Arts and Entertainment

Panama City is the “New York City” of Central America. It has become a skyscraper city. It is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement on the Pacific coast of the Americas.

Looking for the Old Florida? The Old Florida before high rises, superhighways, and traffic jams still exists in Franklin County just an hour south of Tallahassee, Florida’s capital. Franklin County is a kickback place with something for everyone – fishing, shopping, boating, hiking, and history.

Santo Domingo, the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic, is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas and the first seat of Spanish colonial rule in the New World. The city’s Colonial Zone is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many people go to resorts in the Dominican Republic but I think every trip to the DR should include a few days in the historic area of the city.

When my family and I were in Nicaragua for the holidays we stayed at Home Away rental. It was perfect and reasonable for the eight of us especially considering it was the Christmas/New Year’s holiday time when the prices sometimes double.
We had looked at places in Belize but they were twice the cost.

Hotels are too expensive, to my way of thinking, if a family of more than four wants to get away together. My sons and their families, eight of us, rented an entire house with a pool on the beach on Nicaragua’s Pacific Coast. Granted the airfare can be expensive but once in Nicaragua things are less expensive.

At first glance the house rental for two weeks may seem expensive but not when divided by eight.

I have been to Granada, Nicaragua, several times in the last 25 years and impressed with how it has improved over the years. I didn’t stay in Granada this year but took a day trip to Granada with stops along the way. Our first stop was at an overlook in Caterina, one of the highest hills surrounding the Apoyo Lagoon, and the view was superb.

Imagine a group of islands that look like they have been untouched by the hand of man, and yet has resorts and services that are top notch. Palau, in the western Pacific Ocean and part of Micronesia, only has a population of 20,000 but offers wonderful adventures.