June 2008

By Ed Wetschler “I’ve always wanted to dress up in old clothes in an old town and lie to kids about history,” says shopkeeper Floyd D.P. Oydegaard. Don’t believe him. Oydegaard is passionate about California’s heritage, as are many people in Tuolumne County, high in the foothills of the Sierra

Has the idea of vacationing in hurricane-prone areas such as Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean during storm season given you pause? It should, especially after the record-setting year of 2005, which saw the formation of 27 named storms. Fifteen of those storms became hurricanes, and of those, four reached Category

BACKSTORY: Jumel Terrace B&B is a bookish hideaway in a classic brownstone on a quiet, leafy street in Harlem Heights, an area so rich in history that it’s been dubbed "where the founding fathers meet the founding brothers." That quote is from the owner of Jumel Terrace, Kurt Thometz (photo

by Bobbie Leigh When you are sitting on almost 10 percent of the world’s oil, you should be able to accomplish miracles. Even without a surfeit of petrodollars, China built its new Beijing Airport in less than four years. Now we await the Abu Dhabi miracle: Sadiyaat Island. This is

Looking for adventure? And I mean an ultimate adventure, not a mere walk in the woods? Then check out Riding the Hulahula to the Arctic Ocean: A Guide to Fifty Extraordinary Adventures for the Seasoned Traveler, by Don Mankin and Shannon Stowell (National Geographic). Stowell, president of the Adventure Travel

Any obsessed American foodie would probably rank a week at a cooking school in France or Italy pretty high on their list of fantasy trips. Bob Spitz not only fits that bill. He went and wrote about a string of them, in both countries, in “The Saucier’s Apprentice: One Long