Where You Should Eat, Sleep and Play Where to Stay Small towns throughout the area offer a variety of hotels, but I gravitate toward bed and breakfast inns. Staying in small, locally-owned inns offers guests an opportunity to get to know the locals, ask for tips on where to go for food and drink, and you are assured a delicious breakfast before starting a hard day’s work wine tasting. Here are...
Author Jo Clark and winemaker Dave Specter on the deck at Bell's Up Winery in Willamette Valley More than 700 wineries (and 800 vineyards) call the Willamette Valley home. Oregon's wine country holds two-thirds of the state's wineries and is internationally known for its cool-climate Pinot Noir. Admittedly, a luscious, sigh-inducing Pinot Noir was the sip that first put “Willamette” on my...
The Old Orange County Courthouse was one of my favorite stops © Jo Clark Buena Park and Santa Ana are amazing to visit on their own. Still, when you combine the two cities, all I can say is WOW! Each has unique things to see and do, but you know I’m really just there for the food—well, and the drinks. Fun spots like Knott’s Berry Farm and nearby Disneyland, wineries, zoo, aquarium, and harbor...
A carriage ride lends more haunted vibes to Corning during the Days of Incandesence (Photo courtesy Ryan_Fleet_36) Where can you go to investigate haunted towns and even join a spooky tour? When the air cools and the leaves turn, certain towns seem to hum a little louder. The veil feels thinner. Shadows stretch longer. Some towns lean right into it—embracing their ghosts, their legends, and...
New Smyrna Beach's Smyrna Dunes Park has a wide path to the beach as well as a boardwalk © Jo Clark New Smyrna Beach, Florida, has an easygoing charm that’s hard to miss. Maybe it’s the ocean breeze drifting in from the Atlantic, or the way locals welcome you like you’ve always belonged. It might be the colorful art on the streets, the quiet beauty of the parks, or the sound of live music...
Mama's Oyster Stew is a Christmas Morning Tradition © Jo Clark There I sat, with my mouth full of Oyster Stew and tears rolling down my face. The power of food to transport you to another time and place at work! Only food can take you by the shoulders and turn you around to stare right into the face of your past. In Hallmark’s movie, The Christmas Doctor, the main character says, “Every time I...