Wine and Spirits Travel

As a child, I drove with my parents and my brother cross country almost every year. We would stop along the way, sometimes for a few hours and other times overnight if there was a lot to see. By going different routes we managed to see all of the continental United States. Around the time I was 10, the vacations were by airplane and there were states I would never see again. South Dakota was one of those.  With my new role in charge of the Midwest Travel section for About.com, I had more reason than ever to get to South Dakota so I was excited when the tourism board invited me on a trip. The day started with an early morning flight and included a tight connection, so I was pretty tired and hungry by the time I met Julie Jones-Whitcher of Rapid City Tourism .  We had planned to meet directly at The Journey Museum, but I had called and asked her if we could meet somewhere for a late lunch first. We met in Main Street Square and proceeded to Alternative Fuel s

After a morning of checking out the Grand Market , my daughter Sam and I still had a full day and night ahead of us at the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival. We got back to the press room at Caesar’s Resort in time for a fun and candid conversation with Martha Stewart . It was a press only round table. I had never met her before and was surprised how relaxed she was. One of the things she talked about is a subject close to my palate – infusing vodka. Ms. Stewart, who has a farm in Bedford, New York, said, “Black currants are the basis for cassis. It flavors the vodka very nicely. Within two months, the vodka is great and it only gets better and better. “ She also added, “I use raspberries in vodka. I use strawberries. I grow a lot of citrus on my farm, lots of lemons and limes. I use that a lot for the drinks." "When I have a lot of lemon or sour oranges, I squeeze them and freeze it for ice cubes, and keep that in the freezer for drinks. That makes