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Angel statue at Bonaventure cemetery with pink and white azalea flowers in spring

6 Sights in Savannah from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Before the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” few people went to Savannah, Georgia. After, everybody went. In 1993, the year before John Berendt published the book, about five million people visited Savannah. In 1995, that number increased by 50%, and by 2022, they received approximately 14.8 million visitors yearly. Much of it, like me, is still from the book or the subsequent movie. Even those who have never read “Midnight in the Garden of Good and...

a long wood ship post on the wharf with a star carved into the end. pole is yellow and star is blue

Salem History: It’s More than Witches

Salem, Massachusetts, isn’t filed with toil and trouble, at least not anymore. It is a place best known for witches, but as one of the oldest communities in America, there’s more to Salem’s history. Salem was one of the earliest American settlements and has been a place of critical seaport trade since the early 1600s. While tourists mostly come for the witches, there’s much more unique about this early American town, like historic residential neighborhoods, including the House of Seven...

A woman with long brown hair looks at a wall of books

8 Things to Do at Green Gables on Prince Edward Island

Visiting Green Gables on Prince Edward Island is a must for readers of the beloved book series “Anne of Green Gables.” Now called Green Gables Heritage Place, the house and surrounding grounds are in Prince Edward Island National Park, an expanse of sandy beaches and rolling farmland on the north shore of Prince Edward Island. Anne of Green Gables is a classic novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. It tells the story of Anne Shirley, an 11-year-old orphan girl...

Beauregard-Keyes House parlor in New Orleans
Steinbeck house exterior

What You’ll See in Steinbeck’s Salinas Valley

I read “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck in middle school, and the story of Lenny and George never left me. I wondered a lot about Steinbeck’s Salinas Valley. Later, I read the “Grapes of Wrath,” “East of Eden,” and others. Because of these books, I felt I knew the place, though I’d never been there. That was about to change. As a nomad, I’d traveled throughout the United States for some time when I took the Pacific Coast...

Forks, Washington

A Twilight Fan Visits Forks, Washington

I’m a total book nerd and “Twilight” fan, so when I was traveling within a few hours drive of Forks, Washington, I made a detour to visit. I love going to places my favorite authors have lived or written about and this was a spot I’d been thinking of since I first read Twilight many, many years ago. When I first read Twilight in 2007, I knew nothing about Washington, but by the end of the series, I was eager...

Shoshone Falls, Idaho

5 Great Places to Explore in Idaho Now

I was driving down a winding Idaho mountain road just as the sun was rising over the horizon when I saw them: Three huge white wolves running across the Sawtooth Valley floor. I slowed my car and watched as the two rear wolves caught up to the leader, who had been far ahead but stopped to wait. Then, together, they ran into a patch of trees and I drove on to my destination. This is Idaho. On that same drive,...