My letters travel with me

I’ve collated my favorite spots from recent trips and of my hometown. Been there too? Send me your favorites!

disco ball ornament on a tree in a forest during winter in the UP of Michigan
Hot air balloons at Teotihuacan, Mexico
Cat mural in Porto, Portugal

Marquette, MI “The UP”

We visited in the winter and the town had a magical dusting of snow and the AirBnB was the definition of cozy.

Eat Me

  • The Vierling - get the whitefish bites or soup

Drink Me

  • Blackrocks Brewery

  • Ore Dock Brewery

Activities & Sights to See

  • Hiking: Presque Isle

  • Bookstore: Snowbound

  • Coffee: Contrast

Milwaukee, WI

Eat Me

  • MoMo Mee Asian Cuisine - the soup dumplings are divine

  • Vanguard

  • Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern

  • Comet Cafe

  • Odd Duck

  • Anmol Restaurant

  • If you’re feeling fancy, Lake Park Bistro or Harbor House

Drink Me

  • Amorphic Brewery

  • Lakefront Brewery - best tour in town

  • Bryant’s Cocktail lounge

  • South Shore Beer Garden

Activities & Sights to See

  • Milwaukee Art Museum

  • Harley Davidson Museum

Dog walks & book shops, these are a few of my favorite things…

  • Walks: Oak Leaf Trail, Urban Ecology Center, one of the many trails by the lake, riverside path, Three Bridges

  • Bookstores: Boswell Book Company

  • Souvenirs: Sparrow Collective, Mod Gen, The Waxwing

  • Coffee shops: Stone Creek, Collectivo, Rochambo

Read, Watch, Give a Listen: 

  • Listen: Dead Horses, Diet Lite, Grace Weber 

  • Listen: 88.9 Milwaukee Radio

Duluth, Minnesota

Eat Me:

  • Anchor Bar

  • Northern Waters Smokehaus

  • Dovetail Cafe

Drink Me:

  • Ursa Minor

  • Bent Paddle

  • Earth Rider

Activities & Sights to See:

  • Two Harbors & Split Rock Lighthouses (a great view from the campgrounds)

  • Walks: Superior hiking trail, lake trail by the lift bridge, Hartley park

  • Coffee shops: 190 & Duluth Coffee

  • Bookstore: Zenith

Read, Watch, Give a Listen: 

  • Read: Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal

  • Listen: Bob Dylan & Trampled by Turtles

New Orleans, LA 

A magical city unlike anywhere else. It’s a kaleidoscope of colors and music truly wafts in the air. 

Eat Me: Restaurants

This list could be endless. The main dishes to try: po boys, oysters, beignets, crawfish boil, gumbo, everything.

  • Parkway Tavern - Mid-City - po boy

  • Parasol’s - Irish Channel - po boy

  • Mahoney's - Garden District - Peacemaker po boy

  • Central Grocery - French Quarter - muffuletta 

  • Cafe du monde - French Quarter - chicory coffee & beignets 

  • Arnaud’s - French Quarter - a French 75, turtle soup, and shrimp remoulade & reservations needed

  • Drago’s, Felix, or Acme for oysters (recommend fresh and charbroiled)

  • Atchafalaya - Irish Channel - brunch & reservations needed

  • Cochon or Cochon Butcher - French Quarter-ish - personally I go for the butcher

  • Commander’s Palace - Garden District - quarter martini lunches or reservations needed well in advance

  • Loretta’s - French Quarter in the Market & Bywater - Praline beignets

Drink Me: Bars

Google drinks created in New Orleans and you’ll find a long scroll. 

  • Sazerac in Roosevelt Hotel - French Quarter - order a sazerac; this is location for the genesis of this kickass drink 

  • Bacchanal - Bywater - wine bar with music 

  • Snake & Jake’s Christmas Club - Uptown - an Anthony Bourdain dive bar 

  • Avenue Pub - Garden District - go to the balcony & watch the St. Charles Street car go by & people watch

  • Tujaque’s - French Quarter - creator of the Grasshopper

  • Carousel Bar & Lounge in the Hotel Monteleone - French Quarter - as the name hints, it’s a carousel in the bar

  • Pat O’Brien’s or somewhere, anywhere in the French Quarter that calls to you - hurricane, daiquiri, hand grenade

  • Erin Rose - French Quarter - frozen Irish coffee

Drink Me Deux: Breweries 

  • Second Line - Mid-City - check their site for food trucks, especially crawfish boils

  • Brew Carre - Frenchman’s - cute little courtyard or for to go

  • Urban South - Tchoupitoulas - specialty is sours or their American Lager called Paradise Park A++ branding

  • Parleaux - Bywater - great courtyard 

  • Zony Mash - Mid-City - check for live music 

Activities & Sights to See

There’s almost always some sort of fest so check the calendar!

  • Garden district - find a walking map - stroll these beautiful streets. My highlight: Anne Rice’s two homes 

  • Preservation Hall - French Quarter - reserve ahead! 

  • World War II museum - downtown - a stellar museum

  • Mardi Gras World - downtown - tour where they store the floats and create next year’s 

  • Ride the streetcar down St. Charles

  • Stroll Frenchman’s street for music 

  • Saturn Bar - Bywater - look up the shows, if there’s a sea shanty show GO

  • Drive through daiquiri at NOLA Original since it’s such a ridiculous concept

Dog walks & book shops, these are a few of my favorite things…

  • Great neighborhood walks: Magazine St., walk down Esplanade St. to see the row of colorful homes near Degas’s home and swing into Pal’s for a drink, City Park, Audubon park to see the Tree of Life, Bywater for murals, go to Sacred Grounds coffee and stroll the nearby cemeteries in Mid-City, Bayou St. John  

  • Bookstores: Faulkner House (French Quarter), Crescent City (French Quarter), Baldwin and Company (Bywater) 

  • Souvenirs: Dirty Coast

  • Coffee shops: French Truck Coffee - many locations - iced chicory coffee, Hivolt if you’re strolling Magazine street

Read, Watch, Give a Listen: 

  • Read/watch: Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

  • Read/watch: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald

  • Read/Watch: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams 

  • Watch: The Princess and the Frog 

  • Watch: American Horror Story: Coven

  • Listen: Louis Armstrong, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Sweet Crude (Mon Esprit), Trombone Shorty, Rebirth Brass Band, Better Than Ezra, Amanda Shaw (How Lucky You Are), Dr. John… zydeco 

  • Listen: WWOZ Radio