A historic home once lived in by one of the world’s greatest writers. Fabulous food. Great, local wines. And wonderful, walkable downtowns. The Tri-Valley region of California is not only easy to enjoy, but easy to get to. The valley is roughly a 45-minute drive from downtown San Francisco, and easily reached on the Bay Area Rapid Transit System. It’s not an area that gets a ton of publicity, but that’s what makes it so much fun to explore. I grew up about 10 minutes from the area, and a post at the daily Tri-Valley Herald was my first newspaper Read more
shopping
Lahaina might be my fave small city in the world. It’s a delightful, tropical town perched on the dry side of the West Maui mountains, with a colourful history and a fun, engaging charm. This was the center of the Pacific whaling industry for some time, and you’ll find remnants of old jails that housed rowdy sailors. The town center also features one of the world’s largest banyan trees, which has dozens of trunks and spreads over an entire city block. It’s a great place for kids to explore and dream about being a member of the Swiss Family Robinson Read more
Since we can’t travel much these days, I’m re-posting some prior blogs. This is from a great visit to New York City last year. BROOKLYN – “The view down here is nice, but I’m going to show a place almost nobody knows about.” Sheli Baez is escorting my wife and I around Brooklyn on a New York Times Journeys visit; a program based on the newspaper’s popular “36 Hours In” travel section stories, where readers are given a guide for the perfect day and-a-half in great destinations around the world. The New York Times Journeys are run by Urban Adventures, Read more
You can tell a lot about a place by the bulletin boards or the signs in the window of their local coffee shop. Are there are ads for organic soy milk? Goat yoga? A concert starring a KISS cover band? At the Pastry Peddler in Millbrook, a small community a few minutes southwest of Peterborough, the messages in the window seemed all about community; “Support local farmers.” “Thank a Quilter Day.” “Port Hope Fair.” I liked it already. And then I stepped inside and found beautiful, wood floors, soaring ceilings, bicycles hanging from the walls, local art on display, and Read more
I first visited Molokai maybe 20 years ago. It was just for a getaway night for my wife and I, who were on vacation on Maui with my family, and I don’t remember a lot. The weather wasn’t the best but it was quiet and restful. I went back for a day trip with my sister five years later and rented a car, so we were able to enjoy the drive to the Halawa Valley and got to briefly check out the valley and the pretty bay and beach. I went back for a travel story in the Toronto Star Read more
