Thirty shows. Five venues. Five days. Em Piro, founder of the St. Lou Fringe Festival, has upped the ante for the second annual extravaganza in midtown St. Louis, which will occur from Thursday, June 20 through Monday, June 24.

It wasn’t long ago when vacationers snapped and clicked with fingers crossed, hoping to have a few good pictures when they returned home. In the age of digital photography, things should be easier. But regardless of the equipment upgrade, vacation photos often look dull, amateurish and indistinguishable. Our in-house expert, LN photographer Sarah Crowder, weighs in on what travelers should do to capture the moments they’ll want to remember.

Have you traveled far and wide? Tell us about it!

When St. Charles resident Justine Riggs rescued two sister Weimaraners four years ago, she wasn’t thinking of becoming an author. But necessity is the mother of invention, after all, and a family Thanksgiving trip showed her how difficult it can be to find hotels and restaurants that accommodate dogs. In fact, at one restaurant where the family went inside, leaving the dogs (still within eyeshot) in the car, she says, “I could see (one dog) turning around in the seat. What I didn’t realize was that she was ripping a hole in it! She really did not like that we were inside and she was out there.”

An upcoming trip is a great reason to buy a new camera—and the items currently on the market offer more than ever before. LN asked local professionals to share their digital camera favorites for travelers.

More than 18 miles of coastline frame the amazing dunes of Pismo Beach, the most extensive in the state of California. Countless wildlife, including coyotes, rattlesnakes, egrets and owls, lives happily amongst wild plants.

Whether you’re simply throwing down a blanket in the backyard and enjoying a meal al fresco or tasting exotic fare abroad, food poisoning can turn a good time bad in a hurry. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that each year, approximately one in six Americans (about 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of food-borne diseases.

St. Louis restaurants were well represented on the Opinionated About Dining's Top 25 Midwest Restaurants list that was recently released. Niche took the No. 2 slot; Sidney Street Cafe was No. 8; Stone Soup Cottage was No. 11; Brasserie by Niche came in at No. 12; Farmhaus garnered No. 13; and Tony's landed at No. 20; and Harvest rounded out the list at 22. Well done!

This Georgian-style brick home is now operated as a decorative arts and history museum. No other home in the region boasts this type of fine craftsmanship.

THROUGH 6/16 TWELFTH NIGHT Shakespeare Festival St. Louis presents its 13th annual play, Twelfth Night—an intimate, romantic performance set to live music—at Forest Park. Free. 8 p.m. nightly, except Tuesdays. 531-9800 or sfstl.com.

Stories: In Il Tabarro, barge owner Michele works his small crew hard but also shows compassion. He could get by with one fewer stevedore, but doesn’t want to put Luigi out of work. Michele deeply loves his wife Giorgetta, but feels that a distance has grown between them since the death of their child a year earlier. He suspects that Giorgetta is taking comfort in the arms of another man, and vows revenge when he finds out who that alleged lover is.

For many St. Louisans, the Saint Louis Art Museum in Forest Park is their single-most favorite public structure. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style and sited on a majestic hill that overlooks the Great Lagoon, the building is arguably the finest example of Classic Revival architecture in St. Louis.

Most people long for another island. One where they know they will like to be, so says Bloody Mary in South Pacific’s evocative and lyrical Bali Hai.

If you find yourself packing for points more temperate, and find yourself—as I invariably do—looking for that perfect read, I have a few suggestions.

Whether you’re toting a clutch, a satchel or a handbag, sometimes, what matters is what’s inside. From basic rollerballs to a fancy flacons, there’s a fragrance that’s perfect for your purse or pocket.

The window to our vision is the cornea. This clear, spherical structure covers the front of the eye, allowing light to pass through. The cornea’s curvature refracts (or bends), light as it travels to the retina, the back part of the eye where light is transformed to nerve signals that the brain then interprets as visual images.