During a day visit to Portsmouth, N.H., this July, my sister and I spent an enlightening two hours at the Strawbery Banke Museum, an outdoor facility right in the heart of town. But we wanted to see more of the city. One of America’s oldest cities, dating from 1623, Portsmouth
When we were kids, Mom taught my sister Marilyn and me to sew. But weaving? It wasn’t relevant. Fast forward to 2017 and, this summer, I had my first experience at a loom. In other circumstances, I think I could get good enough to make decent-looking towels, or something, but
I remember when I last rode a horse — it was more than 10 years ago. In other words, I am an almost-novice on horseback, but my 2017 trip to the Atacama Desert included a half-day outing sitting a horse. The horse and I were traversing a unique environment. The
A used sailboat costs about as much as a used car. It won’t be new, and it may be a long-term project, but you can sail into the dream for less than $20,000. Our dream turned out to be a 1982 Catalina, a 27-foot sloop with a cranky inboard Atomic
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is home to an estimated 700 grizzly bears, according to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The number of bears in this ecosystem (which includes Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks) had fallen to an estimated 136 when, in 1975, grizzlies in the lower
Twenty-five French kings were crowned in Reims. These crowned heads included Charles VII with Joan of Arc at his side in 1429. The city’s cathedral, a gothic confection built between the 13th and 15th centuries, was the setting for 19 of those coronations; a stone on its floor identifies its
As of this summer (2016), I have been in all 50 U.S. states. My sister and I treated ourselves to a driving trip to the last two on my list — North and South Dakota. We spent most of our time in South Dakota, with a special interest in the
Over a period of decades, I have made three side trips, from Dubrovnik, to the village of Cilipi in Croatia. In 1976, I was one of a handful of press accompanying the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) to a meeting held in Dubrovnik. Some of the agents and press
This year’s report on the Fira Mediterrània de Manresa finds me once again trying to capture the torrent of events and concerts that make up this citywide festival. I previously focused more on the concerts, but this time around, I decided to cover a bit more of the culinary and
Some travel experiences leave a warm glow long after the event, and an evening spent in Georgian wine country last fall is in that category. The setting was a cozy restaurant in a hill town named Sighnaghi, and the after-dark hours spent there involved dinner, a wine tasting and an
