Browsing: North America

Following a bountiful breakfast of dim sum, my wife Fyllis and I strolled along lanes lined by shops selling merchandise both familiar and unknown to us. Some stores displayed unrecognizable animal body parts, while others stocked herbal remedies said to heal a hospital full of ills.

Lunch meant a steaming bowl of pasta accompanied by a glass of Chianti wine, and a pause to watch several men competing in a lively game of bocce.

The …

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Want a Halloween celebration full of fantastical costumes, throbbing music and jumping bodies?   Welcome to the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval, the world’s largest Halloween street party.  It’s a Halloween celebration that’s both family-friendly and hedonistic at the same time.  If you love Halloween, dressing up, or just partying with thousands in the street, then making a pilgrimage to West Hollywood for the Carnaval is a must.

West Hollywood – known to locals as WeHo – …

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I suspect that if you looked up the phrase “finding paradise” in the dictionary, one of the definitions you’d be given would read like this:

“the act of spending five carefree, abundantly sunny days exploring the idyllic Hawaiian island of Oahu.”

The Hawaiian islands are legendary. The image of arcing palm trees casting shade over a fuzzy-haired surfer as he waits for the tide to come in, has become so iconic in American culture that …

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Almost 47 million people from around the world visit New York City each year. The city offers much in the way of culture, entertainment, and cuisine. Local attractions have inspired many artists to pick up a brush throughout the decades. If you have never visited the Big Apple, consider arranging your itinerary around these works of art. Below is one such painting tour of New York that will take you to all the major sites.…

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America is one enormous country, no doubt about it. It covers more surface area than most people will traverse in their lifetime, and yet, has a history that takes up a relatively small part of the world’s archives. Luckily, because its story is so recent, it’s still easy for us to see just how these States came to be United.

If you hop on an Amtrak train to journey from Boston to Washington, D.C., you’ll …

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In a world where camping lovers and luxury travelers collided, someone decided to do something about it. Glamping combines the best of both worlds for those who love to sleep under the stars, but want to do it in a comfortable bed; or the couple that is torn between one’s desire to pitch a tent and the other’s need to have a comfortable floor to walk on.

The whole idea of glamping is one of …

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What comes to mind when you hear the words organic wine? A dollar sign? A better quality product? Something exclusive? A new trend? More please? In my case I thought of the adjectives ‘sustainable’ and then quickly ‘expensive’, because many times organic is more pricey. Paying more, I expect a tastier, superior product, which then led me to wonder: Does wine from organic grapes taste better than other, ‘traditionally’ farmed grapes?

According to Alex …

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With the US Presidential election just a little over one year away, New Hampshire residents once again get the unique chance to meet most – if not all – of the hopeful candidates face-to-face.  If you’d like to shake hands with future world leaders while touring a quintessential New England state, this fall is the perfect time to visit New Hampshire.

New Hampshire is among the smallest states both geographically and in population, with only …

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The Central Oregon coast is without a doubt home to some of the most stunning scenery you’ll see on the Pacific Coast.

Long sandy beaches just made for beachcombing. Salt-water taffy stores by the dozens. Seals splashing in inlets as the tide comes in. Clam chowder. Fresh shrimp. Tasty Dungeness crab. It’s impossible to have a bad time on the coast. Even storms become beautiful as angry waves crash on the beach.

The central coast …

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Summer is the perfect time to enjoy fun in the sun at one of California’s many beaches. The sunshine state’s coastline offers a diverse array of experiences – from the north’s mountains thrusting straight up from the sea to the pristine beaches of San Diego. Here is a roundup of the top 5 spots  to soak up the California scenery.

 

 

 

Santa Monica
Casa Del Mar
1910 Ocean Way
310/581-5533

Santa Monica is …

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Holidays have become all about the destination, not the journey. We cram ourselves into an airplane, jet off for a couple of weeks in a different culture, and often return more exhausted than when we went away. Maybe that’s because we’re forgetting that life is a journey, not a destination.

Yet in today’s fast-paced, instant-access world, there are still amazing journeys to be had if you take a trip on a freighter ship. Deep within …

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In the middle of the little town of Lahaina on the island of Maui, there is an ancient banyan tree that is massively huge. It has spreading, winding branches that fill the little park where it’s located. It’s quite impressive and was the largest tree we had ever seen.

But it could have been gobbled up whole by the huge redwood we were gazing at in the middle of Muir Woods. Soaring high above our …

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In the early morning hours of a new day, when all is calm, a feeling of serenity permeates the air. As you walk through the dew-kissed fields in this small Pennsylvania town, it is difficult to imagine the bloodiest battle of the Civil War taking place here. Welcome to Gettysburg, where 51,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died in three days of intensive fighting July 1-3, 1863.

The Gettysburg battle is considered the turning point of …

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