Seniors Visit A “Most Livable City”

 Senior travelers, welcome to Scottsdale, Arizona called “Most Livable City”. At the heart of every great vacation is passion – for a new place, a new adventure, even a new way of expressing yourself. Scottsdale, (pop. 210,000) just to the east of Phoenix, is one of the Southwest’s premier resort destinations.

This young, active and wealthy community borders Phoenix to the east and north. With more than 170 golf courses, 11,000 hotel rooms, and 500 restaurants, millions of people, including a huge flock of ‘snowbirds’, enjoy the spas and resorts in Scottsdale.

Downtown Scottsdale is where the “Old West Meets the New West.” Wikitravel notes that both “Old Town” and “Downtown” Scottsdale possess a dazzling array of bars, night clubs, pool clubs and chic eateries.

 Seniors Enjoy The West’s Most Western City

Welcome to Scottsdale, a city that celebrates passion in all its forms and is often referred to as the “West’s Most Western City.” “Experience Scottsdale” where seniors can step back in time and enjoy the Old West personified and some terrific food.

The Scottsdale Cultural Council presents art as an integral part of the Scottsdale experience, by offering opportunities for residents and visitors to experience the highest quality performing and visual arts the world has to offer.

Old Scottsdale is special. Senior visitors could spend a full day just walking around the streets and going in and out of dozens of specialty stores: Indian jewelry and crafts and Western stores with clothing for every cowboy and cowgirl.

Scottsdale’s captivating Sonoran Desert setting has inspired artists for generations. Art flourishes inside the walls of more than 100 galleries, one of the most concentrated collections in the nation and many are world class. Scottsdale is home to acclaimed museums, architectural wonders, the Scottsdale ArtWalk, world-class performance spaces and an award-winning public art program.

 Seniors Awed With The Sonoran Desert

There are more than 200 golf courses cut out of the rocky terrain of the Sonoran Desert, so bring along your golf clubs. Arguably the golf capital of the United States, it’s hard to beat the weather and the number of high-quality golf courses in Scottsdale.

Well, I must show my bias here: TripAdvisor lists 142 things to see and do in Scottsdale, starting with Taliesin West, where I am a guide. The beautiful desert landscapes have inspired such people as architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who built an internationally admired winter retreat at Taliesin West.

Senior outdoors lovers will find hundreds of things to do along the Salt River, in the rocky city parks and neighboring mountains, or on ranches in and around the city. Hot air balloon rides, horseback tours, kayaking, and mountain climbing are all just minutes from Scottsdale.

A new “must see” attraction is Western Spirit, Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, celebrating the art, history, culture and unique stories of the 19 states comprising the American West. Seniors, visit Scottsdale and see for yourself this great destination city. -jeb

Seniors Head Up North To Thief River Falls

 Thief River Falls, also called Thief River or TRF, is the county seat in Pennington County, Minnesota with a population of just under 9,000. Senior travelers will find the city 70 miles south of the Canadian border, where the Thief River flows into the Red Lake River.

Thief River Falls takes its name from a geographic feature, the falls of the Red Lake River at its confluence with the Thief River. The name of the river is a loose translation of the Ojibwe Indian phrase, Gimood-akiwi ziibi, literally, the “Stolen-land river” or “Thieving Land river,” which originated when a band of Dakota Indians occupied a secret encampment along the river, hence “stealing” the land, before being discovered and routed by the neighboring Ojibwe. So now we know.

Since the city’s foundation in 1896, LaBree Avenue has been a cornerstone of community life. Many of the businesses that were born in Thief River Falls were started on LaBree. The city’s Chamber of Commerce holds an annual “Crazy Dayz”, which is a “bargain day” of sorts on LaBree. Also, each fall, the city closes the street and hosts the “Great American Block Party”, during which vendors line the street and live music is performed. Sounds like fun to me.

 Seniors Enjoy The Outdoors In Thief River Falls

In Thief River Falls the big name is Arctic Cat, that traces its roots back to former Polaris Industries founder Edgar Hetteen who left Polaris in 1960 and started Polar Manufacturing in Thief River Falls.

Shortly after changing the name to Arctic Enterprises, the new company produced snowmobiles. A few snowless winters in the early 1980s bankrupted the 20-year-old company, which closed their facilities by 1982. In 1984, Arctic Cat was reborn under a new company name, Arctco, which was changed to Arctic Cat in 1996. Today Thief River Falls has some of the state’s finest trails and parks.

Senior visitors will find Thief River Falls to be a fun place. Indoor or out, seniors can discover outstanding recreational opportunities, incredible wildlife, and a wide variety of attractions. One of the finest attractions in and around Thief River Falls is simply the Great Outdoors: kayaking, golfing, hiking, fishing and even bird watching. TRF has a casino called Seven Clans featuring a hotel indoor water park.

 Seniors Find The Birthplace Of Snowmobiling

Thief River Falls is the birthplace of snowmobiling and is well known for its hunting opportunities. With access to more than 500 miles of groomed trails that interconnect to over 1,500 miles of trails in northwest Minnesota, Thief River Falls is a snowmobile hub with five different trails leading out of the city.

The Water Park and Pioneer Village are two prime favorites of visitors. And oh yes, hockey is right at home and is highly popular.

Seniors set your GPS for the great northwest part of Minnesota and enjoy a variety of the state’s great outdoor living. -jeb

Seniors Enjoy Hopland

This senior had not heard of Hopland until a relative brought a bottle of wine to celebrate Christmas with us. There it was on the bottle…Hopland, California. The population is small at only 756 residents.

The town gets its name from the fact that from the 1870s to the mid-1950s, much of the region’s economy was based on the growing and drying of bitter hops, a key flavoring and preservative in beer. Today, it is vineyards that play an important part of life in Hopland. Let’s go for a visit to the Campovida Winery… and note the beautiful setting.

Senior travelers will find Hopland at the start of the Redwoods of Northern California and is about two hours drive along U.S. Route 101 north of San Francisco, and a 30-minute drive along State Route 175 to California’s largest natural lake, Clear Lake. It is a rustic farming community situated amongst oak covered coastal foothills. It is said that the best time of the year for a visit is in late April, when the Solar Living Institute throws its Earth Day bash, complete with live music, garden demos, and organic food-wine pairings.

 Lots Of Changes, Seniors Learn

The settlement that became Hopland was originally called Sanel. Over the years it was centered on either side of the Russian River. Sanel began on the west bank of the river in 1859. In 1874, the town moved to the east bank. The Sanel post office opened in 1860, closed for a time in 1869, moved and changed its name to Hopland in 1879, reverted to its original site and name in 1890, and changed its name finally to Hopland in 1891.

 And yes, TripAdvisor has a dozen attractions and things for senior visitors to enjoy on a stop in Hopland. Of course, visits to nearby wineries and distilleries rate high with visitors. The Hopland Sho-Ka-Wah Casino with Native American tribal decor offers table games, slots, a steakhouse and a casual bar. The McFadden Farm is a California producer of certified organic herbs and herb blends.

Seniors Enjoy Beautiful Mendocino County

Appreciated as a place where deep knowledge of the land is expressed in artisanal wines, olive oils and honey, Hopland is the heart of the upper Russian River wine country and gateway to beautiful Mendocino County. HOPLAND PASSPORT wine weekend in October gives senior visitors the opportunity to visit 15 local wineries and sample their best wines, paired with incredible food at each stop.

Several cycling public routes from a 100-mile ride to a shorter 62-mile ride. Cycling and river kayaking are dominate sports in the Hopland area. Seasoned kayakers can enjoy paddling down the Russian River with put ins just south of Hopland. There are various segments between Hopland and Asti that offer class I to III rapids depending on the season. So bring along your bike or a kayak and give it a shot.

Locals offer farm, garden and wine tours and Hopland is home to one of the country’s most prestigious sustainable living training centers. In Hopland you will encounter real farmers, sophisticated artisans and everything in between.  -jeb

Seniors Stop In Manchester

Seniors travel to Manchester (called the Queen City), the largest city in New Hampshire (110,000). It was named by the merchant and inventor Samuel Blodget, after whom the Samuel Blodget Park in Manchester North is named. Blodget’s vision was to create a great industrial center similar to that of Manchester in England, which was the world’s first industrialized city.

It is located in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which divides the city into eastern and western sections. The state’s largest city has enjoyed a renaissance over the past several years. Once home to extensive manufacturing operations devoted to producing textiles, the area has a vibrant and largely service-oriented economy.

Manchester is home to several area institutions of higher education including Southern New Hampshire University and St. Anselm College.

Seniors Discover A Highly Rated City In Manchester

Manchester often appears favorably in lists ranking the affordability and livability of American cities. In 2009, CNNMoney.com rated Manchester 13th in a list of the 100 best cities to live and launch a business in the United States.

In 1998 Money Magazine named Manchester the “Number One Small City in the East”.  I don’t call 100,000 population “small.” My hometown in Iowa was “small” (pop. 300).

In addition, Kiplinger voted Manchester the second most tax-friendly city in the United States, second only to Anchorage, Alaska. Also in 2009, Forbes magazine ranked the Manchester region first on its list of “America’s 100 Cheapest Places to Live,” and that just might attract a few senior retirees to the city.

TripAdvisor suggests the Currier Museum of Art with a collection of works by Pablo Picasso, Edgar Monet, and Georgia O’Keefe. The restored  870-seat Palace Theatre is a restored theater that features plays, concerts, and other live performances.

The Zimmerman House, open to the public, is the only residence in New England designed by legendary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

 Seniors Enjoy Historical City

I’d want to be sure to visit the Millyard Museum with exhibits on the history of the city, including early colonial settlement, and the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company which at its peak was the largest textile producer in the world. 

The Amoskeag Company went out of business in 1935, although its red brick mills have been renovated for other uses.

The mill town’s 19th century affluence left behind some of the finest Victorian commercial, municipal, and residential architecture in New Hampshire. First settled in 1722, Manchester began as a farming community known as Derryfield until being renamed Manchester in 1810.

Its new name was based on Samuel Blodgett’s efforts to facilitate a trade route from Boston to Concord by opening a canal and lock system to allow vessels passage around the Amoskeag Falls.

 Seniors find sites of interest in Manchester that include the Majestic Theatre, the SEE Science Center, the Massabesic Audubon Center, the Amoskeag Fishways Learning and Visitors Center; and the centerpiece of downtown Manchester, the Verizon Wireless Arena, a multi-purpose civic center. Enjoy your visit. -jeb

Seniors Take A Look At Huntington, NY

The Town of Huntington, one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. Senior travelers will find that Huntington, whose population is just over 203,000, is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is commonly referred to by residents as Huntington Village, though it is not incorporated and lacks a village government.

The birth of Huntington as a town began on April 2, (my birthday) 1653 when three men Robert Houldbrook, Robert Williams and Daniel Whitehead from Oyster Bay came along Oyster Bay Path, present day Route 25A/Main Street, to bargain with the Indians to purchase some land.

The History of Huntington is closely associated with the early development of the American colonies. The natural harbors offered ready access to the farmlands of the Long Island interior. The earliest residents of today’s Huntington were Matinecock Indians.

Senior Visitors Find Harbors, Coves, Bays and Beaches

TripAdvisor invites senior visitors to take in Caumsett State Park and the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium. The  Township has  beautiful beaches and waterways, intimate villages and a thriving business community. With its vast array of shopping, restaurants, galleries, museums and entertainment, Huntington has it all together within 98 square miles.

So when you are in the “Big Apple,” Huntington is within easy commuting distance. The Long Island Rail Road, which has frequent schedules of trains, accommodates its commuters daily to New York City from the four local stations.

And parks…here you will have access to a wide array with National Parks, State Parks, County Parks, Town Parks, and even Village Parks. Many parks offer a variety of activities, including swimming, boating, hiking, camping, playgrounds, biking, horseback riding, fishing, tennis courts, playing fields, golfing, and hunting. How’s that for variety? I’ll bet your picnic basket will be welcome there as well.

Seniors Like Good Restaurants

Huntington is neither incorporated nor an official government entity, but a restaurant-laden, shopper-happy 36-square-block cosmopolitan oasis, popular with senior tourists. My wife and I always enjoy seeing older homes. Senior visitors will find Shingled colonials, Victorians and Arts and Crafts-style cottages and a mosaic of homes on the wooded, hilly streets south of Route 25A near the village center.

We’d visit the Heckscher Museum of Art featuring a collection from the 15th to 20th century, European and American paintings, sculpture and works on paper.

Huntington Village was the birthplace of singer Mariah Carey, actor Ralph Macchio, pioneering aeronautical engineer Leroy Grumman, and world renowned poet Walt Whitman. While you enjoy your coffee, you can read all about the history of Huntington. Enjoy -jeb

Seniors Find Crescent City

Crescent City is the county seat and only incorporated city in Del Norte County, California. Named for the crescent-shaped stretch of sandy beach south of the city, Crescent City  has a total population running right at 7,700. Senior travelers will find the city on the Pacific coast in the upper northwestern part of California, about 20 miles (32 km) south of the Oregon border.

The city’s harbor suffered extensive damage and destruction due to tsunamis generated by the March 11, 2011 earthquake off Sendai, Japan. Remember that one?

They say the city is “Where the Redwoods Meet the Sea,” on Hwy 101 only 20 miles south of the Oregon border. The area offers an abundance of outdoor recreational activities utilizing the proximity of the Pacific Ocean, the Smith River and Klamath River, Redwood National and State Parks, and the Smith River National Recreation Area.

Seniors Visit the Battery Point Lighthouse

One of the popular attractions in Crescent City is the Battery Point Lighthouse, one of the first lighthouses on the California coast. In 1855 Congress appropriated $15,000 for the construction of the light station.

It is registered as a California Historical Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as “Crescent City Lighthouse.” The lighthouse was built as a result of the events on July 30, 1865, when the Brother Jonathan steamer ship wrecked on the reef killing over 200 people.

The area has over 75 inches of rain annually and has the “honor” of being the wettest incorporated city in California. The waters near Crescent City are treacherous as evidenced by shipwrecks early in the town’s history.

The Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park is one of the very few redwood parks with trails that go into the deep interior. That’s where I would go first and then off to Stout Grove, the world’s most scenic stand of redwoods. While my family and I have taken a whale watching tour, I’d repeat it here as well.

  Seniors Watch Whales and Birds and Redwood Trees

The Crescent City is a great spot to watch for whales. Senior visitors can see migrating Gray whales in March, April and May from the shores at the Crescent Beach Overlook, Enderts Beach, Battery Point Lighthouse, Point St. George and Klamath Overlook or on a whale watching boat.

Senior birders…Crescent City is a haven for birders, and one of the most exciting and scenic places to visit in search of birds in California. There have been over 420 species of birds recorded in the area. Don’t forget your field glasses. And beaches… they are famed and all along the coast and add much to the scenic beauty of the area.

Seniors, set your GPS for CC and enjoy the exciting northern California coast. -jeb

Seniors Find Sun and Fun in San Juan

San Juan, is Puerto Rico’s capital city and as seniors learn, a hot tourist destination. Grab your coffee, my friends, and let’s find out just what makes it so inviting.

Sitting on the island’s Atlantic coast, its widest beach fronts the Isla Verde resort strip, known for its bars, nightclubs and casinos. Cobblestoned Old San Juan features colorful Spanish colonial buildings and 16th-century landmarks including El Morro and La Fortaleza, massive fortresses with sweeping ocean views. Senior visitors can also enjoy the Paseo de la Princesa bayside promenade.

San Juan is known as the Walled City and in Spanish as “la perla”…the pearl. With a population of 390,000, it is the financial and industrial center of the island, and where most cultural events take place. The San Juan Airport and Cruise Port are both Caribbean hubs welcoming millions of tourists every year.

Seniors Enjoy City With Rich History

This modern city is also the second oldest settlement in the Americas.  It is rich in history, treasuring its past, but setting new standards in technology across the Caribbean.

My wife and I always enjoy starting with a visit to the oldest quarter of the city. Old San Juan is the oldest settlement within Puerto Rico and the historic colonial section of the city.

The settlement is a National Historic Landmark District and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the “Zona Histórica de San Juan” (English: San Juan Historic Site). Bring along some extra memory for your camera and visit  the traditional callejón (alley) in Old San Juan and the Plaza de Armas.

 Seniors Also Enjoy Vibrant Modern City

Fodor’s notes that if you associate Puerto Rico’s capital with the colonial streets of Old San Juan, then you know only part of the picture. San Juan is a major metropolis, radiating out from the bay that was discovered by Juan Ponce de León.

More than a third of the island’s nearly 4 million citizens proudly call themselves sanjuaneros. Locals go about their daily business surrounded by colonial architecture and towering modern structures.

The Island was established back in 1521. The old town was inaugurated almost a century before the Mayflower laid anchor in present-day Massachusetts, and is now a historic wonderland whose historical authenticity pulsates with modern energy.

San Juan is fueled by galleries, superb restaurants for senior gourmets and a bar scene that takes over the streets as the sun goes down. TripAdvisor has listed 183 things for senior visitors to see and do. So get out a pencil and paper and chose several that you would put at the top of your visit list.  Enjoy your trip to Puerto Rico and San Juan. -jeb