In an effort to research some of America's great hotels for my book America's Grande Dames, I discovered this majestic beacon perched on a hill overlooking the island of New Castle, just near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Wentworth-by-the Sea has an aristocratic ring to it. It was in fact built by a local ale tycoon in 1874 and [...]
Did you know... the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, started in 1982, is the largest and longest continually-running vintage sports car race in the United States? Ten days of events ranging from parades, galas, country cruising tours, and specialized car shows culminate into a competitive road race on the challenging, serpentine roads through Schenley Park. Sunday spectators are treated to 150 [...]
During my last trip to Seattle, the Executive Director of the Seattle Architectural Foundation hooked me up with a private walking tour around downtown. I had the pleasure of spending two hours with Eva Weaver, one of SAF's deeply knowledgeable tour guides. The customized tour focused on Art Deco skyscrapers in the Northwest style, built in the late 1920s [...]
This waterfront building has always held a particular allure for me. The enormous flag billowing in the archway. The perfect location between harbor and city. Back door airport water taxi service. For decades, I admired this hotel from afar. It was now time to see what all the hubbub is about, especially after reading about the massive [...]
By Shawnie Kelley, as published in Renaissance Magazine, Issue 58. " ... she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn ... This line of text has been visualized a thousand times over. [...]
My first trip to Seattle was centered on food and of course, I had a mile-long agenda. The iconic Pike Place Market was at the top of the list, and conveniently at the bottom of the hill from our hotel. By the time we arrived, the vendors had packed it in for the day, but a quiet stroll through the [...]
The Atlantic Ocean along outer Cape Cod is considered one of the world's top ten places for whale watching. Our favorite tour company, Dolphin Fleet out of Provincetown, has been in business since 1976 and is committed to responsible whale watching and protecting the marine environment. Every trip includes a naturalist commenting on what we are seeing while actively [...]
On the Trail of the Holy Grail: Knights Templar and Cathars Château Montségur, a seemingly impregnable castle perched in the Pyrénées Mountains, became the final stronghold of the Cathars–a heretical religious sect against whom the Catholic Church launched a ferocious crusade in the mid-thirteenth century. The Cathars supposedly fled to this mountaintop château with their [...]
On the Trail of the Holy Grail: Pyrénées Mountains Holy Grail traditions and Mary Magdalene’s enigmatic legend persists from the southern French coast inland to the mountains. Rennes-le-Chateau, a sleepy village in the foothills of the Pyrénées Mountains, plays a central role in several Grail stories. In the 1890’s a poor parish priest named Father Bérenger [...]
On the Trail of the Holy Grail: Southern France Southern France is a hotbed of grail tales with a far flung cast of characters ranging from medieval jongleurs to Knights Templars to the biblical Mary Magdalene. Local Provençal legends persist that the grail, along with other treasures looted from the Holy Land during the crusades, are hidden in caves, castles, and cathedrals throughout [...]
After hopping aboard a Visit Pittsburgh media tour several years ago, I learned of the William Penn Hotel's Hollywood connection–and have been fascinated with it ever since. The luxurious 1916 hotel has been the Grand Dame of Pittsburgh for 100 years. Having just celebrated its centennial, I decided to write a few articles over the next few months [...]
A Taste of Travel looks at the ways food connects us with a culture and each other. Sharing the recipes and restaurants we have encountered along the way... It has been a long time since I have visited Philadelphia. The last time (declining to say how long ago) was to give a paper at a conference at the [...]
