Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport is the gateway for much of Africa from the rest of the world. It’s the busiest airport in Africa with over 600 flights a day and many transit here to their final destinations. Joburg is a huge, bustling, and interesting city and taking some time to explore some of its […]
About 30 minutes’ drive north of Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport is the beautiful Château de Chantilly. This magnificent castle rivals Fontainebleau and Versailles but is lesser known and less crowded (at least when we went). It is well worth visiting and makes for the perfect day trip from Paris. It can also be visited […]
Just south of Paris and about an hour and a half’s drive from Charles de Gaulle airport is the magnificent Château de Fontainebleau. The medieval part of the castle dates back to the 12th century but only the dungeon still exists. From 1528, under the reign of King François I, the castle saw many transformations […]
Catalina Island is located about 29 miles (47km) off the coast of Long Beach, California. The 22-mile (35 km) by 8-mile (13 km) island has mountain peaks reaching 2,097 ft (639 m) at its highest point. It is the easternmost channel island and officially belongs to Los Angeles County. With approximately 5,000 residents, over 90% […]
Manatee Lagoon is a good place to go to observe manatees in their natural habitat. From the observation deck you can spy on these gentle giants during the cooler winter months when they seek the warmer waters that come out of the nearby power station. Be sure to visit the Manatee Lagoon education center where […]
A while back, when exploring some of our local Miami area mansions such as Vizcaya, the Deering Estate, and the Flagler Museum, a reader suggested we visit the Gilded Age mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. We finally managed to fit in a mini vacation to see these wonderful historic homes.
On our way back from Rhode Island we were expecting to fly home from Hartford. Our airline had other plans for us and cancelled our flight. In the end, we decided to make lemonade out of the lemons we were dealt and decided to enjoy our day in Hartford.
The Ringling is a sprawling estate encompassing 66 acres located in Sarasota, Florida. Perhaps a bit long for a day trip being a 3 ½-hour drive from Miami (or 3 hours from Fort Lauderdale), it can be combined with other Gulf Coast activities such as the Edison and Ford Winter Estates to make for a […]
There are two Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in the Sarasota area. The Downtown Sarasota Campus off Bayfront Park, and the Historic Spanish Point located a little over 10 miles away along Highway 41 on North Tamiami Trail in Osprey. It’s possible to visit both botanical gardens on the same day and doing so would not […]
The Edison and Ford Winter Estates are located in Fort Myers, on the Gulf Coast of Florida and about a 2 ½-hour drive from Miami, or 2 hours from Fort Lauderdale. While doable as a day trip, we opted to make a mini vacation of it and stayed in Sarasota where we could also visit […]