By Rich Grant People have been knocking back beers together for 6,000 years. The planet’s oldest known recipe comes from Mesopotamia in today’s Southern Iraq. It provides directions for turning old bread crusts into a thick, dark, warm beverage that makes you feel exceptionally good when you drink it. There have always been taverns…
By Beth Reiber I went to Japan some 40 years ago to write travel articles but ended up staying a couple of years, first as editor of a travel magazine published in Tokyo and then to write the first of several guidebooks on Japan. My Frommer’s Japan guidebook alone ran more than 600 pages and…
Oklahoma is Indian Country. The US Census Bureau says 523,360 Oklahomans – about 13% of the state’s population – are Native Americans. This mainly results from the forced relocation in 1830 of 30 tribes from neighboring states. Their journey on foot commonly is referred to as the Trail of Tears. Today, the areas considered barren lands 194 years ago are oil-rich counties studded with entrepreneurial boomtowns.
By Liz Campbell Perched at the edge of a precipitate drop, my first thought would NOT be, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to dive off here?’ But, in Queenstown, New Zealand thousands of tourists don’t agree. The logo of AJ Hackett, the first commercial bungee jumping facility in the world, is Live More, Fear Less, and…
By Mark Orwoll Traveling every summer from New York to the Jersey Shore, my family and I often stop at one of the many service areas on the Garden State Parkway. They are…functional. Take the Connie Chung Service Area, southbound only, at mile marker 153. Non-East Coasters might think that’s a line from The Onion…
By Jeff Book The Dixie Highway was a big deal in its day. Conceived in 1914 to promote commerce and tourism, the pioneering road network ultimately measured some 4,000 miles, in mostly parallel routes stretching from northern Michigan to Miami. Much of it later was absorbed into the interstate highway system, distinguished by numbered shield-shaped…
By Richard Varr I’m crawling on my hands and knees in the cramped and low-ceiling belly of the HMB Endeavour to reach the so-called Great Cabin at the ship’s stern. Imagine calling the 18th century brigantine home for just over three years with one of the few creature comforts being drop-down hammocks swaying at the…
By Jacqueline Swartz Whether it’s your first time, or you are returning, maybe for the umpteenth time, Paris seduces. What is it about this city that makes it one of the most visited places in the world? That makes people pull up stakes and move to the City of Light. What drew painters like Degas,…
By John Gottberg Anderson The tuk-tuk driver reclined on a padded seat in the back of his motorized transport, neither a surrey nor a golf cart but something in between. “Hey, bong, nice to see you today,” he said as I passed, using the catch-all greeting so frequently used in this Southeast Asian nation. “Where…
By Karin Leperi Pezo Whether by air, water or land, an African safari can offer some of the most unique wildlife experiences on the planet. Each mode provides a different perspective and distinct species. Change your view to experience the many unique environments of Africa. Africa has some of the most amazing wildlife sightings in…