As our group wandered through downtown Bellingham, Washington, my college friend’s teenage daughter gently tugged on my sleeve. She had spotted a small ice cream shop and wanted to conspire for a taste, so we nipped in. From an assortment of creative and exotic ice cream flavors we selected honey lavender and then rejoined the…
Two Days in Sunny Santa Barbara
Last week, a spur of the moment decision took my husband and I to Santa Barbara in sunny Southern California. This is not the way to find a budget hotel, but few exist there anyway. We stayed in two different hotels and the irony was, the second hotel—The Hampton Inn at Goleta—cost more than our…
Rome, The Eternal City
People come to Rome from all corners of the world, because its history includes both subjecting and serving the world, whether militarily, religiously, or culturally. Rome shows us how we can live in a village while living in a world capital, how much a small life reflects a larger life, and how much we resemble…
Visit the Best Places to Witness Wildlife Migration Paths
Every year sees tens of thousands of animals and birds move around the country as they head to sunnier climates and breeding grounds. In my experience, nothing is better than seeing such spectacles of nature, and if you pick the right time, you and your family should be able to witness these migrations up close….
Mont-St-Michel: The French Island Whose Origins Are Steeped in Legends and Dreams
Rising from the sea like something from a fairy tale, Mont-Saint-Michel challenges your sense of reality. An island that’s sometimes not an island. A geological wonder that’s also a geographic oddity. A fortress and an abbey and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At high tide, the whole place seems to hover over the water, and…
Discovering the Real Nevada
Fairly or not, most people think of Las Vegas when they think of Nevada. However, as I learned recently, there is more to the Silver State than the city that never sleeps. My recent visit started after flying into Reno, which admittedly felt like a smaller Las Vegas. After picking up a rental car and…
Bathing and Basking in Iceland’s Geothermal Wonders
You really shouldn’t be able to swim here. Set on barren shores in the northern reaches of the North Atlantic, the surrounding waters are nothing short of frigid, normally forbidding people from even dipping a toe into the cold sea. But still, there’s a beach. And people paddling around in the water. Pulling up my…
Northern Idaho’s Lake District: Rugged Beauty, Quiet Serenity
A few years ago, the only thing I knew about Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, was that it was the hometown of my favorite author, Marilynne Robinson. I couldn’t have told you what it looked like or why it would be an appealing place to visit. Idaho, for me, conjured up images of potato fields and heaps…
Two Worlds on One Island: Cyprus and the Green Line
Once, the Green Line was something a no-go zone, never to be traversed. Stretching clear across the island, it divides Cyprus, and demarcates two different worlds. Reinforced by walls, fences, barbed wire, and guard towers, this demilitarized zone completely sealed off north from south for some three decades, until 2003. The Last Divided Capital And…
Oregon Wine Tour: Vineyards, Small Towns and Adventure
It wasn’t what I expected to see in Oregon, but covering the hills were rows and rows of olive trees. Tiny green fruit dotted the branches as we walked along the grove at Durant at Red Ridge Farms. When my husband Benjamin and I planned our Oregon road trip, we knew we’d be stopping at…
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