Isla Mujeres, Mexico – What a treat to return to Isla Mujeres, a sweet island off the coast of Cancún that we visited 12 years ago. That was an all-out intergenerational family vacation, with toddlers and grandparents. This visit was…

Isla Mujeres, Mexico – What a treat to return to Isla Mujeres, a sweet island off the coast of Cancún that we visited 12 years ago. That was an all-out intergenerational family vacation, with toddlers and grandparents. This visit was…
Wilmington, North Carolina – Wilmington is the grooviest little city that you never heard of – an eclectic blend of historic charm and contemporary cool. Who knew? I had a blast in this dynamic and diverse city. Here’s how you…
Beaufort, North Carolina – Beaufort was the best surprise of my trip to North Carolina. I fell in love with this picture-perfect town, with its white-washed Bahamian-style houses (including one where Blackbeard lived!) and its wildflower-strewn, pony-dotted offshore islands. Welcome…
Manteo, North Carolina – Here’s a little piece of history that I didn’t know about: the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke Island. Here was the FIRST English settlement in the Americas, dating from 1585 (more than 20 years before Jamestown!). The…
Lyon, France – We came to Lyon because Daddio was attending a conference, but then I noticed that travel writers (ahem) have been touting Lyon as an offbeat, affordable alternative to Paris–and also the culinary capital of France! I asked…
Lyon, France – I took myself on a tour of the traboules of Vieux Lyon. They are “secret” covered passageways that connect streets, buildings and courtyards, often on different levels. I read they were built as far back as the…
Stockbridge, Mass – It’s not my first trip to the Berkshires (read about some of our previous trips here). And I am a travel writer, a so-called expert in New England and its history. But I still learned something while…
Rockport, Massachusetts – Rockport takes its name from its industrial past: its 19th-century role as a shipping center for granite cut from the local quarries. While updating the Lonely Planet guide to New England, I decided to investigate this history–to…
Gloucester, Mass – Much of the interior of Cape Ann is wild and undeveloped, partially protected by reservations, but mostly left to the whims of nature and history. This vast territory is known as Dogtown. Little remains from the Colonial-era…