Cruise Fall Foliage

Pennsylvania residents enjoy discount along with autumn colors

Published on 7/21/10

Pennsylvania residents have a reason to celebrate as MSC Cruises announces reduced rates through August 31 for its inaugural fall foliage cruises to Canada/New England on board the MSC Poesia. Read More »

Castle Country

Ireland off season

Published on 7/07/10

Everyone loves to visit Ireland in summer, but to me, the dramatic fogs and winds of fall and winter best suit this green and haunted island. Read More »

Best Bets are in Your Backyard

Treasure Trail Passport program ideal for family visits to Brandywine Valley hotspots

Published on 6/10/10

Opt for a different kind of summer vacation — one without crowded beaches or the nauseating scent of too much chlorine. Picture yourself right at home in the Brandywine Valley, where a new passport program reduces admission prices at local attractions. Read More »

Magico! San Miguel de Allende

Published on 3/30/10

Not that long ago, an artist friend implored, “Stacia, you must go to San Miguel de Allende. You belong there.” She described a magical, cobblestone village of artists and writers located high in the mountains of the Mexican heartland, where time has stood still. No large hotels. No traffic lights. No crime. No humidity. It was the “no humidity” that sold me. Read More »

Thailand’s Many Faces

Phuket’s beaches and Bangkok’s bustle

Published on 11/09/09

Suzanne and I had met on an Alaskan cruise the year before; our instant rapport consisted in part of our passion for travel. When I had the chance to visit the brand-new Six Senses Destination Spa in Phuket, Thailand, she was the first potential traveling companion I thought of (admittedly, my husband couldn’t get away from work at the time). Read More »

Luxury Brazil

Bahia and Kiaroa

Published on 9/26/09

I am getting a shiatsu massage while listening to the soothing sounds of a waterfall and the songs of tropical birds. Except this time, the sound effects are not on a CD. I am lying, blissfully, in a tree house at Hotel Canto das Águas (Song of the Water) in Lençóis, Brazil, and the only thing that separates me from the parrots, monkeys, and ripe mangoes is a billowing curtain of white parachute silk. Read More »

Meet Me In Seattle

A family reunion weekend yields coffee bars—and fun—at every turn

Published on 6/01/09

It’s not often that I’m impressed with a city from the moment I deplane, but when my husband and I arrived at Seattle/Tacoma airport, the smell of fresh-ground coffee beans was already wafting through the air as we passed a bakery, a wine bar, and a day spa—all on the way to the restroom. Little did we suspect that, while Seattle would in fact live up to its stereotype as the Mecca for all things coffee, indie, grey, and grunge, it would also surprise us with an unanticipated sophistication. Read More »

North to Alaska

Family foursome explores frigid, fabulous northland

Published on 3/01/09

The 6am wakeup call our first morning aboard ship was a bit of a rude awakening, but we dutifully vaulted out of our beds, threw our parkas over our fleecy PJs, and trotted out on deck. It was cold all right, but we were so stunned by the beauty of towering mountains banded in mist we didn’t much notice. (Besides, we had the always-open coffee-cocoa-hot cider station just inside so we had mugs of hot drinks to warm us.) Read More »

The High Country

On a pilgrimage to Machu Picchu

Published on 12/01/08

At its core, the Peruvian city of Cusco retains the feeling of a rural, ancient village, with its mixed architectural heritage of Incan and Spanish colonial—the conquered and, at least for a while, the conqueror—even though a third of a million people live here. Cusco is the regional capital, located in a high, wide valley in the eastern part of the country. It is also the jumping off point for anyone who wants to visit Machu Picchu, the legendary Incan mountain fortress that the Spanish never found. Read More »

The Five Best Things About New Orleans

Some things never change

Published on 9/01/08

New Orleans—tropical in climate, lush in setting, exotic in architecture, sensual in atmosphere. A place of mysteries—especially at night. Read More »