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Why do the big names so dominate the rental car industry? One reason: When people are investing their safety in a used car they've never driven before, they want to be reassured of the maintenance and quality standards of a trusted national brand. These brands therefore charge a certain premium for such peace of mind. But in many markets, better deals are frequently available at hundreds of small, no-brand-name independents--away from the airports--that are regulated and consistently provide dependable vehicles. No-names can offer cheaper rentals in part because they don't pay the heavy government fees and taxes imposed at airports. They also recognize that the public comes to them for one reason - discounts. If they don't deliver, most can't stay in business. With a little bit of knowledge, you can steer clear of the shysters and choose a money-saving auto rental for those trips when an independent firm will meet your needs--and it will do so much of the time. "There are top-of-the-line, world-class companies and there are dogs-companies you wouldn't want your daughter, wife, or parents to be renting from, just like in any business," says Neil Abrams, founder of Abrams Consulting Group, which advises auto rental operators around the globe. "But just because it's not a household name, one can't infer it's an inferior product. Many independents have late-model, low-mileage cars." Even now, word about these no-name agencies isn't widespread; all of them combined still handle only a small fraction of the business raked in by just one of the majors; still, during 2001, Auto Rental News reported 7,820 independent car rental locations in the United States, with 107,192 cars in service and estimated revenues of $1 billion. Prices at some of the majors have been climbing even as post-September 11 travel declined. Hertz hiked its weekly rates by approximately 26 percent last December, and other companies such as Avis also increased rates. Not long after, the Chicago Tribune quoted an Avis spokesman as saying prices had been "irrationally low" for months. The message seemed clear: People who rent cars from the largest firms should expect to pay more. Our own findings We compared prices in Chicago as well as in opposite corners of the country, Fort Lauderdale and Seattle. Our Internet research focused on booking an economy car from March 7 to 13, more than a month in advance. This lead time should have helped ensure bargains at the major agencies, which use a computer pricing system known as "yield management" (altering rates automatically based on existing reservations - meaning the earlier, the cheaper). Still, the best-known names had a hard time competing with the small independents. In Fort Lauderdale, the base price for an economy car was $244 at Hertz, $199 at Dollar, and $196 at Enterprise. But a single-location, 150-car operation called Bay Auto Rental, near the airport, charged only $134. Another independent, Sunshine Rent-A-Car, asked even less-$119. And the lowest price we found was at InterAmerican Car Rental, a larger independent with locations in several major Florida cities. InterAmerican's base rate: $104, a savings of $140 over Hertz. The story was similar in the other cities. In Seattle, Hertz wanted $294 for its economy cars and Dollar asked $217. Enterprise was more competitive, quoting $124. But the rock-bottom prices we found were still at the small off-airport firms. Express Rent-A-Car gave rates between $99 and $119 and Ace Extra Car Discount Rentals charged just $116. The difference between Hertz and Ace Extra: $178, or more than 60 percent. And in Chicago, Hertz, Avis, and National all quoted rates at or above $200. Two small agencies called Rent-Rite and Ace Rent-A-Car asked $129 and $139, respectively. Payless, a prominent international brand, offered $132. What you get The vehicles we saw during unannounced lot inspections appeared clean, well maintained, and surprisingly new. At Bay Auto Center in Fort Lauderdale, for instance, customers mostly drive 1999-2001 model-year cars, and the fleet even has 2002 editions mixed in, says owner Jeff Burruano. The average odometer reading is 15,000 to 40,000 miles. "The market requires that independents have brand-new to one-or-two-year-old cars," says Mickey Vergillo, the owner of Seattle's Ace Extra Car Discount Rentals. "Ours have very low mileage. And we usually sell them before they reach 30,000 miles. Of course, you don't have quite the selection or the high-end cars you do with the major brands." The owners of both Bay and Ace Extra say they take pride in offering good customer service. "We have three operators on the phones 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We just had a woman call to say she had broken a key in the car door lock," Vergillo explains. "I paid to have it fixed. It cost me $204 and it was a $230 rental. So I lost money on that one." With small fleets, the no-names operate much closer than large companies to the edge of financial disaster. "A few bad incidents with rentals can put them out of business, or even a lawsuit. They're gone," points out Abrams, the consultant. "The smaller you are, the more protective you have to be of your assets." For consumers, that protectiveness means a few more restrictions at the no-names. The most frequent of them is distance limitations. In an example typical (but not universal) among no-names, Bay Auto Rental allows customers to take its cars only a limited distance from Fort Lauderdale - as far south as the Florida Keys and as far north as Orlando, with 200 free miles a day. Those who go beyond these limits pay a steep price: 25: a mile. Then, of course, there's the issue of one-way rentals, which are out of the question with single-location no-names. Finally, there are plenty of horror stories about people who got stuck with lemons after they left the rental lots - which can happen to anyone who doesn't exercise a bit of caution. Overall, though, consultant Neil Abrams believes customers are shielded against the rip-off artists. "The independents have to be licensed," he says. "It varies by state, but in general the states do regulate the car rental industry." State regulations usually include minimum insurance requirements and statutes mandating full disclosure of restrictions on travel and mileage. The best protection: Ask about restrictions, inspect the car before leaving the lot, and read the contract carefully before signing it. Finding the no-names One of the best Web sites for finding a no-name is BreezeNet (bnm.com), which lists rental car firms at and around 65 major U.S. airports, including some of the small off-airport companies. BreezeNet also has car rental information for 37 smaller airports, from Burlington, Vermont, to Omaha, Nebraska, to Lihue, Hawaii. It also includes a listing of last-minute specials from big-names such as Hertz and Alamo, special pages devoted to cars in Florida, California, and Canada, as well as for college-age consumers, van and SUV rentals, and ski-area vehicles--with discounts provided. And many firms, large and small, offer discounts of up to 25 percent simply for booking through BreezeNet. Another Web approach is TravelNow (travelnow.com). By clicking on the "drive" tab at this site, travelers can find auto rentals in more than 20 major cities, including options at many independents. And, don't forget the Yellow Pages!

The sun was gone, the sky getting inky. The wind had started to whip. (And even in the Texas desert, the winter wind can be cold.) I hunkered deeper into my jacket and jiggled for warmth. Behind me, my 16-year-old son loped restlessly back and forth, lupine, waiting. Suddenly a long lanky arm thrust past my face. "There's one!" he cried, pointing at the horizon. "And over there!" his younger brother echoed a moment later. Off in the distance, about a quarter-mile away, a bright, starlike light glimmered into view just above the horizon, followed quickly by a second one. As the first flickered out, a third took its place, materializing out of nowhere. "Ooo, another one!" I squealed, and again, as yet another twinkled momentarily above the other two. All at once, they disappeared together, as if an invisible hand had snuffed them out. At my cries, the boys instantly dropped all airs of excitement. "You don't have to say 'Ooo' every time, Mom," they muttered, dripping with teenage sarcasm, and slid their eyes furtively left and right, though there was no one else much around. That was a mercy for the boys, as it spared them any humiliation at maternal vocals. And it was a treat for all of us to have the viewing station pretty much to ourselves. But it was a shame, I thought, for all the people who weren't there, because on this January night, the Marfa lights were putting on a spectacular display. As we gawked, they blinked on and off, shifted position, appeared high in the sky one moment, hugged the horizon the next. This time out, the lights were livelier than the first time we'd seen them six months before-at least it seemed so to me-and much closer to the descriptions I'd read of them. Still, my skeptical husband couldn't help quipping: "I think the local chamber of commerce just pays a few guys to go out there and stand around with some really big flashlights. An ongoing mystery The Marfa lights-spontaneous bursts of illumination that materialize, year-round, on clear nights over the Chihuahuan Desert in west Texas-are a bona-fide unexplained natural phenomenon. They've defied scientific rationalization for more than a century. Are they swamp gases? Bent light? Electrostatic discharges? Signal lights from alien spacecraft? Nobody knows where they come from or why they appear when and where they do. Oh, and they have their debunkers, who claim they're nothing more than the headlights of cars driving down the Chinati Mountains. Right. Bottom line: They've stumped physicists and photographers and engineers, some of the best minds of the nation, for years. I just love it when that happens. In the remote, remarkable desert-mountain region of far west Texas, a wedge of country three hours south of El Paso and 1 1/2 hours north of Big Bend National Park and the Mexican border, the Marfa lights are just about the premier tourist attraction around. That is, of course, if you're looking to attract tourists, which doesn't seem to be that high on the agenda of the folks who live here. They seem fairly content to poke along from day to day in the midst of some of the most spectacular scenery in the continental United States, greeting interlopers politely, warmly, but incuriously. They don't push anything on you, and they don't try to market themselves. Mostly, in fact, they talk about how little there is to do here. "Well, we're not the big city," a staffer at my son's boarding school in Fort Davis, Tex., mused modestly on our first trip a year ago, helping us consider sightseeing possibilities. He gave us a short list-historic Fort Davis, the pre- and post-Civil War U.S. Army post after which the town of Fort Davis is named; the McDonald Observatory high on a peak in the Davis Mountains; the scenic loop drive through and around said mountains; the local history museum in Alpine. Then after a pause: "Oh, yeah, and I guess there's always the Marfa lights. A town lost in time They're called the Marfa lights after the nearest town, a low-lying little burg of 2,424 that supposedly got its name, in turn, from a character in Dostoyevsky's "Brothers Karamazov" (that being the book the railroad executive's wife, who suggested the moniker, was reading when she and her husband passed through this railway watering stop in the late 1800s). Marfa can make a few other claims to fame. It has one of the most beautiful courthouses in Texas, it was the location of the 1956 Elizabeth Taylor-Rock Hudson-James Dean movie "Giant," and it's home to the Chinati Foundation, a celebrated museum of contemporary art begun on an old military base by the late sculptor Donald Judd two decades ago. Along with mile-high Fort Davis (pop. approximately 1,000) and the appropriately mountainous Alpine (the "big city," with a population of about 6,000), Marfa forms an equilateral triangle enclosing a swath of desert terrain out of which rise majestic volcanic mountain peaks, many higher than 6,000 feet. It's an arid, otherwordly beauty-like the landscape of the moon, or Mars, maybe, but for the scrubby grasses and bushes, yucca and cactus that stipple the flats and the mountainsides, and the cottonwoods that hug the creek banks. There's sky-blue as lapis on glorious days or roiling with thunderheads on stormy ones-every way you turn. Desert though it is, the climate's actually a draw; in the old days, wealthy merchants and entrepreneurs from Dallas and Houston traveled to the Davis Mountains to put up at the Limpia Hotel and enjoy the dry air and pleasant breezes. Yes, the temperatures can reach 110 degrees in the shade, but as you've no doubt heard, when it's this dry, you don't feel it. What you do feel is the haunting nature of the place, the way it launches you back to another time. A frontier time, when people led hardscrabble lives and braved the wilderness and the elements to make a home in an inhospitable place, where water was scarce and other people scarcer. The cattle ranchers who staked out vast tracts of scrubland for their steers had to have what it takes to persevere here. Even today, a handful of ranchers, descendants of the first settlers, still control most of the land in and around Fort Davis. At least that's what the elderly lady minding the desk one day in the town's curio-filled Overland Trail Museum told me. (A dusty, unpaved stretch of the local "overland trail," the San Antonio-El Paso stagecoach road that ferried 19th-century travelers between the two towns, still runs through the heart of Fort Davis.) "They decide who gets to move in and who doesn't," she said conspiratorially, as I leafed through a bin of old, laminated turn-of-the-20th-century photos. My husband and I were her only visitors that day. "That's why you don't see a McDonald's or any chain stores around here," she said. "They want to keep Main Street looking like it did 100 years ago. She didn't sound exactly happy about that, but I was. None of us missed McDonald's. And fast, I'm sorry, just isn't the mode in these parts. "What's your hurry?" Betty Nunnally, the proprietor of Starr's Emporium in Fort Davis, chided my menfolk when they tried to pry me away from her eclectic shop on our most recent trip. "You're in far west Texas now. You got to slo-o-o-w down. Seems like the right prescription to me. Fits the spell of this place. It tickles me that our cell phone doesn't work everywhere down here, that the Limpia and its sister hostel, the Hotel Paisano in Marfa, don't have phones in the rooms. I love that you might see someone riding horseback down the highway, that you can catch the occasional glint of spur on someone's cowboy boots around town, that one of the oldest working dude ranches is around the bend from Fort Davis. I savor the sense of having stepped into another world, of being in a place that, while modern enough, is still cut off from the narcissistic, plugged-in present. So I'm sure you'll understand my reaction when, after having read that Marfa's experiencing a yuppie boomlet, I saw a couple of bikers in full tight-shorted, speed-helmeted racing regalia working the scenic loop the day we drove it last July. "Where did you come from?" I screamed. (Don't worry, the car windows were all up.) "Go away! Watching for lights The Marfa lights have been around since at least 1883, when a rancher by the name of Robert Reed Ellison supposedly first saw them shining in the distance as he bedded down in the desert one night. Ellison assumed they were Indian campfires. Only when he rode out the next day to the area where he'd spotted them, he found-cue "Twilight Zone" music-no remains of any campfires. Today, there's an official viewing area erected by the Texas Department of Transportation, complete with telescopes and restrooms. It's a little weird to have someone lay out the red carpet for what some people think could be UFO landing lights, but it's nice to be told where to have the best look-see. Of course, "best" in this case is relative. In fact, it's downright idiosyncratic. For they say that everyone sees the Marfa lights differently. You can be standing right next to someone who's ooh-ing and aah-ing and essentially see . . . nothing. That was my experience the first time out: One of the boys or my husband would point and say "There!" and I'd ask, "Where?" I didn't see many that time, nor on our most recent trip this summer, when the lights seemed sluggish and coy. We can tell the folks back home we done seen the famous Marfa lights -- not," cracked a woman in a group of Texas Junior Leaguers who had descended on the viewing area in a chartered tour bus. I could tell she was disappointed, and I wanted to say, "Come back in the winter." Because I've got my own theory of the lights, you see. I think the cold winter air makes them brighter and friskier, more playful and powerful. Or maybe it doesn't. Who knows? It's a mystery. And like the place they haunt, a marvel. West Texas and the Marfa Lights GETTING THERE: There aren't any commercial airports in the desert mountains, so you have to fly to Midland, Tex., then rent a car to drive two hours into the mountains (the vistas make every mile worth it once you hit Scenic Highway 17). WHERE TO STAY: In Fort Davis, the historic Hotel Limpia (on the town square, 800-662-5517, http://www.hotellimpia.com/) is a charming throwback to the frontier days of the Old West, with broad porches, a Victorian lobby, wide corridors and high-ceilinged rooms and suites. And it's a bargain: Double rooms start at $89 per night, less if booking online. On our last trip, my family stayed in the hotel's cottage, a delightful 1940s two-bedroom bungalow with original furnishings nestled in the shadow of Sleeping Lion Mountain, for $139 a night. The Limpia's sister hotel in Marfa, the Hotel Paisano (207 N. Highland St., 866-729-3669, http://www.hotelpaisano.com/), is equally beguiling, in more of a Southwestern, Spanish-hacienda style. You can ask for the James Dean room or the Rock Hudson or Elizabeth Taylor suites. Rooms start at $79 per night. Alpine offers the historic Holland Hotel (209 W. Holland Ave., 800-535-8040, http://www.hollandhotel.net/), in the middle of downtown, with 14 rooms and suites starting at $45 per night double. WHERE TO EAT: With its old-fashioned soda fountain, the Fort Davis Drugstore on Main Street is great for breakfast and lunch; I love the BLTs. If it's Mexican food you crave, head for La Casita (1102 E. Avenue H) in Alpine. The ambiance isn't much, but locals say the food is the best north of the border, and I'm with them. Lunch for four is less than $30. For dinner, Pop's Grill (Highway 17 just west of Fort Davis) offers good down-home food at reasonable prices, although there's no wine, as Jeff Davis County is dry. Dinner for four is about $60. For a somewhat fancier but still moderately priced meal, try Jett's Grill at the Hotel Paisano in Marfa, where dinner with wine runs about $120. For a splurge, the Reata Restaurant (203 N. Fifth St.) in Alpine serves great steaks; dinner for four with wine was just under $200. Maiya's (103 N. Highland Ave.), down the street from the Paisano in Marfa, will deceive you into thinking you've stumbled into someplace on the Upper West Side, with its avant-garde menu, chichi decor and New York (or at least D.C.) prices; dinner with wine came to nearly $350, including the tip. Good, though. WHAT TO DO: The largely restored Fort Davis National Historic Site (432-426-3224, Ext. 20, www.nps.gov/foda) is considered one of the best remaining examples of a frontier military post. The McDonald Observatory (17 miles from Fort Davis on Highway 118), a major astronomical research facility, hosts constellation-viewing "star parties" three nights a week, as long as the weather is cloudless. Details: 432-426-3640, www.as.utexas.edu/mcdonald/mcdonald.html. In Marfa, the Chinati Foundation (1 Calvery Row, 432-729-4362, http://www.chinati.org/; $10) is a contemporary art museum that sculptor Donald Judd founded in the late 1970s. Dedicated to permanent installations of large-scale works, it features art by Judd, Claes Oldenburg, John Chamberlain and others. The Scenic Loop, a 75-mile drive through the Davis Mountains, is full of surprises, from Sawtooth Mountain to the cattle that just might be taking a snooze in the middle of the road. INFORMATION: Fort Davis Chamber of Commerce, 800-524-3015, http://www.fortdavis.com/; Marfa Chamber of Commerce, 800-650-9696, http://www.marfacc.com/; Alpine Chamber of Commerce, 800-561-3735, http://www.alpinetexas.com/.

Most tourists to San Francisco completely miss a wonderful addition to their trip: Palo Alto. An hour south of the larger city, in a bucolic landscape dotted with high-tech firms, is Stanford University and that adjoining graceful, leafy town. Anyone who has ever wondered where the computer revolution began would be interested to spend time in this, the cerebral cortex of Silicon Valley. (Stanford alumni include the founders of Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo! and Sun Microsystems, not to mention Chelsea Clinton.) With the redwood-filled Santa Cruz Mountains and empty beaches less than an hour's drive to the west, and popular tourist towns like Santa Cruz 60 miles to the south, a visit to Palo Alto makes complete an exploration of the stunning San Francisco Bay area. The sprawling, pastoral Stanford campus itself (a.k.a. "the Farm") is regarded as not just the most beautiful on the West Coast, but as home to a heady intellectual ferment that visitors can easily avail themselves of (though unlike rival Berkeley across San Francisco Bay, Stanford is more about understated elegance than in-your-face activism). And despite the gold-rush price inflation generated by the dot-com boom, the subsequent bust and softening of the economy has also softened many local prices - cheap deals abound if you know where to look. Down on the farm Established in 1891, Stanford now has 14,000 students who enjoy a 13-square-mile campus of grassy fields, eucalyptus groves, and rolling hills. If for nothing else, Stanford is worth visiting for its stunning Spanish-colonial-inspired sandstone architecture, with red-tiled roofs, Romanesque archways, and enclosed courtyards. First stop: near the Main Quad, where Visitor Information Services (650/723-2560, www.stanford.edu), in Memorial Auditorium, welcomes visitors on weekdays - more than 150,000 annually. Pick up a free map for a self-guided tour or a free student-led walking tour; one departs here daily at 11 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. (a daily golf-cart tour at 1 p.m. is only $5 per person). Browse the huge and impressive Stanford Bookstore (open daily, 800/533-2670), just a stone's throw away from the Main Quad, or head to the Humanities and Social Science collections (nearly 2 1/2 million volumes), housed primarily in the Cecil Green Library (650/725-1064); visitors are allowed seven free entries per year, but cannot check out books. Peruse the historical documents in the beautiful, high-ceilinged rooms. Take the $2 ride up the elevator in the landmark, 285-foot Hoover Tower (open daily, 650/723-2053) for a panoramic view. The tower also houses part of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, with items of Herbert Hoover, Stanford's most celebrated graduate. Campus culture The magnificent - and free-Cantor Center for Visual Arts (Museum Way, off Palm Dr., 650/723-4177; Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m.-8 p.m.) should not be missed, with 27 galleries, an outdoor sculpture garden with the best Rodin collection outside of Paris (open even when the museum is closed), a twentieth-century collection including Georgia O'Keeffe, California landscape paintings, and even an Egyptian mummy. To get the lowdown on what's happening performance- and events-wise, check the calendar of free or nominally priced events at the Stanford ticket office in Tresidder Memorial Union (650/725-2787); highlights include jazz and electronic music concerts, and special film series. Also check the calendar in the two free campus rags, the Stanford Daily and Stanford Report, or call 650/723-0336; log on at http://calendus.stanford.edu and http://livelyarts.stanford.edu. If it's a good lecture and debate you crave, check out the Presidential Lectures and Symposia Web site at http://prelectur.stanford.edu or call 650/725-1219. These free talks by renowned scholars like Marjorie Garber and Gayatri Spivak include intellectually challenging topics like "Cosmologies and World Views." Off-campus doings The tree-lined suburban town of Palo Alto (pop. 61,500) is one of America's most well heeled. It's connected to Stanford via University Avenue, which is Palo Alto's main vein and the center of a European-flavored, tres chic downtown catering to the socially conscious locals. University Avenue intersects the main north-south drag of El Camino Real and Middlefield Avenue, with ultrafabulous mansions nearby. Stanford operates the Marguerite shuttle (650/723-9362), free to all comers on weekdays all year long. Its various routes go across campus, to the Stanford Shopping Center, to Downtown Palo Alto, and to the two local Caltrain commuter rail depots, where you can catch trains going to San Francisco or San Jose. Another option is biking, the favorite mode of local travel (the area is flat with well-marked bike routes). Rent bikes at $25 to $50 a day from Palo Alto Bike Station (95 University Ave. at the Caltrain depot, 650/327-9636). Get a map of routes at the chamber of commerce (see box). Also at the chamber of commerce, pick up a free booklet for a self-guided "Professorville Tour" of a snug nearby area of more than two dozen gracious 1890 to 1910 houses, home to Stanford's first faculty. One notable address is 367 Addison Avenue, site of the Hewlett-Packard Garage, where the computer revolution began, or take a 15-minute drive to the town of Los Altos 15 minutes to the south to Steve Jobs' Garage on 2066 Crist Drive, where Jobs and Steve Wozniak wired the first Apple computer (neither, however, is open to the public). Another enjoyable spot is the open-air Stanford Shopping Center (www.stanfordshop.com), right on the eastern edge of campus. Very upscale, but a pleasant oasis for a cup of espresso by one of the many fountains or a quick lunch (one sure budget bet is Una M s Playa Bar & Grill, 650/323-8226, with burritos for $5). Area digs Beyond the $120-to-$200-per-night downtown digs, budget options abound. One of the more interesting and rock-bottom-cheap possibilities is the 34-bed Hidden Villa Hostel (26870 Moody Rd., Los Altos Hills, 650/949-8648, www.hiddenvilla.org), considered the oldest hostel in the United States. On a spectacular 1,600-acre ranch and wilderness preserve a 15-minute drive from Palo Alto, it offers 4-to-12-bed cabins for $17 per person, private cabins for two for $35 to $40. On El Camino Real heading south out of Palo Alto is a multitude of standard-issue but comfortable motels. Best bets in the $70-a-night range for doubles are the basic (but with pool) 20-room Coronet Motel (2455 El Camino, 650/326-1081); Mayflower Garden Hotel (3981 El Camino, 650/493-4433) with 40 rooms, some with HBO, microwave, and refrigerator at no extra charge; and the 27-unit Country Inn Motel (4345 El Camino, 650/948-9154), with a pool. One of the best deals around is a bit farther down the road, in the town of Mountain View. The 145-room Pacific Inn of Mountain View (1984 El Camino Real, 650/967-6901, www.pacifichotels.com) charges $69 for a double with a refrigerator, microwave, and CD player, and throws in buffets daily: breakfast (eggs, bacon) and dinner (lasagna, meat loaf). Cheap student eats On campus, take advantage of Tresidder Union's eateries (Lagunita Dr., off of Mayfield Ave.), where anyone can drop in for fare such as roast beef, spinach salad, and a soda for $5.25. Beyond that, the basement of Jordan Hall on the Main Quad is home to the Thai Cafe (weekdays till 1:30 p.m.), where tasty entrees like chicken satay, chicken noodle salad, and vegetarian curry go for about $5 each. Or get caffeinated at the CoHo - er, Coffee House - in Tresidder, by sipping a $2 hazelnut mocha. University Avenue and environs are lined with chic cafes, some pricier than others. For a nearly free meal, slip into all-American MacArthur Park (27 University Ave., 650/321-9990) during weekday happy hour, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and pig out on free riblets, chicken wings, homemade chips, and guacamole. Pluto's (482 University Ave., 650/853-1556) is a cafeteria-style eatery with excellent salads - and a favorite of Chelsea Clinton and her Secret Service entourage; other local celebs like former 49ers star Steve Young have been spotted here too. Treats include carved turkey ($3.75) with vegetables ($1.60) and stuffing ($1.60). Palo Alto primer For heaps of local info, call the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce (325 Forest Ave., 650/324-3121). Better than flying into San Francisco, try the less crowded and less fogged-in San Jose Airport, 15 miles from Palo Alto. It's also home to cut-rate Fox Rent A Car (800/225-4369), with rates from $15 to $30 a day. This being California, a car provides much more flexibility than public transport, but ground-transfer options from the San Francisco airport include the SamTrans KX Express train to Stanford Shopping Center, leaving every 30 minutes for $1.10. From the San Jose Airport, take the free airport shuttle to the Santa Clara Caltrain station for a $2 one-way trip to Palo Alto.

As if there weren't enough reasons to take Friday off. Grand Bahama Island is just 57 miles east of Palm Beach, so flights from Florida to Freeport, its main town, take less than half an hour--and Florida Express ferries from Fort Lauderdale cost $165 round trip. Where the West Indies hug the East Coast, there's a long weekend for anyone. Bosses beware. Beachgoers On GBI's tranquil East End, 30 miles east of Freeport, Bishop's Bonefish Resort offers waterfront suites and 14 miles of sugar-white sand. It's a short drive (renting a car is easy at the airport) to never-ending Gold Rock Beach--by far the most beautiful stretch of sand on the island. Low tide unveils a welcome mat of rippled sandy peaks, perfect for seaside strolls. Afterward, head to Freeport for the International Bazaar's straw market, where ladies sell handmade hats, baskets, and totes for less than $15 an item--they'll even make things to order, on the spot. On Fridays, Le Chicken Shack Garden Bar, a casual hangout nearby, holds its weekly feast of boiled Andros crab, caught off neighboring Andros Island. When the sun goes down, Port Lucaya's Count Basie Square has steel-drum bands, reggae DJs, and the occasional limbo contest. And don't forget to order a tropical Bahama Mama at nearby Rumrunners. Anyone who finishes the drink gets to autograph the wall. Fishers GBI has long been known as home of "the bone"--the elusive bonefish. Spend a Saturday on the virgin flats searching for a nibble from the wily, silver-skinned fish. Most boats are only big enough for two passengers, so expect an intimate experience. On the lazy West End, 30 miles from the airport, Bootle Bay Fishing Lodge--where legendary Bonefish Foley has hosted Presidents Nixon and Kennedy--rents doubles for $90 and runs half- and full-day fishing excursions. Bootle Bay's full-day outing ($375) is one of the least expensive on the island. After a day on the flats, treat yourself to some fresh conch fritters and a cold Kalik--the local brew--just down the road at the Chicken's Nest. Bring quarters (both American and Bahamian dollars, always worth the same, are accepted everywhere), since there'll be plenty of folks to shoot pool with. Gamblers Last December, the 19,000-square-foot Isle of Capri Casino at Our Lucaya--across from its partner hotels, the Westin and the Sheraton--opened in Port Lucaya, a touristy open-air mall where you'll find souvenirs like Androsia batik sarongs, duty-free liquor, and polished conch shells. The Port bustles with shoppers, pub patrons spill onto the walkways, and restaurants serve sweet Caribbean lobster tails (try Fat Man's Nephew, overlooking colorful Count Basie Square). Don't expect to mingle with Bahamians over blackjack--it's illegal for locals to participate in organized gaming. During the summer months, you can stay at the Sheraton for $129--it's a five-minute walk to the Capri, so you won't need a car. Nature lovers At the 40-acre Lucayan National Park, about 25 miles east of Freeport, take a self-guided tour through the well-labeled trails dotted with wild guava, tamarind, towering Caribbean pines, and gumbo-limbo trees. Unique to the preserve are the Lucayan tunnels, the longest surveyed underwater cave system in the world. When they're hit by sunlight, the water turns a dizzying blue (sorry, no swimming). At Gold Rock Creek, across the road, Kayak Nature Tours leads six-hour excursions through the mangrove swamps, home to snappers, crabs, and barracuda. The tour includes 90 minutes in a two-person kayak, lunch on Gold Rock Beach, and a nature walk. Spend Sunday bird-watching against a backdrop of waterfalls, flowers, and alligators at the 12-acre Garden of the Groves, seven miles west of Lucayan Park. The Garden exhibits nearly 5,000 varieties of plants, many native to the islands. Understandably, it's a popular spot for tropical weddings. Grand Bahama Island Transportation Florida Express 866/313-3779, $165 round trip Lodging Bishop's Bonefish Resort 242/ 353-4515, gbweekly.com/bishopsbonefish, doubles $160 Bootle Bay Fishing Lodge 242/349-4010, bootlebay.com, doubles $90 Sheraton at Our Lucaya 800/325-3535, ourlucaya.com, doubles $129 Food Le Chicken Shack Intl. Bazaar 242/ 351-2692, crab meal $10 Rumrunners Port Lucaya 242/373-7233, Bahama Mama cocktail $4.60 Chicken's Nest 242/ 346-6440, four fritters $1 Fat Man's Nephew Port Lucaya 242/ 373-8520, lobster tail $27 Attractions Isle of Capri 242/350-2000 Lucayan Natl. Park 242/352-5438, $3 Kayak Nature Tours 866/ 440-4542, grandbahamanaturetours.com, $69 Garden of the Groves 242/ 373-5668, $10