The Lodges at Deer Valley embodies the western spirit with a rustic lodge style ambience. Elegant suites with numerous rooms, fireplaces, and luxurious amenities looking out at the Deer Valley ski runs. Just a 2 minute shuttle ride after an extensive complimentary breakfast. Park City skiing is across town. The difference between the two is that Deer Valley does not allow snowboarding and closes around 5 pm to allow for the runs to be groomed. Great ski schools for the kids and gourmet dining for the adults!

I typically get to the Denver – Colorado Springs area at least once a year. I’m an Elite YELP reviewer, if you want to follow me, so I am always looking for unique places to eat. If you are in The Springs, then you should try to make reservations at The Rabbit Hole. You enter this Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant from a subway like entrance on the street, then descend into the old city morgue, which has been carved out into a special dining experience.

Another high-end dining experience is The Broodmoor Hotel. Get there early to walk around and get a drink at the Hotel Bar or a coffee & pastry at Café’ Julie’s in the main lobby. There are several places to dine, and reservations are a must, especially if you are staying at the hotel. There’s The Summit, Golden Bee, The Grille, and where we ate at La Taverne (The Broadmoor’s legendary steakhouse).

If you want a very unique place to get beverages, try the “Ivywild School,” at 1604 S Cascade Ave – www.ivywildschoolmarketplace.com. It’s not well marked as to what it is, but when you pull up to the location, it looks like an old school from the 1960s. You can step back in time and wander the halls past the Principal’s Office to Bristol Brewing Co, go to the Coffee Shop, or head downstairs to Axe & Oak distillery.

While you are in the area, head to the top of Pike’s Peak, the Air Force Academy, or go ballooning.

So much to do here, so I just decided to throw in a few things that are off the beaten path. Katz’s Delicatessen (Corner of Houston and Ludlow) is where “Harry met Sally,” and is the ultimate Jewish Deli. Guss’s World Famous Pickles, is located at 85-87 Orchard St. You haven’t had pickles until you’ve been to Guss’s barrel cured and kosher pickles. Carmine’s – Huge portions, family style, right in the heart of the Theatre District. Junior’s – this eatery was a hit with the kid’s and a pretty good value for NYC, before heading over to the shows. Wicked – don’t miss this Broadway production: you’ll never think about Oz the same way again.

There are so many things to see and places to stay when you travel to and around the Grand Canyon. Here are a few places that you won’t go wrong with. Sedona, AZ - Sky Ranch Lodge is located right in the middle of everything in this artsy town, on the way to the Grand Canyon, from Phoenix. As you follow highway 89A north, out of Sedona, you will pass Slide Rock State Park. Take the kids in for a picnic lunch and slide down this natural formation. Cold, but they will remember it!

In 2008 we travelled out to the Great Northwest. We landed in Portland then headed up to Seattle. The kids enjoyed The Pike Place Market, but right around the corner, down post alley, was the wall of chewed gum. Not sure if this survived Covid, but it was very colorful! Of course the trip wasn’t complete without eating ice cream (complete with smoke pouring out across the table from the dry ice) at the top of the Space Needle. From Seattle we headed East to the German town of Leavenworth. We continued East into Idaho and ended up at Elkins Lodge on Priest Lake. There are lots of great places to stay via VRBO or Airbnb. We chartered a boat to take us fishing for lake trout and then grilled them that night. Picking Huckleberries the next day renting a boat to go tubing were more highlights. The trek continued East to Whitefish, Montana, where we stayed at the Bar W Guest Ranch (dude ranch) for 3 days (www.thebarw.com). Our last day at the ranch, I rented 2 helicopters to fly in and pick us up. Kyler and I headed over Glacier National Park, while Kim and the girls tracked moose along the rivers. The last event was going white water rafting in Glacier.

Summer 2014 had our family headed up North. We flew into Boston, rented a car and headed to Newport, Rhode Island. My son, Kyler, was looking into applying to the Naval Academy and I wanted to show him the Naval Academy Prep School that I attended, back in 1983. We then headed up the coast to Ogunquit, Maine. The town’s name literally means, “beautiful place by the sea,” and it was. Definitely worth visiting. We continued to Portland and visited several light houses as we ended up in Camden. Great downtown area and the most amazing ice cream shop (River Ducks Ice Cream) built over the Megunticock River. Several quaint restaurants with decks overlooking the water. Our final destination as we headed north, was Mount Desert Island. We stayed in cabins on the quieter Southwest side, as opposed to Bar Harbor. The walk around the lake at Acadia National Park was spectacular. The kids enjoyed picking out their lobsters for dinner, but the highlight while we were there was taking the R L Gott boat tour to the Frenchboro fishing village of Long Island. If you are up in Bar Harbor, don’t miss it. As we headed back towards my parent’s place on Lake Ontario, NY, we stopped in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Woodstock, Vermont. The beautiful scenery with covered bridges, farms, and quaint towns did not disappoint.