May 2009 Archives

Visitors to San Jose can count on four things in June: the best weather in the Bay area, many hotel deals, great entertainment and a fine selection of cuisine. From June 3-13, more than 25 of the best restaurants will offer extraordinary prix fixe menus at  during the first-ever DINE DOWNTOWN event.

 

Restaurants will roll out the red carpet with three-course meals priced at $20, $30 and $40.  Epicurean delights will include Johnny Cakes with butter poached lobster, American caviar, black forest ham, and sweet corn beurre blanc?  That's just an appetizer offered by A.P Stumps Chop House. 

Diners from out of town can take advantage of great deals at many hotels.

 

For information on reservations, menus and participating restaurants in DINE DOWNTOWN, visit http://www.sjdowntown.com/dinedowntown.html.

A new interactive quarterly online publication called Hawaii.com "The Magazine" is offered by the vacation-planning website Hawaii.com. To see this new magazine with easy to use page-turning technology go to www.hawaii.com/magazine.

 

"The staff at Hawaii.com has worked to create a unique magazine that showcases the Sandwich Islands, with feature stories, great photography and fun tidbits you would never have known or even guessed existed in paradise," explained Rhett Long, president of Hawaii.com.

 

The May edition is 48 pages of interactive features with links to interesting web sites and embedded video clips giving you the feeling of really being right there in Hawaii.  These tools make it easy to peruse its pages including thumbnails of the entire edition, the ability to turn pages just like a paper magazine, zoom to 400 percent, to email a page to a friend or to print a page or the entire beautiful magazine.

 

Some of the features of the first edition include:

 

"Nine Things You Didn't Know About Hawaii" - A number of fun things to do that just maybe you did not know about, including finding petroglyphs and discovering little-known Kaho'olawe Island.

 

"Follow the Whales to Maui" - Humpback whales winter in Maui's welcoming waters and the Pacific Whale Foundation has been integral to saving the whale population.

 

"Touch the Spirit of a Saint" - Kalaupapa National Historical Park on Molokai honors the spirit of Father Damien.

 

"The Magic of Kualoa Ranch" - This place on Oahu has been held sacred by the people of Hawaii for centuries.

 

"A Hidden Island Gem" - Lanai is perhaps the least known of the Hawaiian Islands.

 

"This first issue only scratches the surface of what's to come, whether you dream of paradise or visit often, we hope readers will enjoy this inaugural issue and future issues," says Long.

 

Future quarterly issues will focus on the people who make our island home, special places that inspire the world's greatest photographers and writers, stories of legend and history, delicious food and spirits, beaches, golf, nightlife hotspots plus much more.

 

Of course, reading this magazine will entice readers to visit Hawaii and the best way to plan their trips is by visiting Hawaii.com.

 

"Research has shown that the most powerful tool for forming, planning, packaging and selling the dream is nothing more than an interactive shop window where consumers sit and dream. Since the launch of Hawaii.com travel site in 2002, our staff has wanted to create Hawaii.com "The Magazine." Now it's here," Long says.

Remember, information on the magazine and much more available on Hawaii.com, your source for everything Hawaii! You can book your trip right from its pages.

To celebrate the annual return of Catalina Island's famous flying fish, Catalina will hold a Flying Fish Festival from May 28-31. The four-day festival will offer lots of family fun.

From May to September, the famous flying fish soar out of the water at heights of up to 30 feet, gliding as far as a quarter mile. The flying fish shows itself at night when lured with lights.

 

The Flying Fish Festival kicks off on Thursday with the Taste Around of Avalon, a chance to explore some of Catalina's finest restaurants.

 

This year's festival includes the 80^th anniversary of the famous Casino Building.  A Saturday evening concert in the Casino Ballroom will commemorate the architectural wonder, completed in May of 1929.  The Good Vibrations will be play a tribute to the Beach Boys.  Tickets are $19.29.. 

 

Other events include evening Flying Fish Boat Tours aboard the Blanche W, a street fair and beer garden, a professional sand sculpture creation, free musical and theatrical entertainment, family kayak relay races, live marine touch tanks, garden tours and beach bingo.