Tag Archives: travel

What to Read Before a Safari in Africa

August 23, 2022 Terri Peterson Smith Leave a comment

water buffalo eating grass in Kenya — a curious water buffalo in Kenya

When it comes to travel, anticipation is half the fun. That’s why I read a huge assortment of books—both fiction and non-fiction—before going on a safari in Kenya.

This was a shooting-only-photos sort of safari, of course, and promised mind-blowing close-up experiences with the animals. Yet, in my pre-trip reading I found stories of people through their memoirs provided amazing adventure, along with historical context of the British colonial era versus the modern-day politics of Kenya. You can’t top the excitement, drama and tragedy of real life there.

Not going to Africa any time soon? These books will take you there anyway. Here are a few favorites;

Out of Africa

Probably the most famous story and movie of Kenya is Karen Blixen’s (a.k.a. Isak Dinesen) Out of Africa. If you haven’t seen the movie in a while, go find it because it’s a great romance story and just stunning visually.When we arrived in Nairobi, we stayed at the House of Waine, a little hotel in what is now called the Karen District, which is mainly comprised of land that was once Karen Blixen’s coffee farm. Though it took forever for her to travel to Nairobi from the farm when she moved there in the early 1900s, the city has grown so that the farm is now simply part of the city.

Classic books by Karen Blixen (Isak Dinese) and Beryl Markham who lived in Kenya at about the same time and competed for the affections of Denys Finch Hatton.

home Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa, in Nairobi — The home of Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), author of *Out of Africa*, is now a museum with beautiful grounds, preserved as it was when she lived there early in the last century.

Her home is open for tours and looks much the way one would imagine it, though I didn’t see anyone who looked like Meryl Street or Robert Redford.

Beryl Markham was a British-born Kenyan aviator (one of the first bush pilots), adventurer, racehorse trainer and author. She was Blixen’s contemporary and also a competitor for the affection of safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton. She wrote of her adventures in West with the Night and Paula McLain covered her story in the novel Circling the Sun.

Love, Life and Elephants

young elephant spraying himself with red dust in kenya — Elephants often spray themselves with dust to protect their hide from the sun.

We stopped by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi to see the staff there as they care for the baby elephants they rescue. The trust cares for hundreds of orphaned and injured elephants and re-introduces them into the wild. Elephants are super social animals that love to play and tussle in the mud and dust. I’m a proud adopted parent of a baby elephant named Esoit whose mother was mortally wounded and the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust brought him to its Nairobi compound. Check out the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust web site to adopt your own elephant and find out more about this remarkable organization.

Dame Daphne Sheldrick tells her story of growing up in Kenya and the founding of this organization in her book Love, Life and Elephants.

Another must-see in Nairobi include the Kasuri bead factory where artisans who are single moms or developmentally disabled fashion beautiful beads by hand. And, they occasionally take breaks for beautiful singing.

giraffe eating at Nairobi's Giraffe Centre — Enjoying a snack at the Giraffe Centre in Nairobi, Kenya

Finally, Nairobi’s Giraffe Centre giraffecentre.org offers an opportunity to get up close to giraffes (close enough to feed them from your hand) and learn about efforts to save their habitat.

Born Free

Giraffe near Elsa’s Kopje in Meru National Park

In her famous novel, also later a movie, Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds, Joy Adamson recounts the story of Elsa the lion cub as she make the transition between the captivity in which she is raised and the wild to which she is returned. Our first stop in the bush was in Meru National Park and we stayed in a camp called Elsa’s Kopje. It’s located above the site of George Adamson’s original camp where he raised and released orphan lions. The intricately thatched cottages and other lodge buildings are sculpted right into Mughwango Hill. sometimes with boulders and trees inside, and look like hobbit houses. Here in the khaki colored grasslands we had our first encounters with with elephants, giraffe, zebra and birds galore.

We also visited Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Mara North Conservancy and Maasai Mara National Reserve where we saw herds of zebra and wildebeast that stretched for miles as they made the Great Migration across the Mara River between Kenya and Tanzania.

We saw the “big five” —lions, leopards, rhinocerus, elephants and water buffalo. Half the fun came via the friendly hospitality of the Kenyan people as well as the incredible knowledge—and eyesight!—of the guides who drove us around. They helped us spot everything from ostriches to wart hogs, find elusive leopards and watch a pride of lions and their cubs right out of The Lion King.

I Dreamed of Africa

The Italian-born author and environmentalist Kuki Gallmann tells the story of her life in Kenya and its rewards and tragedies in her memoir I Dreamed of Africa. After reading that book, I was much more worried about puff adders than the larger animals I encountered. You can follow her on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/KukiGallmann

Unbowed

Masaai woman in traditional beaded garments

If you’re looking for something that isn’t all about white people coming to live in Kenya, Wangari Mathia’s autobiography Unbowed, reveals the struggles and accomplishments of an amazing Kenyan woman who grew up in the central highlands of Kenya when it was still a British colony. She became a politician, environmental activist, and in 2004, the first African woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Peace. She founded the Green Belt Movement which had by the early 21st century planted some 30 million trees. Leaders of the Green Belt Movement established the Pan African Green Belt Network in 1986 in order to educate world leaders about conservation and environmental improvement.

It’s a terrific book to understand the interplay between environmental conservation and the local people’s economic well-being, and how humans and animals must co-exist.

Literary Destinations, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, Photography, travel inspiration

Where to Find Native American Culture in Minneapolis

October 11, 2021 Terri Peterson Smith Leave a comment

Visit Author Louise Erdrich’s Bookstore, Taste Indigenous Cuisine and Be Dazzled at Native American Pow Wows.

The historic Stone Arch Bridge in downtown Minneapolis. From here you can see St. Anthony Falls and the “the place of the falling, swirling waters.” (photo credit: MeetMinneapolis)

Standing on the iconic Stone Arch Bridge in downtown Minneapolis, the Mississippi River rushes below. A sense of history swirls up in the cool mist from St. Anthony Falls roaring before you. Indigenous people called this location Mni Sota Makoce, “Land Where the Waters Reflect the Clouds,” and it’s still considered sacred Dakota space.

Native Americans figure prominently in both Minnesota’s history and in its contemporary culture. The state contains seven Anishinaabe (Chippewa or Ojibwe) reservations and four Dakota (Sioux) communities, all just portions of their original homelands. However, one need not travel far from the Twin Cities to get a taste of Native American culture. Instead, stand here on the Mississippi and inhale the mist of thousands of years of indigenous history, then meet the people making sure Native American culture grows and flourishes here.

Louise Erdrich and Birchbark Books

Louise Erdrich is the acclaimed author of novels, poetry and children’s books featuring Native American heritage, including Love Medicine, The Master Butchers Singing Club, and Shadow Tag which takes place in modern-day Minneapolis. She has garnered a long list of literary awards, and most recently hit the heights with a Pulitzer Prize for The Night Watchman (inspired by her grandfather, who chaired the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and fought a Congressional initiative to move native people off their land). She also won the National Book Award for The Round House. And, if I were her, I’d be sure to mention that I was named one of People magazine’s most beautiful people.

Erdrich, a tribal descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, was born in Minnesota but grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota, where her parents taught at the Bureau of Indian Affairs school. She typically tells her stories through the perspectives of multiple characters and plots, a style some compare to William Faulkner, though I find her books much easier to read.

Author Louise Erdrich owns the lovely Birchbark Books in Minneapolis which offers a terrific selection of books by Native American authors and much more.

In addition to writing award-winning books, she plays a vital role in the Twin Cities’ literary scene as the owner of Birchbark Books in Minneapolis. Stop by the cozy store, located in one of the city’s most beautiful neighborhoods, to find a wide selection of all sorts of books, many with handwritten notes from Erdrich to recommend them, which feels very personal. The store also works to promote the literary and artistic works of Native Americans, whom she calls the “Indigerati.” For example, Birchbark sponsors readings by Native and non-Native writers, journalists and historians and also features Native American quill work, traditional basketry and painting. In addition, Erdrich and her sister Heid Erdrich (a poet and curator of Native American fine art) run Wiigwaas Press, which publishes books in the Ojibwe language.

Indigenous Cuisine

Head back to downtown Minneapolis to tour Mill Ruins Park and the adjacent Waterworks Park on the riverfront where walkers, runners and bikers take to the historic paths. Here you’ll find one of the city’s newest restaurants, Owamni, perched above the river and overlooking the falls. The name comes from Owámniyomni, a Dakota word that roughly translates to “the place of the falling, swirling waters.” Built into a former flour mill, this eatery serves Indigenous American food so, to visitors, it feels like Native people are reclaiming a bit of their original place here on the river.

Chef Sean Sherman, a.k.a., the Sioux Chef recently opened a new restaurant in Minneapolis that showcases indigenous food.

Chef and owner Sean Sherman, a.k.a. “the Sioux Chef,” is an Oglala Lakota (Sioux), born on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation and a longtime proponent of true Indigenous American cuisine which he describes as “decolonized cooking.” No fry bread here. Instead the menu offers, for example, fish, game, berries and wild rice and leaves behind the dairy, wheat flour and processed sugar that European settlers brought with them.

His cuisine hit the national spotlight with publication of The Sioux Chef Indigenous Kitchen, which garnered a James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook in 2018. Now, Sherman takes Native American cooking to the next level at Owamni where you’ll taste native corn tacos with cedar-braised bison, smoked trout with dandelion pesto, or grilled forest mushrooms. You’ll dip into beautiful purple purees of berries and crunch lightly baked crackers made from sweet corn’s ancestor, teosinte. It’s Indigenous cuisine with a modern edge and de-lish.

Dishes at Owamni forego European food for native corn, smoked trout, fresh berries and more.

Pow Wow and Cultural Center

Visitors encounter a feast of spectacular color, sound and action each August at the Wacipi, or pow wow, at the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Shakopee, just south of Minneapolis. Hundreds of native dancers from around the U.S. and Canada gather here to show off their skills and celebrate their culture. This pow pow begins with a blessing of the dance circle. The Grand Entry follows with the Veterans Color Guard carrying flags and eagle staff, followed by visiting dignitaries, tribal royalty, then the dancers and drummers.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s annual pow wow attracts dancers of all ages from across the U.S and Canada every August.

Nearby, you can visit the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s new Hoċokata Ti cultural center It’s easy to see how the building, which consists of seven enormous teepees with a wall of windows overlooking a stream, got its name. Hoċokata Ti means “the lodge at the center of the camp” in Dakota.

Inside, visitors find a 3,805 foot public exhibit called “Mdewakanton: Dwellers of the Spirit Lake.” You’ll see videos in which community members tell traditional stories of how the earth, water, and sky were created. Displays cover the history of the Dakota people up to the present and include tools, beadwork, and a 200-year-old canoe raised from nearby Lake Minnetonka. Kids may scramble into a replica teepee or work on an interactive beading display. Items in the collection come from community members, the Scott County Historical Society and some are on permanent loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. A tip: don’t miss the center’s lovely gift shop.

Hoċokata Ti spokesman Andy Vig says he hopes the center will help visitors gain a better understanding of the Dakota people in history and in modern life as well. A visit to this new cultural center complements the other activities for visitors here on tribal land. For example, Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, about three miles from the cultural center, is Minnesota’s largest gaming and entertainment facility. The tribe’s organic grocery store, Mazopiya, sells community-made honey and maple syrup as well as an array of products from Minnesota Native American vendors.

“We’re still here,” says Vig of Minnesota’s indigenous people. “Here and thriving.”

Where to Stay:

Check out a couple of downtown Minneapolis’s newest hotels Canopy by Hilton Minneapolis Mill District or Moxy Minneapolis Downtown. Or, try Mystic Lake Casino Hotel which is owned by The Shakopee Mdewakanton Community.

road trips, travel inspiration, Wyoming

A Wyoming Road Trip and Books for your Cowboy State Vacation

July 28, 2021 Terri Peterson Smith Leave a comment

A Wyoming vacation delivers gorgeous western scenery, Native American art, cowboys, polo players, hiking and open spaces. Read these great books to conjure up the spirit of the west before you go.

You won’t find many people in Wyoming. At about 600,000, the Cowboy State tallies the smallest population in the U.S. That’s around six people per square mile. Cattle outnumber humans by far. So, if you come from a more populated place—such as either of the U.S. coasts—Wyoming’s open space in itself makes an amazing sight.

Though low on people, Wyoming’s emptiness is packed with some of the most unusual sights and citizens in the U.S. That includes the beloved and often crowded Yellowstone Park and Grand Teton National Parks. They’re great, but be sure to include other destinations in your road trip to experience some of this most iconic spots in the American West.

All those unblocked vistas leave plenty of room for the imagination. Its no wonder so many classic western novels are set in Wyoming—Shane, The Virginian, and My Friend Flicka to name a few. More contemporary authors also find inspiration in Wyoming’s rugged plains, mountains and canyons. Wyoming crime solvers such as Craig Johnson’s Sheriff Walt Longmire (books and Netflix series), C.J. Box’s game-warden-hero Joe Pickett and others (usually on horseback) always get the bad guys and stand against corruption despite any challenges nature throws at them. The region also inspired Annie Proulx’s story collection Close Range: Wyoming Stories of which “Brokeback Mountain” is one. Finally, I have to add Hank the Cowdog, our boys’ road trip favorite when they were little.

Close Encounters with Devils Tower

On our recent Wyoming road trip we drove from east to west along the state’s northern tier starting at Devil’s Tower, one of Earth’s most impressive geological features. Rising 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, the monolith creates a sight so unusual it made the perfect location for aliens to land in Steven Spielberg’s classic sci-fi movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Watch it before you go.

Devils Tower was the first National Monument in the U.S. It’s the place aliens landed in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

From the highway, you can see Devil’s Tower off in the distance but don’t just pass by. It’s worth a closer look. Hike the 1.3-mile Tower Trail around the base to see how different it looks (often resembling a giant bunch of rocky pencils from various sides and in different light. You’ll see small, colored bundles of cloth around the base of Devils Tower that are sacred offerings left by Native Americans for whom the tower is a cultural and religious focal point.

Cowpokes, Polo Ponies and Art in Sheridan and Big Horn

Not far from Devils Tower we veered north on I-90 to visit Sheridan, a town of almost 18,000 people set next to the 1.1 million acres of forested mountains and rolling grasslands of the Bighorn National Forest.

Members of the King family at their famous shop King’s Saddlery in Sheridan, Wyoming

We enjoyed a tasty lunch at Frackleton’s then headed down Main Street to King’s Saddlery which carries tack any “cowboy, cowgirl and city-slicker” could need such as saddles, ropes, bridles, bits, headstalls, reins, halters, roping equipment, barrel racing equipment, saddle bags, saddle blankets and slickers. Even if you’re not in the market for a new saddle, you have to see King’s. In the back of the store you’ll find folks finishing ropes and working on saddles to customers’ specifications.

At the Don King Museum in Sheridan, Wyoming, you’ll see hand-tooled saddles, old wagons, and yes, taxidermy. The cowpoke on the right is a mannequin.

Ask to see the Don King Museum, a little gem out behind the store. It’s free. You’re welcome to explore the collection of old west memorabilia including a collection of hand-tooled saddles for which Don King, the store’s founder, was famous along with wagons, coaches, Indian artifacts, guns, Western tack and original artwork.

Head down the street to take a peek at the famous Mint Bar, the watering hole that’s been wetting whistles in Sheridan since 1907. I felt like I should be wearing cowboy boots and spurs. The ultimate in farmhouse decor, the Mint’s walls feature over 9,000 cattle brands from around Wyoming.

In its early years Sheridan’s social life centered on bars, pool halls and brothels around Main Street. The Sheridan Inn must also have been a lively place then. William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody used it as his headquarters during tryouts for his Wild West show. You can stay at the Inn where each room is themed around the iconic Western personalities.

Stroll down Main Street and you’ll soon get the idea that, despite its western roots, Sheridan is no mere “cowtown.” An abundance of terrific statues line the street and other areas. The city’s public art project has brought at least 60 unique pieces of outdoor art to the downtown and made it something of a community phenomenon.

They’ve played polo in Big Horn, Wyoming since the 1890s. (photo courtesy of Visit Sheridan)

In the tiny town of Big Horn, right next door to Sheridan, they focus more on polo ponies than cattle horses. The posh sport of polo seems a bit out character for this rugged region, yet Big Horn has been a polo hub since the 1890s when aristocrats from England and Scotland made their way to Wyoming. For example, William and Malcom Moncreiffe settled in Big Horn and established a successful business raising registered sheep. They also played an important role in bringing the sport of polo to the area. Now, notable players from all over the world head to Big Horn every year for the summer polo season.

The Brinton Museum in Big Horn, Wyoming. (photo courtesy of Visit Sheridan)

Also tucked back in the Big Horn area, we found the elegant Brinton Museum located on the 620-acre Quarter Circle A Ranch that originally belonged to William Moncreiffe. You can tour the historic ranch house as well as the museum dedicated to Native American art and culture as well as American fine and decorative art.

“Absaroka” County

We left Big Horn and headed south on I-90 toward Buffalo, the town upon which author Craig Johnson’s modeled his fictional town of Durant in his Longmire crime series. Take special note of the landscape in this area. You’ll see the terrain of “Absaroka” County that Sheriff Walt Longmire and his smart-alecky crew inhabit. Buffalo celebrates “Longmire Days” annually.

Traveling from Buffalo, we took U.S. 16 which becomes the stunning Cloud Peak Skyway Scenic Byway. It rises over the southern portion of the Big Horn Mountains and offers breathtaking scenery, worth all the chugging our little RV did as we climbed to the peak at 9,666 feet. Then the road winds through the spectacular Tensleep Canyon. Thankfully it offers plenty of pullouts so even the driver can stop and ogle the view.

We stayed at a lovely farm near Shoshoni, Wyoming, part of the Harvest Hosts program.

We’re members of Harvest Hosts, a program for RVers that allows members access to a network of wineries, farms, breweries, museums and other unique attractions where they can stay overnight. We spent the night at a farm near Shonshoni, on the Wyoming prairie with the mountains off in the distance.

Land like this is the setting of One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker, set in the 1870s. In the story, a man kills his neighbor after he catches him “in flagrante” with his wife. He then goes to jail, which leaves the two wives alone with their children to fend for themselves during the brutal Wyoming winter. It’s action-packed and gives a pretty good idea of the hardship of life in Wyoming at that time.

On the westernmost side of the state, we arrived at our final destinations of Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. We visit those places over and over, but we were happy that this time we had also included in our trip a few of the other great destinations–and that wide open space– that Wyoming offers.

Horses on a ranch just outside Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming

New York State, travel inspiration

Seneca Falls—a Women’s Rights Landmark in New York’s Finger Lakes Region

July 21, 2021 Terri Peterson Smith Leave a comment

Travel to Seneca Falls, New York, the hub of women’s history in the U.S. for an education on the history of women’s rights and a hefty dose of historic charm.

The struggle for human rights never seems to end. Yet, in Seneca Falls, New York, you’ll find inspiration when you learn about the historic leaders of women’s rights. Located in New York’s Finger Lakes region, at the tip of Seneca Lake, the town makes a great stop on your tour of the area.

Mingling with Heroes–At the National Women’s Rights Historic Park you’ll find a collection of life-size statues called “The Wave” that represents the first wave of women’s rights activists in the U. S. including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Fredrick Douglass. Many people involved in the women’s rights movement were also ardent abolitionists.

Seneca Falls was the site of the first Women’s Rights Convention held on July 19-20, 1848. The Women’s Rights National Historical Park commemorates that event and depicts women’s struggle to gain the right to vote and for other rights that come with equal citizenship in this country.

One of the meeting’s organizers, Seneca Falls resident Elizabeth Cady Stanton, began the event with a speech on the convention’s goals and purpose:

“We are assembled to protest against a form of government, existing without the consent of the governed—to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages which she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in case of separation, the children of her love.” The Convention culminated in the Declaration of Sentiments, which is full of ideas that were quite revolutionary at the time.

Display at the women’s rights national historical park in Seneca Falls, New York.

The Women’s Rights National Historical Park is actually a collection of historic sites, all within easy walking distance. Start at the Visitors Center (check the hours they’re open!) which presents a great film on the first convention and its leaders. Exhibits further explain that event and women’s progress since then. The Visitors Center also has an excellent book shop. Other buildings in the park include the Wesleyan Chapel where the convention took place and the houses of other prominent leaders of the movement including the homes of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Mary Ann M’Clintock. The Park offers outdoor ranger-led tours.

Start your Women’s Rights trip with these books.

Beyond the Park

Down the street from the National Women’s Rights Park Visitors Center, you can also tour the National Women’s Hall of Fame, where plaques and photos pay homage to America’s most famous women. In addition a stroll along the The Cayuga–Seneca Canal (which links to the Erie Canal) is a must.

Finally, many believe that Seneca Falls was the inspiration for Frank Kapra’s fictional town of Bedford Falls in the classic film It’s A Wonderful Life. There’s even an It’s A Wonderful Life Museum. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the movie so they’ve got big plans for a festival December 8-22, featuring anyone and everyone who is still alive and connected to the movie such as the actors who played the Bailey children, including Zuzu.

Literary Destinations, Michigan

Travel to the world of Ernest Hemingway’s youth in Michigan

April 19, 2021 Terri Peterson Smith 2 Comments

It’s not as exotic as Ernest Hemingway’s other famous haunts — Paris, Cuba or Africa, for example. But travel to Walloon Lake in Michigan, and you’ll experience the outdoors and love of nature that set Hemingway on his path to a Nobel Prize in literature.

Ernest Hemingway spent his summers fishing and hunting near Walloon Lake Michigan — As a youth, Ernest Hemingway spent summers at his family’s cottage on Walloon Lake in Michigan where he learned to revere the outdoor life. A gun, a knife, a fishing pole and some fish. What more could a man want? (photo: Michigan Hemingway Society)

It’s not easy being an Ernest Hemingway fan these days. The Ken Burns/ Lynn Novick documentary “Hemingway,” on PBS has once again whacked the #metoo hornet’s nest that surrounds Hemingway, one of America’s most famous writers. Hemingway was a hyper-macho fellow (a trait much admired in his day), a philandering “man’s man” who reported on wars around the world, admired bullfighting and drank like fish, much to the detriment of his personal relationships.

Yet, the Nobel Prize winner changed American literature the way jazz changed American music. One of my favorite writers, Edna O’Brien, said in the Paris Review that the first time she heard a lecturer read aloud the first paragraph of A Farewell to Arms, “I couldn’t believe it—this totally uncluttered, precise, true prose, which was also very moving and lyrical.”

So, let’s pause our #metoo judgement for a moment. Instead, read Hemingway’s books and essays about the places in Michigan where he got his start as a writer and outdoorsman long before he was famous.

A Boy at Walloon Lake, Michigan

Ernest Hemingway learned his love of the outdoor life as a child in Michigan which influenced his writing — Ernest Hemingway learned his love of the outdoor life as a child in Michigan. (photo: Michigan Hemingway Society)

I’ve written about Hemingway-inspired travel on this blog before. For example, a visit to his childhood home and gorgeous neighborhood in Oak Park, Illinois, near Chicago; Hemingway hang-outs near Petoskey, Michigan; and a Hemingway tour of Paris. But be sure to add Walloon Lake, Michigan, to your itinerary.

Ernest Hemingway was just three months old when his family took him to Walloon Lake’s north shore for the first time. In those days, the trip from Chicago required a combination of trains, boats, and buggies. He spent time there at the family’s cottage, Windemere, every summer until he was about twenty. The woods and waters of the area shaped Hemingway’s life and outlook in fundamental ways. That environment inspired his love of nature and the “strenuous life,” as his hero Teddy Roosevelt called it, of hunting, fishing and physical risk seen in all his writing. And, at Walloon Lake, Hemingway married his first wife, Hadley, who became known as “The Paris Wife.”

Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife tells a fictionalized story of Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, who he married at Walloon Lake. (photo courtesy of the Michigan Hemingway Society)

Nick Adams Country

I grew up in Michigan and spent time each summer at a cottage (that’s what Michiganders call them no matter how big the structure) in the same area, mainly on Mullett Lake, near Cheboygan, at the tip of the Michigan mitten. I can attest to the area’s power to inspire the love of the outdoors, though I didn’t experience as many bootleggers and tramps as Hemingway. Plenty of boaters, water-skiers and fishermen, though. And it wasn’t always a “strenuous” existence. Hemingway said, “It’s a great place to laze around and swim and fish when you want to. And the best place in the world to do nothing. It is beautiful country … And nobody knows about it but us.”

Today’s visitors enjoy modern amenities at the Hotel Walloon, which reflects the classic architectural style of many resort hotels in the era when Ernest Hemingway spent summers on the lake. (Photo courtesy of Promote Michigan.)

Yet, now, the village of Walloon Lake wants to be sure everyone knows about it. This year they’re celebrating Hemingway with a series of events, including The Hemingway Birthday Celebration which takes place July 21. Labor Day weekend, September 3-6, brings the Hemingway Homecoming featuring the unveiling of historical installations downtown focused on Hemingway as well as other aspects of the village’s development such as early rail travel, hotels and resorts, boating and more.

They’ve also been reading The Nick Adams Stories, a collection of short stories that Hemingway wrote about his boyhood in northern Michigan. The stories cover hunting, fishing, life, death–all the most important things– with descriptions that make you feel you’re there with him. In “Big Two-Hearted River,” for example, he describes, “holding the rod far out toward the uprooted tree and sloshing backward in the current Nick worked the trout, plunging, the rod bending alive, out of the danger of the weeds into the open river.”

So, don’t #cancelpapa or dismiss Hemingway without first reading his work. He makes an excellent tour guide for adventure, the love of nature and an understanding of the human condition.

Ernest Hemingway in Michigan

road trips, South Dakota, travel inspiration

A Literary Road Trip Across South Dakota

July 25, 2020 Terri Peterson Smith Leave a comment

Visiting South Dakota State and National Parks on a Road Trip from Minnesota to Wyoming

Geese float peacefully among the cliffs of Palisades State Park.

South Dakota seems synonymous with family road trips, summer vacations and heading “out west.” Every time we drive that direction from Minneapolis, there’s a feeling of anticipation as the landscape gradually changes from hills, to flat prairie, to a more rugged and rocky type of Great Plains geology.

Recently, my husband and I set out like Lewis and Clark to explore South Dakota—only with much more pleasant accommodations in our little Winnebago Rialta RV. Our itinerary ran from east to west along I-90 where we hoped to see stunning rock formations, historic locales, uncrowded spaces and the wildlife for which this region is known. Our journey included stops at three parks: Palisades State Park, Badlands National Park and Custer State Park.

Hitting the plains fires up my imagination with images of rugged pioneers, native Americans and western life–images that came from books I’ve been reading since childhood, starting with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie” series. In fact, De Smet, where Laura lived as an adult is about an hour and a half north of our first stop in Palisades Park. So if you’re a fan you might want to veer north for a visit. Be sure to read the less happy but more accurate story of Laura’ real life, Prairie Fires (a great for book groups).

Palisades State Park

Split Rock Creek, the centerpiece of Palisades State Park in eastern South Dakota, isn’t a huge body of water but it’s had an outsized impact on this rocky gem of a spot about 20 miles from Sioux Falls.

Here, the creek cut deep gorges through the billion-year-old Sioux quartzite rock that lines its banks. That resulted in 50-foot vertical cliffs and intricate rock formations that are popular with kayakers, rock climbers and photographers.

Back in the mid-1800s, the rushing creek also powered a flour mill on the bluff that overlooks the park. Starting in 1862, the tiny town of Palisades grew up around the the mill. However, with the promise of free lots, the railroad soon lured businesses away to the nearby town of Garretson where its rail yard was located and the town of Palisades faded away.

Palisades State Park opened in 1972 and has remained one of the South Dakota’s smallest parks—until now. For comparison, at 71,000 acres, Custer State Park at the opposite end of I-90, dwarfs its little cousin, Palisades. But in spring of 2020, about 270 acres were added to the park for a total of nearly 435 acres. Park officials expect to add 75 new camp sites for a total of 109 sites along with more cabins, hiking trails, day use areas, improved habitat for wildlife viewing, and park programs.

Badlands National Park

Midway across South Dakota, the Badlands gouge through the flat plains with eons-old rock formations that resemble a moonscape. On previous trips to points further west we simply drove through the park for a quick look. We thought it didn’t offer much more than barren (though pretty impressive) rock. This time we stayed for two days. Our hikes and scenic drives revealed not only fascinating geological formations but also plenty of life including wildflowers, agitated prairie dogs and mountain goats galore.

But it surely doesn’t seem like great farmland. That didn’t stop the hopeful homesteaders who arrived in this area after the Homestead Act of 1862 provided the opportunity for folks to head west to acquire land. It was theirs for, say $18 for 160 acres if they lived on it for five years. You can view the some of the land they settled at the Badlands National Park’s Homestead Overlook. Most of the land claims turned into “Starvation Claims” and were abandoned or sold.

Here’s a story I’ll bet you haven’t heard about: African Americans were prominent among the region’s homesteaders. Many were introduced to the area when they were Buffalo Soldiers. You can read about these pioneers in a gripping novel, The Personal History of Rachel Dupree by Ann Weisgarber. The book starts out with a family lowering their little girl down a well to scoop out the last of the water on their drought-stricken farm. It grabbed me from the very start. Also, The Conquest by Oscar Micheaux is a semi-autobiographical novel of a black homesteader in Gregory County during the early 1900’s

The faces at Mount Rushmore don’t wear masks. Neither do the tourists who visit.

Crazy Horse Memorial offers a nice little museum and Native American cultural programming.

We visited on the way to Custer State park we visited South Dakota’s trademark, Mount Rushmore. The four faces appear on promotional material, license plates and have been featured during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Cool if you’ve never seen it before, but crowded. We headed to a similarly giant sculpture nearby, the Crazy Horse Memorial, which I liked better because it has a nice little museum and Native American programming.

Custer State Park

At the opposite end of I-90, we explored Custer State Park, South Dakota’s largest state park. At 71,000 acres the huge park seems more like a national park. It offers hiking, boating, fishing and plenty of wildlife including bison traffic jams.

One of my favorite hikes was the one up Black Elk Peak, a 7,242-foot granite mountain with an historic stone firetower at the top. It’s considered the highest peak east of the rockies, depending on if you think the 8,749-foot Guadaloupe Peak in Texas is east of the Rockies or part of them . The beginning of the 7.6-mile loop trail is bedazzled with shiny mica rock which makes it look like it’s paved with rhinestones, quite magical.

The porch at State Game Lodge in Custer State Park. The lodge was the summer white house for presidents Calvin Coolidge and Dwight Eisenhower.

For non-campers, Custer offers historic lodges and cabins, including State Game Lodge built of native stone and wood in 1920 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It served as the “Summer White House” for President Calvin Coolidge in 1927 and was visited by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. Book ahead and stay in their historic rooms. Even if you’re not staying there, the Lodge welcomes diners in the restaurant and you can carry out food to eat outdoors. We enjoyed cocktails on the Lodge’s front porch before returning to our camp site.

Read Up

Anyone interested in enriching their South Dakota travel experience will find an abundance of great books about both the state’s history and modern life, too. Here’s my list:

Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Life of Two American Warriors–Stephen Ambrose

Dakota : A Spiritual Geography–Kathleen Norris

The Last Stand–Nathaniel Philbrook

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee–Dee Brown

The Golden Bowl –Frederick Feikema Manfred

Buffalo for the Broken Heart–Dan O’Brien

Canada, Ideas for Book Clubs, travel inspiration

Travel to the World of Author Louise Penny and Inspector Gamache

May 8, 2020 Terri Peterson Smith Leave a comment

In Quebec, Canada’s Eastern Townships, fans of mystery writer Louise Penny step into the world of Three Pines and Inspector Armand Gamache.

This painting illustrating Louise Penny’s murder mystery Still Life is at the Brome County Historical Society in Knowlton, Quebec, Canada

It’s a sunny day on the village green in Knowlton, Quebec, a.k.a. “Three Pines.” It’s the real-life place that inspired the fictional town where Louise Penny sets her bestselling mystery novels. They’re serving steaming coffee and camaraderie at the bistro. You’ll find a cheery welcome and plenty of reading tips at the bookstore. A fiddler plays while shoppers stroll the nearby farmers market. Seriously, here in the Eastern Townships of Quebec life seems so idyllic you can’t believe it.

Except for all those murders.…

Sixteen Murders and Counting

All The Devils are Here is the 16th in Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series.

Welcome to the world of bestselling author Louise Penny —one of the biggest names in crime fiction. Set amidst the rolling countryside and lakes of the Eastern Townships (about 60 miles from Montreal and just north of the Vermont border) Penny fills her books with the history and charm of Quebec. That makes a terrific contrast with murders—strictly fictional!—that have included a woman killed by a hunting arrow, a prior conked in the head with an iron door knocker, a woman crushed by a falling statue and one person who is simply frightened to death. The list goes on.

Yet, as Penny told USA Today, the books are “about goodness, as well.” Penny said in a CBS Sunday Morning interview that the books are about many things, least of all murder. They’re about life, choices, love and friendship, and food. That’s one of the keys to their popularity. The first book in the series, <a href=”http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250145239?aff=Duffy%216313″>Still LifeStill Life, came out in 2005. Since then Penny has released a new book about every year and holds the first event promoting each book here in Knowlton where she lives. <a href=”http://<a href=”https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250145239?aff=Duffy%216313″>All the Devils Are HereAll the Devils Are Here, the 16th novel in the series comes out in 2020.

The books offer the thrills and sleuthing of crime novels without the violence and raunchiness of many murder mysteries. They’re often described as character-driven mysteries and central among those characters is Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, of the Sûreté du Québec. Gamache has become known as the the “Hercule Poirot of Canada.” Penny was influenced by Agatha Christie and Georges Simmenon’s Maigret. Like Poirot and Maigret, Gamache is a man of principle and ethics. As a result he’s often beleaguered and at odds with his superiors at the Surete. The eccentric residents of Three Pines play an equally important role. Readers get to know them as they change and develop over the course of the series. The setting that Penny paints in the books also serves as an important and appealing character, too.

Eastern Townships

The Eastern Townships, les Cantons de L’Est, are located in southeastern Quebec, on the edge of the American border. During the Revolutionary War, the area offered refuge to the British royalists fleeing from the revolution. While the rest of Quebec is thoroughly French, the Eastern Townships bear the marks of British culture including villages with names such as Sutton, Sherbrooke and Georgeville. The fictitious town name of Three Pines is nod to the fact that royalists often planted a cluster three pine trees as a signpost of safety for British royalists fleeing across the border.

British as the towns were, they’re still in the midst of culturally French Quebec and people here switch back and forth between English and French as easily and most of us flip a light switch on and off. They also offer the fabulous food, wine, shops and joie de vivre of the region’s French Canadian heritage which Penny weaves into her stories. Characters are constantly eating meals that make my mouth water, enjoying a glass or two of wine or taking in the peace of their surroundings. It’s no wonder that people from around the world visit the area every year to see the landscape and cultural life they’ve read about in Louis Penny’s books.

The region is also famous its outdoor activities including biking, hiking and skiing. With so much to do, see and taste, the territories make a fabulous place for book clubs and Louise Penny fans to visit, well beyond their interest in the books.

A Gamach-Inspired Tour

Dani Viau guided us on a tour of sites in Quebec’s Eastern Townships that inspired locales in Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series.

We toured the rolling hills, green woods and sunny little towns of Gamache’s world with Danielle Viau of Three Pines Tours to see “where the bodies are buried,” so to speak.

While revealing the places that have inspired Louise Penny’s mysteries, Dani explained the area’s culture and history. We sampled the food and drink and met a few the folks that live in the Eastern Townships who make the destination so engaging—all quite a contrast to the deadly deeds that take place in the stories.

The friendly booksellers at Brome Lake Books in Knowlton, Quebec are happy to guide you to the Louise Penny books or offers suggestions for other reading

We started in the historic town of Knowlton, aka Three Pines. Readers will want to head to Brome Lake Books, a cozy store with nooks that invite readers to settle in and explore new titles. Penny’s readers will find it reminiscent of Myrna’s new and used bookstore in the novels.

This German Fokker airplane from World War I is housed at the Brome Country Historical Society and is one of only three in the world with the original fabric.

Also in Knowlton, The Brome County Historical Society Museum is a surprising gem, especially for its size. It features an exhibit about the thousands of orphaned British Home Children who who passed through it in the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. And, it houses a WWI Fokker airplane believed to be one of only three planes of that type in the world with its original fabric. But, don’t miss the painting “Fair Day”used in the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s movie, Still Life, based on Penny’s book of that name.

We ate a tasty gourmet lunch at the charming Auberge Knowltong.

Later, we lunched on duck and a local favorite, maple sugar pie with caramel sauce, at Le Relais Bistro at Auberge Knowlton. Built in 1849 the bistro features cushy chairs, large wooden dining tables and cozy rooms for overnight stays upstairs, all reminiscent of the Bistro in A Brutal Telling.

the setting of one of louise penny's books — A view of the Abbey of Saint Benoit due lac, in Quebec, Canada the setting for one of Louise Penny’s novels.

Downstairs at the Abbey, the monks sell products they make including cheese and chocolate.

Then we headed to the Abbey of Saint-Benoit-du-Lac, home to Benedictine monks on the shore of Lake Memphrémagog featured in A Beautiful Mystery. Visitors can attend services, listen to the monks’ Gregorian chant and also purchase the products the monks make including cheese (named after saints), chocolate and other goodies.

Another day, we visited the tres charmant village, North Hatley, located on Lake Massawippi. Here, you’ll find the elegant Manor Bellechasse, which makes an appearances in Louise Penny’s The Murder Stone. We strolled the waterfront, hit a few shops and stocked up on goodies at the village farmers market. (Click on the photos above to see them in a larger format.) It doesn’t get more charming.

You’ll be glad Louise Penny lured you here.

If You Go

We stayed in another great Eastern Townships village, Sutton, where we ate and drank at the Auberge Sutton Brouerie and slept at Bite Vert le Mont Bed & Breakfast where owner Lynda Graham shared her stories and fabulous cooking.

If You Can’t Go Right Now

Can’t make it to the Eastern Townships any time soon? Read Louise Penny’s books and enjoy her comments about them as go. Armchair travel at it’s best!

Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, missouri, Missouri, Photography, travel inspiration, Utah

Open Spaces—The Best antidote for Corona Virus Isolation

April 16, 2020 Terri Peterson Smith Leave a comment

Book and travel ideas to inspire “outdoor therapy” and to plan for #travelsomeday.

**Springfield, MO**: The Edwards Cabin at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield sits in a lush field just outside Springfield, Missouri. www.nps.gov/wicr/incex.htm : Instagram: lovespringfield

Shut in because of the Corona Virus pandemic, opportunities for quiet contemplation, soul searching, and spiritual retreat abound. Too bad I don’t find those pursuits more appealing. Hugs, shared meals, raucous laughter, talking with strangers I meet when I travel, reading a person’s facial expressions without the cover of a mask. Those are just a few of the things I miss during this time of isolation during the Corona Virus pandemic.

In the **Quad Cities**, the Mississippi River takes a bend to run directly east to west for roughly ten miles giving way for beautiful sunrises and sunsets over the water. Legend has it the Father of Waters was so tantalized by the land’s beauty, he turned his head to admire the view. (The Quad Cities are Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, in northwestern Illinois.) Credit – Visit Quad Cities Website – http://www.visitquadcities.com Instagram – @visitquadcities

I’ve tried all sorts of remedies for my shelter-in-place malaise—cooking, puzzles, cleaning, Zoom chats and Netflix galore. Yet, the only place I really find solace is outdoors. Nature and open spaces, along with the physical exertion of walking mile after mile, sooth my mind and spirit.

Nature Reading

Psychologists have been studying this phenomenon for some time. Hence the term nature therapy. The Japanese call it, shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing . Nature deficit has also been diagnosed, a “dose of fresh air” prescribed. And writers have written about the beauty and adventure of connecting with nature for years. Now is a great time to tap into their observations of the universe, our environment and our fellow human beings.

**Bismark/Mandan, N.D.**: Step back in time at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park to the 1500s when the Mandan Indians lived at the On-A-Slant Indian Village, or to 1875 when Gen. George Custer and the 7th Cavalry resided in Dakota Territory. Located along the majestic Missouri River, not only does it whisper the history and stories of hundreds of years, but it’s also a breathtaking experience for nature lovers to hike, bike, walk and explore. Photo Credit: Bismarck-Mandan Convention & Visitors Bureau Website: NoBoundariesND.com Instagram: @bismancvb

For literature to inspire your outdoor journeys I recommend Gretel Ehrlich’s The Solace of Open Spaces about her time in Wyoming and Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire about his stint at a park ranger in Arches National Park in Utah. Or, for a more recent read, I enjoyed Richard Powers’ Pulitizer Prize winning book, The Overstory, about a wide-ranging cast of characters whose experiences all relate to trees.

Finally, for approachable nature poetry, you can’t beat anything by Mary Oliver. In her poem, “Wild Geese,” she says that despite our problems, the world goes on.

…”Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–over and over announcing your place in the family of things.”

–Mary Oliver

Dreaming of Places to Go

**Minneapolis**: Theodore Wirth Regional Park is in the shadow of downtown Minneapolis, with plenty of green, open spaces to socially distance and explore the outdoors in the City by Nature. (Note the little deer in the foreground.) http://www.minneapolis.org Instagram: meetminneapolis
Credit: Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board, Courtesy of Meet Minneapolis

I have friends who haven’t left their New York City apartment for weeks. And who can blame them? I feel fortunate that here in the Twin Cities we have a massive number of parks and recreation areas at our finger tips where we can spread out from one another. I asked some of my friends at convention and visitors bureaus about the outdoor spaces they love to show off to visitors. I started with the Midwest. You may be surprised at the beautiful open spaces they offer, not far from large cities. They make for beautiful viewing and inspiration for places to go in the future.

**Kansas’ newest State Park, Little Jerusalem:** Long ago, this area in Kansas was a great sea. In addition to the present-day wildlife, the remains of swimming and flying reptiles dating back 85 million years have been found here. www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/little-jerusalem-badlands-state-park/ https://www.instagram.com/kansastourism/

**Wichita, Kansas**: The Keeper of the Plains has become the emblem of Wichita. It includes a plaza where the Keeper sits and a riverwalk that extends around the area. Credit: Mickey Shannon. www.visitwichita Instagram: visitwichita

Petoskey, Michigan: Guests love to walk the Petoskey breakwall – especially during one of the area’s Million Dollar Sunsets. www.PetoskeyArea.com Instagram: Petoskeyarea

**Cleveland, Ohio**: Edgewater Park offers lakefront trails, open green space and panoramic views of Lake Erie and the Cleveland skyline. Credit: Cody York for ThisIsCleveland.com https://www.thisiscleveland.com/locations/edgewater-park Instagram: This is CLE

**Kansas City Missouri**: Jerry Smith Park sits on 360 acres and was previously a working farm. Presently the park supports equestrian and walking trails and provides access to a rich variety of flora and fauna.Website – https://kcparks.org/places/jerry-smith-park/ Instagram: Visit KC

**Iowa:** The Loess Hills, along the western border of Iowa, provide some of the most beautiful scenery, wildlife and overlooks in the country. Photo credit: Iowa Tourism Office. traveliowa.com Instagram: traveliowa

**Lake of the Ozarks, MO**: Ha Ha Tonka State Park at Central Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks was named the most beautiful place in Missouri by Conde Nast Traveler. Ha Ha Tonka’s fourteen walking trails, covering more than 15 scenic miles throughout the park, make it easy for visitors to enjoy solitude while experiencing the honeycomb of tunnels, rock bridges, caverns, springs, sinkholes and other natural areas. Credit: www.FunLake.com. Instagram: funlakemo

**Fort Wayne:** Promenade Park is the Midwest’s newest attraction located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This one-of-a-kind park joins Fort Wayne’s natural rivers to its vibrant urban center, and features a treetop canopy trail, water features for kids to play in, and many modern amenities.
Photo Credit: Visit Fort Wayne
VisitFortWayne.com/PromenadePark Instagram: visitfortwayne

**The Badlands of South Dakota** is 244,000 acres of awe-inspiring landscape. Great for hiking, a scenic drive, or wildlife watching the Badlands are a perfect escape from people, sights, and sounds of everyday life. https://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm Credit: Travel South Dakota

**Lincoln State Park in southern Indiana** offers plenty of outdoor space to enjoy. Take advantage of trails, fishing, picnic areas, and more. https://indianasabelincoln.org/listings/lincoln-state-park/ Instagram: @IndianasAbe and @IndianaDNR Credit: Spencer County Visitors Bureau

travel inspiration

Will trade chutney for toilet paper

March 27, 2020 Terri Peterson Smith 1 Comment

What to read when you’re stuck at home: guidebooks for travel through your house.

You know I’m pretty desperate when I resort to cleaning and organizing my house. But like so many during the Covid-19 pandemic, I’m Corona cleaning. Fortunately, I own two of Marie Kondo’s books The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing and Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up that had been gathering dust. Too bad just owning the books doesn’t make your house tidy. It seemed like a good time to actually put them to use.

My Tidying Adventure

Kondo books in hand, I set out on an exploratory and organizing journey through my house, ready to ponder what possessions spark joy and which to “thank for their service” as Kondo says, and set free. I started with the pantry cupboard, always an adventure with mysteries and discoveries on each shelf. I slowly realized that while some people have been acquiring truckloads of toilet paper, I’ve been hoarding chutney.

The takeaway here is that if you squirrel away bottles of chutney in different places, you can’t find them when you feel the urge to stew up Indian food. You run out and buy more. Then you don’t make whatever dish you planned on and stash the chutney in yet another location and forget about it. Repeat. The result: we have a lifetime supply of chutney.

I also discovered several boxes of Chinese Gunpowder Tea. Let your imagination run wild with its possible uses because I have no idea why we have that. Most interesting, I found two bags of an exotic Greek herb called Dittany that I received from our tour leader last spring on the island of Crete. Dittany is in the mint family and grows, according to the package, 650 meters above the village of Anopoli Sfakion. (Extra geography points if you look this up.) According to the package, “We collect the herb early in the morning to retain all the essential oils and aroma and we dry it naturally. It is considered tonic, antiseptic, inflammatory and a poultice. It helps the headaches, stomach and skin inflammation.”

Wanting to verify this, I consulted one of the Internet sites I most trust for medical advice, the Harry Potter Wiki. It says, “Dittany is a magical plant used in Potion-Making. It is a powerful healing herb and restorative. Its use makes fresh skin grow over a wound and after application the wound seems several days old.”

I’m telling you, this is powerful stuff, especially if you need a poultice. Come on folks, a bag of Dittany is certainly worth at least a four-pack of toilet paper. And chutney? Perhaps Major Grey’s isn’t in huge demand, so I’m hoping for two rolls in trade. We can meet in my driveway and exchange products by tossing them at each other from a safe distance.

Other Reading for In-House Travel

You probably haven’t heard of him, but a fellow named Alexander von Humboldt made an expedition around South America from 1799 to 1804. Before that, he practiced by making an expedition around his bedroom. It’s in the public domain so you can read the timeless travel story, Journey Around My Bedroom, even though the library is closed.

According to the excellent site, Library Hub, von Humbolt undertook this rather small-scale exploration because he was sentenced to house arrest for something related to a duel. They say, “In the centuries before ankle-monitoring bracelets and the like, the authorities relied on the honor of young noblemen” to stay put. Sounds like the honor system of the current stay-at-home order. Humbolt enjoys the fact that this type of journey costs nothing. And, he points out that bedroom travel is especially great for those who are scared of robbers, precipices, and quagmires. And who isn’t these days? His dog and manservant also make appearances just as Duffy and Scott do in my bedroom.

And, don’t miss Hank Azaria’s hilarious play-by-play of making his bed, a substitute for sport announcing these days. It was broadcast on National Public Radio… “going, going, Bed Bath & Beyond!”

At Home with Bill Bryson

My favorite book by author Bill Bryson is the one about his travels in Australia, In a Sunburned Country. It’s laugh-out-loud funny. But you might find another Bryson book, At Home: A Short History of Private Life, more appropriate right now. I wrote about it in a previous post. In At Home, he takes an investigative and historical tour through his Victorian home in England. Seriously, it’s interesting. His house is much more fascinating than my late-60s vintage suburban home in the American Midwest.

But, I’ll bet he doesn’t have as much chutney.

Missouri

A visit to The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City

February 11, 2020 Terri Peterson Smith Leave a comment

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Negro National League in 2020.

The Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Baseball Leagues started it all.

Most people know that Kansas City is a great sports town—go Chiefs! But not everyone knows that KC is where the country’s first successful organized black baseball league got its start. So, it’s appropriate that the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is in Kansas City. It’s a great destination for baseball fans and fans of Black History and Civil Rights history, too.

Empowerment and Entrepreneurial Spirit

Exhibit at the Negro Leagues baseball museum tells of the challenges of travel in Jim Crow America

African-Americans began to play baseball in the late 1800s on military , college , and company teams and on professional teams with white players, too. Sadly, by 1900, racism and Jim Crow laws forced them out. So, black players formed their own units, “barnstorming” around the country to play anyone who would challenge them.

In 1920, a few Midwestern team owners met at the Paseo YMCA in Kansas City and joined to form the Negro National League. Soon, rival leagues formed in eastern and southern states, bringing the skillful and innovative play of black baseball to major urban centers and rural areas in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. The Leagues were known not only for their high level of professional skill but they also became centerpieces for economic development in many black communities.

Telling the Negro Leagues’ Story

Exhibits at the museum introduce teams such as the Kansas City Monarchs, the Birmingham Black Barons, and the Chicago American Giants with mementos that include pristine uniforms of the era. Exhibits show what it was like for teams to travel in the days of segregated hotels and restaurants and “The Green Book” that was a directory of places that welcomed people of color.

A college baseball team sits on the bench during a visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.

There’s a life-size baseball diamond inside the museum with bronze statues of the Leagues’ most famous players and I particularly enjoyed watching members of a college baseball team that was in Kansas City for a tournament as they experienced the museum and and the stories they heard.

Pork Chops

One of the best stories I encountered at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was that of “clown teams.” Not clowns with red noses but the kind that “clowned around” doing funny tricks such as “shadow ball,” in which the ball was thrown around the field during infield practice at a faster and faster speed. They then threw out the ball and kept doing the same thing without the ball, an idea the Harlem Globetrotters later put into practice.

The most famous of them played for the Indianapolis Clowns. They nicknamed him “Pork Chops” because he ate only pork chops and french fries on road. “Pork Chops” went on to become one of the game’s most celebrated players of any color. He went on to play in Major League baseball, smashed Babe Ruth’s home run record (714), and became the all-time home run leader in the Major Leagues.

“Pork Chops” was Henry “Hank” Aaron.

Jackie Robinson

In addition to Hank Aaron, some of baseball’s greatest played in the Negro Leagues before baseball was integrated. The great Jackie Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs. In 1945, Major League Baseball’s Brooklyn Dodgers recruited Robinson from the Monarchs and he became the first African-American in the modern era to play on a Major League team.

It was an historic event in both baseball and civil rights history. But, it prompted the decline of the Negro Leagues. Other Major League teams recruited African American players and their fans followed. The last Negro Leagues teams folded in the early 1960s, but their legacy lives on at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum “Where History Touches Home.”

If You Go: The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is located in Kansas City’s historic 18th and Vine Neighborhood, which is also the city’s famous jazz district. It’s right next to the American Jazz Museum, which is also a great place to visit. Hungry? Pay a visit toto Arthur Bryant’s for its legendary Kansas City barbecue.

Read Up: You’ll find excellent books on the Negro Leagues and their place in American Civil Rights history as well as biographies of some of the most famous players. Here are a few:

Where to Stay

These hotels are fairly close to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. The Crossroads Hotel, the Westin Crown Center Hotel and the Hilton President.

Off The Beaten Page Travel