Our Top Ten Blog Posts of 2016

Published January 3, 2017 | By Clark Norton

Chinese New Year parade features the dragon dance.

Asking you to relive 2016 may be asking a lot, but here at clarknorton.com we offer sheer escapism!

Well, maybe not quite — but travel can, we hope, help take your mind off other things.

So, in that spirit, we offer up Our Top Ten Blog Posts of 2016 as found on clarknorton.com and voted on, in effect, by your clicks.

Yes, this is purely a popularity contest, with no quality control whatsoever. (Kind of like an election.) And because there was a tie for the tenth spot, there’s a bonus post to check out, should you wish to seek penance for overindulging during the holidays.

Here they are in order, counting down to Number One:

10. Top Bucket List Items: What’s Number One? and Top Ten Travel Predictions for 2016. (Tie)

Top Ten or Top Five lists (almost) always prove popular. I’m not sure if I want you to revisit my predictions for 2016, though, since nine out of ten were wrong. But who’s counting?

Alexander Hamilton cuts a dashing figure on the U.S. ten dollar bill.

9. Nevis, Home to A. Hamilton and a New Resort

This post was no doubt bolstered by folks combing the Internet for ways to score tickets to “Hamilton.” And, just maybe, there’s a secret link there to let you do just that!

8. Travel Photos Adorn Colorful New Fashion Line

Highly decorated travel photographer Dennis Cox branches out into adorning others via his images.

7. Just What Do Affluent Travelers Want?

It turns out they want much the same as the rest of us Baby Boomers.

6. A Baby Boomer’s Lifetime of Travel Adventures

A serendipitous encounter with an old school friend reveals she has spent her life traveling the world in adventurous ways

A mess o’ crawfish.

5. Mardi Gras Special: How to Eat Crawfish

We get down and dirty, or at least messy, with this great southern specialty. A practical guide.

4. Do’s and Don’ts for Chinese New Year

Sure, you want to celebrate CNY, but you want to do it like the Chinese do, right? So remember to keep the rice jar full, and don’t eat meat New Year’s morning.

3. Scottsdale, Arizona: Splendor in the Desert

Scottsdale, a Phoenix suburb, surprised me with its superb desert parks and hiking.

Saguaro cacti along a trail in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, Scottsdale. Photo by Sheldon Clark

2. Six Great Day Trips From Charlottesville, VA

Charlottesville is great on its own, but sometimes you just gotta get out of town.

And now for the most popular post on clarknorton.com for 2016:

Hot New Baby Boomer Travel Trends and Tours

You might guess that this would be a guest post (but at least I picked the topic and wrote the intro…) So, thanks to my friend Samantha Scott at stridetravel.com for her insights into Baby Boomer travel and trends!

And once again, we wish everyone safe and fulfilling travels in 2017!