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.
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by maribeth
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So Much Heart
David, Joanna, Dennis and Me at UC Health Denver in Early March
One of the best parts about being sick is seeing how much it brings people together. Amid all the pain and suffering, there is so much love. And, of course, love promotes healing.
I have been living this since early January when my brother, David, was diagnosed with Stage 4 laryngeal cancer. (I’ll post more on this at a later date.)
This story, however, is mostly about my friend and fellow ski instructor, Dennis Huis. Dennis is the lucky recipient of a new heart and although he has a long way to go in terms of healing, he’s already doing so much better.
I saw Dennis, one of Telluride Ski Resort’s top instructors, in December and I could tell right away he was not well. Next thing I knew I learned that he was in Denver awaiting a heart transplant! Wow–you can bet that created a lot of buzz in the locker room. I found out about this about the same time that I began to help my brother sort out his diagnosis and treatment.
Colorado Hotels & Lodging Mountain Living Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: 2018 season Colorado dining lodging Mountain Lodge Telluride New Sheridan spring breaks spring skiing Telluride
by maribeth
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It’s Time for Spring Skiing in Telluride
Beautiful Telluride, Colorado
OK, in truth we already had a ton of spring-like skiing in Telluride throughout the holidays and into the new year. (Read A Crazy Happy Holiday Season in Aspen, Telluride and Redstone.) What we lacked in snow, we more than made up for in sunshine and warm weather. (And boy does that make most of the visitors happy.)
Gorgeous
Looking Out on Top of Lookout
Adults Having Fun
And then came winter! The storms rolled in with the consistency of a heartsick lover pining over his one true love in February until all became dreamy and white. And then suddenly all was well with the world and the mountain. By mid-February, Telluride Ski Resort snowmaking finally put away their equipment and let Mother Nature take over full-time. They did a stupendous job this year, something that became even more apparent to me when I skied some scratchy and sketchy trails at other resorts. “We wouldn’t open a run until it was really good,” says Brandon Green, head of snowmaking in Telluride. And indeed, the skiing and riding on the manmade and the natural snow have been very good. Yes, despite many people’s fears, the season shaped up nicely.
Kids Having Fun
And now the great spring break week is upon us. Known as “the Texas week,” it’s one of the busiest weeks on the mountain. (But don’t worry, Telluride never becomes that busy.) Then we have three weeks after that until closing on Sunday, April 8th, three weeks that are among the most fun on the mountain due to all the end-of-season partying.
Aspen Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Telluride The Rockies: Altezza Aspen Aspen/Snowmass Colorado dining Explore Booksellers Home Team BBQ Inn at Aspen Jour de Fête lodging Meat & Cheese Mountain Lodge Telluride Redstone Redstone Inn Snowmass Kitchen Telluride Telluride Ski Resort The Peaks Resort & Spa The View Bar & Grill The Westin Snowmass Tulips Body Waxing Studio
by maribeth
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A Crazy Happy Holiday Season in Aspen, Telluride and Redstone
Hitting the Fresh Pow in Telluride
Fresh Powder Turns Today in Aspen
Yay, I knew that if I were to write this story, the snows would come! Telluride received 9 inches of fresh overnight, 11 inches the past 24 hours and 15 inches the last 48. And boy, was it needed. Aspen is enjoying a good blanketing as well. In addition to the fresh snow, let’s hope this signals a significant breaking down of the high pressure system that has been sitting over Colorado (and Utah, Arizona and New Mexico actually) for the past two months!
Yet despite the paltry snow conditions, the resorts have managed to crank out a good product.
The Top of Buttermilk this Week
Teaching Snowboarding at Buttermilk
I’m back in Aspen dealing with some family matters. I arrived here Thursday night, just a month after I flew in here from a very extended stay on the east coast. Wow, what a month it has been!
Happy Clients in Telluride at Christmas
Perfect Outside Dining Weather in Colorado this Winter
After an initial few days in Aspen in December, I threw myself into the busy-ness of gearing up for ski season; this entailed rounding up my ski clothing and gear, stocking the house with an almost winter’s-worth of provisions and working my ski legs back into shape by doing my Telluride Ski & Snowboard School training.
Ski School Training in Telluride
Piles of Provisions
A nasty cold almost thwarted the start to my ski instructing schedule but thanks to mega doses of Vitamin C, fluids and fresh, chopped garlic (yes, I even had two cloves for breakfast, lunch and dinner a couple of days–followed by a chaser of Listerine of course) I was able to knock it out of my system pretty fast. I pulled it together–training, shopping, cooking and even a little decorating–to embark upon a super busy holiday season that required me to teach skiing ten days in a row.
Winter Light Show in Telluride
Phew! We always go from to zero to 150mph in no time flat. But that’s life in a resort town, especially one that typically has its busiest week of the year between Christmas and New Year’s.
Torchlight Parade: A Telluride Tradition
Happy New Year to All
By now, you must be wondering when I’m going to mention the elephant in the room–the fact that we’ve all been going about business as usual without much help from Mother Nature. Yes, indeed, it has been shocking how little natural snow we’ve had. Up through the end of last week, the snow totals for the season in Aspen and Telluride rang in at barely 20 inches. Yikes!
Art & Culture Elderly Parents Restaurants Troy: holiday decorating ideas Holiday Greens Show memorable holiday events patriotic Christmas Peck's Arcade Rensselaer County Historical Society Troy Van Rensselaer Garden Club
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Visiting the Holiday Greens Show in Troy, New York with Mom
Mom Enjoying the Holiday Greens Show
A Patriotic Christmas
Home for the Holidays
The Grand Entranceway
I’m back in Colorado cherishing a very special holiday moment I shared with my mom in my hometown of Troy, New York just before I left. It was extraordinary for many reasons. It was the first time since 2001 that I was with my mother in December, which allowed us to do something Christmas-y together. (I moved to Colorado in January 2002 and became a ski instructor shortly thereafter. Once ski season starts, I hardly travel anywhere except perhaps to another ski destination.) I also relived childhood memories that I know have played a formative part in my life.
Mom and I picked up on a tradition that began some sixty-one years ago at the Holiday Greens Show, a glorious open house of sorts at the Hart-Cluett House, home to the Rensselaer County Historical Society. I believe mom started going to the Greens show from the beginning and she first brought me there some fifty years ago. Decorated from balustrade to mantelpiece with an abundance of fresh greens, Christmas trees, fresh and dried flowers and a treasure trove of memorabilia by the Van Rensselaer Garden Club, this mansion shimmers with all the beauty of the holidays every year for four days during the beginning of December. It’s like stepping onto a Hollywood set of a nineteenth-century film filled with elegance and grandeur, merrymaking and holiday charm.
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by maribeth
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Bodacious Biarritz
Biarritz: Breathtakingly Beautiful
La Grande Plage
Bobbing Heads in the Surf Capital of Europe
Steve & Me
I took a trip of a lifetime with my boyfriend, Steve, a while ago and now seems like the right time to write about it.
It was stunning and dramatic, sweet and endearing, intense and oh-so memorable–all very much like our relationship. It left us in awe and amazed and full of desire for more.
We both chose the destination; I chose France and Steve narrowed it down to Biarritz, an oceanside resort in southwest France in the Basque region that I had only visited once–very briefly–on a cold winter’s day during the research phase of my book The Riches of France: A Shopping and Touring Guide to the French Provinces. At that time, I did just a cursory tour of the town, one that was more focused on the boutiques of Biarritz than its spectacular coastal scene and its sensational surf.
Biarritz Beauty
Gorgeous
With Steve, it was all about the surf. No surprise there, since this is where the waves roil in with the greatest, most consistent force in all of Europe. And Steve is big on surfing. It sounded like the perfect fit to me; he had the surf and I had France. What came as a surprise, however, was how he became so taken with the whole French experience and the French themselves.
