ArcaMax

About 30,000 years ago, groups of people crossed over from present-day Siberia to Alaska before moving on and settling along the Atlantic seaboard of today's United States. Their descendants became the Lenape tribe, part of the Algonquin nation whose members lived in what now is New Jersey.

These people were followed by Jeremiah Leeds, a ...Read more

I recently was enjoying a leisurely stroll along a path that leads through a treasure-trove of various architectural styles, museum-quality displays of art and floral plantings that would make any gardener proud. I was walking the High Line, the elevated former railway that runs 30 feet above street level down the west side of Manhattan, New ...Read more

Around 1857, a man named Gerat Hollenberg and his wife, Sophia, built a modest wood-shingled house in present-day Kansas, four years before the territory became a state. The structure also served as a grocery store, tavern and unofficial post office for immigrants following the Oregon-California Trails. Three years later it became one of the ...Read more

People walking along a thoroughfare in Silver Spring, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C., pass beneath a line of abstract paintings attached to the side of a building. Each includes a quote attributed to a famous historic figure.

"Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself," instructs Marcus Aurelius, the stoic philosopher and ...Read more

"Oh, look," my wife, Fyllis, exclaimed with surprise and delight. "I've been looking for antique candlesticks like these for ages."

"And I've been searching for an old-fashioned briefcase like this one," I replied, lifting my find from a pile of items spread out on a long table.

We were far from home, enjoying a vacation in upstate New York, ...Read more

What can visitors do in Napa and Sonoma besides drink wine? The question looms large for the legendary San Francisco Bay Area wine regions as well as for other wine areas around the country as they face recent mounting challenges.

Gen Z, people ages between 21 and 28, consume less wine than previous generations partially because wine -- and ...Read more

Native American land in the Southwest blooms with spectacular scenery and rewards visitors with an understanding of Native American history and culture. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Canyon de Chelly and Taos Pueblo not only put you in the midst of formidable landscapes but also provide the opportunity for a first-hand encounter with ...Read more

More than 25 million Americans visit Washington, D.C., each year. Most come to enjoy the magnificent monuments, take a guided tour of the White House and see other buildings where history has been -- and is being -- made.

Fewer venture beyond the major tourist attractions to find often-overlooked sites and neighborhoods filled with hidden gems ...Read more

I recently joined about 3,000 other spectators watching armor-clad horseback-riders engage in combat jousting. King Henry VIII and Queen Jane Seymour, the third of his six wives, strolled out onto a balcony overlooking the arena and waved to the crowd. Then I accompanied those seated in my section of the stands in shouting encouragement to the ...Read more

During a recent visit to Florida, I strolled along a section of a trail that provided close-up views of magnificent scenery, rolling beach sand dunes and a virtual aviary of colorful birds. I was walking on part of the Florida National Scenic Trail, a 1,500-mile-long footpath that weaves its way across the state from the Big Cypress National ...Read more

So, yes, I'd heard about Lewis and Clark (that would be Meriwether Lewis and William Clark). And I vaguely knew that Thomas Jefferson had dispatched them to explore the Louisiana Purchase that he had just acquired from France in 1803. But not until my husband and I took an American Cruise Lines expedition of our own to the Snake and Columbia ...Read more

"Why don't you just move there?"

Some friends, knowing what an Anglophile I am (having toured the United Kingdom often, including London 42 times), recently teased me when I commented that of the 55 countries I have visited I would love to spend three months in delightful Windsor, England. It's just a 20-minute taxi ride from Heathrow and about...Read more

Don and Betty Price work hard all week. Don is an accountant, Betty an executive assistant. On weekends they're in the mood for some welcome rest, relaxation and rejuvenation. Their preferred solution: Take to the woods.

They often pile into their car and head for a park outside of the city where they live. On occasion they find the solace they...Read more

There's a certain serenity to sipping a glass of fine sangiovese wine while watching the sunset when you're sitting beneath cascading wisteria vines in full bloom that pour from the entire 70-foot frontage of a wine-tasting patio pergola. The setting is the Palumbo Family Vineyards and Winery in Southern California's Temecula Wine Valley in ...Read more

Gullah-Geechee heritage is unique to South Carolina, and a visit here is a fascinating way to learn about the people who grew world-famous Sea Island cotton on plantations in the lower part of the state. From here they shipped it to Europe from the 1700s until the Civil War. Now the historic area of the plantation cotton farms has been ...Read more

Pedaling along the boardwalk to the rhythmic whoosh of the breaking waves, first on a tricycle and then on a bike, is among my favorite childhood memories. And boardwalks still make me happy. They add fun to the classic American idyll of sun, sand and sea. Two of my favorite East Coast boardwalks unfurl in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Miami ...Read more

Walking home to our apartment in Venice, we shared a wave through the window with the owner of Baba, our local osteria. When we left for a day of sightseeing, a cup of my favorite pistachio gelato awaited me, despite the early hour. Later, at the Bar Dugole, we relaxed after a day of sightseeing and ordered the regular: vodka for my husband and ...Read more

Visitors to the high California hills of Calaveras County during the third weekend in May have quite a treat in store. This is when Frogtown, USA, comes to life with the annual Calaveras County Fair and Frog Jump Jubilee.

Mark Twain put Calaveras County on the literary map with his 1867 essay, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." ...Read more

A historic mansion in New Jersey, once a private home for Moroccan royalty, today is a luxurious hotel. People visiting two sites in Portland, Oregon, might imagine that they have been transported to Asia. Guests at a deluxe resort in Tennessee awaken to watch the sun rise over the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

The charms of these ...Read more

I stood frozen with fear, unable to move. The terrifying image drew closer, his curved sword swinging wildly. Just as he seemed about to separate my head from my body, I snapped back to reality, left my all-too-real daydream about the pirate Blackbeard behind and moved on to the next exhibit in the museum.

This dramatic -- if somewhat grisly --...Read more