Henry Ford’s Kentucky Coal Camps: My Great-Aunt’s Memories
Posted on June 1, 2017
I recently spent a week in Kentucky with my Great Aunt Buntin in the video above. She is the youngest and only surviving sibling of six, all of whom born in the 1920's and 30's in a Kentucky coal camp near the West Virginia state line.
Planning a great road trip might start considerations like a final destination on a specific arrival date, but why not add some roadside kitsch and history along the way? My philosophy is that the journey is an equally-important part of the vacation. #TravelSlow #ConnectDeep.
Lazio Italy by Motorcycle: Civita di Bagnoregio “the town that is dying”
Posted on May 11, 2017
Orvieto's morning air delights my soul, encouraging me not to think about the tour’s end in the afternoon. Instead I remind myself to wring joy and memories out of its last day.
Appalachian Coal Heritage Tourism: Yes, This is Important
Posted on April 19, 2017
This week in my TV interview, I highlighted some "Coal Heritage Tourism Sites" in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky, where the mining industry provided not only income, also a way of life to its workers and extended communities.
Umbria by Motorcycle: Lake Corbara Towns
Posted on April 8, 2017
Everyone in Italy parks scooters and motorbikes chockablock. No matter how much chrome or how many farkles a bike is adorned with, I never saw an incident of I'm-too-special-and-my-bike's-too-precious-to-share-a-parking-space behavior. If there is enough space to mount and dismount, that's sufficient; share the space.
Umbria Italy by Motorcycle: Orvieto’s Etruscans
Posted on April 1, 2017
The Umbria town of Orvieto sits atop a plateau of tufa rock—consolidated volcanic ash that we would call “tuff” in English. The rock was thrown from the large crater that is now Lake Bolsena, which we visited four days ago.
Tuscany Italy by Motorcycle: Crete Senesi and Pienza
Posted on March 27, 2017
There’s nothing like a few days in Italy to turn even a fast-food junkie into a foodie. Italians are proud of their culinary heritage and my tour guide, Enrico Grassi is a goodwill ambassador of all things cultural and gastronomical in the boot-shaped country.
Awake once more at dawn in my 400-year-old room, I’m eager to get into Siena. The shimmering city on three hills that has been enticing us from the infinity pool at Podere la Strega is now on our agenda.
Italy by Motorcycle: Negotiating with a Greve in Chianti Shopkeeper
Posted on March 11, 2017
After leaving San Gimignano we head to Greve in Chianti, the birthplace of Giovanni da Verrazzano. He is famous for being the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between Florida and Newfoundland, and for discovering the New York Bay in 1524. This discovery is why the bridge spanning the Narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island bears his name.
Tuscany Italy by Motorcycle: San Gimignano
Posted on March 3, 2017
