Destination: California (Candyland by book)

Book: See’s Famous Old Time Candies: A Sweet Story (2005) by Margaret Moos Pick

Review and Recipe by Brette Sember

One of my family’s favorite vacation activities is to take tours of fun food production facilities. We’ve visited the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA, the Byrd Cookie Company in Savannah and the Charleston Tea Plantation (home to American Classic Tea), among many others. It’s always simply fascinating to see where and how your favorite treats are made (and enjoy some samples while there!).

One food factory tour I would love to take is of See’s Candies. We sampled See’s Candies while in California and they now top my list of favorites. See’s doesn’t offer tours to their Los Angeles or San Francisco factories or to any of their other facilities, sadly. The next best thing is See’s Famous Old Time Candies: A Sweet Story by Margaret Moos Pick. This little book is just as delicious as a box of candies and is a journey not only to See’s locations, but through time as well.

Inside the cover you are immediately greeted with a montage of See’s treats, candy for your eyes. See’s is now controlled by Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffet wrote the preface. Diving into the book is like a trip to vintage California, something I find incredibly kitschy and fun, like an old postcard or the Hollywood sign.

I learned so much about See’s that I really do feel as if I took a tour and spent some time in one of their shops, just chatting with employees. There really was a Mary See and See’s still uses her candy recipes. They aren’t kidding when they call them old-fashioned candies. The family photos are fantastic and offer a glimpse into what California used to be like, with flowering trees and quaint homes in the background.

See’s began in L. A. in the Roaring 20’s when Californians had extra income and a feeling of celebration. What better time to start selling delicious candies? One of my favorite photos in the book is of the delivery motorcycle that was used to personally deliver orders during this time period. A tiny little country cottage with white eyelet curtains was built on the back of a motorcycle with the See’s name prominently displayed.

See’s was off to a great start, but then the crash came. The fledging company held on with smart moves when it came to price (reducing it) and quality (never sacrificing it). By the 1940’s See’s quaint country cottage style shops had spread all the way to San Jose and Sacramento. The photos of these shops are simply stunning. With striped awnings, black and white floors, adorable cases, white paneled walls and salesgirls in white nurse-like uniforms with giant black bow ties, See’s had created a look all its own. See’s has now become a company with stores all over the world.

The book goes behind the scenes with photos of the candy-making process in its L. A. facilities. You can walk through the process and see a wide variety of machines and workers. There’s even a “nut room” where nuts are assessed for quality before being shelled for candy making. One of my favorite tidbits from the book is that the famous I Love Lucy candy factory episode was actually filmed in See’s factory in L. A. !

The pages also include fun stories about shop openings (involving a Chinese Lion Dance and firecrackers in Kowloon and a famous jazz band in San Francisco) as well as vignettes about employees and family members. I would be remiss if I didn’t warn you that the book contains lots and lots of photos of amazing candies (honestly, I never even knew what a bonbon was and now I am going to have to order some from See’s).

See’s doesn’t share any of their recipes (a crime!) so to sate your appetite for sweets, I’m share my family recipe for fudge:

Gai’s Fudge

1 cup milk
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
Dash of salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Warm the milk over low heat and add the chocolate, stirring until it is melted and smooth. Stir in sugar, corn syrup and salt. Cook over low to medium heat until it reaches 236 degrees (soft ball stage). Remove from the heat and stir in butter. Cool, stirring until it is lukewarm. Stir in the vanilla and the nuts. Pour into an 8×8 buttered pan and cool completely, then cut into squares.

Do you have a favorite food tour from your travels?

Brette Sember is a regular contributor to A Traveler’s Library, bringing us her expertise on traveling with taste–food that inspires travel.  Brette is a super busy author, and you should check out her latest food books, The Parchment Paper Cookbook (I have been cooking from it since it arrived just before Christmas), The Muffin Tin Cookbook and The Organized Kitchen (Yep! I need that!).

Disclaimer: The links to Amazon in this post are there for your convenience, but they also are affiliate links. Anything you buy when using the links in this post, although it costs you no more, earns a few cents for Brette Sember. She thanks you.

And let me hasten to inform you that although the pictures above do portray See’s chocolates, they do not come from the book being reviewed. Instead we got the pictures from Flickr and use them under the Creative Commons License. You can click on any picture to learn more. The I Love Lucy video is one of several copies on YouTube.

Print PDF

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Destination:  Anchorage, Barrow, and Fort Richardson, Alaska

Movie: Big Miracle (NEW 2012), Directed by Ken Kwapis

Review by Jane Boursaw

Reel Rating*: 4 out of 5 Reels

There’s something really compelling about whales. Is it their size and power? The fact that they swim in the ocean underneath our tiny boats? Or the fact that even though they could wipe out a small town with one swipe of a flipper, maybe they’re not so different from us after all.

Whatever the reason, any time a whale pops up in a movie, I’m so there. In Big Miracle, we get not one, but three whales, along with the incredibly adorable Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski. It’s almost too much cuteness for one movie, but there you have it.

John Krasinki and Drew Barrymore

Based on the book by Thomas Rose, Big Miracle tells the real-life story that happened back in 1988. John Krasinski plays Adam Carlson, a news reporter covering stories in the tiny town of Barrow, Alaska. When he inadvertently discovers a family of three gray whales trapped in the icy waters off shore, he realizes this could be the big story that gets him out of the sticks and into a cushy job in the Lower 48.

Adam’s story gets picked up by the national press, attracting the attention of everyone from Tom Brokaw to a White House staffer in Pres. Reagan’s administration to ex-girlfriend Rachel Kramer, a Greenpeace activist who immediately flies to Barrow to help organize efforts to get the whales back to open sea.

Rescuing the whales in Big Miracle

It also attracts the attention of oil baron J.W. McGraw (Ted Danson), who sees the situation as a way to bring environmentalists onboard with his Arctic oil-drilling efforts, and Jill Jerard (Kristen Bell), an ambitious Los Angeles reporter looking for a scoop.

There’s no doubt this movie has a lot going on; stories focused on saving the whales; oil-drilling in the Arctic; a culture clash with the whale-harvesting Inuit tribes; push-pull between a National Guard officer (Dermot Mulroney) and Pres. Reagan; and the fact that the U.S. government asks the Soviet Union for help in freeing the whales. By the way, did Pres. Reagan actually call Mikhail Gorbachev “Gorby”? No idea, but I guess the scene where he calls him on the phone is played for laughs.

Somehow, though, it all works, probably because this story really happened back in 1988, and we see evidence of that when archival footage plays as the end credits roll. Plus, if you were around in the 1980s, you’ll get a kick out of the shout-outs to Walkmans, Def Leppard, big hair and shoulder pads. It was also filmed on location in Anchorage, Barrow, and Fort Richardson, Alaska.

Most of all, though, Big Miracle is an entertaining, educational family movie that both kids and adults will like – especially if you have a thing for whales and movies shot in snowy locations.

*JANE’S REEL RATING SYSTEM:

One Reel – Even the Force can’t save it.

Two Reels – Coulda been a contender

Three Reels – Something to talk about.

Four Reels – You want the truth? Great flick!

Five Reels – Wow! The stuff dreams are made of.

Jane Boursaw is a family entertainment writer specializing in movies and TV. She contributes monthly articles about movies at Wednesday Matinee at A Traveler’s Library. Visit her at ReelLifeWithJane; follow her on Twitter; become a friend on Facebook; email jboursaw@charter.net.

Disclaimers: There is a link to Amazon in this post to the book the movie is based on. Reel Life With Jane is an affiliate, and therefore if you use that convenient link and buy anything at all while you are there, Reel Life will earn a few cents. Thanks for supporting our work! Photos are provided by Universal Pictures.

Print PDF

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Destination: Ohio, 1842

Book: American Notes by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

It would be quite unthinkable to let this month pass without paying homage to the 2nd centenary of one of our greatest and most popular writers–Charles Dickens, born February, 1812 (probably February 7). I’ve been dipping into some Dickens’ travel writing to supplement my scanty knowledge of his novels. (I did love Bleak House, and we all know The Christmas Carol, of course.) And the travel writing is lively, detailed, and very funny in places.

I could hardly believe my good fortune to come across this photograph recently when I was in Ohio:

Dickens Drank Here, Picture from Wyandot County Courthouse, Ohio

The Golden Lamb Inn, Lebanon, Ohio

I snapped the  picture above when I was on a completely different mission–following the Shawshank Trail, and in the course of that visit, went to Upper Sandusky, Ohio, where Dickens apparently stopped for a drink.  He did not have such good luck at The Golden Lamb in Lebanon Ohio, where, he complained in a letter to a friend,” they are teetotalers” and he could not get a brandy.  The Golden Lamb, by the way still serves dinner in Lebanon (including drinks in their tavern)  and I love stopping there.

Why am  talking about Ohio on the 200th birthday of this famous ENGLISH writer.  Well, you see, when he was barely 30 years old, Charles Dickens, already becoming a well-known author, took a trip to America. (PBS has info about a TV series on Dickens travels in America. He first traveled through many states, including Ohio.)  It was 1842 and travel to America was so popular among adventurous Europeans that (my Penguin Kindle edition of Dickens’ American Notes: For General Circulation informs me) there were more than 200 guidebooks that had  been written to the wild country. Not only was it fashionable to travel to America, but it was most fashionable to criticize the country–mainly for slavery, but also for its woeful journalism.  Dickens dived enthusiastically into both, and American Notes is more DeTocqueville with a sour face than “America on 5 pence a day”. The trip also led to the publication of  Martin Chuzzlewit.  He revisited America in 1867-1868, and appended many of his critical observations and remarks from his first trip, softening American Notes in the new edition.

Dickens, whose early life story was dreary to say the least, came naturally by his subject matter of poverty and abused women and children.  And, despite his enjoyment of entertainment and a drink, he was a serious young man who spent much of his trip to America campaigning for stricter copyright laws and inspecting prisons and welfare institutions. A few years later, after slaves were freed, he appended his book to allow that America could, after all, become a civilized country.

American Notes presents a  snapshot of what life looked like in the United States before the Civil War, and reminds us of how remote the far western reaches–like Ohio–still were. Dickens talked to some Wyandot Indians in Ohio a year before they were forced to leave the Ohio for Kansas. This quote is from American Notes.  Plan a road trip to Ohio, and you can visit the restored Johnston Farm and Indian Agency .

“It is a settlement of the Wyandot Indians who inhabit this place. Among the company at breakfast was a mild old gentleman (John Johnston), who had been for many year employed by the United State Government in conducting negotiation with the Indians, and who had just concluded a treaty with these people by which they bound themselves, in consideration of a certain annual sum, to remove next year to some land provided for them, west of the Mississippi and a little way beyond St. Louis. He gave me a moving account of their strong attachment to the familiar scenes of their infancy, and in particular to the burial places of their kindred: and of the great reluctance to leave them. He had witnessed many such removals, and always with pain, though he knew that they departed for their own good. The question whether this tribe should go or stay had been discussed among them a day or two before, in a hut erected for the purpose, the logs of which still lay upon the before the inn. When the speaking was done, the ayes and noes were ranged on opposite sides, and every male adult voted in his turn. The moment the result was known, the minority (a large one) cheerfully yielded to the rest, and withdrew all kind of opposition. “

Two years later, Dickens went to Italy for a year (with stops in France and Switzerland). His daily dispatches, plus the fact that he was hosted on his trips makes him sound like today’s travel bloggers.  That trip resulted in Pictures from Italy, and I’ll talk about the delights of his views of Italy at a later time. The following year, the family went back to Switzerland to settle in for a year and he got back to writing novels and apparently never wrote up his travels there.

You can read the entire Dickens works for free in several places on line.

A note from Naxos Audio Books about more Dickens availability:

NAB has produced a series of Dickens podcasts. Simply download our special Dickens podcasts, which include introductions to and excerpts from the books, meet the readers of our Dickens series, or click on a cover for more information, booklet notes, reviews, audio samples, and to buy any title from the Naxos AudioBooks Download Shop.

You can also find out what Dickens 2012 events are taking place near you by visiting the Events Calendar at the official Dickens bicentenary website: www.dickens2012.org.

I read American Notes in the Penquin edition on my Free Kindle App for PC and the book cost less than a dollar. I have included links here to Amazon for your convenience, but you should know that I am an Amazon affiliate, so although it costs you no more to enter their store from A Traveler’s Library, I do make a few cents when you purchase anything. The photograph from the Johnston Indian Agency is mine, but the other photos are from Flickr, used with Creative Commons License. Click on those photos for more information.

What have you read by Dickens? Ever read his travel literature?

Print PDF

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Mark Heers, who entertains us at Travel Wonders, came in close behind Connie with FOUR correct answers.

Now read on, and you can slap yourself on the forehead and say, “I should have known that!”

WHO??
Still sticking with the windows and doors theme — kinda. I was going to tell a little story about each of these places, but instead I decided to torment you. Who do you think lived in each of these places? You could read about all of these people some time in the last 3 years at A Traveler’s Library. (Sorry, I’m fresh out of prizes after that gigantic January Giveaway. It’s all for the glory of competing with other readers.) And just to keep you honest, I’m not letting you see comments with guesses/answers until next Monday.

He lived in exile on an island for a while, too. No, not Napoleon, but you're right that it is in France. A writer who loved Paris, and particularly a cathedral.

When Ken and I spent a week in Paris, we wanted to see all the major sites, of course, but I also had a hankering to visit where some famous writers and artists had lived.  I did not do as many as I had hoped, but was very happy to visit the one-time home of Victor Hugo. The 2nd floor apartment, situated in Place des Voges, which dates back to 1605, is a short distance from the Bastille metro station.  The 19th century living quarters have been restored and turned into a museum. Among the highlights–ornate furniture designed by Hugo himself, a gorgeous Chinese room, and the room where the writer died. (Some of the other rooms are recreations from other homes he lived in.) Read about Victor Hugo.

Yep, that's me in the window, but I"m not the famous person who lived here.

Impressionist Painter Claude Monet derived great satisfaction from his gardens, which he himself planned. And of course his most famous series of paintings, The Water Lilies, was painted right here as he looked at his water lily pond.  The home is in the tiny, picturesque town of Giverney, and nowadays, you can also visit an Impressionist Museum. This place is a photographers dream.  The window I’m peeking out of is Monet’s bedroom. Mara Gorman wrote a guest post here about a children’s book about Monet’s Gardens.

Trick question because although he designed it, he may not have actually ever lived in it. Called a Chateau but looks like a castle to me.

Chateau le Galliard was designed by Richard I of England and Normandy. He earned his nickname of Richard the Lionheart for his ferocious battles during the Crusades.  When we left Giverney, we were heading for Rouen, intending to end the day at Honfleurs, on the coast. But in one of those lovely serendipities that strikes sometimes while traveling, a friend had given us a very old book with a picture of the ruins of Richard the Lionheart’s castle ruins just a bit north of Giverney. The ruins looked very romantic and I had read and written about several books on Richard, so I said, “Let’s just take a look, on our way.” WELL! The ruins are now partially restored so you can see the glorious form of the original castle; the setting is stunning—although it takes a small hike to get to the hilltop location; and we could have spent a whole day there. As it was, we missed Rouen, but were delighted with our out-of-the-way find, and enthusiastically recommend it to travelers.

Same place as the one above. If he DID live there, this would have been the view. A well-known river. The river is the Seine, although you probably think of this Crusader as being English.

Read more about Richard the Lionheart in a book review at A Traveler’s Library.

Architectural hints: Portico and "eyebrow" rescued from older houses in Ohio. Indian god over door indicates his earlier travels and a novel and movie he wrote. I've written about the author/farmer who lived here.

Unless you are a devoted and careful reader of A Traveler’s Library, or attracted to little known fiction of the early 20th century, you probably did not recognize the home of Louis Bromfield, a Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist. I visited his experimental farm, Malabar, in Ohio when I took a press trip to Mansfield. The architecture of the farm house, which he mostly designed himself, blends French (from his years living in France) with preservation of historic Ohio River properties, and a nod to India, where he also lived in an area called Malabar. I wrote a guest post at Attainable Sustainable about Malabar Farm, and a book review here.

If you can identify the flowers, that will help.

I was a bit surprised that more people did not recognize the Texas white house of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Those are Texas’ state flowers, the bluebonnet in the foreground, and of course Lady Bird Johnson was known for her campaign to preserve and plant wildflowers in public places. The house is near Fredericksburg, Texas, which I visited on a press trip. I felt that I understood Johnson a whole lot better after seeing his spread here in Texas hill country overlooking the Pedernales River. Here is a slide show from Lyndon Johnson’s homes.

Most people mispronounce the name of the New England town this house is located in.

Connie was the only reader who named John Adams (his son John Quincy Adams would have counted, too, although this house is before his time) Mark  got the town right–it is Quincy, Massachusetts, near Boston.  The proper pronunciation makes the “c” sound like a “z” rather than hard as in the fruit, quince. John Adams was born here, and he and Abigail lived in a fancier house they built later on the same property.  (which is also open for tours) Adams is one of my favorite figures from American history, so it was a delight to visit his farm in Quincy.  But the biggest delight was the private library built on the property by John Quincy Adams. It gave me a big case of building lust, and made me think I should learn more about book-loving President John Quincy Adams. Here’s a bit about Boston and Adams.

This is my entry in Travel Photo Thursday.  To see photos from around the world, go to Budget Travelers’ Sandbox.  All photos are my property and I request that you not reuse them without express permission.  Thanks.

Print PDF

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Destinations: Milan, New York City and Brittany in France

Book: P.O. Box Love: A Novel of Letters (originally 2009, but NEW in English– February 2012) by Paola Calvetti

I reviewed this delicious new romance in e-book format, and as I read P.O. Box Love, I used the bookmark function on my Sony reader to mark favorite passages (there were so many!) and to make a list of people for whom I want to buy the book (there were so many!) If you get the impression that I am recommending this gem to lovers of travel and lovers of literature, you have guessed correctly

The Belle Ile Love Nest

If you have ever been tempted to look up an old girlfriend or boyfriend, you will sympathize with Frederico. If you have doubts about revealing yourself to someone from your past, you’ll understand Emma. Did you ever have the urge to open a bookstore? You’ll love Dreams & Desires, Emma’s bookstore in Milan that specializes in romance. Paola Calvetti, the Italian author, agreed to answer some questions for readers of A Traveler’s Library, and in my first question, I get at one of the reasons this book stands apart. P.O. Box Love blows apart the assumption that romance ends at 35 or so.

A Traveler’s Library:  How did the protagonists’ age change your task as a romance writer? 

Menhir Jean, Belle Ile, Brittany

PC: The way I found Belle Île was really strange and… tied to the destiny of the book. I was in Concarneau; it was a cloudy afternoon and I was visiting its historical monuments, having a cup of tea and wandering in the alleyways. I happened to enter an ancient bookstore run by an old bookseller selling second-hand books. I asked him “do you have any books about Breton legends or rather a love legend?” “Of course”, he answered, the great story of Jean and Jeanne!”

There are literary quotations in abundance throughout P.O. Box Love. Emma ironically quotes Virginia Woolf,” how very little natural gift words have for being useful.” A sign on the wall of the store says “The only advice you can give someone about reading is not to accept any advice…” But we asked advice anyhow– for books that inspire travel.   Paola echoed the beliefs of A Traveler’s Library.

Indeed the book is a love poem to the United States, particularly since Frederico is an Italian temporarily living in New York City during September 2001 and the book deals with the shock and horror of 9-11-01. Frederico (and the author) love the Morgan Library in New York and we are treated to the history of Morgan and the architectural challenges of adapting an historic building.

A love story told in letters sounds as though it would be a simple affair, but P.O. Box Love is enriched with  literature,  architecture, the beauty of three countries, the interplay of interesting characters, including a mother and her teenage son, and the invasion of the Internet into previously hidebound practices of publishing. All these factors contribute to a winner of a book. I welcomed Frederico and Emma into my life and was sorry to say goodbye.

Follow Paola on Facebook.

Disclaimer: Links to the book on Amazon are affiliate links, meaning that anything you buy when you use the link will help support A Traveler’s Library, and we thank you very much.  The photographs here are all the property of Paola Calvetti and should not be reused without express permission.

Today’s prize, the LAST January birthday present, a copy of P.O. Box Love, goes to one person who comments, subscribes, tweets (using @pen4hire) or mentions Vera Marie Badertscher on Google+ (You can comment on this post or on an earlier post. Just do it before Wednesday, February 1, 3:00 a.m. MST. This is your last chance, also, to enter for the Grand Prize drawing.  

Print PDF

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

The “Emissaries of Peace,” led by Ostenaco and Cherokee leaders Cunne Shote and Woyi, traveled to London and met with King George III in May 1762. They were accompanied by Junior Officer Ensign Henry Timberlake. The engraving is titled: “The Three Cherokees, came over the head of the River Savanna to London, 1762. / Their interpreter was poisoned.” (Photo courtesy of the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Okla.)

These  imposing gentlemen–with their fierce-looking tattoos and exotic costumes composed of a mixture of native American materials like deer skin pants and the latest borrowings from European civilization, like pajama tops– were an anti-war movement. Yes, although the mere sight of them might drive proper London ladies to pull out the smelling salts, they were emissaries of the Cherokee Nation of North America on a mission to seek peace with Great Britain.

The year was 1762  and the Cherokee Nation, still one of the two largest American Indian nations in the United States, will commemorate that historic journey with a group tour this coming summer, June 15-23. Do you like historic travel? Here’s something new for you. (tattoos optional)

The Cherokee Nation Tourism press release says: Long before the Revolutionary War, the Cherokee Nation was a valued trading partner and important political ally with Great Britain. That mutual bond was dissolved during the French and Indian War and led to a three-year conflict between the British and the Cherokees. In November 1761 the Treaty of Long Island resulted in peace between the two nations. That December, Junior Officer Ensign Henry Timberlake arrived in the Cherokee capital, present-day Monroe County, Tennessee, and spent several months with the Cherokee people. 

In May 1762, the “Emissaries of Peace” led by Ostenaco and including Cherokee leaders Cunne Shote and Woyi, persuaded Timberlake to escort them to London, where they met with King George III. At the meeting, Ostenaco declared his wish for peace and loyalty to the King.

Starting in Oklahoma, the home base of the largest sector of the Cherokee Nation (the Eastern Cherokees live in the southeast, which was their original homeland), will travel to London and stop off at Plymouth, Exeter Cathedral,Egremont House in Piccadilly Circus, Suffolk Street, the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, St. James Palace, Green Park, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and Houses of Parliament among other sites. Since the British 18th century version of paparazzi followed the Cherokee closely, every move is documented, and today’s historic travelers can follow closely in their footsteps.

There will be room for 40 people on the tour, and in the spirit of peace, non-Cherokees can sign up for this historic re-enactment as well as Cherokees.

An article on the National Endowment for the Humanities  site tells the story of the mission to see King George III, based on an exhibit at the Museum of the Cherokee in North Carolina. Although the article was written some time ago, the exhibit is still there.

“We’re trying to look at both cultures from the perspective of people who were experiencing them for the first time,” says Duane King, director of the Southwest Museum of the Cherokee Indian. (Note: the NEH site gives King’s background incorrectly. Among other things, he was director of the Southwest Museum in LA and of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in NC, and is now head of Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, OK) A Timberlake scholar, King is helping to develop the exhibition.

“The Cherokees did not speak English, and Timberlake spoke only minimal Cherokee,” King says. “According to the British press, they made their wishes known by hand signals.” 

(Revised)Book this tour by February 1 (FINAL Payment March 1). For additional information or booking for the “Emissaries of Peace” historic tour, please contact Heather Williams at (918) 384-7887 or heather.williams@cnent.com.

This tour came to my attention because I was the guest in late 2010 of the Cherokee Nation for a tour of Cherokee sites in Oklahoma.  The Cherokee have an active tourism program and I found their Oklahoma sites absolutely fascinating. What a great opportunity this is to re-enact a little-known incident in American history.

For additional information on the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism program, call (877) 779-6977or visit www.CherokeeTourismOK.com.
(The photo used above was supplied by the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism office.)

So tell me, do you like historical travel? Do you like following in historic footsteps?

Cherokee Principal Chief Chadwick Corntassel Smith

Today to go along with the historic Cherokee trip, I am going to part with an absolutely gorgeous book called Building One Fire: Art + World View in Cherokee Life. The book is even signed by one of its authors, Chadwick Corntassel Smith, who was principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation when I met him in 2010. Remember, there are four ways to win. Check the complete rules here–contest rules. (You must enter by 3:00 a.m., Thursday January 19 the be eligible for this prize, and all entries will be in the running for the two grand prizes.)

Disclaimers: The book was a gift from the Cherokee Tourism Office and the photo to the right is my property. I do not receive any compensation for telling you about the historic tour. I just thought you might be interested.

Print PDF

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Family Travel Friday

Visiting a dairy

Destination: Hit the U.S. Highways

Books: Kids Love Travel Guides by George Zavatsky and Michele Zavatsky

By Jennifer Close

When deciding which book to write about this month, I chose Kids Love I-75. Then I thought about sharing some information about Kids Love Florida. I was standing so close to my travel bookshelf that I couldn’t help but pull Kids Love I-95 off of the shelf. As I stared at these books, I decided to just share my love for the whole series by George and Michele Zavatsky.

My name is Jennifer and I am addicted to the Kids Love Travel books.

Jennifer Loves Kids Love Books

The Kids Love Travel Guides series has both Interstate Guides and State Guides. I particularly like the Interstate Guides because if you are going to spend some time driving I-75 and I-95, these are the books for you. Even in the age of smart phones and quick access to information, I love these Interstate Guides because they are filled with various stops at the many exits off of the Interstate. Both books include information about the different activities that can be found at each exit, hours, admission, whether they have food or restrooms, and more. The maps found throughout are my favorite parts of the book. Each map pictures the exits, what can be found at the exit like hotels, picnic areas and rest stops, and shows how far it is to the next exit.

Mayfield Dairy, Braselton, Georgia

Kids Love I-75 travels along the interstate from Michigan to Florida. We throw this book in the car anytime we will be on I-75. While traveling north on I-75 during one road trip, we were able to make family rest stops a little bit more exciting. When we were planning our trip, we referenced the book and realized that the Mayfield Dairy was right of the interstate. Instead of a quick bathroom stop where the kids ran around a grassy area, we were able to tour the Mayfield Dairy and treat ourselves to ice cream before the rest of the long trip.

The State Guides cover family friendly activities in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and DC, Michigan, Missouri, The Carolinas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and DC, Wisconsin and Tennessee. Kids Love Floridais broken up into the different regions of the state and includes activities for children. Each activity lists a brief description of what you and your family can do, admission prices, hours of operation, website address, phone number, location and any other pertinent information you might need before your visit. The best part about these books is that each activity has been kid-tested and kid-approved by Mrs. Zavatsky and her family.

The state guides are great for not only families who live in these states but also for families who are going to be visiting. We are planning a trip to Maryland and Virginia this summer so I am trying to decide whether or not I should get both state books or stick with the state in which we are going to spend the most time. I will probably just end up getting both books!

The Kids Love Travel Guides cost about fifteen dollars each and several are available for purchase via download from the Kids Love Travel website.  ( You can get some guides on sale for $12.95 right now at the Kids Love Travel website)

Note from Jennifer: I received  review copies of Kids Love I-95 and Kids Love I-75.  As always, my opinions are my own with no outside influences. Photographs belong to Jennifer. Please respect her copyright.

The giveaway books (plural) today are perfect for a road trip:  Kids’ Love I-95 (new edition) and Drive I -95 by Stan Posner and Sandra Phillips-Posner (2007 edition). Today’s prize  books go to one person who comments, subscribes, tweets or mentions us on Google+ before the deadline.  (You can comment on this post or on an earlier post. Just do it before Monday, January 16, 3:00 a.m. MST. If you already subscribe by e-mail and want an extra entry as a subscriber, be sure to tell me that in the comments. See complete contest rules here.)

Print PDF

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Book: Dog Walks Man: A Six Legged Adventure

Where: The Meadowlands, New Jersey

Review by Edie Jarolim

Meadowlands New Jersey

Brooklyn was never known for its rural landscapes — though there are many of them, if you know where to look — but when I was growing up there I knew of a place that made my hometown seem pristine: The Meadowlands. The vast, swampy section of northwest New Jersey, a wasteland that you could see from Manhattan, had a reputation as a dumping ground for everything from toxic chemicals and refrigerators to — we believed — dead bodies, possibly even that of teamster Jimmy Hoffa.

Art reviewer and painter John Zeaman was not without similar stereotypes when he started walking his standard poodle, Pete, through the Meadowlands, or, as the title of his delightful memoir, Dog Walks Man, would have it, when Pete started walking him there. “An aura of danger and degeneracy clung to this piece of land like radioactive contamination,” he writes. It is “the Forbidden Forest,” the wild frontier of the manicured suburban New Jersey town to which he and his family have moved from Manhattan, though it is only a short car ride away.

Zeaman doesn’t discover any bodies when he starts exploring the Meadowlands with Pete, though he meditates on the frequency with which dog walkers tend to come across dead people in mystery novels. He does encounter garbage:

Here and there, erosion had worn down the cap of soil, exposing a collage of broken glass, flattened cans, and automobile tires. Tires, I eventually learned, were particularly buoyant because they trapped a doughnut of air when they were buried….Muted dolls stuck their heads out of the ground, eyes fixed heavenward, like El Greco saints.

Peaceful Meadowlands

But he also finds a strikingly wild and beautiful landscape, the complex ecosystem of wetlands that began to develop after the federal Clean Water Act and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission cleared up the pollution and closed the landfills in the 1970s. On their first outing to this terra incognita, he and Pete reach a rise where: “The view opened up. It could have been the Everglades or the Serengeti Plans.”

Who knew?

Zeaman is a wonderful guide through all the incarnations of the Meadowlands, providing snippets of history and geology from the Pleistocene Epoch to the 1960s, when “methane gas from the decomposing garbage sparked an underground fire in the peat that forms the Meadowlands’ floor… Driving through the stench on our way into Manhattan, my friends and I would howl in disgust.”

He looks at the landscape with philosophical wit:

I loved the phragmites reeds, which the state Department of Environmental Protection — and the rest of the world, it seemed — branded “invasive” and “opportunistic.” It struck me as hypocritical to malign a plant for its ability to adapt to an area where humans had been so egregiously invasive and opportunistic. I found them exotic and beautiful. In a strong wind, their hollow tubes clacked and clicked like wind chimes.

And he always has an artist’s perspective. Of the presence of trash, he writes:

It could even be looked on as an aesthetic question. Did beauty require purity? Did a small bit of ugliness cancel out something predominantly beautiful? In fact, the opposite case was often made in aesthetics — that beauty couldn’t exist without ugliness, that each defined the other.

This book is about far more than nature, though the dog-walking landscapes and the contemplations they give rise to play a central role. Zeaman also talks about the life of a writer, family life, suburban rituals, urban development, dog walking etiquette… and of course dogs. He’s a keen, unsentimental observer, able to laugh at himself as much as he pokes gentle fun at those around him.

For example, he describes the process of getting a new puppy — to rejuvenate Pete, who is getting older, he initially thinks. But it is not until he takes the new dog to the vet that he becomes aware that he is suffering from incipient empty nest syndrome as his daughter, Claire, is about to head off to college:

“Oh,’ the vet said, after I had lifted the floppy-legged puppy up onto the examination table, “Is this Claire’s replacement?

I think I may have blushed… Such insights into one’s unconscious motives were supposed to happen in a therapist’s office — not a veterinarian’s.

I could just keep on quoting. This is the type of book that has you marking passages and dog-earring pages, in spite of yourself; I tried not to but finally gave in. On every page, it gives you an idea to think about, a turn of phrase to admire. At the same time, the writing is never showoff-y; the prose illuminates its subjects without calling undue attention to itself. I’ve never seen Zeaman’s paintings, but if they’re anything like his writing I’d love to own one.

I even promise not to deface it.

Since the Pet Travel Book Club solicits discussion with readers, we hope that you will leave a comment below with your questions or opinions on Dog Walks Man. Edie Jarolim started the Pet Travel Book Club at her blog, Will My Dog Hate Me.  Edie will be discussing this book from the point of veiw of dog lovers over at Will My Dog Hate Me. She recently announced that she is winding down her work on the blog in favor of another project, which means that she will no longer be contributing Pet Travel columns to A Traveler’s Library. We’re going to miss her wonderful writing hereabouts, but look forward to her new projects.

Disclaimer: The links to the book are here to make it easier for you to get a copy.  Because it is an affiliate link, anything you buy will make a few cents (without costing you any extra) for Will My Dog Hate Me.Photographs are from Flickr with Creative Common License.  Please click on the picture to go to the Flickr collection of the photographer and learn more about each photo.

Even if you have not read Dog Walks Man, you’ll want to leave a comment (or tweet or google + or subscribe) so that you will be in the running to win today’s prize: the novel Good Graces by Lesley Kagan. It is not about a dog. It is set in Milwaukee rather than New Jersey. But it is darned good writing. The only reason I did not review it is that it would be a real stretch to say it lures you to travel. But the publisher sent it to me for review, knowing full well that I might not find it suitable for A Traveler’s Library, no matter how good the book is.  I think you’ll like it. Entries until 3:00 a.m. Friday Jan. 13–a lucky day for someone! See entire contest rules here. BE SURE TO SEE TOMORROW’s ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT TWO SPECIAL GRAND PRIZES–everyone who has an entry all month will be eligible.

Print PDF

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Wednesday Matinee

Destinations: France, England, Hawaii

Movies: The Descendants, Hugo, and War Horses

Reviews by Jane Boursaw

If there’s one thing we can count on around the holidays, it’s lots of great movies with fabulous locations. Let’s take a look at a few movies that had me going, “Wow, I have to include this in my Wednesday Matinee column at A Traveler’s Library!”

Hugo, the Movie

Hugo (Directed by Martin Scorsese; 126 min.; rated PG for mild thematic material, some action/peril and smoking; 5 out of 5 Reels). Only the master of film himself, Martin Scorsese, could make a family movie that involves the history of filmmaking. The reason it works as a family movie is because Scorsese slyly blends the history of filmmaking with a very human story about loss, hope and new beginnings.

And yes, the best movies start with a great story, so it helps that this one is based on Brian Selznick’s Caldecott-winning novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It tells the story of Hugo (Asa Butterfield), a 12-year-old orphan living within the walls of a Paris train station in the 1930s. He’s a good boy who’s trying to make the best of things after losing his dad (Jude Law) in a tragic fire and being sent to live with his drunken Uncle Claude (Ray Winstone) who keeps the clocks running at the station.

After his uncle abandons him, Hugo continues caring for the clocks and survives by swiping scones from vendor carts and dodging the stern Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) who stomps around with his leg brace and scary Doberman. But Hugo’s real passion is his beloved automaton, and he steals parts to fix the mechanical man his dad rescued from museum archives before his death.

Hugo is not only a beautiful story about a time in France’s post-war history when movies were melted down to make shoe heels, but the attention to 1930s-era detail is magnificent. There’s the fairy tale train station that bustles with activity. The complex inner workings of the massive clocks. Bakery carts filled with warm scones and buns. Wooden armoires with ornate carvings. Wise librarians who love books. And women in knitted berets selling flowers. The whole movie has a Dickensian feel to it.

Where You’ll Want to Travel:

• La Sorbonne, Paris 5, Paris, France
• Peterborough Train Station, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England
• Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London, England

2. War Horse (Directed by Steven Spielberg; 146 min.; rated PG-13 for intense sequences of war violence; 4 out of 5 Reels). If you’ve seen enough Steven Spielberg movies, you can almost spot one at a glance. Lush production with authentic locations, attention to the smallest detail, gorgeous cinematography by longtime collaborator Janusz Kaminski, epic score by John Williams, well-cast actors and believable dialogue. War Horse has all that and more, set against the backdrop of World War I in rural England.

Based on a 1982 children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo and a 2007 stage adaptation, the story begins with English teenager Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) watching the birth of a beautiful colt near his rural farm. Despite his best efforts to get the colt to warm up to him, it doesn’t happen, and the young horse is sent off to auction.

Cut to the auction site, and Albert’s father Ted (Peter Mullan) gets caught up in a bidding war against his curmudgeonly landlord Mr. Lyons (David Thewlis). Even though what Ted really needs is a sturdy plow horse, he ends up using the family’s rent money to outbid Lyons on the young Thoroughbred, much to the chagrin of his long-suffering wife Rose (Emily Watson).

But Albert is thrilled and agrees to train “Joey” to pull a farm plow so the family can plant turnips and pay the rent after the fall harvest. But when a rainstorm damages the crop, Ted is forced to do the unthinkable – go behind Albert’s back and sell Joey to a cavalry officer, Captain Nicholls (Tom Hiddleston), who promises to look after the horse and, if possible, return him to Albert’s care after the war.

But Joey’s journey takes some unexpected turns, as we follow him through a misguided battle, on the run with two young German soldiers, in the care of a French farm girl, pulling heavy artillery up a hill for the German army, and smack in the middle of a battlefield in 1918, where a small moment in the midst of war gives hope that perhaps two opposing armies can work together.

Spielberg doesn’t gloss over the horrors of war. We see muddy battlefields strewn with dead humans and horses, a German gas attack that takes soldiers by surprise, and horses that are shot after they collapse from exhaustion. It’s hard to watch, and I don’t recommend it for kids younger than 14 or anyone who gets squeamish about war scenes and brutality against animals.

I love how the story follows Joey’s journey through several people, but circles back around to Albert, who enlists in the army as soon as he’s old enough, with the hope that he’ll find his beloved horse again. Both Joey and Albert are noble, brave and don’t shirk from their duties and responsibilities.

Where You’ll Want to Travel:

• Bourne Woods, Farnham, Surrey, England
• Castle Combe, Wiltshire, England
• Dartmoor, Devon, England
• Devon, England
• Luton Hoo Estate, Luton, Bedfordshire, England
• Meavy, Devon, England
• Wisley Airfield, Wisley, Surrey, England

3. The Descendants(Directed by Alexander Payne; 115 min.; rated R for language, including some sexual references; 5 out of 5 Reels). On screen or off, George Clooney always has that trademark suave air about him. He’s a debonair ringleader who organizes big casino heists (Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen),  a smooth talker who flies around the country firing people (Up in the Air), an escaped convict searching for hidden treasure (O Brother, Where Art Thou?). Never a hair out of place, especially in that last movie. Remember his penchant for Dapper Dan hair cream?

Scene from The Descendants

But The Descendants offers a different view of Mr. Clooney — a vulnerable father of two who’s piecing life back together while his wife lies comatose in a hospital bed following a boating accident. Clooney’s character, Matt King, has always been “the back-up parent,” the one who’s never around long enough to know what kind of ice cream his youngest daughter Scottie (Amara Miller) likes, or what his teenager Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) does while away at boarding school.

And it’s just the sort of role that will turn Clooney into a true movie star, not just another pretty face among the Brad Pitts and Matt Damons of Hollywood, not just the guy who always takes the big, high-profile roles. Or maybe The Descendants IS Clooney’s high-profile role in its regular-guy simplicity.

You can tell he’s sort of been heading that way in the past few years, reaching out for different types of roles. In The American, he played a cold-hearted killer (did anyone like him in that role? I didn’t). And in The Ides of March, Governor Mike Morris may have been eloquent on the surface, but he was swimming an ocean of dirty politics.

But I’m not sure how much of an argument I can make here, considering that Clooney’s movie career started out with gigs on The Facts of Life, Baby Talk and Roseanne. I guess he’s been a renaissance man from the start, willing to try anything to further his craft.

The Descendants is a superb movie. As a bonus, we get to see the lush Hawaiian islands of O’ahu and Kaua’i, where it was filmed (there’s a subplot about Clooney’s family selling off a huge piece of prime real estate). And if you’re worried about bawling your eyes out, I can tell you that I usually find something to cry about in every movie, but this one didn’t strike me that way. Part of it’s because we never really get to know Matt’s wife, played by Patricia Hastie, who spends most of the movie in a coma.

The Descendants also has enough humor to keep it from getting too maudlin. Shailene Woodley is wonderful as Matt’s older daughter. Finally, she gets a chance to shine beyond her one-note character on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Amara Miller is just as wonderful as Matt’s younger daughter. They seem like a real family you’d know from the neighborhood.

And special mention must be made of Nick Krause, who plays Alexandra’s friend Sid. He turned what could have been a clichéd teenage-slacker role into something much more meaningful. There are no stereotypes in The Descendants. Everyone seems like a real person, doing the best they can with the circumstances they’re given.

Where You’ll Want to Travel:

• Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawaii
• Kaua’i, Hawaii

Jane Boursaw is a family entertainment writer specializing in movies and TV. Visit her at ReelLifeWithJane or email jboursaw@charter.net.

Today’s prize to one person who comments, subscribes, tweets or mentions us on Google+ is a copy of Casablanca, 85th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition. Tons of bonus features, including Exclusive Passport Holder and Luggage Tag; 48-Page Photo Book; 10 One-Sheet Reproduction Cards; and Archival Correspondence.  Is that an incredible prize, or what?? (You can comment on this post or on an earlier post. Just do it before Thursday, January 12, 3:00 a.m. MST. If you already subscribe by e-mail and want an extra entry as a subscriber, be sure to tell me that in the comments. See complete rules here.) 

Thank you Jane for introducing these three movies and for offering the DVD set of Casablanca for one VERY lucky reader of A Traveler’s Library.

Print PDF

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Destination: Michigan, near Traverse City 

Audio Book: Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly

Put the mystery writer Janet Evanovich together with romance writer Dorien Kelly and this is what you get–perhaps not the best of either of them, but Love in a Nutshell is an enjoyable light-hearted romance loosely plotted around some amateur sleuthing.

Lake Michigan

Our heroine, Kate, needs a job because she just got fired and because she has decided to renovate her parents old summer home along Lake Michigan. She envisions a B & B catering to the summer people who swell the small town’s population during the warmer months.  Her only saleable skill is waitressing, so she marches into the most successful brew pub in town and more or less demands a job.
The impossibly handsome, intelligent and morally straight owner finds her impudence adorable and her perky curves attractive.  He offers her the job of finding out who is systematically attempting to sabotage his business. Since this quest involves the two of them working closely together, sparks inevitably fly.  In the old melodramas, the heroine’s property was being taken away by the evil landlord, who would trade the mortgage for a (ahem!) kiss.  We booed the villain and cheered when the handsome hero swooped in to save the heroine from a terrible fate.

But in this post-modern melodrama, the handsome hero owns the mortgage, and therefore plays the villain role, too.  I’m confused.  How can the villain also be the hero?  (I’m sensing a trend here. Remember the beach romance, Summer Rental? That romantic hero was the annoying landlord–although he had his own mortgage problems.)  But the real villain of this book  is the unknown saboteur. Kate finds herself in increasingly perilous situations and Mr. Impossibly Handsome rescues the plucky heroine just as though she were tied to that board going through the sawmill. (Remember that silent film scene?)

Kate wouldn’t be in such perilous situations if she exercised just a bit of common sense. I’m just sayin’.

The book pokes fun at an interesting assortment of small town characters.  Despite the rather lame shenanigans of the real villain, the book might tempt you to experience a vacation on the Michigan shore in a place like Traverse City. (Which just happens to be the home of our very own film critic, Jane Boursaw!) So if you’re looking for an audio book for a road trip, or to exercise by, consider Love in a Nutshell for your Traveler’s Library. And of course it comes in other flavors–i.e. electronic or print.

Today’s prize to one person who comments, subscribes, tweets or mentions us on Google+ will be the audio version of Love in a Nuts

hell, plus the audio version of A Trick of the Light–a mystery set near Montreal, reviewed here. (You can comment on this post or on an earlier post. Just do it before Monday Jan. 9, 3:00 a.m. MST. If you already subscribe by e-mail and want an extra entry as a subscriber, be sure to tell me that in the comments..)

Disclaimer: The audio books were provided by the publisher for review, without any expectations on their part. The photos in this post are from Flickr. Click on them to see more information about the photographer. When you click on a book title link to Amazon, anything that you buy in the following 24 hours gives a few cents to my affiliate account, without costing you any extra. Thank you.

Print PDF

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.