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. […]
Off to Washington State, Home of Pot Tourism?
I am about to break one of my own rules. I usually try very hard to have the last trip’s story up and done before I embark on another. But early Saturday, I’ll fly out to Seattle and then begin a trip to Bellingham and to Vancouver, British Columbia. I […]
Cartagena Lives Up to its Billing as One of the World’s Most Beautiful Cities
As a life-long resident of a small town in the country, I am usually not drawn to cities. I do love the excitement of New York of course, and am awed by the world’s great metropolises, but most of the time I’d rather be out in the country. My trip […]
A Day in Coffee Country with Men Who Live the Bean
I found my essential moment of this exciting trip through prosperous and friendly Colombia…It came while I looked up at the steep green hills of the Corcora Valley while standing on the back of an old Willy’s Jeep, driving down a tree-lined country road. Yes that was it. We were […]
A Day in the Salt Mines
It’s the most popular tourist attraction in Colombia. It’s nearly 600 feet down underground. It was built in 1992 and the 127 miners who helped build it are memorialized with holes drilled behind a cross. It’s the Cathedral of Salt, about an hours drive outside of Bogota. Outside of the […]
After Years of Being Shunned, Colombians Are On the Move
It’s always exciting to be in the company of people who are high on living in a certain place, especially when they’ve changed countries just to live there. Last night we had a large table at the Hilton and Sandro Leopardi told us all about his life’s journey that brought […]
Bogota, Colombia: Nine Million People at 8000 Feet
It was a rather odd time to depart on a flight from JFK–6:55 am. So I tried to nap and then left Deerfield at 1 am for the journey to the airport and after a relaxing five-hour flight, we were driving along the streets of Bogota Colombia. This is my […]
When We Lost Kent St John, We Lost this Blog’s Biggest Fan–But It’s Time to Soldier On
Blogging is not for everyone. It’s hard to keep on doing this in my ninth year–the energy begins to drain away, and the number of readers goes down. It’s a cycle that’s hard to buck, and I’m trying now to be as invigorated as I was when I began this […]
Snowblower Conks Out, Neighbor Comes Through, I Get a New One
Like everyone else in New England, I watched the approaching storm with trepidation. I did the mental checklist in my head, preparing as best I could, getting gas for the snowblower. I was confident I would be ready with my 1970s vintage orange Ariens. We looked out our window at […]
Frank Sinatra Never Had the Thrill of Painting a Room By Himself
I often think of the advantages of not being as rich as Frank Sinatra once was. That’s because when you’re a tremendously wealthy singer and movie star, you don’t get the chance to do things that are very satisfying, even if they feel like work. Whenever I have painting to […]
First the Population Bomb, Now the Birth Dearth
I spent much of my growing up years being deathly afraid. I was terrified of what I’d read in the 1960’s popular book, The Population Bomb by Paul Ehrlich. That book sent me to bed afraid that there would be so many people on earth we would not all be […]
Where the Googlers Are
On Tuesday, I entered the inner sanctum of one of the richest corporations in the world. A year ago,Google bought its own Eighth Avenue building in NYC, for $1.9 billion. It’s one of the biggest buildings in New York, with 3 million square feet of space. At an event for […]
A Joyful Amtrak Ride into the Big City
I had to get down to New York yesterday, as the snow flew around me and reports trickled in of cancelations from the weather. I did the white knuckle dance as far as Springfield’s Chessmen Lounge, where I parked my car and hurried to board Amtrak’s Vermonter into the city. […]
Arabic Music at the Iron Horse Pulls Me In with its Infectious Beat
For as many years as I’ve been a traveling man, I have gravitated toward certain types of music. I especially am drawn to Arabic music, that enchanting pulsing beat that comes with lyrics I can’t understand, adding to the mystique. I discovered an artist named Nasrat Ali Khan a decade […]
The Big Apple: The Center of the Travel Universe
After so many years of visiting the New York Times Travel show this time of year, you’d think it would become old hat. But it’s still invigorating to don the badge and make my way onto the show floor to meet up with so many of the colleagues and friends […]