Right about now I should be somewhere near a beach with little time to surf the net. Instead I’ll be spending time watching waves crash onto the beach, not this Isle of Palms beach found in South Carolina, but another beach just as nice if not nicer though I doubt it will be as quiet as the sleepy Atlantic coast seen here. Taken on a short trip through Charleston, South Carolina while visiting family; this photo comes from my own archives. More exotic beach shots to come upon my return from an island far off…
Ibizabound Blog
Although this Ibizabound site is the creation of an independent real estate broker agency there are still some pretty good bits and chunks to pick off of their blog. Now, the entire site would definitely be a good resource if you were considering spending a month or two on the island this summer, but don’t feel as though their wanting to help interested parties do such distracts from the blog. I took a fairly lengthy tour of the site and read through many of the blog entries to make sure they had some nugget of good for a traveler trying to score a good meal or simply learn what’s happening with the upcoming 2007 Ibiza Film Festival. And since Ibiza is also known for partying on the beach, in the club and after-after hours, they’ve done the favor of making sure to include some club coverage. Overall it still looks like a pretty new work, but if they keep things up they should have a nice site going both with the blogging and the select real estate offered.
Heaven is a Commuter Flight Away
Just when you were despairing that you had to live in Europe to take advantage of cool, even exotic, get-away flights for your weekend, there’s hope. In less than four short hours from Los Angeles or three hours from Phoenix, you can really get away from it all. Los Mochis, Mexico, (airport code LMM) has daily flights from LAX, Phoenix, Tuscon, and other US cities, serviced by Aeromexico (and it’s sister, AeroLitoral).
When we went, Aeromexico, Aero California, and Delta all had direct flights to LAX and Phoenix. The direct flights have been discontinued, but the additional flying time is small (and included in the estimates above).
Now, this place feels remote. The airport is between Topolobampo and Los Mochis, but closer to the former. Topolobampo is best known as the port town for the big ferry from La Paz (across the Gulf of California in Baha). Los Mochis is substantially larger, and is well known as the terminus of the Copper Canyon train (aka Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad, aka “Chepe”).
Traveling the exact opposite direction from the other tourists, we were whisked from the airport in a 76 Dodge that was, quite possibly, the most beat-up vehicle I’ve ever driven in (and that’s saying a lot). The driver had to take us immediately to the gas station, after shaking us down for a downpayment on the fare. A few minutes later, we were in Topolobampo. Lucky for us, it had a single (brand new) motel, that didn’t appear in our guidebooks. And we were the only ones there.
The town itself isn’t much to speak of, but the town sports a long, pretty, largely deserted beach, that’s a short bus ride from town. Families came out to play in the sand. A couple of small restaurants served good, cheap food. We stayed late to enjoy the full sunset, almost completely alone, and ended up hitch-hiking back to town.
If we hadn’t needed to get on the Chepe, we could have stayed for days. And to think we got there in about the same time as some people’s daily commute.
Photo of the Day (11/1/06)
Little information is offered on this photo found in Gadling Flickr pool as captured by peteppp and as the old saying goes, “Pictures are worth more than a thousand words.” This photo leaves me creating a thousand captions though. Surely it’s a a rather simple shot; some friends on the beach collecting shells as another tries to pull a shard of glass from her toe. Heck, I’m without a clue, but I’m digging the sun rays. If you’re out there peteppp, let us know where you were when you took this picture. Provide us with a little 411.
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Fresh Fruits and the Nude Beach of Sauvie Island, Oregon
Portland, Oregon, is home to some wonderful sights and is a terrific, vibrant town nestled in some of the best scenery in the country. But, however picturesque the city is, you might still need to “get away from it all.” One of the best places to go is a small alluvial island near the convergence of the Columbia and Willamette (pronounced will-A-mit, sounds like “dammit”) rivers, called Sauvie Island.
It’s actually minutes from the center of town, but it’s worlds away. Here, the lovable hippie-grunginess of the Pacific Northwest meets the quaintness of Tuscany and the vistas of Switzerland. You can find ‘u-pick’ farms growing vegetables and flowers, along with dairy cows, horses, and a big wildlife preserve. There are camping locations, nature trails and beaches.
Right now is the time to head there to grab your late-summer-harvest fresh foods. Make sure to try the different berries indigenous to this region, such as the marionberry, which even grow wild on the roadsides. If you are not afraid of starches, test your orientation skills in the Corn Maize, an annual maze cut through a farmer’s field. A tip for runners or cyclists: the paved portion of the island is a scenic 12-mile loop of good, flat pavement.
The best time to go is early morning, when the quiet little rural island is still waking up. Clear days offer gorgeous views of both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood and very little traffic. It’s common legend that it has Portland’s only nude beach; but this, I can neither confirm or deny. I can confirm, however, as a former resident, that the legendary Pacific Northwest “Pillsbury-doughboy tan” can be spotted here, in the wild.