The Beach Boys mostly sang about Southern California, since they grew up in Hawthorne, which is just outside of LA. But surfing culture thrives all along the Californian coast, and we saw plenty of surfers on our trip around the Northern half of the state. While the water may be cold (low 50s) up there […]

Seals in Santa Cruz From my previous blog posts, you may have inferred that I love monkeys. But did you know that I also love seals? The seal obsession started the last time I was in California, which was two years ago. I was asking the hotel concierge what sights to see on the drive […]

We arrived in Half Moon Bay, CA, last night, but it was too dark to see anything. We had a good flight from JFK to SFO on Jet Blue — all those good Thursday night TV shows helped the flight go by quickly — and got our rental car without any problems. By the time […]

I am terrible at sleeping on overnight flights. I am normally an excellent sleeper, but the combination of excitement to get to my destination plus the pressure to fall asleep plus the uncomfortable coach seat almost always results in a frustratingly sleepless night. So last year, when I was planning my trip to Greece I […]

The last 20 or so hours of my trip to Costa Rica were spent in the beach town of Jaco. I had been warned that Jaco would be touristy, crowded and Americanized, but we decided to spend our last night there anyway so we would have a quicker trip to the airport than we would […]

It's my last night in Costa Rica, and thankfully I have wireless internet access again as I'm now at the Poseidon Hotel in Jaco. (How come the cheaper hotels always seem to have the best — and free — internet access, while the more luxurious ones either charge you extra for it or it doesn't […]

When I would tell people that I visited the Greek islands of Santorini, Naxos and Paros last summer, most people would say, “Oh, you went to Paris, too?” And then I would have to explain that I said Paros, not Paris. Obviously if you’re reading it, as opposed to hearing it, you wouldn’t have the […]

Before my tan completely fades, I wanted to squeeze in another post about Key West. Even though friends told me it would be great, initially I didn't want to go because I was hoping to travel somewhere more exotic. But Key West turned out to be a great vacation, beginning with a beautiful drive through […]

Kitesurfers in Islamorada You can fly to Key West, but it's so much better to drive from Miami, Sarasota or wherever else you begin. The ride through the keys is incredibly scenic, as there's crystal blue water dotted with uninhabited isles on both sides of the highway, US 1. And once you hit the first […]

I’ll admit, I was reluctant to come to Key West. In my quest to travel to as many new places as possible, I’ll usually dismiss destinations in the U.S. as not being exotic or interesting enough. Well, right now I am loving Key West and it serves as an excellent reminder that that sort of […]