Why travel? To celebrate a special occasion? Birthday, anniversary, retirement, new job, you name it.For a change of scenery? To alleviate boredom? To explore new regions, to be pampered or just sneak off and indulge? Whatever your reason, I love flopping onto a freshly made bed in a hotel room – preferably with a view […]

It was a rare summer day along the Southern California coast, as the fringe of Hurricane Eugene crept northward from Baja, California, into the sleepy coastal town of Carpinteria. It was early August. Since pre-dawn dark clouds had delivered steady rain, as water droplets trickled down the tinted glass of my beach lifeguard tower. The […]

From afar, the Temblor Range in the Carrizo Plain National Monument was swept in different shades of yellow. Rancher’s fireweed, goldfields, and hillside daisies brightened the arid mountain biome. From where I stood at the base of the Caliente Mountains looking east, it was the only color on what are typically barren hillsides.  Another super […]

My husband and I were thrilled when I was chosen to be a judge at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, hosted this year by Vinistra, the Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers of the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia. Returning to Croatia, one of our cherished travel destinations from a decade ago, was a dream come true. […]

Merlie and I travelled for most of July in Iceland and Greenland with Overseas Adventure Travel. Upon arrival, the Litli-Hrutur volcano erupted near the airport. I thought we might be stranded. Instead, it was an opportunity of a lifetime: We got to fly over it in a small plane! Along the way we also saw […]

The spotted hyenas soaked themselves in one of the many waterholes surrounding the vast, searing white pan of Etosha National Park in northern Namibia of southwestern Africa. The two scavengers were multitasking. While cooling off in the shallow pool of water, they were also strategizing on how to drive off a healthy-looking lioness and her […]

Society News is bringing you insider tips of the New York City arts and culture scene firsthand after spending five days there! A city brimming with things to do, here are some top go-to’s: Connoisseurs of jazz will find A-listers playing at the Blue Note on West 3rd Street in the Village and the historic […]

Globetrotting accountant Frank McGinity has published the fourth and last updated edition of Get Off Your Street, a personal travelogue recounting his travels from all seven continents. “It covers my travels over the last 25 years,” says Frank, who lives a tiara’s toss or two from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Riven Rock. “Most […]

The 500-pound male mountain gorilla (also known as a silverback) was hungry, not hangry, just hungry in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda in Central Africa. As shafts of morning light penetrated the rainforest, he casually lumbered over to a dense stock of bamboo, the biggest shafts as round as a baseball bat. He looked upward […]

What’s black and white and bright all over? The freshly open (but still in the process of being built out) super-duper redo of The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern – thanks to interior designer/design team AvroKO, par excellence, who has not missed a detail from the bootjacks outside guest room doors to leather tabs on the […]