As Waylon Jennings once sang, Austin, Texas, is "the home of Willie Nelson, it's the home of Western swing..." And today, it's also home to the famed Franklin BBQ. This will not be your "off …
May 3, 2013
Travel: Must-See
Down in Austin, Franklin is the king
Iceland's Blue Lagoon
One of the strangest tourist traps in the world has to be the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, located 50 kilometers from Reykjavik en route to the airport. At a latitude equivalent to Siberia and Alaska …
Outside Central London
Central London has so much to offer, most travelers never make it beyond the innermost neighborhoods. Seeing the main sights – like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London – can easily fill …
April 22, 2013
Perusing Poland
A scenic train ride landed us in Gdańsk, at the edge of the Baltic Sea. Our apartment is 60M2. It's basically a two-bedroom apartment with a large living room that includes a third-floor balcony. I …
NYC: In Search of America's First Pizzeria
Red-and-white tablecloths with Dean Martin music in the background. It sounds like every other pizza joint in the United States – and it's got every possible cliché you can think of when it comes to …
April 4, 2013
Tasty Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island, Canada, is called the birthplace of Canada – it was the site where they became a confederation in 1864. In 2014, they will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference leading …
April 1, 2013
Jaunt up to Northern Ireland
Ever since the peace accords of 1997, Northern Ireland has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance. Freed from 25 years of conflict, referred to locally as “The Troubles,” Northern Ireland has rebuilt its economy – …
Krakow: The “Real” Europe
Krakow is special. Paris is fantastic, but so over-the-top and tourist-oriented that emotional connection is limited. When we arrived in Krakóv, and walked out on the Old Town square (above), my eyes teared up. I …
March 26, 2013
Vail: Not Just a Ski Town
Incorporated in 1962, the five-square-mile town of Vail, Colorado, was named for Charles Vail, the engineer who, in 1940, routed the highway that eventually became I-70 through the valley. It’s 100 miles west of mile-high …
Desert Inspiration in Palm Springs
Dreams. Patterns in the clouds. Drug-fueled hallucinations. A life thoroughly well-lived. There are many answers to the question: where does a writer find their inspiration? But for some, it's all about the location. Some places …
March 22, 2013