There are some places that I am hesitant to visit initially, but end up falling in love with. Travel is like a kaleidoscope in that aspect — you don't really know what you'll get until you get there.

Detroit is one visit I will always remember from 2011. There's so much to Motor City beyond the silver GM Building, the indefatigable assembly line pioneered by Ford, and the dreary thought of worker layoffs and stringent Unions. Detroit is for the foodie, the adventurer, the architect lover in all of us.

Beyond the Willy Wonka Car Production Factory: Detroit, a City for Serious Foodies

I visited Detroit in April, 2011 and drank in everything: from the developed, ethnic fabric in Dearborn, Michigan to the more run down outskirts like Corktown. Corktown is not pretty, by any stretch of the overactive imagination, but the area is a cultural melting pot and a fabric of Irish immigrant settlers and a now more hip, young urban crowd. Detroit is a place for foodies, and one iconic dining option –Slow's BBQ on Michigan Avenue — has reinvented the culinary vernacular.

As I discovered, Detroit has surprisingly polished and diverse food choices. It would take a very uncreative person to starve here. One of my favorite places to eat was Pizzeria Biga which boasts Neapalitano-style brick oven pizzas with chewy, flavorful crust. Getting a slice of pizza these days is akin to sipping a generously warm latte from Dunkin Donuts — genuine, quality, but expected. Pizzeria Biga ups the ante and really gives you a flavorful experience.

For restaurants that have that "fun factor" woven into their aura and decor, there is plenty of action in Greektown, considered the most famous neighborhood in Downtown Detroit. At Pegasus Taverna,with its unassuming exterior, there is much gaiety, action and familial laughter. Savvy servers bring flaming plates of Greek Kasseri cheese lit ablaze with brandy to your table (the dish is called Saganaki Opa and the servers really and do shout Opa –a word which is often used to describe a joyful occasion or emotion). The patrons clap, as though at a concert. The restaurant makes one relive scenes from My Big Fat Greek Wedding – minus the tacky.

A misty morning in Dearborn, Michigan

The Creme de la Creme of Museums

A visit to the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village alone will inspire to you to appreciate the amount of American innovation that occurred at the turn of the century. Ford's vision and motto was that "ordinary Americans can do extraordinary things" and he was a vast collector of iconic inventions (from Edison's Menlo Park home reproduction to the actual bicycle where the Wright Brothers worked in Dayton, Ohio), you can truly see the innovations that shaped America.

At a popular places like Greenfield village, you can see school buses filled with children on field trips, tourists eager to inhale the spirit of turn of the century America, and museum curators eager to show off their vast knowledge. Detroit is full of passionate people, eager to recount legends, pass on their knowledge to those keen to soak it up, and features the creme de la cream of automobile and American innovation museums. 

The sacred, iconic Piquette Plant Assembly, where Henry Ford and his team assembled the first Model T and several other models, is a museum pilgrimage that no automobile connoisseur could afford to miss. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, this unassuming mill-style building was home to the realization of Ford's singular, stubborn dream of providing every American with an affordable car.

Creaky stairs, original wooden floors, even Ford's old office corner — everything is preserved, loved, cherished. Each year, volunteers work on preserving the antique cars to make sure all parts are intact, polished, functional, and every second of their labor of love is a donation. What a testament to the vision of Ford, I thought, and what level of respect. Visitors can sit in a small room with benches and watch a documentary on Ford's vision and realization.

The Only Place in North America Where You Can Look South Toward Canada

In Detroit, I discovered what it felt like to be in the only place in North America where you can gaze South toward Canada (I remember being in the General Motors building, a tall, silvery cylindrical skyscraper that looked a futuristic lighthouse), towards Windsor.

A City of Architectural Masterpieces

From the unmistakeable Guardian Building that lights up the city skyline, to the distinctly Detroit Pewabic pottery (the eponymous school still operates today and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1991), there is so much square footage of Detroit devoted to architecture and the arts. Pewabic pottery is known for its distinct, almost phantasmagoric quality of glazing with rich and deep colors.

A newly renovated bedroom at The Henry, an Autograph Collection Hotel in Dearborn, MI

The outskirts of Detroit, en route to Corktown

Corktown may not be a place to linger or sit in a cafe, but it has spots that are being renovated.

In Corktown, at the intersection of Wabash & Michigan Avenues. You're not in Kansas anymore.

An iconic restaurant in Corktown and Detroit itself, Slow's BBQ has brought tourists, celebrities, locals together in pursuit of a

new revitalized cuisine. Surprisingly, there are a lot of vegetarian and vegan options on the menu.

A Brush Motor Company car stands on the original wooden floor at the Piquette Assembly Plant in Detroit. Volunteers painstakingly restore each and every car to perfection on an annual basis

Inside the iconic Guardian Building, considered to be one of Detroit's architectural masterpieces

The rich glazed Pewabic Pottery Tiles that are distinctly Detroit

Stately servers put on a show of "Saganaki Opa" (flaming Greek Kasseri cheese and brandy) at Pegasus Restaurant in Greektown

A city that is never on autopilot: Detroit at night

After we arrived in Macau, we were greeted by yet another Joao (the name seems to be as common as "John" or "Matt" there), and quickly transported via taxi to our hotel, The Mandarin Oriental Macau.

A beautifully maintained boutique hotel (it's considered boutique only because of the number of rooms, 231), this hotel is located on the older Peninsula, which was were the first casinos were built. The oldest casino in Macau, the Grand Lisboa, is not too far away from the Peninsular strip. The Mandarin Oriental is also right next door to the MGM Grand, and a series of upscale shops that include Dior and Louis Vuitton. I could only imagine if a character like Isla Fisher in "Confessions of A Shopaholic" were to check into the hotel, her credit cards would need to be kept in the largest ice block on the property!

What struck me as I walked into the perfectly maintained lobby was the flawless customer service. It all started to sink in….I really and truly was in China. The attention to detail here is impressive: every leather chair seemed newly minted, the chandeliers sparkled, and my room was outfitted nicely and there was this cute fruit plate that had a nice medley of known and strange fruit.

That beautiful, spindly purple thing in the middle of the plate…do you see that? That's the Dragon Fruit, a local specialty. At first I was uncertain as to what to do with it…as with other strange fruit I've encountered (jackfruit, also known as sour sop; and initially, pomegranate). Dragon Fruit is an almost tasteless clear fruit studded with what looks like poppy seeds. It's very Macanese and I was told they make drinks out of this stuff. 

Also in my hotel room, the famed Portuguese Egg Tart, with a custard-like filling in the center.

Each hotel room gives you some kind of view of the Peninsula and Taipa Island: my view from the window was of the Macau Tower, which is famous for its bungee jumping! Apparently people have been going for years to bungee jump from the tower's peak, at 1,109 feet, and is the largest night-time bungee jumping tower in the world.

I wish I had learned Mandarin, but I figured all these characters just mean "Mandarin Oriental Macau"

These were gone in pretty much 60 seconds….with compliments to the chef

One of the softest duvets I've ever slept under…

A room with a Macanese View: almost sunset

Attack of the Dragon Fruit

A local delicacy

The view of the Macau Tower from my hotel room. The Tower is the tallest place in the world to do night time bungee jumping

I felt as though I needed a Swiss stamp in my passport. Summer in Vail meant flowers blooming and spilling with colorful force from their box windows and painted carts. Runners in shorts and tees whizzed by, and bicyclists sped past unhurried tourists taking in everything.

Vail in the summer reminded me of my visit to Geneva and Mount Arosa — the only two places I remember from my visit to Switzerland when I was only nine years old. I could see the the mountains covered in Aspen trees, Birch and Pine; I loved walking through the main street in Vail Village with its charming cobblestone streets and breathing — almost gulping — the fresh air. This was such a far cry from New York City, it was like comparing apples to hedgehogs. 

One of the first aspects I noticed about the town is how friendly the people were. I feel as though the general "I have no time for you" syndrome becomes much less when you move away from the metropolis (New York in particular), but there are few places where people have taken genuine delight in talking to you. And then there are the pets. Almost every other person I saw owned a dog, and a Golden Retriever at that. Vail has several pet stores, grooming salons and hotels that pamper the four-legged guest. The only other place I've been to that is as pet friendly is Carmel, California.

The first aspect of the Village I loved was the floral explosion. Strong, vivid colors. These are pots of blooms Renoir would have loved. A photographer can perch his tripod anywhere and be at home. A naturalist could study every tree in Vail Village and still not exhaust the possibilities.

Yoga is a popular sport here, and often in the summertime, there is free community yoga. There is likely no better location to unwind, to let your tension and cares go to the cliched and proverbial wind. Vail may consistently be ranked as one of the country's best ski resorts, but summer time, as Gershwin put it, "is when the livin' is easy."

You'll be taken with the blooms at the get go. This is no "paint by number" town. From scarlet to purple, colors are everywhere, and it's up to you to find out how to savor them. It's easy to be overwhelmed by the sensory spectacle of Vail, so pace yourself. The pictures above are from the entrance to the Sonnenalp Resort, and it's easy to get caught up in the details of the place.

My Junior Suite at Sonnenalp Resort in Vail: warm colors, a cozy fireplace and a distinctly chalet-style feel. As a vegetarian, I'm always wary when there are antlers in the room but was informed that the animal "died of natural causes." The hotel has "breakfast included" plans, so be sure to inquire. I loved the meticulous turndown service and freshly-baked cookies and bottle of fresh spring water that was brought in each evening.

A room with a view (the Swiss-style hotel rooms outside my balcony). The idyllic setting, European-style look and feel, and impeccable service are some of the factors that may have influenced Travel + Leisure Magazine to give the hotel the "World's Best" Award in 2010.

Vail has several cobblestone streets that give the town a distinct European flair. It's both a walking town and a biking town (you'll basically trip over mountain bike rental stores). Tourists and residents can find so much to take in: the flowers, scenery, colors, pets, stores and shops are all eye candy. The Village was hugely popularized by President Gerald Ford whose family vacationed here from the 1970's.

Naturalists will love Vail: from the flowers to sprawling pines to the unmistakeable aspen trees, every nook and cranny is covered with flora and greenery. The residents obviously take great pride in their gardens.

John Knowles: I've had a request for a mariachi band, and we asked Mama Mexico to create a night of experience in the room and suite. Many have asked for Broadway tickets and TKTS and concierge services.

Don't forget to leave a comment below to win one of THREE Roger's Bills worth $100 towards your stay at the hotel. Winners will be picked by April 15th. 

If you need a little sun and relaxation after the long winter, and also a spot that will have activities for the whole family, consider the Sandpiper Bay of Club Med for your Florida vacation. Florida has always been a popular destination for vacationers, and is considered a top ten vacation by US travelers, according to the Travel Channel. Sandpiper Bay will impress even the experienced Florida traveler with its beautiful sandy beaches and excellent ocean views. Sandpiper Bay offers a little something for everyone, ranging from relaxing accommodations to gourmet dining to daily excursions without you having to worry about a passport.

Recreation

One of the many reasons why guests are drawn to Sandpiper Bay is the resort’s ability to be tranquil when they need some rest or a hotbed for fun in the sun, when they’re ready to get out there and play. At Sandpiper Bay, guests will always find a plethora of activities ready for them to partake in whenever they desire. There is an activity for everyone to enjoy, and at any time, guests may enjoy recreational activities ranging from tennis to water activities to yoga for no additional charge.

Excursions

If at any time during their vacation guests are feeling a little adventurous, they can easily book a daily excursion through the hotel. The resort provides excursions for every age range, and even caters certain trips to individuals, couples, and families. Sunset cruises, jetski tours, and deep sea fishing are just a few of the daily excursions offered by Sandpiper Bay, and all are available for minimal additional fees.

Rest and Relaxation

For those who are choosing to simply indulge in some much needed rest and relaxation during their vacation, they may want to consider paying a visit to Sandpiper Bay’s spa and wellness center. Sandpiper Bay understands the importance of inner well-being, and offers a variety of spa treatments and services to ensure all guests are able to feel their best. At the center, guests may enjoy massages, facials, and even consultations with the resort full-time nutritionist or personal trainers for a minimal additional cost.

A Florida vacation is a great way to take a break from the daily grind of real life, and what better way to spend your vacation in a resort that caters to your unique travel needs. Guests have everything they wish to make their vacation enjoyable at their fingertips when they stay at Sandpiper Bay, and are able to enjoy it all for a reasonable cost.

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