Outside of the Mediterranean, there are a few areas in the world with a Mediterranean climate: the cape of South Africa, Chile, and the California coast. Perhaps that's why, when oil tycoon J Paul Getty wanted to build a replica Roman villa on the cliffs of Malibu to house his art collection, nobody called him…
What happens when one of my favorite cities meets one of my biggest passions as a traveler? Well, I got to experience that recently when, after years of talking about it, my sister and I finally attended Santa Cruz's Open Studios. What is Open Studios? I'm glad you asked. Imagine more than 300 incredible artists…
Often, destinations that are a bit more remote tend to be ignored. Places outside big cities, lacking in national parks or other well-known landmarks, can still be wonderful. There is a calmness to rolling hills, forests and meadows, mountains and streams that are, of themselves, not a focal point for travel. Southwestern Pennsylvania is one…
The American Civil War is the most transformational event in the country's history. Battlefields and historic sites decorate much of that US Southeast, some well preserved, others simply marked with a small monument, and others lost to obscurity. It is impossible to visit all of them. Last year, my father and I were blown away…
Sometimes, travelers are lucky in weather. I've had perfectly blue skies at Crater Lake in Oregon in a single week between snow storms, had the rain let up in Amsterdam just as I arrived, and had a storm abate just long enough to visit the ruins at Ephesus before it came back in. Other times,…
For most people from elsewhere, West Virginia is a bit of a blank spot. We know it exists, but we don't know what there is to do there. It's most famous export, coal, isn't exactly something that draws the tourists in droves. However, West Virginia is a wonderful place. It has some unique history, incredible…
It's a rainy day here in Charleston, West Virginia's capitol city and its largest. The gray skies and wet streets do nothing to lessen the glimmer of the golden dome of the state capitol building, and it shines, visible from all over the city. Across the plaza lies the West Virginia State Museum, containing in…
"Almost heaven, West Virginia. Blue Ridge Mountains. Shenandoah River. Life is old here, older than the trees. Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze." The song is beautiful, and one I can't stop singing as my father and I criss-cross this state. The mountains loom over us, wisps of clouds hovering around the tops,…
Tennessee Ernie Ford sang it in song. "You load sixteen tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go. I owe my soul to the company store." Beckley, West Virginia was a coal town, a company town, where miners worked to the…
This article was supposed to be posted later this month. However, the recent events in Pittsburgh have caused me to move up the timeline. Dillsboro, Indiana is a small town of about 1200 residents roughly an hour outside of Cincinnati. It is rural, conservative, and largely the stereotypical mid-American small town. It is not exactly…