By staff writer Cathie Nichols. Photos Copyright © Cathie Nichols. AS A PERSON who prides herself on being on time, I arrived at Horton Plaza with plenty of time to spare. I parked on one of the upper levels and sat tweeting in my car for a bit. After all, I had plenty of time to make it to the San...

By staff writer Vicki Lathom. Photos Copyright © Vicki Lathom. “This is a place the Unabomber would like.” What the woman sitting next to me at Pete’s Pub meant was that the anarchist would feel at home in a place seemingly freer of rules than the world outside, in a simpler, nonconformist little...

Story by staff writer Judy Clement Wall. Photos Copyright © Judy Clement Wall. DESPITE ALL THE Decembers I’ve lived through, the month always comes upon me suddenly. I know it comes right after November every single year, but I’m never ready for it. And while I love Christmas it has a tendency...

Story by guest blogger Al McCartan. Photo Copyright © Denise Harding. CHRISTMAS CAROLS. Oh, yes! We still love and sing them all, but we in Australia have gone one step further. We have Carols By Candlelight and have rallied to it for the past 73 years. I haven’t quite reached 73 years but a good...

By staff writer Vicki Lathom. Photos Copyright © Vicki Lathom. TEMPERATURES IN THE mid-70s, a tropical breeze and palm trees seem to be an unlikely combination to celebrate a traditional Christmas. But it works for cruisers hanging out in the Bahamas for the winter at Abaco Boat Harbour. Around December,...

By staff writer Estrella Azul. Photos Copyright © Estrella Azul. DECEMBER LITERALLY starts off with a bang in my city of Kolozsvár here in Romania as fireworks light up the night sky on the 1st of December. This day is the country’s national holiday, Unification Day, which celebrates the unification...

By guest blogger Cathie Nichols. Photos Copyright © Cathie Nichols. BEING AN EAST COAST (outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) transplant living on the West Coast (Carlsbad, California) can be a real bummer during the Christmas holiday season. White sandy beaches are definitely not the same as a sea of...