Long famed as a magnet for artists seeking sunny skies, Santa Fe conjures up images of Georgia O’Keefe, flashes of turquoise, and earthen architecture. So it should come as no surprise that the city has the most art galleries and museums per capita in the entire country.
Fewer people realize that Santa Fe is as much an adventure sports center as it is a haven for artistic pursuits. Come December, the dusty desert town takes advantage of its sky-high elevation and offers some first-class powder at Ski Santa Fe (SkiSantaFe.com) with none of the insane lift lines endemic to many resort towns.
Do a few runs on the beginner’s Santa Fe trail or risk it all on a black diamond, then hunker down at the lodge for a local beer. The perfect tonic for those apres ski sore muscles is Ten Thousand Waves (TenThousandWaves.com), a Japanese spa offering massages anchored around a communal soaking tub.
By Greg Garry – Full Story at Out
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Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
A Dupont Circle location, The Beacon Hotel creates an experience tailored to the lifestyle of leisure travelers, full service, where guests enjoy exceptional hospitality in a welcoming atmosphere. A fresh design, the latest in technology advancements flat panel televisions, WebTV and Wi-Fi connectivity.
For my road trip from Tucson to Austin I was stoked about the two stops me and my passenger would make along the way: Big Bend National Park in Texas for the Santa Elena Canyon hike, and White Sands in New Mexico, which I had already visited during my New Mexico road trip a few years ago, and which I loved.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise – White Sands is a desert after all, and as many of you know I love deserts. White Sands with its bright white dunes is truly special, something I’ve never seen anywhere in the world (not even on photos of deserts around the world, but tell me if you know of any other white deserts so that I can add them to my travel wish list!).
I was excited to go on another hike in White Sands – and this time in a bit cooler weather (last time I came here it was over 100*F /38*C and we actually had to turn around before finishing the trail). Even though dune after dune might seem repetitive, no dune is like the other, and every time you climb up a dune, you have yet another sweeping view ahead of you.
I’ve visited the Southwest five times over the past few years, but it took me until my 6th visit this year to finally visit a ranch, a real working dude ranch with a bunch of cowboys, horses, cattles – and all that back-dropped by the spectacular Southwest scenery: the barren Sonoran desert with its countless giant Saguaro cacti, dusty desert roads and rugged mountains.
It might have taken me six years to finally experience ranch life in the Southwest, but when I eventually got a glimpse of it, it was the finest of the finest: the fabulous White Stallion Ranch just outside Tucson, where my friend Lynn took me one morning to take photos of the horses as they were gathered in one huge enclosure and herded into another one by a group of wranglers.
The 5am wake-up call for this photography outing was painful, but the scene that unfolded when the cowboys entered the enclosure to bring the horses down together was incredibly beautiful: the morning sun was just rising above the mountain peaks, bathing the ranch in a warm, golden light.
Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
We Welcome You to the Wainwright Inn B&B … the Berkshires Bed and Breakfast originated in 1766, offering personalized service and fine home cooking by the owners; Chris and Barb . Nestled in the heart of the Southern Berkshire region in the town of Great Barrington. Walking distance to the town’s best restaurants, shops, theatres and other attractions.
The Inn is a four season getaway easily accessible from Boston and New York. We invite you to relax in our gracious setting and enjoy the hospitality of a true New England Country Our house was originally built by Captain Peter Ingersoll in 1766 on the site of an older house built in 1720s by his father Moses Ingersoll, and was known as the Troy Tavern and Inn. The colonists undoubtedly met right in our living room, planning their participation in the siege of the British troops in Boston. During the American Revolution, our house served as a fort and colonial armory.
In 1790 the house was bought by David Wainwright, a statesman and state representative. The house became known as Wainwright Hall, and later became home to his daughter Electra and son-in-law Ebenezer Pope. One of their sons, Franklin Pope, remodeled and added our porches.
Franklin Pope was an engineer, inventor, and patent attorney who did extensive work on the telegraph and electrical systems in Great Barrington, assisted by his brothers Ralph and Henry Pope. Franklin Pope with Thomas Edison was co-inventors of the ticker tape. Wainwright Hall, as it was known at the turn of the century, was a tourist destination featuring the best amenities of its day.
Successive owners have added to the charm and the diversity of the Wainwright Inn B&B, keeping it a well maintained Great Barrington Landmark. Come see the Wainwright Inn as it once again serves the traveling public.
Whenever we visit a new city, we like to find a great place to see the views.
Palm Springs, Calif., may be the city most associated with the legendary Dinah Shore festival (so called for a golf tournament bearing the entertainer’s name), the annual gathering of lesbians seeking sun and fun. But for the past five years, Las Vegas has hosted its own Dinah gathering.
This year’s Dinah Vegas — which wrapped Sunday and took place at the Rio, Tropicana, Flamingo, Linq, and Luxor resorts — was another rousing success, according to founder Sandy Sachs.
After spending my first weekend in Tucson with Katie, I had a surprise visitor in town for my second weekend, and VisitArizona had listed an event online that piqued our interest: a PowWow in Phoenix.
A PowWow is a gathering of several Native American communities who perform their traditional dances and showcase their communities’ costumes, and not knowing much about Native American culture at all, despite several visits to the Southwest, including various Indian reservations, I decided that it was time to learn more about their culture and so we headed to Phoenix for the day.
A PowWow is traditional held so that Native Americans of different communities can meet, dance and sing together, make new friendships, and of course: preserve their heritage and culture. But there is usually a dancing and/or singing competition, in the case of the PowWow we went to, there were competitions for both.