Summer 2018: La Quinta Resort and Club

When my step-kids visited us for the summer in 2018, we did a series of mini “staycations.” We visited Knott’s Berry Farm, Las Vegas, and Palm Springs. To many this may seem strange, since we were full-time residents in Big Bear Lake, California: a resort town, which draws thousands of tourist in the summer, but we just needed to escape from our own vacation paradise.

We are frequent visitors to the La Quinta Resort and Club in Palm Desert. Click here to check out my previous review.

The resort is located in a cove and surrounded by mountains, providing a stunning experience at both sunrise and sunset. The colors on the mountains are magnificent. The hotel is a historic landmark, built in the 1920’s and although it has expanded over the years, it still retains its Spanish-style architecture with charming decorative tiles. The resort was a favorite of golden era Hollywood celebrities, including Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, and Frank Capra. There are many nods to these celebrities on property; for example, on our first visit, we swam in the Ginger Rogers pool! Speaking of pools, the resort has 41 pools!!!

Although we’ve stayed dozens of times, this trip was special because we decided to upgrade to a suite with a private pool and spa. We stayed in the 1400 square foot King Pueblo Suite. Although technically only one bedroom, the suite has an enormous living room with a convertible sofa for the kids. The King Pueblo Suite was ideal for our family, but would also be a romantic getaway space for a couple.

Even though it can only sleep about four people, it had a kitchen and a dining table for eight. If you’re traveling with extended family or friends, you could rent this room for the private pool and have the other members of your party book standard rooms, using the King Pueblo Suite as a base for gathering.

Here are interior pictures of the King Pueblo Suite-

One of the best features is the long fireplace that can be enjoyed either from the master bath or master bedroom. I could take a bath in the soaking tub and see my husband lying in bed, both of us enjoying the fireplace!

The room was very luxurious, but the best feature was the backyard. When we travel with the kids, pools are a big part of our vacations, but this was the first time that we had experienced our own, private pool.

Several years ago, I posted a tweet about how I had lost a bunch of weight and bought a new dress at Nordstrom to celebrate. Nordstrom saw the tweet and their marketing department sent me a gift package for summer that included a giant donut pool float. We were finally able to use the donut float! We also purchased a giant flamingo float and two smaller floats for this trip. I used to work on a flamingo project at The Greater Los Angeles Zoo and I am forevermore associated with the birds.

We pretty much didn’t leave our private pool for two days. Dan took this picture of me when I fell asleep reading magazines. I had gone inside to take a break from the sun and just couldn’t keep my eyes open. Vacation naps are the best!

No matter what room you stay in, the La Quinta Resort and Club is fabulous, but if you can swing it, the King Pueblo Suite will make your vacation extra special. I think this is especially true, if you don’t have a pool in your home. For a few years, we thought that we would end up living in an area where we would have our own pool, but we have recently purchased a home in Colorado and the private pool dream has vanished.

Just a few more pictures of the resort. I wish I could magically transport myself to the La Quinta Resort and Club, hop in a pool, and feel the hot, desert air, rather than deal with winter weather in Colorado!

England 2018: British Food and Newbury

I’ve reached the final trip report from my 2018 vacation in England. For my final post in the series, I’m combining both a review of British foods and pictures from Dan’s hometown of Newbury. Newbury is also where much of Dan’s family lives, so it is usually our base for our England trips.

Let’s start with Newbury. It’s a beautiful city with a vibrant high street. Victoria Park is a large green space with a pagoda, toy boat pond, and lion statues. There are storybook-esque canals running through the town. It’s a fairly large city, but our family lives walking distance to the city center, making it very easy to navigate, especially as on this vacation, I stayed with my mother-in-law, while Dan had business trips all over Europe. I was a five minute walk to the high street and my mother-in-law’s house is just a short walk from my sister-in-law’s house. I bounced between the two to see everyone.

Here are some pictures of the town. My niece, Charis, is in the picture with the lion statues. I had the pleasure of a shopping/movie/sushi day out with her during my trip!

My favorite meal in England is Sunday roast dinner at my sister-in-law, Ali’s house. Check out all of the vegetables and the puffy Yorkshire pudding. My mouth is watering just looking at this picture!

Cocktails are always a must at Ali’s house and she makes them look fancy too! He cool straws and garnishes make me want to up our cocktail game.

And, as if the great food and fun family times were not enough, they have the most adorable gold retriever named Wilf.

We tried the corporate, chain-restaurant version of a Sunday roast dinner at Toby Carvery. Note, it is not “Toby’s Carvery,” but “Toby Carvery.” Grammar issues aside, I had been obsessed with trying this restaurant ever since my first trip to England. There is something that I can’t quite put my finger on, that makes me think of Colonial Williamsburg. Plus, any place whose logo is “Home of the Roast” is calling my name.

Toby Carvery is a buffet-style restaurant, where you get one pass through the food line to pile up your plate with various roast meats and traditional sides = vegetables, Yorkshire puddings, stuffing, roast potatoes, et… Patrons can choose between a regular portion or extra large plate. We went with the regular plate and we were STUFFED. It is so much food that we could not handle dessert. Toby Carvery does not compare to Sunday roast at Ali’s house, but it was pretty good. I’d definitely look forward to going back, especially for the roast beef.

Another traditional meal is the “full-english” breakfast. We have enjoyed this many times at the Hilton in Newbury. It took time for me to embrace this breakfast, but now I love it. There are variations on what can be included, for example, black pudding- a blood sausage, is traditional. However, my perfect combination is shown below = eggs, hash brown type of potato, mushrooms, baked beans, sausage, and British bacon ( which is similar to Canadian bacon.) The bacon is my favorite. It’s vastly superior to American-style bacon.

I spent one week at my mother-in-law’s house during this trip and she spoiled me with food. She bought many desserts and her favorite treats for me to try.

Plus, she took me out for many fabulous meals in Newbury. The best was at a French restaurant called Cote Brasserie, where I had an amazing fish pie.

We went for cake and tea at a French bakery called Paul. The carrot cake was incredible, but I made the mistake of ordering iced tea. A top tip: if you order iced tea in England, know that it will automatically come sweetened. It won’t just be sweet, but it will be southern sweet-tea sweet. Sweet tea, when you are expecting unsweetened tea, is quite a shock!

The desserts didn’t stop there…Jan took me to afternoon tea at Angelica’s Terrace Cafe. It was raining, so we couldn't enjoy the terrace with views of Newbury, but we were cozy inside with hot tea and cakes.

Twice, I went out to see my brother-in-law’s band, Beatle juice. Steve, my bother-in-law, is a really talented guitarist and even has a few groupies!

Beatle Juice puts on a fun show. I saw them play at a venue in Newbury, called Document House and in the nearby town of Thatcham at The Taste of England Bar and Restaurant. It was here that I discovered Swedish cider. Swedish cider is the best drink ever!

I never met a Hobnob that I didn’t like and on this trip, I ate my way through several packages. Hobnobs are my favorite commercially made cookie, especially the milk chocolate Hobnobs. Yummmmm

My other favorite is Biscoff. On the Biscoff packages sold in the United States, there is a claim that Biscoff is “Europe’s Favorite Cookie with Coffee.” This quite specific claim was omitted from the packaging on the cookies in England. The plot thickens!

I tried mango flavored Coke, which was strange and chemical tasting.

I love poking around English grocery stores. The Mexican food section is always very entertaining.

And we found this unappetizing gem.

Which, I must confess looks like something my mom would have bought in the mid- 80’s, when we were all aglow with excitement over our new microwave. She would have been proud to nuke this and serve it to me for lunch.

As always, our time in England was filled with family time and creating more memories. I wish we lived closer or that it was easier to visit.

England 2018: Beale Wildlife Park

Beale Wildlife Park is located very close to my husband’s hometown and every time we visit England, we would drive past the road sign. I often wondered about Beale Park and imagined it to be another Highclere Castle type of estate. It turns out, it is an actual park, with amazing gardens and animals. Beale Park is exactly the type of place that I love and we finally visited it on our 2018 trip.

On a Saturday afternoon, Dan, Jan (my mother-in-law), and I, spent a few hours at Beale Wildlife Park. The parking lot is massive, but luckily it was not very crowded, even for a sunny weekend.

Admission prices were fair: 11 pounds for adults and 9.50 for seniors.

I’m not sure about the connection, but the front of the park a single old poster for Titanic. It also had a sweet drawing and thank you message from local children.

Peacocks, whether art or the real-deal, were all over Beale Wildlife Park. They were definitely the park mascot!

We started by walking around the various themed gardens, which were in transition between spring and summer. The abundance of statues, especially lion statues, was quite impressive!

We took a refreshment break at a quick-serve restaurant in the park. British cakes and sandwiches are the best. I don’t know why they are so much better than their American counterparts?

Refreshed, we moved on to the animals. The animal section, which included many smaller animals, like birds and guinea pigs, also had some monkeys. The lemurs were adorable. I always love animals, but this is where the concentration of visitors had gathered, including many excited children, so we just took a brief look. This part of the park, also had a children’s train and playground.

I can imagine that if I lived nearby, that I would be a frequent visitor to Beale Wildlife Park. It is a wonderful place for the whole family, a great escape from urban life. The park is big enough, that you can explore the grounds and truly feel like you are alone with nature.