Jeffersonville, VT: June, 2021 It wasn’t far after crossing the Champlain Bridge that I began to notice signs in both English and French and saw Vermont’s namesake mountains paralleling the lake shore. It could have been self-manifesting confirmation bias but the trees really did look greener, as if they permanently retained the squint-inducing electric limeContinue reading “The Greenest Mountains: Burlington and a Big Red Bus”
Tag Archives: cities
Right Now I’m Drinking a Cortado: Coffee, Cincinnati, and Contemplation
Cincinnati, OH – February, 2020 The medium is the visible section of frothy milk resting atop the overflow, the mode is the barista’s deliberate wrist twisting, and the finished design reminds me of a hermit crab holding the string of a heart-shaped balloon. The drink is a khaki monochrome culminating in a half-inch head, risingContinue reading “Right Now I’m Drinking a Cortado: Coffee, Cincinnati, and Contemplation”
100,000 Steps In San Francisco: An Anxious Outsider’s Walking Tour
San Francisco, CA – September, 2019 Day 1: 34,714 Steps When I walked up a carpeted staircase that smelled of cardboard and ginger, the proprietor flashed a peace sign, her two fingers inquiring if I had company. She looked dejected when I requested a table by myself but led me to a seat by aContinue reading “100,000 Steps In San Francisco: An Anxious Outsider’s Walking Tour”
South of the Bay: A Layover in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Point Lobos
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA: September, 2019 “In your piece on San Francisco, I’d like to be referred to as ‘the Baron Salvatore Luis IV or else you cannot use my likeness” – My brother Mike, after reading the first two installments in this series. It was checkout time at the hotel and I had a flight toContinue reading “South of the Bay: A Layover in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Point Lobos”
Strychnine and Soulard: The Go! St. Louis Half Marathon
St. Louis, MO: April, 2018 The Metrolink was as efficient early Sunday morning as it was throughout the weekend. The last station before crossing the river was steps from the starting line and allowed us to arrive fairly close to the beginning of the race to avoid getting too cold, the temperature below thirty asContinue reading “Strychnine and Soulard: The Go! St. Louis Half Marathon”
The Gateway Arch and Frank Sinatra’s Soup: St. Louis By Day
St. Louis, MO – April, 2018 Like Twain’s caravan takeoff point in Roughing It, many trips west first take shape in Missouri. I had been through the state briefly, at sixteen, on a trip to the Rockies and beyond. My family pulled off at the exit nearest the arch and we stood, necks craned upward,Continue reading “The Gateway Arch and Frank Sinatra’s Soup: St. Louis By Day”
Watching Bellevue Bloom: A Covid-Era Travelogue
Bellevue, KY: April, 2020 Is it a cruel irony or slight reprieve that we experienced the loveliest stretch of spring weather I can remember at a time when there is nowhere to go? Bellevue clutches the Ohio River’s southern bank and works its way up the hills at the edge of the basin. With tenContinue reading “Watching Bellevue Bloom: A Covid-Era Travelogue”
Hug, The Traveler* 