Stay Home/"Cheeseburger in Paradise" --Jimmy Buffett

We are four women chatting at a work social gathering. Those words don't really go together, do they? Work social. Doesn't even sound right. But there we are. Workmates. On company time. Trying our best to pretend we're social mates. Haha! What fun.*

Anyway, the conversation turns to one person's sister in Hawaii and this leads to who has been to Hawaii, and so on.

Pretty young thing (PYT): You know if you really want to go someplace beautiful you should go to Grand Cayman. It's the best island!

[This is met with assorted ooo's and aahh's]

PYT: Yeah, I went with my Mom. It was great because it was the most Americanized of the islands we went to in the Caribbean.

Me: "Most Americanized"? What do you mean?

PYT: They had McDonald's and places like that, so it was great. 'Cause some times you really want a cheeseburger.

Oy.

So, she's here:



and here:



and what makes her happy?

This:



I like a pampered holiday as much as the next person (okay, more) but I sure as heck don't need an American fast food meal to make me happy. 51 weeks of McDonald's haute cuisine isn't enough?

Am I wrong in thinking that there's something seriously wrong with this chick?



* See, if you were there, we would exchange a look that says "Can you believe this?! We have to get the eff out of here." 'Cause you're like that. It's great that you're like that. Thanks for being like that.

Food, Glorious Food!

Here's something that combines two of my favorite things: travel and food! Check out Elite Choices' list of World's Best Food Festivals. From India's Mango Festival to Montreal's Beer Festival to Turks & Caicos' Conch Festival, there's something for everyone. Can't decide? Why not a general food & wine festival like the one they list in South Beach? Can't afford to travel right now? Here a list of festivals closer to home: DC Area Food Festivals.

Modern Marriage/Travel Deals

We are a modern couple. I am in the bedroom clacking on my laptop. Hubby is in the family room clacking on his laptop. Occasionally, we send each other a message. Ain't love grand? :)

Today we created a sharable Google calendar so we can both keep track of various plans as the year seems to be booking up quickly. My planner and his phone calendars simply aren't enough. Go figure. The nice thing about Google, besides the sharing aspect and the ease of set up, is that you can sync it with Outlook, which we both use at work.

Meanwhile, my surfing reveals that the travel industry is feeling the strain of the recession and the weak dollar. I am surprised at some of the deals I am seeing (pretty deep discounts) -- especially if you are willing to travel last minute or wait until after Summer which is prime family vacation time. It appears that a lot of resorts in desirable areas are offering better than usual deals. Makes me wonder where the bottom is.

Make Mine Indiana Wine?

Elite Travel reports...

Orbitz Reveals Top 10 Fastest-Growing Wine Regions
Food- and wine-related travel is escalating in popularity throughout the United States, and not just in the Napa Valley, according to Orbitz in its latest surprising survey. The company has announced the top 10 fastest-growing wine regions in its recent Index release. The Index includes some unexpected "hot" wine destinations such as the "City of Brotherly Love."

"No matter where you live in the U.S., you're probably not more than a few hours away from a great vacation that pairs a nice hotel with a local vineyard," said Heather Leisman, senior director of merchandising for Orbitz.

Not unexpectedly, California's Napa Valley is still king. But others include: Texas Hill Country; Arkansas Wine Country; Puget Sound, Washington; Columbia Cascades and North Central Washington; Grand River Valley, Ohio; Nashville, Tennessee/Bloomington Area, Indiana; Applegate/Rogue Valley, Oregon; Lake Erie Region, Ohio; Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Orbitz's findings were based on both food and hotels in the area. Some other sometimes surprising findings:

* Philadelphia offers much more than monuments and museums. The city is actually in the vicinity of 18 wineries, six of which make up the Brandywine Valley wine trail, located just 25 minutes away.

* Distinctive wines combined with southern hospitality have vaulted the Texas Hill and Arkansas Wine Countries to the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively, on the Orbitz Insider Index fastest-growing list. And the Pacific Northwest is gaining on California as the place to be when it comes to wine excursions.

* Three of the top 10 fastest-growing regions in the United States are from points of interest in Washington and Oregon. And before snow starts to fall in the Midwest, there are a number of growing wine regions that have given destinations in Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee and Michigan four of the top 10 spots.

* In Mexico, tequila is king, but Sonora is home to half of Mexico's vineyards. The Baja region and Ensenada are also known for their wines – and their food and wine festivals.

* In Canada, the Okanagan region features some of Canada's best scenery and wine.

Travel Map on TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor.com has this "Travel Map" feature where you can tell it where you've traveled to and it will put a "pin" in a map for each place so you can get a visual distribution of where you have spent your time. It lets you zoom in to various regions or zoom out to a world view, too. It's not a long process and the visual is a good reminder that there's so much more of the world to see!