It’s quiet. Well, there are birds singing and the occasional crunch of gravel as a car slowly passes by, but pretty much it seems like I am a million miles away from anyone or any care in the world. I am staying in a rustic cabin with all the amenities anyone could wish for at Balsam Mountain Preserve. The entire
Clean Cookstove Project delivers hope and health
Imagine what would happen if your fireplace flue was closed. All the wood smoke would fill your home and your lungs. That’s exactly the conditions I witnessed in Losirwa, a tiny Tanzania village. Here Masai women live in small round bomas (traditional homes) with their families and tend the fire that keeps their homes warm and is used to prepare
Check out Canon’s new Instant Print Cameras
Remember the fun you had with Instax and Polaroid when the picture popped out and you instantly had it to pass around and show everyone? Well, Canon has improved on this fantastic experience with its new IVY CLIQ & CLIQ+ instant print cameras. These pocket size cameras and mini photo printers delivers beautiful 8.0MP photos in seconds! My four-year-old granddaughter
Exploring Mateus Palace and Gardens
One of the nicest things about a Viking River Cruise is the included shore excursions; generally speaking, at least one a day. I am sailing on the Viking Osfrid along the Douro River and on this day I am visiting the Mateus Palace and Gardens near Regua, Portugal. Built in the first half of the 18th century, the palace is one of
Photo Essay – Sailing on Portugal’s Douro River
In Portugal, the Douro River is a popular Viking River Cruises destination. The third-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula after the Tagus and Ebron, the Douro is 557 miles and is navigable in Portugal by light rivercrafts. With its mountains and hillsides covered in vineyards and villages with their bright orange-tiled rooftops, it is ideal for anyone wanting to relax
“Eating Europe” now offering tours in Lisbon
My own experience with Eating Europe was in beautiful Florence, Italy. The “Sunset Food Tour” took me through the neighborhood of Santo Spirito surrounding the piazza and the Church of Santo Spirito. We made six stops over the course of three and a half hours walking along cobblestone streets and meeting several locals along the way. Now Eating Europe is
South Carolina’s Rare Plant and Animal Species
South Carolina is an amazing place to discover the great outdoors. Many plants, insects and animals adapted to unusual environments and conditions here and thrived. Dolphins For example, near the mouth of the Kiawah River, where it runs into the Atlantic Ocean by Captain Sam’s Spit on Kiawah Island, visitors can watch a fascinating behavior as pods of dolphins work together
Discover Historic Texas at Millard’s Crossing
On a beautiful spring day I visit homes, a church, school and land office all from the 19th and early 20th centuries and all original to East Texas. The buildings, and symbols of local history, were dismantled and reconstructed on a plot of land in Nacogdoches and collectively named Millard’s Crossing Historic Village. The village is named for the railroad
Essaouira, Morocco is a seaside treasure
After two weeks in major cities, the Atlas Mountains and Sahara Desert my Exodus Travels’ Moroccan tour arrives in Essaouira on the Atlantic; a charming seaside city. Our bus pulls up to the curb just across from the beach that is nearly deserted. Here, two men with carts unload our luggage and we follow them into a maze of narrow
Museum chronicles Texas oil boom
Before me in muted light is a life-size muddy street with a traffic jam. Going one way is a mule-drawn wagon and going the other way are two cars. The street is impassable because of its width and the axle-deep mud. Welcome to East Texas during the oil boom. The lobby reminds me of other museums; an old car, antique