You can easily be seduced by luxurious hotels and high-end wineries on a trip to the Napa Valley, known as one of the top destinations around the world. But, with a little planning and local knowledge, you also can explore one of the globe’s top wine regions and still come away with a few bills in your wallet. Here’s one frequent visitor’s guide to how to see the famous Napa Valley in two distinct ways. LUXURY/HIGH WINE Newton Vineyard Newton Vineyard is a private winery (definitely no bus tours) that sits at the top of a steep, winding road on Read more
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A great Mrs. Maisel tour. Amazing food. And a gorgeous day in Central Park. I was in New York City recently for travel meetings that were part of a great, annual event called International Media Marketplace. Always enjoy meeting with tourism folks and getting new ideas for stories, so thank you to everyone who took the time for a talk. And thanks to Destination Canada and Visit California for great evening receptions, too! I don’t want to go to NYC for just meetings, so we usually stay the weekend after IMM and do some walking about and touring. This year, Read more
DUNEDIN, FLORIDA – Workers with neon yellow and Florida orange vests scurry past the dark blue seats before stopping to consult blueprints. Hammers clang off hard metal under the sun of a warm February day, and the beeps from the trucks and construction vehicles is a constant din. If you walked past the Blue Jays spring training stadium in this Instagram-worthy seaside town west of Tampa, you’d be forgiven if you thought the facility was some time away from completion. Outside the stadium, which has been given a $102 million US renovation/expansion and re-christened as TD Ballpark, a visitor early Read more
NEW YORK CITY – They’re everywhere these days; hotels that go out of their way and go way too far to try to prove they’re hip and millennial friendly. You know the ones I mean; the places with all the flashing lights, lobbies without any place to sit and goofy signs on the door of your room that say things like “Hey, dummy, the toilet is over THERE.” My wife and I recently got to spend two nights at the Kixby hotel in the lower part of midtown Manhattan (45 West 35th St.), where the attitude is a little more Read more
There are lots of streets called Broadway. But Broadway in New York is a theatrical state of mind as much as it is a road. If you take a tour of any kind in the city, chances are the person leading the way will be a part-time actress, actor or singer; someone trying to earn their chops and make it to the top. Seeing a show on Broadway is one of the best things to do in New York City, where you’ll find massive marquees advertising everything from sensitive, historical dramas to over-the-top musicals, and everything in between. And it’s Read more
