Travel Stories, Cruise Reviews, and Cultural Adventures

Part of Legoland is open for business and family fun.  The park's popular Sea Life Aquarium is reopened, and the rest of the park is...

"Thare she blows" and then there she goes after taking a breath of air. STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER Boarding a boat bound for whale watching is one of life's loveliest pleasures. We've watched whales here in California and around the world, and love the opportunities around Oxnard, Calif. One of our favorite California boating enterprises, Island Packers, successfully weathered the Covid storms of a few years and is thriving with some of the world's best

The view from Channel Islands Hampton Inn is one of a lovely marina, offering spectacular sunsets.  The hotel is open for business, minus...

Ocotillo, or "little torch" in Spanish, is usually a desert plant.  This one, outside our home, brings forth bursts of bright red blooms...

Bruce Keller and Christene "Cookie" Meyers with their elderly Yorkshire terrier, Nick, ready for a spin on their bikes. Leaving Scripps...

Lake Atitlan offers beauty, culture and an insight into ancient ways of doing things. This woman is washing for her family. These young...

Bruce Keller and Christene Meyers bike an hour a day around their neighborhood. Nearly everyone they meet wears masks (notice the couple...

Palm Springs Art Museum has two outdoor sculpture gardens and is home to paintings and sculpture by Alexander Calder, Claire Falkenstein,...

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...

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

Soap star Eric Martsolf of "Days of Our Lives"  soap fame headlines a zippy, pretty and nostalgic holiday show at Welk Resort Theatre,...

The historic Madaket is the last of seven ferries on Humboldt Bay, a relic of the waterfront heyday of Eureka, Calif. Bruce Keller and...

"Cambodian  Rock Band" is like no other musical. The writers of this column saw it recently at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The fine...

Barry Manilow last week in Las Vegas, at 75, singing, playing, engaging with the audience. He returned to Broadway in 2019, to critical...

The Wild Goose had a well traveled past when actor John Wayne bought it and made it his traveling hotel.  Now, Hornblower Cruises invites...

The Casa del Prado, also known as the Casa, and the adjacent Casa del Prado Theatre are historically accurate reconstructions of...

Ready for her close-up aboard an ice cream inspired steed is Penelope Margaret Ganner at the Museum of Ice Cream. The San Francisco...

The Elvis Presley home in Palm Springs is a major attraction and a striking presence, with its unusual modern design.  DESERT RATS: TAKE...

San Diego in spring is a sight to behold -- with blue skies, feathery clouds and a dinner or lunch cruise aboard Hornblower. "To what...

Hershey Felder channels Beethoven via a father and son who knew him in Vienna in a glorious production at San Diego Repertory Theatre's...