Travel -- It's the time of year to get away from home -- to venture to intriguing new places or to revisit favorite old getaways. Have you got your plans ready?

Recently, a friend complained that he was getting too old to travel, it was too hard to get around, and he felt like a burden to his traveling companions. Phooey! While it's true he can't climb mountains the way he used to, there are plenty of great getaways that don't require a National Fitness Award. A good travel agent can steer you in the right travel direction.  

Below, Wayne Greenhaw, a noted travel-writer, describes his last trip to Acapulco -- with a bad back!

It's also worth noting that the travel industry offers many of the truly great discounts to senior travelers. The airlines offer significant senior discounts. In addition, many resorts and hotels, as well as car rental companies have senior (or AARP) rates.

The trick is that unless you ask, you'll never know the discounts exist. So…ASK!

by Wayne Greenhaw

I have a bad back and am limited in my walking. My friend recently had a stroke and was even more limited than I. We visited Acapulco on Mexico's pacific coast last spring and found it a fine destination for our handicaps.

Most of Acapulco's attractions may be reached by taxi or bus. City bus rides are very inexpensive. For instance, you can ride from one of the luxury beach hotels to the zocalo in old Acapulco for about 25 cents American. It's dirt cheap.

In the past half-dozen years of traveling here, I have found the Hyatt Regency Hotel, one of the best on the main boulevard, the Costera Miguel Aleman, that hugs the half-moon bay. This year, I stayed at the Costa Club Resort or the old Acapulco Plaza and found it not the place for seniors. The band is too loud and plays until midnight. There's no way to escape it or the loud constant chirping of parrots in the open-air lobby. The Hyatt Regency is quiet, well-appointed with a good restaurant inside and an adequate poolside grill.

Las Brisas is still the hotel of choice for honeymooners with private casitas and private thumbnail-sized pools with fresh hibiscus blossoms floating on the surface every morning. Operated by the Westin chain, the service is super courteous and quick. Every morning a breakfast of fresh warm rolls, jellies, fruit, juice and hot coffee appears like magic in a two-way box in the wall of the sitting room.

Following the Costera around the water's edge, the first sign of the Acapulco picked by Hernan Cortes to be the main Spanish port on the Pacific is Fort San Diego, built on a hillside in 1616. Destroyed by earthquake in 1776, it was rebuilt in 1800 and today sits high above the Costera, overlooking the bay.

Within the walls easily accessed by walkers or wheelchair is Museo Historico de Acapulco where exhibits that are eye-high and visually interesting. Even for someone confined to a wheelchair, the model of the 18th Century sailing ship Galeon de Manila may be appreciated without strain. The Manila was a trading ship from the Philippines that docked here between missions with China.

Past the large Sanborn's department store on the bay side of the Costera is the commercial harbor where fishermen dock their boats early every morning. They display their catch with buyers from local restaurants ready to pick the best for their daily menus.

The zocalo or central plaza has an elevated bandstand where on holidays music is performed. The visitor may sit beneath the low thick branches of trees that provide shade even on the hottest day.

On the northeastern edge of the zocalo is the bright white Catedral Nuestra Sonora de la Soledad, a church built in 1930. Nearby are several sidewalk cafes where you may take breakfast of orange juice, coffee, eggs, ham or bacon with refried beans for less than three dollars U.S.

If you arrive later in the day, find Restaurante Mariscos Pipo on Almirante Breton just one block east of the Costera. Sit beneath old photos of fishermen and their bounty, portraits of local dignitaries and events of yesteryear. At an immaculate table you will feast on oyster seviche, broiled lobster, baby-shark quesadillas or other seafood caught hours earlier. Having several course and several local beers will cost less than $20 with a generous tip.

Not far from downtown is the small beach of old Acapulco, Caleta, where in the 1940s and '50s American movie stars such as John Wayne and Ester Williams played in the sunshine. Nestled between rocky cliffs, the beach has thatch-roofed palapas where fish, shrimp, oysters and seafood soup may be enjoyed for only a few U.S. dollars. Or you may sip a beer for about a dollar or nine pesos.

Continue northwest on Avenida Lopez Mateo, a short taxi ride will take you to Hotel Plaza Las Glorias El Mirador high above the rocky cliffs at the edge of the Pacific Ocean where the world famous La Quebrada divers have been working their daredevil magic for decades.

The dives begin daily at 12:45 p.m. but it is best to wait until sunset and after. Sitting on the La Perla terrace at the El Mirador, arrive an hour early for the 7:45 or 8 p.m. show. The dives will continue every hour afterward until beyond midnight. And after the sun goes down, the divers carry torches in their folded hands after they kneel at the tiny alter set in the cliff, cross themselves, stand on the precipice 130 feet above the water that crashes against the jagged rocks below. The diver waits until precisely the right time before he springs outward, arches his back, soars through the air, and cuts through the water below.

After experiencing the graceful beauty of the dives, you may wish for an evening dinner at one of Acapulco's many superb restaurants. La Perla serves a nightly buffet of Mexican specialties including shrimp, snapper and other seafood for about $40 U.S. per person.

If you return to the Costera, you may wish to try one of my favorite eating places in all of Mexico, El Cabrito or The Baby Goat. A sidewalk cafe between the Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood, it is popular among the local residents who enjoy the grilled meat. I love barbecued goat cooked slowly over coals and served with the best bean soup I've tasted outside my own kitchen. El Cabrito also has terrific grilled fish or chicken.

In the Marabella shopping area on the Condesa beach is Le Petite Belgian where fine meats are served with rich sauces. The owner, a Belgian named Guy who married a Mexican woman, makes a wonderful pate, and fixes superb succulent mussels in an herbed wine sauce.

In the hills behind the Cento or convention center you will find a simple round wooden sign reading Su Casa or Your House. Climb the steep stairs to the terrace overlooking the lights of the bay. Sit back and sip an icy Margarita and enjoy the hospitality of your hosts, Shelly and Angel Herrera, two genuinely warm people who love to serve their guests the very best traditional Acapulco cuisine: tasty shrimp with garlic, delicious enchiladas in tomatillo sauce and whatever else they have that's fresh from the morning's market. A three-course dinner with drinks and wine or beer may be enjoyed for about $30 U.S. with tip.

Summer in Acapulco can be unbearably hot and humid. The best times to go is late fall, winter or early spring.

When you do go, adopt to Acapulco time. Take it easy, never rush. Enjoy the way of the leisure lifestyle. Even if you have a handicap, don't let it get you down. In Mexico -- and especially in Acapulco -- the people are generous with their time and their energy and their assistance.

Wayne Greenhaw was named Travel Writer of the Year by the Southeast Tourism Society in 1995. His thirteenth book, Beyond the Night: a remembrance, will be published by Black Belt Press this fall.