The Musings of Ron Kapon

North American Travel Journalist Association 9th Annual Conference- Anaheim, California

I have been a member of NATJA during its birth, infancy, teen-age years and finally adulthood. My university teaching schedules have sometimes conflicted with the annual conference. This year I rearranged my schedule to made sure I was able to attend. I love southern California and especially Orange County. Did you know there are five other Orange Counties in the US, including one only an hour from my home in NYC? But none can lay claim to the collection of attractions, beaches, shopping, restaurants, arts, recreation and sunny climate found in Orange County, California- population three million.

I have written another article about my pre-conference trip to Big Bear Lake and my post-conference trip to Pasadena. This will be about three days of intense seminars, workshops, local tours, receptions, meals and of course a day at Disneyland. I met many old friends and found new friends as we moved from room to room and bus to bus flawlessly, thanks to the efforts of the staff of NATJA and our Anaheim hosts.

The Red Lion Inn was the conference hotel. I stayed there one night before and after the conference and enjoyed the sun at the large outdoor pool. When I first checked in I found some dirt piled up near my room door, which looked like it had leaked out of a vacuum cleaner. I called the desk and it was immediately cleaned up. When I checked out I was charged half-price for that night. When I mentioned it I was told it was credited because they did not properly clean my room (I never asked for a credit). Good PR Red Lion.

Having arrived a day early I jumped right into the pre-conference activities. I swam, relaxed, used the fitness center and enjoyed a dinner courtesy of our Anaheim hosts at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, only a few blocks away from the hotel. Next morning was a workshop dealing with Using Video To Tell Your Story. The main speaker, a television producer/director, was very knowledgeable but many of the people in attendance, myself included, were beginners who wanted to learn how to use our cameras to make short videos. This was way above my learning curve and I left during a break in the workshop. We were bused to the very large and luxurious South Coast Plaza shopping center about 3/4 hours away. Things did not start out on the right foot, once again. Five of us stopped to take a few photos and lost our group. We had no idea where we were having lunch and neither did any of the security people we asked. Finally, one of our group got the idea to look up the phone numbers of those on the tour and luckily one had listed his cell phone (the others had their home numbers). Alls well that ends well. We had a lovely lunch and were given access to the VIP lounge at the plaza. I went off shopping and we got back to the hotel in time for a short meeting called How to Maximize Your NATJA Benefits. The opening night reception followed, hosted by the Red Lion Inn folks. One of the highlights of the whole conference followed- our dinner at the Anaheim White House Restaurant. Not only was the food excellent but also I got to meet Chef/Owner Bruno Serato who had been nominated as one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes of 2011. I was so impressed by what the chef was doing by feeding thousands of the areas youth at his restaurant that I sent his foundation a donation. I hope he wins the top prize of $250,000 to help him expand his good deeds.

The next morning the conference began, after a continental breakfast. Rather than mention every speaker’s name I will say that all the workshops proved of value to me personally. I learned a lot from the Inflight Magazines Editors’ Panel, especially how hard it is to make any money as a freelance travel writer. The Bloggers’ panel might have been the best of the whole conference as I wrote many notes and asked several questions. I chose the afternoon tour to Laguna Beach over the other choices for several reasons. I had recently been on a press trip to Huntington Beach and I had no interest in visiting Knott’s Berry Farm. The view of the ocean and beach was breathtaking. We also toured the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Rodin Exhibit at the Laguna College of Art & Design and had a behind the scenes tour of Pageant of the Masters (just ended). Our wine and cheese reception was at the Sawdust Art Festival where various artists demonstrated their skills. I had the good fortune to touch base with an old friend who lives in Laguna Beach and came by to see me at Sawdust Studios. We were off to Don the Beachcombers for a reception and then to the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach for a fabulous dinner with many stations of food and drink. I even attempted to make s’mores for dessert (I failed miserably).

The next day, after a continental breakfast, the open marketplace took place. There were representatives from many destinations and I had a chance to talk to many of them. The last professional development workshop was another editors panel with different speakers than the previous panel. After a poolside lunch buffet it was off to Disneyland Park & Disney’s California Adventure. Since my back and knee were still bothering me the nice folks at Disney provided a motorized scooter for myself and several other of our members. This enabled me to see both parks and even go on a few rides and still feel refreshed. Everyone headed to Studio 17 where we were served a very luxurious buffet dinner and had a presentation about Disney’s new movies and their renovation and expansion of the two parks. We then were escorted to see the World of Color Show from a special VIP section. I thought the Bellagio water show in Las Vegas was grand but this made that show look like a small drip. There were 1,200 dancing fountains, shooting 30 to 200 feet in the air, with Disney music, audio and visual effects.

If I was to rate the NATJA 9^th Annual Conference the way I rate wines (on a scale of 50-100) I would give it a 95- excellent and worth remembering. Thank you Helen Hernandez, Ben Root and your entire staff. I don’t know how you will top this conference.

 

 

 

 

Pasadena California- More Than the City of Roses

The last time I visited Pasadena was in 1992. I was invited to the Rose Bowl game where I was among more than 103,000 folks who watched Washington beat Michigan. I stayed in one of the cottages at the then Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel (built in 1907). In the summer of 2011 I was invited to spend three days in Pasadena and stay at the now renamed Langham Huntington Pasadena Hotel and Spa. The 1960s song "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" parodies a popular Southern California image of Pasadena as home to a large population of aged eccentrics. In the song, Jan and Dean sing of an elderly lady who drives a powerful "Super Stock Dodge" muscle car and is "the terror of Colorado Boulevard."

Pasadena is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. It is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Fuller Theological Seminary, Art Center College of Design, the Pasadena Playhouse, Le Cordon Bleu School of Culinary Arts-Pasadena, the Norton Simon Museum of Art and the Pacific Asia Museum. The population as of the 2010 census was 137,122.

 

Pasadena is home to the Tournament of Roses Parade, held each year on January 1 (or on January 2, if the 1st falls on a Sunday). The first parade was held in 1890 and was originally sponsored by the Valley Hunt Club, a Pasadena social club. They wanted the world to see their weather and beautiful flowers and oranges. “Let's hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise.” By 1895, the festivities had outgrown the Valley Hunt Club, and the Tournament of Roses Association was formed to take charge of the parade, now called the Rose Parade. During the almost 3 hours of the parade, floats (over 100,000 flowers are used in the average float), and participants travel over five miles and pass by over one million viewers who often camp out over New Year's Eve to have the best view along the parade route.

The Rose Bowl Stadium, a National Historic Landmark, is host of the first, oldest, and most famous college football postseason bowl game, the Rose Bowl Game. In 1902, the Rose Bowl Association declared that a football game would be added to the day's events. The game, now known as the Rose Bowl Game, would become the first New Year's post-season college football game ever. Soon outgrowing its original facility, a new stadium was constructed in the Arroyo Seco area. The new stadium hosted its first New Year's Day football game in 1923 and was soon christened the “Rose Bowl."

 

In addition to the annual New Year's Day Rose Bowl game and the BCS National Championship game every four years, the stadium is the home field for the UCLA Bruins football team and has hosted five Super Bowls. Soccer matches have included the 1984 Summer Olympics, the final game of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and the final game of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. Many concerts and other events have been held in the stadium, such as a U2 concert in 2009. The Rose Bowl Aquatics Center is a facility located adjacent to the Rose Bowl Stadium. The pool hosted the final practices of the 2000 US Olympic swimming and diving team. In 2008, the facility held the U.S. National Diving Championships. The Rose Bowl Tennis Center, operated by the city of Pasadena, is located just south of the Rose Bowl stadium.

 
Pasadena is home to a number of art museums and public galleries, including the Norton Simon Museum, widely acknowledged as one of the finest art collections in the Western United States. The museum's collections include European paintings, sculpture and tapestry; sculpture from Southern Asia as well as an extensive sculpture garden. I saw masterpieces by Degas, Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Rembrandt and Cezanne. The Pasadena Museum of California Art hosts changing exhibitions of work by historical and contemporary California artists. I visited while they were setting up an exhibit that opened that night. It was a rare glimpse behind the scenes. We saw a musical at the famous Pasadena Playhouse. To protect the innocent I will not mention its name (many of us left at intermission). That does not diminish the importance of the Playhouse, which was established in 1917 and is the State Theatre of California.
 


The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, with painting and sculpture galleries, is adjacent to Pasadena in the city of San Marino. It is located on the 207-acre estate of the late Henry Huntington. The botanical gardens feature 14,000 varieties of plants on over 150 acres. There are the Chinese, Rose, Japanese, Desert and Zen Gardens. I saw an original Gutenberg Bible in the library. The innovative Kidspace Children's Museum is located in Brookside Park and features many fun, educational and interactive programs for kids to share with their families. The Gamble House (Procter & Gamble) was built in 1908 and is an example of early 20th century Craftsman architecture. The Gamble House is a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1966, it was deeded to the city of Pasadena in a mutual agreement with the University of Southern California School of Architecture. Every year, two fifth-year USC architecture students live in the house full-time.
 


Old Pasadena Melting Pot Food Tours- We took this three hour tour that covered about 1 1/4 miles of Old Pasadena, a National Register Historic District. This historic 22-block area is one of Southern California’s “hottest” shopping and entertainment areas. There are over 200 buildings dating back to the 1880’s. Conducted by proprietor Lisa Scalia we sampled 8 dishes including Indian, Mexican, baked goods, chocolate, tea and gelato.

 
Pasadena is a city worth visiting even when there is not a parade or football game.
 
 
For More Information-
www.nortonsimon.org
www.huntington.org
www.meltingpottours.com
www.kidspacemuseum.org
www.pasadena.langhamhotels.com
www.gamblehouse.org
www.pmcaonline.org
www.oldpasadena.org
www.pasadenaplayhouse.org

Big Bear Lake California

California’s Premiere Four-Season Alpine Resort
 
The Spanish explorers who first came upon Big Bear Valley named the Native Americans who lived there the "Serranos", which means mountaineers. These peace-loving people are thought to be Shoshonean by descent.

Many non-peace loving tribes became raiders & cattle rustlers. In July of 1845 a local rancher named Benjamin Wilson was asked to take a force of eighty well-armed men to pursue the raiders. Don Benito, as his men affectionately called him, split his force, sending the main body through Cajon Pass while he rode into the mountains following the "San Bernardino River". On the evening of the second day they arrived in a high mountain valley where "the whole lake and swamp seemed alive with bear." Don Benito Wilson later wrote: "Twenty-two Californians went out in pairs, and each pair lassoed one bear, and brought the result to camp, so that we had at one and the same time eleven bears. That prompted me to give the Lake the name it now bears." Wilson died in 1878, but before he died, he donated land and buildings for the construction of a college, which eventually became the University of Southern California. One of his grandchildren was the famous World War II General, George S. Patton.

 
It is estimated that between 1500 and 2000 people were in Holcomb Valley (part of the Bear Valley) during the peak of the Gold Rush Days in the 1860's. Today no structures remain at any of these historic mines and only caved in tunnels, collapsing shafts, and piles of colorful tailings are evidence that they once existed! When the Mormons began their settlement of San Bernardino in 1851, one of their vital needs was for lumber. Because Big Bear Valley was so far away from civilization and hauling costs were prohibitive, the valley was saved from the intensive timber cutting. Sawmills were in use for mining purposes and several small mills ran in Bear Valley. In 1924 Viggio Pederson began his sawmill. It is the last reminder of a once thriving industry in these mountains.

The peak of mountain cattle ranching lasted for about 60 years, from the 1880's until the 1940's, with most of the activity concentrated in the Bear Valley area. With the arrival of the Southern Pacific in Southern California in 1876, the area boomed as people flocked to the new land. In 1883 Frank E. Brown organized the Bear Valley Land and Water Company, purchased the necessary land, and a dam was completed in December of 1884. It was 60 feet high and 300 feet wide. At that time, the Bear Valley Dam created the largest man-made lake in the world. In 1911, J.S. Eastwood built the present multiple-arch dam, which tripled the capacity of the lake to 73,000 acre-feet. This dam was twenty feet higher. This 1911 dam was reinforced in 1988 to comply with increased earthquake safety standards.

 
The new mountain lake formed by the 1884 dam created a great interest in Big Bear Valley for recreation. Soon, trail weary travelers were regularly using the five abandoned dam builders’ cabins. When a new wagon road from Santa Ana Canyon was completed in 1899, visitors flocked to the lake in the pines. By 1916, two roads were built, and with the development of automobiles, the number of resorts continually increased. In 1924 over 24,000 cars visited Big Bear over the 4th of July weekend alone.  The primary summer attraction by the 1920's was fishing. I was told there are several hundred thousand trout in Big Bear Lake. Not sure if that is a fish tale? Fishing, boating, mountain biking and hiking are great attractions in the summer to this day. Big Bear Valley has become Southern California's most popular year-around resort with around 10 million visitors a year. It is 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles and has a year-round population of 21,000 with elevations from 6,750 to 9,000 feet. The fresh water lake (fed solely by snow melt) is seven miles long, one mile across at its widest point, with an average depth of 35 feet. There are over 22 miles of shoreline.
 

Through the efforts of Judge Clifford R Lynn, the Big Bear Sports District was formed in 1934 to develop winter sports in Big Bear. The first ski lift (known as the Clifford Lynn lift) was constructed on "Lynn Hill" in 1949. Tommi Tyndall was the Lynn Lift's first Far West Ski Association certified instructor. It was through Tommi's dedication that Bear Valley became recognized as a winter sports resort. In the early 60's it was obvious that nature could not provide snow for a major ski area so Tommi arranged financing for the first major snowmaking system in California. Snow Summit has increased its snow-making to over 200 acres of runs with a capacity of 7,000 skiers. Bear Mountain was started in the 1950's as the "Moonridge Ski Area." A mile-long lift was installed in 1969. It has been renamed “Bear Mountain” and has been increased to 195 acres of ski runs with a capacity of approximately 7,000 skiers.

 
The San Bernardino Mountains are the highest range south of the Sierra Nevadas and are also unique in being one of the few transverse ranges in the nation. Proclaimed a "Forest Reserve" in 1893, these mountains were redesignated as the San Bernardino National Forest by presidential proclamation in 1925. Consisting of 1270 square miles within the boundary of the National Forest are 812,633 acres, of which 198,042 acres are State and private lands. The highest mountain in Southern California is Mt. San Gorgonio - nicknamed Old Grayback - at 11,502 feet.
 
Must See-

 
Big Bear Mountain Resort- Play Golf at 7,000 feet. The 9-hole mountain-style course sits at an elevation of 7,000 feet. Ride the Scenic Sky Chair. The mile-long Scenic Sky Chair transports you through the San Bernardino National Forest to an elevation of 8,200 feet in 15 minutes. When I used the lift almost all the riders were cross-county mountain biking. There is a BBQ at the top although I recommend eating before taking the Sky Chair. There is a long wait and the food is just average. Have your cameras ready during the descent for beautiful Big Bear Lake vistas. During the winter skiers and snowboarders flock to the resorts’ wide-open runs that have one of the best snowmaking systems in the world.  www.bigbearmountainresorts.com

 
Captain John’s Fawn Harbor & Marina- We were lucky that Capt John was free to take us out on Big Bear Lake on one of his electric boats. Several members of our group opted for kayaking on the lake. There are also pontoons, canoes and stand up paddleboards available for rental. Capt John was a font of information. He mentioned that there were several hundred thousand trout in the lake. www.fawnharbor.com
 

Gold Mining Tour with Big Bear Off-Road Adventures. There are several tours available using 4-wheel drive vehicles. We explored the ridges, canyons, meadows, streams and rivers of the San Bernardino Mountains. Tours range from easy to moderate to serious and last from 1 1/2 to 5 hours. We had a sack lunch in Holcomb Valley www.offroadadventures.com

 
Big Bear Historical Museum- We were lucky that Doug Walton the owner of Big Bear Off-Road Adventures was our driver. He told us many stories from his 20 years living in the area. He also took us to the Big Bear Historical Museum that has exhibits that include the Indian period to the present day. There is a furnished 1875 log cabin, gold mining artifacts, and displays of native animals, birds and reptiles and exhibits of toys, historical photographs and minerals. Memorabilia from the days of Hollywood super stars as well as a working blacksmith shop. www.bigbearhistory.org

 
Moonridge Animal Park- We were taken here for a moonlight safari. The park is a wildlife animal sanctuary and rehabilitation center founded in 1959. They are the home to 160 orphaned and injured wildlife representing over 89 species. Huckleberry is a rescued three-legged black bear. There are mountain lions, grizzlies, cougars, bobcats, coyotes and raccoons. The Zoo director Debbie Richardson took rescued baby wolves home and bottle-fed them every night (along with her daughter). The animals allow her into their cages to feed them. It was a heartwarming experience. www.moonridgezoo.org

 
Robinhood Resort’s Sherwood Forest- Built in 2002, the rooms have gas-burning fireplaces, Jacuzzi tubs, and lake views and they are located within a few blocks of the village shops. We had several meals at their Nottingham Restaurant. www.robinhoodresort.info
 

Village Walkabout- Our hotel was in easy walking distance from the center of town. We ate at Evergreen Steak & Seafood Restaurant and had snacks at Himalayan Restaurant and a desert cooking demonstration at the Copper Q. We spent some time at the First Green art gallery in the world (their claim)- Gallery of the American Landscape. Elevation Day Spa gave us a 10-minute massage and I was so impressed I went back later for a foot and hand reflexology treatment. .www.elevationdayspa.com ; www.himalayanbigbear.com ; www.galleryoftheamericanlandscape.com

 

Zip lining- The highlight of the whole trip was our visit to Action Zipline Tours. After an introduction video in town their off-road Safari Jeep took our group 2 miles deep into the forest. There is a nine-line zipline course over the treetops. I have zip lined once before over downtown Las Vegas but that was only one line. This time I had time to think and get nervous many times as we zipped through 9 towers. Several of our journalist group decided not to participate and one quit after the first tower. Of course, if there is trouble it will find me. On the last zip I suddenly stopped short of the last tower by about 30 feet and had to be rescued. It was the highlight of my trip. www.actionziptours.com
 
For More Information- www.bigbear.com or (800) 424-4232