Travel, Florida, and Embassy Suites

We love to travel to Palm Beach, Florida each year for St. Louis Cardinals spring training in their beautiful Jupiter facility. Over the past several years, while trying out different hotel facilities, we discovered the Palm Beach Gardens Embassy Suites.

Bach and Beethoven, the resident swans, add a peaceful ambiance to the lobby. While we were there, a wedding took place in front of the bridge that is part of the swan sanctuary. Last year, the manager explained to us that this is the nation's number one Embassy Suites property.

We look forward to breakfast that is included each day. Eggs are cooked to order and served with a variety of breakfast meats. Almost anything you could want is on the breakfast buffet, and I imagine if it is not, they will try to get it for you.

An added bonus, each evening at the manager's reception, you may run into one of the baseball players staying at the hotel. If not, there are plenty of other enthusiastic fans to talk with you.

If I were writing another Hotels to Remember , I would definitely consider including this property in my book. It's a place I like to visit again and again.

Orchids in the lobby - MM Sikes

Tip for Travelers

Doing some traveling this summer and fall? Are you looking forward to a no hassle trip? If you are, consider traveling light.

Over the past few years, my husband and I have visited many memorable destinations both here and abroad, and we've had a great time because we've learned to pack and travel light. We travel with one roller bag and one personal item each. The roller bag is the size that will fit into the overhead storage on airplanes, and the personal item will fit under the seat in front, if necessary.

You can carry all the clothes you need in that roller bag. Roll clothing to keep away wrinkles. Think about packing clothes that are color coordinated. I always pack or wear black or dark slacks. A pair of jeans and  long white pants are essential items for my wardrobe. I like to take a traveler's skirt, pants, and top like you can buy at Chico's for dressy events. A print jacket is nice to have, so I usually wear or pack one. I've learned now to always wear a scarf because it can get very cold on an airplane and in restaurants. Unless you're heading to the deep tropics, it's a good idea to pack a sweater (more than one for winter travel).

Wise travelers wear comfortable shoes that can easily be removed for the TSA inspection line at the airport. I have a couple of pairs of walking shoes with Velcro fasteners that are perfect. (I don't like sandals in the airport because that means going barefoot until the shoes pass inspection.) One or two pairs of dressier flats or sandals complete my shoe wardrobe. If we plan to do a lot of walking, I carry tennis shoes and pack undergarments inside them.

My husband and I usually travel together, so we use his personal bag for cosmetics, vitamins, drugs, etc. My personal bag holds my purse, reading glasses, sun glasses, a book, telephone, camera, extra batteries, and more. Computers go on top of everything inside the roller bags.

Although we pack light, we still have items with us we don't use. Believe it or not, we've spent two weeks in Hawaii, two weeks in Paris and southern France, weeks in Jamaica, St. Martin, Trinidad, Canada, and many, many other places carrying this small amount of luggage. It's a lot more fun when you don't have to worry about lost baggage. And we figure, we can always buy something if we need it.

When my publisher picked out the woman with the roller bag logo for my Passenger to Paradise book series, I was thrilled. It was the perfect emblem for the travel behind the stories!