There I was, at 6:45 on a balmy Wednesday morning in mid-July, not quite ‘up and at ’em’, squeezing myself into a thick wet suit, 5mm for better buoyancy to make a passive swim with manatees more of a reality; second skin if I were a walrus. My private manatee […]
The first thing you notice, after alternating between frigid blasts of conditioned air in the main lobby and elevator vestibule, and stumbling around with foggy glasses courtesy of a courtyard flooded with sunlight and humidity, and outdoor motel-style hallways connecting the guest rooms, is the view; a cool million if […]
Nobody would’ve had him in their hideous death pool for he was brazen and bold, unabashedly unorthodox, and achieved fame on his own terms. He was punk rock. He had overcome his demons, earning streetcred by dashing through the mist left by the ghosts of poor choices. He was in […]
My new Family Vacation Critic article is all about cruising and cruise ships! Because once upon a time, cruising was little more than a fun mode of transportation, a floating bottomless buffet with which a family could explore several exotic locales in a single helping of precious vacation time. Nowadays, […]
The turn missed wasn’t there — a phantom limb. Goddamnit, Google Maps. My own phantom limb wasn’t technically a limb at all, it was a mind still at sea, adrift upon the Gulf, baked by the sun not kissing me back home. My mind rested atop a weary body that […]
Try as I might to Heisman Trophy pose the current superhero culture, to put some distance between myself and the nonstop onslaught of Marvel and Star Wars films and merch, even I cannot deny that sometimes… superheroes are cool. Fine I said it. And travel is cool too. Here’s the […]
Cross your fingers and say a prayer to your favorite Nordic God. With viking luck on your side, here’s to hoping your own personal 24 hours in Bergen Norway will produce the same kind of weather laboratory dreamscape my family reveled in on March 27th of this year. Driving west […]
No one here tonight likely knows what the rusted Kellogg’s vending machine would have sold many years ago, but from outward appearances the still sunshine yellow M&M ice cream dispenser could pass for a functioning source of frozen treats to this day. Both are tucked away, along with at least […]
