We review as we travel… destinations, lodging, cruises, resorts, you name it.
This island—just 3 miles wide at its widest point—is famous for its lobsters that many fisherman here catch by free diving as deep as 60 feet. Sailors like us (we’ve been sailing around the BVI on a Moorings charter Catamaran) make the trip here for the lobsters as well as the spectacular wind-swept beaches.
The advantage here—besides the privacy and the chance to putter in the kitchen yourself—is that you aren’t paying $5 each time a child wants a virgin colada or $15 for the real thing.
Today we are all diving as a family. The Wreck of the Rhone is just off Salt Island in two big pieces 60 to 80 feet down, but there are many smaller pieces.
“That’s part of the adventure,” says my 25 year old daughter Reggie. “It’s not like we’re at a fancy resort where everything is being done for us.”
When it came time to decide on a family trip for my far flung gang—the first time we’d all be together in more than a year—sailing, with some diving included, was everyone’s top pick.
Reggie and I are already imagining our next dive back home in the much colder, kelp-forested waters of Monterey, California — just a couple hours away from our domicile in San Francisco.
After a frenetic week reporting—not to mention serious jet lag—I figured there couldn’t be a better way to while away my last morning before my return flight than experiencing the Mira Hotel’s spa.
Geologists still argue today how these columns were formed some 140 million years ago. What is known is that a huge amount of volcanic ash and lava spewed forth with the volcano ultimately collapsing and forming a caldera.
We stroll out on historic Blake Pier –the roof is more than a century old and was moved here in 2004–and watch the bobbing rowboats, the traditional Chinese Junk that serves as a harbor cruise and the wind surfers out on a Sunday.
This isn’t just any Buddha but the largest outdoor sitting Buddha in the Po Lin Monastery on the island of Lantau. The Monastery was established in 1906—some 100 monks hidden from the tourists still live here
My daughter Mel, who has just arrived from Thailand, pronounces things here more expensive yet clearly there are bargains to be had—but you have to bargain as the merchants raise the prices expecting you to bargain
“It is good exercise for all ages,” he says. “When I was child, my parents told me I was so small I needed more exercise so I practiced kung fu and Tai Chi- Kung Fu is fast and Tai Chi s slow and smooth.”
People are choosing the newly renovated Mira for its hip design. The 492-room hotel has been open just a year across the street from Kowloon Park. You walk out the door onto Nathan Road, one of Hong Kong’s busiest thoroughfares
Today, I’m the only Caucasian face in the jam-packed Tim Ho Wan that has the reputation for being the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world. People come here for Dim Sum and are lined up waiting outside.
DAY ONE — I’ve got my eye mask, three different noise cancelling head phones to try, the iPad loaded with my favorite TV shows, my Kindle loaded with new mysteries, healthy snacks, special socks from SmartWool, neck pillow…have I forgotten anything?
I’m at the year-old Montage Deer Valley spa—35,000 square feet indoor lap pool, separate mens and women’s facilities with steam room, sauna, whirlpools and more, a private sundeck with radiant heated floors and spectacular mountain views and a big fitness center.
Meet Park City Mountain Resort’s new crop of Snowmamas, chosen from applicants by Park City Mountain resort officials from around the country. The website has become the go-to place in the industry to help moms make trips to the snow easier and more fun.
Maybe buying ski boots isn’t that big a deal. But it says something about my desire to invest in myself instead of everyone else in the family for a change. And every season, I say I’m going to hang up my skis because I’m not having fun out there—certainly not when I try to keep up with my family, experts all.
I can’ t stop thinking about Delta when we return to our Bluefields Bay villa overlooking the sea served breakfast—a traditional Jamaican concoction of saltfish with vegetables cooked in coconut milk called Rundown.
Wolde Kristos is a man with a mission—and a vision. He hopes to bring the sleepy Jamaican town of Bluefields Bay into the 21st century—tourist wise.