Category: 2 Mile Top 10

Hello Palm Springs! Ace Hotel & Swim Club’s cool digs are within shouting distance of downtown; perfect for finding the top 10’s within 2 miles! Here ya go… Because this desert playground is popular with the hipsters, a few top tens are on property! Vespa n’est pas? The Italian mopeds are perfect for zipping around town. Ace has a shiny fleet to rent. Guests go online to scootpalmsprings.com to reserve. Minimum time is 4 hours in summer (because it’s HOTTTTT!!) and 5 in the winter. Price for the half day is $66. That includes a helmet (who cares if it looks dorkie or musses your hair, it’ll protect your gray matter), tour maps, a full tank of gas, and locks. Zoom, zoom! Head for a stogie stop at Fame Cigar & Wine Lounge. The owners need to add beer to the name, because suds flow as much as the vino. There’s a relaxed outdoor patio to smoke. Knowledgeable staff will help you pick the perfect puff! (1.8 miles from hotel). Nearby Lulu California Bistro is serving bites and libations. They’ve won Best in the Valley for brekkie, lunch, happy hour, late night dining, international cuisine, martinis, and so on…(1.6 miles from hotel). Treat your inner child at Rocket Fizz Candy & Sweets. They carry 1000's of different candies, bottled sodas, gag gifts, toys, nostalgic tin signs and many other surprises. (1.7 miles from hotel). Hotel room #329. Bed. Spare time. You take it from there. Ace seating retro style. Perfect for people watching…and believe me there’s plenty to see! Diner sustenance at its finest. Steps from your guest room is Ace hotel’s King’s Highway Diner. Beyond its threshold is 1950’s decor with 2016 food. Ya gotta try Devil’s On Horseback just for the name! Marcona almonds stuffed dates wrapped in

As someone who travels a lot, I sometimes think an upcoming destination may not have as much to offer as I'd like. But, usually I'm pleasantly surprised. Glendale, California was one of those refreshingly wonderful surprises. It's a suburb eight miles north of downtown Los Angeles, ranked the third largest city in the sprawling SoCal county. The Hilton Glendale   http://bit.ly/2qJsRgA , where I stayed, is on the corner of the most happening street in the area... Brand Blvd. No need to go far from the hotel to get your fun on! Museum of Neon Art: (1.5 miles) The smiling faces of automotive icons Manny, Moe and Jack on a '70s-era Pep Boys neon sign fill the wall behind the museum's front desk. This is one of the many classic pieces of advertising rescued by Executive Director, Kim Koga. While the Glendale museum's goal is to preserve pieces dating as far back as the early 1900's, they also showcase modern day neon with art exhibits that take glass lighted tubes to a new level.  In a dark gallery, The Art of Plasma show fills the space — and your mind — with what happens when psychedelic neon marries science. Plasma artists Wayne Strattman and Mundy Hepburn display pieces created by gas ionizing inside glass vessels shaped as skulls, frogs, trees, and more, resulting in dynamic, kinetic colors!   One of the really fun events put on by MONA is the neon cruise series. Viewers are escorted on a local bus tour to famous and lesser-known pieces of neon signage around Los Angeles and nearby environs.   http://bit.ly/2rNikhZ  Alex Theater/Performing Arts & Entertainment Center: (1.1 miles) 'LOVE when I find an old theater still viable today! The Alex marquee has stood proud in the Glendale community since 1925. Myriad events keep the venue humming. This summer Senator