Destinations and attractions
Most people are familiar with French and California wines. Oenophiles will rave about Italian and Spanish wines. Chile is known for its cheap, but very delicious wines. And Mexico? Yes. Mexico makes great wines, too. The country of Mexico may not be in the top 10 (or even 20) for producing wine, but that doesn’t…
Queretaro’s landscape and climate might not seem like ideal growing conditions with its summer hail storms, but if you look around the world, some of the best wines come from semi-arid climates and high elevations. Queretaro wineries plant their vineyards between 6200-7000 ft elevation which leads to hot days and cool nights. This drastic swing…
San Miguel de Allende has been named the Best Small City in the World in 2017, 2018 and 2020 by Conde Naste Traveler readers, and rightly so. Its location in the heart of wine country probably had something to do it. You can’t beat a combination of colonial architecture, colorful festivals, fine dining and wine…
Buyer beware, you get what you pay for… During my thirty-five years in the wine business, I often came across instances where you didn’t get what you pay for. Fifteen-dollar wines were often just as good as twenty-five-dollar wines. Sometimes fifty-dollar wines were better than one hundred- and fifty-dollar wines. But there is one area…
Do you love to shop during the holidays? Are you the type that enjoys the shopping frenzy in person, or do you prefer to sit on the couch and let your fingers do the clicking? This year, it’s overwhelming how many deals and discounts are being offered. I’ve narrowed down a few online shopping favorites…
Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a favorite holiday of the Mexican people. While death is a somber experience in many parts of the world, the Mexicans have created a 3-day celebration filled with music, laughter, and of course, food. If you are planning a trip to Mexico in the future,…
Vendimias have been celebrated for thousands of years marking the end of the grape harvest and all the dedication to the vines for the past year. These huge parties were a way to make work fun with food, laughter and music. Today, instead of grape stomping with our feet, we use machines to separate and…
Ever since we first visited the tiny pueblo magico of San Sebastian Bernal on a tour in 2017, we wanted to hike Peña de Bernal, supposedly the third largest monolith in the world. Little did we know, it would be more than a year after we moved here, and a few mishaps, that we would…
Jacques Cousteau once said the Sea of Cortez is a diver’s paradise with a biodiversity unmatched anywhere. I wholeheartedly agree. The Sea of Cortez is home to countless species of mammals, fish, and invertebrates. Some visit in the winter months to soak in the warm waters, others are permanent residents. On this trip, I visited…
Alaska is one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. From glaciers to coastlines, wetlands to plains, the beauty of Alaska is only surpassed by the wildlife that make it their home. Animals that we commonly see in the lower 48 like bald eagles and squirrels are much larger in Alaska, and other animals like…
Alaska was made for road trips. The twisting 2-lane highways through flatlands, forests and glaciers with an occasional wildlife sighting is better than any roller coaster in the lower 48. Southcentral Alaska which encompasses Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound is a fisherman’s paradise, wildlife lover’s dream, and landscape artist’s muse. Whether…
We are midway through 2020, and I think everyone can agree that this year definitely needs a “do over”. Many of you, including us, had at least one trip planned overseas only to go through the annoying process of changing it or cancelling it all together. Travel came to a standstill this spring, and just…