Category: TRAVEL

By: Scott S. Smith, Sandra Wells & Christian Smith One aspect of Southern California that everyone here is aware of, but the region's PR and tourism leaders try to ignore, is the unmatched variety o

By: Scott S. Smith and Sandra Wells Christmas and Hannakuh may be officially religious holidays, but anyone can enjoy the gift-giving (and receiving), the parties, home decorations, shopping d

By: Scott S. Smith, Sandra Wells and Christian Smith November is the perfect time to eat in or out with family and friends, focus on what you are grateful for, and help the less fortunate. Tha

By Joey Amato A short 20-minute MARTA ride from downtown Atlanta, Brookhaven stands as a testament to the perfect blend of history, modernity, and community. As a city that has grown from a sm

By: Scott S. Smith, Sandra Wells and Christian Smith Before the pandemic, Greater Los Angeles was the Halloween capital of the world, with stores catering to super-fan cosplay events and parties all

By: Scott S. Smith and Sandra Wells The focus of this column is anything interesting to do within a five hour drive or flight from LAX. Surprisingly, Albuquerque, N.M., is just two hours away by air

By: Joey Amato Columbus, Ohio, a city known for its friendly and diverse atmosphere, has emerged as a thriving hub for LGBTQ culture in the Midwest. This vibrant community has grown exponentia

By: Scott S. Smith and Sandra Wells The Antelope Valley is located at the western edge of the Mojave Desert and its main city of Lancaster has a population of 170,000. Its neighbor Palmdale is nea

By: Joey Amato I first visited South Africa six years ago with a group of friends. It was one of the most incredible journeys I had ever been on, and I knew I wanted to return. I fell in love with

By: Scott S. Smith, Sandra Wells and Christian Smith When we attended the 500th anniversary of the Dutch Golden Age of painting in Amsterdam, we noticed a gallery next to the main museum that tout

By: Joey Amato Everyone knows that I am a sucker for small-city charm, so I decided to venture about an hour and a half outside of Atlanta to Athens, Georgia, home of rock bands R.E.M., Widespread P

By: Scott S. Smith, Sandra Wells and Christian Smith We believe reading books is a way to travel into new worlds and come back changed for the better. And when we do physically travel, we always r

By: Scott S. Smith, Sandra Wells and Christian Smith Previously in this column we have covered places and events in Orange County, such as the Laguna Beach Pageant of the Masters, the Bowers Museum,

By: Joey Amato Every now and then I visit a destination I know absolutely nothing about. That happened a few years ago when I visited Oklahoma City and I fell in love with OKC. This time aroun

By: Scott S. Smith, Sandra Wells and Christian Smith The Greater Metro Area of Los Angeles has 300 museums (broadly defined), tied with London as the leaders of this type of educational and entert

By: Scott S. Smith, Sandra Wells and Christian Smith We had not been to Disneyland in Anaheim in 20 years, but during our recent visit we rediscovered the kid in all of us. We had felt we had

By: Joey Amato The last time I visited Jacksonville, I was probably in my early-mid 20s and living in Orlando. It was a very long time ago. I was eager to visit again as I know much has changed in t

By: Scott S. Smith and Sandra Wells The theme of this column is where to experience the best historical and cultural things to do in Southern California or within a five-hour drive or flight from LA

By: Joey Amato Ever since I was young, I have wanted to visit Green Bay. I didn’t know much about the city itself aside from the fact that it is home to arguably the most iconic stadium in the

By: Scott S. Smith and Sandra Wells The city of San Luis Obispo (which everyone calls SLO) is about 3 1/2 hours north of LAX and the same distance from San Francisco, in the wine country near