Rockford, Illinois: Swede Town
How did a frontier village in Illinois grow to become an industrial and cultural center? It was due, in part, to a group of immigrants from Sweden who planned to settle in Chicago in 1852, were confronted with an plan-altering epidemic, and had the skills to fill a need after a devastating fire.
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The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California
When we needed a place to stay in the Los Angeles area before our Panama Canal cruise aboard Cunard’s newest ship, the Queen Elizabeth, we thought of Cunard’s legendary Queen Mary. She has been a floating hotel steeped in history and docked in Long Beach, California since ending her transatlantic runs in 1967.
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The Panama Canal aboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth
The first thing we noticed when we entered the Grand Lobby of Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth was the sweeping staircase and impressive two-story marquetry mural of a cruise liner. The exotic veneers and Art Deco details reminded us of our pre-cruise stay aboard the legendary Queen Mary, which was renowned for its exotic woods from throughout the British empire.
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Montréal to Boston: A Canada/New England cruise aboard Holland America’s Maasdam
Montréal is the cultural capital and largest city in Québec, second largest city in Canada, and the second largest French-speaking city in the world. It’s either the first or last port, depending on the sailing, which creates a great opportunity for an extended stay.
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Holiday in Chicago
With its world-class shopping, dining, architecture, parks, museums, performances, and special events, it would be hard to top the holiday spirit of the Jewel of the Lakes, the Gem of the Prairie– Chicago.
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Paradise found: a Caribbean cruise aboard Holland America’s Noordam
Palm trees, tropical breezes, and cerulean seas beckoned…
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Canada and New England cruise: Coastal Gems with the Jewel of the Sea
The ever-changing kaleidoscope of crimson, amber and gold of autumn is something we don’t like to miss. When Royal Caribbean offered a foliage season cruise along our Atlantic coastline on the Jewel of the Sea with the convenience of sailing roundtrip from Boston, we booked a stateroom right away.
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Arkansas’ Ozarks: head for the hills
The essence of the Natural State is found in the soaring limestone cliffs, glorious vistas, verdant forests, colossal caverns, and cool, clear waters of northern Arkansas’ Ozarks.
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Little Rock, Arkansas: From Pioneers to President, Civil War to Civil Rights
With the opening of the Clinton Library and Museum in the Clinton Presidential Center and Park in 2004, the riverside capital city has undergone a renaissance, and people are discovering more of what this state has to offer.
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The American Queen
Walking to the Robin Street Wharf, we could see her fluted 109 foot tall stacks rising above the buildings, and we knew we were in for a treat.
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Historic York County, Pennsylvania: Factory Tour Capital of the World
York has come a long way since the days when William Penn sent surveyor Thomas Cookson here to lay out a new town in what was then the frontier. Cookson, an Englishman from Yorkshire, named one of the main streets after his king, George, and the town after the Duchy of York. Yorktown, as it was called in the from the mid-18th to early 19th centuries, became known as The White Rose City for the symbol of the House of York.
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A week in Virginia’s Blue Ridge
The 469 mile drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of America’s most scenic road trips. This mountaintop roadway provides scenic trails and vistas from Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park to Smoky Mountain National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee. It also runs through a region of cities and towns rich in historical, cultural, and culinary experiences.
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Galveston, Texas: A treasure of an island
We were on an island with gentle breezes and shimmering water, the lyrics of the 1969 Glen Campbell hit dancing in our heads. We heard the “sea winds blowing” and watched the “sea waves crashing”, and “sea birds flying in the sun” — in Galveston.
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A Royal Rendezvous of Cunard’s Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth cruise ships
On September 25, 1967, as the Queen Mary was about to make her final transatlantic voyage en route to Long Beach, she passed her sister ship, the original Queen Elizabeth. Their captains stood on deck while the ships’ horns sounded.
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