Tag Archives: Culinary History

The Best of Death Valley National Park

With names of iconic locations like Badwater, Funeral Mountain, the Devil’s Golf Course, and Death right in the name of the parkland, it’s clear that this landscape on the California/Nevada state line was a torment to early visitors. As well prepared travelers, the only torment for us was that we did not have more time to […]

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Wild Days and Dark Nights: Big Bend National Park

Texas may be the Lone Star State, but there are 2,000 more stars visible in the sky on any given night in Big Bend National Park than there are in most mid-sized cities around the country. This is dark sky country. I don’t know about you, but I feel that seeing stars shine brilliantly in the […]

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Virgin Islands National Park Multi-Sport

About 60% of the island of St. John where Virgin Islands National Park is located is protected parkland, and that excludes the 5,650 acres of parkland area that is submerged beneath the water surrounding its shores. St. John is the least developed and smallest of the three best-known United States Virgin Islands, and with just a […]

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A perfect rainbow over Saint Andrews Bay, South Georgia

South Georgia Island – The Land That Time Forgot

I started writing this article and found myself discussing the general history of South Georgia. While the basics of this lost-at-sea island are fascinating, at least I think they are, I know that what my adventurous readers are here for is a taste of the experience! So I’m going to share four that blow any overview out […]

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Hoisting a National Geographic / Lindblad Expeditions flag on the Antarctic continent with explorer Peter Hillary — life can be surreal. (Credit: Jonathan Irish)

Explorer Peter Hillary, The Earthquake in Nepal, and a Moment in Antarctica

This is me goofing off with explorer Peter Hillary — hoisting a flag as if we are conquering the great white continent after a wild expedition… Peter is probably most commonly recognized as the eldest son of the first man to summit Mt. Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary. They were the first father/son to both climb […]

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I [Heart] New York

I love New York. Even Times Square. Even the fact that I can’t wear flip flops without my feet turning black. I love the 40$ salads, the scaffolding on every block, and the piled up heaps of trash that make you wonder how the city even works. I love the bum in the pink tutu who […]

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The Willard Hotel lobby viewed from a balcony, c. 1904 | Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston, courtesy LOC image collection

One of DC’s Great Urban Myths: The Origin of the Term “Lobbying”

Without a doubt, one of the best-known historic landmarks in the US Capitol City is the Willard Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue — the walls hold a lot of secrets. It is also the backdrop of one of the great legends of Washington, DC. As the story goes, the political term “to lobby” was coined in the […]

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Eating horse meat in America and abroad. World on a Fork

All The Tasty Horses?

The European horse meat scandal – and America’s complicated legal policy. As the controversy over unlabeled horse meat reaching grocery stores and restaurants in Europe widens, let’s explore how the scandal has unfolded and why it’s so hard to find horse on a menu in the United States. Image compliments of Top Masters in Public […]

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Vintage Restaurant Menus

Menus are fascinating because they really don’t discriminate. No matter where we are from or who we are, we have all picked up a menu to select something to eat at one time or another. Not only are vintage menus adorned with beautiful drawings and typefaces, but they showcase the foods of former eras.  Did […]

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