The Polite Traveler

  You Can’t Get This in a Lower-Cost Maui Hotel…or can you? My Dear Polite Travelers, When many people think of a Maui vacation, they probably imagine lying on a sandy beach near a luxurious hotel—perhaps holding a tropical cocktail.  That’s a great vision, and one I share often.  Still, this is rarely our exact reality when staying in a lower-cost hotel .  Or so we thought. After a long day of traveling, we arrived at the Hampton Inn & Suites Maui North Shore.  From the front of the hotel—directly off a main, very busy road—the hotel doesn’t scream high-end or even comfy.  But that’s not why I chose this hotel.  I chose it for its proximity to the airport and considered it a good two-day resting place before moving on to the west side of the island for the remainder of our visit.  And perhaps we could also explore the area.  Don’t Miss! Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa Review : Art, Excellent Service & Penguins...Oh My ...

Art, Excellent Service & Penguins...Oh My My Dear Polite Travelers, Maui has experienced some horrific natural disasters, including a devastating fire and, more recently, torrential rain that caused severe flooding.  However, none of that was visible during my last visit.  The Hyatt Regency Maui Resort is a huge, richly landscaped, multi-building beauty.  It includes a 40-acre oceanfront lagoon and a waterslide into a children’s splashpad.  However, I saw many more adults enjoying the splashpad than children.  It did look inviting.   Directly adjacent to the lobby is a penguin den.  Guests are invited to watch a daily penguin presentation.  I enjoyed watching them play.  They are quite adorable.     Dining & Shopping In the main building, you’ll find multiple shops, including a gallery filled with unique and quite excellent art.  My favorite shop was actually Honolulu Coffee .  As a family-owned,...

  Icy Cold Embassy Suites My dear polite travelers, I’m a huge fan of Hilton properties and have stayed in comfortable, and sometimes special, Embassy Suites.  In comparison, Hilton’s Napa property is a mixed bag, especially when visiting during the cold winter months.  Guest rooms are accessed from an outdoor corridor, except those in what’s called “The Atrium.”  And that room is huge, comprised of a large—albeit beautiful—dining area, restaurant/bar, and meeting room.  So, even Atrium rooms, are accessed by an open walkway looking out over this enormous unheated area.  Baby, it’s cold inside! Guest rooms are not heated unless the old-fashioned boiler is turned on.  Really.  Not kidding.  When my hubby and I arrived midday, it was 42 degrees outside and 60 degrees inside with no heat.  Yep.  That’s right.  None.  We adjusted the thermostat to 80 degrees with hopes to heat the room quickly, to no avail.  ...

  My dear polite travelers, When on the road, one doesn’t always have the luxury of finding the best eats in town, especially when so many are closed, for example on Mondays, and due to Covid-triggered limited staffing issues.  Because of that, I have made a list of those we chose on our long road trip , and why you might want to try or skip each. Bon Appétit. Note A list of hotels and a map of our journey. Louie’s Ashland, Oregon Well, hmmm...this one is a bit of a conundrum.  The food was passable.  Since I didn’t want the typical huge burger and I don't eat fish, I chose the recession hamburger.  Well, it reflected a recession, as it was thin and tasteless.  The fries were also dry.  In contrast, my hubby chose salmon and brown rice.  His dish was great.  The actual—don’t return—issue was the wine.  They had few choices of white wine, and none were good.  As a result, we decided on the house wine, Recession White, and...

Dear Polite Travelers, Conflicting visits have stained our view of the Basque Boulangerie and it’s a shame because our previous experiences were memorable.  Pity.  On our most recent visit, we shared only one pastry and it was anything but memorable.  In my opinion, scones are not filled with jam...or anything gooey, even if it tastes slightly like fruit.  Our “apricot scone” was dry on the outside with a gooey gelatinous apricot filling.  Actually, I didn’t see any pieces of apricot.   My tea was fine, but not memorable and my hubby’s coffee was bland.  Will We Return? Nope.  We’ll drive up the highway to revisit Les Pascals in Glen Ellen instead.  This is not to say you shouldn’t try it.  Our experience may not be yours.  I noted several in the shop who appeared to like their meals . More by The Polite Traveler There’s more than excellent coffee at Black Oak Coffee Roasters Why The Olive Garden in Rohnert Park, C...

Dear Polite Travelers, One of our favorite restaurants in Davis, California, Paesanos , offers simple Italian fare.  We tend to visit once a month, a tradition which began after my last birthday.  Since Davis, CA is a casual university town, most restaurants are as well.  So, even though Paesanos is somewhat casual, it is a step up from the usual $5-beer-with-pizza joints so common when students are in the mix.   Consequently, it was a no-brainer, special-event choice for a b’day dinner.  Sitting in the Restaurant Instead of outdoor or bar seating, we chose to dine in the main room of Paesanos for this special day.  The theme of the restaurant is eclectic, somewhere between old-style Italian and bohemian hip.  Pictures of Italy, especially Venice, adorn the walls.  Tables are tasteful, but not stuffy.  Service was attentive but not pushy and I never had to wait for my water glass to be filled.    The Restaurant...

Probably best known for its connection to Cannery Row, made famous by John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name, Monterey is a delightful blend of funky, sublime, and an ode to the working class.  Funkiness abounds on Cannery Row with its quaint, stuck-in-time business facades simmering in a cannery atmosphere.  There’s no escaping it nor would anyone wish to.  It’s just downright fun. Of course, there’s much more to Monterey than that one street with the cannery influence and that is why we chose this area of Monterey, and more specifically, Pacific Grove.  We chose Pacific Grove for its quiet and focus on nature , which excelled excellently.  As for this small portion of Monterey, well... Recently while watching Obama’s new docuseries, Our  Great National Parks , we learned that the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is the largest in the continental U.S.  It’s a mind-blowing 6,094 square miles with 276 miles of shoreline.  As a native C...

Authentic Fish & Chips in the Heart of Pacific Grove Hello, dear polite travelers, Recently, my hubby and I took a trip to a London pub via Pacific Grove, California.  Since it was a tad chilly, we skipped the lovely outdoor seating, to sit inside this charming restaurant .  Once inside, I felt as if we slipped via a wormhole directly into an English pub, albeit a small one.  The requisite heavy wooden bar hosted four stools facing a plethora of liquor labels as a colorful backdrop. We learned that most staff are from the UK.  In fact, we learned a bit about Wales from our server.   Warm, welcoming, and quite lovely, he darted around the room tending to everything from taking orders to pouring drinks at the bar. Since The Monarch is known for its fish and chips, my hubby enthusiastically ordered it, pairing it with a medium-bodied beer.  In my opinion, the chips, aka French fries, were dry and somewhat akin to cardboard.  However, th...