Search results for 'california'

This treasure in Sacramento, California (the state capitol) is set in the tree lined McClinley Park neighborhood. Chris Pendarvis is the owner and Isabel Cruz is the creator of the menu. I meant Inga, the general manager the day I visited. The front has dramatic vines growing right above the sign telling me where I was, Orphan. Inside is a touch of industrial, a pea colored green stone flooring, and rust accents everywhere. There are modern pieces mixed with antiques.

If you like visiting the Mediterranean, you will LOVE coming to Catalina Island. Only 26 miles from the Long Beach pier, you arrive within one hour in the magical town of Avalon. If you have never been here, you must do yourself a favor and put it on your Bucket List. I'm always surprised to find that many people are unfamiliar with this destination. I attended a Film Festival there last year and had the opportunity to spend some time with Stan Lee (yes, THAT Stan Lee!) and learned that this was his first visit to the Island. He said he was coming back with his wife because he was so enamored with this place. He lives in L.A. and never took the time to come the 26 miles.

This summer we crossed the Plains through Nebraska, following the famed pioneer trail along the Platte River. We traveled west from St. Louis, skirted around Kansas City, and passed through a small slice of Iowa, where sunflowers grow wild in the fence rows and the dirt is black as coffee grounds.

Few have ever heard of this magnificent and magical city which has been a city/lake retreat for over two thousand years! Two thousand four hundred to be exact!

Situated about 2 hours by car from Los Angeles is the fun-filled desert town of Palm Springs, the former playground of the Rat Pack, Elvis Presley and currently, the majority of stars in Hollywood. Talk about a great place to spend a week, or if you are visiting L.A., a long weekend away from the City.

This town has it all – great restaurants, a lively night life, fantastic shopping, fabulous tours and some of the hippest hotels in the world. 

Though Scotland and, more specifically, the Old Course at St Andrew’s lay claim to being the ‘home of links golf’ there are some who argue that the county of Kent, in the south east tip of England, boasts the widest variety of links golf to be found on the planet, let alone the British Isles.

The Kent region is known throughout Europe as the Garden of England for its rich history for growing fruit, vegetables and hops (for beer), but is now marketed to golfers as Kent’s Regal Golf Coast – and a right royal time you’ll have playing here.

Royal St George’s in Sandwich is, of course, world-famous for hosting The Open Championship on 14 occasions and lies immediately next to Prince’s Golf Club, another coastal gem of Kent.

Connoisseurs of links golf might contend, however, that the finest links of them all lies just two miles away in Deal where, even on a sunny day, Royal Cinque Ports offers one of the sternest tests of golf you are ever likely to find.

This small, classy restaurant is placed right in the center of St. Helena, right in the middle of the wine country. This charming town is so much fun to stroll through all of the shops, galleries and restaurants. Cook is owned by Jude Wilmoth and Michael Wilmoth (brothers).

I love to report to you places that are special, in an unusual way! I like to use the word a little mysterious to describe this market. I love the boutique feeling of this small 500 square foot space. Everything is the bestest and the freshest ( Blondee wording). They sell out early so make sure you can go early. Their staff always makes you feel so much at home here too!

I truly love this town. It is close to San Francisco, 11 minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge and reminds me of a lot of the magical New England towns. It is very picturesque and is surrounded by canyons and hillsides of Mount Tamalpais. The weather here is nice most of the year and is just a few minutes from Tiburon and the ferry. The Mill Valley Inn is a great place to stay....415.389.6608.  The first place I always need to visit is Mill Valley Market. There is parking right next to it and that is where I begin my day. They have everything true chefs and foodies would LOVE in this market. I usually can spend a good hour in here and always come back to walk out to the car with purchases.

It is a Thursday, around 12:30 and it is as busy as ever, a lot of the visitors are boomers! This fun spot is a weekly visit for me and my family. It is placed right in the middle of a neighborhood surrounded by charm, trees, top restaurants and shops nearby. Randall Selland and Nancy Zimmer operate all of the four top culinary delights above along with their children.

Located just 2 hours south of San Francisco is a magnificent property surrounded by vineyards and mountains and fantastic food. Welcome to the Bernardus Lodge. Nestled about 20 minutes from the city of Carmel, you are greeted upon your arrival with a generous glass of wine from their vineyard – what could be a better start to your stay? Perhaps entering your room and seeing fresh flowers, a basket of goodies with fruit, cheese, chips and crackers along with 3 half bottles of wine and opening the door to your fridge and seeing cheese to accompany your crackers along with soft drinks.

This is one of those family treasures you find as you travel the world. I grew up in California and never knew what a hogie was until I moved to New York. I never really had any interest in them until I tried this place. Guess what - I am now craving them! 

When I showed photos of this area to my friends, I had them try and guess the location. The answers ranged from Switzerland to Fiji to California – that's how incredibly beautiful this island is on the Adriatic. It is part of the Elaphiti Islands and only one hour away by boat from Dubrovnik.

After leaving Montpelier we decided to start looking for a place to have lunch as we approached Burlington. We exited just before Burlington, but couldn’t find any restaurants close to I-89. Since we had our Garmin GPS to get back on track, we continued about five miles down the road until we came to Essex Junction and saw the Firebird Café on the left-hand side. Since this was obviously a local place and not a fast-food chain, we decided to stop and check it out.

Santa Barbara – Just 90 minutes from Los Angeles juxtaposed between the local wine region of the Santa Ynez valley and the Pacific Ocean is known as the gold coast of California.  Also known as the American Riviera of the West Coast it’s mild and nearly perfect climate all year round weather make this a perfect destination.