Posts by Michael Solender
Powdered Sugar and Parachute Silk: A Weekend in New Orleans
In the Crescent City, history isn’t confined to museums. You hear it in the jazz, taste it in the gumbo, and find it dancing after dark. Less than an hour after arriving in New Orleans, I was standing in Jackson Square, the St. Louis Cathedral to my left, Washington Artillery Park—the Moonwalk—to my right. With…
Read MoreFargo: Where America’s Heartland Reaps Cultural Harvest
An authentic Midwest weekend where space, slowness, and soil grow something unexpectedly artful. Farmland flanks the short, 15-minute drive from Fargo–Moorhead’s Hector International Airport into downtown. But right alongside the early crops of corn and soybeans, the region’s agricultural roots are yielding a most unexpected harvest. Over the next few days, I’m struck by the…
Read MoreCarolina on Course: Sea Pines & Kiawah in the Swing of Things
Lowcountry Luxe awaits Atlantans at these two golf-oriented getaways where coastal tides run alongside fairways and family fun stays in focus. When a holiday dilemma pits two iconic, family-friendly, golf-soaked South Carolina resorts against each other, there’s only one sensible move for A-towners: skip the choosing and enjoy both. That’s the approach VUE took recently,…
Read MoreSpa, Sand, and Salsa Nights: Puerto Rico’s Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Reignites
In the know A-towners are finding a hot winter escape where the rainforest kisses the sea at Puerto Rico’s newly relaunched Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Rainforest Beach and Golf Resort. Perched along more than two miles of uninterrupted beach just northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Rainforest Beach and Golf Resort…
Read MoreCalifornia Calling – Terranea Shines
With more than a dozen daily nonstop flights from Atlanta to Los Angeles, A-towners can be California dreaming less than five hours after boarding their flight. Upon arrival in Rancho Palos Verdes, Terranea Resort awaits with 102 oceanfront acres, high-touch guest service, contemporary California Spanish/Mediterranean architecture and design, casual and fine al fresco dining, and a getaway that’s sun-filled, sexy, and sophisticated.
Read MoreJourney Through China’s Gansu: Ancient Routes, Modern Wonders
By Michael J. Solender From Silk Road relics to otherworldly landscapes, a firsthand journey through one of China’s most storied—and surprising—provinces. A light breeze sweeps past as I take in the view of hundreds of wind-eroded rock formations scattered across the tawny desert. It’s just before noon, and I stand in northwest China’s Yardang National…
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