Kauai, once known mostly as a quiet romantic island is quickly becoming a hot spot for adventurous and luxurious girlfriend getaways. With almost endless options for fun and sun, it’s nearly impossible not to have a perfect day with the girls.

Most residents of Portland couldn’t tell you the best coffee in St. John’s. In fact, the old working-class neighborhood at the mouth of the Columbia feels like its own small town. Edged at the confluence of two rivers and popular with students from nearby University of Portland, St. John’s has a sleepy, uncommercial, workaday feel. Discovering this old Portland community can provide a day of active fun for the whole family.

As you cruise up and down I-5 in Washington you may ask yourself, ‘what’s happening in Tacoma?’—the answer is a lot. No longer the ugly step child of Seattle, Tacoma has cleaned up its formally blemished downtown and has set itself up to be a true destination for Washington visitors and the place to start is the Museum District.

Every city has a fringe, but Portland maintains an unusually visible odd streak. From a fiercely independent music scene to clowns riding tall bikes and marching bands on stilts, Portland prides itself on its quirky nature. Here are a few of the annual festivals that give the Rose City its unique atmosphere.

There's something different about San Francisco, and I'm not just talking about its Victorian architecture, its cable cars or the fact that the Golden Gate Bridge is painted orange. If anything, these are the end results of something that runs much deeper through the city's seven by seven mile area: its eccentric spirit.

I met her in New York. Sophisticated, had studied history in college, someone who talked about the polishing effects in the sculpture of Bernini. Beyond that we had a clear case of "high enthusiasm" for each other. So, I didn't want to take her just anywhere. I understood that this would require staging.