Colorado Food & Wine Shopping The Rockies Travel: Colorado Food & Wine Shopping The Rockies Travel
by maribeth
Comments Off on More Lovely Wines for Making Merry
More Lovely Wines for Making Merry
Colorado Warmth: Talon’s Aquila Dessert Wine
I had so much interest in my Favorite Reasonably-Priced Wines for the Holidays story that I decided to post another piece about newly-discovered sips. I’m savoring a delicious Merlot Port from St. Kathryn Cellars and an Aquila Dessert wine from Talon Winery with a creamy Stilton as I write this. I’m fearful this combo will turn into my latest après-ski or after dinner nibble during these cold Colorado days and evenings. (Oh dear, that Dukan Diet is already looming. Thankfully I’ll be out on the slopes on a regular basis from now on.)
These truly delicious nectars also make great gifts. Order them by calling 877-858-6330. They’re Colorado wines, from Palisade, so they’ll ship anywhere within the state and also to seventeen other states around the U.S. Note that the Talon Aquila Dessert wine resembles Port, sweet with a nice spice. The St. Kathryn Merlot Port, also delightfully cloying and mellow, tastes more fruit forward. Yum, I’m licking my lips as I write this—I just might bypass eggnog entirely this year.
Unexpected Goodness with Un4seen
Colorado Cycling Podcasts Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride The Rockies Travel: Colorado Cycling Podcasts Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride The Rockies Travel
by maribeth
Comments Off on Telluride, Colorado: A Real Winter Wonderland
Telluride, Colorado: A Real Winter Wonderland
Main Street, Telluride
It’s that time of year again, the frosty season when you stand on main street in Telluride, Colorado and feel like you can reach out and touch the massive, snowy peaks in front of you. Sure, this view is nothing short of spectacular all year long yet in winter, the light and the snow render these looming monoliths even more awe-inspiring. Add to that old Western and Victorian buildings blanketed in snow, folks trudging through the streets with ski gear in tow, puppies and people practically skipping down the street—and suddently you realize it’s a Norman Rockwell scene like none you’ve ever taken in before.
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Colorado French Life Travel Writing & Books: Colorado French Life Travel Writing & Books
by maribeth
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Reflecting Upon Two Hundred Blog Posts
Clara, My Editorial Assistant
I happened to notice a few weeks ago that I was nearing two hundred blog posts. Jeez, I thought, I’d like to commemorate this momentous occasion! Two hundred stories in just over three years. I’d be kidding you if I said I never thought I’d have so much to write about. I was a chatty child and am an equally loquacious adult. This propensity for telling tales, recounting experiences and sharing information has hopefully translated well into my writing. It’s my wish that you find my stories fun, entertaining and informative.
It has been quite the journey. It seemed to take me forever to get Bonjour Colorado off the ground but once I did, I feel that as hard as it sometimes is to find time to “feed the blog,” I am hooked.
Initially, I felt a lot of inertia around the whole editing process—or lack thereof—with my blog. I authored four books with a major U.S. publisher where every word was viewed and reviewed by many sets of eyes. How could I publish something—albeit blog posts on the Internet—without it passing through a stringent editing process? Well, I do. And even though I go over every word I write countless times, it still takes a lot of letting go. I often remind myself that a friend once told me that the Navajos deliberately weave a flaw into their rugs, a concrete reminder that there’s no such thing as perfection, nor is it something we should strive for.
The whole tech aspect of creating a blog also held me back. Most of it I now manage pretty well; other aspects boggle me beyond belief. I’m an eighteenth century person living in the twenty-first century. Recently, however, I learned how to post podcasts of my Travel Fun radio show myself, so hooray for progress.
Food & Wine Podcasts Travel: Food & Wine Podcasts Travel
by maribeth
Comments Off on Benito’s Wine Reviews: A Great Resource for Food, Wine and Fun
Benito’s Wine Reviews: A Great Resource for Food, Wine and Fun
Benito’s Thanksgiving Feast
Aside from dining with the late, great Julia Child, I can think of one other person’s table I’d like to be at this Thanksgiving if I wasn’t here in Telluride. I’d have to travel all the way across the country to Memphis where I’d happily find myself in the company of Ben Carter AKA Benito. This guy sounds like so much fun! And even better, he knows how to impart his enthusiasm and vast knowledge of food, wine, spirits and much more in his highly successful blog, Benito’s Wine Reviews. He’s passionate and from what I know about him, I’d describe Ben as a good ‘ole American bon vivant.
Ben Carter AKA Benito
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Outdoor Adventures Podcasts Shopping The Southwest Travel Writing & Books: Outdoor Adventures Podcasts Shopping The Southwest Travel Writing & Books
by maribeth
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James Kaiser on Acadia, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Parks
Yosemite Valley
How many of America’s national parks have you been to? I’ve only visited a handful even though I love the great outdoors, wide open spaces and awe-inspiring scenery. It’s so beautiful here in Telluride that I often feel like I’m living in a national park. But still. There are so many out there to discover; the question is where to begin.
Here’s a great start: let James Kaiser, award-winning travel writer, photographer and expert guide you. Listen to my Travel Fun interview below and hear what James has to say about some of America’s greatest treasures. Like me, he agrees that most Americans are missing out on what’s in their own backyard. “Fifty percent of the people you see in America’s national parks are foreigners,” James says. “They travel halfway around the world to visit our national parks,” he continues. And while you’re listening to our interview, I suggest you check out his site, JamesKaiser.com, where you can see and shop for some of his spectacular national park photos.
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Art & Culture Colorado Hotels & Lodging Shopping Telluride The Rockies The Southwest Travel: Art & Culture Colorado Hotels & Lodging Shopping Telluride The Rockies The Southwest Travel
by maribeth
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Touring the Southwest with My Parents
A Great Facebook Profile Picture: Dad at the Grand Canyon
Are you familiar with those digital photo frames that display a continuous stream of select images? Well, I was back east in October visiting my parents and brought one of those frames to them as a gift. We had to enlist outside help (thanks Brian) to transfer my images onto the frame (I’m so eighteenth century), but once it started to flash our faces across the screen, we all beamed. My father especially glowed since he was finally able to see himself backdropped by a parade of images from the Grand Canyon and other notable sites in the Southwest. It was like bringing him back to the South Rim of the Canyon to gaze over the vastness and grandeur of what is most certainly our country’s greatest treasure.
We embarked on our two-week Western Jamboree just about a year ago. Fall and even winter are two fantastic seasons for visiting many of our National Parks, especially the Grand Canyon. During these times the wondrous play of light combined with a lack of crowds make these sites even more enchanting. The focal point of our trip was to be the Grand Canyon, a place my father always dreamed of seeing. At the age of eighty-four, we were ready to grant him his wish.
Art & Culture DC Music & Dance Restaurants Travel: Art & Cultrue DC Music & Dance Restaurants Travel
by maribeth
Comments Off on MLK, DC’s Black Heritage, Chuck Brown, Frankie and Me
MLK, DC’s Black Heritage, Chuck Brown, Frankie and Me
Martin Luther KIng Memorial
With all the press lately about the official opening of the Martin Luther King Memorial, I thought I’d share with you a spirited night in Washington, DC spent with my oldest brother, Frank. He’s a real doer and whether it’s work or personal, he knows how to select and orchestrate all the right elements to achieve maximum results. In this case, it was about showing his younger sister a good time.
He had reserved a late Sunday afternoon and evening for us in August. Chuck Brown, the Godfather of Go-Go, a style of music that incorporates jazz, funk, R & B, hip-hop and dancehall, was to be the main attraction. Frankie had secured the tickets at DC’s renowned 9:30 Club as soon as he knew I was headed his way, about a month before the show. I hadn’t heard anything about Chuck Brown, but trusted that my brother was lining up a fun night out. He’s a big planner—much like me—and that quality along with a nice dose of serendipity laid out an evening that bobbed along beautifully on a helluva cross cultural theme.
Without any discussion whatsoever, the car pointed in the direction of the freshly-opened MLK Memorial. It was the Sunday after Hurricane Irene blew through our nation’s capitol (along with most of the eastern seaboard), so the Memorial’s official opening—slated for that weekend—had been postponed. Frank and I thought we’d check it out anyway since although not properly christened, it was open. No luck. We drove along the Potomac on the roadway bordering the monument, creeping along with the hope that we’d find a car that would pull out and leave its parking space for us. No way. You couldn’t even shoehorn a moped in between the lineup of vehicles. Not surprisingly, most of the visitors headed to or from the MLK Memorial were African-American or at least of some kind of Negro heritage. They had waited long enough for the tribute to their esteemed leader—it was time to take a look. Frank and I gave up searching for a spot. I felt somewhat disappointed but bowed out gracefully with the sentiments that it would be best for us to leave any free parking to the people for whom Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech meant the most.
Art & Culture Girl Talk Hotels & Lodging New England Restaurants Shopping Travel: Art & Culture Girl Talk Hotels & Lodging New England Restaurants Shopping Travel
by maribeth
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A Heartwarming Day Trip to Western Massachusetts and the Norman Rockwell Museum
Autumnal Scene in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
I was back east recently visiting my parents in upstate New York. Mom and I had on our agenda a “day out” to ourselves, one just like the old days. To us that meant planning a jaunt to a nearby destination such as the Hudson Valley region, southern Vermont or the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, all scenic and fairly rural destinations within about an hour’s drive of my parents’ house in Troy, New York. These were the places we would travel to throughout the years, especially when I was growing up. Together we would marvel at the pastoral landscapes while chitchatting the day away. Lunch, a bit of shopping and often a museum visit were all key components of a successful day trip, the perfect female bonding experience for two gals living in a house full of men. (I grew up with five brothers, a father and no sisters.)
It was during these joyous excursions that my love for unique places full of personality and charm emerged. I could hardly tolerate department stores or malls when I was a girl and still have a hard time with them today. Yes, these trips to soulful sites full of history and tradition planted the seeds for the shopping service I founded in Paris some years later and the four books I came to write on shopping and touring in Paris and the French provinces. My philosophy is and always will be about the whole shopping and touring experience—it’s not so much about what you buy, it’s about how and where you buy it and what you learn along the way. Truth is, I’m not even a big advocate of buying, but we all do, so why not have it be something special that you’ve procured in a memorable manner?
This special day to ourselves was more challenging to organize since we don’t leave my eighty-five-year-old Dad alone much any more. With a hearty, microwavable meal prepared in advance at the ready, cell phones listed in plain site and the reassurance that his Life-Alert was in working order, we said “Hasta la Vista,” knowing full well that we’d all appreciate the much-needed time away from each other.
