travel

Read more about the article Fort Myers, Florida: More than just a home for MLB Spring Training
Thomas Edison’s winter home in Fort Myers. Credit: author

Fort Myers, Florida: More than just a home for MLB Spring Training

For years, I’ve been visiting Fort Meyers, Florida and the surrounding area in March, spending time watching my Boston Red Sox get ready for another campaign up north. This Southwest Florida city and the surrounding area is a terrific destination for a late-winter recreational sojourn. And it’s filled with with attractions that go well beyond the spring training homes of the Red Sox and Minnesota Twins. From nature/wildlife preserves to historical sites, there’s more than enough here to satisfy even those visitors who aren’t fans of America’s pastime. And of course there…

Continue ReadingFort Myers, Florida: More than just a home for MLB Spring Training
Read more about the article Viewing 20th century America through Norman Rockwell’s eyes

Viewing 20th century America through Norman Rockwell’s eyes

Before he passed away in 1978, famed illustrator Norman Rockwell offered the “secret” behind how he crafted his amazing paintings: “I love to tell stories in pictures,” he explains in a biographical video at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. He adds that what he was trying to do wasn’t “fine art.” His legions of fans would probably disagree. “The story is the first thing and the last thing,” he concludes. A visitor to the wonderful museum dedicated to Rockwell’s life and work doesn’t really need to hear those words. Each…

Continue ReadingViewing 20th century America through Norman Rockwell’s eyes
Read more about the article Driving U.S. Route 1 from Northern Maine to Key West; a new book

Driving U.S. Route 1 from Northern Maine to Key West; a new book

During the summer of 2014, I embarked on a solo drive that had roots stretching all the way back to epic road trips with my family as we followed my Air Force father on assignments here and abroad. In late-June 2014, I set out from my home in upstate New York to drive the entire length of U.S. Route 1 from remote, forested northern Maine to artsy, bucolic Key West. As it snakes along the East Coast for over 2,400 miles, this famous -- but somewhat ignored -- highway winds through some…

Continue ReadingDriving U.S. Route 1 from Northern Maine to Key West; a new book
Read more about the article The Guggenheim walk

The Guggenheim walk

(This is the second in a series of posts about hikes I've taken through New York City and elsewhere) New York City. There is, in my opinion, no other city in the world that so easily reveals an eclectic mix of history, arts, entertainment, business/finance, retail, architecture, and simply people from literally every corner of the globe. All are slowly unveiled while walking the avenues, streets, bridges, and alleys of The Big Apple. Over the last decade, I have embarked on many New York City hikes to experience the wonders of this…

Continue ReadingThe Guggenheim walk
Read more about the article Walking from Manhattan to Brooklyn, 1880s style

Walking from Manhattan to Brooklyn, 1880s style

A set of bridges sits just south of where I live in Saratoga County, north of Albany. The small suspension spans carry interstate highway traffic across the Mohawk River between Albany and Saratoga counties. The bridges are formally known as the singular Thaddeus Kascsiusko Bridge, but most locals know them simply as "The Twin Bridges," or even "The Twins." I've gone along with this for years, but I've always felt twins was a better moniker for two not-that-similar looking, historic bridges that link lower Manhattan with Brooklyn. Viewed via Google Maps from…

Continue ReadingWalking from Manhattan to Brooklyn, 1880s style