Paying Respects at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum

Mary Gilbert History, Tours and Sightseeing, United States February 23, 20151993 World Trade Center bombing, 9/11, 9/11 Memorial, 9/11 Memorial Museum, 9/11 Museum, 9/11/01, France, Ground Zero, Manhattan, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, National September 11 Memorial and Museum, New York City, Normandy, Normandy American Cemetery, North Tower, Pennsylvania, Pentagon, President George Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Shanksville, South Tower, Terrorist attack, Travel, Travel blog, Travel writing, World Trade Center, World War II D-Day beaches 10 Comments

Bill’s and my visit to the imposing National September 11 Memorial and Museum during a recent trip to New York City was a potent reminder that the horrific events which occurred that day in 2001 bore such monumental significance that they becameRead more

Palm Springs: Mid-Century Modern Mecca, Hollywood Hangout and More

Mary Gilbert Hotels and Rentals, Tours and Sightseeing, United States January 26, 2015Albert Frey, Bertoia diamond chair, California, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Copley's, Cornelia Schuster, Desert Modernism, Eames Lounge chair, Eames molded plywood chair, Edgar Kaufmann, Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Sinatra, Grey end table, Hollywood, Hollywood's Golden Age, Kaufmann Desert House, La Maison Hotel, Mid-Century Modern, Modernism Week, Nelson platform bench, Palm Springs, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Palm Springs Modern Tours, Palm Springs Visitors Center, Richard Neutra, Richard Slosky, Travel, Travel blog, Travel writing, Traveler's Choice Award, Trip Advisor, Uptown Design District, Workshop Kitchen+Bar 8 Comments

Some of my favorite Frank Sinatra songs – “Come Fly With Me,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” and “In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning” played in my head as Bill and I were driving two hours east fromRead more

Carolina Raptor Center is for the Birds

Mary Gilbert Tours and Sightseeing, United States December 16, 2014Butterfield & Robinson, Carolina Raptor Center, Carolinas Aviation Museum, Charlotte, Charlotte B-Cycle, Costa Rica, Dr. Dave Scott, Eagle, Falcon, Freedom Park, Hawk, Huntersville, Latta Plantation Nature Preserve, Little Sugar Creek Parkway, Michele Houck, North Carolina, Osprey, Owl, Piedmont Natural Gas, Professor Dick Brown, Raptor, Raptor conservation, Raptor hospital, Raptor rehabilitation, Toucan, Travel, Travel blog, Travel writing, University of North Carolina - Charlotte, Vulture 4 Comments

I’ve always thought of birds as the ultimate travelers, gracefully able to fly where, when and how they want. While I’ve admired birds from afar, I hadn’t spent much concerted effort learning about them. A couple of my travels haveRead more

Normandy, D-Day, and Remembrance

Mary Gilbert Europe, History, Tours and Sightseeing May 23, 20141944, 70th Anniversary of D-Day, American Landing, Battle of Normandy, D-Day, Dale Booth, English Channel, France, German Occupation of France, June 6, La Cambe German War Cemetery, Nazi occupation of France, Normandy, Normandy American Cemetery, Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Normandy American Cemetery Visitor Center, Normandy Battle Tours, Omaha Beach, Operation Overlord, Sainte Mere Eglise, Stuart Robertson, Sword Beach, The Allies, Travel, Travel blog, Travel writing, Utah Beach, World War II 4 Comments

“D-Day, June 6, 1944, was a day without precedent,” said our guide, Stuart Robertson of Normandy Battle Tours. We were on the Normandy coast of France, the region that was the site of the D-Day invasion and the subsequent 11-week-longRead more

Versailles — The Ultimate Royal Residence

Mary Gilbert Europe, History, Tours and Sightseeing May 1, 2014Apollo, Ceremony of the Rising Sun, Chateau de Versailles, France, French Revolution, Grand Trianon, Hall of Mirrors, King Louis XIV, King Louis XV, King Louis XVI, Louis III, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon, Palace of Versailles, Paris, Petit Trianon, Private Tours Paris, Royal Etiquitte, Sun King, Travel, Travel blog, Travel writer, UNESCO, Versailles, World Heritage Site 0 Comment

It’s good to be king. Surely that thought occurred to King Louis XIV of France in 1682 when he moved his family and the seat of the country’s government to the Chateau de Versailles, the extravagant and majestic 2,300-room palaceRead more

First Impressions of Paris

Mary Gilbert Europe, Tours and Sightseeing April 28, 2014Boulevard St. Germain, Dalloyau, Eiffel Tower, France, Fromagerie Barthélemy, Grand Palais, Jardin des Tuileries, Jardin du Luxembourg, Left Bank, Louvre Museum, Maison Guyard, Montmartre, Musee d'Orsay, Napoleon III, Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, Petit Palais, Place de la Concorde, Poilâne, Pont Alexandre III, Private Tours Paris, River Seine, Rue de Verneuil, Sacre Coeur, St. Germain des Pres, Travel, Travel blog, Travel writing, Vedette 10 Comments

“We’ll always have Paris.” That’s my favorite line from my favorite movie – Casablanca. Rick sure knew what he was talking about when he said his final goodbye to Ilsa. You change and your circumstances change, but Paris stays withRead more

The Secret Bunker Where Churchill Battled World War II

Mary Gilbert Europe, History, Tours and Sightseeing April 23, 2014Adolph Hitler, Cabinet War Rooms, Churchill Museum, Churchill War Rooms, England, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Imperial War Museums, London, Luftwaffe, Number 10 Downing Street, The Blitz, Travel, Travel blog, Travel writing, V-bomb, Winston Churchill, World War II 6 Comments

The year was 1938. The times in London were tense and uncertain as Adolph Hitler threatened mass war in Europe. As a safeguard against sudden and unexpected air attack, the British government decided to establish a central emergency working refugeRead more

Help! We’re Imprisoned In The Tower of London!

Mary Gilbert Europe, History, Tours and Sightseeing April 21, 2014Anne Boleyn, Ceremony of the Keys, Edward II, John the London, Thames River, Tower of London, Travel, Travel blog, Travel writing, William the Conqueror, Yeoman Warder 4 Comments

Under the gleam of the full moon, Bill, Ann and I were locked inside the Tower of London. Literally. Locked up in the formidable stone-walled complex on the bank of the Thames River that has served as a fortress, palaceRead more

A Panoramic Look at London

Mary Gilbert Europe, Hotels and Rentals, Tours and Sightseeing April 19, 2014airbnb, Berry Bros. & Rudd, Big Ben, British Tours, Buckingham Palace, Changing of the Guard, Christopher Wren, Chunnel, Crown Jewels, Duchess Kate, England, Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, London, Lord Nelson, National Gallery, Nelson's Column, Palace of Westminster, Parliament, Prince Albert Memorial, Prince Harry, Princess Diana, Princess Diana Memorial, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria, St. George's Chapel, St. James's Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, Thames River, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, Travel, Travel blog, Travel writing, Windsor Castle, Yeoman Warder 4 Comments

London and Paris are two of Bill’s and my favorite destinations. How could they not be? Both cities are uniquely beautiful and enchanting, and have much in common: they exude a vibrancy that belies their ages, revere their storied histories,Read more

Fort Ross — The Russian Stronghold in America

Mary Gilbert History, Tours and Sightseeing, United States April 11, 2014Alexander Rotchev, American Viticultural Area, CA, California, Coast Miwok, Elena Rotchev, Fort Ross, Fort Ross Conservancy, Fort Ross State Historic Park, Hank Birnbaum, Ivan Alexandrovich Kuskov, Jenner, Kashaya Pomo, National Historic Landmark, Rossiia, Rotchev House, Russia, Russian River, Russian River Valley, Russian-American Company, Sea otter, Settlement Ross, Sonoma County, Southern Pomo, Travel, Travel blog, Travel writing, Tsar Paul 2 Comments

Hank Birnbaum selected a sea otter pelt from a pile of skins displayed on a wooden table and let me caress the soft, luxurious fur. “Sea otters don’t have a layer of blubber to help them keep warm, unlike otherRead more