Standing on a broad, tree-lined pedestrian promenade in Lucca, Italy, we’re stories high atop 40-feet-tall red brick walls. Centuries old and remarkably intact, they measure an incredible 2.5 miles long and 100 feet wide at the base. These massive walls,Read more
Although it’s summer 2018, I’m thinking about my trip to Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, as if it’s Christmas Eve 1895. On that date, George Washington Vanderbilt welcomed family and friends for the opening of his new 175,000-square-foot country homeRead more
Over the steady drone of lawnmowers tending to the 14 lush acres of surrounding lawn and garden, tour guide Dennis Orwin delivers instructions on how to conduct ourselves inside the Miller House in Columbus, Ind. “Don’t sit on anything,” DennisRead more
Morning sun glints off the Robert Stewart Bridge as we drive on Indiana State Road 46 above the White River at the entrance to Columbus, Indiana. Like a giant fan, four fire-engine-red steel supports connect 40 steel tension cables spreadRead more
A jagged hole marring one of the oak wall panels in the richly appointed library of Graylyn, once the second largest private home in North Carolina and now an international conference center, is all that remains of a Parisian loveRead more
Fighting a cold on a late December morning at the Roman Baths in Bath, England, I sniffle as I stand on worn stones laid in the first century A.D. when the Romans constructed this massive bathing complex. Before me isRead more
I’m dropping by parachute into the small, western California town of Point Reyes Station. Sam pilots my private plane. Lucky me that he sports the rugged blond good looks of Robert Redford in his Butch Cassidy and the Sundance KidRead more
Chocolate was on my mind as I entered the coolly contemporary apartment we’d rented in Brussels through airbnb. With sacks of groceries from our local produce market in hand, I had just climbed the 78 stairs to our cozy, light-filled, fifth-floorRead more
There’s an old saying in Holland that God made the world and the Dutch made Holland. If they hadn’t, the ground we were standing on at the moment would have been under several feet of water. Bill and I wereRead more
I suppose many people read a book during their formative years that struck such a profound chord it continues to resonate with them long into adulthood. For me that book was “The Diary of Anne Frank.” I read it whenRead more