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Ever heard of a bonut? Neither had we until we visited Biscuit Love, a cult-favorite breakfast spot in Nashville‘s happening Gulch neighborhood, where morning queues often exceed an hour on weekends. And bonuts—deep-fried biscuit dough slathered in lemon mascarpone and balanced on a sticky heap of blueberry compote—are just one of the many hits on the menu. The restaurant had its origins in 2012 as a food truck, where husband-and-wife team Karl and Sarah Worley’s made-from-scratch biscuits made them an overnight success. In January 2015, they opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant, where Karl mans the stoves and Sarah runs the front of the house, making sure patrons get their Southern classics while they’re hot. Be sure to order a bonut, along with the sweet-and-spicy Chronic Bacon, shrimp and grits, and the off-menu Nasty Princess, a biscuit topped with Nashville-style hot chicken, gravy, pickles, mustard, and honey.

The Palais Garnier, the national opera house of Paris, is a magnificent building dripping in ornate details and glittering with gold. The five-ton chandelier, made famous in The Phantom of the Opera, still takes center stage in the auditorium. It is surrounded by a swirling, colorful ceiling painting by Marc Chagall. The decoration goes beyond the auditorium: The grand foyer rivals the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, and the grand staircase is an entryway fit for royalty. You don’t need to buy a ticket to the opera to see the space: Tours are given daily in a variety of languages.

My wife, Robin, and I have been camping, fishing, and hiking in the Lakes Basin area, near Sierra City, since we met. These days, our usual home base is a tiny log cabin at the edge of Packer Lake, pictured here. From trailheads around Packer you can hike to many other lakes--Saxonia, Deer, Lower and Upper Tamarack, Young America, Upper and Lower Sardine. Most of the hikes are relatively easy, and on some trails you’ll rarely encounter other hikers. In early October 2007, a brief, unseasonable storm passed through and carpeted the area with an inch or two of snow, which made for an especially invigorating walk along the Pacific Crest Trail to the lookout at the top of the Sierra Buttes.

Also called Matías de Gálvez, Santo Tomás de Castilla has been functioning as a leisure cruise port since 2004. Whatever you call the coastal town, it was once under Belgian rule. The European influence is most notable in the streets—literally. The main promenade was constructed using Belgian stones, and it is lined with local shops and homes. The Belgian cemetery houses 19th-century pioneers.

Only in Rio can you happen onto a tropical paradise without leaving city limits. About 22 miles west of Copacabana lies Prainha. The name calls up a small beach that’s in fact a sand formation in an ecological reserve surrounded by the Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica), with its complete variety of plant and animal life. Known as one of the city’s surfing meccas, it’s a gem for anyone keen on sun and waves. Eat fresh seafood right on the beach, and if you brought your board, take the surf-bus that connects to the city’s most popular tourist areas.

From October to February, sperm whales, humpback whales, and pilot whales make their way from the cold Atlantic to the warm waters of St. Lucia to breed and mate. Whale-watching tours leave from Castries and some of the other towns on the west coast and sail north to south to spot the whales, breaching and spouting, from a safe distance. Over the last few years, sperm and pilot whales have more frequently been spotted than humpbacks. It’s not unusual to see schools of spinner and bottlenose dolphins along the journey. Some whale-watching trips offer lunch as well as a chance to snorkel and swim, so shop around for the excursion you want.

New Orleans may be home to America’s most festive thoroughfare, Bourbon Street, but Key West’s Duval Street is a close second. This two-kilometer-long (1.25-mile-long) road runs from north to south, from one end of the island to the other, and passes through the city’s historic Old Town. It’s lined with bars, restaurants, stores and galleries—many of which are among Key West’s most famous, including Sloppy Joe’s, a Hemingway hangout back in the 1930s and still a hotspot today. By day it’s mostly for shoppers, but it really heats up at night, with huge crowds strolling up and down the street, live music spilling out from the bars and a party atmosphere all around.

On the west side of Arenal Volcano, this 900-acre tropical reserve was a labor of love for owner and architect Jaime Mikowski, who spent years planting acres of native plants and coaxing the land’s natural mineral springs into a river that now flows throughout the property, spilling over into dozens of waterfalls and pools that range from 72 to 105 degrees. Spacious rooms have marble floors and streamlined furnishings; splurge on a suite, which features a private terrace and a Jacuzzi tub—a little superfluous considering all the other options for soaking in warm water here, but who’s complaining? There are also five swimming pools, one with a swim-up bar and waterslide, and a spa comprising 12 bungalows with treatments that all include, you guessed it, a dip in a thermal spring-fed tub. While the property is also open to day trippers, guests of the resort have exclusive access to Shangri-La Gardens, an adults-only lounge area with pools, cabanas, and a folliage-filled bar.

While many walked through the streets of the small town, I decided to head along the river and came across this beautiful view of Lake Brienz.

Manhattan can, famously, feel like endless rows of apartment blocks and office towers for most of its length. At least above 14th Street, a regular grid of streets and avenues, bisected only by Broadway, has transformed the city into a dream for real estate developers. The green spaces interrupting the pattern—Union Square, Gramercy Park, Madison Square Park—are few and far between, with one enormous exception: Central Park. Running from 59th Street to 110th Street, and between Central Park West (Eighth Avenue) and Fifth Avenue, it is one of the world’s largest urban parks, measuring some 843 acres. It is the masterpiece of the 19th-century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted working in collaboration with Calvert Vaux. Inside its borders are stately allées and naturalistic scenes, ice-skating rinks (in the winter), an enormous reservoir, and a faux castle. The park is hugely popular, and so to call it an escape from the bustle of the city is often not accurate, especially on mild summer days and the first warm ones in the spring when thousands of residents head to its playing fields, bike and run along the road that loops the park, and enjoy picnics on the Sheep Meadow or one of its other lawns.

At the edge of the Baja Peninsula, One&Only Palmilla was originally built in 1956 as a 15-room hideaway for Don Abelardo Rodriguez, son of the then-president of Mexico. Today, it’s one of the region’s most luxurious resorts, composed of 174 oceanfront rooms and suites and two villas decorated in neutral hues and splashes of red; many have infinity pools and patios that face the Sea of Cortez.


One&Only Palmilla has one of the area’s few swimmable beaches, plus three private rocky coves complete with floating beds, lounge chairs, and dedicated butlers. Activities include snorkeling, surfing, parasailing, and golfing the award-winning 27-hole course designed by Jack Nicklaus. The massive spa’s wellness garden features a juice bar and 13 treatment villas; several have private plunge pools, rain showers, and swinging daybeds.



One&Only Palmilla is a member of EarthCheck, a scientific benchmarking certification program, for its sustainability efforts, which include a state-of-the-art water purification system that produces and bottles filtered water on site. The resort works with the Red Committee for the Protection of the Sea Turtle by helping with daily patrols of nearby nests, an activity guests can join.

I’ve been all over the California coast and Point Lobos is my favorite place to hike. We have hiked every trail in this reserve and never tire of this magical place. You can see many animals, such as sea otters, seals, elephant seals,sea lions, squirrels and deer that are often in little pockets near the trails. Most of the hikes are easy to moderate, you can make them longer by combining them or just hike smaller parts. There is a whalers cabin that has been transformed into a little museum at one end of the reserve.

This property is closed through 2019 for repairs made necessary by hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Caneel Bay, one of the island’s more secluded and protected bays, is home to Caneel Bay Resort, a historic luxury hotel founded by Laurance Rockefeller. After opening the resort in 1956, Rockefeller donated the land on which it lies to become the Virgin Islands National Park, which covers about 60 percent of the island. Day-trippers can easily reach Caneel Bay by taxi from Cruz Bay. The resort has no fewer than seven beaches, including Honeymoon Beach, a short hike away. Come here to relax on the main beach, book water sports at the diving and snorkeling center and have lunch at the hotel restaurant.

Visitors often want to bring a souvenir from San Miguel back to the kids or friends at home...nothing too elaborate, but authentic nonetheless. Head to the three-block Mercado de Artesanías for a leisurely stroll amid the stalls. Start at the west end and work your way east to find silver, crafts, jewelry, pottery…if it fits in a suitcase, you can buy it here. To the east of the artisans’ market, visit the Mercado Ignacio Ramírez, where you’ll find head-high pyramids of fruits and vegetables, perfect for great photos; nightstand-worthy flowers; and food stalls offering everything from custom-made licuados—think smoothies, Mexican style—to peeled cactus leaves freshly prepared for a nopal salad. Good hunting!

Mourjan Marina at Lusail is the perfect spot for Flyboarding. This intense water sport that mixes the feeling of flying with water, is new in Qatar and gaining more and followers every month. The rider stands on a board, with a water hose attached to a jet ski, then water is forced under pressure to a pair of special boots with jet nozzles underneath, and voila, the rider is 50 feet up in the air, doing tricks, diving or just holding on for dear life. Blue Marine (http://www.bluemarine-me.com/), the only water sports company running this operation, offers tutorials on safety, dos, don’ts and how to master the coveted Superman pose as you rise up into the air. Expect to pay QR900 for one hour or QR500 for 30 minutes of flyboarding.