IT IS TIME FOR YOU to cast your votes for the 14th annual GT Tested Reader Survey awards! The recap of our 13th annual event, held last December at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, marking the sixth such event at the hotel, is in this issue.

We also gear up for the Leisure Lifestyle Awards, to be held at the Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on May 18. These awards focus on cruise lines, tourism boards and luxury goods. After the Leisure Lifestyle Awards, our sister publication trazeetravel.com will present The Trazees awards in Boston. Millennials, who fulfill their passion for travel in every aspect of their lives, vote on these awards.

Now that things have settled down in our nation’s capital — well, for a while — I want to share a restaurant recommendation. You can’t get more into the political scene then to secure a window table overlooking the Capitol at Charlie Palmer’s. This steakhouse mainstay is known as the place where politics happen; many a deal has been made at Palmer’s, and they have the service and cuisine to go along with it. Try the duo of beef tartare, combining steak tartare with beef carpaccio — superb! I followed this with a cowboy bone-in ribeye, topped off with cheesecake. My bride chose the organic beets to start — they were delicious — and followed with Chesapeake Bay wild striped bass that was out of this world. The bar scene is cool, just everything you want in Washington, all wrapped up in one. Hobnob with lobbyists, senators and everyone and everything that makes this country tick — it all happens here! Michael Irving, general manager, has a wealth of information about D.C. Nadine Brown, wine director, suggested a Peter Franus Zinfandel, Napa Valley 2013, which went well with everything.

In the last month, I hit Atlanta and Miami and found reaching these markets early in the year was fruitful. In Miami we stayed at the newly opened ME Miami. We chatted with Ernesto Luna, general manager, who just finished a long stint at Sol Meliá’s Cancún property. The Miami hotel is lovely and has an enchanting rooftop, complete with a lap pool overlooking the city and great views. We enjoyed a terrific steak dinner at STK, which also has an exciting bar scene.

In Atlanta, an in-and-out trip, we had a fine dinner at Manchester Arms, a British-style pub run by Americans; they do one heck of a smoked pork chop. Frankly, I never saw anything as big — it was more like a tender ham — and they told us they smoke it right in the backyard. If you read my blog, you know I am a fan of Spondivics near the airport. Open ’til 4 a.m., it is a mix of passengers and those who call ATL their place of business, with a very welcoming team.

What’s next? Well, I wrote this on a flight to LAX for meetings, with a 30-hour turnaround time. I have a few other ideas up my sleeve for the next few months.