Colorado Hotels & Lodging Mountain Living Music & Dance Restaurants Telluride: dining DJ Posh Josh Donavan Daily's Speakeasy Jazz Quartet Durango Funk Allstars Joint Point lodging Mountain Lodge music New Sheridan nightlife parties Ray Farnsworth Steve Togni Telluride The Gold Kings The Parlor The Phoenix Bean The View Bar & Grill
by maribeth
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Happening Telluride Hotels
Party Scene at Mountain Lodge Telluride
Whoa, it’s been one heck of a summer season in Telluride with fun times that animated our beloved historic town as well as Telluride Mountain Village.
Whether it’s a festival in Telluride Town Park or a get together with friends in a more dialed down setting, music often ranks as an integral part of the scene in our beautiful mountain town.
Some of the best times may be found at two of Telluride’s top hotels: the New Sheridan and Mountain Lodge. And it’s thanks to two guys–two hotel general managers (GMs)–in particular that you can enjoy an authentic night out even if you’re here during the height of the season. Ray Farnsworth has stood steady at the helm of the New Sheridan Hotel and the Chop House Restaurant & Bar for over twenty years, an eternity in the hospitality industry where GMs typically change it up every 2.5 years. Steve Togni, the #1 at Mountain Lodge Telluride, has been in charge for fourteen. Both locals, through and true, they’ve created happening scenes with a strong local’s vibe by lining up entertainment and organizing events practically year-round at their gorgeous properties. (And that’s in addition to offering great food and drink to their hotel guests, visitors and locals at their restaurants and bars.)
Electric Luau at Mountain Lodge
The Gold Kings at The Phoenix Bean at the New Sheridan
The Back Courtyard: A Nice Place to Gather at The Phoenix Bean
Mountain Lodge has held a number of big parties that have become the talk of the town during shoulder season. OK, let’s just say they know how to put on a bash. They’ve featured Joint Point, a jammy rock-and-roll band and a T-ride favorite, numerous times at their Electric Luau parties, typically held in June and September. “The Electric Luau was initially created as a simple thank you to visitors and locals alike for a great summer season at the Mountain Lodge,” says Steve. “It was such a success and we enjoyed doing it so much that it became a twice annual event. Joint Point was the obvious choice as they have evolved into a top local act over the years. Since the inception of these events, we’ve broadened the scope of having “fun” and talented bands to include others, such as the Durango Funk Allstars who will be firing up the Disco Party this weekend.”
Discovery Map Travel: beaches Cape May Dewey Beach Discovery Map great seaside resorts historic towns Lewes Maryland New Jersey Rehoboth
by maribeth
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Top Reasons to Go to Cape May and Rehoboth
Cape May
Rehoboth
It’s Friday afternoon and unless you’re in the path of Hurricane Florence, it feels like it’s time to hit the beach here on the east coast. I’m still in upstate New York typing in a tank top, barefooted and breathing easy outside on my Mom’s patio perched on a lounger. Yessirree, I plan on milking this sweet summer feeling until the snow flies.
Paddling Out for Fun in Cape May
And if I wasn’t so tied up with what life is currently throwing my way right now, I’d be planning a trip to the beach. Indeed, I feel that September is one of the best times to hit a beach destination, even if it isn’t way down south. The weather is typically beautiful (currently 80ish) and the crowds have gone home. The water still warms the body and soul, especially if you’re visiting destinations farther south such as Cape May, New Jersey or Rehoboth, Delaware.
Colorado Elderly Parents Health & Fitness Travel: Anschutz Cancer Center Augusten Burroughs cancer information dealing with stress while traveling Dr. Goddard Dr. Raben family relationships fighting cancer health information I Won't Back Down Imerman Angels Inn at Aspen Kai Facciani Louise Hay radiologist oncologist Snowball in a Blizzard St. Mary's Grand Junction The Cancer Forums The Caravan The Pantry Pharmacy throat cancer travel tips UCHealth Denver Valley View Glenwood Springs
by maribeth
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A Cancer Journey of Heartbreak, Love, Resilience and Hope
Dave and Me During the Last Week of Our Packing Up of the Family’s Summer Home
On Wednesday January 3rd, just as I was rolling off the couch from having been exhausted up to my teeth from the big Christmas rush on the mountain, I learned some news from my brother, David, that has forever changed our lives.
I knew he was feeling sick since December 12th but I was so busy working as a ski instructor in Telluride at our peak time, that I couldn’t make any solid offers of assistance until the big holiday push had passed. I then suggested to drive up to Aspen and take care of him, do some cooking and shopping and provide whatever assistance I could to help him get back on his feet. Little did I know how serious it was. Little did I know what was brewing inside of him would be the dreaded “big C.”
Pay attention: This is how quickly cancer can take hold and how important it is to mobilize yourself to figure it out. It is happening to so many people that we all have to have some measure of preparation and most of all, a keen awareness that doctors can’t always get it right. I hope that my story will provide that for you. This is also a tale of how people respond to a cancer diagnosis: some show up big time to help while others use it as an opportunity to further their own agendas.
Here’s my texting exchange with my brother from that day.
Dave:
B …that is a very generous offer, but I think I will continue to be able to manage. If I was really in need, I would gracious ly accept. Take advantage of your time off to get rested and take care of your own accumulated work load😊
Me:
OK, keep it in mind. Maybe we should find out if you’re contagious first. But know that aside from a 5-hour drive, I could easily drop in to provide some assistance. Please let me know how it goes at the doctor’s today!
Dave:
Will do
B…still at the throat Dr…not good news…he thinks I have cancer and wants to do a biopsy Friday…so if your offer still holds to come up, I will graciously accept…fill mom in so I can save a step
Of course I left for Aspen the next day. I stayed ten days that first trip, came back to Telluride to work and regroup twice for a few days, then headed out again, first on a one-week and then on a two-week trip, crisscrossing our vast state of Colorado to see doctors and accompany David to medical procedures in Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction and Denver. For over a month, I assumed the role of my brother’s health advocate. The fact that he wasn’t able to talk very well underscored my role; I became his voice both literally and figuratively. I became a velvet pit bull of sorts sweet-talking our way into hard-to-obtain doctor’s appointments, asking question after question about the diagnosis, treatments and cure rates as I gathered information from every imaginable source including the many pamphlets handed out to us at the hospitals, my note taking and recordings of every doctor’s appointment, the internet, friends in and out of the medical profession, total strangers that had been through similar experiences–it all was important in attempting to make sense of my brother David’s Stage 4A diagnosis of laryngeal cancer.
Art & Culture Discovery Map Travel: art Artists Guild San Francisco Discovery Map John Petach map art maps Travel
by maribeth
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Crafting Vacation Memories with Maps
Map of Florence by John Petach
The Brush Used for the Map of Florence
John’s Napa Valley Map
Napa Brush
How many of you still use maps? I mean the old fashioned kind that you can actually hold in your hands and spread out on a kitchen table. You know, the maps that you can rarely fold up exactly how you found them. It is hard sometimes to line up the creases but when you do it’s oh-so gratifying. And when you don’t, you hopefully let it go, shrug and feel content with the big overall perspective that the map you just looked at provided.
Artist John Petach
You definitely don’t achieve that perspective or level of satisfactory map studying from an electronic map on one of your devices. No matter how much you zoom in and out, it just isn’t the same. And plus, that zooming business only works properly a fraction of the time. No, it’s nice to have something to hold in your hands, particularly since there’s so much beauty to be found in maps.
Through my work with Discovery Map, I even found someone that possesses a sort of map fetish. Artist John Petach loves travel and maps so much that he was inspired to create a collection of works that uses maps as canvas. I think they’re marvelous and I hope you’ll check them out here. You’ll see that he thinks Discovery Maps are great, so he created a number of pieces using their maps as the background.
Colorado Hotels & Lodging Mountain Living Music & Dance Restaurants Spas Travel Vail: Colorado pools Django Festival All-Stars Four Seasons Vail Hotel Talisa Hotel Talisa Spa music scene Telluride Telluride Blues & Brews Telluride Jazz Festival Vail Vail Chophouse Vail dining Vail Jazz Vail lodging Vail summer fun
by maribeth
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Vail Getaway
Poolside Lunch at the Four Seasons in Vail
Phew! It’s been a busy six weeks filled with all kinds of travels for a variety of reasons.
I spent the first two weeks of July in Denver–sword-drawn–helping my brother battle cancer. (More on that at a later date.) On both ends of the trip, I sampled Colorado Greyhound service for the first time. (It’s much like I’ve found it to be on the East Coast: colorful and crammed on certain trips, sparsely populated and cruise-y on others, all punctuated by sketchy wifi throughout.) Still, I feel that it often beats driving the approximate seven hours between Telluride and Denver. I wish train service was better along this route but that’s likely a dream for years to come. Shuttle service between these two destinations is sadly nonexistent as well.
Lots of People Traveling with Pets These Days
The first week of August I arrived back in Telluride from a whirlwind three-and-a-half-day trip to the East Coast to drop off my seventeen-year-old-cat Clara for an extended stay with my eighty-five-year-old mother–double phew! (Had my travels not been canceled due to weather on the outbound, it actually would have been a two-and-a-half-day trip.) Clara is a great traveler although it could all have ended poorly this time because she nudged her way out of the zippered closure of her carrier beneath the seat in front of me while mommy was catnapping.
“Excuse me, miss. Is this your cat?” a kind-faced young man asked as he hovered over me in the aisle, cradling Clara in his arms. “She made her way to the back of the plane.” Fortunately the other passengers chuckled and I refrained from having a heart attack.
A Disgruntled Clara on Her Layover
I’ll was in T-ride less than a week before I headed back to upstate New York with her brother, Leo, another old kitty, a fluffy miniature lion-like orange tabby as his name indicates. Don’t ask–but know that only one pet per passenger is allowed in the cabin. Thankfully we’re all adaptable travelers. If only they could rack up frequent flier mileage, too!
TSA Hold Up with Leo’s Suspicious-Looking Kitty Litter
Leo: Old and Grumpy yet Very Happy to Be at Grandma’s
In the middle of all this movin’ and shakin’, I delighted in three lovely days in Vail, Colorado with my boyfriend, Steve. Ahhhh, yes, aside from the usual email checking, note taking and social media posting, it felt like a vacation, a much-needed one because as you can perhaps gather from the above, it has been a hectic year.
Cheers to Getaways
We often have a summer getaway in Vail, largely because he has business meetings that take him there–he’s a hotel GM–and I tag along and do my travel writer thing and steal some quality time with him. As residents of Telluride, we regularly enjoy the many benefits of living in a beautiful mountain town, but as we all know, it’s different when you go someplace else, especially when you stay in a luxury hotel where neither of us has to get bogged down with daily household chores or catering to our four cats. (Yes, we each have two and together we formed the Brady Bunch cat family.)
Hotel Talisa Vail
This time we enjoyed our stay at the newly renovated Hotel Talisa (formerly Vail Cascade) within a smooth, style-y decor that made us feel oh-so pampered. The staff makes lots of efforts with the service as well, something that as a demanding hotel GM and travel writer, we inevitably test to the max. (Hint: Always ask for a room change if you’re not quite happy with the one you’re given upon check in and don’t be afraid to suggest some kind of compensation–some sort of a gesture–if there’s a goof up during your stay.)
Discovery Map Outdoor Adventures Restaurants The Northeast Travel: Block Island Discovery Map Narragansett Newport Outdoor Adventures Providence Restaurants Rhode Island The Northeast top reasons to go
by maribeth
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Top Reasons to Go to Newport, Narragansett, Block Island and Providence, Rhode Island
Seaside Summer Dinner
Beautiful Block Island
Historic Block Island Southeast Light
Fishing in Narragansett Bay
The Breakers in Newport
Yay, it’s summer! It’s almost the Fourth of July and that means barbecues, lobster dinners, boating and toes in the sand for many. With the sweltering heat wave seizing most of the East Coast this weekend, the beaches will be packed. You might just as well pick the best ones around. In writing for Discovery Map, I discovered that the little New England state of Rhode Island boasts some of the most beautiful beaches within the United States. It’s no wonder the wealthy industrialists of the nineteenth century chose to build their summer homes, or rather mansions, here!
Not surprisingly, Newport, Narragansett and Block Island are incredibly scenic and in addition to their natural beauty, all three of these destinations will woo you with their proliferation of fine food and drink establishments, history and Old World charm. I’ve summed up the highlights in my write ups entitled Dine and Drink Your Way Through Newport, Historic Newport, Outdoor Life in Gansett, Instagram-able Narragansett, Outdoor Fun on Block Island and Instagram-able Block Island. Check them out and let them point you in the direction of a fun summertime getaway to the Northeast.
You might just want to plan a vacation to all three and loop in Providence, Rhode Island as well. As I write in Providence Eats, this beloved city offers a vibrant food scene, one largely dominated by Italian cuisine–delizioso! There’s also a lot to do in this historic town as I’ve documented in The Almost Complete Guide to Providence.
Have fun exploring Rhode Island, even if it’s just through my written word.
Happy Fourth of July! Happy summer!
Thank you to Discovery Map, Amy Newman and Margie Hans for some of the above photos.
Arizona Discovery Map Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Shopping The Southwest: Arizona Carefree Cave Creek Discovery Map North Scottsdale top picks
by maribeth
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Top Reasons to Go to Carefree, Cave Creek and North Scottsdale, Arizona
Desert Owls
Last week in my story Feeling English at Teatime in Arizona, I highlighted the English Rose Tea Room in Carefree, Arizona. This spurred me into thinking about this destination, one of my favorite places in the Southwest. If you’re going to Phoenix or Scottsdale, you must add on a few days and spend some time in Carefree, Cave Creek and North Scottsdale. Or, you could make it a destination in and of itself–there’s that much to do there. From the natural beauty of the Sonoran Desert to terrific dining, lodging, shopping and spa-going, this area enchants me in so many ways and I’m sure you’ll feel the same.
Picture Perfect Sonoran Desert
Sonoran Desert
It was the first destination I wrote up for Discovery Map; check out Embrace the Desert and Desert Dining and Shopping to find out the top reasons why you should visit this part of America. I also chose to start with this destination because Discovery Map Carefree, Cave Creek and North Scottsdale is owned by Margie Hans, a childhood friend. She lives in Carefree, practically across the street from the breathtaking Boulders Resort & Spa (more on this fabulous place later). She became involved in the map business via her brother, Peter Hans, another old friend of mine, who is the owner of Discovery Map International. Yes, it’s a franchise business with well over 150 maps across the U.S. and beyond.
Arizona Restaurants Shopping The Southwest: Afternoon Tea Arizona Arizona Biltmore Carefree drinking hot drinks in the desert English Rose Tea Room English teatime Phoenix
by maribeth
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Feeling English at Teatime in Arizona
Mom and Me Having Tea at the Arizona Biltmore
Sigh. It was just over a week ago that our minds and hearts were flooded with images of the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, now the Duke and Duchesse of Sussex. I drank English Breakfast Tea and nibbled on scones as I watched the coverage and yes, I even donned a fascinator to accessorize my silk pajamas. Didn’t you? There were so many reasons to be enchanted by this marvelous show of pomp and elegance, love and inclusion. I think most of us wanted to feel part English, part Black and oh yes, part royal. At least for a day.
The Recent Royal Wedding
It all reminded me of two exquisite teatimes I shared with my mother in Arizona, one at the charming English Rose Tea Room in Carefree, the other at the resplendent Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. Mom and I dressed the part on two different occasions and even donned large picture hats that I had transported in an over-sized shopping bag as my carryon piece of luggage from Colorado. We savored every sip and tasty treat and indeed we felt oh-so British. It was most memorable and I know we have both thought about all the fun we had during these two special outings many times over.
