CA TO FL AIR DEALS                                                                    Posted:  09/30/06

Dear Nan:

We would like to visit Disney World, but air from LA to Orlando was over our budget.  Are there any other areas we could fly into, for less?

Patty M                   Manhattan Beach, CA

Dear Patty:

You can often drive a little and save a bundle.  In fact, a new Delta flight 872 www.delta.com will begin service in December offering RT service from LAX to JAX (Jacksonville International Airport) in northern Florida for as low as $242.00 RT  including taxes...I found that amazing price this morning on Delta's site.  It is only 135 miles between Jacksonville and Orlando, but you can further enhance your vacation by enjoying interesting attractions along the way.  A few minutes outside of the JAX airport is the Jacksonville Zoo www.jaxzoo.org  where its 120 acres include exotic animals, a train, a carousel and a new splash park.  Continuing down I-95 S, you can putter around the World Golf Hall of Fame or spend the night.  A "must-see" is the oldest city in the USA, St. Augustine, one of the country's most walkable cities.  www.oldcity.com   Silver Springs' glass bottom boat ride on crystal clear waters www.silversprings.com is a natural favorite and is just east of Ocala (an exit off I-95) a town with Florida's prettiest rolling landscapes.  Directions from Jacksonville to Orlando are I-95 S to I-4 W to the Disney exit.  Figure about 2 hours 20 minutes, door to door, if traffic is cooperating!

© 2006 Nancy Zimmerman 

CAP JULUCA RATED # 1                                                                          Posted:  09/09/06

Dear Nan:

What is the # 1 resort in the Caribbean?  We do not care about price...we want the best when we travel.

Marie A       La Jolla, CA

Dear Marie:

The savvy well-heeled subscribers of Andrew Harper's "Hideaway Report" voted Cap Juluca in Anguilla  http://www.capjuluca.com  the number one Caribbean resort in the September 2006 edition of their newsletter.  I tend to agree.  The beach was beautiful and the service impeccable.  When I visited, the Spa and Wellness treatments were performed in the privacy of the suite.   This is the fifth year in a row that Cap Juluca placed number one in the Caribbean.  Now in its 27th year of publication, the Hideaway Report is the ultimate travel guide for sophisticated travelers seeking candid reviews.  Travel authority Andrew Harper travels incognito - booking into hotels and paying his own tab as would any guest so the hotel doesn't have the opportunity to wine, dine and schmooze him with added amenities and upgrades.  Hideaway Report accepts no advertising and is not pressured to offer favorable reviews when undeserved.  Andrew Harper's monthly recommendations are unbiased, objective and quite reliable.  Maybe it's time for you to unwind in seclusion at some of the world's most charming, (sometimes most expensive) secret resort hideaways.  A one year standard subscription is about $200 and the premier subscription is close to $400, well worth it if you are a discerning traveler, demanding the best.  http://www.andrewharpertravel.com/ahtisapi.dll/hideaway

© 2006 Nancy Zimmerman 

CELL PHONE INTERRUPTUS                                     Posted:  12/15/06

Dear Nan:

It seems to me that more and more travelers are inconsiderate with their blaring cell phones going off in public places.  Are there any laws on the horizon?

“Sick of Cells"       Toronto

Dear Cellsick:

All I know is that several states are outlawing cell phones while driving unless hands-free devices are used.

I agree that cell phones have become intrusive and disturbing in our everyday lives.  I call the epidemic "Cell Phone InterruptUs" and you know the scene.  A cell phone user hears his ring tone begin, its volume escalates... music to his ears and he gets all excited and whips out his cell phone and begins boisterous conversation, completely oblivious to "Us."  For example, in the last month, I recall numerous interruptions...usually senseless calls from the caller to the callee!  Last week, during a conference in Las Vegas, a Mr. Famous Keynote Speaker was being introduced to an audience of thousands.  Oops...several cell phones began ringing. Ohmigosh...the conference sponsor probably spent $50,000 plus on the state of the art audio-visual equipment, elaborate projections and lighting, staging fit for an A-List Rock concert complete with recording technicians behind snazzy insulated booths to monitor the acoustics and guess what... it didn't matter if the tone was perfect, feedback minimal, or screen pixels projecting the images clearly....it was all interrupted by the rudeness of individual cell phones going off in succession within the audience...completely changing the energy of the meeting. We have a huge problem.

As we dined that evening at a fine dining restaurant at Wynn Las Vegas' "Bartolotta's", 3 Treos  went off with three different custom rings!  Being a special occasion type of eating venue at Wynn where a young gent can be seen proposing to his sweetheart or "Pops" can entertain an endowed showgirl, the luxurious ambience...setting that special mood... is what it is all about there....."haallllloMOTO...clickity clickity do do dooo" destroys it all. With the sound of that ring tone I nearly choked on my important, just flown in from Italy, 100 grams of "imported bass."

Two weeks ago at a funeral as the religious officiate was delivering the eulogy, his phone began ringing. The man being buried was a stellar member of the community, and within his 10 minutes of obituary fame..... a cell phone interruptus occurred.

How dire is it for a human needing to speak to another human repetitively each day?  Has the cell phone replaced the shrink? What are we all chatting about?  I know some senior ladies who call or are called by their middle aged children multiple times each day!  What more do they need to clarify that they haven't unearthed in forty five years since their offspring's birth?

I was trying to recall how many Cell Phone Interruptus events occurred in the last 7 days ....it is more than 100.      

Know one thing...my next vacation will be an unspoiled island, a dude ranch or a spa with only a single phone in the lobby...period. I really need silence to re-charge my batteries.             

© 2006 Nancy Zimmerman