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
Singer Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco. I’m leaving my sweat. It’s high noon, fog-free, and an unseasonably warm 83 degrees near the intersection of Hayes and Octavia Streets in the City by the Bay. I’m lying inRead more
With the fabled California desert city of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley spread far below in a hazy morning shimmer, it occurs to me I have something in common with the large raven I spot scooting determinedly along aRead more
My muscles are screaming, plotting revenge against me. Visualize this: I’m lying on a mat on my right side, stretching out my left leg at a right angle to my body, with my right leg bent and pulled back behind me.Read more
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
Our taste buds stirred when we read that Amélie’s French Bakery was establishing a new outpost near our home in south Charlotte. Amélie’s has been a wildly popular destination on Charlotte’s food map since 2008 when the flagship store openedRead more
Sometimes the best-laid travel plan is no plan. That’s the strategy Bill and I used on our recent trip to Paris, a city we’ve been to several times and one that claims a top spot on our list of favorites.Read more
Chocolate was on my mind as I entered the coolly contemporary apartment we’d rented in Brussels through airbnb. With sacks of groceries from our local produce market in hand, I had just climbed the 78 stairs to our cozy, light-filled, fifth-floorRead more
I spotted a sign on some scaffolding situated in a small park on one side of The Burg Square in Brugge, Belgium, that said “A Place Beyond Belief.” That’s Brugge in a nutshell. Brugge (spelled Bruges in French) is a remarkablyRead more
Bill’s and my visit to the imposing National September 11 Memorial and Museum during a recent trip to New York City was a potent reminder that the horrific events which occurred that day in 2001 bore such monumental significance that they becameRead more