- Art, Beauty, Charity, Culture, Dessert, Drink, Entertainment, Events, Explore with Cassie, Fashion, Food, Latest News, Style
There’s a New Online Magazine in Town – Explore with Cassie Website Launch Party
The city’s lights and Publisher Cassie Hepler‘s sequined Hollywood disco dress (we heard you Tyler Prete!) sparkled in the sunlight a little brighter on Friday, May 8th from 6-9 p.m. as Explore Philly and Explore NJ officially launched the East Coast area’s newest online magazine. Not another boring blog by any means, ExplorewithCassie.com has multiple writers/photographers sprinkled throughout the city and to the shore. Correspondents currently include Pastry Chef Dana Prophet, Jill Beckel, Whitney Ullman and Elspeth Misiaszek – and more in the making. The IT brains behind the operation is fellow Penn State alum Eric Smith, who also has a background in journalism. The team welcomed invited guests to the Stratus Rooftop…
- Art, Culture, Dessert, Drink, Education, Entertainment, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Nature, Restaurants, Style, Travel
Explore Luxury Tributary Hotel & Fine Dining at ōkta Restaurant in McMinnville, Oregon
Story, photos and video by Cassie Hepler Tributary Hotel is easily one of the most luxurious boutique hotels I’ve experienced so far in the United States… and that says a lot! The luxury accommodations with suites named after each area river debuted in McMinnville, Oregon in summer of 2022, the center of Oregon’s Willamette Valley and largest city in Yamhill County but still retains a small town feel. This was the next stop on my road trip West of Portland and arrived just in the nick of time to shoot, change and get ready for dinner. The full experience restaurant next door, ōkta, honors the region and each season, offering…
- Animals, Architecture, Art, Culture, Day Trips, Dessert, Drink, Education, Entertainment, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Nature, Restaurants, Suburbs, Travel
Relax in the Small Town of Wilsonville, Just South of Portland, Oregon
Story, photos and video by Cassie Hepler Never travel for business during Spring Break! That’s the first moral of this story as I always have to learn things the hard way… I booked a flight at the crack o’ dawn through Southwest so I could hit the ground running on a Monday morning to make the week last extra long. In theory, it’s a good idea during any other time of the year and you will fly through security at Phoenix Airport with time to spare. But this time was a Spring Break shit show at 5 a.m. with lines crawling down the hallway with the progression of a snail.…
- Animals, Arizona, Culture, Day Trips, Drink, Education, Entertainment, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Nature, Restaurants, Style, Suburbs, Travel
Get Your Wild West on and go Golfing at Rancho de Los Caballeros in Wickenburg, Arizona
Story, photos and video by Cassie Hepler The first time I visited Wickenburg, Arizona was for an old Western town style photoshoot at Robson’s Ranch for local and out of town models. I had no clue what I was getting into at the time but was new to the desert and thought it would be a great way to meet some fresh faces and see new places. I has just bought my brand-new Honda whip at the time and remember being a little stressed about driving on long, windy rock roads… it seems that old West town for rent still exists although more rundown but it’s kind of rad concept.…
- Animals, Arizona, Culture, Day Trips, Education, Entertainment, Events, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Nature, Travel
Glamping in an AirStream at The Cozy Peach at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek, Arizona
Photos, story and video by Cassie Hepler The nice thing about living in Phoenix is the short drive to surrounding towns that take you to a completely different vibe in any direction. And moving to North Phoenix which for is 20 minutes directly above the city much like when I lived in the Manayunk section of Philly ironically, offers you all the highways only about a mile away. Learning the rhythm of any city is the key to keeping your driving sanity and it’s no different here: skip rush hour from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. So we headed down to Queen Creek, just…
- Beach, California, Culture, Day Trips, Education, Entertainment, Explore with Cassie, Fashion, Latest News, Nature, Style, Travel
Float Through The Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California
Story, photos and video by Cassie Hepler As part of a girls getaway to The Cassara Carlsbad in San Diego, California, my college bestie and I met up for a flower-filled feminine rendez-vous with the key highlight of visiting the glorious Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch. And part of that experience includes being dropped off by the hotel shuttle right in front of the entrance to the flower fields even though it is walkable from The Cassara. It was still humid, cool and misty, especially for this Phoenician but not enough to need a sweater which worked perfectly for our pretty, flowing dresses and my curly hair. There are 55…
- Architecture, Art, Culture, Day Trips, Dessert, Drink, Education, Entertainment, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Nature, Restaurants, Style, Suburbs, Travel
Rent a Car and Road Trip through Northwest Kansas
Story, photos by Cassie Hepler After my debacle of American Airlines travel to Missouri, I was back to the constant air bus rotation of which one sucks less now and I landed on Southwest Airlines. Good ‘ol Southwest was my go-to back in the day but I strayed and got burned like cheaters always do. So I came crawling back and was pleasantly surprised they offer nonstop flights to Wichita, Kansas – from Phoenix only a couple hours in the air. This time my mom was invited to join me as my road trip buddy and see firsthand that indeed, press trips are NOT free vacations, just a lot of…
- Culture, Drink, Education, Explore with Cassie, Food, Health, Latest News, Style, Technology, Travel
Holiday Gift Guide for Last Minute Shoppers
by Cassie Hepler Here it is the week before Christmas and have I sent any packages in the mail yet? No. Do I always wait until last minute? Yes. Because present’s day (as I’ve always called it) is hella stressful. The work crunch of shoving in everything you can before attempting to take a legit break is plain exhausting. We are animals after all and this time of year is supposed to be hibernation and rest time. But good ol’ capitalism is at it again although it seems more people are waking up to the fact that corporate America really couldn’t give a flying fart about Americans in general (thanks…
- Architecture, Art, Dessert, Drink, Education, Entertainment, Events, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Restaurants, Style, Suburbs, Travel
Explore Weird Wichita, Kansas and Dive into the Heart of the Country
Story, photos by Cassie Hepler If there’s one thing I really like, it’s the underdog. And I feel like Wichita, Kansas is an overlooked diamond in the rough which is why I was quick to agree to a press trip even among all the questionable comments from others. And mind you, our motto is “finding the unusual out of the ordinary” and this place hit the nail on the head. The irony of this story is now a lot of those same people now want to visit after sharing video highlights on my Instagram and TikTok accounts! Read on to see why… Did you know Wichita is the largest city…
- Architecture, Culture, Dessert, Drink, Education, Entertainment, Events, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Music, Nature, Restaurants, Sports, Suburbs, Travel
Foodie and Mizzou Fan’s Guide to Exploring Columbia, Missouri
Story, photos by Cassie Hepler It was bound to happen someday… the dreaded almost spending an overnight at the airport debacle. In my over almost 30 years of flying on airplanes, I had the worst and slimiest experience ever though American Airlines. I had a very slim window to make a layover and when I got an email the night before asking if I wanted to get paid (up to $700!) to switch my flight date and times, I had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well. Then at the gate at Phoenix airport, they pushed back the flight time a half hour making it near impossible. More than…