Wine and Spirits Travel

I woke up to palm trees swaying and a light ocean breeze. I didn’t take me long to remember I was a Nisbet Plantation in Nevis, a boutique slice of paradise. After some light yoga, I walked down to the beach for breakfast. My cottage was one of the first ones so it wasn’t that close to the beach, but close enough so that the sense of the waves instantly relaxed me. Coconuts is the restaurant for breakfast at NisbetPlantation and I don’t think I could have dreamed up a better scene for the morning. It’s open air dining with clear views of the beach. They offer a buffet filled with fresh fruit and juice – including a different special juice each day – breads and yogurt. You can then order their specialties from their menu. I thought I was keeping it simple with a veggie filled omelet and corned beef hash, but the hash turned out to be like no other I had previously. It included fruit (pineapple?) and was absolutely delicious. My friend and fellow travel wr...

I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy trip when my friend and fellow travel writer, Sue Campbell , invited me to join her on the island of Nevis, but it sounded like an ideal way to spend a week during the winter. Nevis Tourism booked my flights and I was set to leave Champaign in the morning for a flight to Chicago, then onto Miami, for a flight to St. Kitts. I would then take a ferry to the island. It was a lot of traveling to get there, but we did plan to stay over a night at the St. Kitts Marriott to cut it down on the way back. With all that travel planned, it just took one little problem for the trip to go off schedule, and that happened at the beginning. I missed my first connection and couldn’t get to Miami in time for the last St.Kitts flight of the day. I didn’t want to take a chance of all those connections again, so I did continue on to Miami and got a hotel room at the Fairfield Inn for the night. I was onboard my flight to Nevis the next morni...

It was day two of my first trip to the Wisconsin Dells. I had brought along my friend Paul and his kids to stay at Chula Vista with me and enjoy their facilities – mainly the indoor waterpark. I had a meeting with Bianca from the Wisconsin Dells tourism board and they had gone ahead and hit the waterpark without me. It didn’t take me long when I returned to get my bathing suit on and go down there myself. They were having fun with all the winding slides and I was more than content with a few rounds of the lazy river and some time in the giant hot tub. Time seemed to pass quickly while we all had fun. The next thing we knew it was late afternoon. We stopped after we left the waterpark at Fresh to Go, where they have a variety of snacks and baked goods. We each picked out a treat (I had a delicious chocolate chip cookie) before heading back to the room to relax. It was so great that Chula Vista had everything connected through tunnels so we didn't have...

I had heard a lot about the Wisconsin Dells since moving to the Midwest. It was known as the “The Waterpark Capital of the World.” In fact, it’s more the “indoor” waterpark capital with more than a dozen resorts with large indoor waterparks. Not only had I not been to Wisconsin Dells, but I had never stayed at a place with an indoor waterpark. I knew with my position as Midwest Travel Guide for About.com I’d have to eventually hit all the waterparks in the Midwest, so I figured it was a great place to start. I contacted Bianca Johnson, Marketing & Communications Manager for Wisconsin Dells tourism to help me narrow down the list of where to stay. She felt Chula Vista had just put in millions to expanding their indoor waterpark so it was the perfect place to start. My daughter and her fiancé are busy planning a wedding in the East and I needed to recruit a “family” to help me test out Chula Vista . My friend Paul and his kids, 9 and 12, were happy to come along....

My first career in journalism began as a teenage entertainment reporter. I probably appreciate more now the things I got to do and see than I did as a kid at the time.  Even though I was young, I was enthusiastic and not only worked as an editor of the Post Pioneer, but I managed to get myself a gig as an editor for the short-lived New York’s Nightlife Magazine. One of my assignments was to cover a Beach Boys concert at the Nassau Coliseum (for those not familiar with Long Island, you probably know it as where the Islanders play hockey). My photographer, Joe, and I had front row seats and press passes. While we were getting set up, a gentleman came over to me and said, “I’ve got a great story for you. Come with me backstage.” That man was Bruce Johnston. He had recently started playing with the Beach Boys and was interested in getting me to write about his joining the group. Along with Bruce, I met Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, and Al Jardine. They w...

It was the last day of the Missouri road trip for my friend Jaimee and me. We were determined to make the most of it and Big Cedar Lodge provided us with plenty of opportunities. I woke up to sunshine and started my day with a bit of yoga as I enjoyed the scenery. The first order of the day was breakfast at Truman Coffee and Café near the main lodge. The café was filled with people trying to decide what to get among the scrumptious offerings. I made the right choice in the Cinnamon Muffin with scrambled eggs on the side for some protein. Jaimee went for the breakfast bagel with egg, ham, and cheese, and we both got our caffeine jolts with lattes.We ate out on the deck while we admired the views.  After breakfast we headed up to the Top of the Rock Welcome Center. We were both excited to pick up our golf carts there to take the Lost Canyon Cave Nature Trail. I have to say, I had no idea what to expect. It turned out to be an incredible journey that I’ll ...