RICHMOND, VA - I join the long lineup waiting to enter the Sub Rosa Bakery as the morning sun spotlights the colourful homes gathered in Richmond’s trendy Church Hill district.

SAN ANTONIO, TX - A bubbly guide named Misty gathers our small tourist group in the handsome square opposite the fabled Alamo. In a whispered voice, as if not wanting to disturb the hero ghosts connected to this sacred place, she begins our tour by proudly telling us “I’m a fifth generation Texan.”

LAS VEGAS - Skeptics think the National Hockey League rolled the dice and took a big gamble by putting a franchise — the Golden Knights — in this town where betting was the only contact sport in the past. Locals, however, disagree. In fact, many say the NHL’s success in Las Vegas is a sure bet.

LAS VEGAS - The glass elevator rises slowly into the nighttime sky and the neon Vegas skyline spreads out in all directions like a giant glittering rainbow quilt.

SAN ANTONIO, TX - I’m lured to a spot in this handsome Southwest Texas city by a dark-eyed beauty who promises to give me access to “CIA secrets.”

WHEELING, WV - From my mountain-top vantage point outside the charming Oglebay Resort and Conference Centre, I watch the smoky morning mist slowly rise from the belly of the lush valley below.

COVINGTON, LA - We follow the arrow-straight causeway that crosses Lake Pontchartrain — the longest bridge of its kind in the world — until it drifts off into this sleepy bedroom community located about an hour north of New Orleans.

VACHERIE, LA - The grand Antebellum home I see standing at the end of a narrow red brick path looks like something out of Gone With The Wind.

NEW ORLEANS - This city always satisfies my appetite for fun — of course I’ve been known to overindulge on Bourbon Street nightlife, gorge myself on jazz and blues, gobble up its incredible history and totally devour the genuine joie de vivre of its people. But what I really crave when I come to this city with the smorgasbord of nicknames — NOLA, Big Easy, Crescent City, Birthplace of Jazz, Mardis Gras City — is the food.

CHARLESTON, SC - On a cool, rainy Sunday morning in America’s prettiest city, I awake to the sweet sound of church bells. When I pull back the drapes of my hotel room, I look out on a city skyline dominated by church spires. There’s small ones, big ones, lots of them.