Inside the Arizona Biltmore
Phoenix doesn’t rise from the ashes of itself, but from a sun-drenched desert that draws visitors from around the globe for its warm winter days and sultry nights. It rose also from the imagination of people who visualized a city where people could live year-around in the shadows of the rugged mountains surrounding it. Savvy marketers branded it “The Valley of the Sun” in the 1930s and the label sticks today. Even before the Valley of...
Bring It On In Tucson
Tucson is a bad-ass town. There. I said it. From the early days farming the desert along the Santa Cruz River, to later years fighting off Apache raiders, to recent years battling drought, the people of Tucson have had to face up and knuckle down. The bring-it-on attitude shows in everything from the street art to the symphony, from the barrio to the ballet, from the tacos to the theater. Nowhere is this Tucson badassery more notable...
Fall is for Food Festivals in the South
Taste of the New South September 4-7, 2015, Pinehurst, NC Over Labor Day weekend the legendary Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina will host Taste of the New South, a food and wine celebration to focus on traditional foods prepared with contemporary flair. The village of Pinehurst was designed by Frank Law Olmsted, the landscape architect of Central Park. Even without the dozens of championship golf courses and picturesque horse farms...
New in Napa Valley
Hotels Renovate to Enhance Guest Experiences Craig and Kathryn Hall have renovated La Residence in Napa and rebranded to SENZA Hotel to reflect the hotel’s new modern design and added amenities. The property re-opened in October 2014. SENZA Hotel features 41-modern guest rooms including 18 luxury suites, an outdoor pool and hot tub, state-of-the-art fitness room, full spa, meeting area and a contemporary art collection. Website: ...
In Awe of Asheville
When I announced five years ago that we were moving to North Carolina, my writer and artist friends assumed we’d move to Asheville. “It’s the creative capital of North Carolina,” I heard repeatedly. While a creative capital sounded good, due to my husband’s job, we wound up in a small town called Hillsborough. Turns out Hillsborough is the literary capital of the South with more writers living here any...
Any Day in Puerto Vallarta
It could be any day along the Pacific coast of Mexico, but on this day it’s Puerto Vallarta. The morning broke with a puff of clouds lolling upon the Pacific, casting a veil across the fishing boat dropping anchor in Banderas Bay. Tourists drop their lines into the water, prop their poles on the side and pop open a beer. These tourists are hoping to catch fish—dorado, bonito, yellow fin, mahi-mahi, even marlin—but I...
TerraVita Serves Up the World in North Carolina
The capstone of the TerraVita Food and Drink Festival in Chapel Hill, N.C. was called the Carolina Table–East Meets West. As apropos as that sounds, it could easily have been called South Meets the World. There is no doubt that pork is still king in the South, but pheasant, bison, lamb and duck are reaching for the crown. Same goes with barbeque sauce–that legacy souse of the South that differs from region to region....
Lynchburg: Gateway to the Civil War Trail
Central Virginia is spectacular any time of year. In the spring, the hills look like Monet paintings dotted with dogwood white, red bud fuchsia and forsythia yellow.
Sophistication and Culture in Mexico City
Mexico City infuses the ancient with the contemporary as if the two are the yin yang of Mexican culture. Spend three days in Mexico City with a trio of Americans who have never been there and you’ll blow some minds. Americans don’t expect the spectacular architecture, the clean streets and sidewalks, the abundance of museums and cultural centers, the fabulous gourmet dining, and the friendly people anxious to show you the heart of...
Explore Georgia’s Golden Isles
It’s not hard to understand why this stretch of the Georgia coast is known as the Golden Isles. Miles of marsh grass wave in the breeze, carved by streams, rivers, and inlets to form a jigsaw puzzle of islands. The sun rises like a glittering coin over the Atlantic and blankets the marshlands in gold and amber as it sets over the isles. Poised on the mouth of the sound leading up to the bustling port city of Brunswick is St. Simons Island, the largest of Georgia’s Golden Isles.
Lynchburg: Gateway to the Civil War Trail
Central Virginia is spectacular any time of year. In the spring, the hills look like Monet paintings dotted with dogwood white, red bud fuchsia and forsythia yellow. Summer’s lush green hillsides sparkle with magnolias and a rainbow of crepe myrtles. Even the stark bare branches of winter and the glistening snow bring stunning serenity to the farmlands, towns and rolling hills.
The Spirit of Charleston in Food and Drink
One of the first things the driver who picked me up at the airport told me is that Charleston is the second-most haunted town in America. “That’s good,” I told him, “I’m searching for the spirit of Rhett Butler.” That he’s a fictional character makes no difference, I explain. “He’s the essence of southern hospitality and that’s what I’m here to find.” The driver dropped me off at Charleston Place, a Belmond Hotel in the heart of...
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