There are always musicians in Central Park, but today there many more than usual thanks to a brand new festival called Jazz and Colors. There were 30 jazz bands in 30 locations all playing the same set list from noon—4pm, with an hour-long intermission. I arrived shortly after the second set had started and after […]

The streets of Sarasota were covered in chalk masterpieces from October 28-Nov 6, thanks to the Sarasota Chalk Festival. The event is free for artists and free for voyeurs — it’s designed to draw customers to local businesses. There was no shortage of talent here as artists (including full-time professional street painters) and musicians flocked […]

This guest post brought back wonderful memories of St. John — I love Trunk Bay! Do you remember the song Sailing by Christopher Cross? The yacht rock classic debuted in June 1980, just in time for a summer of margaritas and pina coladas. After that sun-kissed classic hit the airwaves everyone wanted a pink shirt, a […]

Hurricane Sandy pummeled the Jersey Shore, and while this isn’t exactly breaking news anymore I still wanted to share it with you because I have written about how much I love Bay Head and LBI on this blog and they were both hit quite hard. And 2 years ago, I wrote a post called Forget […]

I think I’ve found a valid excuse for why it’s taken me so long to do a blog post about the Monserrate palace in Sintra: it’s very hard to describe! I was there exactly a year ago, and while I haven’t been ruminating on it every single day since then, I must admit that even […]

Quinta da Regaleira, an eclectic, almost spooky palace in Sintra, Portugal, was nothing short of amazing. most visitors to Sintra, however, will probably end up passing it over for the more popular palaces. If we weren’t staying within walking distance from it at the historic, luxurious Hotel Tivoli Palácio de Seteais then we probably would have […]

If Lisbon reminded me of San Francisco, then Sintra reminded me of Newport, Rhode Island. When Sintra was in its heyday, the richest of the rich built incredible palaces of sometimes questionable taste but never lacking in detail, opulence or personality. And just like in Newport, these homes/castles are no longer inhabited but are open […]

After raving about Junibacken, the Children’s Museum in Stockholm, it just wouldn’t be right for me not to share my enthusiasm for the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis (CMI). This weekend marked our son’s first trip to Indiana – my husband grew up here and I have been here at least 15 times with him. We […]

When my friend Felicity Loughrey told me she wanted to write a guest blog post about Fitzroy Island, my response was, “Where’s that?” She told me it’s the best resort you’ve never heard of, and that it’s good enough to bring the grandparents. There are plenty of blogs (like this one!), articles and websites about […]

Planning a trip to Florida? Then I hope you’ll enjoy this guest post about the top attractions all over the The Sunshine State. Florida is one of the most popular tourism destinations in the United States, and that should come as no surprise thanks to the many great attractions within the state. Whether you are […]