La Dona Luz in Taos, New Mexico

This summer has been an exciting time at darngooddigs.com! Since our launch in May we’ve added sixteen new Darn Good Digs for budget-minded travelers, including:

Aryani Resort, Malaysia • The Beehive, Italy • Casa Bella Rita, Costa Rica

Cranberry Cove Inn, Nova Scotia • Exotic Fruit Farm, Australia • Finca Caribe, Puerto Rico

Inn Seventh Heaven, India • Kennedy School, Oregon • La Dona Luz, New Mexico

Mansion del Bosque, Mexico • Mayoka Village, Malawi • Mosetlha Bush Camp, South Africa

Ramsdell Inn, Michigan • Rock Cottage Gardens, Arkansas

Soppong River Inn, Thailand • Torre Dorada, Peru

Wizard Island on Crater Lake

One of my motivations in writing this post is just to have an excuse to show off that photograph above. I took it from the boat as we passed the side of Wizard Island, but I didn’t expect to get the lighting just right.

My other reason is to register a few complaints about our stay at Crater Lake Lodge. If I didn’t have my three year old traveling along, the Lodge would have been perfect. It’s a nicely restored historic Lodge built right on the edge of the rim. Since Benjamin did tag along, though, I have a few complaints to air. For the purpose of full disclosure, Allison is not on board with…

…Michael’s Top Five Reasons Not to Stay at Crater Lake Lodge with a Three Year Old.

1. There is a 1000 foot drop right in front of the hotel. Granted, it’s gorgeous, but it’s not the kind of play area I wanted for Benjamin after a 5 hour car ride from the Redwoods.

2. There is a giant parking lot in the back of the hotel. Basically, we were wedged in between cars and a huge precipe, so the only place to run around was in the hotel itself.

3. Not-so-kid-friendly restaurant. Even though the Lodge’s fine dining room provides high chairs, it really was a bit too pricey and fancy for our taste, given that we have a squirmy three year old boy once six o’clock hits. For our two nights at the Lodge we drove the fourteen mile round-trip to Mazama Village to get the Italian-style buffet.

4. Ruthless mosquitoes. From the Olympic Peninsula to the Oregon Coast, the mosquitoes hadn’t been bad all summer. That was, until we hit Crater Lake at dusk. Apparently, these little suckers breed in all the snow packs left over from spring, and that meant it was a little hard to sit on the beautiful deck at sunset.

5. No TV. Who needs a tv? It just isn’t that important to us, except when the hotel is surrounded on all sides by a parking lot and a 1000 foot drop and our boy is running around the Great Hall like a maniac. Then we might want a tv in the room. BTW, the lodge does have board games for older kids.

That said, you’ll notice from our photos that Crater Lake is truly spectacular. The boat ride is worth it, even if you have to hike back up to the rim with a toddler on your back. The story of Mt. Mazama is mighty cool, and the lake water is as blue as they say. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Crater Lake

Allison and Benjamin on the Crater Lake Boat

Climbing the Oregon Sand Dunes

It almost looked like the deep Sahara as we climbed the sand and watched the wind erase our footprints.

Running on the Oregon Sand Dunes

Sitting on the Dunes

The Central Mountains

Casa Grande

With its network of private cabins weaving through the lush mountains of central Puerto Rico, Casa Grande is darn green. Whether hanging out on your private balcony, taking a dip in the refreshing pool, or enjoying a delicious meal at the outdoor restaurant, a sea of deep green trees envelops you. To top it all off, Casa Grande has won several Puerto Rico Hotel & Tourism Green Inn Awards. Now that’s green! (more…)

The South Coast

Mary Lee

The apartments are where it’s at at Mary Lee’s. They are huge and decorated to the nines in a funky Floridian style. We had great fun exploring the bay and mangrove islands in a kayak that we launched right from Mary Lee’s dock just a stone’s throw away from our porch. Mary Lee’s is located on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico, two hours from San Juan and just up the street from the Guanica Dry Forest, a UNESCO International Biosphere Reserve. (more…)

Vieques Island

La Finca Caribe

La Finca Caribe

La Finca Caribe is incredible! We loved hanging out with our fellow travelers and soaking up the beautiful scenery. This place really attracts great people and we made fast friends. Plus, the outdoor showers are amazing. La Finca Caribe is on a hill in the middle of Vieques, a small island just six miles off the east coast of Puerto Rico, and the views of the forest down to the Caribbean Sea are fantastic. (more…)

We had spoken with Carol on the phone when we booked our rooms.

She was a Brooklyn native, friendly and talkative. She said she’d give us her best room at a discount, “because you’re from Brooklyn.”

As Benjamin nibbled on his specially prepared mouse-shaped waffle, Carol raved about Bend. She pulled out guidebooks and postcards to show us all the local highlights.

Then, out of nowhere, Carol said… “about your room.” It never occurred to us in a million years that she was going to kick us out. “You can’t stay here the next two nights.” We were floored.

Carol explained that a family was taking over the entire inn for the weekend. She told us not to worry, that she had a different place for us. The first floor of a condo she owns. 8 miles outside town. “It’s gorgeous. You’ll love it.”

To her credit, when we told Carol we wanted to stay near downtown, she did make calls to some other hotels – she found a room for us at a nearby b & b for over twice the price. And when Allison found a room at a nearby motel, Carol actually insisted we follow her shiny black pick-up to make sure everything was ok with our new digs.

Room 344 was clean, but musty.  Still, we were ready to start anew in Bend.

“I can’t say we’re not disappointed,” I told Carol when she asked if we were happy. “We booked our room six months ago, and we were psyched to stay there.”

“Mine is the best place in town,” she said, but then it clicked…

“I’m not going to charge you for last night. I never was. And stop by for breakfast tomorrow. You can come in the back door. And I’ll let you sit at my table tonight at the Taj Palace to see Raven dance. She only dances here once a year. You don’t want to miss it.” She even offered to have someone babysit.

We didn’t make it to breakfast, but that night we did happen to walk by the Taj Palace, a local Indian restaurant downtown. Sure enough, a poster for Raven, the belly dancer, hung on the window. I’m sure she was an excellent dancer, except she wasn’t dancing that night. She’d be there the following weekend, but we’d be back in Brooklyn by then.

Cool volcanic geology is hard at work here at Smith Rock State Park, Central Oregon’s rock climbing mecca.

Don’t be fooled - this isn’t the Caribbean.  It’s Devil’s Lake right off the Cascade Highway.

Bend’s High Desert has got to be one of the best natural history museums out there.  We loved the “Hall of Plateau Indians”.  Benjamin dug this eagle sculpture.

A lunar landscape awaits at the Newberry Volcanic Monument five miles outside of Bend.

We’ve got to give a shout out to Bend’s Working Wonders Children’s Museum, which kept Benjamin engaged for hours.  Here he is cooking up a pizza.