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You’ll love the views you’ll have of the EBMUD Watershed while you’re hiking or mountain biking along Nimitz Way in both Wildcat Canyon Regional Park and Tilden Regional Park. The views really open up once you’re in the area considered the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the East Bay Skyline National Trail. I’d encourage you to grab one of the printed maps you’ll find at every trailhead in the park that is next to a parking lot. If you park in the Inspiration Point parking lot, you’ll end up exiting the lot and turning right on the Nimitz Trail. It’s a lovely, rolling, paved path that turns into the East Bay Skyline Trail. It’s up to you how far you’d like to go and whether you’d like to create a loop or do an out-and-back hike. With map in hand you can easily descend by taking a left off the Nimitz Way at several different points, such as Laurel Canyon, Wildcat Peak Trail, or Conlon Trail. Just know that your return back up to Inspiration Point via the Meadows Canyon Trail or the Curran Trail means you have some beautiful uphill terrain. If you’re a trail runner, a dog walker, or just someone that values a long walk in a beautiful spot to clear the cobwebs, Tilden Regional Park should be your go-to place in the East Bay. Happy hiking!

Jamaica’s primary public art museum, the largest of its kind in the Caribbean, is a key part of the island’s history. Established in 1979, it houses more than 2,000 pieces ranging from pre-Columbian works to those of contemporary Jamaican artists and also mounts temporary exhibitions on various aspects of Jamaica’s history and culture. The collection continues to expand and now includes videos, graphic designs, and street art. Guided tours are available, and there’s an on-site coffee shop and gift store.

With its domed greenhouses of epic proportions dotted across some 100 hectares (250 acres), the sustainable Gardens by the Bay are educational and fun. The Cloud Forest is a misty, 42-meter-high (138-foot-high) “mountain” that re-creates tropical highlands; visitors use ramps to explore around and through them. A biosphere of Mediterranean and desert plants, including huge baobab trees, makes up the Flower Dome. Outdoors, guests walk on suspended walkways between steel-frame “Supertrees” that are covered in solar-powered lights.

The Inn at Perry Cabin, a Belmond property, offers understated elegance on the Chesapeake Bay. Located in the postcard-perfect town of Saint Michaels, MD, less than 2 hours from Washington DC the resort has long been a popular getaway for polticos escaping the frantic pace of the beltway. With the serenity of the Chesapeake Bay at it’s doorstep the recently renovated colonial manor is easily one of the most beautiful resorts on the east coast, even serving as a filming location for the movie Wedding Crashers. Eschewing a grand lobby in favor of intimate nooks and hideaways, thoughtful design marries the Chesapeake Bay’s nautical heritage with modern touches throughout the inn. The spacious rooms are casually luxurious in calming shades of white and blue; when combined with Belmond’s unparalleled service makes for a truly relaxing getaway. Spend the day on the water with the resort’s fleet of Alerion yachts before sinking into a waterfront Adirondack chair with a glass of wine in hand to watch the sunset over the bay.

Goat water is basically a thin soup. Swimming in its brown depths you’ll find lumps of practically any part of a goat (usually bones and all), there’s clove, thyme, plus some other assorted herbs and spices, and depending on what island you find yourself sampling goat water, don’t be surprised to find some additional items in there like small dumplings, yams, and potatoes.


You can find goat water on many islands in the Caribbean from Antigua, Grenada, St. Kitts, Nevis, and many more. It’s even the national dish of Antigua’s neighbor: Montserrat!


On islands like Jamaica, expect a cousin of goat water to be served at weddings… Especially to the grooms. Why? Well, that version also goes by the name “mannish water” so can imagine what the expected results of slurping up a bowl!

A favorite live music venue among locals and tourists in Negril, MXIII attracts a variety of big and smaller names onto its outdoor stage throughout the year. It also hosts the well-known annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash festival in February. Located on the cliffside of Negril, the venue is run by active, longtime resident entrepreneurs who are passionate about keeping the West End’s authenticity and entertainment vibe alive. Look for posters around town or billboards outside the venue for upcoming performances.

You’ll more than likely gasp when you first glimpse this 180-foot-deep, jade- and sapphire-colored body of water surrounded by verdant rain forest. Though you can spot it from the road as you drive along Port Antonio’s east coast, the Blue Lagoon is best appreciated while gliding across it on a bamboo raft. The entire scene looks straight out of the movies, which is why locals would probably tell you that it was a location for the eponymous 1980 movie starring Brooke Shields (which, in fact, was filmed in Fiji). Even if you don’t hop on a raft for a float, at least get out of the car to take in the stunning view. (An on-site restaurant and deck were closed for renovation some years back and still haven’t reopened.)

Restaurateur Brooks Reitz built his name with this chicken-and-oyster joint that feels old-school despite its carefully crafted ambiance. On a first visit, it’s sinful not to order the perfectly salted, crispy/juicy fried chicken amalgam shellacked with a glaze of Old Bay and cayenne suspended in melted lard. That necessitates a second visit to gorge on the poached char-grilled lobster and sausage, or the Leon’s Fish Fry, a platter of shrimp, oysters and catfish. Leon’s was the first to open way-Upper King, now the restaurant hotbed, and it’s held onto its cool status thanks to its thoughtful buildout in a restored auto body shop, retaining the exposed rafters and a rollup garage door that opens to a patio out front.

Set on Cox Bay, one of the best surf spots in Canada, the Pacific Sands resort offers one- bedroom suites and two-story beach houses with fireplaces and bay-view patios. If you forgot your raincoat or rubber boots (two must-haves in Tofino, which receives 100 inches of rain per year), don’t worry. The resort stocks them in every room. From $144. (250) 725-3322. This appeared in the August/September 2013 issue.

Also known as Old Navarino Castle, Paleokastro—built by the Frankish ruler Nicholas II de St. Omer around 1278—is located above Voidokila Beach in Messinia’s Mediterranean area. Make sure to bring your camera, as a trek to the castle awards panoramic views of the Ionian Sea, the city of Pylos, Voidokilia Bay, the Romanou-Petrochori beaches, Gialova Divari lagoon, the olive tree-lined Peloponnesian Hills, the Sykias chanel, Sphacteria island, and Navarino Bay. When hiking, you’ll be taking the same path as you would to reach Nestor’s Cave, a popular cave in Greek mythology.

Having trained in Germany at the Goldsmithing School Pforzheim, Balaclava Jewellers proprietor Philip Cadien curates a collection with a refined, distinctly European feel. From precious metals, to exquisitely cut stones, to South Sea pearls, a visit is a feast for the eyes.

Cape Flattery is the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States. It is in Clallam County, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, where the Strait of Juan de Fuca joins the Pacific Ocean. It is also part of the Makah Reservation, and is the northern boundary of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. Cape Flattery can be reached from a short hike, most of which is board walked.

A visit to Japan would not be complete without a soak in an onsen hot spring. A fun choice in Tokyo is the Oedo Monogatari Onsen on Odaiba island in Tokyo Bay. This is not a small, traditional onsen but a “super onsen,” with a variety of tubs for soaking, both indoors and out. Plan on spending at least half a day here. Rent a colorful cotton yukata and, between soaks in the hot water, peruse the food stalls offering yakitori, sushi, ramen, and udon. Massages, reflexology, and spa treatments are available. Or join the locals who nestle into a lounge chair for a post-soak nap.

This sprawling museum is located in four buildings near Battlefields Park—the most recent of them, the Pierre Lassonde pavilion, opened in 2016 and was designed by starchitect Rem Koolhaas’s OMA. The 25,000 works in its permanent collection cover the history of art in the province, beginning with the French colonial period and including artists who are still active today. The museum also holds one of the world’s most important collections of Inuit art, with some 100 pieces—mostly carvings in stone, whalebone, or ivory—on display at any one time. Temporary exhibitions focus on both local and international artists. If you have time for a sit-down meal, Tempéra Québecor—helmed by Marie-Chantal Lepage, one of Québec’s best-known chefs—is near the entrance of the new pavilion, with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the grounds and the Grande Allée.

One of the largest, and most laid-back, of Antigua’s resorts, St. James Club & Villas, on Mamora Bay, about five minutes from English Harbour, has long been a favorite of couples and families. As at many all-inclusives, the dining can occasionally bring back memories of school lunch programs, but the free Kidz Club and four wedding gazebos let everyone know it is their kind of place. On one of the two beaches, Mamora Bay, the waves gently lap; on the other, Coco Beach, the surf crashes. Among the six pools, two are adults-only, and one is just for kids.