Wine Dine & Travel Magazine - WINE DINE & TRAVEL - WINTER 2015-16

WINE DINE&

TRAVEL VOL 3 ISSUE 1 | WINTER 2015/16

A MARTIAN EXPERIENCE AT WADI RUM

SUPER SHORE EXCURSION IN FRANCE CELEBRATING GERMAN CHRISTMAS MARKETS VISITING THE QUEEN’S YACHT: THE HMS BRITANNIA

Wine Dine & Travel 2016

1

LOOKING FOR A GREAT DINING EXPERIENCE?

RON & MARY JAMES OFFER THEIR SELECTION OF MORE THAN A HUNDRED OF THE BEST EATERIES IN SAN DIEGO IN THE CURRENT FODOR’S TRAVEL GUIDE SAN DIEGO EDITION. FREE ONLINE OR BUY IT IN PRINT ON AMAZON OR AT YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE.

WWW.FODORS.COM 2

Wine Dine & Travel 2016

COVER PHOTO

COVER PHOTO: I took this shot just before our group camel ride in Wadi Rum, Jordan. The shot was nice, but the ride was a different story as you’ll find in the cover story of this issue. I used an Olympus EM-1 camera with an Olympus 12-40 mm 2.8 Pro lens. ~ Ron James

NEXTEDITION |SPRING 2016

ATHENS FOOD TOUR

Wine Dine & Travel 2016

3

4

Wine Dine & Travel 2016

EDITOR’S NOTE HOME SWEET HOME

RON JAMES

publisher/executive editor

W

e’re getting ready for our next travel adventure, flying out in two days for Hawaii and then on to New Zealand and Australia. It seems as if we just got back from our last outing – six weeks of travel in the Middle East and Europe that ended right before Thanksgiving.

Obviously we love to travel. But, we also love to be home as well. It’s our current yin and yang of living.

The adrenalin rush of travel is addictive. Different cultures, politics, places and people – in fact just being “out there” invites thrills both good and bad. It also can be exhausting. Unpacking and packing, moving from place to place, coping with the unexpected take a physical toll after a couple weeks.

Ron James is the "wine, food and travel guy." He is a nationally award-winning print and online journalist, graphic designer., television producer and radio personality. The native Californian's nationally syndicated wine and food columns have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. He is passionate about great wine and food and enthusiastically enjoys them every day!

MARY JAMES publisher/editor

Then there’s the discovery of different cuisines and beverages. Yes it’s a top reason hopping on a plane or ship, but it too can be problematic, causing great discomfort for a few days. Being on the road also exposes you more sick people than you are likely to encounter if you didn’t travel. On a cruise, elevators, cafes and such can seem like hospital wards, given the cacophony of coughs, sneezes and nose blowing going on around you.

Our beloved cat Shadow also is a bit confused by our prolonged disappearances – although we provide her with very loving house sitters, who make sure she gets her quota of kitty treats and playtime. Almost all travelers feel guilty about leaving their pets – especially when they curl up in your suitcase as you’re packing or follow you around the house with sad, accusing eyes. All traveling pet owners wish they could explain – “Don’t worry – we’ll be back soon.”

So after three weeks or more travel adventure, the safety, normality and certainty of home becomes very attractive. Absence makes you appreciate home life and everything connected to it. You look forward to starting new projects, relaxing on the couch and petting a kitty. You yearn for the relative tranquility of no shore excursion mishaps or conversations with strange strangers at dinner.

So travel makes home sweet home even sweeter, and life as a whole better. But as good as home can be, in two or three months the siren call of travel has us checking airfares and making hotel reservations. Pretty soon we’re packing our bags again, again in the company of a sad eyed kitty.

Mary Hellman James is an award-winning San Diego journalist and editor. After a 29-year-career with the San Diego Union-Tribune, she currently is a freelance garden writer and a columnist for San Diego Home-Garden/Lifestyles magazine. Mary and her husband, Ron James, travel extensively. Upcoming next month is a four-week adventure in the land down under.

This issue illustrates all of these points – whether on a camel ride on “Mars” or tasting wine in Provence, visiting the royal yacht or pigging out on sausages and beer at a German Christmas Market. We hope you enjoy our stories and make some stories of your own on your next travel odyssey. We’re ready for another adventure, but we’ll

inevitably be looking forward to being back in our sweet home with our reluctantly forgiving cat Shadow.

Have safe travels and happy homecomings, Ron & Mary

Wine Dine & Travel 2016

5

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS

Alison DaRosa Alison DaRosa is a six-time winner of the Lowell Thomas Gold Award for travel writing, the most prestigious prize in travel journalism. She served 15 years as Travel Editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune and was the award-winning editor of the San Diego News Network Travel Page. She created San Diego Essential Guide, a highly rated travel app for mobile devices. Alison writes a monthly Travel Deals column for the San Diego Union-Tribune and is a regular freelance contributor to the travel sections of the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and AOL Travel.

Sharon Whitley Larsen

Sharon Whitley Larsen’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including Los Angeles Times Magazine, U-T San Diego, Reader’s Digest (and 19 international editions), Creators Syndicate, and several “Chicken Soup for the Soul” editions. Although she enjoys writing essays, op-ed, and people features, her favorite topic is travel (favorite destination London). She’s been lucky to attend a private evening champagne reception in Buckingham Palace to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, to dine with best-selling author Diana Gabaldon in the Scottish Highlands, and hike with a barefoot Aborigine in the Australian Outback. Exploring sites from exotic travels in the Arctic Circle to ritzy Rio, with passport in hand, she’s always ready for the next adventure!

Carl H. Larsen Carl H. Larsen is a veteran journalist based in San Diego. He now focuses on travel writing, and is summoned to pull out his notebook whenever there’s the plaintive cry of a steam locomotive nearby. In San Diego, he is a collegeextension instructor who has led courses on the Titanic and the popular TV series “Downton Abbey.”

Maribeth Mellin Maribeth Mellin is an award-winning journalist whose travel articles have appeared in Endless Vacation Magazine, U-T San Diego and Dallas Morning News among others. She also travels and writes for several websites including CNN Travel, Concierge.com and Zagat, and has authored travel books on Peru, Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, Hawaii and California. Though known as a Mexico pro, Maribeth has written about every continent and was especially thrilled by the ice, air and penguins in Antarctica.

Joanne DiBona Joanne DiBona does what she loves best….capturing the beauty of her home town, San Diego California as well as other visitor destinations around the world, through the eye of her camera. Joanne’s photos and articles appear on countless web sites as well as in guide books, magazines, newspapers, and brochures, both nationally and internationally. She is a contributor for USA TODAY/10Best.com, where her photo essays from travels around the globe are featured. She is an active freelance travel writer and a member of the esteemed Society of American Travel Writers.

Priscilla Lister Priscilla Lister is a longtime journalist in her native San Diego. She has covered a many subjects over the years, but travel is her favorite. Her work, including photography, has appeared in the U-T San Diego, Los Angeles Times, Alaska Airlines magazine and numerous other publications throughout the U.S. and Canada. She currently writes a weekly hiking column for the U-T, photographing every trail and its many wonders. But when the distant road beckons, she can’t wait to pack her bags.

Robert Whitley Robert Whitley writes the syndicated “Wine Talk” column for Creators Syndicate and is publisher of the online wine magazine, Wine Review Online. Whitley frequently serves as a judge at wine competitions around the world, including Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, Sunset Magazine International and the Dallas Morning News TexSom wine competitions. Robert also operates four major international wine competitions in San Diego: Critics Challenge, Winemaker Challenge, Sommelier Challenge and the San Diego International.

Jody Jaffe & John Muncie Jody and John are the co-authors of the novels, “Thief of Words,” and “Shenandoah Summer,” published by Warner Books. John was feature editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, arts editor of The Baltimore Sun and writer-editor-columnist for the travel department of The Los Angeles Times. His travel articles have been published in many major newspapers; he's a Lowell Thomas award-winner. Jody is the author of "Horse of a Different Killer,"'Chestnut Mare, Beware," and "In Colt Blood,” As a journalist at the Charlotte Observer, she was on a team that won the Pulitzer Prize. Her articles have been published in many newspapers and magazines including The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times.

They live on a farm in Lexington, Va., with eleven horses, three cats and an explosion of stink bugs.

6

Wine Dine & Travel 2016