Our Get Out of Town section introduces readers to activities and destinations within Florida, both near and far, as well as entertaining travelogues of places as distant as France, California, Italy, Barbados, Ireland, and Iceland. Each piece balances historical insight with humor, amusing first-person narratives, and updated travel advice on lodging and dining, all presented with that inimitable Resident charm. Below is an archive of all Get Out of Town articles.

	April in the Alps Bock is not the only treat Alpenlanders reserve exclusively for springtime, which also happens to be spargle season. Now, before I continue, let me assure you that I don’t usually get excited about vegetables. You see, spargle is nothing more than common asparagus. Well, asparagus, yes -- common, no. Spargle is a thick-stalked variety of the vegetable grown at this time of year through a painstaking process that eschews sunlight. The result is an opaque vegetable, very tender and very sweet, served with every entrée in every restaurant, and well worthy of its own season. click here to read the interview
	Coachella 07 Coachella actually began as a sort of anti-corporate concert, shortly after the much-maligned Woodstock '99. Modeled after a European-style music festival, its goal was to be a more eclectic, affordable, and comfortable version of the former mega-festival. click here to read the interview
	Ride the Train The Northbound Silver Meteor left right on time, and we felt refreshingly liberated to not have been electronically scanned or patted down for liquids and gels in containers exceeding three ounces. There was no safety demo explaining the complexities of operating a seat belt or telling us to breath normally should a yellow oxygen mask suddenly dangle before our eyes. click here to read the interview
	South Africa: A Risk Worth Taking South Africa is a dangerous place to visit. Crime statistics are high, but, like most countries, the majority of serious crimes are confined to hotspots inside the largest cities’ vast ghettos or townships. The dangers confronting most tourists, however, consist of calculated risk taking in a wild environment rich with adventure activities. click here to read the interview
	Belize Tiny Belize -- 180 miles long, 80 miles wide -- is heavily marketed to tourists. And no wonder, for Belize has much to offer: the second longest barrier reef in the world (second only to Australia), all-inclusive resorts on tropical islands, rum drinks, calypso bands -- it’s all there. But away from the resorts lies another Belize -- one with jungles, jaguars, and ancient mysteries, untamed and unexplored. That was the Belize calling out to us. click here to read the interview
	Nova Scotia New England Planters founded Liverpool, a picturesque natural port town where the Mersey River meets the ocean, in 1759. It thrived during the War of 1812 as a base for loyalist privateers. These legally sanctioned pirates preyed on American shipping during the War and plundered fantastic wealth from them. Large elegant Victorian homes were built throughout the town and still exist today. Liverpool, in my opinion is home to some of the best; most consistent and accessible surfing breaks in the Maritimes. click here to read the interview
	Autumn Daydreams U.S. Highway 302 leads west out of Portland, into the heart of classic, rural New England. The urban landscape quickly gives way to wooded hillsides and sloping meadows painted in brilliant hues of red, orange, and yellow. Cool, crisp mornings beneath cobalt blue skies are plentiful in October. Soon we top a hill and look down on the sparkling expanse of Sebago Lake. click here to read the interview
	Dominican Republic: A Surfers Paradise There is a wealth of world class ocean sports available to anyone visiting the Dominican Republic, including incredible windsurfing conditions, excellent surfing waves, deep-sea fishing and whale watching. Spectacular reefs for diving and snorkeling contain many historic shipwrecks dating as far back as the 15th Century. click here to read the interview
	Bermuda Via Flats Boat On April 30th of this year, local brothers Ralph and Bob Brown drove a 21-foot, 115-horsepower Suzuki-engine flats boat 1,547 miles to Bermuda and back, earning them the record for the longest oceanic crossing in an unassisted flats boat. This is their story, as told by Bob. click here to read the interview
	Cedar Key “The sunsets here are amazing!” exclaimed a recent visitor to Cedar Key. Sunsets are just one reason people fall in love with this tiny island town. Fishing, kayaking, birding, fine art, and dining are some of the others. But perhaps the greatest seduction of this eclectic hamlet is its steadfast refusal to adhere to the dizzying pace of modern life. click here to read the interview
	Surfing Nicaragua: Strangers in a Strange Land My fascination with Nicaragua began in the late '70s while visiting my brother in Germany, strangely enough. He had an album from a strange English punk band called the Clash. The album, Sandinista!, soon became one of my all-time favorites and aroused my interest in this Central American country, home of the Sandinista revolution. click here to read the entire article on Nicaragua
	Austin: The Live Music Capital of the World I was there for the three-day Austin City Limits Music Festival. It was my second attendance, to cover one of the largest annual music festivals in the country, with over 130 major acts performing on eight stages. The sold-out event, then in its fifth year, was an eclectic feast of live pop music, but it was also just the base of a live music volcano that poured hot audio lava out of hundreds of downtown nightclubs and bars. click here to read the entire article on Austin City Limits
	Yucatan You can't help but fall in love with this pueblo on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Tulum is so laid-back and tranquil that it only recently began offering fine amenities such as paved roads and internet cafes. It’s ironic to think that the people who inhabited this area created a complex calendar, as time seems to be so unimportant when you visit Tulum. .click here to read the entire article about Yucatan
	Safety Harbor Nestled quietly between the bustle of Tampa and the encroaching progress of eastern Clearwater, Safety Harbor embodies everything “community” once stood for. Nowadays, “communities,” such as they are, come with electronic gates, hefty association fees, and draconian rules which dictate stiff limitations on everything from outdoor lighting to shrub height. click here to read the entire article on Safety Harbor
	Sanibel Island Sanibel’s east-west orientation makes it one of the most unique barrier islands of the world, and the gulf tides which lap its beaches deposit over 160 varieties of shells. Especially after a good wintertime storm, shells wash up in the millions and a casually scooped handful will yield specimens you’ve never seen before. click here to read the entire article on Sanibel Island
	Dublin If Dublin has survived on any one strength, it’s patience. Since its founding by 9th century Vikings, the city has been in a state of slow fermentation. Even today, with its fast-paced ascent as a leading European capital, there’s a pervading sense that she still has yet to fully bloom. click here to read the article
	Paris Madonna can"t act her way out of a paper bag. Puppies are cute. Waiting in line is torture. Back hair is unattractive. And Paris is romantic. click here to read the article
	Tarpon Springs For many of us, the holidays have long since passed. Our trees are out browning by our mailboxes in beds of needles and tinsel and our lights hang limply from the eaves as pathetic reminders of our laziness. The moderately religious of us have set Easter aside as our next church visit, but in the Greek enclave of Tarpon Springs on Florida’s west coast, preparations are getting underway for the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th. click here to read the article
	In Search of Christmas It must have been the turkey. I’d sure had enough of it; three helpings, to be exact. After our Thanksgiving feast had ended, I hobbled over to the couch, unbuckled my belt, and turned on the television. Just as Sean Connery was about to give Goldfinger’s karate guards the slip, an endless block of jingly-jangly commercials popped up. I’d barely digested my yam casserole and here they were shoving Christmas down my throat. click here to read the interview
	Iceland We’d been planning our trip to visit relatives in France for some time, but ran into a problem three months before we were to leave when we found that the average ticket to Paris ran around $1,000. After much calling around and internet research, we found a flight for $700 through Icelandair with an option to remain in the capital of Reykjavík for a few days before heading on to the continent. click here to read the article
	Saint Augustine Though many revisionists qualify the age of the place by calling it "the oldest continually populated European settlement in the United States," St. Augustine, founded by the Spanish some 50 years before the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth and well before Jamestown took shape, is simply the oldest city in the country. There's plenty around to satisfy the history buff in you, yes, but St. Augustine is offset with a good deal of fun. click here to read the article
	Athens, Greece Anyone trekking through Europe should make a pit-stop here to experience life in the birthplace of the Olympic Games, the crucible of Democracy, and the home of Socrates -- a life truly fit for Dionysos. But even more than that, Athens is the cultural mecca of the entire world where the sound of the bustling outdoor taverns and cafes actually competes with the clamor of motor scooters buzzing through the streets and construction on every corner. That’s Athens. Love it or leave it. click here to read the article