Lush green grass, the deep blue of the ocean, dry rock wall fences and plump black cattle are as much a part of Hawaiian tradition as spear fishing and canoe racing.
Nearing the Hilo Farmers Market, the scents and sights are a kaleidoscope of sensations. Food stalls, produce vendors, flower sellers, clothing, crafts, jewelry and a even a seamstress radiate out onto the surrounding sidewalks.
In the 1820’s artist and naturalist John James Audubon lived for months in the Everglades, surviving mosquitoes, to paint in painstaking detail and breathtaking artistry its many bird species.
The Everglades is a vast subtropical wetland and collection of coastal ecosystems including freshwater marshes, tropical hardwood hammocks, pine rock lands, extensive mangrove forests, saltwater marshes, and seagrass ecosystems. The abundance of wildlife, both subtropical and temperate species, is found nowhere else in the United States.
At best, the European empires who vied for centuries over control of the Western Hemisphere considered Florida a convenient military outpost for protecting shipping lanes to and from the old world. Misquotes, yellow fever, swamps and wars are never good for real estate sales. European empires and American statehood did little for Florida’s economy. It took Henry Flagler – John D. Rockefeller’s partner in Standard Oil – to create an American Riviera and the state’s first golden age. His entrepreneurial expertise built the Florida East Coast Railroad, a plethora of elegant hotels, the cities of Miami and Palm Beach and revived the oldest city in North America, St. Augustine. From the late 1800’s through 1929, Florida basked in both its sunlight and the glint of a golden age in tourism.
Henry Flagler’s Hotel Alcazar, 1888 (now the Lightner Museum) St. Augustine, Fl
More wars, the Great Depression and jet aircraft diverted attention and Florida’s luster suffered from the 1960’s to the end of the century. Yet the 21st century has witnessed a renaissance in interest in America’s sub-tropical real estate and it’s 20th century golden age.
The arts are flourishing with the revival of resort destinations such as the gulf coast’s St. Petersburg. The venerable Morean Arts Center (1917) has built a new facility just to feature America’s preeminent glass artist, Dale Chihuly.
Persian Sunset Wall by Dale Chihuly, Chihuly Collection, St. Petersburg, Fl
500 years ago (1513) Don Ponce de Leon fruitlessly searched for the legendary fountain of youth and discovered Florida instead. A lot of history and visitors have followed and they all needed a bed. The building that is now St. Augustine’s renowned St. Francis Inn was built while the city was still part of the Spanish empire – 1791. Yet Joe and Margaret Finnegan have never seen Lily even though they have owned St. Augustine’s historic St. Frances Inn for nearly three decades. Of course, Lily’s not a guest…
An attentive and friendly staff of 14 oversee the many details that can make a guest of the St. Francis Inn forget they’re also visiting one of America’s great historic destinations, St. Augustine, Fl.
Strawberry soup, St. Francis Inn, St. Augustine, Fl
The first thing you notice when you walk into Meehan’s Irish Pub and Seafood House are the autographed Jameson whiskey bottles that line the rafters of the bar.
Through wars, hurricanes, political and economic upheaval, Seville Square and surrounding Historic Pensacola Village remain one of America’s most enduring Florida gulf shore neighborhoods.
Mari Carmen Josephs, Carmen’s Lunch Bar, Pensacola, Fl
The Pensacola Business Challenge’s mission is to grow the downtown economy one business at a time.
on Palafox Street, historic downtown Pensacola, Fl
Pensacola has a fierce independent streak that has buoyed its success for 450 years as both an important Gulf of Mexico commercial city and a tourist destination.
raw oysters plain & with crab, The Compleat Angler, Orange Beach, Al
“Is it hard work?” asked journalists on an IFWTWA media trip to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Ala. Without a pause in her stride, 85-year-old Ms. Velma Fell replied, “I love it.”
Velma Fell, 42 year employee of Bon Secour Fisheries, Bon Secour, Al
With a sly smile, chef Chris Sherrill’s response to winning Gulf Shores 5th Annual Oyster Cook-off in November was, “eat oysters, love longer.” Ten restaurants along the beautiful white sands of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach epitomize both coastal food and southern hospitality.
Mt. Shuksan from Picture Lake, North Cascades National Park, in Whatcom County, WA
With rich farmlands and vineyards in the east, stunning mountain and coastal scenery in the west and some of America’s most active volcanos in between, Washington State is a magnet for travelers worldwide. Known for its apples, the state boasts some of the nations best organic produce, naturally raised meats, extraordinary seafood, world class restaurants and a growing wine industry.
Sunset on the bay, Lummi Island, WA
Pronounced “gooey duck,” it is, naturally, neither gooey nor a duck…it’s a…ah…
Purslane salad with goat cheese stuffed squash blossom fritter, Ciao Thyme, Bellingham, WA
“There was no free casual sex in Victorian society, unless married,” quipped Good Time Girl Hayley Boothe. Along withJane Burleigh, the Good Time Girls provide a unique social perspective on the boom town history of Fairhaven.
Hayley Boothe and Jane Burleigh, the Good Time Girls Walking Tours, Fairhaven, WA
Poland, crepes, or even exciting food, are not connections that normally come to mind, but Magdalena Theisen wraps a myriad of creative fillings in etherial crepes, and customers flock to her Fairhaven creperie.
Magdalena’s Creperie, Bellingham, WA (photo credit: Magdalena’s Creperie)
Following in the path of John Chapman, aka the legendary Johnny Appleseed, it’s a natural progression from acres of apple trees to distilling a clean, crisp apple based vodka.
Whether it’s learning about the migration of the Monarch butterfly, fly fishing or roasting Smacos, South Dakota and Sioux Falls insure residents and visitors that time spent will be worthwhile and make you smile.
Mc Crossan Boys Ranch rodeo fund raiser, August 2012, Sioux Falls, SD
A short distance north of Sioux Falls is Dell Rapids complete with an early 20th century Grand Opera House
backstage at Dell Rapid’s Grand opera House – part of an early 20th century poster.
Of course lush countryside abounds with green crops and a riot of Black Eyed Susan’s in late summer bloom.
Black Eyed Susan’s, Sioux Falls, SD
Small city urban meets nature and lots of outdoor cooking. Keep kids big and small engaged during picnics roasting smacos and whipping up 5-minute ice cream.
clockwise from left: Falls Park & Phillips Ave, Sioux Falls, prep for Smacos, kittens and Sanford Health hot air balloon.
and you don’t need to go to Spain to ride the bulls, Visit Sioux Falls
Bull riding at Mc Crossan Boys Ranch rodeo August 2012
In the early 1900’s, many citizens couldn’t believe the hubris in assuming a 25 year old incorporated city of less than 20,000 justified such a palace to learning. Some 100 years later it’s the jewel of Sioux Falls cultural life.
South Dakota may be the land of corn, cakes and chislic, but a menu is just as likely to include buffalo meatballs, pheasant wrapped in bacon and walleye fish cakes on a bed of micro greens.
People have been staring at neon sign’s ever since French inventor George Claude sold Packard Motor Cars the first two in the early 1920’s. Yet it’s in America’s Las Vegas of the 1940’s–1950’s that the neon sign came of age as an artistic medium.
Although most of the millions of annual visitors roam the Strip with its larger-than-life tropical islands, fountains and canals, it’s in the original Vegas downtown that nostalgia reigns – still titillating but on a human scale.
The centerpiece of this revival of interest and effort in neon preservation has been the commercial success of the Fremont Street Experience. The corner of Fremont & Main is the 1905 birthplace of Las Vegas so it’s appropriate that Fremont Street should anchor the revival of “downtown.” For several blocks it’s covered like a European market yet a pulsing high-tech Las Vegas one of restored icons, such as the legendary El Cortez and Golden Nugget hotels, penny casinos, live bands, buskers, fried Twinkies and neon lights.
The mission of the Las Vegas Neon Museum, founded in 1996, is to preserve early signs from now defunct businesses as works of public/commercial art.
In a city both American and international Las Vegas is fittingly ablaze each evening with the inventive genius of a Frenchman.
“Welcome to my home. Good to see you. May the Creator be with you,”
Ginger Songbird Martin, Cultural Concierge at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa, explains that the Pima and Maricopa people have no words for “hello” and “goodbye.” Rather the greeting is, “Welcome to my home. Good to see you. May the Creator be with you,” and the salutation, “Hope to see you soon.”
Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa is a luxurious adobe-like structure set amidst a lush desert landscape on the banks of the Gila River. It’s as perfect a classic southwest setting as it gets.
table at Kai, Yukon Gold Potato hor’s doeuvre
Kai is the Resort’s award winning restaurant and an innovator of Native American cuisine. The menu is a fusion of traditional native foods, locally sourced, time honored classic preparations and stunningly imaginative reductions, pairings of grains, vegetables and use of herbs.
Kai Grilled Buffalo Steak and assorted local cheeses, dried fruits, nuts and seeds
Travel with Pen and Palate 
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