Travel for Pennies

Being an airplane buff, I just had to see the collection of the only two Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy planes on exhibit at the Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale, California. But, before I even made it to Blackbird, I came upon the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark at Palmdale Plant number 42. There, I found that I could view an outstanding collection of aircraft flown, designed, tested, modified or produced at that plant.

The Airpark also includes, on static display, 14 retired military aircraft, plus a 1/8 scale model of the AGM-28 Hound Dog Missile, the B-2 Spirit, and various other components from various other aircraft. I was drooling at the fantastic collection that Plant 42 has. They even have an F-104 Starfighter, and I couldn’t believe just how sharp the wings are, I could almost cut a finger, they are that sharp! The F-104 was the first operational USAF A/C that achieved Mach 2 in level flight and the first to hold simultaneous world records for speed, altitude and time-to-climb. She’s a real beauty. I can’t help but think of the marching cadence that the Airforce came up about the F-104, I won’t go into how sexy it is, but the cadence might be found on the Internet.

Then I saw the scaled composites 143 Triumph, it’s a one-of-a-kind aircraft that was never put into production. But for me the cream of the crop was the B-52F Stratofortress, this is the only existing ‘F’ model in existence. Oklahoma City Fair Grounds was its previous home, it was trucked in many pieces and then reassembled. I’m telling you, this Joe Davies heritage Airpark brought tears to my eyes. I got to see planes up close and personal that I’d never be able to see anywhere else.

The next day, it was hard to check out of hotel. Palmdale seemed to be asking me to stay a bit longer to see what other aircraft exhibits might be here, but I just didn’t have the time find out, I was on my way to Edwards Airforce Base to see their collection of airflight testing planes.

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Heading out onto a thin lined sandy beach layered with rolling green grass, sand traps and bordered by ocean water sounds like a golfing adventure to me. One wrong whack and that ball is going to be a dolphin toy. Check out Hammock Bay Golf and Country Club for some intense golf played on a course built by Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy. 18 holes of championship greens, marshes, lakes, beach bunkers and mangroves to challenge golfers of all levels. Even if there is only time for a little short game on the putting greens and some lunch, it is well worth the visit.  

For more adventures get out and swim with the dolphins, boat with the dolphins and watch them play with their young is quite a special experience. There are tours available from hotels like this on Marco Island that can get you a front row seat to all the dolphins, Manatees, sea turtles, sea rays, and other colorful fish off the shore line and through the water ways of the thousand islands.  

How about a more mellow yet athletic form of exploration. Rent a Kayak or canoe and paddle your way through the golden marshes of the everglades. See more wildlife as you sneak up on them doing what ever it is they do. There are lots of tranquil waters, sawgrass marshes, cypress swamps and mangrove tree tunnels to explore while getting a bit of exercise and fresh air. This is one way to feel like you are apart of the scenery and close to the creatures that live there. There are hundreds of birds wading in the shallow waters and the transition from day to night is spectacular with the brilliant sunset lowering and the moon rising. A breath taking view around every corner and above every tree. Check out the Marco Island Concierge for more information on all sorts of adventures available.

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It’s a sharp contrast between the song and the place, or between then and now. Atlantic City has gone through many dizzying transformations, however, and the place now is much more reminiscent of its heydays, which might mean that we’re living through another one right here and now. Traveling in New Jersey, where Atlantic City Hotels might be some of the best in the state, is an eye-opening experience, and one that is continually refreshing. There is a certain sense of going back in time to an era that many believed gone, but the most romantic New Jersey residents know that it’s still living right here.

It’s always taken Bruce Springsteen to open up our minds to the places in New Jersey that hold a special meaning, and his way of turning an everyday place into a metaphor is always stunning. But his vision of Atlantic City from the Nebraska album is as dark as it can get in his world. Interestingly, when he does write about the place he loves so much, it’s always been with a rather peculiar angst, and sometimes even disdain, like some of the lyrics in Born to Run, the album that brought him to the attention of the world.

The differences between those albums is light years, and the infectious optimism, and even defiance, turned in the short ten years into an exhausted melancholy, with a fair share of defiance. There is always a brilliant sense of refusal in his work, refusing to stay still in the midst of chaos, and a refusal to give in to the powers that be. In Atlantic City, there is a sense that magical things might happen, but it’s also certain that magical things are happening, somewhere on the boardwalk, as young lovers negotiate the distance between an ideal life and living in the moment.

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The most elemental proposition that I would have offered, given half the chance, would surely have involved bacalau at some point, because an evening isn’t right without it. Or so I’ve heard it said. But this evening was one for resisting the resisters and the temperatures were not quite into warm yet, but spring was close. It was as close as the invisible elevators waiting around every corner.

Following a surreal impulse to capture the sense of sleep in the waking dream this life just might be, we take a smashing vacation , visiting the city where surrealism is second nature.

They do seem to understand it here, or maybe it’s just that we feel more understood here because we are wrapped in bacon. That’s lunch times only, naturally, and our hair continues to make statements for us. Styles come and go, but we’ve tapped these because we know why we like to move like cats. It’s not enough to just be the cat.

Sometimes we waIt for the new location , because some restaurants in New York just speak their own truth perfectly. French and Portuguese are the languages of choice in this part of the century, and we are all headed home. Home is this bliss, this perfect bliss where the gorgeous delights are gorgeously delighting and no one has to wonder about our own place except for us.

We can move into the night, because samba , like feathers, just suits us, and suddenly we’re joined. We’re being joined by all of our old friends, because it always seems to happen that way when we are here, in this city where all the residents know of so many times that were so much better than this one. In New York, however, like in Brazil, this one right here, this time here, will have to do, it will simply have to do.

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Marketing is tough and is never over. Your website markets your services almost more than anything else and is usually the one tool overlooked in a marketing campaign. The thing about most websites is that a good website has a great headline. The rest of the content is less important in terms of what people see and if people will keep reading. When you are a large company, such as Transglobe Property , you no longer have to do this, but as a small company it can be hard to get people to continue to look at your site long enough to buy something.

The thing to remember is that a website headline is like a news headline you want it to be pithy, witty and make a statement. While it feels like common sense to make the name of your business the headline of your website, your company name is probably not well known and will not have a lot of meaning to your customers. You will also want to avoid welcome statements. They won’t help anyone get to know you better and they don’t make the company feel more personal. It does waste the time of the customer who is looking for information on your product. This is a now culture , and the people who visit your site want information now.

Here is the trick to making a good headline from a marketing standpoint. Avoid vague statements, make plain and clear statements about the product. Use your statement to say what you do, the problems you solve, who you do it for, and possibly even a key selling point. This will make your headline stand out. Instead of ” Renter’s Warehouse “, try a headline more like, “Find a home fast, even when you have to travel across the globe.” This says what problem you fix, the service, who you are aiming at, and stands out from the other property management companies in the area.

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Monterey, California has an awful lot to offer any visitor, with a wide variety of attractions, and a wealth of things to do. It’s very famous for its seaside life that attracts a kind of mythic quality. There are some days of glorious sunny beach weather, and other days where there is all the aura and the mystery that the sea can bring, and it’s not been lost on a number of famous artists and writers. John Steinbeck might be the most famous resident, and it’s interesting to note that he eventually had to leave because his complex reputation made it difficult to live anywhere he was recognized.

One of its other famous sons, and no less complicated, is Frank Zappa , who was born on the east coast, but lived here for a time. Following any of these footsteps is worth a trip here, and there are plenty of fabulous hotels to make the stay a pleasant one. It’s difficult not to have a pleasant time here, and it’s even a bit hard to imagine Zappa being gloomy here. Of course, he was always a bit gloomy everywhere, or at the very least somewhat sardonic. Perhaps the sea air is a kind of balm, offering a kind of clarity to look at the world with a critical eye.

Frank Zappas ‘s time here was relatively short, having moved here with his military father, and staying for a few very formative years, before moving further south. Considering the breadth and depth of his musical canon, it’s worth wondering over his high school band years, where classical music was the music of the day, and thinking of how these notes were slowly seeping into his mind. This same mind would later proved to the world a remarkable dexterity, and a sponge-like quality that accompanies genius. Sitting on the wharf in Monterey, puzzling over how we get from one place to another, the lure of the sea continues to call, and inspire.

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