Say Yes to Travel with a Large Group of Family & Friends

February 28, 2020February 5, 2018

Travel with a large group – Fun or too challenging?

Typically, I travel with Craig or by myself. What would it be like traveling with a group of friends? Would I get enough time alone? What do I do about the travel blogging part of the trip? Will they be annoyed by my taking photos of our food and drinks? They were not annoyed in the slightest, they even helped out!

One of my biggest dilemmas of travel blogging is finding a balance between being in the moment of a travel adventure and making sure I capture just the right details. I do take notes, but just pausing and writing down some of my immediate reactions and emotions is paramount to authenticity. I wrote the bulk of this post while on vacation, everyone else was relaxing or talking or playing games in between activities.

Our Top Culinary Travel Moments That Touched My Heart and Fulfilled My Inner Foodie

February 28, 2020January 30, 2018

Although you may have read about some of these experiences here individually, seeing them gathered together in one large travel menu is a fun exercise. I have had the opportunity to reflect upon additional details and nuances of each experience or meal, plus you can compare and contrast!

The Future of Culinary Travel ~

Culinary travel is BIG and also a perfect way to get closer, to mingle with the locals and even learn something! I believe that this type of foodie discovery is here to stay and will only get more focused for future opportunities.

New York: Dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns ~ An Extraordinary Culinary Adventure

February 28, 2020December 21, 2017

A Fairy Tale Dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns ~

How well do you know your food? Have you thought about where it comes from? How it is grown? How it is prepared?

Dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pleasantville, NY

We traveled by train thirty miles outside New York City to enjoy the holiday season and to meet up with my good friend and fellow travel writer Irene Levine of Getting on Travel and her husband Jerry. Irene and Jerry live locally and have visited Blue Hill at Stone Barns on several occasions. The restaurant mood was calming and a lovely stone fireplace lit the path to our seats for a magical four hour meal.

The Very Best Restaurant in Cozumel: Buccanos at Night

February 28, 2020December 18, 2017

To find the best restaurant in Cozumel on my first trip there was quite amazing! However I did not discover this jewel on my own, I was actually a guest of my friend and fellow travel writer, Tam Minton of Travels with Tam.

Tam invited three of her best travel writing friends, Sara of Travels with Sara, Melody of Wherever I May Roam and Me to her beloved island of Cozumel. She and her husband own a lovely vacation home and have enjoyed the delicious restaurants and superb scuba diving on this quiet island for the past 19 years. Tam was an excellent tour guide, gracious hostess and she knew where to eat great food. We had a ridiculously fun time full of a few wacky (and fabulous) adventures. Although we had not all travelled together before, we had so much in common that it was extra satisfying!

Four More of the Best Restaurants in San Francisco You Must Try Today

February 28, 2020October 17, 2017

Consider this post to be an addendum to this one ==> 15 Amazing Restaurants in San Francisco to Visit Today!

More of the Best Restaurants in San Francisco

When we make a stop in San Francisco we make it count. In the evening, we don’t relax much, we try to fit in every new (and old) restaurant we haven’t been to yet! Finding the best restaurants in San Francisco is a joyous adventure. During the day, we skip lunch, walk a lot and relish the special gastronomic moments at these unique dining spots that have even earned a Michelin Star.

That is a big deal! San Francisco dominates the region with Michelin worthy acclaim. Receiving a Michelin star is a highly coveted reward for providing an incredible dining experience, coupled with outstanding service and excellent, innovative cuisine.

Where to Eat Great Food in Pasadena Today – Malbec Restaurant

February 28, 2020September 22, 2017

Social media can lead to great food in Pasadena ~

I have a great story for you! A social media story with a very happy and delicious ending. A fellow foodie named Susan, who lives near where I live, connected with me on Instagram. She found me and followed me and I followed her in return!

I could tell that she and I had a lot in common through her posts. She loves going to outstanding restaurants and eating great meals and she is also very innovative in her kitchen. Recently she posted a gorgeous photo of a lunch dish she was having at an Argentine restaurant in Pasadena called Malbec.

Outstanding in the Field – A farm to table dinner in a setting that gives you goosebumps!

February 28, 2020September 12, 2017

A farm to table dinner in a magical location ~

Location, location, location. This “restaurant without walls”, farm to table dinner feast was in Lillywaup, WA at the Hama Hama Oyster Farm. Just imagine dining on the west shore of the Hood Canal where the water was so close you worried the tides would rise too fast. It wasn’t scary, it was dreamy.

Although the was dinner was located in the state of Washington, notorious for rain and grey skies, we experienced none of that. Just bright blue sky and vivid green grasses and trees, with white puffy clouds sprinkled on top. Goosebump scenery. You know that other worldly feeling of discovering a new place that you can hardly put in to words how incredible that moment in time feels? This is how I felt and most likely everyone sitting at the one long table set for 150 food loving diners did as well.

Los Angeles Times The Taste – A Culinary Family Affair on Labor Day Weekend

February 28, 2020September 5, 2017

So much delicious food at The Taste this weekend!

It was a big, fat, glorious Labor Day Weekend. We hit the family bonanza when both of our grown children and their significant others could fly down from Seattle and San Francisco to be with us for the holiday weekend. The Empty Nest was full to the brim and no one could swipe that silly grin off my face for three days!

If you have been following our adventures, you may remember that we have downsized in the last year and now our current home is not the spacious dwelling where the kids grew up. No, we are living in about half the square footage with fewer bathrooms. Everyone is a good sport and sleeps where we can find room. Rocco (our dog) was beside himself with joy because he could not decide who he wanted to lay by and cuddle with next!

Welcome to Los Angeles :: 25 Very Fun Things to do in LA!

February 28, 2020August 21, 2017

Welcome to Los Angeles ~ 25 Awesome Things to do in Los Angeles!

Summer is still here and the daytime sun is blazing. I know that doesn’t make Los Angeles sound too enticing, but come anyway we have air conditioning! Or if you live in So Cal – Get out and come visit! Maybe wait until the kids go back to school (which is like, now.)

How come they go back so early now? When we were kids we had the luxury of enjoying much more summertime because we returned to school after Labor Day.

A visit to Los Angeles includes a HUGE geographic area. From Disneyland to the South to Venice in the west and Universal Studios to the Northwest. It doesn’t just include Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA). The traffic is awful so you may want to break your time down in to day trips or stay in a centrally located spot and venture out like spokes on a wheel.

A Perfect Day in Siena with Tuscan Women Cook

February 28, 2020July 7, 2017

Every day is a perfect day in Siena ~

The title of this post is a bit misleading. It should read “every day is a perfect day in Siena and Tuscan Women Cook”! Ask any traveler fortunate enough to have visited this remarkable city and they will tell you it is their favorite.