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Seeing photos of the Grove Park Inn is absolutely nothing like seeing it in real life as it is truly one of the most fascinating and gorgeous hotels we have ever visited.
We saw it for the first time on a trolley tour of Asheville before we ever checked in and to say our jaws dropped is a vast understatement.
Pulling into the driveway of the Grove Park Inn.
A view of part of the Inn.
Seashells on Tybee Island, Georgia
There is just something about an island. Drive over that bridge or causeway, through marshes or over a scenic bay, and arrive at a beautiful destination that is isolated from the rest of the mainland – even from the rest of the world. If this extremely humid summer heat is getting to you just as much as it’s getting to me, head to one of these fabulous island destinations.
1. Amelia Island, Florida. I had honestly never heard of Amelia Island before I just spent a few days there recently. That’s a shame because it’s a beautiful, unspoiled, historical place that is perfect for a getaway.
We stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites Historic Harbor Front and it was the perfect location. Choose a suite and you have a completely separate bedroom, a living room, and a full kitchen – great for saving money by preparing your own meals.
When you decide to go out to eat, you can stroll a couple of blocks over to Café Karibo where you can eat on their lovely patio. Try the Pig and Apple Sandwich – delicious ham and sliced apple on sourdough bread.
Check out the rest of this article on Travel for Boomers HERE.
Pin ItI had vaguely heard of the Biltmore Estate. I knew it was some huge estate located…somewhere…and it was…well…huge.
OK, I said it was pretty vague.
It wasn’t until we began planning to cover the East Coast via the Tall Ships Challenge last spring that it came into focus that the Biltmore Estate was actually located in Asheville, North Carolina about halfway between our home city of Lexington, Kentucky and Savannah, Georgia which was our ultimate goal. So we decided to stop.
Spend some time Asheville.
And visit the Biltmore Estate.
The Biltmore Estate
Things fell into place, as they do, especially when you spend approximately 8,932 hours arranging them, and we pulled into the parking garage of the Hilton at Biltmore Park right on schedule. Biltmore Park is a new area located right near the Biltmore Estate and full of little shops, restaurants and a movie theater right by the hotel itself.
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Junipine Resort in Sedona, Arizona
The problem with driving to Sedona is the scenery is so incredible, so mind-boggling, so truly unique and mesmerizing you better plan to just pull over and experience it at some point or you are going to run right off the road.
We had just spent a few days in Lake Havasu, Arizona and, although we had a vague idea the scenery in Sedona would be somewhat different from what we had just experienced, we truly had no idea that the red rock canyons and soaring mountains of Sedona would be one of the most unforgettable sights in all our travels in Arizona.
We managed to make it through the mountains and the town of Sedona and up to the wonderful Junipine Resort, where we had booked a two bedroom creekhouse. There are some wonderful hotels in Sedona but my advice is just to forget about them all and book a stay at Junipine. It’s absolutely the perfect place for a girlfriends getaway.
Read the rest of this article on Girlsgetaway.com HERE.
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Grilled Shrimp Quesadilla from Spanky's in Savannah, Georgia
I was preparing some corn for dinner the other night and I started wishing I had some of the incredibly delicious sweet corn you can order at The Crab Shack on Georgia’s Tybee Island. I don’t know where they get that corn, why it is so sweet, or how they prepare it that makes it so good, but it is the best corn on the cob I have ever eaten.
Ever.
And this got me to thinking about some of the great food I’ve enjoyed this summer. Soon I’d come up with a list that I want to share with my fellow Baby Boomers. The food was wonderful and the locations where it was devoured added immeasurably to the experiences.
If you are ever traveling or vacationing anywhere near these locations, stop by and have a meal. You will be so happy that you did. And that’s a promise.
Read the rest of this article on Travel for Boomers HERE.
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Windmill in Amsterdam, seen from a canal tour boat.
The first time we hopped on and off was in New York, but it would not be the last.
We were spending a couple of days in New York before we embarked on a cruise to Bermuda and we wanted to see as much of the city as possible in the little time we had. A tour was what we needed, but a tour of the most important tourist destinations in the short time we had?
How would that be possible?
Then we discovered the joy of the hop on, hop off tour. We booked a three-day pass with Gray Line and packed the next three days with all the many attractions to which we could drag our weary bodies. We hopped on the ubiquitous double-decker buses and hopped off whenever we saw something interesting. There were always more buses coming by and it was an easy, fun, and fairly cheap way to see the city.
We loved every minute of it.
Read the rest of this article on Travel for Boomers HERE.
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Entrance to Circa 1886. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.
Before we even tasted a bite of the sumptuous repast that awaited us at Circa 1888, we were fans of this lovely, historic restaurant based on our first sight of it.
Charmingly located in the original carriage house of the Wentworth Mansion, the building retains much of the historic character of the carriage house in the architectural details. Hardwood floors, an original fireplace, doors from the stable and romantic, arched booths along one wall which mimic the original carriage openings all contribute to an elegant dining experience.
In front of the restaurant is a beautiful terrace with plenty of tables and chairs and huge trees for shade – a perfect place to eat on a summer evening! The ambience is accentuated by the wonderful service you will receive – the restaurant has certainly earned the Forbes Four Star and AAA Diamond ratings they received.
The offerings focus on local products, high quality ingredients, and traditional Lowcountry flavors and dishes and you truly can’t go wrong with any choice on the menu.We were seated and greeted by our friendly waiters who were generous with their suggestions about what we should order.
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King Charles Inn. Photo courtesy of the hotel.
“You need to back up,” he said kindly.
“Back up?” I replied, looking back at the traffic coming towards the King Charles Inn.
“Yep.” He smiled. “It’s OK, there is a right turn lane and all the cars will be turning before they get here.”
So we backed up and pulled into the complimentary off-street parking which, incidentally? Is fabulous after paying for parking at many different hotels.
This was the first but would not be the last time someone at the King Charles Inn was kind and friendly to us.
In fact, every single person at the King Charles Inn was kind and friendly to us. This was one of the many, many things we loved about this historical, boutique Inn located on Meeting Street right in the middle of the historic district in Charleston.
We left the car and walked around front to the lobby to check in and were immediately charmed. Not only were the people at the front desk kind and friendly what did I say but the lobby was truly lovely with dark wood trim, beautiful lighting and a curving staircase that led…somewhere.
Lovely stairs from the lobby. Photo courtesy of the hotel.
We expected Charleston to be very much like Savannah, Georgia.
And, in some ways, it is similar.
It’s another lovely Southern city on the coast with a genteel, quiet charm.
But in others it is completely and totally unique.
For example, Charleston has piazzas.
Not pizza, you all. Piazzas.
The first definition I found of a piazza is an open square, usually in an Italian town but the second definition is “an arcaded and roofed gallery”. What’s really completely and totally appropriate for Charleston is that the example offered for word usage is “let’s have our mint juleps out on the piazza”.
Because, seriously?
A piazza on a gorgeous, historic home in Charleston is the perfect place for a mint julep.
Piazzas are long, covered porches which are built to run alongside many of the houses in Charleston and, what is truly unique is that the front door of the house opens not into the house but into the piazza! They make the houses of Charleston truly different and I adore them. Originally designed to block the hot summer sun and take advantage of the cross breeze from the ocean, they are the perfect place to relax in a rocking chair and enjoy the completely wonderful place that is Charleston.
Piazza on a Charleston home.
Front door to - the piazza!
Front of the River Street Inn
I promised you when I wrote about the wonderful, wonderful time we had at the Tall Ships Challenge in Savannah, Georgia in May that I would come back and tell you about our stay in the truly fabulous River Street Inn and now here I am.
Keeping that promise.
Because I had been to Savannah before and had shopped and meandered down the Savannah Riverfront, I had a pretty good idea that this hotel was going to be in a great location but I really had no idea how absolutely perfect the location and how truly beautiful the hotel would be.
We pulled up in front of the hotel and were a little concerned at how small the parking lot was but this ended up not being a problem at all as you just drop off your luggage and park less than a block away in a parking structure. They give you a parking pass at the front desk and you don’t have to pay a cent to park there.
Pretty nice.
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Order my ebook about Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia!
