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Dena Burroughs
I am the webmaster of http://www.VidaSalsera.com , a website dedicated to live Latin music events in the Los Angeles area. From that you can gather that I am a Salsa music lover and a Latina. I was born in Costa Rica but have lived in Los Angeles for the better half of my life. I am also a freelance writer for at least three different companies (for one I do news, for a second one I write women-interests articles, and for a third one art and entertainment reviews). In other words, I'm always writing. Yet, when I'm on vacation, as I am right now, I still want to preserve what I see in words, in great part I believe, because I'm afraid to forget it all. So here's this blog meant to be my writing space when I am not home writing about everything else. Thanks for reading!A Salsa dancing Latina writer on the road
Travel Blog Posts
January 31st 2013
The city of Marfa was founded in the 1880s as a railroad stop. In 2010, according to Wikipedia, its population was 1,981. As you walk its streets, you realize this is a tourist destination, with many art lovers and campers visiting to check out the city’s many galleries, attempt to see Marfa’s famous lights, or to spend a night inside a tee-pee at the eclectic Cosmico lodge. Most impressive in the town square is the Courthouse building. One can walk up the steps to the dome and get a 360 view of Marfa and its surroundings. This is a small town but so many of its buildings were constructed at the end of the 1800s that the visit, even if short, is rich. About half an hour northwest from Marfa, in the town of Valentine, there ... read more
The Adobe Deli in Deming, NM
Published: January 5th 2013North America » United States » New Mexico » Deming
January 2nd 2013
When you find yourself hungry in Deming, NM, you have the chance to go to one of the most eclectic places you’ll see in your life. It is hard to find, hard to see even as you stand right in front of it, but once you go through its doors, you are glad you made it. Bears, deer, crocodiles, turkeys, you name it… they’re all there staring back at you. (Do not fret, they’re not alive!) They are surrounded by hundreds of trinkets – car plates, jacket patches, funny signs – making even a visit to the bathroom an experience. You can watch the huge projection of a football or baseball game that will be showing over one of the walls, while you taste the variety of beer that is available on tap. Steak dinners, hamburgers, ... read more
The McDonald Observatory and the Fort Davis State Park
Published: January 4th 2013North America » United States » Texas » Fort Davis
January 1st 2013
The McDonald Observatory, first of all, has nothing to do with the burger place. It is named after the man who left all of his fortune upon his death for the construction of an observatory. Mr. McDonald’s family thought he was nuts and they fought for the money in court. When it was all said and done, the University of Texas at Austin had about $800,000 to build a telescope and the structure to support it. Today, the McDonald Observatory holds the third largest telescope in the world, in the area of Fort Davis, which is considered the darkest site in the continental United States. Here the stars shine in their full splendor! For $5 you can attend a Solar Viewing, which will show you the sun through their telescope filters live. This is one of ... read more
Fort Davis National Historic Site
Published: January 2nd 2013North America » United States » Texas » Davis Mountains
December 31st 2012
Think about how long ago this was – 1854. On that year Fort Davis was first established, named after the then Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. The Fort was placed on the east side of the Davis Mountains, which at the time was a location with plenty of water, food, and resources. For almost thirty years, the troops assigned here fought the Apaches and the Comanches, protecting travelers on their way west to California. Fort Davis, therefore, is an important part of the Indian Wars history. By 1891 Fort Davis had “outlived its usefulness” and ordered abandoned. (By 1880 the last bunch of Apaches had been forced into Mexico.) It wasn’t until seventy years later, in 1961, that Fort Davis was authorized as a national historic site. Today, the ruins of a hundred buildings remain – ... read more
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Published: December 30th 2012North America » United States » Arizona
December 29th 2012
The Hohokam people lived in the Arizona area from 300 a.d. to about the year 1450. In the latter years of their stay, they built a big house that today remains as the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. It is in today’s town of Coolidge, Arizona, which proud welcome sign reads: “The home of the Casa Grande Ruins.” The big house in its heyday was surrounded by smaller structures – homes, ball parks, water canals, etc. Hundreds of people lived in this land that suffered first droughts, then floods, and that eventually became too hostile to support them. The big house remains a mystery of what it was used for, how it was built, and what its several circular windows specifically placed to wait for the sun and the moon say regarding the depth of the ... read more
Dinosaurs exist in Cabazon, CA
Published: August 9th 2012North America » United States » California » Cabazon
August 9th 2012
This place will be best enjoyed by kids, needless to say, or if you have been driving on the 10 freeway for a long time and can't wait for an excuse to get out of the car. You can actually go inside and up a couple of the huge dinosaurs here, and the view from the top is not bad at all! There is a gift shop/reception area that tries really hard to match dinosaurs with creationism. If you can take a bitsy itsy of preachy information, you'll be fine. It is $8 for adults to get in and it won't take much longer than an hour to go through it, but if you have a little kid that likes dinosaur toys... this will make his/her day. http://www.cabazondinosaurs.com/... read more
A nice place for a weekend escape in Escondido, CA
Published: August 9th 2012North America » United States » California » Escondido
August 9th 2012
Sometimes you just have to go to a nice place, green, cool, where you can get in touch with your muses... or with each other... So here is a recommendation: a couple of nights at the Castle Creek Inn, which is next to the Castle Creek Golf Country Club, in Escondido. The rooms at this place are beautiful - the beds are soft, the linens are warm, and when you open the door a cool, pine-smelling breeze comes in. I don't know what it will do to you but this place makes me want to read and write. The Inn has a nice size pool and three hot tubs. There's lots of green around because it's next to a golf course. The course has a restaurant/bar where you can get your meals and at night time ... read more
Antiques and more in Quartzsite
Published: August 9th 2012North America » United States » Arizona » Quartzsite
August 9th 2012
I was in Quartzsite, Arizona in January of this year. My little family and I stayed in one of the mobile home/trailers that the Quartzsite Yacht Club Motel rents out. Hmmm... nothing much to recommend. Renting a trailer is not any cheaper than staying at a regular hotel, nor anymore pleasant. To do it would be just for the experience of sleeping in a converted mobile home, ah... and of course for the opportunity to just walk to your bed after partying at the Yacht Club Bar at night. Lots of country music dancing at the Yacht Club! lots of beer and cheap drinks and really good tasting fried finger foods! The bar is a must do. Hadji Ali was a Greek man born in Syria who came to the US in 1857 as a camel ... read more
Grand Park, Los Angeles
Published: August 9th 2012North America » United States » California » Los Angeles
August 9th 2012
When you find yourself in downtown LA, do stop by to take a look at Grand Park, which was recently inaugurated and which is looking pretty good right now. My family and I walked through it after a concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall a couple of weeks ago, actually the day after its opening ceremony. The park has a lovely fountain and one of those "slip and slide" water pads for kids. There's space for music performances, lots of lawn to relax on, a Starbucks, and a few other sources of food. How long will it be before it becomes a sleeping area of the homeless? dunno. But as for now, it looks really nice. Put it on your list of things to see downtown. Here's a link to the park - http://grandpark.lacounty.gov/... read more
My grandiose New Years 2012 in Time Square, New York
Published: January 4th 2012North America » United States » New York » New York » Manhattan
January 4th 2012
A New Year's celebration does not get any more official than the ball drop at Times Square, New York. From our point at 42nd and 8th Streets, amidst lots of people, we saw the fireworks drop, not quite the ball, but it was good enough. In a surprising 50 degree weather, we took with us more clothes than we were to need - scarfs that never came out of the backpacks and gloves that didn't even get unhooked. By 8.30 pm the streets were filled with thousands of people. One would think the police would corral the sidewalks at noon knowing perfectly what is to come, but I guess the city streets can not be rendered completely useless all day long on account of the holiday. The result is that people gather tightly hoping for a ... read more
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