Day Tripping to Bodega Head on the Sonoma Coast

Day Tripping to Bodega Head on the Sonoma Coast

Sixty-eight. Sixty-seven. Sixty-six. The countdown is under way as Bill and I drive the winding, two-lane Bodega Highway toward Bodega Head on the Sonoma Coast of California. Bill is at the wheel. He steals frequent glances at the thermometer onRead more

Small-Town Charms Amid Minnesota’s Lakes

Small-Town Charms Amid Minnesota’s Lakes

Competition is fierce, but my money is on the turtle named “Speedy,” the one the announcer says has been training by running, lifting weights, and swimming laps. I have no idea which turtle among the dozens is Speedy because theyRead more

Timeouts and Turning Points on Kiawah Island

Timeouts and Turning Points on Kiawah Island

My pulse quickens as always when my husband, Bill, and I cross Maybank Highway and head straight on Bohicket Road for the final stretch of the drive through Johns Island to Kiawah Island. It revs up more a few hundredRead more

Candace Rose Rardon Perfects the Art of Travel

Candace Rose Rardon Perfects the Art of Travel

Visualize the life of Candace Rose Rardon: Visiting and living in 50 countries, 19 of them in one year alone. Hiking solo on a 220-mile pilgrimage through rural Turkey. Driving an auto-rickshaw 2,000 miles across India. Bathing an elephant inRead more

Olive Oil Tasting in California’s Sonoma County

Olive Oil Tasting in California’s Sonoma County

My left hand covers a small plastic container of pungent Italian Blend olive oil to capture the aromas while I gently swirl it in my right palm. With the pale green-gold contents now sufficiently warm. I sip, swallow, and eruptRead more

Reconnaissance at Point Reyes Station

Reconnaissance at Point Reyes Station

I’m dropping by parachute into the small, western California town of Point Reyes Station. Sam pilots my private plane. Lucky me that he sports the rugged blond good looks of Robert Redford in his Butch Cassidy and the Sundance KidRead more

Boots and Brunch in a Russian River Valley Vineyard

Boots and Brunch in a Russian River Valley Vineyard

It was 10:00 am and my stomach was rumbling as I walked through the orderly rows of chardonnay, pinot noir, and zinfandel vines in the Morelli Lane Vineyard at Dutton-Goldfield Winery, my footsteps kicking up the fine, beach-like earth thatRead more

Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Incline and Nationality Rooms Prove Worth the Wait

Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Incline and Nationality Rooms Prove Worth the Wait

The trip takes only two and a half minutes, but you have the world at your feet the entire time. Mode of travel: the Duquesne Incline. Destination: the top of Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh. Ask Pittsburghers where to go for theRead more

Better Late Than Never in Luxembourg

Better Late Than Never in Luxembourg

While staying in Brussels, our last-minute decision to visit Luxembourg was almost a V8 moment. Surely you’re familiar with the vegetable juice brand’s classic advertising campaign. An actor consumes a calorie-laden meal or a sugary beverage and afterwards berates himself withRead more