Here you’ll find my articles about the North America travel: the US and Canada. I grew up in the US, and my articles about travel in the US can be quite personal, given my position as an expat and ex-American. Some, though, simply record my experiences at specific tourist or historical sites. These aren’t big general “ultimate list” or “everything you need to know” posts. Instead, each one focuses on just one or a few sights or experiences from my specific point of view. Enjoy!
“My name is Arcelia and I’ll be your dam tour guide.” This was our introduction to visiting Hoover Dam. Arcelia milked the joke as much as she could – “this dam wall,” “these dam generators,” and so on – but somehow, it worked, earning a chuckle from the visitors every time. Her cheerful approach impressed…
The Neon Museum Las Vegas isn’t like any museum I’ve visited before. It has more in common with a junkyard, albeit a very tidy junkyard. In other words, you won’t see precious items in display cases, and don’t expect the neon signs to be hung neatly on walls. Instead, the only way to see this…
Space Invaders! Memories flooded back as I spotted the game. Pac-Man! Centipede! My visit to the Musée Mécanique and its collection of antique and vintage penny arcade machines struck a chord with me. Anyone who grew up in the 70s will remember these games, fondly or otherwise. I only played occasionally, quitting when I lost…
After learning about how “Rosie the Riveter” constructed Liberty Ships in the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, across the bay from San Francisco, it seemed to me that the obvious next step was to tour an actual Liberty Ship. (See my post on the Rosie the Riveter Museum here.) I ended up seeing not only a…
When I heard about a museum dedicated to Rosie the Riveter, I had to see it. Who was Rosie the Riveter? The name “Rosie the Riveter,” according to Wikipedia, was first used in a 1942 hit song, praising an assembly line worker helping in the war effort. The popular image of Rosie the Riveter stems…
What’s the first word that pops into your head when you hear the word “Orlando”? Unless you’re an Orlando Bloom fan, chances are you thought of Disney World. Click here to read about 8 other things to do in Orlando besides Disney!
For this collaborative post, I asked fellow travel bloggers about their idea of a trip of a lifetime: If a person who’s never traveled far from home asked you to name the one place they should visit on their one-and-only trip ever, what would you say? I got so many different answers! I’ll start with the…
New York City’s African Burial Ground National Monument has an interesting history. Or, rather, two histories: one of the people who were buried there, the other of the rediscovery of the graveyard and the establishment of this monument. Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. If you click on it and spend money, I will…
Los Angeles is one of those places that everyone wants to visit someday, to glimpse some stars on Rodeo Drive, visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame, or enjoy the original Disneyland. The city is very spread out, though, and the Los Angeles area includes some great beach communities, including Marina Del Rey, called “LA’s coastal…
I’m not much of a gambler, but my husband would gladly tell you a story about having to drag me away from the low-stakes slot machines at Lake Tahoe. I insist that my reluctance to leave had more to do with the generous free drinks I received than the slots themselves. Note: I originally wrote…
I like parks as much as the next person, but when I travel they’re not high on my list. I might pass through a park on the way to something else I want to see, or I might do a bit of people-watching in a park long enough to eat a sandwich, but that’s about…
If you’ve read my blog at all, you know I tend to go for the more off-the-beaten-path, lesser-known destinations when I travel. Even when I go to a relatively popular place, like, for example, Romania, I seek out sights that the tourists don’t visit, like the painted churches of Moldavia. Or, visiting South Korea, I…
If you’re on a budget in New York City and want to visit historic homes, the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Museum is an obvious choice. After that visit, I ended up also checking out the Merchant’s House Museum. These two historic homes in New York City both lend some insight into the lives of the 19th…
When I entered the lobby and spotted the stuffed peacocks on the wall, mounted vertically with their faded tail feathers dangling, I knew the Jane Hotel wasn’t a run-of-the-mill hotel. I had suspected it already when I booked the room. First of all, it was suspiciously cheap for New York City—I paid $115 a night—yet…
We often forget that California history goes further back than the “49-ers,” the gold prospectors who hurried to California once gold was discovered in 1848. Carmel Mission and Mission Delores in Northern California are two pearls of the California mission system that arrived long before the Gold Rush. Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If…
Back in the 1990’s, I lived in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, the birthplace of the hippie movement and the epicenter of the Summer of Love. When my daughter was born in 1992, I decided not to go back to work right away. Paying for childcare would have cost much of my take-home pay, so it…
Pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory, views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz: these are typical tourist destinations in San Francisco. Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you click on one and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This will not affect your price. Those of us who…
Here’s an idea for a weekend trip from San Francisco that my daughter and I enjoyed very much. We really skimmed the surface of each place where we stopped; you could easily make it a week-long trip. Nevertheless, it felt like a real San Francisco getaway road-trip: the freedom to travel where we wanted, stopping…
