Chris Around The World: Your Guide to Value Luxury Vacations
Unique, chic, boutique: Vacations for Sophisticated Travelers
I took a three-night trip to Maui for a magazine assignment last week. While I’ve been to the island before, I hadn’t strayed too far from the resort towns of Lahaina and Wailea (other than a day spent with my family driving on the twisty road to Hana) so both the rural area known as [...]
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Earlier this year, I wrote a story for USA TODAY’s Green Living Guide about LEED-certified hotels. As I did my research, I was pleasantly surprised to find that one national park property, the Cavallo Point Lodge in Golden Gate National Recreation Area, had reached Gold certification. I resolved to check it out in person as [...]
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This is the latest in a series of travel photos inspired by #FriFotos on Twitter. This week’s Photo Friday theme is CLOSE UP. A handful of years ago, Chris and I attended the Philadelphia Flower Show. And while I enjoy gazing at flowers like most people, I wasn’t quite sure how I’d like going to an all-out flower [...]
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With a flourish, Chef Ken Frank set the serving spoons in front of us during a press dinner at his restaurant, the Michelin-starred La Toque in the Westin Verasa Resort in Napa Valley. “This is my favorite preparation of foie gras,” he said, pointing out the fresh corn polenta and the chanterelle mushrooms. Hey, wait [...]
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By the time that the tape-delayed Olympics opening ceremonies hit the the West Coast, it seemed like all the joy would be gone. All day long, I had tried to avoid spoilers, coming from friends around the world. Yet Facebook teased me with snippets that sounded bizarre in status form: Daniel Craig and J.K. [...]
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This week, I’m serving as a paid spokesperson for Hilton HHonors’ Seven Tickets to Paradise Sweepstakes. The contest, open to Hilton HHonors members through Aug. 31, features seven prize packages to destinations ranging from Bali to Palm Springs to a location of your choice. I previewed one of the prizes, the “Your Ticket To Dine,” in Napa [...]
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This week, I’m serving as a paid spokesperson for Hilton HHonors’ Seven Tickets to Paradise Sweepstakes. The contest, which is open to Hilton HHonors members, features seven prize packages and ends on Aug. 31. I previewed one of the prizes, the “Your Ticket To Dine,” in Napa Valley this past weekend. Napa Valley has been [...]
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This post continues my ongoing coverage of wine country travel. This weekend, I’m heading to Napa Valley. It will be the second time that I’ve gone this year, and the third time that I’ve visited since I moved out to the West Coast in 2010. To me, wine country getaways, both down in California and closer [...]
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This is fifth (and probably last) post about my roadtrip through northern Colorado. Some places rarely appear in tourism brochures. Some places, you need to know the right people. Not the right people, as in the richest or the hippest or the best connected (although knowing those people is never a bad thing, by any [...]
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This is the fourth post about my Colorado roadtrip. “The Shining” Hotel Horror movies and scary books were a real problem when I was a tween. All my friends were plowing through Stephen King novels and going to flicks such as The Amityville Horror. But whenever I would try to do the same, I’d wake [...]
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