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
wineries
SCOTTSDALE – The crack of a bat. The sun on your face. And hardly a Zamboni in sight. It’s spring training time in Arizona, where roughly half of major league ballplayers gather to hone their skills in time for the regular season. All big league teams have their spring headquarters in the Scottsdale-Phoenix area, which makes Scottsdale the ideal base. Scottsdale proper is home to three major league teams for spring training: the San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. You’re also within a few minutes drive of all the other teams in Arizona, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Read more
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – Alan Doyle is mugging for the audience at the Jackson-Triggs Ampitheatre on a warm summer night under a full moon. “I started playing this one when I was touring with Great Big Sea, back in 1951,” he says with a laugh. His new band, The Beautiful Gypsies, immediately launches into a frenzied, Newfoundland-meets-Nashville tune with powerful guitars, a splendid violin and a swirling accordion backed by drums and bass. Doyle has perfected the “aw shucks” Canadian approach, and it suits him well. Toss in a generous dash of Maritimes/Newfoundland music with lyrics about lost fishermen signing their goodbyes Read more
OAKLAND – My sister and I are sitting outside a trendy lunch spot in the Temescal Alley area of town with my Dad and his lady friend, Lucy. We’ve just picked up our fried chicken sandwiches with jalapeno cole slaw at Bakesale Betty, a small shop on Telegraph Ave. at 51st St. and Telegraph Ave. in north Oakland. Instead of inside tables, we find the only seating is out on the street on dark stools. And instead of actual tables, folks rest their sandwiches, soft drinks and Betty’s homemade cookies on rickety old ironing boards in shades of blue and Read more
Had a chance to catch up with the governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, while he was in Toronto yesterday talking up his great state, which technically is known as a Commonwealth and not a state. Just so you know. It was quite a hoot, actually, as he’s a hugely entertaining fellow who tells a good story and has got a lot of get-up-and-go. “Last year we had 40 million visitors. We shattered our old records last year in the Commonwealth. We noted the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War this year. Right now as we speak we Read more
