Travelers

Newport Beach residents don't have to travel far for the Los Angeles Times Travel Show's top-rated domestic destination. In fact, they don't have to travel at all. With more than 10 miles of beaches and a population of about 85,000, Newport was recognized as the Best Domestic Destination during the Jan. 27 to 29 travel show at the Los Angeles Convention Center. "As residents, I think we often forget about how many wonderful things there are in this town," Mayor Nancy Gardner said.

Drew Graham will always have Paris. The Newport Harbor High School 1996 alumnus spent 10 years in Europe, including eight years in the City of Light, before returning home to open a Parisian vacation apartment rental agency. "With CobbleStay, we create Parisian insiders out of travelers," Graham said of the Costa Mesa-based company he launched in 2010. Upon returning home from Paris, Graham saw a need for a bridge between American travelers and French culture. "I think that it is very hard to navigate the city on so many different levels without having had the experience of living there yourself," Graham said.

SANTA ANA - Occupy Orange County took a different turn Friday for the two-year anniversary of theU.S. Supreme Courtruling involving Citizens United. They went for laughs. Still, the day in downtown Santa Ana was all about raising awareness of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the January 2010 decision that prohibited the government from limiting funds from independent parties, such as corporations and labor unions, for political purposes. "People driving by will hopefully see the signs saying, 'Corporations are not people,' and, 'Your voice should not equal a dollar bill,' and take that [message]

COSTA MESA - Zora McPhail, 11, is trying to raise money to travel as a student ambassador to Canada, where she will meet members of Parliament, build and sleep in a tepee, and learn about our neighbors to the north. There are plenty of cultural curiosities to explore as well. Canadians, for example, dip French fries in malt vinegar. "I want to try it," the young Costa Mesa resident said with a smile. "I don't know if it's going to be good. " Zora, a sixth-grader at the Waldorf School of Orange County in Costa Mesa, was accepted into the People to People Ambassador program, which President Eisenhower created to foster world peace through direct interaction between people of different cultures.

I recently reviewed five years of travel expenses for school Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard. Before revealing what I found, it is important you understand why I am qualified to pass judgment. Since 1983, I have attended, spoken, exhibited and organized dozens of conferences. In all the years I traveled, I never purchased anything from a minibar, never charged a movie to my room, never ordered room service and tried whenever possible to eat economically, avoiding hotel restaurants as they are notoriously more expensive than outside eateries.

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT - Foothill Ranch couple Elysia Eberhart and John Sleeper knew they'd have to wait for hours if they were going to fly the day before Thanksgiving. But the wait at John Wayne Airport wasn't where they expected. The newly minted Terminal C was virtually empty when they walked in Wednesday afternoon. About 10 minutes passed from the time they got in line for Southwest Airlines' ticket counter and headed over to the security line. Instead, their wait was on the other side, as they waited for their 3 p.m. flight to arrive.

CORONA DEL MAR - Those accustomed to traveling thousands of miles with the comforts of eyeshades, flight attendants and fluffy pillows may not understand the trip Patrick Di Giacomo is planning. But those with a sense of rugged adventure will. When the 56-year-old money manager says goodbye to Corona del Mar on Saturday, his only luxury for the two-month trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina - a journey of nearly 6,000 miles - will be the ash-colored leather seat of his BMW 1200 GS motorcycle.

COSTA MESA - Even for the most seasoned trucker, hauling a 14,000-pound Christmas tree down the 5 Freeway is a pretty unusual experience. South Coast Plaza's 96-foot white fir - the same size and species as the one used last year - arrived at 7 a.m. in Town Center Park on Friday after an 11-hour drive down one of the state's busiest freeways. "It's the start of Christmas," said Richard Coffey, the truck driver who's been responsible for transporting the holiday cargo 650 miles from Mt. Shasta for the last three years.

The Resort at Pelican Hill is Condé Nast Traveler readers' top resort in the country, according to the results of the annual 2011 Reader's Choice Awards released last week. Pelican Hill, which celebrates its third anniversary Nov. 26, scored 96.3 in the annual awards that rank more than 1,120 top resorts and hotels worldwide. The Newport Coast resort is the only Southern California resort to earn a top national ranking in the history of the Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards, said resort spokeswoman Kate Starr.

Taylor King is on the move again, and this time he's going overseas. The former Mater Dei High School basketball standout has decided to skip his final year of college eligibility and play professionally in Germany, according to his last college coach, Ken Ammann of Concordia University. "He got some good offers and so he decided to go travel," Ammann said. "It's a good opportunity for him. I heard he got a deal in Germany and there were still more on the table. "I think he had to make a decision before school started and he decided to pursue that.