Sometimes the best travel stories begin with the place you didn’t get to visit. On May 11, 2016, my son and I left early with my parents for a couple-hour drive toward Arecibo. Our destination was the famous Arecibo Observatory, and my dad was particularly excited for us to see it. We never made it … Read more
There are trips where I carefully research every destination, map out exactly what I want to see, and arrive knowing enough history to understand what I’m looking at. And then there are stops like White Springs Historic District. My itinerary notes for this one were remarkably thorough: “Figure we’ll just drive through and see the … Read more
Some places make it onto my travel itineraries months in advance. I research them, save them to maps, plan routes around them, and occasionally create schedules so detailed that Dusty probably wonders whether he’s traveling with me or participating in a military operation. Enfield, North Carolina, was not one of those places. We weren’t supposed … Read more
When I visited the Punta Higüero Lighthouse in Rincón, Puerto Rico, in May 2016, I had absolutely no idea what I was looking at. I knew it was a lighthouse. I knew we couldn’t go inside. I knew the walkway around it offered spectacular views of the ocean. And I knew there were three enormous … Read more
Florida is not a state known for whitewater. Beaches? Absolutely. Springs? We have some of the most beautiful in the world. Swamps? More than enough, thank you. Mountains, dramatic elevation changes, and raging rivers? Not so much. And yet, hidden along the Suwannee River near White Springs is a place where Florida breaks its own … Read more
Some places look beautiful in photographs. Then you arrive, step through the gate, and realize the photographs didn’t prepare you at all. That was the Old Sheldon Church Ruins for me. Hidden beneath enormous live oaks in the South Carolina Lowcountry, the remains of this eighteenth-century church rise from the landscape almost like they were … Read more
There are places I remember vividly from our 2016 trip to Puerto Rico. There are places I photographed because I knew, even then, that there was something special about them. And then there is the nuclear reactor. Apparently, I could stand near an experimental Cold War nuclear facility, take a few pictures of it, jot … Read more
There are plenty of places in Florida named for people who shaped the state’s history. Explorers. Governors. Soldiers. Pioneers. And then there’s Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs. Here, beside the Suwannee River, Florida built a museum dedicated to one of America’s best-known 19th-century songwriters. Nearby, a massive carillon tower rises … Read more
Most ghost towns leave something behind. Empty houses. Abandoned storefronts. Crumbling churches. Streets slowly disappearing beneath weeds and trees. Brewster, Florida, is different. When this former phosphate company town in Polk County reached the end of its life, people didn’t simply pack their belongings and leave their houses behind. Some of them took the houses … Read more
The first time I visited La Parguera, Puerto Rico, was in 2008. When I returned eight years later, I immediately noticed something. La Parguera had changed. There were more businesses. More development. More activity along the waterfront. The quiet coastal community I remembered had grown. At the time, I didn’t think much more about it. … Read more