Scary Reads?  Not all of the mystery novels I have reviewed are about a place as creepy as Cora Harrison’s Burren of Ireland (♥)or Martin Cruz Smith’s  Wolves Eat Dogs (♥♥♥♥). I’m wrapping up the two weeks of scary things and mystery novels with a list of some of the reader-preferred mysteries, with hearts to denote how fast they’ll make your heart beat.

And sometimes a creepy story doesn’t need a creepy place, and sometimes a creepy place has a tame story! I recently read two books that would have earned five stars for terror, but they really did not fit the criteria for A Traveler’s Library. So, if you want a really horrific read, try one of these unreviewed books that are based on real events.

♥♥♥♥♥Our Daily Bread by Lauren B. Davis Beautifully written and well-drawn characters but horrendous acts.

♥♥♥♥♥I Dreamt I Was in Heaven: the Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang by Leonce Gaiter.  It may be based on real events, but the book seems gratuitously gruesome.

Keep in mind the stars are not for overall quality–just for the terror factor.

♥♥♥A Mystery in a National Park-High Country by Nevada Barr has her middle-aged female park ranger heroine scrambling across the back country of Yosemite National Park in California. Barr, a former park ranger herself, has written mysteries set in 17  National Parks, so far.

♥♥♥Spenser’s Boston. The Godwulf Manuscript. This post talked more about Boston as the setting for the many Spenser novels than about the books themselves, but Robert Parker wrote an extremely popular detective in Spenser. The post includes 5 restaurant recommendations from the Parker website, but he passed away in 2011, and those are no longer on the web site. However another writer has been hired to continue the 39-book Spenser series.

♥♥♥♥A Pair of posts proved popular about a Robert Wilson mystery and Lisbon Portugal. I wrote about A Small Death in Lisbon, and followed it up with a post called Plan Travel to Lisbon courtesy of Pack a Book.

♥♥♥♥A Vienna Mystery was shared by guest author Kristen Gough, who usually writes the tamer My Kids Eat Squid. She shared her own experiences in Vienna and the locale painted by author Daniel Silva in A Death in Venice.

♥♥♥♥♥ A Spooky Vienna Film to go along with the Vienna theme–is one of my favorites of all time, The Third Man. I called the post How to Find the Third Man in Vienna.

♥♥Exploring the Dark Corners of Venice talks about Donna Leon‘s mysteries starring the lovable Commissario Brunetti.  She keeps turning them out, and I’m falling behind, but loved the dozen or so I’ve read. Related Announcement: Venice is such a wonderful place to set all kinds of stories, that next week is Venice week at A Traveler’s Library.

♥♥♥♥American Road Trip Thriller–Greek novelist Alexis Stamatis wrote a Hitchcock-worth tale of mistaken identity and a chase across country in American Fugue. It is fascinating to see an outsider’s take on the American road.

♥♥♥♥Florence Italy Real Life Horror Story tells about a murder case in Florence Italy that Douglas Preston presents in his non-fiction book, The Monster of Florence. The way that the legal system functions–or doesn’t–made me glad that I did not know this story before I went to Florence.

♥♥In Raymond Chandler nails Southern California, I talked about the master American detective story writer and his masterpiece Farewell My Lovely. My love for Chandler is about the language and the attitude–not about the suspense and terror. But he does set a spooky scene!

♥♥In  Murder in Paris,I talk about Cara Black introduces a delightful young woman and visits the neighborhoods of Paris, book by book.  I chose  Murder in the Latin Quarter, because that is where Ken and I spent most of our time in Paris. I liked it because of its terrific heroine and great scene setting.

I want to thank the generous photographer who made this photo available with a Creative Commons license at Flickr.com. And although I did not include the usual Amazon links in this post, if you go to the original post, you can order any of the books directly, in case your local Independent bookstore doesn’t have it immediately available.

The Holiday Season is coming, and your Amazon gift orders through this site help me buy MY holiday gifts–or even better, buy a copy of the beautiful Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist for someone. Native American magazine just listed it as their top pick for special gifts for the holidays. (There’s a convenient Buy Now button over on the right hand side of the blog.)

So was your favorite mystery from A Traveler’s Library on this list? Do you have a different one you’d like to nominate? Let me know in the comment section.

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1. A Capitol Fourth, The Mall, Washington D.C.

What’s Special? You’re kidding, right? It is THE place to be–the seat of government, with an all-American entertainment program featuring John Philip Sousa marches and thousands of red, white and blue clad celebrants gathered on the grassy lawn in the middle of all those imposing marble buildings. Right there where the laws are made and administered and judged. And watching fireworks arc over the Washington Monument would give any patriot a thrill.

Although I’ve never been in Washington in person for July 4th, we never miss watching this celebration on PBS. The people in the audience can be as much fun as the show on stage. Jimmy Smits and Steve Martin headline this year.

2. Charles River,  Boston

Boston Fireworks on the Charles River

What’s Special? Mostly the magnificent Boston Pops Orchestra, but also the serene setting by the historic Charles River. The music is a tad classier, and so is the crowd, compared to Washington D.C., but it is still a heck of a show.

Now in its 38th year, Boston presents the famous Boston Pops orchestra on July 3 and July 4 and fireworks over the Charles River on the Fourth. For a real thrill, see the Boston July 4th show from the Charles River. I’ll be stopping over in Boston briefly in August, and loved our visit there a couple of years ago.

3. Macy’s Fireworks Celebration, Hudson River, New York City

New York City Fireworks on the Hudson River

Setting off fireworks from barges on the Hudson River is a long time tradition in New York City, perhaps remembering the fireworks of revolutionary battles with the British fought in this area. Back then New York City was a rural village with cobblestone streets, and you can still see the cobblestones on the very southern tip of Manhattan in front of the Fraunces  Tavern where George Washington gave his farewell address to the troops.  In 1976, the bi-centennial of the Declaration of Independence, one of the grandest celebrations in the land took place here, and the tradition continues.

Fireworks have been cut from a lot of city budgets, but Macy’s, who in the past have been firmly associated with Thanksgiving, because of the Thanksgiving parade, now own July 4th in NYC as well. Thank you Macy’s for one of the best events in New York, a city I love to visit.

4. Navy Pier, Chicago

What’s Special: Well, to tell the truth, I love Chicago, but the city is not funding any big fireworks shows this summer. Instead, people can trot on out to Navy Pier and see there usual 15 minute show. When I say usual–they do this fireworks display every night during the summer. It is a crowd pleaser, there will be live music, and the Pier’s  a cool place to be on a hot summer night, but it doesn’t hold a Roman candle to the extravaganzas in the other cities.

5. Big Bay
Big Bay Boom, San Diego

San Diego Fireworks on the Bay

What’s Special?San Diego has a gorgeous bay and the night views looking back toward the city or out across the lighted Coronado Bridge always take my breath away. Now add tons of exploding color being fired off from barges circling the bay–sounds incredible. View them from outdoors at Shelter Island or Seaport Village or grab a 9:00 p.m. reservation window seat at one of the hundreds of restaurants with views on the bay. Yum!

(If budgetary woes weren’t enough to slow down the fireworks shows, in California a judge questioned whether San Diego’s fireworks are environmentally safe. Only in California!The  latest ruling allows the big show to go forward in San Diego, so you can safely book your trip.)

Can you afford to get out of town for the long weekend?

Air fare just keeps going up-up-up and away as gas prices stay stratospheric, but CheapO Air lists special deals to four of these five cities. As you do your trip planning, check out the CheapOAir July 4th  flight/hotel combos for New York, San Diego, Boston and Chicago.

Finally, my favorite provider of travel bargains, Travel Zoo, sends a weekly newsletter with their bargains and on June 17 they listed a BUNCH of July 4th bargains.  If you don’t subscribe to Travel Zoo, do.

Don’t dispair if you can’t get out of town, the D.C. Capitol Fourth will be covered on Public Television, and you can curl up with one of the books we have recommended in the past.

True to their name, CheapOAir did NOT pay me to include this generous mention of them in this post. However, I will give them credit. Those are their fireworks photos above. The video comes from the folks at the Capitol Fourth, though. Travel Zoo and Peter Greenberg were mentioned without incentive, too. I just happen to like them.

Where will you be on July 4th? Do you have any special family traditions?

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Valentine Mashup

Happy Valentine’s Day. If you need a sound track for the day of romance, head over to Music Road for some great recommendations.

If you want to know about the love life of a famous Navajo painter, we’re telling not all, but some about Quincy Tahoma and his ladies.

Here’s a guest post about a trip to a romantic spot–Acoma Pueblo.

Going to a movie? Planning a trip with your sweetie? Before you book a flight, read on for some travel deas…

Winning an Oscar reaps financial rewards for any movie. Being nominated helps, too.  But why should the movie makers be the only ones to benefit?

OSCAR

CheapOair points to  special deals to let you explore the settings of six Oscar-nominated movies. (We are not advocating that you look at only one place for tickets and hotels–shop around.)

Since I am always lagging behind in my movie watching, I asked my son Ken (not to be confused with husband Ken), who sees EVERYTHING,  to tell us something about each of the six movies that CheapOair wants you to visit.  Turns out Ken had seen ALMOST everything. Here are his mini reviews and CheapOair’s deals, which must be redeemed by February 21.

BLACK SWAN

Mini review:

Nina Sayers has one goal in Black Swan: a perfect performance as the lead in Swan Lake. To pull it off, she has to set aside the pure precision that makes her ideal to play the White Swan, and open herself to the darker nature, duplicity and passion of the Black Swan. She finds her way partly by breaking out of the overprotective arms of her theatrical mother’s apartment and setting herself free on the streets of the New York.

CheapOair is offering a vacation deal to the Bentley Hotel, in New York, starting at $ 159 per night. Sample round trip airfare is also available at CheapOair starting at $288. (Please go to their site for the fine print on all of these deals–there’s quite a bit of fine print.)

THE KING’S SPEECH

Mini Review

Prince Albert, the Duke of York, faces adversities both physical and emotional in the decade before England enters World War II. His father King George V dies and his older brother the Prince of Wales, utterly unprepared for the monarchy, takes up the crown as King Edward VIII. On top of all that, the advent of radio is a particular problem for a man who has been a stutterer all his life. Fortune favors the Duke as his wife finds an uncommon commoner, Australian Lionel Logue, who proves an able speech therapist and fast friend to the future King. The scenes inside Westminster Abbey alone are enough to make you want to go to London. (Note: One blogger calls this a Women’s Movie About  Men. See if you agree with her.)

CheapOair is offering a vacation deal from New York to London starting at only $363 per person. The package includes roundtrip airfare and a four night stay at the Hilton Wembley Plaza. (Fine print on site)

THE FIGHTER

Mini Review (Jane Boursaw because this is the one that son Ken did NOT see)

The Fighter hits all of the right notes, telling the real-life story of boxer “Irish” Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), a blue-collar guy from Lowell, Massachusetts who goes on to win a welterweight title, but not without a lot of losses, family frustrations, and tough talk from his bar maid girlfriend Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams). (See Jane’s total review at Reel Life With Jane)

Note: Lowell is CLOSE to Boston.  And any excuse to go to Boston is a good one. (Two years ago I featured a book with a walking tour of Boston. If you’re going to take this trip, be sure to pick up Walking Boston: 34 Tours Through Beantown’s Cobblestone Streets, Historic Districts, Ivory Towers and New Waterfront . The CheapOair trip includes the Kimpton Marlowe hotel. I love Kimpton hotels and stayed at Kimpton’s Nine Zero near Boston Commons on our trip to Boston.)

CheapOair is offering a vacation deal from Los Angeles to Boston starting at only $477 per person. The package includes roundtrip airfare and a four night stay at the Hotel Marlowe- A Kimpton Hotel. (Fine print at CheapOair site)

INCEPTION

Mini Review

In addition to being a challenge to follow as you watch it, Inception is a challenge to follow in the real world, as most of the movie takes place within the minds of the characters. A few exceptions include exteriors in Osaka and Tokyo, a street scene in Tangiers, and several early scenes in Paris where Dom Cobb opens the eyes of his protege Ariadne to the possibilities of creating impossible architecture in lucid dreams.

CheapOair is offering a vacation deal to visit the location where Leonardo DiCaprio taught Ellen Page the tricks and trade of The Pasiv dream machine. Starting at $ 119* per night, stay at Holiday Inn Paris La Villete. Sample round trip airfare is also available at CheapOair starting at $468. (More fine print at CheapOair site)

TRUE GRIT

Mini Review

The story may be set in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma, but the scenery is pure Texas in this updated western from Joel and Ethan Coen. Fourteen year old Mattie Ross travels from her home in Arkansas to retrieve her father’s body from a small town in Oklahoma. To track down her father’s killer, she enlists the aid of a crusty US Marshal, Rooster Cogburn, and they are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf. They ride off into Indian territory, much of which looks the same today as it must have in the late 1800′s.

CheapOair is offering a vacation deal from Los Angeles to Austin starting at only $611 per person. The package includes roundtrip airfare and a four night stay at the Renaissance Austin Hotel. (More fine print on CheapOair Site)

SOCIAL NETWORK

Mini Review

Born at Harvard, Facebook is now firmly entrenched in Silicon Valley, with headquarters in Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto. While entertaining, this story of Mark Zuckerberg’s creation tends to take some liberties with the reality of building a web startup. Enterpreneurs are not typically rock star types with sex-crazed groupies. To view them in the wild yourself, you’d have better luck hanging out around the ubiquitous Santa Clara county office parks than in downtown San Jose clubs. (Note: Ken was one of those techie nerds in Silicon Valley, so listen up.)

CheapOair is offering a vacation deal from New York to San Jose starting at only $608 per person. The package includes roundtrip airfare and a five night stay at the four star Four Points By Sheraton San Jose. (More fine print at the CheapOair web site.)

All reservations must be made by February 21, and there is a lot of fine print involved, so be sure to check the CheapOair web site for details.

If you could go to one of these five places–which would you choose?

(Disclaimers: The photos came from Flickr and the talented photographers have other work there, which you can see by clicking on the picture.  Unfortunately for me, CheapOair, true to their name did not pay me ANYTHING to write this entire post plugging their website. And out of fairness, I should repeat that you should shop around–and be sure to look at Cheap Flights, which DOES advertise on this site. )

Thanks to son Ken for providing four mini reviews, and for Jane Boursaw for allowing me to cadge off her site for one. Couldn’t have done it without the two of you.

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Dogtown, The Book

PEN New England honors Elyssa East for Dogtown as best non-fiction set in New England.  The relevant part of the press release is below. Just look at the great company that Elyssa is in!

You can see our take on Dogtown, the first inspiring travel literature in our Great American Road Trip Series.

The ceremony will also honor writers Anne Sanow, Meg Kearney, and Elyssa East as recipients of the 2010 L.L. Winship/PEN New England Awards, given annually to a New England author or a book with a New England setting. Ms. Sanow is being honored in the fiction category for Triple Time (University of Pittsburgh Press); Ms. Kearney in the poetry category for Home by Now (Four Way Books); and Ms. East in the non-fiction category for Dogtown (Free Press/ Simon & Schuster). Judges for the Winship Awards this year were authors Dorothy Allison (fiction), Tim Seibles (poetry), and Michael Steinberg (non-fiction).

The L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award was established by The Boston Globe in 1975 to honor long-time Boston Globe editor Laurence L. Winship. It has been awarded in the past to E.B. White, Andre Dubus, Susan Cheever, Tracy Kidder, Mary Oliver, Susan Quinn, Jill Ker Conway, Jan Swafford, Anita Shreve, Stanley Kunitz, Leo Damrosch, Jennifer Haigh, K.C. Frederick, Sebastian Junger, Louise Glick, Rishi Reddi, Kristen Laine, Ann Killough, Nancy Pearson, Patrick Tracey and Margot Livesey.

Ceremony at the JFK Library in Boston on March 28.

Yaaay!

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

Last year I talked about my favorite romantic city, romantic book and poetry, hotel, restaurant, etc. in this post. Please take a look because I have not changed my mind. And read on for two East Coast suggestions for this Valentine’s Day (if you can get there through the snow).

Happy Valentine’s Day

Unfairly, last year, I told you about a hotel experience that you cannot have because it does not exist any more.  But you CAN go to the Kimpton Hotel in Boston, Nine Zero.

A toast

Are you ready for this? The package is called “Rub the One You’re With.” It includes a one-night stay, a massage lesson for the two of you by a masseuse, champagne, take-home package of lavender and lemon oils, salts and candles, and for the practical in you–free overnight parking. $414 for a View Room in Boston on the night I checked, but the rates vary by date and city. (If the web site does not show availability when you want to go, call the 800 number.)

Since I stayed at the Nine Zero, I can tell you that if you are not satisfied with the contents of your overnight bag–or you just decide to go on the spur of the moment sans luggage, there are hangers in the closet with sexy little nothings, and lovely robes and slippers–all available for you to buy.

Actually most Kimpton hotels offer these packages, but I have stayed at the Nine Zero and can vouch for the fact it is special. Please check the Kimpton site to see where all the hotels are located and for all the fine print that accompanies the offer.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Like most writers, my mail box gets clogged with promotional pieces around holidays.  Here’s a P.R. release that caught my eye, and I just wish I were going to be in New York City on Valentine’s weekend, to take advantage of this good deal. (Are you reading this, Ken?) I’m presenting the press release, pretty much the way it came to me.

Take a Trip on the Love Bus: Gray Line New York’s Valentine’s Day Deal

New York Greyhound Bus Tour

Tired of the same old teddy bears and chocolates as gifts on Valentine’s Day?  Treat your special someone to one of the most stunning and romantic treasures you might have overlooked: a star-filled, skyline-topped late night ride throughout New York City – a quintessential New York City moment on a double decker bus.

Gray Line New York is offering a special Valentine’s Day bus tour where customers will receive a $25 Gift Card from Restaurant.com to use at one of NYC’s choice restaurants such as 5 Ninth or Circle Rouge with the purchase of two Gray Line New York’s world famous Night Tours tickets*.

This special Valentine’s Day promotion must be purchased online only.Tickets can be redeemed at the Gray Line Visitors Center located at 777 8^th Avenue (between 47^th & 48^th Streets) prior to the tour.

Night Tour tickets cost $39 per adult; departure times and locations of tours are as follows: 6:00 pm, 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm from 777 8th Avenue and 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm from Times Square.

*Tours are valid for travel only on Friday, 2/12, Saturday, 2/13 and Sunday, 2/14. The Gift Card has no cash value, and may not be substituted for another item or tour.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

What are you hoping for on Valentine’s Day? Or do you wish it would just go away? Where would you like to go? What would you like to read?

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Destination: Boston

Book: Walking Boston by Robert Todd Felton

A GUEST POST BY Robert Todd Felton

Bivalve Molluscs, French Royalty, and the Streets of Boston

One of the best parts of walking around Boston is that you are always bumping up against some surprising scrap of American history.  Around one corner is the house where Paul Revere lived, or Ralph Waldo Emerson grazed cattle,…or the King of France taught French.

One of my favorite discoveries while writing the travel book Walking Boston was that the man who would become the last King of France in 1830, lived above a dry goods store near the waterfront and taught French to the young women of Boston.

Oyster House, Boston

At 41 Union Street, mere steps away from Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market with their New England bustle, is a somewhat innocuous, brown, two-story building.  Inside is the Union Oyster House, one of Boston’s landmark restaurants and the oldest restaurant in continuous use in the United States.

It boasts the requisite long history and famous anecdotes of Boston’s trademark establishments (the statesman and politician Daniel Webster used to down six plates of oysters accompanied by six whiskeys here).  However, long before it became a restaurant, it was Capen’s Silk and Dry Goods Store and the room on the second floor was rented to an itinerant French tutor named Louis-Phillippe.

Louis-Phillippe had fled France in 1793 when he was forced into exile by political changes brought about by The French Reign of Terror.  For years, he roamed around Europe avoiding French political entanglements but apparently not romantic ones.  According to some sources, he left one illegitimate son in Milan and one in Finland.  After living in Philadelphia and traveling throughout the eastern United States, Louis-Phillippe settled in Boston in 1796.

The King Instructs Young Ladies In French

According to Union Oyster House co-owner Mary Ann Milano-Picardi (better known as “Ma”), Louis-Phillippe lived on the second floor of the building and made his living by tutoring the young ladies of Boston in French for about a year before moving on again.  Louis-Phillippe finally ascended the throne as the King of the French in 1830 and ruled until 1848. Although he was the last “King” to rule France, Napoleon III called himself an “emperor” and was therefore the last monarch.

To find Louis-Phillippe’s room inside the Union Oyster House, go through the front door and head upstairs to the “The Louis-Phillippe Room.” According to “Ma,” it used to be known as the Pine Room, but so many people came in asking where Louis-Phillippe lived that they finally had to change the name.  While you are up there, take a look for booth 18.  President John F. Kennedy used to hide up there and eat in relative privacy.  If all the tables are taken, sneak back downstairs to belly up to one of the best places in Boston to get fresh oysters.  The huge wooden semicircular oyster bar serves a focal point for the room, and allows the shuckers to trade banter and quips with each other and the customers.

Interior, Oyster House, Boston

Mary Ann and her brother Joe are only the third owners of the restaurant and are dedicated to keeping its history alive.  For example, Ma gathered all the historical information to have the building granted National Historic Landmark status in 2003 and provided the images for this article.
In fact, when I asked her if there was anything new about the Union Oyster House to highlight in the article, she replied, “oh no, we keep things pretty much the same.”  In fact, Louis-Phillippe himself might just recognize his old digs.

Robert Todd Felton

You can find these stories and more in Robert Todd Felton’s Walking Boston.  His newest secret traveling tip is a little-known website called Academic Ambassadors , where academics and non-profit professionals can find great deals at wonderful hotels. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone.

My heartfelt thanks to Todd Felton for sharing with us this little-known story from his research for Walking Boston. The news that a French King not only lived in Boston, but supported himself by teaching French, made me utter Sacre Bleu! Now I simply MUST get back to Boston to try out the Oyster Bar and “visit” the King. Did YOU know??? What other secrets have you discovered in your travels? Do share!!

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John Adams outside Quincy City Hall

We visited Quincy Massachusetts, and looked for clues to the lives of the family of John Adams. Any reader should travel there and see the John Quincy Adams library! But I wrote about John Adams’ biography, a kind of time-travel book, back in July. In the city of Boston, we booked rooms at the amazing Nine Zero hotel. Kimpton Hotels, the group that owns Nine Zero, likes to say the hotel is located across from the Boston Commons. I don’t suppose it is good P. R. to say you are across from a graveyard. Directly across the street, you can visit the 2nd oldest cemetery in Boston, the Granary, which holds the graves of Samuel Adams and Paul Revere and the unfortunates who were shot by the British soldiers in what the American Revolutionary’s P.R. agents called the “Boston Massacre.”

Tombstone of the vicitims of the Boston Massacre

I was beginning to suspect that nothing is quite as it seems in Boston, which makes for good stories. People still leave coins and stones on the  gravestone of Crispus Attucks and the others, although the stones may have moved far from the original burial location. Turns out, I could have been looking down from my hotel room on the home of a fictional character who makes a living doubting what he is told. Spenser, P.I. Robert B. Parker wrote the Spenser mystery series.  And mystery books, as my regular reader know, make the best books for travelers.  Spenser lives just two blocks from the Boston Commons. When I read several Spenser novels, and watched the old Spenser for Hire shows on T.V., I was not studying what they had to say about Boston, so I quickly grabbed an old Spenser that I had not read yet, The Godwulf Manuscript (1973). That mystery novel, or any other of the 37 Spenser novels, could have provided a tour book for Boston.  Had I thought to look at Robert Parker’s website, I could have eaten at Spenser’s favorite restaurants*. The hard-boiled detective Spenser distinguishes himself from other shamuses in that he is well-read and does not hesitate to quote literary passages from time to time. He also cooks. No canned hash for him–In Godwulf, after he rescues a damsel in distress, he cooks up a dinner for her of chicken breasts with a cream sauce with sherry and mushrooms over rice, accompanied by a salad with homemade dressing with lime juice, mint, olive oil, honey and wine vinegar.

Rooftops of Boston with Boston Commons. Charles River in background

Parker’s/Spenser’s sense of observation is keen, and you learn every detail of the look, smell and sound of his home town.  When Spenser drives to check a clue, you get a tour as good as a travel guidebook.  Here’s an example: We went down along the Charles on Memorial Drive and across the Mass Ave bridge.  Boston always looks great form there.  Especially at night, with the lights and the skyline against the starry sky and the sweep of the river in a a graceful curve down toward the harbor. Now if we ignore the murder and mayhem that precede and follow this excerpt, doesn’t that make you want to go to Boston? If you want more touring details, look for an out- of- print copy of Robert B. Parker’s coffee table book,  Spenser’s Boston (1994).

*Spenser’s Top 5 Restaurants In Boston [Note: These came from his website in 2009. Since Parker passed away in 2011, the website has been changed, and this list has been removed.]

• Agawam Diner — Rowley (Rt. 1 and 133, Rowley MA)
• Grill 23 — Boston (Steak house: 161 Berkley in Back Bay)
• Sorellina — Boston (Modern Italian, Copley Square, Back Bay)
• Excelsior — Boston (currently closed and being revamped re their web site)
• Rialto – Cambridge (Harvard Square in Cambridge)

If you are a Spenser fan, have you ever followed his escapades through Boston?

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When I think of Boston, I think of 1776, the beginnings of the United States of America, and some amazing leaders. John Adams, my favorite founder, has been the subject of many biographies, but I can’t imagine any  more satisfying than John Adams by David McCullough. A little American history must go on the traveler’s library shelf in preparation for a trip to New England.

As I write, John Adams stares directly at me from the Gilbert Stuart painting reproduced on the book jacket.  He looks stern, intellectual, but also approachable and human. Alternatively, you may get the paperback book which cheats history by using a picture of Paul Giametti, who played John Adams on television.

McCullough portrays every detail of life in John Adam’s New England and Boston and how he hated to go down to Philadelphia for sessions of the Continental Congress. But traveling to Philadelphia, despite danger and outbreaks of disease is only one of the multitude of sacrifices made by the founders as they groped toward a democracy.

McCullough scores again with his book, 1776, a day by day tracing of the events of the beginning of the revolution.  So many things could have gone wrong. Our army was weak, our navy non-existent and our leaders playing the whole thing by ear. Perhaps a quote from John Adams explains the final outcome. “We cannot ensure success, but we can deserve it.”

————–

And here’s an English proverb for you—“A stumble can prevent a fall.”  So have you stumbled your favorite post from the traveler’s library,yet?

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The Old Manse

Perhaps the best way to understand Transcendentalism is to start where they did, in the study of an old minister’s house by a slow moving river in a town just nineteen  miles outside of Boston. It was there, in 1836, a young man named Ralph Waldo Emerson, living in his grandfather’s house, wrote the book that became the foundation Transcendentalism, Nature.

In it, Emerson is clear about the benefits of leaving both the actual rooms in which we live and our set ways of thinking, and striding out into nature:

In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, — no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — a mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.

It was in this passage from Nature that Transcendentalism first came alive for me, and I structured A Journey into the Transcendentalists’ New England around what I view as Transcendentalism’s central quest: to forge an original relationship with the universe or, as Emerson puts it, to behold “God and nature face to face.”

So, the question is how did this group of writers, philosophers, poets, activists and dreamers conduct their quests? Where did they go for that “face to face” interaction? How does one forge one’s own unique relationship with the universe?

Forging One’s Own Unique Relationship With the Universe

Obviously, they went to Concord. They went to visit and converse with Emerson. They came to walk the paths around the town and draw inspiration from nature. In Boston, Elizabeth Peabody’s bookstore on West Street was another place they went to forge that relationship with the universe. They spent time here bouncing ideas off each other and searching for a better way before wandering up Tremont Street to School Street and the Old Corner Bookstore and the Parker House hotel.

Nathaniel Hawthorne went to Brook Farm and joined their utopian community in an unsuccessful effort to find his unique relationship. Bronson Alcott packed his family up and created Fruitlands utopian community just west of Concord in Harvard, Massachusetts…if only until winter came.

Emily Dickinson declined to travel much beyond her own home for God and the universe but found them among her garden plants and in the view from her second story room.

Perhaps the most well known method of forging an original relationship with the universe was the move to Walden Pond and attempt to “front only the essential facts of life” as Thoreau did from 1845 to 1847. His experiment in living the Transcendentalist quest, along with the record of it we know as Walden, has had perhaps the greatest impact of any of the Transcendentalist writings.

A Lake in the Woods

Perhaps there is no more telling example of the Transcendentalist legacy than the two square miles of Massachusetts surrounding and including Walden Pond. The lake itself and its shoreline are now part of a state reservation, with the Thoreau Institute tucked up among the woods south of the lake. Beyond that, the land is a patchwork of protected land, open fields and development. However, that is not to say that all is idyllic and tranquil. Route 2, Massachusetts’ main east/west thoroughfare north of the turnpike runs its four lanes of traffic less than a quarter mile from the site of Thoreau’s cabin. The exceedingly popular public beach at Walden Pond can see nearly a million visitors a year, only a fraction of whom are there because of Thoreau.

In sum, Walden Pond is an amalgamation of homage to Thoreau and his legacy; a beloved and much used natural place for swimming, fishing, and hiking; and a cautionary tale of shortsighted regional and urban planning. The same can be said for much of New England in general.

Transcendentalism Today

Transcendentalism has perhaps fared much better than the landscape which inspired it. While its heady ideas and radical philosophies seemed less thrilling as the industrial age got fully under way and many of its leading lights faded and died, Transcendentalism’s inherent optimism, recognition of our interconnectedness, and deeply-held appreciation of the natural world holds as true today as they did when Emerson first put pen to paper.

In fact (in a rough segue), one can still go to hear about Transcendentalism. I will be speaking at the All Souls Church in Manhattan this coming Thursday, February 26 about the Transcendentalists and my book, A Journey into the Transcendentalists’ New England. For more information about the event at All Souls Church and some of my other events, you can go to my Red Room page. I hope you will join me. If you can’t make it, please feel free to leave a comment here on my blog, Open Page – Open Road.

Thanks,

R. Todd

All the images seen here belong to R. Todd Felton.

NOTE: DO NOT FORGET. LEAVE A COMMENT HERE OR ON TOMORROW’S POST BY R. T. FELTON, AND YOU COULD WIN A COPY OF HIS “WALKING BOSTON.”

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This book could be yours.

NOTE: THIS CONTEST IS LONG GONE.

Exciting things are happening here at the Traveler’s Library.

1. Robert Todd Felton, author of several excellent books which have been discussed here, will be guest writer at A Traveler’s Library next week.  He will be talking about the importance of literature for the traveler and about his book A Journey to Transcendentalist New England.

2.  Mr. Felton has agreed to offer a copy of his book, Walking Boston as the prize in a contest here at A Traveler’s Library. Somewhere in the fine print explaining this blog, I explain that I will not talk about guidebooks. Usually. I will make an exception for literate guidebooks that are particularly concerned with culture and the arts. Walking Boston, qualifies as a particularly literate and fulfilling guidebook.

3.  You have a chance to win any time between now and March 2.  Just post a question in the comment section of this post, or in the comment section of one of Mr. Felton’s two posts next week.

What would you like to know about New England? Do you have other questions for the author? The winner will be selected by a random drawing of comments posted between February 17 and March 2.

THE PRIZE: “Walking Boston”, by Robert Tod Felton

TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post or one of Mr. Felton’s two posts next week.

The DEADLINE: March 2, midnight MST

Don’t be selfish, now. Tell your friends, so they can have a chance, too. Click on one of the buttons below to share.

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