This summer and fall, as you travel about the US, include a visit to a city market, community garden, greenmarket, farmers’ markets, tailgate market, and seek out restaurants whose menus feature fresh, regionally grown vegetables and sustainable cuisine.  You’ll love this new tourism twist!Enjoy make-shift stalls and shaded lots filled with bins and buckets exploding with color.  Smell, pinch and snap, sample. Indulge in something delicious, freshly baked or locally canned.  Take in the regional flavor, the fresh air, the bustling sounds, the camaraderie.  Mingle with locals.

Get used to the term community garden as it’s making a comeback. They’ve been around since man began farming, and in the US became popular and patriotic during WWII when they were known as Victory Gardens.  In urban centers, blighted areas have long been greened by window boxes, roof gardens, green sproutings carefully tended in tiny plots, or in abandoned lots tucked between concrete walls.

The most recent urban community garden to make a big splash is the Slow Food Nation Victory Garden on the lawn of San Francisco’s City Hall, part of the Victory Gardens 2008+ project that is sweeping the city!  The food from the garden will be donated to local food banks and meal programs, and the overall message is to show urban residents that they, too, can grow their own, even in a limited space.   If you’re visiting San Francisco between July and September 2008, stop by City Hall in the Civic Center area.  You can get there several ways, but why not take the San Francisco Trolley Hop, get off at its Union Square stop, walk a couple of blocks to the BART stop at Market & Powell.  Get on the BART to the Civic Center stop.  You can’t miss the domed City Hall.  Or, if you’re just walking about, find one of San Francisco’s 40 community gardens on city-owned property.

Visiting Boston?  Hop on the Old Town Trolley Tours of Boston (a great tour with the added perk of being able to hop off at any one of the convenient stops to see the sights), get off at Stop # 11, walk down to the light, cross the street and Fenway Victory Gardens, the last of the WWII Victory Gardens, is right in front.   Or, get off at trolley Stop # 8, walk past the John Hancock Building, turn right onto Berkeley Street and walk 4 blocks to Berkeley Gardens, where Asian families carry on centuries-old tradition of farming garden plots.

Whether in a big city or small town, greenmarkets and farmers’ markets are no longer off the beaten path.  They’re sprouting up everywhere.  Greenmarket is a term more frequently associated with urban areas, while farmers’ markets can be large and urban, or small-town and colloquial.  Both can sell not only produce, but meat, seafood, baked goods, arrays of cheeses and other dairy products, preserves, honey, flowers and even crafts.  The produce can be organic, or not.

In big cities, while greenmarkets are becoming increasingly popular, some have been around forever. New York City, the penultimate urban community, has over 40, the biggest of which is Union Square Greenmarket, a must see!  Be sure to get there early as this is where the city’s famous chefs go shortly after dawn in search of the freshest ingredients for the day’s menu.  Washington’s beloved Eastern Market, a neighborhood market in the Capitol Hill neighborhood for over a century, was badly burned in a fire in April 2007, but vendors have kept the market open by setting up outside or across the street!  In Philadelphia, the year-round Reading Terminal Market has been a city fixture since William Penn’s time, and in historic Boston, the Copely Square Farmer’s Market sets up from mid-May to mid-November on Tuesdays and Fridays right in front of glorious Trinity Church on the famous square.

And the list goes on … Chicago has its Green City Market, a year-round market set up at the center of Lincoln Park in the summer, and inside the Peggy Notebaert Nature Center in the winter, which encourages sustainable practices from farmers selling there.  In New Orleans, be sure to stop by the Mid-City Green Market, which, to the delight of locals and visitors, just re-opened in May after having been closed since Katrina.  Glittery Las Vegas is more than nighttime neon - stop by Garden Park Farmers’ Market for a breath of fresh air.  On Saturdays in trendy Miami, walk through the venerable Coconut Grove Organic Farmers Market for a change of pace.

Smaller farmers’ markets, more regional in flavor, tend to have a real neighborly feel.  In Washington DC, within the beltway residents love their year-round Farm Fresh Market, open Sundays in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, and seasonally in Foggy Bottom and in up and coming Penn Quarter.  In the Los Angeles area, surrounded by miles and miles of fertile fields, farmers’ markets are everywhere, many featuring Asian and Hispanic specialties. San Diego has so many that the Farm Bureau of San Diego County pulishes a Farmer’s Market Schedule!

Likewise in small communities and towns across the country, small farmers’ markets and even smaller tailgate markets are everywhere. Traveling about by car this summer? If you see a farmers’ market along the way, stop. Get out to stretch your legs and pick up fresh ingredients for a spontaneous picnic lunch.  Sure beats the packaged, fast-food alternative!

For a change in restaurant fare, become a  “Locavore!” Designated as the word of the year in November 2007 by the New Oxford American Dictionary, it means one who is passionate about eating local ingredients.  In many cities, chefs are creating market-driven menus with selections prepared with regionally produced and available ingredients. In San Diego, locavores go to JSix in the Gaslamp District, just a couple of blocks from Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego’s Stop #5A for innovative lunch and dinner menus featuring fresh, seasonal regional produce and sustainable seafood.  In New York City, many restaurants are following the market-driven menu trend, and do so with creativity and flair.  For example, Tribeca Grill, owned by Robert DiNiro, is fabulous and reflects the artistic character of the surrounding Tribeca neighborhood; BLT Market in the Ritz Carleton reflects its upscale Midtown East neighborhood.  In Washington, D.C., Nora’s became America’s first certified organic restaurant in 1999; 15 ria’s new American cuisine is fabulously created with market-fresh ingredients that change with the season; and, Hook in Georgetown offers a wonderful dining experience with a menu that changes daily to reflect whatever sustainable fish are in season and available.

Get out; get in touch.  See America as you have never before see it!

Here it is: Disney’s 2008 Dream Catalog. The new, extended Year of a Million Dreams includes “dreams money can’t buy.” These special events will be given away to lucky recipients visiting Disney Parks.

How about attending the premier of High School Musical 3 or being the guest of honor at the largest character breakfast…ever? Sounds fantastic.

I’ll be in Orlando, Florida soon for the International Food and Wine Festival but now I need to read my catalog and Dream…

Yes, it’s Extravagant, Astonishing and Unrestrained. It’s Inspiring, Surreal and Indulgent. It’s Wealth, Power and Privilege.

It’s in the middle of nowhere…

Don’t get me wrong. The California countryside around Hearst Castle is beautiful. San Simeon stretches with ocean and farmland as far as the eye can see. But getting to the area takes time and planning. Advanced reservations for this popular attraction are a must and at least an overnight stay is required to see everything.

I was lucky enough to book a special Friday evening tour. What makes this tour different is the historical reenactors throughout the grounds who portray party guests from the heyday of social activities here. Celebrities, moguls and royalty all flocked to this legendary location for fabled parties and events. Cary Grant and Bing Crosby were regulars. Winston Churchill visited. Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers were guests. It was THE place to see and be seen.

Construction started in 1919 through 1947 and included 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theater, an airfield, and the world’s largest private zoo on over 250,000 acres. William Randolph Hearst created a publishing empire at the turn of the 20th Century and when he decided to build, money was no object. Entire ceilings purchased from Medieval European castles were installed. Priceless

antique tapestries, paintings, first edition books, Egyptian pottery, furniture and art fills the 165 rooms. It’s amazing. Mr. Hearst was a man of large appetites. His guests must have had the time of their lives. Need to watch Citizen Kane once more…

Cambria, California is a popular jumping off point for Hearst Castle and it is beautiful. Some would call it a “one horse town” but that is part of the charm. The coastline is spectacular and I can’t get over how good the food is in California. Everything is extra fresh and minimally prepared. A chef friend of mine once said, “food should taste like itself”. Now I get it. (I had the best trout ever at the Sow’s Ear Cafe.)

Folks in Cambria are very helpful and sincere. A great base camp for my adventure to Hearst Castle.

The City of Morro Bay, California is mostly known for the huge Morro Rock rising up from the ocean. It’s a working fishing village and I had a great fish sandwich there on the way to Hearst Castle. I also visited their funky little Aquarium.

This family owned attraction is dedicated to rehabilitating sea creatures since 1984 and the sea lions greet you right at the entrance. Boy, are they loud. The inside room is dark and small with murky tanks filled with a variety of animals. A huge octopus was very popular along with a good local shark exhibit. The rest of the waterfront is filled with fun shops and restaurants. It’s a great place to hang out and at the end of the road you can see the fishing fleet come in with their daily catches. A nice slice of local California north of Los Angeles. Totally.

The charming Danish town of Solvang is just north of Los Angeles, California. It lies near the wineries of the Santa Ynez Valley and offers great hospitality including some amazing bakeries. The town was featured in the movie “Sideways” and their claim to fame is a taste of Denmark.

Here you can stroll the European streets, horseback ride, balloon, glide, bike, tour or visit the Hans Christian Anderson museum. Lots of events make this a wonderful place to visit. One of the highlights is the seasonal outdoor festival theater where top notch performances take place.

Plan to spend some time in this historic town and turn your cell phone off. Skoal!

North of Los Angeles in the self-proclaimed, “Home of pea soup”, known as Buellton, California is Ostrichland. When you see the small black and white sign, pull over. Not only can you buy some fresh produce but for just $4 you can hang out with Ostriches and Emus. These curious animals pose for photos and you can feed them. Inside you can buy bird related products. Enormous eggs, purses, hats and yes…even meat. Give Ostrich a try. Tastes like lean beef if you don’t over cook it. This is a classic roadside attraction that harkens back to another time. If you’re on the road to Solvang or the Santa Ynez Valley wine country do yourself a favor and feed the birds. You’ll be glad you did.

That’s a big part of the appeal at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Reading the inscriptions and seeing the size of the celebrities hands and feet. Really. Of course, the interior is Hollywood glamorous but the action is outside where the crowds gather and with the crowds all manner of street entertainers. It’s like a circus. Freddy vs Jason. Superman and Wonder Woman. Charlie Chaplin and Captain Jack Sparrow. What a hoot-a-nanny.

But Sid Grauman would be pleased I think. The Showman who invented Hollywood would appreciate the hubbub outside his theater where movie premiers and special events still pack’em in. As John Wayne said, “Sid, there are not enough words.”

When you need to escape the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, California then hop on board the Catalina Island Express shuttle and head for Avalon. In less than an hour on this high speed boat, you will be a world away on Catalina Island in the Pacific Ocean. The ship is very comfortable, serves food and makes trips throughout the day. Hotels are available on the Island, too. So are tons of activities. Tour, fish, scuba, snorkel, glass bottom boat, kayak, camp, hike; the list goes on and on.

If activity doesn’t suit you then stroll the shops and restaurants right on the beautiful harbor, visit the spa or sit and people watch.

This is a great escape with a small town feel in an Island setting. Don’t miss it.

But this attraction is so much more than a ship’s tour. You can do a guided or self-guided tour of the ship filled with old photos and artifacts from days gone by when royalty and celebrity stood on these decks but the cool thing is how parts of the ship have been converted. You can even spend the night.

A hotel with 365 original staterooms is available complete with spa, five restaurants, shops and banquet facilities. Events are constant from music and concerts to dinner with Psychic Peter James and The Rocky Horror Picture Show featuring a live local cast.

One of my favorite activities is the Ghosts and Legends Haunted tour. Our group explored deep into the bowels of the ship in areas not open to the public where historic tales were spun and special effects brought the many reported hauntings to life. Good stuff.

You can spend a lot of time at the Queen Mary exploring the many options. But don’t get lost…some of the long-term residents aboard the ship you don’t want to meet.