Carolina Raptor Center is for the Birds

Carolina Raptor Center is for the Birds

I’ve always thought of birds as the ultimate travelers, gracefully able to fly where, when and how they want. While I’ve admired birds from afar, I hadn’t spent much concerted effort learning about them. A couple of my travels haveRead 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

Back “Home” Again in Sonoma County

Back “Home” Again in Sonoma County

Isn’t it funny how certain places exert an especially strong pull on your heart? As much as Bill and I love traveling to new destinations, there are some extra special places that draw us back again and again. We feelRead more

Paris in Pittsburgh

Paris in Pittsburgh

If you still operate under the assumption that Pittsburgh is predominantly the “Steel City” belching out columns of thick, smelly, black smoke, a place that Boston writer James Parton is said to have called “Hell with the lid off” duringRead more

Wing Haven — Charlotte’s Hidden Gardens

Wing Haven — Charlotte’s Hidden Gardens

“Are you cruel enough to be a gardener?” That challenging question was imprinted on a T-shirt for sale at the Elizabeth Lawrence House and Garden in Charlotte that I was touring on a sultry day with curator Andrea Sprott asRead more

Love and Fitness on the Road

I have a new travel companion. We haven’t been many places together yet, but we’ve become quite fond of each other. The object of my affection is small, but mighty. Unassuming, but all knowing. Silent, but speaks volumes. It’s myRead more

Date Night in Charlotte at Foxcroft Wine Company

Date Night in Charlotte at Foxcroft Wine Company

If you’re looking for Bill and me on a Friday night when we’re not traveling, you’ll most likely find us at the recently renamed Foxcroft Wine Company (formerly The Wine Shop at Foxcroft) in the booming SouthPark area of Charlotte.Read more

Just Ducky at the Outer Banks

Just Ducky at the Outer Banks

The first unwritten rule of summer is that the season kicks off on Memorial Day, not on the summer solstice in June. The second unwritten rule is that one of the best places to observe the first unwritten rule is the beach.Read more