Impressionism exhibit headed to Nashville
While the Musee d'Orsay in Paris undergoes a renovation, 100 of its Impressionist paintings are part of a traveling exhibit that started in Madrid, Spain, recently ended a run in San Francisco and is headed to its final stop, Nashville, Tenn., next month. The Frist …
A road trip along Canada's scenic Icefields Parkway
Hailed as one of the most scenic drives in North America, western Canada's Icefields Parkway is like the Greatest Hits of mountain scenery. Lakes the color of robin eggs. Snow-capped peaks topping 11,000 feet. Thunderous waterfalls. Alpine meadows studded with wildflowers. Throw in the possibility of spotting a grizzly or moose along the route between Jasper and Lake Louise, and you've got just about the most perfect 143 miles of pavement on the planet.
Start and end your road trip in high style, naturally
A couple of scenic hotels bookend Canada's Icefields Parkway: the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge to the north and Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise to the south. The rustically elegant Jasper Park Lodge - undergoing a $6 million renovation scheduled to wrap up this fall - began …
Cheap thrills on a family vacation in Costa Rica
After a horseback ride in the Costa Rican sun, I desperately needed to wash up as soon as we checked into our $50-a-night hotel room. I made a beeline to the bathroom, trying - unsuccessfully - to ignore the velour dolphin bedspread that would look right at home under a velvet Elvis painting. As I shut off the bathroom faucet, the doll-size sink swung away from the wall because someone hadn’t bothered to attach all the corners. So this is what you get on a budget vacation.
Retrace Hidalgo's footsteps on Mexico's path to freedom
On Sept. 16, it will be 200 years since Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a most unusual priest, gave the battle cry for Mexicans to rid themselves of the ruling Spanish by any means necessary. We have the Fourth of July. Mexico has Diez y Seis de Septiembre. For those of us without an emotional connection to 1810, the bicentennial is an excuse to get down into Hidalgo Country. The cities and towns that were part of Hidalgo's world are, today, fascinating places to visit.
Playing in the sand on a beach, golf getaway on Kiawah Island, S.C.
Kiawah Island’s golf courses and pristine beach are big draws to this barrier island off the coast of South Carolina.
Kickin’ it cowboy style in Fort Worth, Texas
Once a rough-and-tumble frontier town, Fort Worth now bills itself as “the city of cowboys and culture.” We have plenty of culture here in Chicago. Cowboys? Not so much. And that’s a good reason to grab the kids and head down to Fort Worth. From cattle drives to honky tonks, Fort Worth’s cowboy culture makes it a great family getaway.
