Step into the Archie McPhee store and take a moment to let your eyes adjust…not to the light, but to the overflowing bins and shelves of merchandise. This is not your typical inventory. I can’t improve on the website’s...
Hog Island Oyster Company: The Perfect Picnic by the Bay
In Northern California or the San Francisco Bay area? Looking for a special food experience? Cross the Golden Gate bridge and head to Hog Island Oyster Company, on Tomales Bay in West Marin County. I was excited to be...
Chicago Food Halls: 7 Easy Ways to “Sample” the City!
Hungry in the Windy City? You shouldn’t be. One of the country’s top food cities makes it easy for you to sample its wares. Just pop into one of the Chicago food halls and try whatever you fancy. Come...
San Juan, Puerto Rico: Stay at the Birthplace of the Piña Colada
Caribe Hilton: Historical…and Home of the Piña Colada UPDATE: 3/26/19 Following the disaster of Hurricane Maria, one of my favorite hotels has been closed for 18 months. Great news! Starting May 15, 2019, Caribe Hilton is open again! It...
Chicago Cultural Center: Visit the”Palace of the People”…FREE!
It’s scary to think that the Chicago Cultural Center was almost demolished so that a dull mid-century office tower could have a spot on Michigan Avenue. What–or rather, who–saved it? The petite wife of Mayor Richard J. Daley, the...
Etiquette for Visiting Religious Sites…NO Exceptions!
Please don’t be THAT traveler. Please. Learn the etiquette for visiting religious sites and use it every time you enter a sacred place. There are plenty of reasons to include religious sites in your travels. They’re where you find...
Chocolate Cake and the Development of the Atomic Bomb
When you think of the origins of the atomic bomb, chocolate cake as an important contribution to its success probably doesn’t come to mind. Think again. If Edith Warner’s famous dessert hadn’t fed the isolated scientists working on the...
Petroglyph National Monument: Messages From the Past
Petroglyph National Monument protects more than 24,000 petroglyphs carved into the volcanic rock in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The drawings and symbols were created 400 to 700 years ago, mostly by ancestors of today’s Pueblo people, with some later additional...
Beecher’s Mac & Cheese: Recipe for Seattle’s Ultimate Comfort Food
How good is Beecher’s Mac & Cheese? Ask Oprah. It made her “favorite things” list. Now you can make it at home…the recipe is below! Kurt Beecher Dammeier didn’t intentionally set out to create the best Mac & Cheese...
Jack London: He Wrote So He Could Be a Farmer
“I write a book for no other reason than to add to the beauty that now belongs to me…” What happens when you learn Jack London wrote his astounding novels to support sustainable agriculture on his farm? Well, you...