Farsighted Fly Girl

If you are on Nevis for even a few hours, you will hear about Sunshine's. Sunshine's Bar i s the island's most famous hangout, where every visitor whether celebrity or beach bum, is required to make an appearance. Named for the gregarious owner, a burly man who will greet you with a smile as wide as the Caribbean Sea, Sunshine's is the ultimate beach bar, sprawled out on Pinney's Beach , with a thatched roof, rainbow-colored benches and communal tables. The interior is lined with international flags and photos of famous guests. I saw Beyonce and Jay Z, Oprah and Britney Spears smiling back at me but I knew the draw wasn't to spot stars or to taste the  BBQ menu, which is very good. No, the real attraction is a cocktail called the Killer Bee. Every island has their own rum drink but this Bee elixir is more famous than Nevis itself. I had heard about Sunshine's Killer Bee from rum connoisseurs who sip bottles daily and they deemed the drink lethal. I d...

It's a new year and I've decided to revive the popular Taste Trippin' series where I take readers on culinary journeys around Chicago. The polar vortex has returned and there's no place cozier than the tropical confines of a tiki bar. Filled with all of the kitsch and fun that's required for an authentic tiki experience, Three Dots And A Dash is the city's best tiki bar since Trader Vic's. With a nod to Chicago's speakeasy past, the bar is hard to spot if you don't know where to look. Despite a respectable Clark Street address, you can only access the lounge through a dark alley that provides little assurance that you're not headed down to a den of debauchery and crime. You're required to make your way down a staircase adorned with a collection of eerie skulls, shown above.   Pushing through a door and a velvet curtain, the lounge is finally revealed, complete with ukuleles, thatched roof bar and tikis from the original Trader V...

I was almost knocked out in Martinique. Not in a brawl but by the heady power of the national drink, ti' punch. A deceptively simple mixture of cane syrup, rhum and lime, ti'punch is not so much a cocktail as a way of life. There was no part of the island, no time of day, where I didn't see the telltale bottle of rhum lined up with syrup, lime and an empty glass. This is a drink so singular that locals prepare their own versions at bars and restaurants. I watched countless mixers until I dared try a version whipped up by Steve, Uncommon Caribbean's rhum connoisseur . The pure strength of the rhum burned my throat and threw me off balance. They don't say,  "chacun pre'pare sa propre mort" or "each prepares their own death" while making ti'punch for nothing. I discovered that the type of rhum used depends on your location on the island, with different areas pledging loyalty to the local distillery. Martinque rhum (that's not a...