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The Latest

Best Bites:

Best Bites:

  • Tinker Parker

“Football fans share a universal language that cuts across many cultures and many personality types. A serious football fan is never alone. We…

The Latest

Best Bites:

Best Bites:

  • Tinker Parker

“Football fans share a universal language that cuts across many cultures and many personality types. A serious football fan is never alone. We are legion, and football is often the only thing we have in common.” — Hunter S. Thompson. ...READ MORE

Travel: Finding Florida paradise

Travel: Finding Florida paradise

  • By Kevin Spear Orlando Sentinel

Florida’s natural wonders have been in the news this year for all the wrong reasons: toxic tides, green slimes and rotting marine life. ...READ MORE

Travel: 5 million tulips

Travel: 5 million tulips

  • By Mary Lu Laffey Small Newspaper Group

When the beginning of May rolls around, residents of the Midwest and beyond make their way to Holland, Mich., for the annual Tulip Time Festival. This year’s event is May 5-13. What started as a flower festival 89 years ago is now an international event that draws hundreds of thousands of vi… ...READ MORE

The Latest

Finding Mr. Wright in rural Wisconsin

Finding Mr. Wright in rural Wisconsin

  • By Mary Lu Laffey | Small Newspaper Group

There is a lot of respect due to Falling Water, located in Mill Run, which is in the western part of the state of Pennsylvania. It’s 544 miles from Kankakee to Mill Run, so a weekend road trip doesn’t appear leisurely. For insight into Frank Lloyd Wright’s talents, I shaved a few hundred mil… ...READ MORE

Spice up a Louisiana lunch

Spice up a Louisiana lunch

  • By Mary Lu Laffey | Small Newspaper Group

We planned to leave Lafayette, La., early enough in the morning to tour the TABASCO factory, make a stop at the Country Store and settle in for lunch to talk about all we had seen. It isn’t often best-laid plans actually happen, but such was the case one wonderful October morning in coastal … ...READ MORE

Toronto rolls out red carpet for shoppers

Toronto rolls out red carpet for shoppers

  • Mary Lu Laffey
    Small Newspaper Group

At any given time, there are 140 languages or dialects that might be spoken on the streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. An international city, languages and cultures blend, thriving in neighborhoods and excelling in creating dining experiences to brag about back home. The neighborhoods provi… ...READ MORE

Guggenheim Museum draws the world to Bilbao, Spain

Guggenheim Museum draws the world to Bilbao, Spain

  • Jackie Sheckler Finch
    Small Newspaper Group

Like a silent sentry, the gigantic “Puppy” stands ready to welcome visitors to his beautiful home. Multiple cameras and cellphones snap pictures of the unusual dog sculpture. In fact, it is difficult to get a photo when someone isn’t posing near the Bilbao landmark. ...READ MORE

Make mine Mykonos

Make mine Mykonos

  • Mary Lu Laffey
    Small Newspaper Group

Last summer when I stepped on board the Olympia in Athens, Greece, I joined more than 6.7 million passengers who have traveled with Celestyal Cruises since it set sail in 1986. I loved every minute of it — whether I was on board or on shore. ...READ MORE

It’s a pod, it’s a cabin, it’s YOTEL

It’s a pod, it’s a cabin, it’s YOTEL

  • Mary Lu Laffey
    Small Newspaper Group

When planning a trip to New York City, there is always the big three — an airline ticket, ground transfers from the airport and a hotel room that won't break the bank. Filling in what to see and do is the easy part. I was en route to the New York Times Travel Show, where a world of travel ad… ...READ MORE