Located about 3.5 hours from Miami in Lake Mary, and just north of Orlando, the Stetson Mansion is a wonderful 19th century Gilded Age Estate that is definitely worth visiting. For the past 13 years, JT Thompson and Michael Solari have opened their home for Christmas tours. JT decorates the house for the holidays, and […]
A Royal Castle with a thousand years of royal history, Windsor Castle is still an active palace and royal residence. It is both grandiose and beautiful. From the sheer height and size of the stone walls, the monumental central tower, to just seeing the palace guards in their furry hats and red outfits, visiting the […]
Wales’ rugged coastline and hilly landscape is dotted with many medieval castles and fortresses. Quite a few are open to visitors making this a great destination for those interested in seeing castles. During our Southern England road trip, we made a point of taking a slight detour through South Wales to visit two impressive castles: […]
An active castle with a thousand years of history and home to the Duke of Norfolk since the 1500s, the palace is open to the public during the summer months. The Arundel Castle is wonderful place to visit. The State Apartments are superb, the Keep is a throwback in time and the gardens are an […]
Hampton Court Palace was built in the 1500s for the chief minister of King Henry VIII, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. However, its fame comes from the fact that by the 1530s it was home to one of England’s most memorable kings, Henry the VIII. After all, how many kings had six wives and beheaded two? In […]
My husband frequents the New York City area for business, and from time to time I like to fly up on points to join him for an extended weekend. Previously on these trips, we’ve had a lot of fun in New York City itself, and we’ve even broadened our horizons to Rhode Island, Hartford and […]
While we love flying Qatar for the service and comfort, one of the drawbacks on many itineraries from Miami are the long layovers in Qatar. Don’t get me wrong, the airport is beautiful and has many wonderful lounges and shops, but, when you have 8 or 10 hours like we did recently on our trip […]
We were on our way to scuba dive in Wakatobi, a small island in Indonesia, and added a pre- and post- stay in Bali to acclimate and give us some buffer between our international and domestic flights. From Miami we flew Qatar airways through Doha, where we also had time to do a little sightseeing […]
We were recently in New Jersey for a scuba diving conference and decided to visit the Thomas Edison National Historic Park. Maintained by the National Parks, the Laboratory Complex opened in October of 2009. The brick buildings in West Orange, NJ, are just remarkable. It honestly looks like all the workers and inventors left for […]
We generally like to have a dry day before our flight out after a week of diving, and even though recommendations are for an 18-hour window after the last dive before flying, we like to do 24 hours for some extra margin. With a 7am flight, that meant sitting out the last day’s morning dives […]