Developers were ready to raze a house Frank Lloyd Wright designed for his son and daughter-in-law … until preservation-minded buyers stepped in.
I was so enthralled during my one-on-one tour of this Frank Lloyd Wright house in Phoenix that I walked away with way too few written notes and quotes for my liking. I’d showed up with a laptop, expecting to sit down for the interview with architect Victor Sidy and tap away the transcription, but instead I spent almost all of the 2½ hours on my feet, perusing the property and peppering him with questions about the site.
My first assignment for the AZ Department of Tourism focused on what to do in my longtime hometown.
I moved to Arizona to work at a start-up weekly entertainment magazine that focused on events in the greater Phoenix metro area, and over the next several years I crisscrossed the Valley of the Sun to profile and preview everything from baseball stadiums and dive bars to ballet performances and boutiques. Even after switching careers, I keep checking out new restaurants, shops and experiences — now just for fun, instead of a byline.
So I was delighted to accept the assignment when the Arizona Department of Tourism asked me to recap some of the city’s top destinations.
A look at Phoenix’s most diverse and inclusive neighborhood(and my introduction to Arizona’s “Hip Historian,” Marshall Shore)
When Visit Phoenix offered me the opportunity to interview Marshall Shore as part of a feature that would profile the city’s Melrose District, I couldn’t agree fast enough. Although I was familiar with Shore as Arizona’s “Hip Historian”—a role in which he hosts everything from walking ghost tours downtown to virtual happy hours with some of the state’s most interesting people—I’d never met him in person.
One of my favorite articles in my newspaper career combined a few things that were rare for reporters: a press junket, unlimited column inches, and an editor who encouraged a strong personal voice in feature writing.
Which is how I ended up writing about my weekend trip to the Parker Palm Springs, a hotel that once had been the Merv Griffin Givenchy Resort & Spa but had recently been revamped by designer Jonathan Adler. Continue reading “Travel profile: The Parker Palm Springs”
Would you prefer a weekend of museums, gardens and galleries? Or mimosas, massages and dinner inside Gianni Versace’s former mansion? (Maybe pick some from each itinerary.)
Sometimes I get exhausted just writing about all the activities in a suggested itinerary. When I was putting together the three-day “Cultural Treasures” article here, I swear my lower back seized up based on the walking and standing required to hit all the listed museums and arts events. To make up for it, the two-day “Romantic Getaway” itinerary just above it on the same page includes mimosas, massages, a private beach bed, quiet time in the hotel room, and an intimate, eight-guest restaurant where dinner lasts more than 2½ hours.
I mean, you could pick your favorite activities from each one …
After news broke that some marks on the surface of Mars might have been caused by water, Delta Faucet’s “Inspired Living” site examined some extraordinary spots on Earth also made possible thanks to good old H20.
“When news broke that streaks and slope lines on the surface of Mars might have been caused by water, it revitalized discussion about whether the Red Planet could also be sustaining some forms of life. It also inspired us to take a look some 37 million miles closer to home to spotlight some of the most extraordinary sights and sites on Earth … all made possible thanks to good old H20.”
This was a fun one to write for Delta Faucet’s Inspired Living microsite — and it was presented in a fantastic-looking slideshow with salt flats, waterfalls, the Grand Canyon and coral reefs.
(RIP to the Amazements category of “Inspired Living,” however; the site has since been retooled and now all the existing posts are product-focused.)
“If you find yourself wound up about the right way to wind down, it might be time to relax.”
“If you find yourself wound up about the right way to wind down, it might be time to relax.”
Written for Massage Envy magazine, Fall 2012.
Download the PDF version here.
Saudi Arabia isn’t on my “must-see” list—and the government wouldn’t welcome me, either—but Jeddah is thriving and at least I can take inspiration from the region’s cuisine.
This assignment required me to “step out of self” more than the others in the series, because Saudi Arabia is not a country I’d care to visit, and nor would it want me there. (Its strict legal codes based on Islamic principles—it’s the only Arab country that claims sharia law as its sole legal code—means men and women can be put to death for being gay. (Also forbidden, with much smaller penalties: public consumption of alcohol and interacting with unrelated people of the opposite sex.)
While I wrote these itineraries for Jeddah, I put myself in the mind of executives who’ve been told they have to attend business meetings in Saudi Arabia’s commercial capital. What would they want to know and to see in their downtime?
The one thing that stuck with me, though, was the cuisine and culinary ingredients. Shakshuka! Coffee-date pudding! Orange-blossom mints! Mouhalabieh! Mint vinaigrette! The screenshots below have been saved on my desktop since last October as prompts to research the recipes and re-create the dishes (closer to home, where they could be accompanied by a digestif or a mimosa).
Head here for a a whirlwind “24 Hours In” itinerary and, further down the page, a two-day “Culinary Tour” piece.
“ ‘What would you recommend?’ It’s a question the sommeliers and wine directors of The Ritz-Carlton are accustomed to hearing, given the astounding range of varietals and vintages on offer. Fortunately, they’re always happy to be of service when guests ask to be guided to the perfect pairings for memorable meals and events.”
Part of an assignment to research and create travel itineraries
for destinations all around the world, for different types of travelers.
This installment: Kuala Lumpur.
I’m not sure if it’s too wise to admit it, but before this assignment I didn’t know much about Malaysia. (In fact, if you had asked me the name of this city, I’d have called it “Kuala Lam-pur.”) Researching articles like these can teach you a lot — especially when the first lesson is how far behind you are in learning.
That education started with my first sentence. Tin mining? I didn’t know that adding a tin alloy helps strengthen some metals, like copper, and I marveled how someone, somewhere, millennia ago, had already figured that out and determined how to smelt tin from ores. It only got more interesting from there.
Head here for a three-day “Cultural Treasures” adventure,
and here for a two day “Culinary Tour.”
By Sam Mittelsteadt 
