Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee
Hattie B. Staedtler visits the Kingdom. I’m going to Graceland, Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee – but not because you are, Paul Simon. Try Googling “Elvis Presley Peace in the Valley” and by the time you get to “Elvis Presley pea” the suggested search is “Elvis Presley Peanut Butter”. Such is the legacy of the world’s [...]
Hooray for Dollywood
Hattie B Staedtler takes us to the home of the original blonde ambition. I’m not one to toot my own horn, but I’ve stared down the barrel of some pretty tough decisions in my time: Mum’s house or dad’s? Veganism or tasty cheeseburger? To platinum blonde or not to platinum blonde*? And, though as obvious [...]
Burning Man, Nevada
It’s easy to dismiss Burning Man as nothing more than a bizarre hippie love-fest that takes place deep in the Nevada desert every year the week before Labor Day. But doing so misses the fact that it’s an amazingly successful enterprise—and, as such, has a thing or two to teach about how to inspire creative people [...]
Win-a-palooza: Win a trip to Fabulous Las Vegas with Carlton Draught
Quick sticks! The fine folk at Carlton Draught are running a competition that closes at 2pm, Friday 29th July. The prize: Return travel and transfers to Las Vegas, departing on 4th August, 2011 Three nights of 4-star accomodation Travel insurance for the group $3K spending money Bear suits to run amok with To enter, all you [...]
Pine Rose Inn, Oakhurst, CA
There are some upsides to winging it in the accommodation game. One of those upsides is Pine Rose Inn. The freshly minted First Husband and I went on a US road trip for the first part of our honeymoon. We landed in LA, drove up the Big Sur to Hearst Castle and then backtracked through [...]
All you need is love (and a scratch Mai Tai): The Royal Hawaiian, Waikiki Beach, O’ahu
Our last night at Mai Tai bar at The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort was a cracker. It all started in our room with the complimentary bubbly and then moved down to the bar for ‘one drink before dinner’. I ordered a scratch Mai Tai, a delectable concoction of white and dark rum, pineapple [...]
Q & A with Ayun Halliday, Author of The Zinester’s Guide to NYC and Sarong in my Backpack
I am a little bit in love with Ayun Halliday. I read her book Sarong in my Backpack on my honeymoon and I laughed so much that I decided that we had to become friends. People this hilarious don’t come along every day. I emailed her and to my surprise and delight, she emailed me [...]
Las Vegas: Nerdier than expected
I was gratified to hear someone screaming ecstatically through the hotel wall at The Flamingo. Sure, that’s a little creepy but that’s what I expected from Las Vegas … Sex, cocaine, drinking and gambling. If you’re under 50 and you’re not snorting crack off a hooker’s silcone, you’re not doing it right, right? Turns out [...]
Yo Yosemite
Nature has, once again, messed with my plans. The big idea was to drive over the Tioga Pass and down to Vegas via Death Valley (the driest place on earth – my inner-David Attenborough cannot get enough of that stuff). One small problem. National Parks closed Tioga Pass (the only road across the Sierra Nevada [...]
Hearst Castle: The Enchanted Mountain
I was expecting something really garish, like Liberace and Zsa Zsa Gabor’s mongrel offspring but, once again, America surprised me. Hearst Castle is utterly beautiful. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, it’s what God would do if he had the money. Rising up from the eerie and ever-present fog of San Simeon stands a [...]
