Balboa Island in Newport Beach

13 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  16 minutes

© Don Ramey Logan/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Don Ramey Logan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Balboa Island is a community located in Newport Beach in California, accessible to the public via bridge, ferry and several public docks. The community is surrounded by a paved concrete boardwalk open to pedestrian traffic, designated as a public walking trail by the city. Balboa Island’s Marine Avenue is home to local small businesses including restaurants, bakeries and local crafts. The island also has its own fire station and post office. The Balboa Island community consists of three modified or artificial islands in Newport Harbor: Balboa Island, the largest; the smaller Little Balboa Island to the east of Balboa Island, joined by a two-lane bridge; and the smallest Collins Isle to the northwest of Balboa Island, joined by a one-lane bridge. The Balboa Island community is joined to the mainland by a short two-lane bridge on the northeast of Balboa Island, and a privately operated fleet of three, three-car ferryboats (Balboa Island Ferry) which provide access across the harbor to the Balboa Peninsula which lies to the south.   read more…

Santa Monica in California

26 June 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  8 minutes

Santa Monica © flickr.com - specchio.nero/cc-by-sa-2.0

Santa Monica © flickr.com – specchio.nero/cc-by-sa-2.0

Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County with a population of 93,000. The city is named after the Christian saint Monica. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is bordered on three sides by the city of Los AngelesPacific Palisades to the north, Brentwood on the northeast, Sawtelle on the east, Mar Vista on the southeast, and Venice on the south. Partly because of its agreeable climate, Santa Monica had become a famed resort town by the early 20th century. The city has experienced a boom since the late 1980s through the revitalization of its downtown core, significant job growth and increased tourism. The Santa Monica Pier remains a popular and iconic destination. Santa Monica has three main shopping districts, Montana Avenue on the north side of the city, the Downtown District in the city’s core, and Main Street on the south end of the city. Each of these districts has its own unique feel and personality. Montana Avenue is a stretch of luxury boutique stores, restaurants, and small offices that generally features more upscale shopping. The Main Street district offers an eclectic mix of clothing, restaurants, and other specialty retail.   read more…

Corona del Mar in Newport Beach

4 January 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Zereshk

© Zereshk

Corona del Mar (Spanish for “Crown of the Sea”) is a neighborhood in the affluent city of Newport Beach. It generally consists of all land on the seaward face of the San Joaquin Hills south of Avocado Avenue to the city limits, as well as the development of Irvine Terrace, just north of Avocado. Corona del Mar is known for its fine beaches, tidepools, cliffside views and quaint village shops. Beaches in the area include Corona del Mar State Beach as well as Crystal Cove State Park south of Corona del Mar, accessible by paths winding down a steep hillside.   read more…

Theme Week Mexico – Cabo San Lucas

14 December 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Sport Reading Time:  8 minutes

Marina © Cristo Vlahos/cc-by-sa-4.0

Marina © Cristo Vlahos/cc-by-sa-4.0

Cabo San Lucas, commonly called Cabo in American English, is a city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. Cabo San Lucas together with San José del Cabo is known as Los Cabos. Cabo has been rated as one of Mexico’s top 5 tourist destinations; it is known for its beaches, scuba diving locations, balnearios, the sea arch El Arco de Cabo San Lucas, and marine life. The Los Cabos Corridor has become a heavily trafficked holiday destination for tourists, with numerous resorts and timeshares along the coast between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo. Cabo houses a range of wildlife, including rays, sharks, birds, and a range of fish, such as mahi-mahi (dorado), and striped marlin.   read more…

Panama City

13 July 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  9 minutes

Panama City financial district © Dronepicr/cc-by-3.0

Panama City financial district © Dronepicr/cc-by-3.0

Panama City is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a metro population of 1,5 million, and is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of Panama. The city is the political and administrative center of the country, as well as a hub for international banking and commerce. It is considered a “beta-” world city, one of three Central American cities listed in this category. The city of Panama was founded on August 15, 1519, by Spanish conquistador Pedro Arias Dávila. The city was the starting point for expeditions that conquered the Inca Empire in Peru. It was a stopover point on one of the most important trade routes in the history of the American continent, leading to the fairs of Nombre de Dios and Portobelo, through which passed most of the gold and silver that Spain took from the Americas. On January 28, 1671, the original city was destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacked and set fire to it. The city was formally reestablished two years later on January 21, 1673, in a peninsula located 8 km (5 miles) from the original settlement. The site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins and is now a popular tourist attraction known as Panama Viejo.   read more…

Vancouver in British Columbia

7 March 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  < 1 minute

© flickr.com - High Diver/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – High Diver/cc-by-sa-2.0

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia in Canada. he population is at 604,000 in the city, making it the eighth largest Canadian municipality. The Greater Vancouver area of around 2.4 million inhabitants is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country, the second largest city on the , and the most populous in Western Canada. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada; 52% of its residents have a first language other than English. Vancouver is classed as a Beta global city. The City of Vancouver encompasses a land area of about 114 square kilometres, giving it a population density of about 5,249 people per square kilometre (13,590 per square mile). Vancouver is the most densely populated Canadian municipality, and the fourth most densely populated city with over 250,000 residents in North America, behind New York City, San Francisco, and Mexico City. Vancouver is consistently named as one of the top five worldwide cities for livability and quality of life, and the Economist Intelligence Unit acknowledged it as the first city to rank among the top-ten of the world’s most liveable cities for five consecutive years.   read more…

Marina del Rey in California

30 November 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  8 minutes

Marina del Rey © Coolcaesar/cc-by-sa-3.0

Marina del Rey © Coolcaesar/cc-by-sa-3.0

Marina del Rey is an affluent seaside community in Los Angeles County in California. A Westside locale, the population is at 9,000. Fisherman’s Village offers a view of Marina del Rey’s dominant feature, the Marina, the world’s largest man-made small craft harbor with 19 marinas with capacity for 5,300 boats and is home port to approximately 6,500 boats. The harbor, the Los Angeles Times said in 1997, is “perhaps the county’s most valuable resource”. The marina itself, a specially designed harbor with moorings for pleasure craft and small boats, is surrounded by high-rise condos, hotels, apartments, shops, and restaurants. The area also includes the University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute and the UCLA Marina Aquatic Center.   read more…

Coronado in California

23 November 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Hotel del Coronado © Dirk Hansen/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hotel del Coronado © Dirk Hansen/cc-by-sa-3.0

Coronado, also known as Coronado Island, is an affluent resort city located in San Diego County, California, across (and helping to form) San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. Its population is at 23.500. Coronado is Spanish for “the crowned one”, and thus it is nicknamed The Crown City. Coronado lies on geographic combination of an island and a tombolo connected to the mainland called the Silver Strand. In 1969, the San Diego-Coronado Bridge was opened, allowing much faster transit between the cities than bay ferries or driving via State Route 75 along the Silver Strand.   read more…

Malibu on the Pacific Coast Highway

20 November 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  6 minutes

Pepperdine University © Infratec~commonswiki

Pepperdine University © Infratec~commonswiki

Malibu is an affluent beach city in Los Angeles County, California with a population of 13,000. Malibu consists of a 21-mile (34 km) strip of prime Pacific coastline. Nicknamed “the ‘Bu” by surfers and locals, the community is famous for its warm, sandy beaches, and for being the home of many Hollywood movie stars and others associated with the entertainment industry. Signs around the city proclaim “27 miles of scenic beauty”, referring to Malibu’s original length of 27 miles (43 km) before the city was incorporated in 1991.   read more…

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