Travel Stories, Cruise Reviews, and Cultural Adventures

The 2020 season at Oregon Shakespeare Festival includes ten promising productions in three venues. Here, the Allen Elizabethan Theatre will present "The Tempest," "Black Odyssey" and "Bernhardt/Hamlet." OSF celebrates its 85th anniversary with a wide ranging repertoire featuring revered classics and acclaimed new work. PAIR OF BIRTHDAYS: FESTIVAL's 85th and BOWMER THEATER'S 50th The Ashland Hills Hotel offers a quiet, relaxing place to stay, in southern Oregon's beautiful Ro

Palm Springs Art Museum is 150,000 square feet -- an innovative, example of midcentury modern architecture, a shining star in Palm Springs and a major draw to this remarkable desert town in southern California. It is the largest cultural institution in the Coachella Valley, spanning three floors of world-class architecture and a collection including the work of contemporary icons and artosts of the American West.

Lovely hotels are part of the allure of Palm Springs, here the pool area of the Hilton Palm Springs in the heart of downtown. MORE LAID...

Guatemala offers access to the Mayan culture's spectacular archeological sites, where one can actually walk through (and surprisingly "on") some beautiful monuments and ruins.

Bohemian Bus Beautiful represents a delightful retro-inspired alternative to traditional hotels and hostelries. CONVERTED BUS PROVIDES...

The Yorkshire terrier's small size belies its personality: energetic, spirited, domineering. Yorkies are affectionate. They love attention, a good choice for one who wants to dote on a dog with tenacious personality. Beneath the glossy coat beats the heart of a feisty terrier.--AKC's "Dog Breeds, What Dog For Me?"

England-born Sue Speight and American Christene "Cookie" Meyers in York Minster, go back to back in an ancient part of the...

During a period of challenge, loss and tragedy, a fine production of "A Chorus Line" at Welk Theatre, buoys the writer's spirit and gives her hope as she remembers a talented friend and colleague. STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER "The Carpe Diem Kids" This week's column bids farewell to a longtime treader of the boards and theatrical talent while saluting new productions. Our late friend, Karen Jackson, could have played several roles and sung "Tits and Ass" o

IT'S TIME TO admit I've led a doggedly delightful life. I came home as a newborn to a cocker spaniel and a pomeranian. My late sister Robbie brought the Yorkies to me so they are a link with a beloved sibling. I've had bassetts and bouviers, retrievers and labs, airedales, beagles, Saint Bernards, loveable rescue mutts and many kinds of terriers. In all my decades on the planet, I've never been dogless.

In Naples and this diverse corner of Italy you'll find ancient courtyards and grand staircases, elegant halls and busy streets, buses, busts, scooters, smokers, tourists, locals, dust, wine shops, great museums, majestic cathedrals and irreverent youth. While there, take a drive to Positano up the gorgeous Amalfi coast.

New Year's Eve lights are spectacular in Bangkok, from the beautiful hotels and a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya River. Times Square in...

Joy in Holidays abroad

+ Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal in Yorkshire is the largest of its kind in Europe, a vast ruin open to the sky. We visited with...

Castle Howard's grand entrance and courtyards hosted the wedding reception of a famed British singer Ellie Goulding to a Sotheby's art...

BROTHER'S DONATION SAVES HIS SISTER'S LIFE AS WE CELEBRATE 30 MONTHS FROM OUR SCRIPPS TRANSPLANT Emotions run high as a donor is wheeled Tuesday to surgery, to cheers balloons, whistles and applause from Scripps staffers. (patient's face is blurred to respect his privacy. ) STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER and CM Checking the donate box on your driver's license could make a difference to someone. WE THANK the gods every day that we are on the planet. This