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A Serendipitous Soak in Connemara

The baths are a favorite among Connemara’s hiking crowd — a soothing end to a day of trekking. “I’ve been coming to the Leenane Hotel since I was a little girl,” says 50-something Claudia Baan, from Germany. “And the best part of my daily hike is always the seaweed bath at the end of the trail,” she adds, laughing. Hikers unwind and rejuvenate as soothing music fills the candlelit rooms, and soakers are greeted by the stunning vista of the fjord, visible through the privacy of one-way glass windows. A tranquil soak in the velvety, silky sludge is the ultimate relaxation experience — at the very least it’s sure to promote a good night’s sleep!

Stepping Back in Time at Ooedo-Onsen Monogatari Hot Springs, Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan

Ooedo-Onsen Monogatari is a hot springs spa theme park styled after an Edo-era town center. Once you walk through the doors and sign in at the front desk, it’s time to move through the magic time travel curtains. You find yourself transported back in time to a festival evening — stars in the sky and colorful lanterns all aglow. You find small shops, food vendors, a variety of spa services, and, most importantly, the entrances to gender separated hot baths of all kinds.

D.C.’s Best Classic Comfort Food

Walking into Martin’s Tavern is like taking a trip through time. While equestrian paintings are the prominent artwork on display, don’t be fooled into thinking this is a horse-themed restaurant. The original owner, Billy (William S. Martin), was a pro basketball, football, and baseball star who opened this Georgetown watering hole in 1933. Billy was on the 1914 Boston Braves team that won the World Series. His humble tavern has been a favorite of locals and several of our nation’s presidents, albeit before they were elected to the nation’s highest office.

Think Small to Sample D.C.’s Biggest Names in Fine Dining

Jose Andres — now a nationally-renowned chef with restaurants from South Beach to Beverly Hills — opened Jaleo, his first, in Washington’s Penn Quarter entertainment district in 1993. Recently renovated, Jaleo is bright and lively with large windows looking to the busy sidewalks outside. Our favorite dishes here include sauteed spinach with pine nuts, raisins, and apples; shrimp sauteed with garlic; and chorizo sausage with mashed potatoes and cider sauce.

World’s Oldest Working Restaurant: Centuries-Old Charm and Timeless Quality are Botin’s Secret Ingredients for Success

Sobrino de Botin is the oldest working restaurant in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records. Founded by a French chef in 1725, Botin is now owned by Antonio Gonzalez and his family. Every day, they serve their world-famous roast suckling pig and roast lamb to tourists, celebrities, royalty, and regulars alike.

Easter Times Three in New Orleans

According to the French Quarter bartender serving my Sazarac, “the Easter Parade was the brainchild of ‘a well-preserved 80-year-old showgirl and her curated contingent of NOLA [New Orleans, Louisiana] friends.’” My back home NOLA-to-Seattle-expat colleague assured me the Easter parade would illustrate the grand tradition of genteel Southern ladies dressed in their Easter bonnets accompanied by dapper gents in boater hats. And the NOLA pedicab driver described it as the craziest, wildest party in NOLA second only to Mardi Gras.

Columbus Museum of Art Designs with Kids in Mind

“Imagine a world where children are encouraged to play in art museums.” This was a vision of Executive Director Nannette Maciejunes during the design of the newly expanded and renovated Columbus Museum of Art. The new museum, reopened in October 2015, is much more than large rooms filled with paintings. Maciejunes believes, “This exciting endeavor is a shift from just talking about the works hanging on the wall to talking about how art connects people to themselves, their community, and their world.”

A Michelin Memory of Provence

The buffet itself was art. Shrimp and snails were piled majestically into a silver tureen with the hotel garden as a backdrop. Delicate slices of salmon were deliberately draped across a silver tray. Fresh salads of every type glistened with olive oil and glowed with the colors of freshly-picked vegetables.

Magical Man-O-War Cay

From the moment we tossed our lines to the dockhand at Man-O-War Marina (http://manowarmarina.com), we felt like we were home. Though tiny in size, it is large on hospitality! This special island is a skinny two and a half miles long, and has about 300 year-round residents, many of whom are descended from early loyalist settlers who left the newly formed United States of America after the American Revolutionary War. They are friendly and good-natured and embrace you (if you are willing) into their culture and lives. In the two and a half weeks we spent on Man-O-War, we became known as the “couple from the big catamaran,” and my husband Jim was invited to join the men each afternoon at Andy Albury’s woodworking shop as they chewed the fat about island history, politics, and woodworking, and shared a laugh or two.