Visiting Versailles, the palace of French kings, and the Conciergerie, the prison where Queen Marie Antoinette spent her last days, one can’t help but wonder, How could it possibly have ended like this? Elements of the story do make sense: the queen seemed largely unschooled, her spouse weak, her home far removed from any squalor….
Category: United States
Of Fire, Ice, Blimps, and Ships at the National Postal Museum
The Bashful Adventurer visits the National Postal Museum in Washington, DC.
It Took Me a Lifetime to Get to the Kittle House, and Now I Need to Go Again
The Bashful Adventurer finally visits Crabtree’s Kittle House in Chappaqua, NY. Will this restaurant live up to its good reputation?
Remember the Plaza?
After a carriage ride through Central Park, crossing 59th Street for a cocktail at the Plaza Hotel seemed a logical next step. There in the land of Eloise, though, the reality was not quite as perfect as my memories of the place. The Oak Bar is closed, the result of some apparent arrears in rent…
The First Thanksgiving Was in Florida
Sitting on the patio of the golf clubhouse at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando and watching the pastel-clad golfers, their carts, and the sand traps, Florida’s dark history seems remote, a dream. Brutal Spanish explorers, Protestants killing Catholics, everyone killing Indians, and slavery all make up Florida’s violent past. I was drawn to…
Survived the Apocalypse? Head to Disney
The Brawny Sherpa and I were more than grateful to head out of town after weathering Hurricane Sandy incredibly well—lost power for a few days, had only very minor damage to the purple bungalow, and temporarily hosted some of our neighbor’s roof shingles in our yard. It was a strange experience, driving to JFK at…
Tony Horwitz, A Voyage Long and Strange, Columbus Day, Pocahontas, Etc.
Encountering Christopher Columbus in her travels, the Bashful Adventurer picks up a copy of A Voyage Long and Strange to learn more about the New World.
Cold Spring, N.Y.: Geo. Washington Drank Here
The Bashful Adventurer gets away to Cold Spring, NY and learns some history about the first president of the United States
Getting Out of the House and Staying Put
I travel because I want to try out different lives. Could I remember the names of all the trees and remedies to become a shaman? Would throwing my slop into the streets of medieval Rouen be too much for me? Could I ease into a laid-back work ethic as a resident of Rome? Would I…
Are Historical Sites Honest about Slavery?
The global tumult of the last week—the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and global unrest stemming, allegedly, from disgust with a video about Muslims made by a film maker in the United States—makes the celebration of the U.S. Constitution just a little more poignant. Travel, for me, has always made history lessons come…