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Category: travel

For the Birds

For the Birds

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It’s a fact of life that if your dear old doggie has passed away, some of the attention he used to enjoy will be passed along to the pets who remain. And so, during our recent Savannah getaway, the parakeets had timed radio music to brighten their day and accompany their chirps. 

Here are these tiny creatures, the two of them together weighing less than a first-class letter, with Beethoven, Vivaldi, Rimsky-Korsakov, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and scores of other composers blaring from the stereo. The house was filled with sound, whether they wanted it or not. 

Luckily for them, the radio shut down a little before 7 p.m. each evening, which means they were spared the news of the day. 

(Toby during a contemplative moment)

Sideways

Sideways

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It’s part of the Charleston allure, the way so many single family homes in the historic district sit sideways on their lots, presenting to passerby not their ample fronts but their narrower sides.  

It wasn’t for tax purposes, but for privacy and tranquility that the airy old manses on Tradd or Legare turned their shoulders to the world.

I didn’t enter one of these homes, but I can imagine the cool breezes that would flow from the portico ceiling fans. There would be rocking chairs, of course, and tall glasses of iced tea, beaded with moisture. 

To enter you’d step through a portal that led from street to porch. A false door? Perhaps, but it provided an extra layer of protection between inside and out. 

The Power of Preservation

The Power of Preservation

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A walking tour of Charleston yesterday revealed many interesting facts, two of which are related, I think. This southern city had the nation’s earliest and most successful preservation laws — and it has now surpassed Las Vegas in the number of weddings per year.

That last one is a dubious distinction, but it indicates that people want to be here, that there’s a charm and scale about the place that boosts tourism and the bottom line. 

Old buildings, narrow alleyways, hidden courtyards — these create a sense of place that’s often lacking in this country. If only more of our cities had preserved their pasts, instead of bulldozing them. 

(The Powder Magazine is South Carolina’s oldest government building, completed in 1713. The Colonial Dames of America saved it from demolition in 1902.)

Bridge at Sunset

Bridge at Sunset

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The Port of Savannah is the third largest in the U.S., plied day and night by colossal container ships. But when I snapped this shot it seemed to be holding its breath, and the Talmadge Bridge seemed delicate as lace.

Today we leave this city for its cousin across the river — Charleston, South Carolina, with its French Quarter, waterfront and Rainbow Row.

We may take another span to get there, but a bridge will be involved, just the same. 

(As it turns out, we took this one.)

Savannahhh!

Savannahhh!

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In 2015 it was Big Sky, Montana. In 2016, Chicago, followed by Huston in 2017 and St. Louis the year after that. And then we ran out of young’uns getting married, or at least ones having big weddings. 

This weekend, we made up for lost time. Savannah obliged by rolling out a pair of warm days and sultry evenings, perfect for strolling the brick-paved walks of this gracious southern city. 

I’m here to see people not scenery, but the place has wowed me just the same. 

The Low Country

The Low Country

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There was one point in yesterday’s drive when the GPS inexplicably sent us off on a 17-mile detour, presumably because of a traffic jam ahead.

Whether or not this was necessary — or a wild goose chase — may never be known. But though it had already been a long trip and I was more than ready to be done with it, I tried to take in the surroundings, to feel the flatness of the land and the nearness of the water.

It was only then, during that brief sojourn away from the buzz and roar of I-95, that I felt I was truly in the low country.

A Novel Town

A Novel Town

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St. Bonaventure Cemetery. Forsyth Park. Jones Street. The Bird Girl statue. 

I’ve been on a crash course to learn about Savannah, Georgia, before we leave for that beguiling city for a family wedding. 

Already I’m encouraged, since many of the sights the city pitches are ones made famous from a novel that became a movie. 

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was an unlikely bestseller when it came out in 1994, but went on to become a feature film that has helped to define Savannah as a Southern Gothic playground, dripping with Spanish moss. 

My walking shoes are ready. 

(Photo: VisitSavannah.com)

Bowling in the Rain

Bowling in the Rain

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We’ve had some rain lately, which reminds me of one morning in Oban, Scotland, when I was awakened by the sound of shouts and laughter wafting up from the bowling green beneath the windows of the B&B. 

It was pouring — but that wasn’t stopping the lawn bowlers. They were swaddled in rain gear, playing their game with the cool concentration of professionals. Cool being the operative word because it was about 50 degrees in mid-August.

I admired the pluck of the players, and later in the day, when it was warmer and dryer, circled back to watch the game. I still can’t say I understand it. But I do get the spirit of it, which seems to be, forget about the weather — have fun! A good lesson to keep in mind. 

Backward Glance

Backward Glance

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I know people who extol the beauties of fall — the color, the crispness, the end of humidity — but I’m not one of them. To me there’s always a backward glance at this time of year.

I don’t mind the heat, I relish cicada song, and I love the long days that summer brings.

So on the last day of this summer, I’m reveling in the sun that’s trying to peak through the ever-thickening cloud cover, and I’m savoring the adventures — from Seattle to Scotland and all the places in between.

Saving Posts

Saving Posts

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For the most part, I write a post, read it over once or twice to check for typos, then pretty much let it go. But today I’ve been making sure I have all the posts I’ve ever written, grouped in months, in PDF files on my computer. 

I couldn’t help but read a few as I went along: There was the round-the-world trip of 2016. 

And something much smaller: riffing on journalism after seeing the movie “Spotlight,” and remembering how my daughter said the film was “a little slow.” That made me smile.

And then there was the couch sitting in a field in the Rocky Mountains. There’s a story behind that one, as you might imagine.