Hiking along Central Coast

A recent hike along the ocean near Santa Cruz.

Sailing on RCL's Mariner of the Seas

Had a great time on the Mariner on one of its last departures for the Mexican
Riviera before it leaves for South American itineraries. Took a water taxi in Cabo for a lunch at The Office with our toes in the sand and plenty of cervesa!

Saw the ice show on board, experienced the men's sexy legs contest, laid out by the Solarium pool and its faux Roman lion and goddess sculptures and watched the talent show performed by young children in the kid's program. Hilarious. Ended with the karaoke contest, where a real prison guard sang "Jailhouse Rock" and "Friends in Low Places." Food was fabulous, lamb shanks were my favorite.

Tasting Monterey County Wines

Driving the River Road in Monterey County, we discovered several great wineries, including the Hahn winery, located in the Santa Lucia Highlands. From this hilltop winery you can look over the Salinas River Valley, planted with strawberries, lettuce and asparagus and see the Gabilan Mtns and the Pinacles National Monument. Awesome views!

Puerto Vallarta

Here's a shot of one of the scuptures on Puerto Vallarta's seaside walk, or malecon. I will cover many of these art pieces in my talk on Puerto Vallarta on our upcoming cruise on the Sapphire Princess.

Ahoy Matey! I'll be the destination lecturer on the Sapphire Princess cruise ship on its cruise of the Mexican Riviera departing San Pedro February 13, 2010. My talks will include "Mazatlan's Mysteries," "Puerto Vallarta: From Miracles to Movie Madness," and "Cabo San Lucas: Pirates of the Pacific. "

I'm Speaking Soon on a Pacific Coast Cruise!

"Madams, Miners, Merchants and Mozart" is the title for my talk on San Francisco history for Celebrity Cruise Line's Millennium ship departing Vancouver Sept 28 for a cruise to LA, tracing the Pacific coast. The second talk will be on "Great Wine Families in California," outlining the dreams, drama and in some cases disfunction of famous names such as Gallo and Mondavi. I'll give "Facing the Sea: M0nterey's History from Ships to Sardines to Steinbeck" just before we call on Monterey.

Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach

Spent a delightful monring at this aquarium, where an 88' replica of a blue whale hangs over the lobby. A friendly docent told us the whale's tongue alone can weigh 10,000 lbs! We saw bonnet head sharks, an olive ridley turtle nearly four feet long, swimming languidly by the glass, and sea apples, with red and green stripes. We learned sea apples are in the sea cucumber family. Many children were visiting and one of their favoirtes seemed to be the lionfish, which clearly looks like its namesake. For more on this terrific living museum, go to www.aquarium of the pacific.org.