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The narrow Boca Paila highway runs down the edge of the Riviera Maya in Tulum, dividing the jungle from the sea. Tucked away at kilometer-marker 7.5 lies Casa Jaguar, a haven for the best of both worlds. The restaurant emphasizes Caribbean flavors, using fresh, local ingredients and prepared food and drink with Mexican flair. Try the grilled aguachile seafood cocktail, or the sea bass with corn masa, and wash it all down with a drink of copal mescal, the perfect foil for intense local heat. Beyond being a great restaurant, Casa Jaguar is famous for its “Dinner and Party” concept: there’s a jungle-focused celebration every Thursday with artists and alternative live music.

Located in South Walton—roughly in between Panama City and Destin on Florida’s scenic coastal route, 30A—Rosemary Beach’s perfect white sand and clear turquoise waters are as close to the Caribbean as Florida comes. Unless there’s a storm a brewing, the Gulf of Mexico waters are delightfully calm and very nearly lake-like, making the beach a favorite for families with young children as well as those who love paddleboarding and kayaking (you can rent gear nearby). And classic Gulf of Mexico sunsets, as you might imagine, are another Rosemary Beach specialty.

The Cape Florida Lighthouse, in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on the tip of Key Biscayne, is the oldest lighthouse in the state. The newly restored 95-foot white-brick tower, which sits on sand and rocks, attracts plenty of visitors, who enjoy climbing up to the top for the view of downtown Miami and the Atlantic Ocean. The park also includes a replica of the lighthouse keeper’s 1825 cottage.

Take it from a local: If you’re looking to bond with the locals and enjoy some simple fare with lots of taste, drive down to Williche. The family-owned sandwich shop in a street corner in Cabo Rojo is just a block from the town square and a fifteen-minute drive from a couple of beaches.


Williche, a small building with pictures of old Cabo Rojo and slogans proclaiming a love for Puerto Rico, serves you cafeteria-style. It offers juices, different kinds of sandwiches, and milkshakes that are just the right amount of dense. My mom and grandparents started taking me there when I was a kid and I’ve been enjoying their bocadillos ever since. You would expect little (seeing as how they’re basically bread, ham, cheese, onions, tomatoes, and ketchup), but that makes their immense flavor all the more satisfying.


I’ve been living outside of P.R. for more than six years, but every time I come home, I ask my family to stroll down with me by the dominoes-playing older men and to Williche. It’s almost always packed, but I and everyone else know the woman behind the counter (the founder’s daughter). It means we can talk and laugh with her, and get to know anyone else who happens to wander in.


Forget Olive Garden. When you’re in Williche, you’re family.

Should you find yourself on the backroads of Homestead, Florida, the gateway to the Everglades, you’ll come upon open fields and vineyards. It’s here that a roadside stand displays the bold lettering: “Robert is Here.” But who is Robert? And what’s here? Robert is a real person who founded this fruit stand in 1960 and has worked here nearly every day since. It’s now a family operation with help from his wife and children. All manners of tropical fruits await you, from the authentic key limes by the pound to jackfruits to the aptly named “ugli fruit.” Try the ruby red Florida grapefruit samples and browse the selection of honeys and hot sauces. Admire the sunflowers, opened by the summer light. Don’t leave without a smoothie! And if the fruit isn’t enough, the stand also has an adjoining zoo and water park. How’s that for a random town in southern Florida?

Anyone from South Florida knows that the Sawgrass Mills Mall in Hollywood is the place to find just about anything. It’s Florida’s largest outlet center and the second-largest mall in the state. Home to more than 300 shopping and dining destinations, it has both well-known retailers and luxury brands. To create a more social, upscale vibe, the complex added an outdoor part with cobblestone walkways, fine eateries, and high-end boutiques. Shop for outlet deals at places like the Burberry Factory Outlet, Guess Factory Store, PUMA Outlet, Kenneth Cole Company Store, Coach Factory Store, Escada Company Store, and the Polo/Ralph Lauren Factory Store.

The craft beer scene is here in South Florida with the opening of the Miami Brewing Company—the region’s first craft brewery—at Schnebly Redland’s Winery in Homestead. The family-owned operation uses the tropical fruits and flavors of South Florida to make flavorful flagship and seasonal beers, including Big Rod Coconut Blonde Ale, Miami Vice IPA, and Little Havana Cafe con Leche Milk Stout. Stop in at the brewery for a craft beer tasting or pick up a to-go growler.

This veteran hotel on Tibidabo’s Hill has a history that stretches back to 1924, with its heyday in the ‘50s as a hot spot for wealthy Catalan families and, later, for visiting stars like Ernest Hemingway, James Stewart, and Princess Fabiola. After closing in 1979, La Florida reopened in 2001 in a more postmodern incarnation that blends original features such as wrought iron and antique tapestries with bold stainless-steel and glass accents. Internationally acclaimed artists such as Dale Keller, Rebecca Horn, and Cristina Macaya designed the art nouveau-inspired guestrooms, and the hotel is dotted with contemporary art by a similarly impressive cast—sculptures by British artists Ben Jakober and Yannick Vu and paintings of flowers by Catalan artist Isabel Cruellas, for example.

All the rooms have oak floors, luxurious furniture and fittings, and generously sized marble bathrooms with in-floor heating and separate showers and bathtubs. Terrace rooms face the city and seaside, junior suites have separate living areas, and the presidential suite has an outdoor Jacuzzi and hammocks where you can take in views of the Mediterranean. The hotel features a wonderful restaurant, spa by L’Occitane, open-air swimming pool, and in-house café and bar with regular live music.

To begin to understand the true wilderness that occupies most of the southern tip of Florida, there is nothing like a visit the 734-square-mile wetland preserve of Everglades National Park. More than a national treasure, the park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, deemed important to the greater culture of all of humanity, and is the largest tropical wilderness in the USA. Among the many and diverse species that dwell here are manatees, Florida alligators, American crocodiles, Florida panthers, and the state’s elusive black bear, in addition to several unwanted invasive species including Burmese pythons. From Miami, the best access point is Shark Valley, where you can ride a 15-mile loop through the park aboard a tram, climb an observation tower for panoramic views, and walk out to viewing decks to spot alligators, birds, and more. For the more adventurous, there are several outfitters who can take you deeper into the Everglades on kayaking tours to visit a pristine wilderness few people on the planet get lucky enough to witness.

Félix Meana and Katie Button, veterans of elBulli in Spain, converted Asheville’s former downtown bus depot into a stylish tapas bar. Cúrate means to cure oneself, which diners can do with traditional Spanish dishes such as Catalan sausage bocadillos, codfish salad, and honey-drizzled fried eggplant. This appeared in the July/August 2012 issue. Read Emma John’s feature on the North Carolina bluegrass scene.

Here’s your chance to ride on a hands-free Segway, where you can tour the boardwalk on a 30-ft promenade over three miles long. The Hollywood Beach Boardwalk is one of the best beachfront paths. You’ll see all kinds of restaurants, the gorgeous emerald waters of the Atlantic, and plenty of locals. You’ll pass historic hotels, volleyball courts, and shuffleboard players. You’ll hit top speed going north for a full mile. The wind hits your hair as you cruise the intracoastal waterway going south. It’s truly the best way to fly across the boardwalk.

Tucked down a long and bumpy dirt road on the way to Hopkins, Mayflower Bocawina National Park is a well-maintained nature escape offering a variety of adventures, from the casual to the extreme. Decide how brave you feel and choose from the options: hiking and birding along moderate trails to waterfalls; a two-hour, steep, adrenaline-pumping hike, with the occasional rope to climb, to the breathtaking 1,000-foot-high Antelope Falls; zip-lining across the park day or night; or rappelling 150 feet down a couple of waterfalls. Fill up afterward at the on-site restaurant before hitting the road, or book an overnight stay at the park’s cozy cabanas.

I bet that you only think of Florida as the ideal place to escape the winter cold? And even with only a three hour direct flight from cities in the Northeast, Miami isn’t top of mind to visit in the humid, hot summer. But Amelia Island’s cooler micro-climate, most definitely should be as destinations in Northern Florida have the opposite season as their counterparts in South Florida. I love The Ritz-Carlton brand, so where else to recommend but The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island? If you need a few more reasons to make reservations, I have them. The Spa: The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island offers a “sunrise seaside cabana experience.” Relax during the organic massage while listening to the sounds of the ocean (oh my!). Refresh with a glass of champagne to greet the sun. The Food: Their restaurant, Salt, is known for the forty salts used tableside to enhance the flavor of the Chef’s contemporary cuisine. Learn about the specialty salts in the hotel’s “Salt Immersion” class. The Cooking School: Salt chef de Cuisine, Rick Laughlin hosts a highly interactive cooking school with a small group of guests who rotate in stations while cooking their multi-course lunch. The Adopt a Dune Program: This " feel good factor” lets families donate to nurture the beautiful dune-lined, barrier island beaches of Amelia via Community Footprints Dune Restoration Fund. The BMW Test Drives: Vroom-vroom. Hotel guests have the rare opportunity to take a test drive in the sleek, new BMW models.

The Hoxton is one of Downtown Miami‘s newest hotspots. The bar and restaurant is located in Brickell, usually the home to steakhouses and pub, but the Hoxton is a breath of fresh air. The 2-story bar and restaurant is like a beach house in the middle of a totally urban environment. You don’t even feel like you are in downtown once you enter the outdoor patio. You’ll feel like you are in the Hamptons with a variety of plush couches, mood lighting and soft music. The menu includes several seafood favorites including mussels, oysters and chilled Florida shrimp. The cocktails include fresh fruits, juices and herbs, each filled with the exotic flavors of South Florida. Be sure to stop in for happy hour. There’s music and live entertainment nightly, transforming the restaurant into a hot spot for dancing and jamming.

North Florida’s beaches hardly get the attention of those farther south or on the Gulf of Mexico. But there’s a lot to love about this laid-back surf community just north of St. Augustine’s busy historic district. The beach’s steep drop-off makes little waves jack up nicely, so Vilano is a favorite with surfers—especially on the incoming tide, when the waves are best. And Porpoise Point, on the southern end of the beach, is a great place to cast a line into the surf and fish. Facilities at the beach include parking, showers, pavilions that can be rented for gatherings, and picnic areas.