Wine and Spirits Travel

It was another early day as we arrived in Ketchikan. Brittany and I had a quick breakfast and coffees from the International Café before we got off the ship in this Alaska city. We were once again going on separate excursions. I was doing the Historical Ketchikan & Creek Street Walking Tour, with my scooter. Brittany was doing Ketchikan Safari with a Local Photographer. We both learned a lot about this unique city and its history.   My guide was of Tlingit descent. They are one of the Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest, mostly in Alaska and Canada. They are one of 229 recognized tribes in Alaska. He had lived in Ketchikan all his life. As we walked, he told us all about the colorful life of the city built on water. The streets are all built on trestles and stairs, with a 274-foot-long tunnel in the middle of town.   During the Gold Rush, this town was Alaska’s center of fun, with bars on every corner and legal prostitution. Many of the bars are still the...

  The main reason I chose this Inside Passage cruise with Princess was the full day exploring Glacier Bay National Park by ship. Glacier Bay is one of the least accessible national parks in the United States. With this itinerary, I would be able to see a lot of it from the Royal Princess. Only a few cruise lines are able to spend a day going through Glacier Bay. It starts in the early morning when a boat arrives with park rangers. They stay on board until late in the afternoon, telling us about the park and everything we are seeing. Brittany and I got up at 5:00 am. We had decided to start out with as much as we could see from our balcony. We pre-ordered breakfast and coffee delivered to our cabin, so we didn’t need to get out of our pajamas, but we did need to bundle up. We put on our sweatshirts and the warm blankets Princess Cruises supplies to take outside. After enjoying 70+ degree temperatures in Alaska the previous days, we were starting this day in the 40s. It was als...

It had been a fun and relaxing two days at Lido Beach Resort, but it was time for my friend Lynn and me to leave Lido Key and head to Longboat Key. We left the resort first thing in the morning to head downtown to the Sarasota Opera House . Sam Lowry, Director of Audience Development, met us at the door for a private tour.  We were lucky enough to get to see every corner of this historic building, which opened in 1984 and went through an extensive ($20 million) renovation in 2008. The building had been kept its history in the renovation and Lynn and I were impressed with the special touches, from the detailed woodwork around the stage to the gold crest in the cream colored Grand Atrium. I had never been to the opera and I fantasized about putting on a floor length evening gown and socializing in one of their well-appointed member lounges while waiting for the curtain call! After the Opera House, we returned to the Lido Beach Resort to pack up. The clouds we...

For more years than I’ll admit, I have spent weeks at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships covering tennis. It’s one of my favorite times of year. I catch up players and friends from the media. I also get to sample tons of delicious food and drinks, a task that has become more prevalent since I’ve focused on lifestyle writing. I got started this year at the U.S. Open Food Tasting Preview. It was enough to convince anyone to come to the tournament whether or not they wanted to see tennis and the tournament is ready. The restaurants are prepared to serve 27,000 people during the tournament. The tasting included appearances by chefs David Burke, Tony Mantunao and Masaharu Morimoto. They showed off their signature dishes and also told us about what’s new this year.  Here’s what was sampled (my friends Melanie and Meredith took care of the seafood sampling for me) from each restaurant: Wine Bar Burrata Cheese on French bread- light, tasty and a perfect wine accompan...

It was an exciting day for many as the America’s Cup final was about to take place in Newport, Rhode Island . I had come along with a few other select journalists as the guest of Moet & Chandon Champagne , a sponsor of the event. It had been a whirlwind trip and that was not about to change. I slept until 8:00 and took a walk downtown on the unusually warm New England day. I was back in time to meet the group in the lobby of the Hotel Viking to head to 41 North for a champagne brunch with the Moet & Chandon executives. It was a beautiful scene and I enjoyed my quiche with the bubbly, while others raved at the Lobster Eggs Benedict. We talked about the boat we were going to get on to watch the races and I had to admit I was a bit nervous. The words “small vessel” and “strong waves” did not exactly get me motivated. My fears dissipated when I saw the actual boat – or should I say, yacht. It was a beautiful boat that had plenty of room and comfy couches. We als...