Posted in Uncategorized on Aug 31st, 2009
In this great carnivorous land of ours, there are steak houses, and then there’s the Hilltop Steakhouse and Butcher Shop north of Boston in Saugus, Massachusetts.
The place is a brilliant anachronism, a throwback to traditional Western steakhouses, smack dab in the middle of New England. It’s got dark wood, cowboy boots and hitching posts (though [...]
Is there any travel term as pejorative as “tourist trap”? It disses the attraction and it disses the doofuses (doofi?) who go there. Yeah, well, “tourist trap” is in the eyes of the beholder. We’d like to tell you about some places that others may scorn but we gladly allow to trap us.
The signs along [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Aug 27th, 2009
On a clear day atop California’s Mount St. Helena, the entire Bay Area comes into view.
In the mornings, a shroud of fog enrobes the Napa and Sonoma Valleys like a giant cotton ball, clinging to the green hillsides as the sun threatens to drive it away. In the afternoons, these same hillsides emerge as an [...]
I love seeing civic pride displayed by B-list towns and cities, the ones that are on nobody’s bucket list. I first noted this in Abilene, Texas, which has both civic pride and cash (black gold, Texas tea) to back it up. Abilene is doing a lovely job restoring its historic downtown and it has some [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Aug 24th, 2009
Is the 2.5-hour wait to get up to the Skydeck of Chicago’s Sears, er, Willis Tower worth it? (Oh, that name change!) Without hesitation, I say yes yes yes. Stepping out onto one of the new glass box observation decks with my sister-in-law and nieces is my favorite travel memory of the summer.
Posted in Uncategorized on Aug 21st, 2009
We don’t dispute that the best kind of travel is the kind you do on your own—those trips where, upon poking around, you discover things you never would have discovered any other way. That said, sometimes guided tours are pretty fun, too. Every once in a while, we hardened travel scribes put our journeys (and [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Aug 20th, 2009
The rise of “singers” such as Miley Cyrus, Fergie and Lady GaGa make me long for the days when our musical artists were just that—artists.
At times like these, I long for singer/songwriter/troubadour Paul Simon.
I contend that no musician since Woody Guthrie has done a better job at spinning musical yarns about journeys through the heart [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Aug 19th, 2009
It doesn’t matter where I’ve been while reading it: in a bed in suburban Illinois, in a plane from ORD to LGA, or at a coffee shop in Queens, every story in New Stories from the South 2009: The Year’s Best sets my brain smack down under the Mason-Dixon Line. I checked in with author, [...]
I’ve always appreciated the sight of a windmill on the horizon but otherwise, gave windmills little thought.
That changed after I visited the boring-sounding American Wind Power Center in Lubbock, Texas where the huge collection of vintage windmills can only be described as folk art. First I was charmed, then I slapped my forehead when the [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Aug 14th, 2009
Museums are marvelous. Parks are perfect. Aquariums are A-OK. But, really, can you deny that you heart races just that much more over the thought of the post-attraction gift shop visit? Whether you’re after salt shakers that pay homage to Old Faithful or a birdhouse reminder of the See Rock City barn-side ad campaign, it’s [...]
