This week’s eFlyer newsletter features an article on Valentine’s Day travel. It quotes a recent survey which found that 89 percent of respondents listed vacation trips as the perfect Valentine’s Day gift. The article then proceeds to list a number of great travel deals currently offered to some romantic locales. It got me thinking about some of the places I’ve been and some that I have yet to visit with my sweetie. We got married on a Labor Day weekend 27 years ago, and because we were both teachers at the time, our honeymoon was restricted to just a few days on the Oregon coast before the school year started. That Christmas, though, we spent a fantastic week in Hawaii, strolling palm-fringed beaches, enjoying lush tropical flowers and sipping exotic cocktails while viewing amazing sunsets. I also remember a wonderfully relaxing week we spent in Napa wine country. We left our two-year-old daughter with the grandparents and rediscovered our identity as a couple as we winetasted and dined our way from Healdsburg to Sonoma to Yountville. Not too long ago we spent a long weekend in Victoria, B.C., and reveled in the gardens, shops and fine dining there. Both of us have been to some very romantic spots . . . just not with each other. Harry made two trips to Europe before we met (but WITHOUT a female companion, he assures me) and visited Paris, Rome, Monte Carlo and the Greek isles. On a girls-only cruise with my sisters several years ago, I too visited Rome and the Greek islands (and sorely wished my hubby was there to share them with me). That still leaves me with a long list of places with a high romance factor I’d love to visit:  the Taj Mahal, Venice, Paris, Provence and Tuscany, some remote South Pacific island like Bora-Bora,  the Caribbean, and I’ve always wanted to tango in Buenos Aires! In the meantime, we are fortunate to live within driving distance of some very lovely spots for a nice romantic weekend. In five hours we could be in San Francisco, and a little more than that would put us in Tahoe. There are lots of cozy inns and B & Bs all up and down the coast, and an equal number of lodges and resorts in the mountains, the most venerable and romantic of them all likely being Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. When it comes right down to it, I think if you’re with the right person, just about anywhere can be full of romance. Any of you out there willing to share some of your favorite romantic spots?  Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader