North America

Recent North American articles

• Finding Fluorescence at the Sterling Hill Mining Museum, New Jersey - A constant drip of water accompanies us as we follow our tour guide into the depths of an old zinc mine in Ogdensburg, New Jersey. It is pouring outside, so the occasional drips on us as we walk down the mine tunnels aren’t a big deal. It’s a little muddy underfoot, since it’s so hard [...]
• Squeezing Through Stones in Seneca Rocks, West Virginia - Sitting on the deck of the Front Porch Restaurant, chowing down on a slice of pizza, I had a grandstand view of the rock climbers scrambling up above me. Distinctly tilted and sparkling in the summer sun, the 900 foot tall wall of quartzite has hundreds of different rock climbing routes mapped across it. Just [...]
• On Top of Chicago: Taking in Breathtaking View from Willis Tower Skydeck - My stomach attempts a back flip, a visceral reaction to stepping onto a clear glass floor with 1,353 feet of nothingness between me and the street below. Another step and I begin to get my bearings, feeling brave enough to peer down between my sandals. The yellow taxis on Wacker Drive look like honeybees, the [...]
• Indulging Watery Fantasies at Atlantis in the Bahamas - My taxi driver dropped me at the wrong spot, so I ended up tugging my luggage through a mammoth casino with all the blinking glitz of Vegas. Massive sea-suggestive Dale Chihuly glass sculptures and the ka-ching of slots greeted my arrival, then a towering atrium decorated with outrageous mythical sculptures, intricately painted ceilings, an oversized [...]
• Shopping for Native Arts and Crafts in Western British Columbia, Canada - Why is shopping so often considered to be the frivolous side of travel? Perhaps it’s a matter of destination because here in British Columbia, it’s truly a cultural experience. Browse in the vibrant tourist shops and galleries and you will get it: Aboriginal people — called First Nations — were hunters, seafarers, and warriors — [...]
• Exploring Horicon Marsh in Southeast Wisconsin - Small knots of birders are standing on the floating boardwalk, all gazing in one direction. What has caught their collective eye? I’m not a “birder” (the proper term for what we non-birders would call a “birdwatcher”), so I assume it’s some tiny thing visible only to those with professional, high-powered scopes. Instead, I realize everyone’s [...]
• Roping in Cowboy Culture at Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming - The aroma wafts toward my nose from a block away. The familiar sweet smell mixed with a yeasty scent makes my mouth water, and by the time I walk to Depot Square my mind is on only one thing: pancakes. But the crowd gathered in front of the castle-like 19th-century Union Pacific Railroad Depot, a [...]
• Cycling the Indianapolis Cultural Trail - The feeling is a bit disconcerting, yet wonderfully freeing. I’m biking in bustling downtown Indianapolis, amidst all the people and traffic, yet I don’t have to worry about a thing — errant pedestrians, sniffing dogs, motorists opening their car doors just as I’m gliding past. I’m on the city’s Cultural Trail, and loving it more [...]
• Finding Water at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum Aquarium in Tucson - We wanted to time our walk to see plants and wildlife early in the morning at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. Instead, we got lost and were late. When we arrived in town the hazy cloudless sky had already stoked up the mid-day temperature; the hot weather pushed us to change our plans. We found [...]
• Touring Graceland, Home of Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee - My first impression, taking the circular driveway to the home of Elvis Presley, is how small it is. For someone larger than life, I expected something grander for the King of Rock ’n’ Roll. But if you go by square footage (17,552), the home is large by American standards. And yet, it seems modest somehow. [...]
• Hearing Great Classical Music Free in Aspen, Colorado - There’s nothing more glorious than sitting on the grass on beautiful evenings at summer classical music festivals, listening to Brahms or Stravinsky. But from Tanglewood to Hollywood, from Wolf Trap to Ravinia, only one top festival offers lawn admission without charge: the Aspen Music Festival. Aspen’s is one of the country’s oldest and most extensive [...]
• Immersing in Smoky Mountain Culture at Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee - I admit it, I was wrong. I thought Dollywood, the theme park in the Tennessee foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, would be a cheesy tribute to the buxom, big-haired blond country singer and movie star. I imagined over-the-top caricatures and cutouts everywhere—Dolly ad nauseam. Nope. While there is a small section devoted to Dolly, [...]
• Learning about Totem Poles in British Columbia, Canada - Bulging eyes at the top gaze at the horizon, a grinning mouth bares teeth at the base of the pole. A bear? A wolf? The various symbols engraved in the wood still hold mystery, and sometimes misconceptions, about Canadian aboriginal culture. Fortunately, a renewed interest in the First Nations sheds some light on their spiritual and [...]
• Wandering The Tufa Towers Of Mono Lake - Years ago, I stopped at California’s Mono Lake on a bike trip. I was hot, tired and ready for the day to end. I briefly looked at the lake’s famous tufa mounds, felt the greasy, salt-laden water and left. I’ve always wanted to go back. And finally, this April, got my chance. Mono Lake is [...]
• Meeting The Bear Whisperer of Mammoth Mountain - “There is a bear within 600 yards of here,” Steve Searles told a group of us gathered for breakfast in one of the village hotels at Mammoth Mountain ski area. Yes, it was spring and Mammoth’s black bear population was waking up. They were groggy. They were grouchy. They were hungry. And they were ALL [...]
• Watching Hometown Baseball at Spring Training in Scottsdale, Arizona - A bright blue sky and mild temperatures: Spring weather in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a far cry from the March snows of Wisconsin, which I once called home. And it’s perfect weather for spring training baseball. I donned long jeans, my husband wore shorts and we both left our jackets in our closet. Desert living has [...]
• Walking New York City’s High Line - The High Line, one of New York City’s most unlikely tourist attractions, has been an overnight sensation that was almost 30 years in the making. Its life began in the 1930s, when a railroad spur serving Manhattan’s West Side industrial district was elevated 30 feet above the street to make it less dangerous to pedestrians [...]
• Being a Kid Bahamian-Style at Abaco Beach Resort - After a crafts session on the beach, the kids headed for the docks to go fishing. It may sound like an ordinary kids program on an ordinary day at a sunny beach resort, but what makes the difference at Abaco Beach Resort at Boat Harbour in the northern Bahamas is that Bahamian kids are doing [...]
• Riding A Snowcat Groomer Into the Sunset in British Columbia - They come out at night and do their job. You can see their lights progressing across the ski slope and occasionally hear their roar. And the next morning, they’ve left this delicious set of corduroy tracks across the ski hill. I’d always wanted to go on slope with a snowcat groomer. And, so, at Sun [...]
• Experiencing Nassau’s Finest at Graycliff Bahamas - It felt like a sigh of relief: an escape from the theme park hoopla of Atlantis resort and the shopping/boozing throngs just down the hill in downtown Nassau. Graycliff: Its very name strikes respect and appreciation among those who know it. Begun as an utterly gracious historic inn and restaurant, it continues to add superlatives [...]

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