Ever heard of the “Conch Republic?” It’s one of the names the United States’ southernmost city dubs itself, and dates back to 1982 when leaders in Key West decided to protest a U.S. border patrol checkpoint that was all but choking off traffic on the only road in by proclaiming independence, declaring “war” on the USA,…

If, as the old saw goes, everyone’s a little Irish on Lá Fhéile Pádraig, as they say in Gaelic (even yours truly just found some Emerald Isle heritage thanks to DNA testing!), what better occasion to visit the the gateway to the Emerald Isle which bestowed this happy holiday upon us? With a lovely setting on Dublin Bay, split by the River Liffey,…

New England sure has been getting walloped by winter this year. But come warm weather, there's no more delightful part of the USA - and one of my favorite parts of it is also one of America’s first and most historic holiday destinations – a 339-square-mile (880-square-kilometre) chunk of Barnstable…