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In celebration of their 39th  wedding anniversary, David and  Evelyn Patterson of Lakeland took a 12-day Baltic capitals cruise on the Norwegian Dream.  The highlight of the trip was St. Petersburg with tours to Peterhof, the favorite residence of Peter the Great, and the State Hermitage Museum. Here, the couple is standing in the  lower gardens of the Peterhof.

Families relax after

Members of the Newman, Cohen, Feldman and Ginsburg families, all of  Memphis, cool off on a  canoe trip down the Moish Kapuya River near  Haifa, Israel.

  Danielle Craven, 5, is all smiles with Minnie Mouse at  Walt Disney World.  During a recent trip  there, she got to attend a cooking class at the Grand Floridian Hotel. They made strawberry shortcake for guests at the hotel. She is the daughter of Timothy and Vicki Craven of Memphis, and the grandaughter of Dorie Short, Tim and Carlye Craven.

This photo of Cinderella’s castle at night with beautiful Christmas lights and fireworks was submitted by Lori Greenhaw of Brighton.  She said the best thing about the trip to Disney World in December is all the extras.  The lights and fireworks are fantastic. Another plus about the trip is the weather.  

The wizards in the kitchen at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama, whipped up an amazing treat this holiday: A replica of the historic hotel made of gingerbread. From the main gate to the fountains, the historic main building and everything in between, the Grand comes alive in the tastiest way. Even more whimsical — the entire property is covered in ’snow’!

That’s not something you see every day along the Gulf Coast!

(Photo courtesy of Tad Denson of Myshotz.com Photography)

In other words, we work so hard to get everything toned and sleek, then eat, drink and be merry while on va-cay.

But the folks at the Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa in Miami  (and thank God they threw the word ’spa’ in there!) are offering the chance to vacation and slim down at the same time.

Medical evaluations and testing, fitness classes and helthy living workshops, even cooking classes are on the menu at Pritikin. A 7-day, 7-night stay at Pritkin usually runs $3500 per person, double occupancy, and includes a smorgasboard of testing, classes and meals. But from December 22 through March 22, it’s offering a $500 discount per person, per week.

Sample schedules and a full listing of what’s included can be found online at www.pritikin.com.

 From now on, when I think of Florida, one word will come to mind: October.

My husband and I spent a week there recently, and I can honestly say we saw Destin and the Beaches of South Walton at their best.

I have been visiting the area since I was a girl. I love the spring-break Florida. I am a regular at the pile-the-kids-in-the-car summer vacation Florida. But the laid-back, fabulous-weather, fall Florida is a new pleasure for me.

The mornings were crisp and clear, the afternoons hot, but not blistering. The water was pleasant, a bit cool and on some days pretty choppy.  The crowds were non-existent, making a walk through usually packed Seaside even more pleasant. Heck, we even got to eat a late lunch at the Back Porch in Destin without a wait (if you’ve been there you know.)  

Now, you might say the trip was relaxing because we were sans kids. I didn’t even miss my usual Florida jobs - making sure no one drowns, wanders off or gets eaten by a shark. But you’ll never convince me that the season wasn’t the reason that made Florida shine.

Fun In Vegas

The Halupniks of Memphis  and the Plunks of Germantown, friends for more than 21 years and former neighbors, spent four days in Las Vegas recently. The highlight of the trip was sitting in the seventh row at a Barry Manilow concert.  Pictured in front of one of the many bronze lions at the MGM Grand are (from left) Tom and Cindy  Halupnik  and Molly and Bob Plunk.

 Meet me in Hawaii

Dexter and June Varnell of Southaven (left) and Mary Ann and Steve Reynolds of San Francisco, are shown on Maui during the summer. June and Mary Ann have been friends since the second grade and grew up in Covington. They discovered a few weeks before they left on their trips that they would be on Maui at the same time. Even though they were traveling with different groups on different schedules, they were able to connect for one day.

See your vacation photos in the newspaper and online. Write a note about your trip. Include a color photo (we may run it in black-and-white). Photos can’t be returned. E-mail winburne@commercialappeal.com, or mail to Travel Snapshots, Attn. Peggy Reisser Winburne, The Commercial Appeal, 495 Union, Memphis, Tenn. 38103. Include a daytime phone number.

Ray and Miho Ponnath recently traveled to St. Petersburg and Moscow.  This picture was taken in Red Square with St. Basil’s cathedral in the background.   They also visited Lenin’s Tomb in the Kremlin.

 Proud Mother, Patriotic Son

During the summer, Charlotte Anthony Harris of Collierville visited her son, Army Sgt. Vinson Anthony, who is stationed in Belgium.  They visited Antwerp, Bruges and Liege. In Spain, they saw a bullfight.  And in France, they visited the Arc De Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. “The most important part of the vacation was being with my son, who is proudly serving our country,” Harris wrote.

It’s hard to be a travel journalist when you can’t possibly fit your clothing into a carry-on bag and keep leaving those very important cords or various bits of technology behind.

This time, it was the cord to transfer the images from my camera to the computer - kinda important when one blogs from the road and wants to post images!

All together, now: DUH!