Discoveries

By Brian E. Clark In 1857, wealthy builder Alexander McDonnell asked architect and German emigrant August Kutzboch to design him “the best house money could buy.” The ostentatious McDonnell chose a wooded lot for his home on a promontory called Bug Hill on the isthmus between lakes Mendota and Monona

By Everett Potter There was a time decades ago when overnight trains crisscrossed the European continent. Those were the glamourous days of rail travel, celebrated in thrillers like Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and Graham Greene’s Stamboul Train. Alas, those night trains gradually fell out of favor as low-cost airlines like

By Everett Potter Lodging on the coast of Maine has been undergoing a transformation during the past few years, an ongoing story that I’ve been covering here at Forbes. Vintage hotels like The Claremont in Southwest Harbor have been reborn as upscale properties. At the same time, former mom-and-pop cottage compounds

By Ruth J. Katz Botox is on my mind. I imbibed the “magical” waters at the celebrated Ponce de Leon Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. But, sadly, I did not get the “as-advertised” (OK, to be honest, the “as-hoped-for”) miraculous facial transformation that I thought this elixir was guaranteed to

By Beverly Stephen Supposedly “I can’t wait for spring” is the most popular phrase on the web.  Why wait? Hop a plane and spend a weekend in Charleston where peak blooming season is mid-March through April and early May when temperatures average in the ‘70s. From window boxes in private homes

By Everett Potter Amtrak is on a roll again. Flush with $66 billion, thanks mainly to the bipartisan infrastructure bill President Biden championed in 2021 for new routes, Amtrak has begun new services and resumed services that were discontinued not only during the Covid pandemic but also as far back

By Everett Potter If you’re a traveler who’s been just about everywhere, there’s a remarkable new opportunity to explore a country that few have visited. Geographic Expeditions (GeoEx), the esteemed travel company that has pioneered some extraordinary trips around the globe, will begin taking small groups to Southern Iraq in

By Hilary Nangle Misty rain dampened my enthusiasm as I hopscotched puddles between the parking lot to the Roonagh Pier ferry terminal, about 17 miles west of Westport, Ireland. Whitecaps dancing on Clew Bay’s storm-gray waters had me questioning my desire to stay at the Clare Island Lighthouse Inn. Still,

By Catherine Sabino Madonna di Campiglio, a mountain resort in Italy’s Dolomites, has long been a draw for prominent names, attracting Habsburg monarchs (Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth) in the late 19th century, and more recently, digital “royalty,” like the influential blogger/entrepreneur Chiara Ferragni. While Campiglio may not be

By Brian E. Clark When Davis Hansen was growing up in Pasadena, Calif., he earned a small-boat sailing merit badge from the Boy Scouts. And until recently, the 33-year-old said he was interested in learning how to sail a bigger boat. But after his most recent trip, a seven-day outing