Colorado Mountain Living Music & Dance Telluride Telluride Festivals: Camping Colorado Telluride Bluegrass Festival Telluride Festivals
by maribeth
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Telluride Bluegrass Festival: Escapism at Its Finest
Oh Yeah!
Yonder Mountain String Band and Sam Bush
Good Pickin’
Superior quality music, a stellar natural setting, sunny days, clear nights, fine fiddle playing, booze, the smell of weed wafting over the scents of barbecue, fried fish and garlic, old friends and new acquaintances, colorful costumes, lyrical ballads, savory eats, tie-dye tops, penetrating instrumental solos, strappy sundresses, bare foot dancing, shorts, face painting, straw hats, jamming, T-shirts of every ilk, color and message imaginable, a heart-stirring lonesome chorus, flip flops, hula hoops, a carnavale-like parade, dusty cowboy boots, melodious breakdowns as quick as an Irish reel. This is just a sampling of what makes the Telluride Bluegrass Festival so much fun and so mentally, physically and spiritually transcending.
Hotels & Lodging Outdoor Adventures Restaurants The Outer Banks Travel: #AffordableTravel #BeachVacations #CapeHatterasNationalSeashore #OuterBanks #SummertimeFun
by maribeth
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Another Wonderful Visit to the Outer Banks
The Outer Banks of North Carolina
I recently spent a week at the beach with my boyfriend, Steve. We were on the Outer Banks of North Carolina (OBX), one of the most alluring surf side destinations in the world, and a spot he has been frequenting for almost three decades.
So Pretty
Almost There
Steve’s an avid beach enthusiast and I love the fact that he can just as easily appreciate lounging in a sun-baked dune as catching a ten-foot wave in the surf. Depending on the season and the weather patterns, you can find big swells in the waters off of Nags Head, Rodanthe, Hatteras, Frisco, and a slew of other OBX surf spots revered by surfers and beach aficionados from around the world.
Writing & Books: blogging Bonjour Colorado books milestones writing
by maribeth
Comments Off on Marking Four Hundred Blog Posts
Marking Four Hundred Blog Posts
Planning Ahead: Stamping Out 400 in the Super Soft Outer Banks Sand of North Carolina During My Visit There Two Weeks Ago
Four hundred–woo-hoo! I can’t help but wonder what the word count is on that milestone. Writers, you may know, always talk in word count. I suppose I could find out but I certainly don’t have the time.
It takes a lot to do a blog post, especially mine at Bonjour Colorado, which tend to be full-on stories with lots of links and photos. But I love it. I started out as more of a book person–I’ve authored five, in fact.
Yet blogging on destinations from Stockholm to Santa Fe has allowed me to broaden my coverage on favorite places, people and experiences. And posting on a variety of subjects from The Thrill of a Bike Race to Skiing with Rock Stars to Traveling Like a Pampered Pet and Other Tales from the Road to Take Me to the River Especially on a Rafting Adventure allowed me to have a taste of and report on new happenings I likely wouldn’t cover outside of this blog. Posting podcasts with interviews with people such as Ken Burns, Cheryl Strayed, Susan Herrmann Loomis and a host of other illustrious figures whether well known or not, has permitted me to share with you interviews and information from my Travel Fun radio show. Writing a beauty post such as A Happy Ending to My Own Horror Story as well as a tribute to my mother at My Mom: A True Original helped me to open up even more to you, dear reader.
Colorado Hotels & Lodging Outdoor Adventures Telluride: discounted price Inn at Lost Creek KOTO fundraising Telluride Golf Telluride Golf Getaway
by maribeth
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Terrific Telluride Golf Getaway at a Great Deal
Telluride Golf Course
How would you like to play a round of golf at Telluride Golf Club, one of the world’s most drop-dead gorgeous golf courses for half price? And to make your Telluride golf experience even sweeter, you can stay–also at half price–just a zinger away from the course at the Inn at Lost Creek, Telluride Ski & Golf’s boutique hotel. A golf cart will pick you up in the morning from this lovely property located in the heart of Telluride Mountain Village and bring you back at the end of the day in time for a frosty drink on the deck to toast your après golf. (How about that for coining a new phrase?)
Both the round of golf for two at the Telluride Golf Club and the night at the Inn at Lost Creek can be yours for $300.–that’s half the $600. value. Whoa, if you’re not going for it–tell your friends! Best of all, all proceeds go to KOTO, Telluride’s homegrown community radio station. Thank you Telluride Ski & Golf Resort for your most generous donation to our fundraising efforts.
The Outer Banks Travel: beach life summer vacations The Beach The Outer Banks
by maribeth
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Loving the Beach
Beach Self Portrait AKA Beach Goddess
Having just returned from the Outer Banks of North Carolina, my mind and senses remain awash with the transformative powers of the beach.
The Surf
Warm sand in my toes, the fun and freedom of walking barefoot, the thunderous sound of the surf, the gentle surging of water as each wave becomes absorbed into the sand, sea foam, myriad shells, sea breeze whipping through my hair, the tingling of my skin as I emerge from a chilly dip in the surf, endless stretches of reflexology, the entertainment provided by scurrying sandpipers, crabs and other birds and creatures new to my world, the searing heat of the sun, the chill of the ocean air, the smell of sunscreen, the taste of salt on my lips after an ocean swim, the vastness of the empty length of sand and water before me, the ever-changing interplay of every shade of blue, beige, red, yellow and green cast from the sea, sand and sky, the busyness of beach activities such as surf fishing, kite boarding, sand castle building, beer drinking or just lolling around reading a book or doing nothing but relaxing, sleeping or soaking up the scene, the infinite array of beach toys, paraphernalia, carts, coolers, chairs, towels and toys that serve as the accessories to a day at the beach, the Crayola-crayon colors of all this cheery garb and the bathing suits folks have donned, the parade of shapes and body types I can’t help checking out, the sky, the cacophony of gulls’ cries mixed with children’s laughter and adults’ friendly salutations, the charms and jumbles of the lucky-to-live-here surf side houses that line the beach, open-air beach showers, the emptiness that becomes my mind within a few minutes of stepping onto such a swath of shoreline, the occasional whiff of salt air, the letting go of the tension I carry within my body–yes, this is some of what I love about the beach.
Colorado Durango Music & Dance The Rockies The Southwest: Colorado Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Durango & Silverton Railroad Durango Blues Train Durango train events Durango hotels Durango musical adventures Rocky Mountain train trips
by maribeth
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Ten Reasons You Should Take the Durango Blues Train
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
Blues on Board
Oh Yeah!
Me Sipping Wine Before Boarding
1. It’s more fun listening to music when you’re in motion than on solid ground.
2. The Durango Blues Train is put on by Steve Gumble, founder of the renowned Telluride Blues & Brews Festival; he and his staff know how to create memorable events. On the Blues Train, you can hop from car to car and rock on to great music from bands and solo acts from all over the U.S.
3. Not that you need an excuse, but this great train excursion gives you a reason to visit the fun-loving Western town of Durango, Colorado. Be sure to spend the night at either The Rochester Hotel or The Strater.
Arizona Hotels & Lodging Restaurants The Southwest: Elements fine dining Jade Bar luxury resort night scene Phoenix Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort specialty cocktails
by maribeth
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A Scintillating Sanctuary in Phoenix
Sultry Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa
Elements: Where the Quality of the Views Rival the Food
It has been cold, rainy, snowy and windy here in Telluride, Colorado all week. I don’t mind because we always need moisture in the West and it’s also good catch-up-at-my-desk weather. But still, I can’t help daydreaming about more sunny, hot-as-a-baked-potato-fresh-out-of-the-oven environs.
I’m letting my thoughts drift to the desert, the Sonoran Desert to be exact, which I’m sure is in glorious bloom right now. Heating up nicely, too. I enjoyed a terrific visit there–within greater Phoenix/Scottsdale/Carefree–last summer with my mom, my fourth trip to that part of Arizona since I was young. And each time, I love it even more. Yes, we went last summer. It was a sunbaked sojourn and we reveled in it. (You just have to make sure you’re not basking in the sun during the heat of the day.)
France Hotels & Lodging Paris Trip Planning: Hôtel d'Orsay Hôtel Le Saint-Grégoire Left Bank hotels Paris boutique hotels
by maribeth
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Paris Update: Two Lovely Left Bank Hotels
Moi on a Recent Trip to Paris
It’s that time of year again–springtime in Paris. Not only is it a beautiful time to visit the French capital, but it’s also when a lot of people–many of whom I only vaguely know through social media or elsewhere–contact me for recommendations for Paris and other parts of France. I try to graciously tell them that they will find a wealth of hotel, restaurant, shopping, sightseeing and general information as well as a treasure trove of all kinds of tidbits in my books The Riches of Paris: A Shopping and Touring Guide and The Riches of France: A Shopping and Touring Guide to the French Provinces. But still, they want some insider tips directly from me. The irony of that escapes me, since I am the author of those books as well as a travel memoir entitled A Tour of the Heart: A Seductive Cycling Trip Through France.
So for the sake of appeasing my potential Paris travelers and out of love for the city in which I lived over eleven years, I’ve decided to start posting more on Paris and the French provinces here at my blog. Hotel recommendations are a good place to start and below you will find two of my longtime favorites.
