Spotlight :: Dallas

[trip style = luxury + urban + weekend getaway]

Aside from a few expected sightings: bedazzled cowboy boots, massive highways and fun-atical sports fans clad head to toe in logo-wear, my December trip style = weekend getaway in Dallas was an unexpected mix of polar opposites. The kind that separates the jocks from the drama kids in high school. Except, like Finn---the jock/singer on Glee---the two are not mutually exclusive in Dallas.

Enamoured by the American football culture of larger-than-life stadiums, all-day tailgating and professional cheerleaders, our super-fan friends asked if we wanted to accompany them to a Dallas Cowboys game. Without hesitation the answer was yes.

I didn't do hours of pre-trip research. All I could think of was the sport-cation's Sunday game. My cultural blinders were on to everything else.

When my feet hit the ground, my tune changed. I found a city with an architectural and arts footprint the size of multiple football fields. Everything's bigger in Texas, right? Where most major metropolises have cultural buildings scattered throughout town, Dallas has a district with vertical performance spaces, modern glass masterpieces, and progressive museums and galleries featuring both the classics and today's avant-garde artists.

The next day, I ventured outside of my trip style = urban experience for the sport-cation's crescendo: the Dallas Cowboys game {more on this soon}. Looks like there's room in Dallas for the jocks and the drama club.

Eat

• Brunch: The Dallas Museum of Art's restaurant. You'd think dining in a high-ceilinged, wide-open space would be low on the atmosphere scale, but massive art installations and upscale restaurant fare make it feel intimate. Try the $18 brunch, which includes a mimosa, coffee, pastries, entree and as many trips to the candy bar as your blood sugar allows.
• Dinner: Private Social. This dimly-lit, chef-driven hotspot is founded on the idea that space and food appeal to different palates, so they created both intimate and social areas for sitting, and personal or shared plates for eating---you choose which experience suits you best.

Do

• Browse the Dallas Arts District.
• Go to a Dallas Cowboys game at their state-of-the-art stadium 30 minutes away.
• Watch a Dallas Stars game {preferably when they're playing the Canucks!} at the American Airlines Center, within walking distance of downtown Dallas.
• Shop in the original Neiman Marcus.

Stay Fairmont Dallas. Located on the edge of the Dallas Arts District, this is one of Fairmont's most reasonably priced properties and for the price, well worth the stay. Spring for the Fairmont Gold Floor, with separate check-in, renovated rooms and a lounge serving breakfast, lattes, a light lunch and dessert. {See my Trip Advisor review here}

Getting There Reaching Dallas {DFW} is convenient with year-round, direct flights from Vancouver. Dallas is American Airlines' hub, so the carrier runs two flights daily {~$400+ return year round}.

[photos by @tripstyler]

Spotlight :: A Palm Springs Holidette

[trip style = sun + weekend getaway + active & adventure]

{Editor’s Note: This month we've featured two of Palm Springs' swanky resorts for Roam+Board, as well as explored the history and mystery of the Palm Springs Pull in our four-part Spotlight series. Today is the icing on the cake: our must-eat, -sleep and -do suggestions for the savvy traveler seeking trip style = sun + (extended) weekend getaway or holidette (aka three- to four-day getaway, usually occurring over a weekend).}

Both starlets and snowbirds have been drawn to the desert for the better part of 60 years. But after its heyday, just when it looked like Palm Springs was losing its pull, something happened: retro became rad, crooners became cool and mid-century design became divine. Hot hotels popped up in tired old motor lodges, stylish restaurants took over bygone corner bistros and entire city districts devoted themselves to design or artisan rebirth.

With this shift came a younger visitor enamoured with the iconic desert lifestyle. Tacking an extra couple days onto the weekend was justified by bike riding in the morning, eating a snow cone by the pool in the afternoon, browsing boutiques at dusk and dining out at stylish restaurants in the evening.

I think Audrey Hepburn would approve, though she may swap the spiked snow cone for wine. So let's get into it. A Palm Springs holidette:

Do

• Tour the city's mid-century modern masterpieces on your own {nab a $5 Map Of Modern Palm Springs at the Visitors Centre} or in style with Robert Imber for $75/person {e-mail psmoderntours@aol.com or call 1 (760) 318-6118 to book}.
• View Warhol, Wyeth and other celebrated artists at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
• Hike the Indian Canyons {$9 adults, $7 children & students] and ask if Raven is available to be your guide {$3 extra for tours at 10am & 1pm daily}.
• Bike towards the Palm Springs Visitors Center {built in an old gas station} and then up the long and winding road to the Palm Springs Tramway...and back.
• Browse the Uptown Design District on North Palm Canyon Drive for mid-century finds and cool boutiques.

Eat

• Breakfast: Norma's in the Parker. Brunch in a high-end diner on Bertoia-inspired chairs and Saarinen-esque tables under orange, white and yellow shades and pearly globes. With a strong French-pressed coffee, a shot glass of a heavenly smoothie and a breakfast quesadilla big enough for two, you'll be satisfied until five!
• Lunch: Jake's. The perfect petite lunch spot serving brightly coloured salads and inventive sandwiches in an open-air, Paris-meets-Palm Springs courtyard. For the record, if I was a snowbird, I'd be a regular.
• Dinner: Citron in the Viceroy. Refined without stuffiness; where food, beverages and design experts have worked in tandem to create a warm desert dining experience.

Sleep

• The Viceroy: A strikingly pulled-together retreat that's fancy without being frou frou and whimsical without being overdone.
• The Parker: A Hollywood hideaway where towering palm trees guide the way through curvy trails to pools and posh pads.

Getting There Getting there is a cinch. Here's a full list of direct flights to the Palm Springs Airport {PSP} from both Canadian and US destinations. From Vancouver, there's direct and daily WestJet service. Or fly from Bellingham with Allegiant or Seattle with Alaska.

Related Content Spotlight :: The Palm Springs Pull Winter Heat Palm Springs Cool Roam+Board :: The Viceroy Roam+Board :: The Parker

[photos by @tripstyler taken while exploring PS with its CVB]

Spotlight :: The Palm Springs Pull

[trip style = sun + weekend getaway + active & adventure]

{Editor’s Note: Today is the LAST DAY to enter to win a $200 credit for zozi, an online hub for local experiences in 63 cities in Canada and the US. Perfect as a Christmas gift for the person who has everything.}

{Don't miss next Thursday's Spotlight :: A Palm Springs Holidette}

It's sundown in 1950, and you're waiting for the signal. As the day fades into the night, an invitation is delivered. Not by mail or messenger pigeon, but by the raising of a Jack Daniels flag in the distance. Cocktail hour has arrived, and so have you. You're headed to Frank's---Sinatra that is---for his almost nightly happy hour. With a Jack on the rocks in hand, you chinwag with the Rat Pack crooner at his Twin Palms Estate in the Movie Colony neighborhood.

That was then. But who says you can't carry on Frank's tradition now? Trip style = sun + weekend getaway anyone?

Palm Springs is full of crooners, characters and community. Its pull spans generations, movements and time, with the first inhabitants being the Native Americans followed by an influx of Hollywood's elite. Audrey, Cary and Marilyn first flocked to the desert oasis to lounge and let their hair down. It was the perfect location outside of Hollywood's limelight, and fell within their 100-mile clause set by the studios, meaning they had to be within two hours of LA while filming.

A few of these 50s and 60s-era Hollywood actors still call Palm Springs home, as does a brood of artsy types who color the landscape. Robert's one of them, and so is Raven. Dressed in a fedora and retro-cool outfit, Robert leads modern architectural tours around Palm Springs neighbourhoods. His knowledge is encyclopedic, but he's the real attraction; a celeb unto himself with stories that are as entertaining as his tours. {More info on this next week}.

Raven was my Native American Ranger/guide in Palm Canyon, the world's largest fan palm oasis with m-i-l-e-s of easy to rugged hiking terrain. What I thought was going to be a one-hour nature walk turned into an hour of power as Raven dished out sage advice like "A man either leads, follows or serves. Serving is the greatest honor." He's obviously a man of wisdom, but when he told me what he does in his "free" time, the deal was sealed; he's a medicine man, raiser of scorpions for arthritic relief, flutist with a few CDs, speaker {at the same events as Deepak Chopra}, counselor to kids in prison and youth ranger leader. For all I know he also walks on tightropes, but I'll have to return to confirm this...

These individuals and 49,998 others make up the desert retreat's fun-loving, modern-thinking and art-collecting community. Include the winter and weekend swell and these numbers heat up like the hot-to-trot town's 354 days of sunshine per year. This impressive average---which makes my Vancouver soul cry/rain a little inside---is part of what pulls people to this oasis of relaxation and activity. The other reason is the community; the locals, young weekenders {aka "the margarita crowd"} and greying snowbirds mix like a cool gin and tonic with a twist.

The Palm Springs pull is as relevant today as it was in the mid-century mod boom. Sinatra's nightly cocktail hour invite nailed it. Don't wait for an invitation to come in the mail---the Jack Daniels flag is always flying in Palm Springs.

PS - Walk in Frank Sinatra's shoes at his former home---complete with living room recording studio, piano-shaped pool and twin palms---now a vacation rental. While many of the original fixtures are included, the Jack Daniels flag pole is not. Rent it for $2,500/night.

Related Winter Heat Palm Springs Cool Roam+Board :: The Viceroy Roam+Board :: The Parker

[photos by @tripstyler, taken when I was invited to explore Palm Spring with their CVB in November]

The ABC Islands :: Curacao {Spotlight}

[trip style = sun + beach + urban]

{Editor’s Note: This is the fourth installment of Trip Styler's ABC Islands Spotlight after a short and sweet intro a few weeks ago. First stop, Aruba, second stop, Bonaire and today, Curacao.}

Curacao would be the worst place in the world to do an Easter egg hunt. Its pastel green, blue, pink and yellow buildings would mask the colour of the eggs and the bright Caribbean hues would distract from the task at hand. The chocolate would melt too {it's the Caribbean after all}.

Curacao is the ABC's boutique island. Sure, its capital, Willemstad, welcomes cruise ship passengers and a few mega hotel mavens, but most of the resorts are small and most of the visitors are seeking an edited experience---the kind where you dine under a thatched roof for dinner, where you snorkel with turtles and where you sunbathe between a coral cliff and clear water that refracts light like a Swarovski crystal.

As a tourist you feel like you blend in---whether this is true or not. The 38-mile island has 50+ ethnicities represented and everyone seems to do every job---regardless of background. This is as refreshing as sipping a Blue Curacao cocktail {like a blue lagoon} under the shade of an umbrella with misters and fans refreshing you from the intense heat. {Trip Styler Tip :: Blue Curacao is also an apropos souvenir to bring home.}

Eat Overlooking Willemstad and the rotating bridge {which allows freighters entry into Curacao's deep-water port, its main and thriving industry}, Governeur De Rouville offers open-air dining in a restored Dutch building. Excellent service and a fusion of local and globally-inspired cuisine make it consistently busy with both tourists and Curacaoans. If you make it outside the city, there’s a local garden joint in Westpunt that can’t be missed. Jaanchies is an 85-year-old restaurant with an owner who acts as the host and talking menu.

Do Kill two birds with one stone: shop hop and cool off in Willemstad's boutiques, visit Blue Beach and dive off the far reaches of the island.

Stay Kura Hulanda Hotel and Lodge Hotel: Hang out in history in a UNESCO World Heritage Site and restored Dutch village in the heart of Willemstad. Walk along cobblestone streets, dine in the main square or massage your shoulders under the cascading waterfall in the eco-pool. Lodge: For a breezy beach experience, stay at the Lodge on the island’s west side. A tranquil cove and coral cliffs front the cool, coastal retreat with amenities from home, thousands miles away from it all. We just featured Kura Hulanda in our weekly Roam+Board feature---see more details and photos here!

Getting There Get there from the US with direct flights from NYC, Miami and Charlotte, and it just got a little easier from Canada. Starting December 24th, Air Canada is doing a weekly service from Toronto on Saturdays. This means that Air Canada Vacations will be offering flight and hotel packages to nine resorts, two of which are mentioned above!

Related ABCs {An Intro} Spotlight :: Aruba Spotlight :: Bonaire Roam+Board :: Sorobon Beach Resort {Bonaire} Roam+Board :: Kura Hulanda {Curacao} Jetset Jingles :: The Caribbean

[photos by @tripstyler]

The ABCs :: Bonaire {Spotlight}

[trip style = sun + beach + budget conscious + active & adventure]

{Editor’s Note: After a short and sweet intro a few weeks ago, this is the third installment in a four-part series about the ABC islands. Last stop Aruba, today Bonaire, and next up Curacao.}

Wading through knee-deep water the colour of a sparkling sapphire and aquamarine jewel, I decide to order a beer from the beach bar and take a seat on the ocean floor. Covered shoulder-high in seawater the temperature of a hot tub, I sip my beer and spot a pink streak in the sky. It's not a bird or a plane; it's a flock of 30 flamingos!

Seriously? The bartender then offers “yep, it happens like clockwork almost every night at 6pm.” Welcome to Bonaire, a diver’s and windsurfer’s paradise where those seeking an active & adventure and low-key trip style go for it in the day and relax at night.

Over wahoo fish with roasted vegetables and polenta, people linger at dinner recounting the day’s wind intensity, turtle sightings and beach breaks. At the end of the evening you don’t hear thumping and bumping beats like other islands---it’s not the time nor the place. It never is on Bonaire.

The island's main visitors are blond, tanned and sleek-bodied Dutch arriving in daily droves by way of a KLM wide-body jet. Yet Bonaire is a place where locals---Arubans and Curacaoans---go to get away from it all as well. My taxi driver in Aruba mentioned she'd just returned. “It’s quiet, less busy,” she recounted with a smile.

I guess the secret’s out; locals and internationals must have heard about the flocks of flamingos, jewel-toned water and schools of fish in the water below.

Eat The island's sport enthusiasts make dinner a big event in Kralendijk, the island's oceanfront capital. Order nachos at City Cafe and experience the local tradition of pouring sweet chili sauce on top of the cheese! For an all-appy menu, eat in a historic, open-air enclave at Appetite! Under the shade of a tree and a cool beach breeze, fuel up with a traditional brunch at Sorobon Beach Resort's restaurant. A bronzed gentleman sporting a terrycloth sweatband around his head serenades guests on his electronic keyboard with classical favorites.

Do Swim through schools of fish while diving just off the shore at one of 87 official dive spots. Learn to windsurf and ride like the wind at The Windsurf Place, located in Lac Bay, a 1.8-mile salt water lagoon with knee- to waist-deep warm water!

Stay Stay at Sorobon Beach Resort. Clustered around the only natural white sand beach on the island, Sorobon is a casual, tropical hideaway with 30 clay-roofed and whitewashed cottages. We just featured Sorobon in our weekly Roam+Board feature---see pictures and details here!

Getting There Insel Air and DAE fly to Bonaire daily from Curacao. If you depart from Aruba, you’ll need to transfer in Curacao.

Related Spotlight :: Aruba Spotlight :: Curacao Roam+Board :: Sorobon Beach Resort {Bonaire} Roam+Board :: Kura Hulanda {Curacao} ABCs {An Intro} Jetset Jingles :: The Caribbean

[Windsurfing photo by Kontiki Beach Resort and all remaining photos by @tripstyler, taken in Bonaire two weeks ago]