United States
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Milwaukee plays host to the world’s largest festival. From late June to early July each year, Summerfest takes over a 75-acre festival park with over 700 entertainers on 11 stages over an 11 day period. Last year despite a record setting heat wave, Summerfest attracted over 800,000 people participating in one or more days of the festival.
Along with some regional musical acts, this festival also attracts headliners including The Foo Fighters, the Beach Boys’ 50th Anniversary Tour, Iron Maiden with special guest Alice cooper and Lady Antebellum. Whatever your musical preferences, you will be able to find acts that make your heart sing. Stay connected to the Summerfest website for updated listings of this year’s lineup that should start to roll out in April 2013.
Add into this mix a range of children’s activities and this day can become a family…
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Thursday, April 18, 2013
Before we arrived at lovely Navarre Beach, we stopped at a Publix grocery on the way to pick up drinks and snacks to stock the fridge in our condo. We stopped before we got to Navarre because the last time I was there several years ago, there was no grocery store. You had to drive to nearby Pensacola or Gulf Breeze if you wanted to pick up groceries.
As we pulled up near the bridge to cross over to the snow white sand of Santa Rosa Island and the gorgeous Navarre Beach, I was surprised and pleased to see a brand new Publix grocery. This means that, with the incredible beach, fabulous accommodations and small, locally owned restaurants on Navarre Beach, you may never have to leave the area for your whole vacation!
Navarre Beach is located on Santa Rosa Island, just a few miles down from popular Pensacola Beach.…
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Saturday, February 16, 2013
If you’re tired of being clobbered by hotel bills, find traveling alone has lost its allure, or you long to see a city through the eyes of a local, it’s time to go CouchSurfing.
That’s the amazing international initiative where people open up their homes to travelers and show them around the local sights. Although a free bed is certainly a huge attraction, it’s not just a scheme for cheapskates. It’s also the best way to experience a foreign country or a different city. Hooking up with a native who’s happy to be your guide will let you discover real life behind the tourist façade by hanging out at local haunts, seeing attractions off the beaten track, and getting tips on using the public transport. It’s free to join, and members post a profile of themselves and describe the accommodation they are offering. It can be a one-way affair too,…
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Thursday, January 24, 2013
Virginia has long been a reliable source of natural beauty. Preservationists have taken on the painstaking responsibility of conserving their national forest and parks, while making them available to campers and other nature lovers. So far their success has been phenomenal.
Virginia Beach Campgrounds
There are many campgrounds available on Virginia’s pristine beaches.
First Landing State Park…
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Located by the Chesapeake Bay, First Landing State Park also hosts a camp store, bath houses, and a lovely boardwalk area for visitors. Campers can stay up to fourteen days for the very affordable fee of $24 without electric and water or $30 if you prefer those amenities for your visit.
Campers at First Landing State Park can expect to be offered nature, boating, swimming, and history programs. Cabins are available as well as campsites with restrooms and showers nearby. With over twenty miles of trails on 2,888 acres of virtually untouched earth,
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Charlotte, North Carolina is commonly neglected by the multiple books and websites that create lists of the best places to visit. When people think of the state, a couple things usually come to mind: either the talented athletes at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and Duke University or the gleaming beaches of the Outer Banks.
What many do not realize is that Charlotte is a bustling metropolis and an important financial city of the United States. With the amount of money and residents that have been pouring in since Bank of America made the Queen City its home base, the cultural features have also expanded. Charlotte now offers a variety of activities for both locals and tourists alike to explore its rich historic and artistic aspects.
For Civil War buffs, the Levine Museum of the South offers details of how life in the area changed after the South surrendered. This museum…
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Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Does your winter warm-weather search include a stop in San Diego? If it doesn’t, it should. Mild winters make this destination a favorite for anyone seeking an escape from snow and cold. It’s not uncommon to go walking on the beach on Christmas Day in flip-flops and shorts or jogging on New Year’s in a tank top.
What’s good for you is good for Fido, too. San Diego is emerging as an extremely dog-friendly destination with a number of hotel properties allowing dogs in guest rooms. As a result, many December, January and February visitors to the land of Shamu and the World-Famous San Diego Zoo are bringing their four-legged companions to enjoy a little of that winter warmth in California’s furthest southern city.
The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau even keeps a running list of various dog-friendly activities and special offers from participating hotels. At this time, several…
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Thursday, September 27, 2012
Nothing quite surpasses nature’s design in southern California’s inland desert plains of cacti and boulders, bordered by rose and ochre mountains. At the same time, the modern world has contributed creatively in the flourishing towns that lie just off Highway 111 in this region. One such development on the human side that stands out these days is within Palm Desert, a desert community attuned to the civic and commercial benefits of a diverse art presence. For anyone visiting Palm Desert, here are some ways to access some of that local artistic and cultural innovation:
- Downtown Public Art – Palm Desert became the first in Riverside County to institute a public art program over two decades ago. Since then, city law has required all developers to place art in a publicly visible area or to pay a fee to the Art in Public Place fund for each new structure built.
…
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Thursday, September 13, 2012
You’ve probably never heard of Sandpoint, Idaho.
But the readers of USA Today/Rand McNally’s “Most Beautiful Small Town in America” survey have heard of it. They recently bestowed this honor on Sandpoint, a classic Old Northwest village in the Idaho Panhandle, just forty miles from the Canadian border.
It doesn’t take long to see why. As you cross the two-mile-long bridge over Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced “pond-a-ray”), surrounded by the snow-capped Selkirk Mountains, a village of restored wood and red-brick buildings filled with interesting shops, restaurants, and galleries awaits you on the other side.
This is a town with a truly majestic backdrop. The Selkirks rise up to 8,000 feet, and they’re blanketed by a layer of the thickest forest you’ve ever seen. And Lake Pend Oreille (a term coined by early French traders to describe the ear ornaments of the local Indians) is enormous – 43 miles long, 148…
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Tuesday, July 10, 2012
I’ve never owned a Harley; in fact, I have never owned a motorcycle. So why does the adrenaline flow and the blood pump faster when I see one of these shining speedsters drive by?
Maybe that’s why the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee has become such a shrine with non-riders as it has with owners of the iconic machines: The museum, located in the heart of the city’s downtown, is not your everyday museum, just as the Harley is not your everyday motorcycle.
Even I know that there are many great motorcycle brands other than “Hogs’’ riding the highways and byways of the world. Reliable, less expensive perhaps, and with just as much chrome, streamlined power and pizazz as the treasured H-D.
So why does the Harley get all the good press, customer loyalty and movie parts? Sure, there are the distinctive lines and the powerful chest-pounding exhaust, but there’s something…
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Thursday, July 5, 2012
Nestled in the rolling hills of central Arkansas, this little burg should be on everyone’s quick-get-away list…from infrequent travelers to euro-snobs to jaded jet setters. Here’s a dozen reasons why:
Three beautiful lakes – All are man-made, created by building hydro-electric dams in sections of the Ouachita River (pronounced ‘wash–ah–taw’ – the French spelling of an Indian word meaning “good hunting grounds”). The smallest is Lake Catherine at 1,900 acres and five miles long. The next up in size is Lake Hamilton at 7,200 acres and 18 miles long. (Hamilton surrounds the city of Hot Springs like a horseshoe.) The largest is Lake Ouachita at 40,000 acres and 40 miles long. Known for its crystal clear water, Lake Ouachita is popular with scuba divers. The shoreline of Lake Ouachita is National Forest. Think Lake Tahoe without the snow and taxes.
Bath Houses & Hot Spring Spas…
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Tuesday, June 12, 2012
The origins of its name are shrouded in some mystery: Delray Beach is said by some to derive from Spanish colonial times, while others suggest an even wider range of possible roots. What there is no doubt of nowadays is that this once sleepy southeastern-Florida coastal town has emerged to make its mark as a regional destination with its own distinct highlights. How it has managed to do so reveals a dedication to preserving the finest of its past while looking to the future by encouraging local fine dining, cultural, outdoor and active attractions along this stretch of Florida’s glittering shoreline.
What to See…
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Delray Beach stretches inland and eastward from the Atlantic for several miles, but most points of interest lie within easy walking distance or at most a short drive from downtown Atlantic Avenue, its main boulevard. Park along one of the side streets of Atlantic and west
Monday, June 4, 2012
There may be no more diverse destination on the planet than Hawaii. Not only is the terrain amazingly varied – deserts, beaches and lush rainforests, mountains and oceans, deep valleys and soaring volcanoes – but the climates there range from sub-arctic to tropical. The available activities are almost without end. The culture is a mix of Polynesian, Asian, European and American. But perhaps the most varied aspect of the Islands is the way that this tremendous confluence appeals to so many different types of people – young, old, active and beach lovers, there is something for everyone in Hawaii. And all of this means one thing above all others – Hawaii is the world’s greatest family destination.
What type of activities might a family find on Hawaii? Let’s first give due respect to the Aloha culture. Deep 
in the roots of Hawaii’s own way of being, family is an important concept. …
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Thursday, May 24, 2012
You’ve walked Canyon Road and enjoyed Indian Market in Santa Fe. You’ve soaked up all the spirituality you can in Sedona. 
You’ve driven through the lunar coyote-and-roadrunner landscape of Monument Valley and seen Albuquerque’s Balloon Fiesta, but you still can’t get enough of the Southwest. For many people, the Southwest holds an allure that’s tough to pinpoint, but undeniably addictive. Perhaps it’s the hundreds of sunny days, the dry warmth, the delicious spicy food or the infinitely beautiful and colorful people of the Southwest. The ancient cultures certainly add something to the level of spirituality here, as do the amazing snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains, which overlook vast deserts.
But if you think you’ve seen and done it all in the Southwest, there might still be more to explore in these five offbeat destinations.
Truth or Consequences, N.M.…
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Few people have ever heard of this tiny New Mexico town, and
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Many’s the time I’ve been traveling on a lonesome highway in the West and been mesmerized by George Strait’s song about this town tucked away in the Texas Panhandle. Here – as in nearby Oklahoma – the wind really does come sweepin’ down the plain. And so does a long string of surprises, among them the most legendary steakhouse in America, interesting museums, restaurants ranging from Route-66-diner to classic Mexican, sacred Native American spots, natural beauty and fascinating eco-systems…and the second-largest canyon in America.
If you’ve seen the magazine or TV ads for Texas, you’ve seen the symbol of Palo Duro Canyon: an incredible, multi-colored tower of rock looming over a canyon 120 miles long, up to 20 miles wide, and over 800 feet deep! The 5.75-mile (round-trip) Lighthouse Trail is the most scenic route to the top, and you’ll have the added benefit of working up quite a sweat.…
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