Photo Ops

What is the best thing to bring home from the Grand Canyon?

The best things to bring home from the Grand Canyon are amazing photos of your trip — it’s simply impossible to capture the experience with anything else. If possible, time your visit to the canyon when there’s a full moon to get breathtaking photos of the canyon aglow at night. Get the requisite sunrise pictures at Mather Point on the South Rim or the ramparts of the Palisades of the Desert. And you’ll want to capture that magnificent sunset along the Trail of Time. If you come in the winter, you’ll be able to see the canyon dusted with snow — an ethereal, tranquil sight not many experience.

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Santa Barbara

What are the best spas in Santa Barbara?

No trip to Santa Barbara is complete without a bit of pampering. The Spa at Bacara boasts a Four-Star award, and its placement between the Santa Ynez Mountains and Pacific Ocean means its location is key. Relax with a variety of spa treatments from around the world at Bacara, including an Eastern Origins menu and Ayurveda techniques. Post-session, be sure to save time for the saline-filled pool. Another great Four-Star option is The Spa at Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara. Treatment rooms feel residential — complete with kiva fireplaces and mission-style furniture — and signature services such as the Vineyard Harvest and Grape de Vine incorporate grape seed. Head 35 miles south of Santa Barbara to unwind at Four-Star Spa Ojai. The 31,000-square-foot oasis offers a signature communal Kuyam treatment, which combines the effects of cleansing mud, dry heat, inhalation therapy and guided meditation. 

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Alfresco

What are five things first-time visitors should know about Birmingham?

You might think the small, southern town of Birmingham, Alabama is predictable, but you’d be wrong. This bustling city is chock full of surprises. Here are five surprising things you should know about Birmingham:
 
1. There’s a lively food scene. Highlands Bar & Grill was nominated by the James Beard Foundation for the most outstanding restaurant in the United States award. Chef/Owner Frank Stitt has received ten nominations and been named to the organization’s “Who’s Who in Food and Beverage in America”.
 
2. You can and should golf here. Shoal Creek Golf Club has hosted several PGA tournaments. Alabama's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is the largest golf course construction project ever attempted, consisting of a collection of 468 holes of championship golf on 11 different sites across Alabama.
 
3. The location can’t be beat. Birmingham is within easy driving distance of Gulf Coast beaches, Smoky Mountains, lakes, and rivers (and is home to the Bassmasters Classic Bass Fishing Tournament), as well as within easy driving access to the major metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Nashville, and New Orleans.
 
4. It’s a publishing hub. Birmingham is home to Southern Living magazine and its many publishing derivatives under the Southern Progress Corporation/Time Inc. umbrella. Retired Time Warner media chairman, Alabama native and former Southern Progress Corporation CEO, Don Logan, owns the Birmingham Barons minor-league baseball team.
 
5. There’s a superb art museum. The Birmingham Museum of Art has the world's largest collection of Wedgwood china found anywhere outside the United Kingdom.

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FROM THE BLOG


Top French Molecular Gastronomist Heads East

Thierry Marx, Mandarin Oriental, Paris’ culinary director, brings his colorful, scientific take on food to Tokyo.