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U.S.A.

My Dad’s house is high on a hill in the small city of San Leandro, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Every morning when I visit, I pick up the morning paper, the East Bay Times, and check out the sports section to read about the local teams. I often put the paper down to glance out the window. A few miles distant, down in the flat lands of Oakland near San Francisco Bay, I can see Oakland Arena and the Oakland Coliseum. I was born in Oakland. My parents were raised there. We moved to the suburbs when I Read more

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J.D. Power’s latest study of U.S. and Canadian airports is pretty harsh when it comes to Canada. If you take this study at its word, we suck. We truly suck. But I don’t know if that’s quite true. The company’s annual airport review for 2024 ranks Toronto Pearson/YYZ as the second-worst mega airport in the two countries, ahead of only poor Newark-Liberty in New Jersey. J.D.Power ranked Vancouver International 15th out of 27 large airports, which is at least middle of the pack. But Calgary was 22nd and Montreal-Trudeau next-to-last at 26th. The 2024 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, the Read more

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What are the coolest cities in the U.S. and Canada? The team at CanadaSportsBetting analyzed cities based on factors like culture, dining, social engagement, tech, and environmental sustainability and came up with a fun list. “The eight categories we used cover the many aspects of a city and what goes into creating its overall vibe. The cultural and arts scene of a place, for instance, gives a flavor of what locals can experience on their doorsteps, from live music events to museums and places of historical importance,” the group said. New York City (no surprise) came out on top, and Read more

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Two Canadian hotels and 16 in the U.S. have attained the highest rating by Michelin Guide by earning “three key” status. U.S. THREE-KEY WINNERS Canyon Ranch, Tucson, Arizona (new to the list) Little Palm Island Resort and Spa, Florida (new) Kona Village, a Rosewood Resort, Hawai’i Island, Hawai’i (new) Sage Lodge, Montana (new) Amangiri, Utah (new) The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, California Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, California Single Thread Inn, Healdsburg, California Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California Auberge du Soleil, Rutherford, California Meadowood Napa Valley, St. Helena, California Canyon Ranch Woodside, Woodside, California Aman New York, New York Read more

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Here’s a fun chart: A look at the world’s best cities for Instagram sunset posts. New research by Heepsy analyzed 54 cities worldwide to identify the ones that have the most Instagrammable sunsets. The study considered several key factors, including the number of Instagram hashtags, average annual sunshine hours, air quality index (AQI), tourist arrivals, and popular sunset spots, to determine the cities that offer the most stunning and popular sunset experiences.  Here’s their top nine, including total score based on the above factors and key places to watch the sun go down. As a California native who grew up Read more

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