by a husband and wife that actually make the wine and run the shop, and their stuff is pretty good.  They have a dessert wine that is absolutely fantastic, and I'll be ordering a case or two when they finally get more vinted; stuff sells like hotcakes!

Also hung out in Mission Beach, and took some time to catch both 'Bridesmaids' and 'Hangover Part 2.'  Not to mention the essential stop at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican spot, our SD trip was absolutely a complete one!