Alison Brick
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A traveler by nature and a freelance writer/editor by trade, Alison can most often be found in Berkeley, California. Feel free to email her at Alison.Brick@Weblogsinc.com.
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Mobile Magic: Disney Park's new app for wait times
Disneyland all to yourself -- a kid's dream. (A parent's dream, too, I think.)Disney is making the inevitable crowds a bit more manageable. They've just announced Mobile Magic, the mobile app that announces wait times for rides and the nearest location for a character hug. It can be used at Disneyland and Walt Disney World theme parks.
No, it's not the first app for wait times at Disneyland, but it's the first official one from Disney Parks.
And likewise, it's not exactly flawless -- it only works on Verizon Wireless phones. It's not available on BlackBerrys or the new Motorola Droid.
You can give it a spin for $9.99 for a 180-day subscription.
[Thanks, NYTimes.com]
New to Hong Kong Disneyland: Big Grizzly Mountain
The Wild West is going farther west. So far west that it's the far east.The newest roller coaster announced for Hong Kong Disneyland is Big Grizzly Mountain. Set to open in 2012, it will be the main attraction in Grizzly Trail -- Hong Kong's version of the original park's Frontierland.
The ride follows a runaway mine train through the mining town of Grizzly Gulch, which comes decked out with a stagecoach, a jailhouse, and the world's largest nugget of gold -- plus the ubiquitous audio-animatronic bears, of course. Disney legend has it that Grizzly Gulch was founded by gold prospectors on August 8, 1888 -- all of the eights make it the luckiest day, month, and year in Chinese culture.
Big Grizzly Mountain will be part roller coaster, part water ride -- with geysers, leaking buildings, and a splashdown finale.
These are big days at the theme park. This ride is just part of a $500 million expansion that will add on three new theme lands -- Grizzly Trail, Mystic Point, and Toy Story Land -- to increase the size of the park by 23%.
[Thanks, LATimes.com]
Frontier's new seating: 'Stretch' for some, 'scrunch' for others
Sure, I think it's great that Frontier is introducing Stretch -- a new premium economy section in the first four rows of coach that adds more legroom.But what I don't like is that they're not taking out any rows in back. Instead, they're squeezing the space between the other rows to make up for the extra room.
Sounds as though you're either moving up to riches, or being pushed back to rags.
Originally, seats were 33 inches in pitch -- meaning the space from a spot on your chair to the same spot of the chair in front of you. The Stretch section now gets 36 inches. The other seats behind are scrunched to 31 inches -- or even 30 inches.
Because of Frontier's tier class system, the only way that you can get a Stretch seat at the time of booking is if you're a Classic Plus member. For you, it's free. For everyone else, you get your chance at check-in. Those in the Classic class can get an upgrade for $15 per flight segment. Those in the Economy class pay $25 per flight segment.
You can currently find Stretch in the airline's Embraer 190s. A320s, A318s, and A319s will follow suit in the next few months. The new seating class just started earlier this month.
Friday the 13th: a lucky day for booking a hotel reservation
(Is that like intentionally waiting for a black cat to cross your path?)
What can we say? That's the day that Hotels.com is discounting a lot of its properties by 50% in a Friday the 13th Sale.
Pick from about 200 properties, including locations in Mexico, Argentina, and the Caribbean. The Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago is going for $89/night (instead of $199), and so is the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco (instead of $170).
The sale is valid when you book a reservation on Friday, November 13th, and complete your stay by November 27th.
Battle of the bulge: Breeding season starts soon for elephant seals at Año Nuevo
Pull up a chair and start placing your bets -- it's about to get ugly. No, really, the elephant seals will be gathering soon at Año Nuevo State Park in California for their breeding season. (And have you seen one before?) All nose and gut, the males vie for alpha male status, bellowing their complaints and battling it out by throwing their chests against each other.
They make the Central California coast their home from December to March, and visitors can take a guided tour to see the breeding colony up close -- from the first arrival of the males to the final departure of the pups.
Año Nuevo is the world's largest mainland breeding colony of the northern elephant seal. But back in 1892, fewer than 100 elephant seals existed anywhere because of hunting. Now, thanks to legislation first implemented in Mexico and then the US, they are more protected. Their numbers have increased to about 150,000 -- many of them come to Año Nuevo annually.
Advance reservations are recommended for the 2.5-hour walking tours, which run December 15-March 31. First, read the FAQs about the walks, then book your reservation either by phone (650-879-2033) or online. The admission price is $7.00 per person (free for children 3 and younger).
Año Nuevo is located along Highway 1, just 20 miles north of Santa Cruz. Another elephant seal spot is farther south on Highway 1 at Piedras Blancas (7 miles south of San Simeon), which is home to about 15,000 elephant seals. No admission fee or reservation is required there.
The Spice Isle: What the Grenada guidebooks might not tell you
But here are some of the more practical tidbits that I learned while in the island country that might also serve you well on your visit:
Keep your swimsuits to the beach. An indecent exposure law forbids it elsewhere. Cover up, even if it's just a little bit.
Don't wear camouflage. It's illegal to wear it in any color or format.
Ask before taking that photo of someone. It's good tact in any situation (although goodbye to spontaneity), but I especially felt the need to in Grenada. In fact, a few people called me on it when I didn't. My instinct was to snap photos left and right at the market, but I intentionally stopped to talk about and buy produce first.
US money. Yes, you can use it and businesses accept it.
Go SCUBA diving. Grenada has the most wreck dives (sunken boats) in the Caribbean.
Gallery: Tropical Flora in Grenada
The Spice Isle: Making the most of a cruise stopover in Grenada
Ideally, you'd want several days on the island where you could see waterfalls in the inland mountains, leatherback turtles off the northern beaches, and French and British influences in the capital town of St. George's. But if you plan it right, you can see some amazing things in the short amount of time.
Get out on the water:
I know. You might be thinking that the last thing you want after being on a cruise ship is to get on another boat. But a Grenada Seafaris boat isn't just any boat. When it powers at full-speed, it's a fun wind-in-your-face ride. And it stops for snorkeling at the underwater sculpture park, designed by Jason de Caires Taylor. The 2.5-hour tour also includes off-coast stops up the west coast and discussions about conservation and local marine life.
The Spice Isle: Grenada moves on past Hurricane Ivan
You first have to realize -- the hurricane was a fluke. The reason some residents were actually excited to see a hurricane in person was because hurricanes come so infrequently and Ivan would be their first. (The previous one was Janet in 1955.) Located 12 degrees above the equator, in the southeast part of the Caribbean, Grenada sits outside the hurricane belt.
By all accounts from the stories I heard, "Ivan the Terrible" was a rager. News had been as moody and unreliable as the hurricane itself – first saying that it was coming, then saying it wasn't – before Ivan struck soon after. Winds blew 130 mph strong, making it a category 3 storm, as it made its way to Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Florida. 28 people in Grenada were killed, 18,000 people were homeless, and 90% of the buildings were damaged and 30% were destroyed.
All important things to realize. But even more, from what I've seen and heard, Grenada should be known for overcoming these things as much as enduring them.
The Spice Isle: Where trails are paved with nutmeg shells
"You can use it for tea" he says after picking the small leaf and handing it to me to smell.
There doesn't seem to be anything that Telfor Bedeau doesn't know about Grenada's plants. In the past 50 yards alone, he's pointed out trees that would've gone unnoticed as anything other than anonymous tropical trees. But now they're recognized as some of my favorite things in the world: guava, mango, cinnamon. I'm already imagining my next supermarket trip back home going a little differently.
Telfor would be considered spry for any age, but especially since he just turned 70. He celebrated the day by doing what he seems to do (and love) best: hiking up to the top of Grenada's highest peak, Mount Saint Catharine (2,757 feet). It was his 157th time.
Known as the "Indiana Jones of Grenada," he reached the milestone of having hiked 10,000 miles throughout Grenada in 2005. Guiding since 1990, he hikes in jellies (plastic sandals) while everybody else on the trail relies on treaded sneakers and walking sticks. He's easy to extend a smile to everyone, and a hand to anyone who needs one.
It's not that I'm writing this to flatter him -- there's little chance that he'll read this, since he doesn't use a computer or have email. No doubt it contributes to his youthful appearance. That and all the hiking. And the fact that his diet solely consists of raw fruits and vegetables.
So it was with intrigue –- both in my hiking guide Telfor and the trail –- that I hiked to the Seven Sisters Waterfalls in Grand Etang National Park.
Gallery: Grand Etang National Park, Grenada
The Spice Isle: Nutmeg's always the answer in Grenada
But amazingly enough, there's still plenty of nutmeg there.
On my recent trip to Grenada, I found it everywhere -- mostly whole (as large seeds) and ground. But at any market, you'll also find it as jelly and jam, as essence and oil, as syrup for ice cream, as a sugary candy (oddly named "nutmeg cheese"), and in everything else from ice cream to coffee. Buy one of the island's rum drinks from the bar, and you'll always get a finishing touch of grated nutmeg on top. It even has medicinal purposes –- Nut-Med comes as a lotion or spray to relieve pain in muscles and joints.
Is it just me, or does it seem to make everything happy, like egg nog during the holidays?
Actually, it may be scientifically proven. It's been said that if you get a big enough whiff of the fresh spice, you'll get a type of addictive high.
