I started the year with only one firm travel goal:
Visiting South America for the first time.
Tomorrow, I’m off to meet that goal in the long, skinny country of Chile!
You Had Me at “Rainforest”: O’ahu’s Pu’u ‘Ualaak’a State Wayside Park
The ‘Ualaak’a-Makiki Valley Hike
High above the urban sprawl of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu, you’ll find a cool and loamy respite from the city way up in the lush hills and rainforest of Pu’u ‘Ualaak’a State Wayside Park.
Which is, by the way, pronounced: “Poo-ooh you-ah-lah-ah-kaa-ah.”
And yes, that is a lot of apostrophes. It’s the Polynesian way of things.
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Mammoth, California: Snow + Fun + Food
Frozen-over Lake Mary, one of the Mammoth Lakes, rimmed by the eastern Sierra Nevada
High up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, on the eastern side of Central California, the Mammoth area is like a perfect storm for winter vacationers: enormous mountains, brilliant sunshine most of the time, and relatively mild temperatures. It’s the kind of place where you’re likely to run into New Englanders disappointed by their home-peak elevations and Europeans fed up with the biting cold back on the Continent.
Mammoth is also a magnet for L.A.-area folks who drive here with their SUV trunks full of groceries, hunker down in their condos, and hit the slopes all day. Little has tended to draw these folks and their wallets into town, as Mammoth has long had only a few lodges, bars, restaurants, and shops. City folk and locals don’t tend to engage a lot, and there’s a distinct have/have-not townie vibe.
In other words, it’s a mountain town in California.
Home to some of the most stunning peaks in the state, Mammoth has never been what you’d call a foodie destination. But now that’s starting to change.
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Traveling the Silk Road: Hinoki & The Bird
The lobster roll at Hinoki & the Bird
Before dining at Hinoki & the Bird, a swanky new restaurant that recently opened in Los Angeles, I’d have thought a culinary journey along the Silk Road was outdated by about, oh…400 years.
After all, by the mid-1600s, most explorers in Asia started calling it a day and sailing back home to Europe.
But after a spin around the menu at this paean to Far East ingredients, I’m happy to report that the spice-laden dream of the 17th century is still alive.
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Book Giveaway: DK Eyewitness Travel Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Cancun & the Yucatan
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This giveaway is now closed – thanks to all who entered!
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I’ve been invited on some wonderful trips in the months to come — including Puerto Rico and the Caribbean island of St. Kitts — and feel like sharing the travel love.
To inspire some romance, fun and exploration in a tropical setting: I’m giving away three sets of three DK Eyewitness Travel’s guides to the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, and Cancun & the Yucatan!
