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Category Archives: TRAVEL

ST LOUIS BASEBALL AND GOOEY BUTTER CAKE

Baseball fans headed to St. Louis will strike out if they devote 24/7 to baseball alone. Although baseball is the city’s heart and soul—it is not its total being. America’s quintessential baseball city sports a series of other world-class, major-league attractions and even visitors who put baseball first and foremost can score the most from […]

Mandarin Oriental Paris

Today is my birthday. I wish I were in Paris. More precisely, I wish I were in Paris staying at the Mandarin Oriental Paris—a celebration hotel if ever there was one. Unlike other Paris five stars, which can be elegant to the point of stuffy, the Mandarin creates an atmosphere of luxury gift wrapped with […]

¶ Posted 08 September 2013 † Susan Manlin Katzman § ACCOMMODATIONS § FRANCE § PARIS § RESTAURANTS § SPAS ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: Bar 8, Camélia, Man Ray, Mandarin Oriental Paris, Paris, Sur Mesure, Thierry Marx

TRAVEL TIPS FROM DEBBI KICKHAM

Debbi Karpowicz Kickham knows all about the good and beautiful life. As a travel journalist she crisscrosses the globe writing about fabulous places for top-drawer publications. Debbi racks up more credits than most accomplished women, but not content to rest on her list of achievements, she keeps adding to the mix. For example, she founded […]

¶ Posted 04 September 2013 † Susan Manlin Katzman § AIRLINES ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: Debbi Kickham, Tips for Travel

BEST LITTLE ROCK RESTAURANTS

One of Kat Robinson’s business cards states that she is a writer, storyteller and idea generator. Another says that she serves as Communications Manager of Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. I am sure Kat owns even more cards, because it’s hard to sum up the career of this creative, talented woman on two […]

¶ Posted 16 August 2013 † Susan Manlin Katzman § ARKANSAS § BOOKS § DESSERTS § LITTLE ROCK § RESTAURANTS ‡ Comments Off °

Ten Secrets to Enjoying Secrets Huatulco

Brochures tout the suites, pools, restaurants, beach and spa of Secrets Huatulco, an all-inclusive resort in Huatulco, Mexico, but previews don’t/can’t paint the whole picture. As we’ve happily been there, done that, we are supplementing the marketing information with our own ten little secrets to getting the most from a Secrets vacation. Read on: 1. […]

¶ Posted 05 August 2013 † Susan Manlin Katzman § ACCOMMODATIONS § HUATULCO § MEXICO § RESORTS ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: Amstar, Apple Vacations, Camaron Gigante, chapulines, CHOCOLATE, Conejos Bay, El Sabor de Oaxaca, Huatulco, Las Crucesitas, Mezcal, Oaxaca, Pluma Hidalgo, Secrets, Tangolunda Bay

World’s Best Carrot Cake

“Sweet” is not an adjective I would apply to Dolores Roux. “Energetic,” “outspoken,” “generous” seem more fitting descriptors. Yet, sweet is a word inseparable from Dolores as she owns and runs the well-loved Dolores’ Sweet Shoppe in Apalachicola, Florida. Located in the heart of downtown, the shop occupies a white frame house that was built […]

¶ Posted 18 July 2013 † Susan Manlin Katzman § APALACHICOLA § DESSERTS § FLORIDA § RECIPES § RESTAURANTS ‡ Comments Off °

SPA, BELGIUM

WHAT TO DO In the beginning (in a wooded valley of the Ardennes mountain chain in what is today eastern Belgium) water sprang forth from the earth. The water produced in the cluster of springs was far from ordinary. People believed it to be imbued with healing powers. Soon a village formed around the […]

¶ Posted 12 July 2013 † Susan Manlin Katzman § ACCOMMODATIONS § BELGIUM § RESTAURANTS § SPA § SPAS ‡ Comments Off °

Johnny Cash Museum

“It was a long time coming.” The construction started in 2011 and slowly continued “one piece at a time.” But “cry cry cry” no more. As of May 30, 2013, one can “walk the line” straight to 119 Third Avenue South in Nashville, Tennessee, and pay tribute to “the man in black,” because The Johnny […]

¶ Posted 31 May 2013 † Susan Manlin Katzman § NASHVILLE § TENNESSEE ‡ Comments Off °

TEQUILA BAR AND INFUSIONS

The name is quite a mouthful—JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa. And the resort is quite a place, offering something above and beyond other JW Marriotts. It’s not the size that makes it so special, although this JW Marriott is the world’s largest, sitting on an area covering 600 acres. And it’s […]

¶ Posted 26 May 2013 † Susan Manlin Katzman § ACCOMMODATIONS § BEVERAGES § DRINKS § RESORTS § SAN ANTONIO § TEXAS ‡ Comments Off °

SAN ANTONIO, BOILER HOUSE & S’MORES

San Antonio, the Texas city with south-of-the-border flair, offers gourmets much to love. Good restaurants cluster around town, accessorizing the River Walk like fine jewelry. But the shiniest, most-polished restaurants string around Pearl, the 22-acre food, entertainment and educational development on the site of the former Pearl Brewery. Pearl boasts a treasure trove of […]

¶ Posted 11 April 2013 † Susan Manlin Katzman § CHOCOLATE § CONDIMENTS § DESSERTS § ENTERTAINING § RECIPES § RESTAURANTS § SAN ANTONIO § TEXAS ‡ Comments Off °