Plaza Itapema Resort & Spa

story and photos by Kayte Deioma A concerted zen mindset lets me ignore the discomfort of walking on rocks as I make my way slowly around the knee-deep loop of the meditation pool. The rounded stones are designed to massage your feet, but mine are saying ouch – in a good way. I’m not complaining. No one is forcing me to walk this watery path. I’m just doing my best to experience all that Plaza...

Spa Bliss at the Siena in Reno

story and photos by Kayte Deioma With a couple extra hours to kill in Reno, I always end up on the south bank of the Truckee River at the Spa at Siena, located in the 185-room Tuscan-themed Siena Hotel, Spa and Casino. You don’t have to be a guest of the hotel to enjoy this full-service spa; just leave your cares in the locker, soak your feet in a warm flower petal bath in the serenity room, and let...

Delve into Roots Music History at the River Music Experience

story and photos by Kayte Deioma “You are standing at the crossroads of American Roots Music” are the words emblazoned under your feet as you step into the River Music Experience. The River Music Experience (RME or RMX), provides a connection between the history of American music genres, the Mississippi River and the thriving music scene of today’s Quad Cities. This red brick building in...

Dialogue in the Dark: Envisioning a World Without Sight

story and photos by Kayte Deioma My foot tentatively follows the unfamiliar cane, testing the ground to feel where the dirt path gives way to lawn. I brush against a tall bush and reach out to touch the waxy leaves with my fingers. Birds chirp somewhere nearby and the scent of earth and grass reach my nose. In a suddenly dark world, I find myself in what feels, smells and sounds like a garden or a...

Ritz-Carlton Cancun Culinary Center

story and photos by Kayte Deioma A great place to escape to on a rainy day is the cozy kitchen of the Ritz-Carlton Cancun Culinary Center. It’s a great opportunity to interact with other travelers if you are traveling alone, but it’s also perfect for couples or families with teens to share an entertaining learning experience. The cooking classes offered range from French and Italian to Thai and Spa...

The Musical Instrument Museum

story and photos by Kayte Deioma A true gem on the Mont des Arts in Brussels is the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), home to one of the largest collections of musical apparatuses in the world. Founded in 1877 as part of the Royal Museums of Art and History, the museum moved into the former Old England department store, an 1899 masterpiece of Art Nouveau architecture, in 2000. Twelve hundred of the 7,000...

NBC Studio Tour

story and photos by Kayte Deioma For teens and adults who are fans of NBC late night or morning television, taking a guided tour of the NBC Studios in Rockefeller Center is an interesting way to spend an hour and ten minutes on a rainy day. The tour starts with a short film giving a brief history of NBC from being the first permanent radio network in 1926, through the transition to television and the landmark...

From Cave to Screen: The Dusseldorf Film Museum

story and photos by Kayte Deioma From early cave paintings, man has been fascinated with reproducing the physical world in two dimensions, and finding ways to represent the concepts of motion and the passage of time. The Film Museum in Dusseldorf takes you along on the fascinating journey of technological development from those earliest depictions of motion through the many precursors to photographic moving...

Jazz Solo on Frenchmen Street

story and photos by Kayte Deioma When it comes to exploring a city’s nightlife, as a woman traveling alone I am more likely to choose a seat at the theatre than the bar or nightclub scene. I love to go out dancing with friends or a date, but if I go to a nightclub alone I usually feel, well, alone. But when a friend said that Frenchmen Street was a good place to go out on your own at night in New Orleans, I...

Jean Lafitte National Historic Park in the French Quarter

story and photos by Kayte Deioma The Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserveconsists of parks, preserves, bayous, swamps, historic sites and cultural centers all across southern Louisiana. In New Orleans, the National Historic Park has a French Quarter Visitor Center tucked in a courtyard off Decatur Street. If you want an in depth look at New Orleans and Louisiana history, go to the Cabildo on Jackson...

Self-Reflection on Nob Hill: Walking the Labyrinths at Grace Cathedral

story and photos by Kayte Deioma For a quick “time out” from the hustle and bustle of the city, head up Nob Hill to Grace Cathedral for a peaceful half hour of self-exploration on either of the two labyrinths on site. Labyrinths have been used as a tool for walking meditation in many cultures and religions for thousands of years. The deliberate path of spirals confined within a circle represents the...

The Gamble House: A Craftsman Masterpiece

story and photos by Kayte Deioma You can’t decide at the spur of the moment that you’d like to tour JPL, but you can look at those rain-bearing clouds and opt for an hour inside the cozy confines of the Gamble House. You don’t really visit the Gamble House to learn about the history of the Gamble family, of the Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Company, who summered here. The Gamble House is...