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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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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 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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San Diego, California
San Diego has always had my heart. It’s vibrant, colorful, and close to the ocean. Its proximity to Mexico means that it has a rich Mexican culture and history.
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Lincoln Park, Chicago
A sprawling, 1,208 acre green space spans the length of the beach, encompassing a lakefront trail, museums, and the Lincoln Park Zoo.
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Chicago, Illinois
Let’s time travel to August 2017: I had just taken the Tennessee Bar Exam to become licensed as an attorney, and I was due to start my new job in early September. Matt and I were just two weeks away from getting married! So we did something spontaneous—we decided to take what I termed a “pre-wedding, post-bar, mini-moon” to Chicago celebrate everything that was happening to us. We would depart four months later for our real honeymoon to New Zealand, which you can read about extensively on this blog. Matt pulled out all the stops to impress me that August—he booked us a swanky room at the Omni in downtown…
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Seaside, Florida
When I was a little girl, Seaside, Florida was a dreamy, magical world full of colorful houses, sandy pathways that darted into hidden green groves, and warm, aquamarine waters perfect for body surfing.
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Salem, Massachusetts
“You sure you want to go to Salem?” Matt asks me, staring at my all-white Padmé Amidala outfit and then giving a pointed nod at the downpour outside. I clutch my cape-blanket closer to my chest and nod resolutely. Halloween awaits us on this chilly Saturday night.
