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Guidebook author and travel writer Sherry Spitsnaugle first expressed her urge to explore at age four when she packed up her little red wagon and took off for an adventure—around the block. Today, she continues to fulfill her wanderlust, exploring the world and writing about her experiences.
Sherry has won numerous awards for her travel writing and photography, including the prestigious 2022-2023 Bill Muster Photo Awards for her portfolio of photos of San Miguel de Allende. Sherry is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers, International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association, and North American Travel Journalists Association. Her work appears in the Chicago Tribune, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Wander with Wonder, RealFoodTraveler, Pulse News, GoWorldTravel, Ottsworld, LuxeBeat and more.
Bora Bora boasts beauty beyond description, with its legendary see-through blue and cobalt waters. Visitors will find a warm Tahitian welcome as well as extraordinary French cuisine and wine.
Cody Yellowstone offers stunning landscapes and shops with fun, unique cowboy boots. Did you know, you can also take a guided hike in Shoshone National Forest or make a traditional wooden spoon?
These are the best places to travel in October around the world, whether you want to explore restaurants and bars, arts and culture, sports and wellness, or the outdoors.
Travel writer Sherry Spitsnaugle shares her favorite things to do, where to stay, and where to dine in the charming city of Victoria, B.C., on Vancouver Island.
Writer Sherry Spitsnaugle goes for the gold at Madison Wisconsin's National Mustard Museum.
Staying at a guesthouse in rural Kazakhstan offered an experience for author Sherry Spitsnaugle and seven other travelers.
Experiencing the olive oil culture in Extremadura-grove to table-gives visitors a closeup look at this part of daily life in Spain.
Travel writer Sherry Spitsnaugle visited Vienna as a backpacker back in the day, and traveled there recently to rediscover this elegant Austrian city.
Swarovski Crystal Worlds, located about 20 minutes from Innsbruck, Austria, is an enchanting world filled with sparkle. Read on for what you can experience when you visit. Walking into Swarovski Crystal Worlds, Austria, felt as effervescent and exquisite as a sip of Champagne. Floor-to-ceiling crystals dazzled, and reflections flashed purple and crimson.
Along with the carols, twinkling lights, and ornaments hung lovingly on the tree, it’s the presence of specific food and drink that really says “holidays” to us. Writer Sherry Spitsnaugle visited Dresden, Germany recently and found out, first hand, just how beloved stollen bread (also called Christstollen) is in Germany and also around the world.
Think you know all there is to know about Cody Yellowstone? Scroll this list to learn where to ring in the new year. And more!
My 14-year-old great-niece, Sammy, broke into fits of giggles as she made snow angels just steps from our Beaver Creek rented chalet. "I'm stuck, Auntie!" she called out as she lay on her back, laughing, and stretching her arms toward the sky.
A guided tour through Chinatown in Vancouver, followed by a dumpling making class, gives you a taste of the area's history and culture.
A group of cyclists guided by Adventures Out West set out on a thrilling, adrenaline-filled bicycle ride down Pikes Peak.
Specialty restaurants on a cruise ship offer a more intimate setting than the main dining rooms. Try these five specialty restaurants on Discovery Princess.
The St. Thomas Boys Choir's sweet voices resonated like angels in St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, Germany. I listened in awe. I couldn't understand the words in German, but the boys' pure, wholesome tones captivated me. Organ music soared through the church, with its ornate ceilings, white columns, and stained-glass windows.
My heart raced as I struggled to hold the 11-inch rainbow trout, slippery as an iPhone without a case, as I posed for a photo. I ...
Winter in Fairbanks, Alaska, offers breathtaking views of the Aurora Borealis, periwinkle skies at sunset, and outdoor activities like walking with reindeer. But did you know this town is home to Thai food as good as any in Bangkok? Exceptional Thai food in Fairbanks is just one reason to visit this friendly Alaskan city.
The desert sky became more vibrant each minute as the sun set in northern Scottsdale. I shot one photo after another, thinking the sky was at its best. Colors of day-glow orange and pale pink filled the evening sky with silhouettes of saguaro in the foreground.
Many cruise lines offer specialty dining options, smaller, themed restaurants that are available at an additional cost. That's in addition to the variety of dining options included in the cruise fare. Writer Sherry Spitsnaugle shares the experience of the Cucina del Capitano menu as well as other fun activities on the Carnival Breeze cruise ship.
It's one of the most iconic desserts in the world and Cafe Sacher in Vienna can make it its claim to delicious fame. Writer Sherry Spitsnaugle explains why no visit to Vienna, Austria is complete without sitting down with a slice of the historic Sacher Torte.
By SHERRY SPITSNAUGLE Motorcycles gunned their engines on a busy street of Todos Santos, in Mexico's coastal state of Baja California Sur, as I bit into a juicy pork taco smothered in tomatillo, followed by a healthy swig of icy Pacifico beer. A friend and I sat at a cardboard table on the small patio...
In an effort to bring you some new voices on Ottsworld, here is a guest post from writer Sherry Spitsnaugle. I met Sherry S at a Denver event and found out that she was a travel writer! So not only does she have a cool name, but she also has a way with words!
If sailing on the big, blue ocean is your thing, but an ocean liner is not, small ship cruising may be just the thing for you. Writer Sherry Spitsnaugle tells us what it's like to travel, eat, and play with UnCruise Adventures. Hungry for more? Try this UnCruise recipe for Crab Stuffed Salmon.
Along with the carols, twinkling lights, and ornaments hung lovingly on the tree, it’s the presence of specific food and drink that really says “holidays” to us. Writer Sherry Spitsnaugle visited Dresden, Germany recently and found out, first hand, just how beloved stollen bread (also called Christstollen) is in Germany and also around the world.
In 1893, Katharine Lee Bates was so inspired by the magnificent view of Pikes Peak, that she wrote the celebrated words to "America the Beautiful." The glorious Pikes Peak Region indeed evokes spacious skies and purple mountain majesties. Who wouldn't want to spend a weekend in Colorado Springs exploring this majestic region?
Pulse News Mexico/Sherry Spitsnaugle By SHERRY SPISNAUGLE Set high in the Bavarian Alps, with a stunning view of Germany's tallest peak, the Zugspitze, Schloss Elmau Luxury Spa Retreat & Cultural Hideaway sits a 20-minute drive from the border of Austria.
"Anything is possible at Schloss Elmau," my server said, smiling, in a slight German accent, when I asked if I could order a variation to a dish from the pre-fixe dinner menu. Set high in the Bavarian Alps with a view of Germany's tallest peak, the Zugspitze, Schloss Elmau Luxury Spa Retreat & Cultural Hideaway [...]
At 5,280 feet above sea level, the Mile High City offers culture, history, galleries, great restaurants, and brewpubs. A weekend in Denver is the perfect way to sample what the city has to offer. Denver is known as the Napa Valley of craft beer, where eating and drinking rank up there with biking and hiking.
Going on a cruise for the first time with a pre-teen is a special experience – they are old enough to be really conscious of what’s going on while still young enough to feel the magic of it all. Writer and great-aunt-extraordinaire, Sherry Spitsnaugle, tells us what it's like to cruise with kids, especially when that kiddo is teetering on teenhood.
The most popular thing to do at the luxury Greenbrier Resort i n West Virginia isn't being pampered at the spa, playing a round of golf on one of its world-class courses, or indulging in its legendary fine dining. The resort's most requested activity is a 90-minute tour of what's known as the bunker, the former top secret U.S.
Marilau Ricaud greets my adult niece Kelly and me and invites us into her kitchen, just off a cobblestoned street in a sleepy neighborhood of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We have signed up for a three-hour class with Marilau's Mexican Ancestry Cooking School to learn how to make tamales.
It was October 2019 during the SATW annual conference in El Paso, Texas, that I officially met Sherry Spitsnaugle. We just happen to be sitting next to each other at the conference. At the time, I was living in Denver and had reached out to her a few months prior, to see if she wanted [...]
I close my eyes and breathe in the aroma of cinnamon from my porcelain Christmas mug filled to the brim with steaming hot Glühwein, Germany's official holiday grog. I take that first sip and savor the spice-laden mulled wine, fragrant with the aroma of oranges and cloves.
Mud splatters my face and the high decibel level makes me cover my ears as I bounce up and down in the back seat of a four-passenger ATV. My knuckles turn white from clinging to the “chicken bar” as the driver picks up speed down the dusty, rutted, narrow path. Branches and twigs scrape our rig – and my arm. I love every teeth-rattling, bone-jarring jolt.
A vocalist croons John Denver's hit, "Take Me Home, Country Roads," in The Greenbrier's upper lobby and the scent of fresh flowers fills the foyer. Splashed in bigger-than-life vivid magenta and sunshine yellow florals, the resort's lavish décor is the opposite of low-key. Guests have been coming to The Greenbrier since 1778, when they first [...]
Like just about everything else in 2020, even getting together to bake cookies with family and friends has changed. Writer Sherry Spitsnaugle and her family got together for a virtual cookie baking party to make festive, authentic Spitzbuben together - while apart.
In an effort to bring you some new voices on Ottsworld, here is a guest post from writer Sherry Spitsnaugle. I met Sherry at a Denver event and found out that she was a travel writer! So not only does she have a cool name, but she also has a way with words!
I’m perched at the bar in the classy tasting room of Deviation Distilling, in Denver’s historic Baker neighborhood, gazing at a fine-looking flight of three coffee-inspired whiskeys co-owner Cindi Wiley has just poured for me to sample. What better way to gear up for National Coffee Day, Sept. 29, than by indulging in the best of two worlds – caffeine and spirits.
The vibe, the action, the grit, the fun, the tacos. Follow along as Sherry Spitsnaugle, takes us on a tasty journey, day-tripping in Tijuana. Cars whiz past a few feet from our crowded, noisy sidewalk table and the smell of exhaust mingles with the aroma of fresh tortillas as I tuck into a pork taco smothered in cilantro and guacamole. I am in the heart of Tijuana, Mexico, on a six-hour food/beer/crafts excursion with a group of six others. A smidgen of juicy salsa goodness dribbles...
I’m in the saddle of my trusty steed, Sabino, at the foot of Suicide Pass, nervously staring up at the steep, cactus-lined path. It’s my final morning of a five-day visit at White Stallion Ranch, just outside of Tucson. It seemed like a good idea when I signed up this morning at the last minute. Now, as I study the rocky trail I ask myself, “What the heck was I thinking?”
The most popular thing to do at the luxury Greenbrier Resort i n West Virginia isn't being pampered at the spa, playing a round of golf on one of its world-class courses, or indulging in its legendary fine dining. The resort's most requested activity is a 90-minute tour of what's known as the bunker, the former top secret U.S.
The day Mary Fusillo and Vanessa Famighetti launched their company, Beyond the Nest, fell on the same day that a once-in-a-century storm was slamming Texas. In Houston, where Mary and her husband live, the couple awoke February 15, 2021, to a frigid home without water, power, or internet.
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The pre-dawn sky is pitch black as I slog in my new Wellies to a bird blind in the heartlands of south-central Nebraska. Here, our group of 18 will await the sights and sounds of the graceful sandhill cranes—some 100,000 of them—now settled on a nearby sandbar of the Platte River Valley. A light mist falls following a night of steady rain as we walk in strict silence: we do not want to scare the cranes. The only sounds I hear are of my rubber boots as I slosh along the puddle-strewn path.
I’m sitting in the bow of a two-person kayak paddling the glassy waters of Grand Lake, Colorado’s largest natural body of water. Temps in Denver are forecast to be 100 today, and the early morning mountain air feels refrigerator-cool. Other than a solitary fisherman and a couple sitting in lawn chairs on the shore who give us a friendly wave, the lake and surrounding area are empty. I’ve even removed my COVID face mask but just for a quick photo—please don’t tell the Gov.
When we travel, we love to go on food tours. They are a great way to experience a variety of restaurants, get to meet the owners, stroll neighborhoods, learn some history and get a unique feel for a destination. We also believe in playing tourist in our own city, Denver.
The mid-day Thailand sun scorched as a fortune teller studied my palm in a bustling Bangkok market. After a few predictable comments, he said, “I see you are very lonely.” Then, he looked me in the eye, grinned, and said, “And, I see a handsome man in your future.” I shook my head in disgust, grabbed my stuff, and walked away. Granted, I was in no real danger, but the experience gave me the creeps. I was three weeks into a six-month journey through Southeast Asia. As a single woman...