The El Tovar Hotel lies just 20 feet from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Opened in 1905, it is the quintessential Park Lodge. Dinner is pricey; breakfast there is a Fine Thing You Can Afford.

Wendy remembers the blue cornmeal pancakes with three kinds of local syrup, including prickly pear. Her teenaged son exclaimed, “They have the best hot chocolate in the world!” Served in a silver pitcher, no less.

For a taste of luxury, try breakfast at the El Tovar.

Then a friend, Sara, got me a black, lined Moleskin notebook for my birthday. I swear the way the pen slid over that paper was different. I wrote better, faster. I took such pleasure in that little notebook, when it was full I bought my own. It was worth every penny.

Sometimes I get the bargain basement discounted leather-bound books at Barnes & Noble. Those make me happy, too. It doesn’t have to be Moleskin. Whatever makes you smile.

Step inside, though, and you have a taste of local life. The espresso bar is full of workers day in, day out. In the morning the smell of cream-filled, flaky pastries fills the air. And they sell good bottles of Ticino merlot for 5 Swiss francs. That’s just a few bucks.

For those of you who can’t hop over to Lugano for a quick visit, here’s an article from Food & Wine on fine Italian Wines you probably can afford. It’s called Italy’s Top 25 under $20. Enjoy!

We liked different percentages. The 74% bar became his, 72% was my favorite and Amy liked a tiny little bit less, I think. I find 69% – 72% is my acceptable level, unless there are add-ins like good toasted hazelnuts, chopped coffee beans or cocoa nibs. Then I’m a little more flexible. Good luck finding your own perfect percentage! Have fun!

That last point is remarkable because for me a fantastic customer service experience sounds like this, “We’d be happy to process that refund for you. It’ll just take (a few minutes to a few days acceptable here) to post to your credit card account. Thank you for your business; we hope you’ll be back again.”
These are playing cards with a photo of my Mom breaking spontaneously into her Julie Andrews routine in Wengen, Switzerland. They’re thick, heavy cards and the photo is crystal clear — I was pleasantly surprised when I visited her this summer and saw them for the first time. As you can imagine, I am not a frequently pleasantly surprised consumer, so when I say they’re good, they’re good. Of course, she loved the photo!

They were around $20, and do double duty as a great souvenir!

I’ve also made and sent several calendars. Kodak Gallery almost always has free shipping or 20 – 30% off specials going on, too. Google for coupon and promo codes.

Addendum: I’ve also had fantastic results now with photo products from Moo.

I don’t normally like pools, especially where lots of people go. They kind of creep me out. Not Lavey-les-Bains. This was fine, and I mean like a fine thing, fine.
There are several pools, jets in a row shooting out of the pool wall at different heights… there’s a system… people walk along in a row to get the full massage effect. There are turkish baths and nordic saunas all included in the price. Massages are separate, and I didn’t feel I needed one. Our muscles were loose and limp like spaghetti afterward and all we wanted to do was sleep.

Here’s a perfect example. Tonight I called my friend, Alesia, to see if she wanted to grab dinner. She said first she wanted to have a drink at the Principe Leopoldo (I think she did this because she knows I want to sing in the piano bar there. I noticed she only had water.). Now, the Principe Leopoldo is just down the street from our houses, but it is such a fine hotel that only very rich people know about it. It is beautiful. When you’re there, “luxury” and “understated elegance” come to mind.

We sat at the table just in front of the pictured fountain. It’s designed so it looks like it’s spilling into Lake Lugano far below.

Now, you wouldn’t want to pay for dinner there, perhaps, but anyone can afford the glass of prosecco and bottle of water we had. It even comes with free bar snacks! The view and ambience alone were worth what we paid — 25 Swiss francs, about $20 US, including the far too large tip I left because it was the only coin I had. Plus, I was feeling flush.

We headed down the hill to the BP gas station, one of Lugano’s best kept secrets, for dinner.

You can drive your boat up to most of them and get some of the best fried fish sandwiches or made-to-order burgers you’ve ever had. You may have to fight off the seagulls, but if you sing the song loudly enough between bites you shouldn’t have too much of a problem.

My Mom and Dad, Stefan and I made an afternoon of it recently, lunching at the New Pass Grill… and then visiting the Mote Marine Aquarium. You know how cops always know the best local places to eat? A group in uniform pulled their boat up to the dock while we were there.

This guy hung around nearby for a while then got up the nerve to walk right through all the picnic tables to pick through the garbage can. He was gettin’ himself a little Cheeseburger in Paradise,too!

Mote isn’t fancy like Sea World — it’s the real thing. Adults – $15, Children 4 – 12 – $10 Stefan got beautiful photos:

Two dolphins were rescued after they’d beached themselves — separately, not together. One was younger and wanting to play soooooooo badly. She finally gave up on getting him to play and swam across the pool and brought a hula hoop back right in front of all the visitors. Then she swam around knocking it up in the air and hitting it on every fin she had. She was having a grand time.

For a fine, cheap day in Sarasota spend the morning at Mote, lunch on Cheeseburgers in Paradise at the New Pass Grill then head back out onto the water or the beach!