The T-Boy Society of Film & Music’s first poll for 2021 is dedicated to favorite domestic destinations: Cities, Towns and Sites. We felt this would be an appropriate theme as traveling to domestic destinations is slowly opening up.

I’m a travel writer. Words are what I do. My stories may not always sing but I usually can put one word in front of another succinctly enough to craft a quasi-well-written article. But when I heard about the newly opened Planet Word in Washington, D.C., I was so excited, I had no words.

Spanish colonizers christened it Isla del Fuego (Island of Fire) for the glow given off by swarms of fireflies at night. In the past century however, the island province of Siquijor in the Philippines has gained a reputation for its folk healers. More notoriously, stories about sorcery, witchcraft and spirit beings have added to its mystique.

Since ancient times, new beginnings – that’s carnival. It’s our craving to shuck memories of the slings and arrows that paralyze us. New Year’s resolutions disappear in the first head wind, but carnival has been serious about new beginnings since the Greeks partied to praise Dionysus and the Romans thanked Bacchus for wine and flora, fertility heavy on their minds.

If you are looking for a beautiful and relaxing outdoor getaway for the day, the new Chinese Gardens at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens are a spectacular sight to behold. Reopened to the public this summer, the Liu Fang Yuan, or Garden of Flowing Fragrance, is one of the largest classical-style Chinese gardens in the world.

Are you mourning this year’s lack of Carnival’s spiritual cleanse, its satirical sorting of society’s woes to give us perspective? I am. And so I retreat now to past frolics. It’s hard to overstate how rotten the past year has been, in so many ways, or the dim prospects it left us, as we await whatever next escapes Pandora’s Box.

The Manor House, which is still in use today, was built in 1653 by the Knights of Malta. The sugar mill, constructed in 1733, now serves as a venue for weddings. Former slave quarters dating back 250 years provide lodging.

Magically enchanting and much-loved Paris, the Urban Empress of Europe, remains eternally young and amorous. Occasionally vain, always passionate, and with a long and turbulent history, the legendary city has a special flair for life that has captivated many of the world’s most inspired artistic talent.

My dreams had been colored by my upcoming trip to Bologna. Nestled in north central Italy in the region of Emilia-Romagna, Bologna has long been considered the gastronomic capital of Italy. With the moniker of ‘La Grassa’ (the fat one), it is the birthplace of Mortadella di Bologna, Tagliatelle al ragù, Tortellini en brodo, Lasagne alla Bolognese and so much more.

When most folks think of Cajun Country, if they think of it at all, it’s probably Lafayette, Louisiana. But most people visiting Louisiana make a stop in New Orleans, and Lafourche Parish, just 45 minutes west of the Big Easy, is a more accessible, more authentic Cajun experience than its more well-known and commercial cousin several hours away. But it’s a far cry from Bourbon Street, beignets and bar stools.

I miss Willie Dixon. I had the tremendous good fortune to sit and talk with him on several occasions during the 1980's, and he never failed to amaze, entertain and enlighten me. During those years you couldn't go into a Southern California club, blues venue or attend a music festival without seeing the man surrounded by an entourage of adoring friends and fans.

I am thinking of a filthy, disgusting creature that wasn’t invited into your home and just won’t go away. No, this is not a lawyer joke nor am I thinking about your uncle. Because of the types of places, I have gone, particularly third world destinations, war torn countries and disaster sites, I have come to expect cockroaches to be one of my traveling companions or at least my welcoming party. But at least let me begin with some good news.

How was your journey? The Gambardella family, several generations of whom are usually on the scene, have been asking this question ever since they began welcoming guests to their villa-like retreat on the edge of a cliff along the legendary Amalfi Coast of southern Italy in 1904.

As I ambled through the verdant and sometimes wild, untamed off-road “savannahs ” of Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, I was glad that Robin Hood was my trailblazing Sherpa. Robin, known outside of the forest as Ezekial Bone, is an actor/interpreter of history, an extraordinary storyteller, and font of information, much of which will supply me with fascinating cocktail-party persiflage …

On my recent visit to Castilla y Léon, Spain, my fifth to the region, I knew there were so many new things to see and do, as-well-as so many I’d done before that I wanted to do again, that I couldn’t possibly fit them all into one week.

Driving through the mountains of Bosnia, it’s easy to become enchanted by the verdant beauty of this little visited Balkan country. It’s also easy to forget it’s one of Europe’s poorest countries, and that through the 1990’s, it was torn by the worst ethnic warfare Europe has seen since the Second World War.

The line “Made in China” was synonymous with cheap, poorly made, disposable junk for many years. Today, as the world’s largest economy, the country produces and exports a vast range of goods, from Apple computers to Trump neckties.

There was not a hint of litter on the street. Mexican children frolicked on the beach. Los Pacenos (La Paz natives) offered gentle smiles as they jogged past me along the Malecón – La Paz’s bay-front boardwalk that stretches along the historic downtown. It was hard to take it all in with the sun setting on the glimmering Sea of Cortez.

“You want me to go where?” my mind shouted as I barreled down a 90-degree encampment leading into a wall of mud – and gravel-encased woods. I was driving – or more accurately surviving – an ATV excursion at the Primland Hotel in Meadows of Dan, Virginia.

The winter months are the perfect time to heat up your home with freshly baked goods. Baketivity is a super fun baking kit option that comes with an adorable chefs hat and child size apron. This. as well as easy to use recipe instructions, pre-measured ingredients and a delicious product.

Happy Holidays, dearest readers. The T-Boy Society of Film & Music’s final poll for 2020 is dedicated to PILGRIMAGES: Sacred Destinations. We felt this would be an appropriate theme as we slide into the holiday season. Though 2020 is a year we’d like to have in our rearview mirror, it’s been a great year for T-Boy because of you.