Tucked away along a sleepy road in the picturesque Brandywine Valley is a personal heaven of mine: Baldwin’s Book Barn, a 19th-century five-story milk barn converted in the 1940s into a book store. Today, over 300,000 rare and used books, maps, prints, manuscripts, paintings, and other collectibles fill rooms upon rooms, shelves upon shelves inside … Continue reading
My January is half melancholy, half relief. I slip back into well-worn patterns, and find comfort in the familiar. There is beauty there, and surprises too. Ailsa’s Travel Theme, Routine, made me think of these — glimpses of other people’s ordinary moments. 1. Early commuters streaming to work in São Paulo. An hour earlier, I ambled through the sleeping city to São … Continue reading
As you explore the Big Island, several names keep coming up. Kamehameha the Great, the king who united the Hawaiian archipelago, and Ka’ahumanu, his formidable queen, are the island’s most dominant mortal protagonists. Among gods, two sisters lead the way: Poli’ahu, the goddess of ice and snow, and her perpetual nemesis, Pele, the goddess of fire, a pretty big deal on terrain … Continue reading
I love this week’s travel challenge by Ailsa: Waves. So many memories come to mind, but here are five favorites. Smooth waves of petrified sand at Antelope Canyon, with its neighbors Owl and Rattlesnake Canyons easily the most breathtaking landscape I’ve explored, ageless and intimate 2. Sinuous streaks of lava on Hawaii’s Big Island — … Continue reading
Los Angeles, for me, is a constellation of remarkable places, separated by a spider web of terrible, soul-killing traffic. The Huntington Library is an oasis well worth the drive. Gardens? Check. Art? Check. Books? Check. I loved it. We began with the gardens. There are 12 of them. My favorite (in, admittedly, dull, uneventful March) was the Garden of … Continue reading
Los Angeles behind us, we headed to Las Vegas and its neon. But, first, a detour: a brief eyeful of Death Valley National Park. One spring, I mean to return and better explore its 3.4 million acres–this is, after all, the largest park in the contiguous United States. On this trip, I fell in love with the … Continue reading
Our Los Angeles visit could not end without a nod to the city’s cinematic heart. On this trip, this meant watching a movie at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (now the TCL Chinese Theatre). One of the most opulent “movie palaces” in the country, it has hosted many of the grandest film galas since its debut in 1927. The 1939 premiere … Continue reading
When as a child I imagined America, the mighty Niagara Falls, along with Times Square, the Grand Canyon, and the Golden Gate Bridge, were my frequent backdrops. So when work brought me to Toronto, it was an easy decision to make: A day trip to the Falls, as soon as I could manage it. We … Continue reading
As you make your way from Hawaii’s remarkable Place of Refuge, don’t miss this hidden gem just up the hill: St. Benedict Roman Catholic Church, better known as The Painted Church. It is a charming tiny building, embraced by lush foliage. The church dates back to the mid-1800s, when foreign missionaries were allowed to operate … Continue reading
If you find yourself on the Big Island’s dry Kona side, don’t miss the Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, the Place of Refuge, where all sins and crimes were once forgiven. It is a magnetic place. Surrounded by a centuries-old mason wall — porous lava rocks assembled in the 1500s like a puzzle with … Continue reading
When you think “Las Vegas,” what comes to mind? I bet neon signs — “spectaculars” as the largest of them are called — will be high on the list. They flourished in this desert town as it grew from a dusty railroad outpost in 1913 to the flashy, decadent oasis it is today. With LED and LCD lighting now leading … Continue reading
Utah is full of remarkable places. Bonneville Salt Flats is certainly one of them. Thirty thousand acres (121 sq. km) of hard salt crust on the western edge of the Great Salt Lake is a sight to behold — and walk over. Remains of the ancient Lake Bonneville, once 1,000 feet deep, Utah’s salt pan … Continue reading
Just east of South Point, the windswept southernmost tip of Hawaii’s Big Island, is one of my favorite places: Papakōlea, the Green Sand Beach. It is tucked away at the end of a dusty 2.5-mile hike (each way). Locals offer rides to the beach for $15 per person, and it was worth it. Even if we had … Continue reading
I first saw Griffith Observatory as we pushed our way through the wall of Los Angeles traffic: It looks down on the city from the slopes of Mount Hollywood. Climbing up there was a must. The observatory is a spectacular public space, built expressly to bring the heavens to the unwashed masses. Come here on a clear night and enjoy … Continue reading
This week’s Photo Challenge is Object. Here’s mine — an object I almost overlooked: the Golden Plover of the Ahu’ena Heiau, the temple that Kamehameha the Great chose as his own when he returned to the Big Island a king of the Hawaiian archipelago in 1812. It perches atop Koleamoku, the god of healing, the tallest of the heiau’s carvings. … Continue reading
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