By Marilyn Jones

In the predawn hours, an employee from  Voyager Balloons meets me at my hotel and drives to a large facility where dozens of other would-be flyers

I want to again visit Canada in the New Year. I’ve read about and spoken to friends about taking the train to tour this country as well as researched sailing its waters. I came across Vacations By Rail offering dozens of rail options in Canada as well as the rest of the world. The company uses rail travel as all or part of its tours so you can choose how much

By Marilyn Jones

I’m greeted by a middle-age man draped in Mardi Gras beads and sporting a megaphone, waiting for others to join his Hollywood Location Walk in Wilmington, N.C.

Spiel Stevenberg (Mike

“Want to go see Santa Claus?” I ask my 3-year-old granddaughter Ainsley as we wait for her parents and uncle to ride Twilight Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. She enthusiastically agrees this is a great idea, so we queue up with other preschoolers this balmy December day to meet the jolly old elf.

You

    By Marilyn Jones I sat with my friend, Cacinda, at a sidewalk café enjoying a Margherita pizza. The pizza was good, but my surroundings were divine. Before me stood ancient buildings, including a church and apartment buildings, and a gondolier in a red-and-white striped shirt talked on his cell phone waiting for his next passenger. I am in Venice. This moment is forever etched in

It’s that time of year when we start thinking about what to get family and friends for the holidays. If your loved one is a traveler, there’s seemingly no limit to great gift giving ideas. Luggage Luggage is a great gift idea even for the little ones on your list. I decided earlier in the year to get my three-year-old granddaughter a suitcase. At first I looked at the usual child’s suitcase, but I kept

During my travels I stay in lovely hotels all over the world, but none lovelier than the opulent Ciragan Palace Kempinski in Istanbul. After a 12 hour Turkish Airlines direct flight from Houston I am taken to the hotel by a representative of KD Tourism & Travel. The hotel reception area is charming and beautiful, but, as I will soon find out, only the tip of the iceberg. Shortly after I arrive

I am picked up at the airport in Kayseri, Turkey by Travel Atelier guide Bunyamin Ozmen. It’s close to noon, so we head for the Old Greek House for lunch in the village of Mustafapasa. The restaurant is housed in a 19^th century stone mansion. Its first owner was a Greek artist by the name of Yorha Vasil. The house was sold to the Ozturk

I am on a mission. I check into Riverview Mansion Bed & Breakfast for the night, but I hardly take in the ornate Victorian beauty surrounding me in this mansion overlooking the Ohio River when I am out the door and back in my car again. This is Metropolis and, according to the State of Illinois Legislature, the hometown of Superman. My first stop is the iconic 15-foot tall Superman statue on Superman Square. After