La Puesta del Sol and The Ranch provide service to groups of 50 to 1,600 and offer an unparalleled southwestern catering experience. Both venues feature a stage, dance floor and covered dining area with some of the best catering in Arizona: Featuring western menus, Mexican cuisine, authentic cowboy cookouts, and fine dining in the desert.
Our live performers add serious sizzle to your off-site event with a wide variety of pop, country, jazz, salsa, club dance, blues, and rock music selections. Groups can add additional flair to events with our interactive cowboy games, try their hand at the black jack table or take a ride on Chewys Tequila Bus. Built solely for the purpose of extending Southwestern hospitality, Fort McDowell Adventures provides a Wild West experience your group will never forget.
Welcome to the Fort McDowell Resort Destination:
the adventurous side of Scottsdale.
For a Customized Proposal, Please Call 480.816.6465. Thank you.
We’ve recently seen posts on various blogs and sites comparing the cost to travelers of booking their hostel accommodation on some of the leading websites, including Hostelling Interntional, Hostelworld, Hostels.com, and Hostelbookers. We’re happy to note that HostelTraveler.com remains the cheapest and the best bargain for the budget traveler.
One post objectively states that HI charged 5% deposit plus 1.92 euro booking fee, claiming that this was the cheapest of a comparison made. Nevertheless, while HostelTraveler.com was not included in this particular comparison, HostelTraveler.com was even cheaper than the winner. Here’s why:
HostelTraveler.com’s typical pricing is 8% deposit plus $0.75 per bed. In Euro terms this equates to 8% deposit plus 0.52 Euros. This means that for a 1-2night stay and a hostel bed at 20-25 Euros, HostelTraveler.com is cheaper for the traveler than the HI example above. Check it out for yourself.
Salvador Carnival has entered the guiness records as the biggest street party in the planet. To welcome visitors from all over the world the artists at the Open House Barra.
Onice accommodations together with great parties with shows and free drinks (shows include Capoeira, Pro Dancers, and more).
Besides, there are funny contests where winners get free Abadas (Carnival passes) every Carnival day. For newbies, Salvador Carnival goes from Thursday (Feb11) to Wednesday noon (Feb 17).
The economy is leading travelers in the USA to take shorter, yet more frequent vacations. There are many places to plan a cheap weekend getaway in the South region of the United Stated. Here are our top ten recommended spots for fun and affordable short vacations in the South.
Avoca is a small village near Arklow in County Wicklow, Ireland, where Avoca Handweavers, the well known clothing manufacturing and retail business, first started out. The picturesque village of Avoca itself is the fictional home of the BBC’s Ballykissangel.
The Avoca brand has fast become a real success story and the company now employs around 600 people. The old mill at Avoca was originally established in 1723 as a farmers’ cooperative for grinding corn and spinning and weaving sheep’s wool.
In the 1920s three sisters, the Wynnes, inherited the mill which had become run down. They injected new life into the enterprise, introducing color from natural dyes and soon they were selling their famous Avoca Handweavers tweeds all over the world, designing cloth for the Parisdesigner Elsa Schiaparelli, a waistcoat for King George VI and baby blankets for the children of Queen Elizabeth II. But, as with many family run businesses, when the sisters passed away the mill became neglected and faced closure.
Then in 1974, Donald Pratt, a solicitor engaged to handle the sale of the mill decided to buy it himself. Along with his wife, he set about getting Avoca Handweavers back on its feet. The mill at Avoca Villagewas soon humming again, as the Pratts began exporting hand-woven rugs and throws first to the UK and then beyond.
The old mill at Avoca village is open for visiting seven days a week. You can tour the mill and see the whole weaving process first hand for free. Plus, there’s an Avoca shop and cafe onsite too.
The Avoca Company has now developed nine large retail outlets around Ireland and has opened one in Annapolis, Maryland. Many of these also have large food halls and cafes attached.
For accommodations, try the Ritz-Carlton, Powerscourt, County Wicklow, which follows the tradition of an elegant hotel fashioned with the latest amenities. In other words, this classical setting is a classic Ritz-Carlton. Expect the formal, but not stuffy entranceway, high ceilings, dark wood trim, velvety, oversized sofas, heavy drapes and courteous staff so familiar to visitors to the Naples, Bostonor most other Ritz Carltons.
Here are a few unique, out-of-the-way alternatives to classic tourist destinations, courtesy of “Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge” on PBS:
Japan: As a side trip from Tokyo during a winter trip, visit snow monkeys soaking in hot springs in Nagano, the site of the 1998 winter Olympics. Take a train from the city and transfer to a bus that takes you to Jigokudani Yaen= koen, the Wild Monkey Park in Hell Valley.
Australia: On the continent’s west coast, you will fmd Bungle Bungles, a collection of beehive-shaped hills with layers of rock. The area is sacred to the Aborigines.
Iceland: On the other side of the island from the capital of Reykjavik is the Jokulsarlon, a glacier-fed lake filled with icebergs a few hundred yards from the sea.
Bolivia: Beyond La Paz and Lake Titicaca lies the Altiplano, a high plateau dotted with snowcapped volcanoes and mirror lakes, which Wolfe calls “a landscape like no other on the planet:”
Nepal: After you have seen the temples and stupas of Katmandu, venture to the far west to Chitwan National Park, a marshy area that is home to rhinoceroses, tigers, and crocodiles.
Interested in Eco-Friendly Travel?Here are some of the top green tourist destinations in the USA, courtesy of “Travel - Leisure Magazine”.These landmarks were chosen because they implement a variety of eco-friendly strategies, such as photovoltaic panels, green roofs and wind turbines.
1. San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences, which has a living roof with plantings that attract birds and butterflies.
2. Nationals Park, Washington, which has a green roof and a site that’s friendly to pedestrians, bikers and subway riders.
3. The Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns Restaurant, Pocantico Hills, N.Y., a historic farm and gourmet restaurant that aims to teach people about food.
4. The 5.4.7 Arts Center, Greensburg, Kan., a new energy-efficient attraction in a town that was devastated by a tornado.
5. New York City’s High Line, a park being created on an abandoned elevated rail line in Manhattan.
6. World Birding Center, Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission, Texas, a green building amid the park’s nine protected habitats on the Mexican border.
7. The Santa Monica Civic Center Parking Structure, which the magazine says is the first garage certified as environmentally efficient by the U.S: Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environment Design program.
8. Sears Tower, Chicago, which the magazine says is exploring how it can become more energy efficient.
9. Cavallo Point, The Lodge at the Golden Gate, a luxury lodge complex on a former military site at Fort Baker, Calif., along the coast.
10. The Cor Tower in Miami’s Design District, described by the magazine as “glamorous” and “chic” yet environmentally conscious.
Want to travel back in time in Ireland? Wicklow County holds a treasure of site for the historically- and culturally-minded traveler. This story is courtesy of “West Coast Woman”, by Suzanne Barratt
First up is Powerscourt House and Gardens. Situated dramatically at the foot of Great Sugar Loaf Mountain in County Wicklow is one of the world’s great gardens and probably the finest in Ireland. It is without a doubt a place not to be rushed.It offers a sublime blend of formal gardens, sweeping Italian garden terraces, statues, fountains and ornamental lakes and a magnificent collection of over 200 varieties of shrubs and trees. Originally commissioned in the 1730s by the first Viscount Powerscourt, the gardens were finally completed in the 1870s by the 7th Viscount, who added the accessories of statues, urns and ornamental gates.
Sadly, the Palladian mansion, extensively altered between 1731 and 1741 by Georgian architect Richard Cassels, was reduced to a burnt-out shell after a fire in 1974. The Slazenger family, the present owners of Powerscourt, have restored the ground floor and upstairs ballroom. An exhibit at the entrance relates this and gives an excellent introduction to the history of the estate.
A suggestion: take a slow walk down the Italianate stairway to the Triton Lake and stand between the two statues of Pegasus to view the central fountain which is modeled on a 17th century work of Bernini. Energetic visitors might like to take in Powerscourt’s Waterfall-Ireland’s highest at 398 feet. Finally, do visit the cafe splendidly run by the Avoca Company and take tea or lunch on the outside terrace.
Next stop is Glendalough and the Military Road, without which, no stay in County Wicklow would be complete. Glendalough, “The Valley of Two Lakes,” is one of Ireland’s greatest wonders, sheltered by wooded slopes and containing the ruins of a monastic city and the spirits of generations of Celtic saints.
Founded in the sixth century by St. Kevin, this monastery was to become one of the most preeminent religious centers in Europe. For centuries it has attracted holy men and pilgrims to pray, and delight in the natural beauty of the place. St. Kevin, born in 498, was educated by monks and then ordained. Noted for his piety and disdainful of material wealth, he determined to live life as a hermit and sought out a secluded place in the Glendalough Valley.
Starting your visit at the excellent Glendalough Visitor Center is advised, as is taking a guided tour of the main monastic site to learn more of the signature landmark of the Round Tower, St. Kevin’s Cathedral, Celtic crosses and other monuments. The guides are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. If time permits you may enjoy a walk to both the Lower and Upper Lake. There is a cluster of more monuments, including St. Kevin’s Cell near the Upper Lake. It’s best to get to the site early so as to avoid large groups of students and allow you to wander freely among the ruins absorbing the powerful aura of timelessness and sanctity that pervades this fascinating place.
If you’re traveling by car it’s worth driving back from Glendalough to Powerscourt along the Military Road which is also known as the Wilderness Highway of Ireland or, more correctly, the R115. This road takes you through not only the very heart of the Wicklow Mountains, but across the most scenic, high heather desert and barren bog land of the county. You’ll pass through the remote and narrow Sally Gap which is the highest crossroads in all of Ireland and, as it happens, where St. Patrick is thought to have died. Built by the British to flush out Irish rebels after the 1798 uprising, the Military Road is said to be haunted by ghosts of the soldiers.
But enough of ghosts, the question is, do you believe in fairies? According to the guides at Bru na Boinne, Newgrange and Knowth, it is possibly the fact that people believed fairies could get “very upset” that has allowed these important archaeological sites to remain largely intact despite frequent invasions or more recent demand, or rural development.
Before the spread of the Celts, there was evidence that in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, small, structured races populated parts of Europe and the British Isles. A Celtic foundation myth tells that in Ireland, the Thuathe de Danaan or the People of the Goddess Danu, built and resided in the great barrows and tumuli that dot the landscape to this day.Displaced by the stronger, fearsome Celts, they eventually evolved into being “the little people,” the fairies and other enchanted beings who are rumored to continually resurface to haunt and protect the tombs and fairy mounds they once built. According to myths that have survived through the ages, to do damage to these Neolithic mounds will unleash the anger of the fairies.
Nine hundred years older than Stonehenge, and five hundred older than the Pyramids, Newgrange, the centerpiece of the Briu na Boinne (dwelling place of the River Boyne) complex of prehistoric passage tombs, dates back over 5,000 years.
The visitor center tells vou more of what is known about tbe building and significance of these passage tombs and, while undoubtedly functioned as burial tombs, archaeologists think they were much more.They’re just not sure what exactly.
What is certain is that both Newgrange and Knowth were designed with the sun in mind. At Newgrange, on the winter solstice the sun sweeps down the 62-foot passageway to strike the back chamber wall. If you can’t make the trip on that day your guide switches off all the lights and then simulates the effect as if by magic. It’s very impressive.
At Knowth, which has both an east and a west facing chamber, the sun shines on the central chamber during both winter and spring equinoxes. Both sites are reached from the visitor center via a time-ticketed shuttle minibus service. Bru na Boinne is very popular. It’s best to get there early or travel with a tour operator.
Memphis, Tennessee
