FORTY YEARS AGO, the phrase “beautiful Mexican beach” automatically called to mind the country’s Pacific coast — Acapulco, Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta — rather than the tiny undeveloped coastal towns on the fringe of the Yucatan jungle. What a difference a few decades make. Now, the east coast resorts of Cancún, Cozumel and Playa del Carmen and Read More
MY HUSBAND DAVE and I have lived aboard our 50-foot Viking Sportfish, Just Us, for the past four years, and we often find ourselves saying to one another, “Can you believe we’re really doing this?” As a 25-year member of America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association, I am no stranger to sea voyages. After retiring in 2014, Dave Read More
THE SEA’S RHYTHMIC splash under the twin hulls of the 58-foot Leopard catamaran quieted the sounds of civilization from the nearby harbortown of Charlotte Amalie, on St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Steve O’Sullivan looked over at his wife and smiled. She was relaxed, tucked into the cushions in the yacht’s comfy cockpit with Read More
ST AUGUSTINE MAY BE called the “Ancient City” but you’ll find no dull gray here. America’s oldest city is bustling with the vibrant colors, sounds and tastes of a place in its prime. Past is present in the brick-lined streets winding between centuries-old buildings, many with Spanish colonial and Moorish influence. Horse-drawn carriages and hidden courtyards create Read More
WITH ENOUGH NATURAL beauty to be revered as the jewel of Hawaii, Oahu ranks among travelers’ favorite Pacific destinations. The third largest island in this tropical archipelago, Oahu only measures 44 miles long by 30 miles wide, but it’s packed with a multitude of extraordinary attractions and activities. Oahu is called “The Gathering Place,” because Read More
LONG BEFORE CRUISE SHIPS, tourists and boutiques arrived in the 1970s, Puerto Vallarta was a popular getaway for Hollywood celebrities that included Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and John Huston. They discovered the sleepy seaside village while searching for a location for the 1964 movie The Night of the Iguana, and immediately fell in love with the place. Read More
The pleasures of yachting are not found in material things, instead in positive feelings of the heart that lead to precious memories. As a long-time yacht captain originally from Alabama and now residing in Florida, I am a native cruiser of southern waters. Over many years, I completed America’s Great Loop in my 18-foot Cobalt sterndrive boat. Read More
IN THE EARLY 20th century, you’d be hard pressed to find a more elite venue than Jekyll Island, a secluded sea destination two miles off the coast of Georgia and home to a private club for some of America’s wealthiest families – Rockefellers, Astors, Pulitzers, Morgans and Vanderbilts. Away from business and social pressures, it Read More
ALREADY HERALDED AS a great destination, St. Petersburg just added a spectacular new venue that has everyone buzzing. After $92 million in renovations, St. Pete’s Pier opened in July 2020 and dazzled the city with 26 eco-friendly acres of fun and food jutting out into Tampa Bay. Highlights include sunny and shaded walkways, landscaped green Read More
AS YOU STROLL down the streets of Chestertown in Kent County, MD, you feel like you are stepping into a time machine. Colonial-era architecture and funky antique shops align a waterside neighborhood overlooking the Chester River. Founded in 1706, the Victorian town was named one of Maryland’s six Royal Ports of Entry. Wealthy merchants flourished along Read More