I came to Napa Valley early on in my wine passion journey. I planned the trip with my cousins, and we came here in the fall of 2014, right after a big earthquake hit the region and devastated so many buildings and wineries. You could see the damage pretty much everywhere, but folks in this gorgeous region of California are resilient, and have a positive attitude. The earthquake didn’t end up impacting our trip much, apart from the fact that…
The first time we brought our youngest two to Las Vegas, they were 8 and 9 years old – old enough to appreciate the epic pools and massive hotels around The Strip. They loved the wave pool at the Mandalay Bay resort, and we spent a LOT of time there. Check out my itinerary with the kiddos from back in 2019 here. In that article, I list a whole bunch of other stuff you can do with kids, but it’s…
The Shedd Aquarium has been a favorite for young families in Chicago for a long time. With the addition of the Oceanarium about 20 years ago or so, there is a lot to do here, and you can easily spend an entire day at the Shedd with your family. I highly recommend getting here at open, especially on the weekends, because this museum gets super busy, and because it’s geared more towards kids, you’ll have a lot of strollers to…
I had purchased tickets to see U2 at the Sphere over the summer, thinking that this could be a neat experience seeing one of my all time favorite bands. This would be my third time seeing U2 and I figured the astronomical price tag compared to earlier shows was worth it due to this cool new venue that was still being built. “Cool new venue” has to be the understatement of the century. We saw the show here on Thursday,…
May, 2023 We had about 20 hours in Singapore on our way home from Bali to Chicago. I scheduled this long layover somewhat purposefully, because I’ve always wanted to see this Island City, and Noah was the only kid without a Michelin Star experience under his belt, and this was the place to do it. We arrived in Singapore around 3pm and we had to leave for the airport at 7am the next morning. It was going to be a…
Las Vegas, July 14, 2023 Madame Tousseaud’s has been a staple on the Las Vegas strip for over 20 years. I’ve walked by this attraction probably about a hundred times, and this year, with the kids in tow, I figured it was high time we checked this place out. What an extraordinary disappointment! Tickets to this museum cost upwards of $40 per person, and for that price, I would expect an experience that would last several hours and would be…
We visited the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada in July with our kids. We picked one of the hottest weeks of the year to visit the area, so we knew we wouldn’t be doing any hiking, but, having been here before, I wanted to show off this gorgeous valley to Brian and the kids. Valley of Fire State Park often gets overlooked by visitors to Las Vegas for two reasons: First, it’s about a 45 minute drive north…
July 11, 2023 The San Diego Zoo is very well known to be one of the top zoos in the world, let alone the USA. This is a massive complex, and it’s really difficult to see everything they have to offer in just one day. Luckily, my family has been living in San Diego for a while, are members of the zoo, and I’ve been able to visit on a whole bunch of occasions. Here are my tips for you!…
Boy, the Four Seasons resorts in Bali really know how to plan an excursion. One of my favorite activities on the whole trip was the “Ocean to Table” excursion, which was extremely special, and you can read about that here. The “Can you keep a secret” tour was no less interesting, varied, and extraordinary, and I highly recommend this tour if you are staying at Four Seasons Sayan. You really need to book in advance, though, because this is a…
When I say I had a pretty relaxing and de-stressing vacation in Bali, I mean it. You can read all about the absolutely amazing Healing Village Spa at the Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay here, where I had the incredible Baru Detox treatment. At The Four Seasons Resort in Sayan, I had two spa treatments while staying there for three nights. This resort has two separate spa areas. The first is on the ground floor of the main building. There, you…