I was expecting to lose a bit of cash when I stepped into The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, and not long after I laid some bills on the table, that expectation was met. With pockets a little lighter, I turned my attention to dinner. Within this artificial Venice, with its gondolas, canals, St. Mark’s Square, and sky-painted ceiling, I wouldn’t consider anything except Italian cuisine. I found it at Matteo’s Ristorante Italiano—a sure bet for anyone craving a fine Italian meal. Read about it >
Taken by Macon
Located smack in the middle of Georgia, Macon developed as a state transportation center during the 1800s. Post–Civil War, it emerged as a railroad transportation and textile factory hub, and the city’s economy boomed. In those following decades, the city added some impressive structures to its eminently walkable downtown. As a result, I was rather taken by this small city of about 160,000. Read about the top five buildings in Macon, Georgia >
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Dine Outdoors Indoors
Picture someone’s backyard patio. Now move it all inside. That’s Back Deck, a Boston grill house that serves up charcoal-grilled favorites inspired by food served at casual cookouts. If you’re in the mood to eat al fresco but a chilly late-fall night in Boston quashes that idea, Back Deck is the perfect solution. Read about it >
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German Food Beyond Oktoberfest in Alexandria
King Street, the main commercial strip in Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia, boasts a wide variety of international cuisine for your dinner options, everything from Thai to Italian, Greek to Indian. On my first night in town, I gravitated toward the Oktoberfest sign hanging over the entry doors to Alexandria Bier Garden and the big Bavarian flag cascading down from the roof. It had all the makings for an authentic German meal. Read about it >
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A French Favorite in the Heart of Luxembourg
Place d’Armes in the heart of Luxembourg City was electric. With packed restaurants lining two sides of the square, overflowing into the center with filled-to-capacity outdoor chairs and tables, the whole city seemed to be abuzz with the excitement of excellent dinners and the nighttime marathon that was about to wend its way through. Amid all that, I carved out a window table inside La Lorraine, one of the best French restaurants in Luxembourg. Read about it >
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Guiding Lights
Sentinels of the sea. Lighthouses have been around for a while. A long, long time, actually. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt, completed around 246 BC. Since then, they’ve been protecting sailors around the world, evolving from simple fires atop a hill to sturdy structures that can withstand the fiercest weather and are equipped with powerful modern technology. Critically important, and fun to visit, lighthouses have long fascinated me with their relevance, their loneliness, and their unique beauty. Read about the top five lighthouses >
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Epicurious About Ecuador
I was sure that I would be able to find a restaurant in the South Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York, where I could sample a cuisine I had never had before. After all, it’s not that uncommon here to see an Egyptian hookah lounge, an Italian deli, a Greek bakery, a Thai restaurant, and an Irish bar all on the same block. So, when I spotted the Ecuadorian flag in the windows of Barzola, I knew I had located what I was searching for. Read about it >
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A Mystical Meal in Alexandria, Virginia
Although it opened only in 2024, Mystic Bar & Grill is operated by a family that has been running restaurants in and around Old Town in Alexandria for half a century. Southern cuisine abounds here, exactly what I was looking for, covering the gamut from Texas-style smoked brisket to Carolina pulled pork, spicy she-crab soup to Creole bouillabaisse, Low Country shrimp to grits. It sets the standard for Southern food, and it more than met my expectations. Read about it >
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Raising Asian Arizona
When I saw the Miss Saigon sign on a building in downtown Tucson, Arizona, I thought, for a second or two, that I might catch a show that night that I had never seen on Broadway. But I was deceived. The building wasn’t a theater, and the Miss Saigon sign wasn’t for the musical. Rather, it was for a superb Vietnamese restaurant, and it made for an unexpectedly delicious dinner. Read about it >
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This Twain I Shall Meet
Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Two of the most well-known characters in American letters. Still, despite my Bachelor of Arts degree in English and love of classic literature, I have never read either of their adventures. In fact, I’ve read very little of Mark Twain’s works—just A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and The Innocents Abroad. So, when I found out that Twain’s historic house was located just a mile from where I was staying in Hartford, Connecticut, at the Goodwin Hotel, I decided it was time to better familiarize myself with his canon and with his fascinating life, all of which unfolds beautifully at the Mark Twain House and Museum. Read about it >
Stephen Travels 