Argentina’s Free Newspapers Face Starvation by Government Decree
In Argentina, it’s a tough time to be a newspaper publisher. That’s because the country’s president, Cristina Kirchner, has gone after the lifeblood of a free press by sending a message to convince grocery store owners not to advertise in papers that disagree with government policy. Mary Anastatia O’Grady writes […]
Brattleboro is the Perfect Escape on a Chilly Sunday in March
It was a Sunday driver’s Sunday morning, crisp and clear, while the temperature was stubbornly sticking to the 30s. We were determined to make a beautiful day of it. It was time to head north, shun-piking our way up to Brattleboro. The shun-pikers in colonial times avoided the local taxes […]
Amtrak’s Doing Great…Just as Long As the Trip is Under 400 Miles
I have a lot of great things to say about Amtrak, based on my last two journeys, which took me up the west coast from Bellingham, Washington to Vancouver ,and then back down to Seattle. Everything was lovely, and it was a most comfortable trip. In the news today was […]
Bus Companies Come and Go…and Now You Can Travel on Yo! Bus Too!
I’ve signed up for about a dozen magazine subscriptions after I was offered a chance to trade unused United miles for them. Among them is New York Magazine which included a fascinating piece about the many Chinatown bus lines which have come and gone serving New York and Washington. The […]
South Deerfield’s Streets Are Going To Get Safer Soon
Jason Schrieber has been analyzing data, traffic patterns and pedestrian crossings in the village of South Deerfield for the past few months. Tonight he made a presentation to a group of townspeople showing off an impressive plan that his firm, Nelson Nygaard, has put together that would make our town […]
Come to Turners Falls and Be Creatively Inspired!
This Friday in Turners Falls, there will be workshops, presentations and a big gathering designed to show people how arts can help a community do well, even with a broken bridge and lots of other problems. It’s the fourth annual Creative Economy Summit, and I will be joining 30 other […]
A Great Day for a Parade
I was among the 400,000 or so who took in a little Holyoke on Sunday to watch the parade. My perch, at the corner of Appleton and Beech, gave me a great view of the parade doing a turn, and a peanut gallery of local men who kept up a […]
Heather Maloney, This Saturday at the Shea Theater, Turners Falls
I can’t wait to see Heather Maloney at the Shea Theater this Saturday night, March 16. Combined with dinner at the Voo, with great friends, it should be a really fun night. Tickets still avalable at the door. Here she plays one of her songs, a catchy number called “Flutter.” […]
Moonshine Makers
At the Mount Baker Distillery in Bellingham Washington, owner Troy Smith and family pride themselves in making moonshine the way their great great grandpa Abe did. So they use his visage in all of their packaging, while they hand distill small batches of his recipe Moonshine plus gin and vodka. […]
Biking Vancouver: The Seawall and the Beaver Pond
I always love a city where a sunny day is a cause for celebration. In the Northeast, we’ve always lived that way, we never take a beautiful day for granted. Likewise, and even more so, here in Vancouver, a day with shining sun is a day to get out on […]
A Day on Indian Arm aboard the Oceanwatch 2: Nature and Scenery
Many of the world’s greatest cities are located right on the water. Vancouver’s waterfront is one of its greatest assets with ferries of allsizes crossing many different routes. Yesterday we drove up a little bit north of the city to the lands of the Tsleil Wautuh tribe and met a […]
Want to Know Where to Go in Vancouver? Find BCRobyn!
Robyn Hanson was the perfect choice to show me this city. Known on Twitter as BCRobyn, and she’s been a TripAdvisor destination guide and has been a booster/fan and a lover of all things Vancouver her whole life. I got a chance to see the city through her eyes last […]
Village Books Shows How Dynamic and Exciting a Bookstore Can Be
There are some key ingredients that make a great town or city. Right up there on the list is having a top-notch bookstore. Village Books, in Bellingham’s Fairhaven neighborhood, is an institution that’s made this enclave of century-old brick buildings a better place since 1980. Many of the store’s employees […]
Haunted Fairhaven: Meeting Orbs and Learning about the Ghosts
Taimi Dunn Gorman met us in the ground floor lobby of the Victorian era Sycamore Square building in Fairhaven, a glass of wine beside her and a glowing device on the table. The TV-remote sized machine picks up waves that ghosts make, and she has used in during her research […]
Dorie and John Belisle’s Bellewood Acres: Doing Everything with Apples
From the top of her deck, Dorie Belisle showed me the sweep of farms and the array of crops that this part of Washington raises…to the left, a herd of holstein milking cows, then blueberry and raspberry bushes, then pumpkins, potatoes, apples, and on and on. We were touring the […]
In Minneapolis, I Saw the Future of Airport Restaurant Dining
When I missed the connection to my shuttle from Seattle Tacoma airport up to Bellingham, Washington today, I had a chance to sit for a while in a small bar called the Pilot House. At the bar, the first thing I asked for was a Seattle beer–Nope, don’t have it. […]