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		One man’s passion saved history of Maine’s 65 lighthouses By Tom Adkinson Oct 24, 2025 For millennia before Victorian author Edward Bulwer-Lytton opened a novel with “It was a dark and stormy night,” sailors at sea dealt with many a dark and stormy night and prayed for guidance.

		Not ‘Snakes on a Plane,” but dogs and cats on the ocean By Tom Adkinson Oct 17, 2025 ROCKLAND, Maine – “We’re a bit of a niche museum,” said Pat Sullivan, president and CEO of the Museum of Maritime Pets, in an understatement for the ages.

		In Pictures: Cruising Maine’s mid-coast at Rockland By Tom Adkinson Oct 10, 2025 ROCKLAND, Maine – Atlantic breezes, sailboats, lobsters and works of art are the hallmarks of Rockland, an invitingly walkable town in Maine’s mid-coast region. Several of Maine’s overnight windjammer fleet

		Detroit birthplace of Ford’s Model T tells story that changed the world By Tom Adkinson Oct 3, 2025 DETROIT – Henry Ford was a failure starting automobile companies... the first two times. The third time was a charm, and much of the story …

		Motown Museum takes a break to build $75 million replacement By Tom Adkinson Sep 26, 2025 DETROIT – The party is winding down at Hitsville U.S.A., otherwise known as the Motown Museum, the humble birthplace of the sound Berry Gordy created…

		Tennessee farm becomes full-on theme park to celebrate autumn By Tom Adkinson Sep 19, 2025 SPRINGFIELD, Tenn. – Plenty of farmers stack old-fashioned rectangular hay bales in photo-ready settings…

		Maine visitors score memorable purchases from prison craftsmen By Tom Adkinson Sep 12, 2025 THOMASTON, Maine – It’s practically a law that visitors to Maine gravitate to Freeport for vacation shopping at the L.L. Bean mother ship, but the discerning shopper who wants items that are true treasures from Maine drives 60 miles up the coast to....

		In Pictures: The real setting for “On Golden Pond” By Tom Adkinson Sep 5, 2025 BELGRADE, Maine – When playwright Ernest Thompson wrote “On Golden Pond,” the setting for his poignant family story was a real place that you can visit today in the Belgrade Lakes region of central Maine. Its real name is Great Pond, which…


Helmet, and maybe a chiropractor, required for a pounding ride on Hatfield-McCoy Trails GILBERT, W. Va. – My group’s day on the Hatfield-McCoy Trails was like a protracted episode of the “Batman” TV series. “BAM!” “WHOP!” “BANG!” “ZAP!” “WHOA!!!”	7 Places to reflect on Independence Day The Fourth of July is the identity-setting celebratory holiday for the United States, and Americans are fortunate to have many places to wave Old Glory, think about ancestors who sacrificed for the nation, consider how they can participate as citizens and enjoy a grilled hamburger or hotdog – or perhaps both.	McLeod Plantation: Unvarnished truth shines through at this Charleston historic site CHARLESTON, S.C. – “Let’s face facts: The word ‘plantation’ is a euphemism for privately owned slave labor camps,” said Paul Garbarini, my guide at the McLeod Plantation Historic Site, just a few miles from downtown Charleston where the opening cannon barrages of the Civil War erupted.

Chanticleer Inn is home base to explore Chattanooga’s three premier visitor attractions LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – You slip back and forth between Georgia and Tennessee on the portion of Lookout Mountain that overlooks Chattanooga and the Tennessee River, and once you are at the top, the Chanticleer Inn Bed and Breakfast provides you a home base for...	Grander than grand in Grand Rapids GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – For people from outside the Midwest, it’s possible that all they know about Grand Rapids is that President Gerald Ford’s roots and the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum are here.	In Pictures: Learning mountain flora and fauna at Highlands, North Carolina BEAUMONT, Texas – “It’s a gusher! What are we gonna do?” Those are words you don’t want to hear right after you’ve cut yourself badly, but they are exactly what you would want to hear if you were drilling for oil and a geyser of black gold was leaping into the sky.

Texas oil gusher ushered in modern age of American transportation BEAUMONT, Texas – “It’s a gusher! What are we gonna do?” Those are words you don’t want to hear right after you’ve cut yourself badly, but they are exactly what you would want to hear if you were drilling for oil and a geyser of black gold was leaping into the sky.	Paddle, don’t hike, to Tennessee’s beautiful Burgess Falls SPARTA, Tenn. – Only a select few people experience the full grandeur and power of Burgess Falls, one of Tennessee’s most impressive waterfalls. Those people see it from the bottom up after a placid kayak or canoe paddle up an arm of Center Hill Lake.	Every day is Memorial Day at Camp Lejeune JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – Memorial Day is the last Monday in May, but every day is Memorial Day at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. An accessible part of the 150,000-acre base is the site of the Lejeune Memorial Gardens.

Ferry ride, songbirds and gumbo brighten drive along Texas coast GALVESTON, Texas – You have two choices heading east out of Galveston: An uninspiring, do-it-anywhere drive on limited-access highways or a veritable adventure that includes the novelty of a car ferry, some serious birdwatching and a roadside restaurant with a Mexican-Cajun menu.	Sculptors in Galveston find beauty in wake of nature’s wrath GALVESTON, Texas – “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” is the optimist’s mentality. In Galveston, that phrase became, “When a hurricane kills your beautiful trees, find some beauty in the wreckage.” It was 2008 when Hurricane Ike rolled over this island community, ultimately killing 40,000 trees.	Charleston aquarium entertains with much more than fish CHARLESTON, S.C. – When Charleston’s abundant history and eye-catching architecture have worn thin on a family’s younger members, the city can charm them with another attraction, the South Carolina Aquarium, whose more than 5,000 residents go far beyond the many species of fish you expect to see.

Bicycling through a corner of America’s most visited national park GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK – Of the roughly 13 million people who visit this national park that straddles the Tennessee/North Carolina line, only a small percentage get more than a few hundred yards from their cars, trucks or campers.	Communing with giraffes and jaguars in California’s desert PALM DESERT, Calif. – Southern California’s Coachella Valley is known for its winter warmth, movie star history, golf courses, posh resorts, big tennis tournaments and an even bigger music festival.	Spending a quiet day in Quimixto, Mexico “QUIMIXTO, Mexico – The bus ride from busy Puerto Vallarta to quiet Boca de Tomatlan takes about 30 minutes, and it would take perhaps 10 minutes more to get to even quieter Quimixto – if a road went to this little divot on Me.

Exploring African Americans’ long role in military service HATTIESBURG, Miss. – A modest building erected in World War II as a segregated USO club now examines African Americans’ long involvement in the U.S military.	Night of the Iguana “The Night of the Iguana,” the 1964 movie based on a Tennessee Williams play, got an Academy Award nomination for cinematography, but that’s not what created the buzz about the film’s location.	Meet the makers at this Puerto Vallarta market PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – When you wind your way through the Olas Altas Farmers Market, one shopping consideration is certain – every item you see it offered by whoever made it.

Second Stride Farm: A place for thoroughbreds after the last race PROSPECT, Ky. – Every spring, even people who never have been to a horse track hear about the Triple Crown – the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes – and the highly trained three-year-old thoroughbred horses that race for accolades and perhaps even lasting fame.	Being crabby is just fine with Charleston’s Tia Clark CHARLESTON, S.C. – One of the coolest aspects of a crabbing trip with Tia Clark is blithely ignoring the “No Crabbing, No Fishing” signs on the riverfront dock in downtown Charleston that is her domain. That alone makes you feel special, but it only sets the stage for Clark to instruct you, boost your ego, affirm your skills and probably send you home with a bag of succulent crabmeat.	‘Ma’am, we need to check your purse’ LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – I never imagined I would alter my travel plans to visit a museum exclusively about women’s purses, but I delayed departing Little Rock to see one of only two purse museums in the world.

San Diego’s inventory of attractions is huge and diverse SAN DIEGO – The NFL’s Chargers may have abandoned San Diego – they decamped up the coast to Los Angeles in 2017 – but their departure didn’t really diminish the visitor appeal of this seaside city in the far southwest corner of the country.	San Diego Air & Space Museum puts you in aviation’s cockpit SAN DIEGO – The A-12 Blackbird spy plane and the Convair Sea Dart on display outside the San Diego Air & Space Museum are silent, but your ears often hear the unmistakable roar of giant airplane engines as you near the historic building.	Detour for doughnuts and more in Western Kentucky GUTHRIE, Ky. – Refueling your vehicle, stretching your legs and getting a snack are the normal reasons for taking a break on a long interstate highway trip, but what if that snack was something more memorable that a bag of chips and a soft drink?

It’s sweet, spicy and funny at Wisconsin’s National Mustard Museum MADISON, Wisc. – The University of Wisconsin isn’t the only institution of higher learning in Wisconsin’s capital city. Poupon U. makes its mark on the community, too – usually a yellow one that’s difficult to remove from light-colored clothing.	Six musical birthplaces across America NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nashville’s nickname is Music City, earned largely from the evolution of the country music recording industry and the Grand Ole Opry’s worldwide fame, but cities across the U.S. are the wellsprings of several styles of music. One of them – Bristol, Tenn. – even lays claim to being “the birthplace of country music.”	Buy your Mardi Gras supplies at the ‘Barnum and Bailey’ hardware stores BOSSIER CITY, La. – It makes no sense that a hardware store is a major supplier of Mardi Gras beads and king cakes until you learn that the hardware store in question is in a state that takes Mardi Gras very, very seriously and where plenty of things don’t necessarily make sense.