My friend Xochil was shocked to see me when we met up at the Portland Art Museum last Saturday night, mostly because I was wearing underwear, cowboy boots, and nothing else. Then again, she was barely clothed herself. After years of giving in to excuses like “It’s raining,” “I’m too tired,” or “I don’t want […]
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An unfamiliar car pulled into the labor camp of a blueberry farm in Southern New Jersey last month, and the four year-round farmworkers on site stopped what they were doing, went inside, and locked themselves in their rooms. Afraid of being deported by federal immigration agents operating with increased authority since President Trump signed an […]
If Mike Gutowski had said hello to the cute girl in the peacoat and Converse All-Star sneakers who boarded the No. 6 bus after him on a Friday evening, this would be a different story. He and the girl made eye contact and exchanged smiles as they traveled south along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. […]
The empty saddle on the horse following us up the 15,700-foot pass in Peru’s Huayhuash Mountain Range looks awfully enticing. As I plod up the rocky mountainside, one slow step at a time toward the blue sky, my calves are screaming, my thighs are burning and my lungs are begging for a break. Our guide, […]
The distant peaks of Glacier National Park through the remains of a burn For us, hiking Montana’s Glacier National Park for three days in late November meant a multitude of ill-informed mid-hike discussions about the sleep patterns of bears. We didn’t even think about the fact we might need bear spray or other protection until […]
After more than two years of writing for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, I quit my job. No longer will I write about what the children of Hamilton County are learning in their classrooms and whether the school board thinks seatbelts on buses improve safety. I am moving to Chile, to the Torres del Paine […]
View on Fodor’s site here. Disregarding culinary conventions, this visionary Alberta Street eatery serves up innovative dishes that’ll push your boundaries while also delighting your palate. Its simple menu of small plates (order 2-3 per person) influenced by Asian flavors and using European cooking techniques, combines unusual ingredients into dishes that work not in spite […]
Packing the Crystal Ballroom in Portland on Saturday, whiskery men pitted their facial hair one against another at the 2012 West Coast Beard and Mustache Championships. They competed in categories that included natural mustache, chops-style mustache, freestyle mustache, full natural beard and partial beard. In honor of the competition, which the “Portlandia” blog covered here, […]
11 Feb A herd of about 150 ponies lives atop Mount Rogers, the highest peak in Virginia. Though they accept veterinarian check-ups once a year and salt licks on occasion, they’re otherwise wild and don’t care much about humans. For the record, though, even from a distance – wild horse babies multiply the adorability factor of any […]
The distant peaks of Glacier National Park through the remains of a burn For us, hiking Montana’s Glacier National Park for three days in late November meant a multitude of ill-informed mid-hike discussions about the sleep patterns of bears. We didn’t even think about the fact we might need bear spray or other protection until […]
The salt and pepper shakers on James Thornhill’s kitchen table are cheap, plastic and far from remarkable. Looking at them, you might assume that he has no taste in spice dispensers. But you would be wrong. The 72-year-old Sand Mountain, Ala., resident has a collection of shakers that would impress even the most snobby of […]
My sister Laura and I hoisted on our backpacks atop 6,684-foot Mt. Mitchell — the highest point east of the Mississippi River — and lumbered 4.5 miles north along a ridge to a camping spot at Deep Gap. While the hike along the Black Mountain Crest (aka Deep Gap) trail was not horizontally challenging, we did find ourselves navigating a lot of steep […]
My sister Laura and I hoisted on our backpacks atop 6,684-foot Mt. Mitchell — the highest point east of the Mississippi River — and lumbered 4.5 miles north along a ridge to a camping spot at Deep Gap. While the hike along the Black Mountain Crest (aka Deep Gap) trail was not horizontally challenging, we did find ourselves navigating a lot of steep […]