LIFE/TRAVEL

BILL ADDISON/Staff

James Beard Foundation award-winner Irma's is downtown near the ballpark.

A recent sprint through the gamut of Houston restaurants illuminated just how different its culinary canvas is from Dallas'.

BERNAT ARMANGUE/The Associated Press

Lights are seen as part of the show Night Spectacular at the Tower of David in Jerusalem's Old City.

The Tower of David ancient walls in Jerusalem come alive in the museum's latest exhibit, a nighttime sound and light show that takes its audience on a stirring open-air tour of Jerusalem's history.

Lakeway

Take a much-needed timeout at the Lakeway Resort in Austin.

For all the joys of the holidays, they're stressful, too. So much running and buying and cooking and partying and chattering and singing and overeating and over-everything. What you need most for the holidays may be some peace and quiet. Let us help with suggestions for places to go.

H.LORREN AU JR./Orange County Register

Tourists look at seaweed on the rocky shore of Coronado Beach, which is also home to crabs, starfish, mussels, anemones and moon snails.

Sometime around 2013, an oceanography professor at Florida International University will declare California's Coronado Beach the best sand strand in the United States. Coronado's pedigree is hard to beat in Southern California.

JERRY LARA/San Antonio Express-News

The Fort Sam Houston caisson moves among cemetery headstones as it carries the flag-draped casket of a soldier killed in Iraq.

Jonathan Ramirez never expected to end up on the back of a horse when he enlisted in the Army. But since March, that's where the paratrooper has been. He's part of the Caisson Section at San Antonio's Fort Sam Houston that performs a final tribute for men and women who have served their country. We remember them on Veterans Day, on Tuesday.

Uniworld Cruises

The River Empress sails past Budapest landmarks. Cruises, prepaid in dollars, can be a money saver in this Hungarian city.

Being broke in Budapest does have an up side. For openers, it definitely makes your choices much less complicated and allows plenty of time to stop and smell the Hungarian goulash.

Winter Park Resort

Gladed and bowl skiing appeals to powderhounds at Colorado's Winter Park Resort, which is opening a retail, rental, restaurant space.

Many Western ski resorts, in an upbeat contrast to the nation's sluggish economy, are ready to greet the 2008-09 season with an enticing array of new lifts, terrain, lodges, snowmaking and other upgrades.

DAN LEETH/Special

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and when it comes to ski areas, some find certain sights more to behold than others.

An angler once admitted that he loved fly-fishing because trout live in beautiful places. That same eye-candy appeal applies to skiing and snowboarding. The lushest runs often descend to the loveliest locales. So what is the West's most gorgeous ski resort? It's a tough call.

JOY TIPPING/Staff

Antoine's Restaurant has had dozens of spectral sightings in its 120-year history, including many in this hallway.

A parapsychologist who has spent years investigating New Orleans and other cities worldwide, calls it "the most haunted city in America, per square inch, no doubt. ... It's had so many fires, wars, diseases, it's really not all that surprising." Check out our haunted weekend guide to the Big Easy.