October 2007 ACCESS Advantage
- Upcoming Southern California Events!
- Dancing with Your Stars!
- The Tea House on Los Rios!
- Spice it up with ACCESS
Upcoming Southern California Events!
So often the year-end brings with it last minute programs, symposia, launches or those site inspections that somehow only seem to fit into your schedule during the Holiday Season when your program calendar may be a little less jam-packed. If this is the case for you, we would like to share some end-of-the-year holiday happenings and non-holiday special events occurring in our Southern California destinations during the last few months of the year. If you have an upcoming program in one of our cities, perhaps we can dove-tail a program dinner event with an already occurring show or performance in our area. If you are coming to town for a site inspection, maybe we can squeeze some harvest festivities or holiday joy into your schedule. Let us know when you will be here, how we can help, and we will share what’s happening around town. Just a few examples include:
Los Angeles: Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood is back, and badder than ever! On select dates in the month of October, experience the scariest of all Southern California Halloween celebrations – if you dare! If you don’t get your share of witches there, consider the smash musical hit Wicked, at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, for an evening on the town for you and your guests. States producer Marc Platt, “The enthusiasm generated by the audiences at the Pantages Theatre…was unlike the response in any other city that the show has played.” He further states that Wicked will continue in Los Angeles as long as the public’s demand for the show will allow. If museum exhibits are of interest, several of the area’s exhibits are worth viewing during these last few months of 2007. These include Microcars: The Minimum in Motoring at the Petersen Auto Museum where you will see the world’s smallest vehicles, minute passenger automobiles normally powered by tiny gasoline engines. SoCal: Southern California Art of the 1960’s and 1970’s at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art explores the myth of California, particularly Southern California. Once December sails in, so do the boat parades. The picturesque harbor of Marina del Rey comes alive with colorful illuminations, a lighted boat parade and fireworks and the Long Beach Parade of 1000 Lights in the downtown Shoreline Marina is another not-to-be-missed sparkling experience.
Orange County: Pro basketball is coming to Orange County in November! The Orange County Gladiators are one of the newest entries into the American Basketball Association, the fastest growing and largest professional basketball league in North America. Commencing play in November, they will be playing their 18 home games in South Orange County. For an artistic experience, enter the enchanted winter wonderland of the 17th annual Winter Fantasy over four weekends in November and December at the Sawdust Art Festival, featuring over 175 artists and craftspeople from all regions of the country. If you are in the market for original, handcrafted gift items, you've found your one-stop shopping place! Art items include: hand blown glass, ceramics, clothing, ornaments, jewelry, painting, sculpture and so much more. December is a wonderful send-off to the year with various celebrations about town and with local attractions taking on holiday flair. At Disneyland, Main Street USA is festooned with lights and a 60-foot Christmas tree is adorned with thousands of ornaments. At California Adventure, the entrance to the park converts from Halloween candy corn to holiday candy canes extending the holiday spirit as guests enter the park. As Newport Beach’s holiday spectacular, the 99th annual boat parade sets the harbor ablaze from December 12-16. The Christmas Boat Parade, hailed as “one of the top ten holiday happenings in the nation” by the New York Times, is truly a magical holiday tradition for all ages as sleek yachts, kayaks, canoes and other small boats light up the harbor while a dazzling array of holiday lights and music fills the air.
Palm Springs: With the perfect weather, it is no wonder that golf and golf-related events make up much of the year-end festivities in Palm Springs and the Desert Resort Communities. If you happen to be in town October 28th, take in one of the most unique parades in the USA – the world-renowned Palm Desert Golf Cart Parade featuring electric golf carts, marching bands, celebrities and local dignitaries. November offers up Golfest Palm Springs, an event unlike any other golf show; it is a golf lifestyle event with something for everyone including the opportunity to try out and purchase the latest brands and to hit all of the golf balls you want. Late November features the LG Skins Game at Indian Wells Golf Resort where elite golfers compete for a $1 million prize. December brings with it the 14th Annual Greater Palm Springs Celebrity Golf Classic, a 4 day event featuring 144 golfers including 40 celebrities from the entertainment and sports world. Non golf-related things to do include the Art of Food and Wine Palm Desert, a unique four-day celebration in November attracting thousands of art and culinary enthusiasts from across California and around the country to enjoy the very best in art, food and wine education and hospitality. The event features food and wine tastings, celebrity chef demonstrations, culinary seminars, art, music, shopping and golf - all nestled in southern California's beautiful Coachella Valley. October marks the season opening of the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies with its salute to the Golden Age of Tin Pan Alley. From late November throughout the month of December, WildLights Holiday Festival at The Living Desert celebrates the yuletide season with a festive light display featuring more than 350,000 twinkling lights that illuminate the park after dark, turning the desert into a holiday winter wonderland.
San Diego: In addition to being home to one of the best year-round holiday stores in Southern California (in case we just “happen to be in the area” while out and about on a site inspection), San Diego has a lot going on these last few months of the year. Fleet Week continues through October 27th. This annual event is comprised of several activities including 4 flagship events – the Port of San Diego Sea ‘n Air Parade, MCAS Miramar Air Show; the Fleet Week Football Classic and the Coronado Speed Fest. Fleet Week is in honor of the men and women serving in the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps. Consider a day excursion to experience the Julian Fall Apple Harvest, through November, where you will enjoy autumn foliage, art shows, entertainment and seasonal foods such as Apple Pie and Cider in this scenic mining town. The Dead Sea Scrolls, 10 of which are being exhibited for the first time ever, are on special exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park through December 31. Will you be in town December 7 and 8? Enjoy San Diego’s favorite kick-off of the holiday season, Balboa Park December Nights, where participating Balboa Park museums open their doors free of charge while you experience sparkling lights, theatrical and musical entertainment, and foods from around the globe. Sea World’s Holiday Celebration transforms the park into a special nighttime wonderland on Saturdays in December (and daily the week following Christmas) through December 31. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, a favorite holiday fable, is featured at the Old Globe from November 25 through December 30th. For an illuminating experience, San Diego’s glittering Holiday Boat Parade of Lights, December 9-16 can be enjoyed on land or on the sea along San Diego Bay.
If your travel plans include a trip to Southern California for a program or site inspection in these last few months of the year, please call upon our professional sales managers and we will be happy to assist with your destination management needs.
Los Angeles
Dancing with Your Stars! So…You think you can dance? Well, so do we; we know you have the moves! Building upon the success of two highly rated TV shows, “Dancing With The Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” the ACCESS Los Angeles team has the perfect interactive, star-quality event for your next conference or incentive travel program. We will show your guests how to “step out” through exhibitions by professional ballroom dancers straight from the two hit shows. Following the exhibitions, these dancers, famous in their own right, will remain for a short time and dance with your guests so they can hit the dance floor with moves of their own.
Whether you would like us to design a “TV Studio” environment through décor and additional participatory entertainment or an edgy, ultra chic nightclub atmosphere, or a glamorous, Art-Deco-inspired, 1940’s Hollywood event as the setting for your special evening, the creative ACCESS Los Angeles team will make it happen.
Our talented Master of Ceremonies will introduce your guests to an amazing array of beautifully costumed and well-choreographed professional dancers who will entertain your guests with a combination of stunning ballroom exhibitions in just the right mix to get your guests in the mood to try some moves on their own. At a designated moment, the MC will entice your guests out onto the dance floor where our professional dancers will invite them to receive first-hand lessons in the art of ballroom dancing. Guests will truly feel like the stars that they are as they are instructed on the intricate dance steps of the Tango, the graceful and elegant Waltz, and the alluring moves of the Mambo or Cha Cha – a gift definitely worth taking home to share with friends and family! Join us for an exciting evening of Hollywood glamour and show us your moves. We know you can dance!
Contact the destination management professionals at ACCESS Los Angeles for this program and other Hollywood-inspired events.
Orange County
The Tea House on Los Rios! Just down the street from the always popular Mission San Juan Capistrano lies a hidden treasure street with a fun spot for daytime or evening group use – the Tea House on Los Rios. The Los Rios Historic District, with its 31 structures, comprises one of the oldest continuing neighborhoods in Orange County and includes three adobe homes built in 1794.
As we take a stroll down the shady lane that is Los Rios Street, the oldest street in California, we encounter the Tea House - an 1887 Victorian home and tea house surrounded by beautiful traditional English gardens. The Tea House, with its elegant wallpaper and white wainscoting, contains an array of lovely treasures from a pump organ to an antique silver Russian samovar and, quite naturally, a vast collection of china tea cups and pots. Known as the “jewel of the street,” the Tea House features several quaint dining spots. From the “music room” off the foyer, guests can watch the mission bells as they ring. The side veranda features a waterfall constructed from an antique Parisian shower and tub surrounded by kitchen herbs and edible flowers.
The menu is diverse with delicious scones and “Devon Cream” declared by English visitors as the closest to the real thing they have found away from home. If a leisure “Tea” is your choice, consider opening with a glass of champagne and perhaps add a bowl of home-made soup from the full kitchen. Assorted finger sandwiches with fresh fruit and moist pumpkin bread are some components of the delightful luncheon menu. For heartier fare, consider the prime rib with Yorkshire pudding or Bombay Chicken Curry finished off with an English Trifle or bread pudding with brandy sauce and, of course, a cup of tea in an old world setting!
Only 10-20 minutes away from Orange County’s modern Coastal Resorts, this gem is the perfect way to include a bit of Early California history into a full program of events incorporating the luxuries of The OC. Join us for an excursion to Los Rios and recapture the tranquility of the slower pace of life that existed before the turn of the century and learn more about early California history where it all began many years ago.
Contact the team at ACCESS Orange County to find out how best to incorporate this venue and the surrounding area into your next conference or incentive travel program.
Spice it up with ACCESS
Stuffed and Baked Apples! From “The Hollywood Cookbook, Cooking for Causes” comes James Denton’s (Desperate Housewives) recipe – perfect for an autumn afternoon.
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick), plus extra for pan
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- ¼ cup raisins
- 2 cups (8 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
- 6 large apples (baking apples)
- 3 cinnamon sticks, cut in half
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter, then add pecans and raisins.
- Core the apples, leaving apples intact by not coring all the way through the bottom, removing about 2 tablespoons of flesh from each apple.
- Fill each apple with 1/6 of the mixture, and place apples into a buttered baking dish. Insert a half cinnamon stick into each apple.
- Bake for 30 minutes, until apples soften.
Enjoy!
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“All of our expectations were far exceeded due to these two individuals [Fiona and Allison] beginning from my first call to ACCESS to the final drop off back to the hotel after dinner. The timing was perfect, their smiles, warm personalities and professional demeanor certainly added to this perfect event.”
Executive SecretaryALLERGAN
Regulatory Affairs & Safety Operations