Assignments and upcoming articles slated for AAA Northern New England Journey, Black Card Mag, Boston Globe, Consumer Traveler, Down East, Global Traveler, Private Clubs, SNOW, USA Today, Yankee. Recent and upcoming travels, include: Maine (always), England (London, Yorkshire, gardens), Kenya, France (skiing, Paris), Norway (Oslo, Bergen, Hurtigruten cruise), Ireland, Switzerland, Upper Rhine Valley (Germany, France, … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: January 2013
Making the ordinary extraordinary: Nova Scotia folk artists add pizzazz to daily life
In Nova Scotia, Atlantic Canada’s not-quite-an-island province, folk art and its makers are aptly described as quirky, whimsical, spirited, and resourceful. Born of farming and seafaring traditions, folk art surfs the tide between functional and fanciful. The best works are playful, yet provocative; naïve, yet sophisticated; familiar, yet fresh. They share a common heritage, but … Continue reading
Falling for New Brunswick’s Miramichi, hook, line, and sinker
Before arriving in Sillikers, New Brunswick, I knew even less about the Miramichi River than I knew about salmon, which wasn’t much. During my one previous fly-fishing attempt, I’d landed branches, hats, even a nearby canoe, everything but a fish. That’s not something one brags about over scrambled eggs and sausage while sharing a table … Continue reading
Charmed, I’m sure: Exploring Bermuda’s Railway Trail
As I padded along the boardwalk threading Bermuda’s Paget Marsh, the buzz of scooters diminished and pastel-colored white-roofed buildings disappeared. The elevated trail slices through tangles of red mangrove and forests of Palmetto palms and giant ferns and edges a sawgrass savannah. It ends in a stand of centuries-old cedars. “The Railway Trail is a … Continue reading
Edinburgh’s Writers’ Museum chronicles Scotland’s literary giants
Detour off The Royal Mile down Lady Stair’s Close, one of Edinburgh’s medieval pedestrian alleys, and step into Scotland’s literary heritage. The Writers’ Museum, housed in the early 17th-century Lady Stair’s House, immerses visitors in the lives of Robert Burns (1759-1796), Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), and Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894). In addition to manuscripts, original … Continue reading
You don’t want no bad mojo: Spirited travel in Arizona’s Navajo lands
Few places move the spirit or stir the soul as do northern Arizona’s Navajo lands. I keep returning to this mesmerizing landscape of red sandstone, deep canyons, intriguing land formations, and grassy mesas, and each time I visit, I’m awed by the beauty and humbled by the simplicity. It’s a place that exposes that the … Continue reading
London’s Courtauld Gallery is a treasure within a treasure
I was more than content to admire masterpiece after masterpiece displayed in The Courtauld Gallery, a small, university museum on London’s Museum Mile. Then, cued by the upward gaze of another visitor, I glanced—then gawked—at the lavishly augmented and painted ceiling. The Courtauld Gallery is housed in Somerset House, designed by Sir William Chambers, built … Continue reading
The Land Whisperer: Walking through Irish history in The Burren
“Where are we?” asked Shane Connolly. I glanced around the small parking pullout, with ledges descending to Galway Bay on one side and a hill rising on the other. There was no “You Are Here” marker in sight. Shane reeled off the answer, the words flowing together and punctuated by a thick brogue. “The town … Continue reading
Travtastic 