Winter Carnival, Quebec City
If you love Paris in the springtime, then you'll adore Quebec City in the wintertime, where, for 17 days, the city plays host to the continent's largest winter carnival. More than one million people descend upon fortified Quebec City to cheer on the competition in Le Grande Virée, a dogsled race that cruises through the heart of the historic Old City, or watch paddlers sprint across the turgid waters of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Afterwards, spend a memorable night 30 minutes outside of town at North America's only ice hotel, Hotel de Glace (www.icehotel-canada.com; 1.877.505.0423). Each year, 32 new rooms are created out of 12,000 tons of snow and 400 tons of ice, along with an Absolut ice bar, Jacuzzis, and a dance club. Bring those long johns, as the temperature inside is a mere 27 degrees Fahrenheit.
(www.carnaval.qc.ca)

Carnival, Trinidad
For those of us who like to pull all–nighters, the king of all Caribbean Carnivals takes place in Trinidad. Two days before Ash Wednesday in February, the parades and calypso music start. By nightfall, everyone is dancing in the streets. On Carnival Tuesday, you'll be treated to some of the best calypso and reggae bands in the Caribbean.
(www.carnaval.com)

Mardi Gras, New Orleans, LA
There's no better way to support New Orleans after Katrina than to visit the city and spend your money. During the two weeks leading up to Mardi Gras, which is always 47 days before Easter, New Orleans hosts the mother of all parties in the South. So grab your beads, masks, posters, and king cakes and hit the parade route. Everyone in town will thank you.
(www.mardigrasneworleans.com)

High Art Museum, Atlanta, GA
In November 2005, the High Museum of Art unveiled an expansion that nearly doubled the size of the Southeast's premiere art museum. Architect Renzo Piano created a piazza that opened the High to the surrounding neighborhood and allowed guests to sit outside at the new café, Table 1280. It matches the excitement of the indoor galleries, now furnished in glass and loads of natural light.
(www.high.org)

International Mead Festival, Lakewood, CO
Valentine's Day Weekend is the ideal time to indulge in the drink of love, honey wine. At the International Mead Festival just outside of Denver, you can taste the varied selection of honey wine, from sweet to dry, still to sparkling. One sip and you'll understand why the word "honeymoon" stems from the tradition of drinking honey wine for one full lunar cycle after your nuptials.
(www.meadfest.com)

Los Angeles Culture, CA
Hollywood might garner most of the press, especially during the Academy Awards each February, but there's a whole lot more than film in L.A. Closed since 1997, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu reopened as the Getty Villa. The classical décor, with patterned mosaic floors and coffered ceilings, is the perfect backdrop to the Greek and Roman antiquities housed inside. In Westwood, the Geffen Playhouse recently completed a $17 million renovation of its landmark 1929 structure. Then there's the Walt Disney Concert Hall, home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Designed by architect Frank Gehry, best known for Seattle's Experience Music Project and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, the building rises from the street like a ship of curving steel.

South Beach Wine and Food Festival, FL
Taste some of the country's finest Latin– and Caribbean–inspired cuisine in a perfect locale: South Beach. Held in mid February each year, the festival features the best food Miami has to offer, all washed down with a glass of wine. A number of celebrity chefs will be on hand, including Rachel Ray, Emeril, and Bobby Flay, along with Martha Stewart and The Today Show's Al Roker.
(www.sobewineandfoodfest.com)

Puerto Vallarta Dining, Mexico
If you favor the Pacific over Mexico's Yucatan, consider Puerto Vallarta for its wealth of indigenous art and culinary delights. You can walk on the cobblestone streets into the Plaza de Armas and be serenaded by a 12–piece mariachi band. All around the central square, the Malecon, you'll find great shopping for Mexican handicrafts, like pottery, tapestries, and paintings. Afterwards, choose from a variety of restaurants with a view. Chico's Paradise is built into the rocks, near a small waterfall and swimming hole. Vista Grill is also high in the hills, with splendid vistas of the city. Or you can have a romantic dinner on the beach at La Palapa—no matter which you chose, you can't go wrong.

Smoky Mountain Storytelling Festival, TN
With information thrown at us at a whirlwind pace, we all seem to suffer from attention deficit disorder these days. If someone can hold our interest solely with the power of words, spoken simply in a story, they deserve praise. The hills of Appalachia are woven with storytellers, blessed with the gift of gab. Celebrate the best of the lot at the annual Pigeon Forge Storytelling Festival, held in Tennessee early each February.
(www.mypigeonforge.com)

The Bourbon Tour, KY
T.W. Samuels, Jr., a fourth–generation distiller and owner of Maker's Mark, is determined to preserve bourbon's place in American history. He has restored most of the 1880s buildings on the 650–acre property his father bought in Loretto, Kentucky, in 1953. Now he's just finished working with others in the industry to establish a 130–mile driving trail of "bourbon landmarks" through central Kentucky, a mere 45–minute drive from Louisville, to showcase where the drink was developed. The trail takes visitors to Maker's Mark, Jim Beam, and four other distilleries, as well as the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History.
(www.kybourbon.com)