Tucsan Botanical Gardens

The Tucson Botanical Garden was named “Best Secret Garden in America” by Reader’s digest, and it was easy to see why after our visit last week. Located on 5 ½ acres, and dubbed as an urban garden, this truly is a lush and tranquil oasis in the heart of the city. A collection of 16 residentially scaled gardens incorporate mature trees, expertly cultivated foliage, a cactus and succulent garden, an herb garden, and even a Barrio Garden, all which serve to highlight the diversity of native plants. You will also find a Zen Garden and prehistoric garden, and most delightful of all to me, the Butterfly Magic Pavilion, featuring live tropical butterflies with species from five continents. Below are pictures of the flowers and paths found throughout the botanical garden. I will post pictures of the butterflies in a separate post. 

Holistic Holiday at Sea Cruise

Holistic Holiday at Sea has become a favorite travel adventure for me and Dan. We went first in 2011 (Holistic Holiday at Sea 2011 ), again in 2015 ( Holistic Holiday at sea 2015), and just this month (March 2016), we went for our third time. This year we were celebrating my 60th birthday, which made it all the more special! I was happy that we were again on the beautiful MSC Davina (an Italian cruise ship), this time stopping in Charlotte Amalie (Virgin Islands), San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Nassau (The Bahamas). Again, we were both more than thrilled with the 100% gourmet vegan meals, lectures by the world’s leading experts on whole foods plant based diets, plus workshops addressing all things imaginable to nurture the mind, body, and spirit. Here are some pictures from this year’s excursion.