Santa Monica Sun and Fun at Palisades Park and Weekly Farmers Market

Santa Monica Sun and Fun at Palisades Park and Weekly Farmers Market

I’m perched 100-feet high atop an eroding and landslide-prone sandstone bluff in Santa Monica, CA. As I begin my fitness walk on this late summer morning, I’m less concerned about the possibility of the ground collapsing and sending me tumblingRead more

From Radio Waves to Relaxation at Marconi Historic State Park

From Radio Waves to Relaxation at Marconi Historic State Park

Beneath the canopy of live oaks dripping with Spanish moss are six slatted, wooden arm chairs, weather-worn by Pacific coastal fog that regularly blankets Marconi Historic State Park and gently salts the air. They lie in wait for guests wishingRead 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

California Gold Rush Brings New Look to The Roads Traveled

California Gold Rush Brings New Look to The Roads Traveled

Historians who say the California Gold Rush is over are misinformed, for I’ve struck it rich in the Golden State. My gold isn’t the same metal whose discovery in the water wheel of a sawmill in the Sacramento Valley inRead more

Sunnylands and the Sunny Land of Palm Springs

Sunnylands and the Sunny Land of Palm Springs

A return to the fabled desert city of Palm Springs, CA, was on our radar after our terrific inaugural visit there last fall; we just had not anticipated that another trip would occur so soon. But fate intervened six monthsRead more

Palm Springs: Mid-Century Modern Mecca, Hollywood Hangout and More

Palm Springs: Mid-Century Modern Mecca, Hollywood Hangout and More

Some of my favorite Frank Sinatra songs – “Come Fly With Me,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” and “In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning” played in my head as Bill and I were driving two hours east fromRead more

A Life Rich with Food and Wine

A Life Rich with Food and Wine

When Bill and I first entered Silver Moon Cottage, our airbnb rental home for our month-long stay in Kenwood, CA, we could tell its owner, Monique Risch, has a deep love for food and wine. First of all was theRead more

Boncora Biscotti – Sonoma’s Taste of Tuscany

Boncora Biscotti – Sonoma’s Taste of Tuscany

UPDATE: We were saddened to learn about the death of Bonnie Tempesta, whose company, Boncora Biscotti, is the subject of this blog post. Click here to read her obituary. We’ve been told that Boncora Biscotti will continue as part of Bonnie’sRead more

The Sounds of Sonoma

The Sounds of Sonoma

“The hills are alive with the sound of music.” No offense to Julie Andrews and the producers of the blockbuster musical The Sound of Music, but the Austrian Alps have nothing on the Sonoma Mountains and Mayacamas Mountains when it comesRead more