“Is this Heaven?” No, and it isn’t Iowa either. It’s Washington, baby, and the view from up here is one of the most breathtaking ones you will find anywhere in North America. Where is “up here”, you ask? “Up here” would be the summit at Crystal Mountain Resort, where, after a brief ride on a gondola, you are afforded one of the most fantastic views of Mount Rainier that you may ever see.
Read MoreFor once in my life, I looked around, surrounded by unfamiliar territory, and though I had the greatest urge to spout that age-old movie reference — “we’re not in Kansas anymore” — the fact of the matter was that, yes, we very much were in Kansas. I mean, in the very heart of America, in that region known as the Great Plains, you have some idea of what you’ll come across, but reading about it or seeing a photo or video is truly not the same as being surrounded by rolling green hills as far as the eye can see.
Read MoreThere are so many cliché ways that a year-in-review post like this could begin. But instead of saying “another year in the books” or “isn’t it funny how time flies” — or even “what do you know, here we are again” — let’s just steer clear of all that gobbledygook, am I right? After all, this is now the sixth year (!) I’m sitting down to write this annual postmortem, and it certainly doesn’t deserve to suffer an indignity like that.
Read MoreWhile experiencing the “Maho Blast,” if you will, provided the initial motivation to fly down to the Caribbean, we also knew Saint Martin had much more to offer than that. Some things we planned in advance; some things we left to chance, just going with the flow and seeing what the travel gods had in store for us. The end result was a trip for the books.
Read MoreIf not for winter sports, the chilliest season of the year would be downright, nonstop depressing, but thanks to the ancient man or woman who decided to strap a couple slats of wood to their feet for a simple means of transportation thousands of years ago (allegedly), we have the option nowadays to ski (or snowboard) recreationally at resorts the world over. And thank eight-pound, six-ounce baby Jesus for that, am I right?
Read More“Stairway to Heaven” may be the name of an absolute jam by Led Zeppelin, but it’s also the nickname for a series of steps found on the Hawaiian island of Oahu that may soon be removed for good. The Haiku Stairs, a 3,000-plus step, steel staircase leading up into the Ko’olau mountain range, are a travel bucket list item for many — but if you’re planning to check it off yours, you’ll need to do so in a hurry.
Read MoreWhether you’ve crisscrossed the globe five times over or simply scrolled through Instagram on a lazy afternoon, you’ve undoubtedly learned by now that some destinations are just more photogenic than others. That’s not to say that “ugly” cities and towns aren’t worth visiting; places that impress with personality alone are certainly bucket list-worthy. It’s more about this plain statement of fact: not all destinations are equal in the eyes of the camera’s lens.
Read MoreMichigan, in 1966, became the first state in the nation to have one of its shorelines designated as a National Lakeshore, as declared by Congress. Extending 42 miles and covering more than 73,000 acres along Lake Superior's southern shore, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore contains 15 miles of colorful sandstone cliffs, water-carved caves, arches, and other rock formations, as well as five miles of sandy dunes decorated here and there with jack pine forests.
Read MoreWith rapidly-improving cell phone cameras and an easy place to share one's photos (i.e. Instagram), there are a lot of people out there claiming to be amateur photographers these days. But, even among that large pool of wannabes, it's still pretty easy to spot the real deal. When someone has the touch, it shows.
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