Yolanda Evans

When I was growing up there were two container constants in my household in St. Charles, Missouri: the iconic circular tin of Royal Dansk, a Danish cookie brand always filled with my mama’s sewing accessories, and the Crown Royal bag stuffed with everything else. As long as I can remember, my daddy’s go-to drink was Crown—a blended Canadian 80-proof whisky sold for $33 and some change—and my eyes would go straight to the little purple bag snugly holding the crown-shaped bottle. I would wait p...

Big waves and rocky shores make this a surprise surfer’s paradise.

As a kid growing up watching Gidget, I dreamed of surfing—of coming into my own riding waves in sunny California or the blue waters of Hawaii. Never in a million years would I have thought my quest to surf would lead me to Bundoran, a small town on the west coast of Ireland. I say never because Ireland—which evoke rough waters underneath towering cliffs and gray skies— was the last place in Europe I would associate with surfin...

Every spirit should tell a story. In the case of Eda Rhyne, a small craft distillery in Asheville, North Carolina, an actual spirit — the phantasmal, goes-bump-in-the-night kind — is at the center of that story, and everything they do.
“The name Eda Rhyne actually comes from a ghost story based in Haywood County, North Carolina, where my family is from,” co-owner and distiller Chris Bower tells InsideHook. “We knew from the beginning that we wanted to have a name that captured the beautiful n...

A European road trip offers a mix of diverse history and culture for you to discover all on one enormous landmass. By trading in trains and buses for a set of wheels on your next trip, the world will open up as you can more easily venture to those hard-to-reach castles, caves, or hidden ruins all at your own pace.
In normal times, you could go gallivanting around the popular routes near Berlin, Paris, or Rome. But while social distancing is still necessary, avoid potential crowds and consider...

There’s no road trip like a British Isles road trip—and these five classic routes in England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are here to prove it.
Although they may be islands, The U.K. and Ireland are the perfect destinations to do a road trip of a lifetime. There are never-ending back roads for thrill-seekers, history lovers, and all those in between. From the thrilling Scottish Highlands to the stunning coastline of Southern England, as well as the rural roadways of the Eme...

When one thinks of planning a holiday to a wine region, England is typically not the first country to come to mind. But in fact, England is a real under-the-radar wine spot.
The U.K. is certainly no stranger to rain that might ruin the grapes, but the southern and eastern areas of England, with their warmer, drier climates and diverse soil are ideal for winemaking. And the vintners in these areas are producing world-class wine that can easily rival more established regions such as France, Spa...

When Covid-19 abruptly shuttered dine-in service for restaurants across the country, many of our favorites pivoted to offering their dishes as inventive, high-end take-away experiences. And even with restaurants now re-opening, the trend of luxury take-out seems here to stay. There’s just one problem: You can’t bring home the sommelier to suggest the perfect wine pairing. So we called Rick Arline, the dynamic wine director at dearly departed Los Angeles restaurant Auburn—he’s now preparing to...

Nothing beats having fresh produce in your life and summertime is ripe with some of the best Mother Nature has to offer. It's the ideal time to wander down to the local farmer’s market and get your fill of bananas, cantaloupe, and mangos. But, sometimes life gets in the way, and those weekly trips fall by the wayside.
That’s A-OK. You can easily have fresh fruit delivered straight to your doorstep with one of Edible Arrangement’s fresh produce boxes. And we’ve got plenty of easy tips to keep ...

Every morning, I pull a card from my tarot deck for my daily reading. I study my card and try to figure out what the universe is trying to tell me that day. Sometimes, it’s all positive and I’m like, “Yep, that’s it.” Other days, I draw a card that gets me thinking about my flaws and the work I should do on myself. My daily reading allows me to reflect on my life at the moment and tap into my intuition to help me on my path of self-improvement. It is by no mean an instant fix, but it gives me...

I spend most of my days sitting out on the porch with a mug of beer, staring at the Church on the Hill, an iconic landmark in the citadel of Sighișoara, in Transylvania. I planned to be in Romania for a month while I researched Țuică, a sweet and strong plum brandy, for a future article. Four weeks after I arrived, COVID-19 began wreaking havoc across Europe. Instead of returning to Berlin, where I’m based, I decided to hole up in a guesthouse overlooking the lower town.
While I’ve come to lo...

Starting a spirit brand is no easy task, especially for a black woman with no prior background within the spirit industry. But Nayana Ferguson's lack of experience didn’t stop her from launching Teeq Tequila, a premium tequila based in Detroit with her husband Don Ferguson and Co-founder Mike Rowold in August 2018. Using her previous knowledge as a businesswoman, Ferguson turned her passion for tequila into a thriving business, thus becoming the only black woman to operate a tequila brand. Al...

My plan had been to explore Romania’s little-known but historic vineyards. My pandemic reality has been wines at the local discount supermarket.
I came to Romania to research Țuică, a plum brandy that’s the national drink. But I also wanted to learn a little about the wine while I was here. I did a story a while back about under the radar wine regions and Romania was on the list. So now that I was in the country, I wanted to go to a few wineries to try some of these wines. My month-long trip ...

The global spread of COVID-19, or coronavirus, is causing significant changes to the way we travel. Be sure to read up on the latest information and travel recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
In the pantheon of world-class bar cities, Dublin has been holding court in the hall of fame for a solid millennia. And while its classic pubs have found their place in history books and spawned homages the world over, the bar...

Wrote about other Irish cites travelers should visit