Practical travel information for practical travelers
Sacramento is the capital city of California and home to its Capitol Building, a classical revival style patterned after the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. The Capitol Building and its grounds are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At the center of the building is the rotunda, which divides the State [...]
Long before there were all these fancy martini drinks, the Irish Coffee was considered the upscale drink of choice. An Irish Coffee is thought to be a variation of the classic hot toddy and is made with hot coffee, Irish whiskey and sugar, all stirred together, and is then topped with a thick layer of [...]
Channel your inner Al Capone or “Machine Gun” Kelly with a visit to Alcatraz Island on your next stay in San Francisco. Located in the San Francisco Bay, about a mile offshore, the island served as a lighthouse and military site before becoming a Federal prison in 1963. Alcatraz operated as a federal penitentiary for [...]
I’ll be in San Francisco for nearly a week, the first time that I’ve spent that long in this city for many years. For far too long, San Francisco has been a pass through city for me, somewhere I’ve stayed while en route to somewhere else, or somewhere for a quick little stop over. [...]
In the middle of San Francisco’s Walter S. Johnson Park, sits the Palace of Fine Arts, an easily recognizable piece of San Francisco architecture. You’ve likely seen it in many photographs, with attractive shots both by day and by night. The Palace was designed as part of the 1915, Panama Pacific Exposition, an event hosted [...]
Many cities with large Chinese and Chinese-American communities have fortune cookie factories, and many provide tours. If you are in San Francisco’s Chinatown, you can find a fortune cookie factory tour at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, in an alley historically known for its brothels and gambling. You can smell the fortune cookies being [...]
A guest post for today, Black Friday, as I take a long weekend off to enjoy time with family and friends. With these great ideas to get you thinking, there’s no reasons not to get away from San Francisco for a fun day trip. —- San Francisco is a wonderful place to visit not only [...]
In honor of Buy Nothing Day, Friday, November 26th, this post will try to convince you that the best things in life are free – even when it comes to travel! So let go of your need for expensive 5-star hotels, gourmet meals, and spa treatments. While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying those delectable luxuries [...]
Long the classic date, dinner and a movie usually requires delicate timing. And early dinner and a late movie? Or an early movie and a late dinner? With both choices fraught with potential for timing disasters and arguments, why not do both at the same time — at San Francisco’s Foreign Cinema. Movies, which start [...]
Olvera Street, also known as El Pueblo Historic Monument, is the birthplace of the City of Los Angeles. The block-long street, one of the oldest in the city, features historic buildings lining a traditional Mexican style plaza, and is home to one of the most colorful marketplaces that you’ll ever see. The street was originally [...]
In addition to traveling, Mary Jo likes lingering over a cup of coffee, wandering in a museum, sipping wine at a cafe, enjoying a relaxing massage, and sharing it all with friends and readers.
Her most recent travels were to Portugal and Italy.
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