The most famous western shootout in American history lasted less than 30 seconds. Almost 140 years later, the town of Tombstone daily relives the gun battle between Doc Holliday, the Earp brothers and “the cowboys”. Visiting Tombstone is like being at a cowboy renaissance festival where you’re not sure who’s acting and who just really really likes to pretend to live...
Osteria Costa Might be It I love Italian food. I’ve wandered through Italy trying gnocchi in Verona, cannolis in Sicily, black ink pasta in Venice and consider myself somewhat of a “cibo Italiano” connoisseur. Last night I had an opportunity to check out the new Amalfi Coast inspired restaurant at the Mirage called Osteria Costa and what a night! I’m not a food...
I’m sitting in an airport of a country you’ve probably never heard of. It’s the newest country in Asia. It became independent in 2002 after a 26 year bloody struggle with Indonesia. I’m talking about Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor. Timor is one of the eastern-most islands in Indonesia and means “east” in the native language. So, East Timor translates to “East...
I’d never heard of Horseshoe Bay when I received an invitation to the “Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival” that is highlighted every year in the Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin. Austin used to be the place to go if you wanted to enjoy the lake and get away from the hustle and bustle of Houston traffic until it became so popular that many peace-seeking weekenders...
I had been traveling in Asia for the last 2 weeks with a friend of mine. We were booked on all the same flights except for getting to and from Kuala Lumpur from Los Angeles. On our return segments we were traveling alone but both had long stopovers in China. My friend had 11 hours in Shanghai and I had 10 in Shenzhen. We both had almost run out of US...
When I tell my friends about Bali, their eyes glaze over like I’m talking about visiting Mars or Timbuktu. Bali conjures up exotic images of crystal blue waters, dancers, temples and seems so far away. Well, yes it is far away, but it’s not that expensive to get to, and once you’re there, you’ll want to keep coming back. Bali has it all. Now is the perfect time to go...
I had been obsessing about snapping some photos of Brunei’s most famous denizens, the Proboscis monkeys. Besides the fact that I’m fascinated by one of the weirdest creatures on the planet, I could hardly wait to visit The Royal Kingdom of Brunei to tag my 172nd country. There’s always been something mysterious to me about this little monarchy sandwiched together...
If you’re not from Mexico, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Huasteca. Americans tend to stick with the tried and true vacation spots they’ve heard of such as Cancun and Cabo when traveling to Mexico. More intrepid travelers might visit Oaxaca, Mexico City and San Miguel Allende. However, one of the most beautiful spots in the entire country is...
“Where did you come from?” the official asked. “San Luis Potosí” I answered. “Why? Do you have family there?” “No” I replied. “I just wanted to see some waterfalls and get away from the cold weather”. He eyed me suspiciously. Very few people do such a thing and he thought I might be up to questionable activities. I got sent into the “check them extra good” lane...
Who doesn’t love a cruise? It’s nice to be able to unpack once and float around the ocean being coddled and spoiled while you’re moving towards your next destination. I booked a southern Caribbean cruise almost a year ago and I was all set to visit the last two countries on my list in the Caribbean, Dominica and Antigua. In late August, all hell...