Florida’s Creek Ranch

Me and Sparkplug.

Giddy-up your inner cowboy at Florida’s Creek Ranch

Sparkplug amenably enough allowed me to feel in control and steer him where I wanted to go. Except, that is, when we came across cattle in the pasture: Then the tawny gelding pulled stubbornly in the direction of the black Brangus cows and white Charolais bulls at Creek Ranch in Central Florida.

Sparkplug, you see, is no tourist-attraction horse. He is a true working steed, hard-wired to work the herd. At Creek Ranch, you can opt to work with the ranch’s cowmen in true dude ranch fashion, but we were doing

Eating Riviera Maya

To once and for all satisfy my ever-crave for Mexican food autentica: Es posible?

La Casona in the historic Maya town of Valladolid – the hostess in traditional Maya garb

I was salivating to give it a try as I made my recent plans for the Riviera Maya, a slice of Yucatan coastline where seafood and rich Maya tradition stir up an intriguing cultural stew.

Who knew that my obsession with Mexican cuisine is backed by no less than the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)?

In 2010, UNESCO added Traditional Mexican Cuisine to its List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and in April 2012 it received the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences’ (AAHS) International Star Diamond Award.

Feeling entirely justified, then, in pursuing my gourmand pleasures, I revisited the area where I had my first taste of real-deal Mexican food nearly 30 years ago. That included my initiation into the wonderful world of ceviche