In 2020, I had planned a trip to Pompeii, which of course, never happened. But last Saturday, I caught a glimpse of this tragic city at the Legion of Honor. My brother invited me to the museum to see a very interesting exhibit: Last Supper in Pompeii -From the Table to the Grave. The exhibition…
Read more
It’s 2021, and the Summer 2020 Olympics are about to begin… with no spectators. Like everything else in 2020, these Olympics will undoubtedly be historic and weird. Take the athletes’ beds in Olympic Village, for example. I saw these beds online in The Skimm. They reported, “The world’s best sports competitors are set to spend their nights…
Read more
Initially, I intended to write about Alcatraz in my Bay Area series: In My Own Backyard. But I thought, “I can’t talk about Alcatraz and not mention Eastern State Penitentiary.” They’re like first cousins. Alcatraz, in San Francisco, and Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP), in Philadelphia, are two of America’s most historic and storied former prisons. They…
Read more
I’m not sure what this says about me, but I love cemeteries. I don’t like new, tidy ones. Cemeteries with too many rules and uniformity don’t interest me. I prefer old, dilapidated cemeteries with overgrown landscaping and half-buried headstones. I like it when families or the passage of time has put their stamp on the…
Read more
Happy 4th of July! Actually, it’s July 8, so Happy 8th of July. I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. I am just back from Tahoe, where I was not only celebrating America’s birthday but also celebrating my daughter’s 21st birthday. Lake Tahoe is a 4-hour drive from the Bay Area and a favorite…
Read more
I recently wrote a blog to the class of 2021 advising grads to start an Emergency Travel Fund -just in case someone invites them somewhere cool. Well, that is excellent advice. Because guess what? My girlfriend recently texted: “Hey Paula, do you want to go to PVR with me on my 48-hour layover?” (She’s a…
Read more
My husband would not want me to tell you this. But he doesn’t read my blog, so I’m going to say it. He’s a two-time Grammy winner. He won once with BB King. More recently, he won with Pacific Mambo Orchestra (PMO) in the Latin Jazz category. This past weekend, I had the privilege of…
Read more
Recently, at a party, a young lady asked for my summer travel recommendations. I gave my new friend lots of great ideas for her vacation, which gave me lots of inspiration for my blog. For the most part, travel this summer is restricted to within the United States. So, of course, I told her she…
Read more
This past Memorial Day weekend, Las Vegas was PACKED! Nevada’s law (plastered all over the casino) states that people who are not vaccinated must wear masks. Nationally, about 40% of Americans are currently fully vaccinated. But In Las Vegas, the percentage must be much higher. Judging from the unmasked crowd, I’d estimate about 90% are…
Read more
Before I had kids, my brother, Michael, and I started a baseball stadium tour. Once a year, we would meet in a different city to watch our favorite sport: baseball. Our first trip was to Boston’s beloved Fenway Park. We took a stadium tour where we walked the field, sat in the dugout, and peeked…
Read more