Wild ponies and birds on Chincoteague and Assateague Island

Wild ponies and birds on Chincoteague and Assateague Island

March 22, 2022 My big road trip last fall kicked off on September 30th in Portland, Maine. Eighteen days and 2,200 miles later, I cruised along Virginia’s Eastern Shore and across Chincoteague Bay to Chincoteague Island. Yes, the island made famous by the beloved 1947 children’s book Misty of Chincoteague ...
Chilly October excursion to the Hamptons

Chilly October excursion to the Hamptons

December 15, 2021 Cooper’s Beach in Southampton Before I trekked to the eastern end of Long Island during my Northeast road trip, all I knew about the Hamptons and Montauk was from Sex and the City (drunken beach parties in the Hamptons) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (an ...
Birding and beaches at South Padre Island

Birding and beaches at South Padre Island

March 14, 2021 Black-bellied whistling ducks I’d planned a weekend trip to South Padre Island before the snowpocalypse hit, for a chance to walk on the beach and see migrating birds and just enjoy the outdoors (the only kind of trip I’m comfortable with during the pandemic). Once the snow ...
Wildflowers and birding at Montaña de Oro State Park

Wildflowers and birding at Montaña de Oro State Park

July 24, 2020 We detoured to San Luis Obispo after Yosemite National Park (click here for the how and why of our socially distanced road trip in June) in order to see our niece, who attends college there. To be safe, we met up outdoors at Spooner’s Cove in scenic ...
The romance of Venice

The romance of Venice

June 24, 2018 You can hardly believe a city like this really exists, its gelato-hued, wedding-cake buildings perched at the edge of watery streets… …boats zipping past instead of cars… …the ancient house facades and narrow alleys suffused with a romantic decay. Speaking of gelato On June 3rd we flew ...
Sunset at magical Cannon Beach, Oregon

Sunset at magical Cannon Beach, Oregon

September 27, 2017 I’m not a beach person. I don’t enjoy lying in the sun, sweating on the sand, nor do I like to swim in the ocean. You don’t do any of that at Cannon Beach, in Oregon, which is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much ...
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, part 2: Succulents, Ocean Trail, and Dahlia Garden

Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, part 2: Succulents, Ocean Trail, and Dahlia Garden

August 29, 2017 In my last post I showed you the Perennial Garden and Heath and Heather Collection at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in Ft. Bragg, California, which I visited in early August. Today let’s continue the tour, starting with the Succulent and Mediterranean Gardens. My first thought upon seeing ...
Scenic coastal views along Highway 1 in Northern California

Scenic coastal views along Highway 1 in Northern California

August 25, 2017 A road trip gives you the freedom to explore along the way, to make detours or just stop at an overlook to enjoy a view. In early August we made a family road trip up the coast of Northern California, a region we’d never seen beyond Stinson ...
Mischief managed: Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Orlando blooms

Mischief managed: Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Orlando blooms

March 21, 2016 Diagon Alley shops and the escaping Gringotts dragon, which belches fire periodically with a coughing roar and a furnace-blast of heat you can feel in the street below Last week for spring break, we packed up the car, dropped off the dog at Grandma’s, and set off ...
Late garden party at Kris Peterson's ocean-view oasis

Late garden party at Kris Peterson’s ocean-view oasis

September 27, 2015 Kris Peterson, Los Angeles blogger at Late to the Garden Party, saw her blog title unexpectedly come true last week. Or rather, my friend Diana and I did. With flight complications, we arrived in L.A. four hours later than planned and were indeed late to the garden ...
Exploring outside Portland: Columbia River Gorge, lavender farm on the Fruit Loop, and Cannon Beach

Exploring outside Portland: Columbia River Gorge, lavender farm on the Fruit Loop, and Cannon Beach

August 20, 2014 Before the Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland, Oregon, last month, my husband and I took a few days to explore the city and surrounding region. On our last day we rented a car and drove east along I-84 to see the majestic Columbia River Gorge. Vista House, ...
Chinese New Year? Remembering my Beijing visit, April 2005

Chinese New Year? Remembering my Beijing visit, April 2005

January 04, 2014 While the garden sleeps I thought I’d start off the New Year with a post about the most foreign place I’ve ever visited: China. (Tanzania in Africa might have won that distinction but for the fact that I was on a guided tour and mostly in national ...
California coastline, Point Lobos wildflowers, and Stinson Beach

California coastline, Point Lobos wildflowers, and Stinson Beach

August 20, 2013 Northern California is home not only to one of the most beautiful cities in the world but also to breathtaking natural scenery. During our family vacation in San Francisco in early July, following the Garden Bloggers Fling, we rented a car on two occasions in order to ...
Surfing the Wave Garden: San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling

Surfing the Wave Garden: San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling

July 18, 2013 Our last stop before dinner on the 1st day of the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling was the aptly named Wave Garden, a Bay-hugging, terraced garden — all curving, terracotta-tinted paths, wavy metalwork, and a cascade of colorful, exotic plants from South Africa, Australia, and other frost-free ...
Santa Barbara street painting festival, Old Mission, and jacarandas

Santa Barbara street painting festival, Old Mission, and jacarandas

June 13, 2013 Santa Barbara’s 23rd annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival was held Memorial Day weekend on the plaza in front of the Old Mission. We stopped by on that Monday to see both. A crowd was gathering under bright-blue skies to watch the artists — the madonnari ...
Vancouver orca-watching expedition with killer whale views

Vancouver orca-watching expedition with killer whale views

September 04, 2011 After the magical orca-watching experience from shore on San Juan Island, we doubted we could top it, even though we’d already reserved a whale-watching expedition in Vancouver, British Columbia, the final stop on our Pacific Northwest vacation last month. And we were right. It was more incredible ...