• A Writing Conference in Maine

    I spent the first two weeks of July in Bar Harbor, Maine, attending the Johns Hopkins 2012 Conference on Craft. My time in Maine was a mix of school (since I’m a student in the M.A. in Writing Program, I received credit for an entire semester), vacation, and personal writing time. We had class for a few hours each morning and craft workshops each afternoon. I registered for a reading class focused on the works of New England writers, including Edith Wharton, Sebastian Junger, Monica Wood, and Henry Beston. It was interesting to discuss how the landscape of a region can influence the sense of place in a work. One…

  • Weekend in Paris

    A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to fly to Paris for the weekend – yes, the weekend! I felt very fancy. But even though I spent only two days in the City of Light, I managed to see the classic sites and get a feel for Paris life. Here are some tips on making the most of a short trip. Take a night flight. I slept on the plane and arrived on Saturday morning, rested and ready for an adventure. I had a short list of places in Paris I wanted to visit – the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Notre Dame – but I also kept the schedule…

  • The Joys of Flying

    Sarcasm? Not at all. You could probably say I travel more than the average person (although, honestly, not as much as I’d like to). One summer not too long ago, I was home only two weekends from the beginning of May to the end of August. I’ve had my luggage lost. I’ve sat by my share of crying kids. I’ve missed connections and encountered customer service agents with no concept of service. I’ve certainly experienced the hassles and inconveniences that plague modern air travel, but I’ve realized that, despite them all, I actually look forward to flying. In the quest to balance work, grad school, freelance assignments, and the rest…

  • Roadside America

    I’ve been researching a story for the travel writing workshop I’m taking this semester at Hopkins, and I just have to share a brief post about it – this is one of the most curious things I’ve ever seen. Located just off Hwy. 78 in Pennsylvania, about halfway between Harrisburg and Allentown, Roadside America is touted as “The World’s Greatest Indoor Miniature Village.” And, after reading these reviews on Yelp, I had to check it out. Last week, I drove two hours to the middle of Pennsylvania to see what all the fuss is about. I must say, it’s fascinating. The exhibit is 8,000 square feet of miniature models, all…

  • What Lies Beneath

    I stepped through a narrow passageway and into a small room with thick stone walls. The warm, humid air weighed on my lungs with the mustiness of centuries past. The tour guide, a thin young man from California with Harry Potter glasses, who was living in Rome to study Latin, led the group past rows of pagan crypts, and as I peered through the openings that had been cut away in the stone, I saw some had hollowed-out spaces in the walls for crematory urns, while others housed elaborately carved sarcophagi. The guide shared the detailed history of the site, from 64 A.D. when Saint Peter was killed on the…

  • Roman Holiday

    My husband and I decided to buck tradition this holiday season, and instead of racing around the country trying to visit every branch of our family tree we flew to Italy and spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s in Rome. Our trip wasn’t as spur-of-the-moment as it sounds…my husband proposed at the Pantheon, and ever since our wedding in 2002 we’ve been saying we would go back to celebrate our 10th anniversary. With grad school, work, and travel plans already filling up the coming year, we decided it was now or never. It was a great choice–not only did we take advantage of off-season pricing, but we discovered…

  • Buster’s Last Stand

    My mom and I took a trip to Worcester, MA last weekend to go wedding dress shopping with my sister, and we had dinner with her future in-laws at The Sole Proprietor. As we pulled into the parking lot, we were greeted by “Buster” the giant crab, affixed to the roof of the restaurant like something out of a 1950s horror flick. Apparently this curiosity can be seen only during crab season (The Sole features a special “Buster’s Favorites” menu of crab dishes–kind of creepy if you think about it) and we were lucky to see him, as it was his last day before retiring for the year. The restaurant…

  • Far, Fargo Away

    Last weekend, I made my once-every-three-years trek to Fargo, North Dakota, for a family reunion. Yes, that’s right. Fargo. If you’ve never been there, let me just say that it isn’t the easiest of places to reach. As it turned out, it was more economical to fly to Minneapolis, rent a car, and drive four hours than it would have been to fly directly to Fargo. Fortunately, this roundabout journey had added benefits, as I was able to see some dear friends and family in the Minneapolis area the days we flew in and out of the Twin Cities. The reunion was a fun-filled day of boating, swimming, and visiting…

  • I Heart NOLA

    One of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting Lafayette Cemetery in the Garden District. I love cemeteries, and this one was unlike any I had seen. The tombs rise from the ground to create a city of the dead, and as I walked through the weathered crypts, even in broad daylight, I could see why NOLA has been the inspiration for classic vampire novels. One drawback for me was that NOLA is definitely not a vegetarian-friendly city. One restaurant we chose for lunch offered a special made with sausage, but had a “vegetarian option available – with smoked duck.” Oh, yeah. But my hosts had exceptional taste, and…