The Polite Traveler

  Discounted Four-Star Accommodations and Wine Tastings Equals Heaven in Northern California Dear Polite Traveler, Exciting two-day travel escapes are easy for those of us living in Northern California.   Napa, Sonoma, and San Francisco are one to two hours from home.   So ... where to go?   Our choice was Sonoma County, more specifically the Santa Rosa/Healdsburg area to taste wine, indulge in the beautiful landscape, and to lodge at the Vintners Inn , Santa Rosa.    With a package purchased through Travelzoo we saved 50 percent on four-star accommodations and received coupons and vouchers for reduced price or free wine tastings, breakfast, and more.   Road Trip! Our first stop was the charming town of Santa Rosa to walk the downtown core and to surrender to my mocha addiction at Starbucks inside a local bookstore.   Brimming with unique shops and restaurants surrounding a perfectly maintained park, Santa Rosa seems the perfect place to stop, rewind, and recharge.   However,

Getting the Most out of Our Staycation Dearest Polite Traveler, With a world-class university, active community parks, a proper town center replete with unique boutiques and a variety of restaurants, why travel somewhere else for vacation?   We won't.   Hubby and I will staycation in our little hamlet, better known as Davis, California—land of many bikes.   It's a little-known fact (visions of Cliff Clavin from Cheers just popped into my head), that Davis is the first city to implement bike lanes and is also home to the US Bicycling Hall of Fame.   Not that bike lore has much to do with our staycation, it's just one of the reasons I love our town. If It's Saturday, We Must Be In The Farmers Market We begin the first day of our stayca at our world-famous Farmers Market (Central Park, 4th and C Streets).   Well, it might not be world-famous, but it is ranked highly in multiple media outlets.    This morning, a lively Folk band is playing in the background an

My Top Five Favorite Foods of Paris My Dear Polite Traveler, The streets of Paris are lined with food vendors, which as a small business owner always looking for the best bang for my small-budget buck appreciates greatly.   Most offer excellent food at amazingly affordable prices, especially my favorites.   Those who love chocolate , butter, and ham – not necessarily at the same time – should appreciate my list of favorites as well.   Get ready to drool. #5 C roque Monsieur As Paris is the land of ham and cheese, it's a no-brainer they would have a killer grilled ham and cheese sandwich.   Jambon, French for ham, appears on almost all menus in one form or another and of course, cheese is...well, everywhere.   My favorite Croque Monsieur is the less heavy open face version.   This is a piece of toasted dense bread coated with a slight touch of mustard, crumbled cheese—such as g ruyere— followed with a slice of ham and finished with the cheesy béchamel sauce.   These are typ

Dear Polite Travelers, After more than a year of hiding out from a mega virus and feeling travel deprived, we decided to drive eight hours from our hamlet in Davis, Ca to America’s Riviera : Santa Barbara. Typically, we would scout out all must-sees in the city and perhaps take a tour to learn more.   Not this time.   We had a scant two full days and felt we needed less educational input and more pure bliss.   Santa Barbara certainly delivered on that. Soak in the Fresh Ocean Air Arriving late in the afternoon, we decided to spend our first few hours in our hotel: Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort .   Our lovely room included a balcony with a peek-through ocean view and heady scents from the gardens down below sedating our over-busy minds.    Freshening up, we headed to our hotel’s beachfront restaurant, The Set.   While observing the mesmerizing ocean scene, we leisurely enjoyed a light dinner with wine until our stress utterly melted away.   Quirky Lives on State Str