In my on-again, off-again love affair with my Kindle (love the convenience, miss the smell of paper), I splurge and buy a digital copy of The Last Full Service Crocodile Ranch in Quintana Roo (2012) by Richard Hofheimer. It’s an engrossing story about a cancer survivor, on her second marriage, on her second honeymoon, on…
Tag: tourist
If Money Machines Could Talk
Wouldn’t it be great to listen to what an ATM gets to hear on any given day? There’s an entire arch of a story line, starting with “Do you suppose this is safe?” to “Does it give out dollars or pesos?” to “Oh my God, that check didn’t clear and I only have $25 available”…
I’d Rather Be in Quintana Roo
On a soggy workday in gray New York, I dream of Cancún. Happy Throwback Thursday! #TBT —Lori Tripoli ~Advertisement~ ~Advertisement~
Eternal Newport
Sitting outside at the Castle Hill Inn and sipping a lemon drop martini, I imagine that whoever coined the phrase “lawn party” did so for a place like this. What could be better than sitting on an Adirondack chair, cocktail in hand, and watching the boats go by? I almost expect Daisy Buchanan and Jay…
The Wrong Way to Belize
I’m not in Belize for more than a day when I am ready to drop everything and relocate there. I love the jungle, the caves, the thatched roofs, rising waters, wildlife, and the complete lack of people. I also like waterfront places to stay, pink hotels, and drinking rum with strangers. Belize is most definitely…
The Ups and Downs of Mont Saint-Michel
I both love and loathe my experience at Mont Saint-Michel. I’m enamored of its history—how the Archangel Michael appeared to a priest some 700 years ago and told him to build this church in the water, how the priest equivocated right up to the point where the angel put a hole in his head, and…
Quality Time at the Eiffel Tower
Figuring that the Eiffel Tower will be a ho-hum stop on our tour of France, I buy tickets to go see it on the first night we will be in Paris. I’ve seen the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, site of the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens. I’ve seen the Statue of Liberty. Neither…
Three Lines Worth Waiting On (and Two to Skip)
The frustration of any trip—especially one taken during peak tourism times—is waiting on line. If only all major world attractions had a FastPass, where I could return at a designated hour and cut right to the front of the line. Some attractions, though, are worth those minutes and hours and sweaty days of snaking forward…
R & R, Nature and Nurture, on Sanibel
Not every vacation can be a jungle adventure in the Amazon. Sometimes, a traveler just needs to get away and for the trip to be unthinkingly stress-free. For a quick escape, I tend to choose Florida. It’s all too easy to buy a plane ticket on a site like CheapOair and then head south at…
The Contrasts of Isla Mujeres
Expecting a day of tequila sunrises and snorkeling, the Brawny Sherpa and I set off by catamaran from Cancun to Isla Mujeres. The water was too rough for playing in, though, so, once on the island, we rented a golf cart for about $20 and tootled toward the Mayan ruins at the tip of it…