Blogs from United States, North America

When I drive over to the Monterey Peninsula, I think first of Carmel, Pebble Beach, Seventeen Mile Drive, the Monterey Wharf, and good food. But many people head to Monterey for the wine. Monterey Wine Country boasts over 175 unique vineyards, most of which are in a 90-mile-long valley, with only eight primary viticulture soil types. Today’s growers use innovative techniques to preserve the land for future generations while producing the highest quality grapes, 42 varietals go into the area’s wines. The more southern Santa Cruz Mountains Appellation is home to more than 70 wineries, 200 small vineyards and 1,500 acres of wine grapes. As part of the historic Santa Clara Valley wine-growing region, Gilroy is home to a number of award-winning local wineries that offer tastings and tours in a casual, relaxing environment. The town ... read more

Lovefood lists these places in our fifty states as unforgettable places to eat. I agree! Here are a few we have visited over the years. What better place to dine in the Grand Canyon State than in the midst of the red rocks themselves? This fabled restaurant is tucked into the El Tovar Hotel, which has pride of place in Grand Canyon Village, and offers dramatic vistas of the surrounding landscapes from its large windows. On the menu are failsafe options such as steak, plus more unusual choices like oven-roasted duck with wild rice and a honey-bourbon chili glaze. The burger here is the BEST we have ever had!! It's not hard to guess the specialty of this celebrated mom-and-pop joint on Maui's North Shore. Mama's Fish House is one of the best-loved ... read more

Hello. Today we actually start our cruise. We began with a fairly good night's sleep last night in the Fairfield Hotel on Griffin Rd. We were so tired we probably could have slept in the hall, but we had a room. Then we got a "breakfast included" meal this morning, with scrambled eggs, sausages, and waffles - not bad. We had reserved 2 slots on the shuttle bus to the ship, with a departure at 12:30, so we had plenty of time to repack the suitcases and get down to the lobby. The bus was not too crowded, and we were delivered to the cruise terminal right in front of our ship. At Port Everglades, the luggage was taken from us and worked its way through the terminal and eventually was brought to our cabin. Meanwhile ... read more

The excitement is building for our departure next Saturday for our trip to Alaska. Since Ray and I just arrived back in New Hampshire last week it has been a busy week of packing, and the Spring clean up of the yard. We have completed all of the reservations at the campgrounds we enjoy that tend to fill up quickly, and have reserved a car rental for our Yellowstone visit. The boys, however, have been on a cruise (of course) and will be arriving back in Naples tomorrow. Being that packing is so grueling they will probably hire someone to pack for them. We will be meeting up with them at the airport in Minneapolis where we are booked for the 4:30 bus to Forest City, Iowa, then the fun will begin!... read more

It's time for another Garvin cruise adventure, and here is the blog which will try to document what we are doing. This year's trip is actually called the 27 Day Western Europe Grand Adventure - according to the cruise line. We booked this trip about a year ago while we were on the previous cruise (sale price was 50% off), and it seemed like something far in the future. That is until a few days ago when it suddenly was just around the corner. Now the trip has actually started, and we are in sunny southern Florida. We flew into Ft Lauderdale on a flight which left St Louis at 7:15 in the morning. Off course we had to be at the airport a couple of hours earlier, so we got a very early start this ... read more