This holiday, we opted to drive cross-country from Los Angeles to Florida, making frequent stops to vacation in some wonderful places. We think these are the best spots, and we’ve categorized the special things about each into a “Best Of” list for each location. Check out our list and then read the full articles for lots of delightful details. Try one or try them all; it’s a grand way to spend a romantic getaway any time of the year:

One of the great things about Las Vegas, is you can do it up expensively or you can do it on the cheap, and either way, have a sensational time. It used to be, people went to Vegas primarily to gamble. Neither Dennis nor I like to gamble, but we always enjoy the unbridled decadence and fun of the city. There are wonderful restaurants, thrilling shows, acres of shopping, exploring the glitzy hotels, and many other exciting opportunities to keep you very busy and very giddy.

About two hours from Las Vegas, Nevada, in the heart of Southern Utah’s red rock country, is the beautiful city of St. George. Surrounded by striking red vermilion cliffs and the blue majesty of The Mormon Range, it has become a burgeoning vacation center with world-class mountain biking trails, designer golf courses and skiing nearby.

Who would ever think of Natchez, Mississippi as a first choice for a romantic vacation? You might not have thought it before, but think it now! This disarmingly charming and beautiful locale overlooking the Mississippi River is miles from a major city, has no major airport and no interstate highways to get you there. But trust us; it’s more than worth your drive, flight or paddle-down-the-river to get there!

Imagine waking up in an enchanted place. You’re on the softest feather bed imaginable, surrounded by exotic treasures from the East, richly-colored throws, Tibetan carved sideboards and a wood-burning kiva fireplace. Outside the window, the snow is falling onto a stone courtyard with hundred-year-old adobe walls. It’s cozy, warm, and almost magical.

Everybody who knows Austin, loves Austin. It’s a reasonably-sized, cosmopolitan city with high employment, affordable housing and an enlightened populace. It’s got great bar-b-q, great music and great parks. It’s got Whole Foods, Kerbey Lane and Cheapo’s. And it’s got The Driskill, the genuine, elegant and inviting cowboy palace for sophisticated city-slickers.

When you enter the lobby and walk though this magnificent hotel, it’s unlikely you’ll bump into any of the literary icons that are so much a part of its history. That’s because they’re all dead! But not the Hotel Monteleone. To the contrary, it is alive and burgeoning with a vitality that belies its 100 years of providing first-rate lodging to the masters and misfits that are an integral part of New Orleans history.

What do Matthew Modine, Annette Bening, and Laurence Fishburne have in common?

You can see them all in person . . . at the Geffen Playhouse!

The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles has just announced its exciting 2009/2010 season, kicking off with the world premiere of Blair Singer’s Hollywood parody Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas , starring none other than Matthew Modine himself.

In this amazingly crafted act of illusory showmanship there are seven doves, one parakeet, eight ducks, two geese and about fifty pigeons. There are also five female dancers and one male assistant. No, it isn’t Animal Planet Meets Dancing with the Stars. It’s the Lance Burton Master Magician Show at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

LuxBus America offers daily, deluxe service to Las Vegas. Based in Orange County, the Las Vegas buses leave from their Anaheim terminal near the Disneyland Resort. If you’re going from Los Angeles, a shuttle picks you up at a nearby hotel and takes you to Anaheim to board their luxury bus. I live about a block away from the Marriot Marina Del Rey, so in the morning I just walked over and the LuxBus Van was waiting for me.