The first Peabody Hotel was built on Main Street and Monroe, in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1869, and named in honor of George Peabody, for his contributions to the south. It hosted many important dignitaries of the time, including Andrew Johnson, William McKinley, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis.The hotel closed in 1923 in preparation to…
Continue reading →We headed out a back door route on a lazy, meandering four-day southbound road trip through six states to Sanibel Island, Florida, where we’ve rented a condo for three weeks. It is the middle of winter, so the landscape was leafless and gray, but we were lucky to have clear, but chilly, weather. The Missouri…
Continue reading →“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” ~Mary Anne Radmacher A lot has been written about the value of travel. That it is the great practical learning experience that will change your life. That you will discover yourself, expand your awareness, build self-confidence, see the…
Continue reading →Many international flights seem to leave later in the day, which only causes a problem when it’s necessary to check out of a hotel early, and then figure out what to do all with all your luggage in tow until departure time. Our last day in Cape Town, we figured this out ahead and hired…
Continue reading →“Let’s meet in Cape Town!”, we promised, with a wink, when we saw Andy and Tammy before this cruise began. We live in the same hometown, and met when they were the Cruise Director and Assistant Cruise Director on our long Insignia voyage. While we’ve been on Marina, they were back on Insignia, and our…
Continue reading →If you mention Africa, no doubt most will think of its iconic wildlife. It’s why most people come to the continent, in pursuit of sighting the Big Five. The term Big Five goes back to the time of big game hunters and refers to the five most difficult, dangerous, and also the most popular trophy…
Continue reading →South African wine has a history dating back to the mid-1600’s. Later decimated by phylloxera, the end of apartheid sparked a new wave of interest and innovation in the vineyards of the Cape, but for much of the 20th century, it received little attention on the world stage. Now, access to international markets has unleashed…
Continue reading →“This is a pretty and singular town; it lies at the foot of an enormous wall, which reaches into the clouds, and makes a most imposing barrier. Cape Town is a grand inn, on the great highway to the east.” ~Charles Darwin, in a letter to his sister, Catherine, 1836 There was a collective sigh…
Continue reading →If you could travel to anywhere on your own continent, which place would you most like to see? Interestingly, for many Africans we asked throughout our trip, their answer to that question was…Namibia. It seems to hold a special fascination for the people of that mainland. Popular for eco-tourism, Namibia, I found out, has a…
Continue reading →There is an organizational structure implemented in a professional kitchen, just like the military, that is necessary for efficiency and to avoid chaos. Developed by Georges Auguste Escoffier, a legendary French chef and restaurateur born in 1846, this system was modeled after his time in the French army, creating a chain of command that delineates…
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