Curiosity, Travel and Change
What could be more picturesque than those lavender fields and bastides—the medieval fortified villages hugging hilltops— of Provence? Cezanne and Van Gogh marveled at the luminous light and the ever-changing purples, vermillion, and ochres. Provence is the stuff of travelers' dreams, of memoirs of rejuvenation and inspiration. But on a recent trip through the south …
Ok, sometimes you just gotta do the tourist shot Every self-respecting road trip across the Southwest should at least acknowledge Route 66. Even if you don’t organize your road trip around the “the Mother Road”, the vestiges of the 1926 highway appear at crossroads, on road signs, in souvenir shops, at truck stops, or in …
Continue reading "Standin’ on the Corner: Route 66 and travel nostalgia"
The thirty-minute traffic jam in Sedona Arizona made me think about tourist destinations that have become victims of their own success. Sedona probably has the most picturesque setting of any town in America. Nestled against the majestic vermillion and ochre sandstone carved and jutted cliffs, with each building painted in some version of adobe, sage …
It's good to be reminded that people have always inhabited places we now call "wilderness". The Gila Wilderness, home to the Gila Cliff Dwellings, was the first wilderness area designated by Congress in 1924. I note that the Gila Wilderness claims to be the "first wilderness in the world", ignoring the fact that New York …
Continue reading "There were people here: The Gila Cliff Dwellings, New Mexico"
When the lady at the Havana Hotel says “you can turn left on the Riverwalk and walk to the touristy area” or “you can turn right and walk to the Pearl, where the locals go”, go to the right. This was my second time in San Antonio, and touristy or not, the Riverwalk is one …
Continue reading "“Where the Locals Go”: The Pearl Brewery, San Antonio"
Say their names, the 4400 documented victims of lynching, the millions more of undocumented victims of racial terror. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery draws the unambiguous and direct line from enslavement to Jim Crow to lynching to mass incarceration to police violence to voter suppression. The Memorial, along with the Legacy …
Continue reading "Say Their Names: The legacy of racial terror: Montgomery Alabama"
Old and On the Way 