WINE DINE &
TRAVEL SPRING | 2015
CRUISING SOUTHEAST ASIA HOW TO BECOME A WINE ENTHUSIAST
A WALK AROUNDLAKE LUCERNE POSTCARDS FROM TUSCANY PORTMEIRION, WALES
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COVER PHOTO: I shot just a small segment of the amazing Ramayana mural found inside the Wat Phra Kaew temple within the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, is the world’s longest painting and mural. -- Ron James
NEXTEDITION |SUMMER 2015
HOLY LAND ADVENTURE HEALDSBURG HOLIDAY WASHINGTON STATE WINE COUNTRY A WEEKEND IN PALM SPRINGS ISTANBUL FOOD TOUR COMING IN FALL 2015
EXPEDITION TO ASIA TOURING THE DMZ IN KOREA THE AMALFI COAST THE MAGIC OF TUSCANY
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CELEBRATE WITH AN EXCLAMATION POINT! For a party as bright, bold, and colorful as you’ve ever seen, come to Tri-Cities and celebrate at a multitude of vibrant festivals and events. Revel in the brilliant colors of our world and the bold colors of our lives. Thrill your senses with exceptional entertainment and world-class food and wine. We don’t do anything halfway. Add an exclamation point to your life’s biography. To learn more, visit www.VisitTRI-CITIES.com.
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www.VisitTRI-CITIES.com
RON JAMES
publisher/executive editor
Ron James is the "wine, food and travel guy." He is a nationally award-winning print and online journalist, designer., television producer and radio personality. The native Californian's nationally syndicated wine and food columns have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. He is passionate about great wine and food and enthusiastically enjoys them every day!
MARY JAMES publisher/editor
A MOVING EXPERIENCE
W
’ve had an exhausting series of adventures since the last issue. One was a planned trip to Istanbul and then a fabulous voyage that took us to Israel, Malta, Sicily, Italy, Spain, Morocco, the Canary Islands and across the Atlantic to Florida. The unplanned part was the fast sale of our house - much sooner than we expected - which set in motion a three-month marathon of cleaning, packing, storing, and temporary addresses until our new house was available. When we finally moved-in in January, the marathon continued as we unpacked countless boxes marked fragile and spruced up the new house with new flooring, furniture and fresh paint. It is a true miracle that this issue is a reality. It took us a while to figure out where to stay until our new home was available. But we ultimately opted for a travel adventure and rented a small bungalow in the uber wine country town of Healdsburg in the heart of Sonoma. It rained continuously for the first two weeks we were there, causing widespread flooding. It was amazing to watch kayakers paddle around the town’s Safeway parking lot. Even in the rain we enjoyed visiting wineries and tasting rooms, dined at world-class eateries and sampling some of the best wines in the world. When the sun came out, we explored redwood forests, stunning coastlines and charming towns from Calistoga to Bodega Bay. Our unexpected challenge turned into a charming travel adventure we’ll describe in depth in an upcoming issue.
Mary Hellman James is an award-winning San Diego journalist and editor. After a 29-year-career with the San Diego Union-Tribune, she currently is a freelance garden writer and a columnist for San Diego Home-Garden/Lifestyles magazine. Mary and her husband, Ron James, travel extensively. Upcoming this year is a sixweek visit to Asia.
Meanwhile, enjoy the many adventures packed into this issue with its stories that cover the globe, from Asia to Palm Springs. Take a hike around Lake Lucerne, explore the glories of Whidbey Island, cruise exotic Southeast Asia and take an African safari. Wine lovers also have a treat with Ron’s tongue-in-cheek wine enthusiast’s guide and a primer on rose wine by our resident wine expert Robert Whitley. Our domestic moving adventure is coming to a close as we pack our bags for our six-week travel expedition to Asia beginning in April. It’s a welcome break from home improvement. We hope you like Ron’s above selfie he took in Halong Bay, Vietnam -- we wish you safe, but exciting travels.
Ron and Mary James
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REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS
Alison DaRosa Alison DaRosa is a six-time winner of the Lowell Thomas Gold Award for travel writing, the most prestigious prize in travel journalism. She served 15 years as Travel Editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune. She was the award-winning editor of the San Diego News Network Travel Page. She produces and edits the San Diego Essential Guide, a highly rated and continually updated travel app for mobile devices. Alison is a regular freelance contributor to the travel sections of U-T San Diego, the Los Angeles Times and USA Today.
Sharon Whitley Larsen
Sharon Whitley Larsen’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including Los Angeles Times Magazine, U-T San Diego, Reader’s Digest (and 19 international editions), Creators Syndicate, and several “Chicken Soup for the Soul” editions. Although she enjoys writing essays, op-ed, and people features, her favorite topic is travel (favorite destination London). She’s been lucky to attend a private evening champagne reception in Buckingham Palace to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, to dine with best-selling author Diana Gabaldon in the Scottish Highlands, and hike with a barefoot Aborigine in the Australian Outback. Exploring sites from exotic travels in the Arctic Circle to ritzy Rio, with passport in hand, she’s always ready for the next adventure!
Carl H. Larsen Carl H. Larsen is a veteran journalist based in San Diego. He now focuses on travel writing, and is summoned to pull out his notebook whenever there’s the plaintive cry of a steam locomotive nearby. In San Diego, he is a collegeextension instructor who has led courses on the Titanic and the popular TV series “Downton Abbey.”
Maribeth Mellin Maribeth Mellin is an award-winning journalist whose travel articles have appeared in Endless Vacation Magazine, U-T San Diego and Dallas Morning News among others. She also travels and writes for several websites including CNN Travel, Concierge.com and Zagat, and has authored travel books on Peru, Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, Hawaii and California. Though known as a Mexico pro, Maribeth has written about every continent and was especially thrilled by the ice, air and penguins in Antarctica.
Susan McBeth
Susan McBeth is the founder and owner of Adventures by the Book ( www.adventuresbythebook.com ) which brings literature to life for readers through events and travels with authors. She is the founder of the SoCal Author Academy, providing workshops and training to help authors better connect with readers. She is a current member of the One Book One San Diego committee, and a former board member with the Southern California Booksellers Association.
Priscilla Lister Priscilla Lister is a longtime journalist in her native San Diego. She has covered a many subjects over the years, but travel is her favorite. Her work, including photography, has appeared in the U-T San Diego, Los Angeles Times, Alaska Airlines magazine and numerous other publications throughout the U.S. and Canada. She currently writes a weekly hiking column for the U-T, photographing every trail and its many wonders. But when the distant road beckons, she can’t wait to pack her bags.
Robert Whitley Robert Whitley writes the syndicated “Wine Talk” column for Creators Syndicate and is publisher of the online wine magazine, Wine Review Online. Whitley frequently serves as a judge at wine competitions around the world, including Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, Sunset Magazine International and the Dallas Morning News TexSom wine competitions. Robert also operates four major international wine competitions in San Diego: Critics Challenge, Winemaker Challenge, Sommelier Challenge and the San Diego International.
Jody Jaffe & John Muncie Jody and John are the co-authors of the novels, “Thief of Words,” and “Shenandoah Summer,” published by Warner Books. John was feature editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, arts editor of The Baltimore Sun and writer-editor-columnist for the travel department of The Los Angeles Times. His travel articles have been published in many major newspapers; he's a Lowell Thomas award-winner. Jody is the author of "Horse of a Different Killer,"'Chestnut Mare, Beware," and "In Colt Blood,” As a journalist at the Charlotte Observer, she was on a team that won the Pulitzer Prize. Her articles have been published in many newspapers and magazines including The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. They live on a farm in Lexington, Va., with eleven horses, three cats and an explosion of stink bugs.
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