Four Seasons Makes Its Debut at Oahu’s Ko Olina Resort
Two summers ago, I had the pleasure of staying at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort with the family on Oahu’s blossoming leeward coast. Part of the umbrella Ko Olina Resort (which also includes Disney’s Aulani and Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club), this is the quiet side of the island. We snorkeled with wild dolphins straight from the Ko Olina marina, saw the ring of Saturn one night stargazing through a powerful telescope, listened to live Hawaiian ukulele music on the beach, and dined at some of the finest restaurants on the island including Roy Yamaguchi and Peter Merriman’s Ko Olina outposts. After a yearlong, $500 million renovation, the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort has now transformed into the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina. The Four Seasons had a lot to work with including spacious rooms with oversized balconies that offer expansive views of the ocean at night. We left the screen door open to hear the waves rolling ashore. The beachfront locale is also home to a stingray pool and a separate building that houses a large spa and tennis courts. I’m excited to see what the Four Seasons has done with the property.
We have a 
With two mass murders of innocent civilians just this past week in America, you would think the country is hiding behind closed doors watching endless hours of CNN. Perhaps that’s true to some extent but here at our small travel agency on the outskirts of Boston, the phone has been ringing off the hook. In the past 48 hours, I have spoken to a grandmother who wants to bring her entire family of 15 to Belize, two friends headed to the beaches of Bahia, a family going to Kangaroo Island, Australia, a Cuba-bound couple, a group of 10 friends celebrating a 50th birthday by hiking Mount Kilimanjaro, and a number of requests for all-inclusive resorts or boutique properties in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. Many people mentioned how they just want to turn off. No television, no newspaper, no constant barrage of violent imagery, or having to hear the next moronic comment uttered by Trump. They want to be on a remote beach with their loved ones reading a good thick novel or, on the contrary, being incredibly active. But one client simply summed it up by stating, “I understand the fragility of life and while I’m still breathing, I want to live.” These are volatile times and nothing good can come out of these abhorrent crimes. But, at the very least, it’s a slap on the face telling us not to take anything for granted, most importantly today. Have a memorable weekend! 
Brewster’s 
Autumn in the Finger Lakes of western New York State is the time of year when leaves on the maples turn a tad crimson and the grapes on the vines are ready to be harvested for their award-winning Rieslings. Start on the northern tip of Keuka Lake in the town of Penn Yan. Head south on Route 54A and just outside of town, you’ll see signs for 
If the thought of going to the Cape during February break seems absurd, take a look at the weekend weather, where Sunday could top 50 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s prime beach walk weather in these parts. But even if there’s a blizzard outside, your family will have a blast at Brewster’s 
When I think of the ideal Canadian property, I imagine a small timber lodge cut from rough-hewn spruce right next to a running river where you can walk out in waders and fly-fish for trout. A chunk of pristine wilderness thick in a forest of old growth pines, hemlocks, and stately birches, so far from civilization that the night sky twinkles brightly. A boutique resort that caters to your every whim, from dinners of fresh lobster and scallops probably caught off the coast of Nova Scotia that day, to a hot tub, sauna, massages, and guitar strumming around the fire pit at night. Throughout my years of Canadian travel, I must have stayed at over 250 resorts in the country, but it doesn’t get much better than the