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Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Has there ever been a place more deserving of its name than Garden of the Gods? Situated in the shadow of Pikes Peak, one of the tallest peaks in the Rocky Mountains at 14,115 feet, the rocky red sandstone formations of the Gardens rise tall. It is an ancient place.
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An Earth Day Celebration of the Most Beautiful Places to Travel
In honor of Earth Day (April 22, 2019), I’ve decided to compile a list of the most naturally beautiful places I’ve ever visited. Making this list was tough because I wanted to include every single amazing place I’ve ever seen! In no particular order, below is a non-exhaustive list of some of the indescribable natural wonders I’ve been privileged enough to see. Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada A swooping twenty-minute gondola ride takes you up the mountains overlooking Howe Sound, just an hour north of Vancouver. Read about our experience here. Waitomo Caves, New Zealand Thousands of bright blue glowworms twinkle above you in the darkness…
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The Grand Hotel at Point Clear, Alabama
The Grand Hotel, built in 1847, is over 170 years old. The resort is its own world, full of history and hospitality, surrounded by the warm, inviting waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
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A Tribute to Notre Dame
Notre Dame is Paris. It is epic, medieval, graceful, heavy, lofty, and mystical. It stands for every beautiful dream of humanity–of religious devotion, of architectural genius, of culture and community. My heart collapses as it does.
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A Weekend in Nice, France
Nice's place in the world is a blessed one. On one end, the azure waters of the Mediterranean sea lap at its shores; at the other end, the French Alps rise in the distance.
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Èze, France
Èze is a place for wandering and getting lost. We spent our whole day peeking through narrow stone arches, popping into artisan shops, perfumeries, and galleries, eating banana splits on a terrace, and wandering around the gardens.
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A Weekend Guide to Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is the relaxing, trendy desert oasis to its much louder, much more overwhelming SoCal neighbor, Los Angeles. Where the car-laden megalopolis of L.A. offers excitement, Hollywood, and shopping, Palm Springs provides a more regenerative, low-key pace. From the white-washed walls of the mid-century modern home you’re renting for the weekend, gaze up at a lofty palm tree casting shadows over your saltwater pool and thank God you aren’t in L.A. Don’t let me distract you–Palm Springs is known for more than just being the antidote to its western neighbor. Situated in the Coachella Valley about a hundred miles from California’s arid coastline, it’s a popular retirement destination: during…
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The Biltmore Estate, North Carolina
In the late 1880s, twenty-five-year-old George Vanderbilt, the grandson of industrialist Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, went horseback riding through the Blue Ridge Mountains in Asheville, North Carolina. As he crested the top of a hill and gazed out over the peaks and valleys of the land below him, he made a decision: on this piece of earth, he was going to build a chateau. He purchased 125,000 acres of land and enlisted his friend, Richard Morris Hunt, to be the architect. Six years and over 1,000 laborers later, the Biltmore Estate would become the largest privately owned mansion in America. Today, the Biltmore Estate has downsized from 125,000 acres to a…
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Asheville, North Carolina
What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever visited? Truthfully, Asheville isn’t exactly the weirdest place I’ve ever been, but lately they’ve leaned into the motto Stay Weird to describe the funky, hipster, outdoorsy vibes that define this little city in western North Carolina. I went to college in Knoxville, in the Great Smoky Mountains of east Tennessee. Just an hour and a half east of Knoxville sits Asheville, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains and situated at the convergence of two rivers, the French Broad and the Swannanoa. On an early spring day in March, my mom, stepdad, Matt, and I trekked from Nashville to Asheville (about a four-hour drive) for…
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A Nashville Wedding
One of the most poetic things I like to say about my marriage is that it has been blessed by green and growing things. In July 2016, my husband, Matt, proposed to me at the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris and in August 2017, he married me in a greenhouse in Nashville, Tennessee. Matt and I both grew up in Tennessee–him in a small town north of Nashville known for its strawberries, and me in bluesy, soulful Memphis. We chose to get married in August under the heat of the summer sun, where my bridesmaids and I could wear breezy, billowy dresses and everyone else could sweat their faces off. Did…
