America’s Most Scenic Drives

June 20, 2017 by Ivana De Domenico

I’ll admit- traveling can be stressful, and oftentimes the process of getting to your destination is what makes it that way. There’s getting through security at the airport and the fear of missing your flight. There’s dealing with bickering children (your own or someone else’s) and being in cramped quarters. Sometimes you have to put up with inconveniences like lost college or unexpected fees. Other times, however, if you actively let go of your stress and worries, the journey is the destination and getting to wherever you want to go can be just as enjoyable, if not even more enjoyable, than the destination itself.

One of my favorite novels is Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. This book is classic Americana at its best, as it details the journey of Kerouac and his friends across the highways of 1950’s America without a destination in sight. You might not be able to follow in Kerouac’s exact tire tracks today as you could have when the book was published, as Route 66 doesn’t exist today as it did then- but there are plenty of drives throughout the United States that are just as entertaining and breathtaking. This summer, I challenge you to embrace the joys of traveling and take a road trip with your family and friends. I can just about guarantee that if you take one of these scenic drives, you will not be disappointed.

Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia to North Carolina

This 469-mile stretch of highway through the Blue Ridge Mountains is so breathtakingly beautiful that it’s managed by the National Park Service. Known as “America’s favorite drive,” it offers unparalleled views of the vast Shenandoah Valley, towering mountain peaks, and verdant forests and meadows.

Route 66, Illinois to California

Route 66 may not exist any longer as a main, unbroken highway, but you can still drive parts of this iconic highway. The most scenic stretch is the mountainous region extending from the Grand Canyon to the Colorado River. Be sure to experience Americana on your journey and stop at the kitschy roadside attractions, mom-and-pop shops, motels, diners, and vintage service stations.

Pacific Coast Highway, California

You’ve most likely seen pictures of Big Sur with stretches of elevated highway winding alongside seaside cliffs. That’s because the 100-mile stretch of road running from Monterey to Hearst Castle is so famous. Gasp in awe at the beauty of this drive and maybe stop at a beach while you’re at it.

Highway 12, Utah

If you want to feel small and awestruck, then this is the drive for you. Red-tinged sandstone cliffs tower above snaking expanses of highway between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Park.

Route 100, Vermont

The classic New England drive is best enjoyed in the fall when the foliage takes on fiery shades of red, orange, and yellow. Route 100 is stretch of country road that winds through forests and over hills, from Stowe south to the Massachusetts border.

This is just a mere sampling of some of the gorgeous drives that can be found in the United States. Grab your crew and hit the road this summer for a real travel treat!

Famous Literary Locations Around the World

May 20, 2017 by Ivana De Domenico

If you happen to be both an avid reader and a globetrotter, why not plan your next vacation around one of these famous literary locations? Think how incredible it would be to walk in the footsteps of your favorite author- to sit where they sat brainstorming their next masterpiece and wander the same streets they tread upon in years past. When all that stands between you and one of these locales associated with a famous author is a plane ticket, you do not want to miss out on what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take a visit. Instead of going to the same old place your family vacations every year or shoveling thousands of dollars into a luxury resort vacation, consider planning your next vacation around one of these famous literary locations.

Prague, Czech Republic:

If you’re willing to make a trip all the way out to the Czech Republic, you’ll find yourself in the birthplace and final resting place of novelist and short story writer Franz Kafka, one of the most prominent literary figures of the 20th century. Spots you’ll want to hit include the author’s childhood home (although the house was rebuilt, the original front door was preserved), the Old-New Synagogue where he attended services, the home where he spent his adult years at 16 Dlouha, a monument to Kafka in the city square, The Kafka Museum, and Kafka’s grave at New Jewish Cemetery.

Bath, England

In addition to being a charming English city teeming with history from its 18th century Georgian architecture to its ancient Roman baths, the city of Bath is a mecca for Jane Austen fans. While in this city, take time to indulge in everything quintessentially British: Stop for afternoon tea and a famous “Sally Lunn Bun” at Sally Lunn’s Historic Eating House, and afterwards browse through some of the acclaimed independent bookshops in the city, such as Mr. B’s Emporium of Reading Delights and Topping & Company. Oh, and then celebrate the Great English novelist, Jane Austen, behind such famous works as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility by touring the Jane Austen Centre, a museum dedicated to Bath’s most famous resident.

Yasnaya Polyana, Russia

Leo Tolstoy, author of Anna Karenina and War and Peace is regarded as “one of the greatest authors of all time.” With a visit to Yasnaya Polyana, the author’s birthplace and residence throughout his life, you can tour the writer’s home where he penned his most famous works and visit his grave nearby.

Dublin, Ireland

In between pints of Guinness, take some time to explore some of the iconic literary landmarks in this beautiful city. Visit the Trinity Library where you can view the Book of Kells, believed to be written in 800 AD. Also, if you’re a fan of Oscar Wilde, you can visit the author’s childhood home. Dublin was the home to Irish author James Joyce as well, and you can learn more about his life by visiting the James Joyce Centre and taking a tour through the city of locations that served as inspiration for his works.

Oxford, England

In addition to being home to one of the largest bookstores in the world, Blackwell’s, and the world’s premium institution of higher education, Oxford was the stomping ground of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. The two author friends, who dubbed themselves “The Inklings,” would meet at the Eagle and Child Pub to discuss their literary endeavors.

Paris, France:

Paris is a dream romantic and cultural getaway as it is, and bibliophiles will delight in its literary offerings. First and foremost, Paris played host to “The lost generation” of writers including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and T.S. Eliot, American expatriates who wrote some of their most famous works there. You can also tour the nooks and crannies of the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore.

Edinburgh, Scotland:

A trip to Edinburgh for any Harry Potter fan would not be complete without a visit to The Elephant House, the cafe where J.K. Rowling started writing the Harry Potter books as a struggling, down-on-her-luck writer living on welfare. Who knows? You when you take a seat with your cup of tea, you may be sitting in the very spot J.K. Rowling once was.

Hartford, Connecticut:

Most of these locations are in Europe, so if you live in America, you won’t have to travel as far for this one. Make a trip out to Hartford to visit the Mark Twain House and Museum, a National Historic Landmark and the victorian home where Mark Twain lived and wrote from 1874-1891. While you’re there, you won’t be at a shortage of things to do; Hartford is a bustling city, and there are plenty of shops, restaurants, and beaches nearby in places like Greenwich and Mystic.

Stratford-Upon-Avon, England:

Another English city (you could plan a literary tour through England!), Stratford-Upon-Avon is believed to be the birthplace of the one-and-only, enigmatic William Shakespeare. You can visit the 16th-century restored Tutor home where Shakespeare is believed to have been born and learn more about the author’s life, as well as the childhood cottage of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife. Stratford-Upon-Avon is also home to the Royal Shakespeare Company, a theatre troupe that performs Shakespeare’s plays throughout the year at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Amherst, Massachusetts:

If you’re a fan of Emily Dickinson, be sure to pay a visit to the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, where you can visit two historic homes associated with the reclusive poet. The Homestead was Dickinson’s birthplace and home, while the Evergreens located next door was the home of her brother Austin, his wife Susan, and their three children.

6 Books to Read if you Have a Serious Case of Wanderlust

May 3, 2017 by Ivana De Domenico

The word “wanderlust” has been tossed around a lot lately in travel lore and the word itself, without even knowing what it means, evokes a sense of travel, the way it musically rolls off the tongue. The dictionary definition of wanderlust is, “a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about.” Do you have the wanderlust bug?

If you happen to be both an avid traveler and a bookworm, like myself, then consider picking one of these books up for your next read. Summer is just around the corner, and what better way to enjoy a day on the beach than with a good book? Even if you’re only at your local beach this summer and not some exotic locale, with one of these books in your beach bag, you’ll feel as though you’ve been around the world.

1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

If the best thing about travel, for you, is the diversity of food and cultures around the world, then this is the book for you. Author Elizabeth Gilbert recounts her travels as a young woman through Italy, India, and Indonesia, in search of her true self. Despite the outward appearance of a successful life, Gilbert realized that in order to understand her place in the world, she first had to experience it beyond her sheltered corner of the universe. Let this book take you on a journey and maybe you will learn something about yourself as well.

2. The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

Can happiness be found? Or must we create our own happiness? It’s a question that has haunted mankind from inception. The grumpy and misanthropic author sets out on a journey from America to Iceland to India in the pursuit of happiness and an attempt to answer those questions for himself. With a sarcastic sense of humor, Weiner provides some interesting food for thought.

3. Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Feeling a little lost? Like you just want to break away from everything that’s tying you down and start anew? Then you’ll be able to relate to author Cheryl Strayed as she narrates her experience, at the age of 22, of losing her mother, and her crumbling marriage as a result. Four years later, feeling that she had nothing left to lose, Strayed set off on a journey of strength and healing as she impulsively hiked over a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail on her own.

4. Paris in Love: a Memoir by Eloisa James

What if you could just quit your day job and take off to wherever you wanted to go in the world, no strings attached? For most, this lifestyle is only a fantasy, but for author Eloisa James, it was reality. The author tells of her year in Paris, when she took a sabbatical from her job as a Shakespeare professor and sold her home in America to live in the beautiful city of love.

5. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The only work of fiction on the list, this classic novel tells the story of Santiago, a shepherd boy who yearns to travel the world in search of treasure. What he finds, instead of material riches, is something far greater: the importance of following our hearts and our dreams to arrive at a deeper understanding of life.

6. The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner

If, again, you’re feeling a little lost like you’re just going through the motions of your life, it may be time to put it all behind you and explore everything you’ve been missing in the world. If you can’t do that, then you can start by picking up this book. The three authors and friends tell how they quit their high-pressure media jobs in New York City to backpack through four continents of the world.

Banned Books Week Is A Time To Celebrate: The Books Have Won

October 2, 2015 by Ivana De Domenico

We are in the midst of Banned Books Week, an annual awareness campaign that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books and highlights persecuted individuals. This campaign has brought awareness to the censorship placed on many books throughout our country for years.

The awareness campaign may not hold much meaning anymore. As Ruth Graham describes, Banned Books Week “traffics in fear-mongering over censorship, when in fact the truth is much sunnier: There is basically no such thing as a ‘banned book’ in the United States in 2015.” Graham argues that instead of complaining about nonexistent censorship, we should take this time to celebrate the fact that books won.

There was a time in our country’s history when book bans were a extremely prevalent and serious issue. The Comstock Law, passed by Congress in 1873, made it illegal to circulate “obscene literature.” This law led to the ban of classic books, such as The Canterbury Tales and the actual prosecution of publishers and booksellers of forbidden novels such as Tropic of Cancer and Fanny Hill. If your local library or bookstore did not carry a book, it would be extremely difficult to find it anywhere.

It was not until 1982 that things began to change. In the Supreme Court decision, Island Trees School District v. Pico, the court ruled that local school boards cannot remove books from their libraries simply because they are offended by them. With the growth of technology and the emergence of the internet, it is now possible to gain access to any book in the world in a matter of seconds. The idea of a banned book or the inability to access a particular novel is not really a concern in our country anymore.

There is no question that books have won the battle over censorship. The growth of technology, as well as a more sensible approach by our society, has helped secure this victory. The rhetoric around Banned Books Week sheds light on the differences in the past and the present, showing the great progress our country has made. However, it also brings attention to the fact that we need to continue to explore the difference between a general availability of a book in a public school and inclusion of such book in a school curricula.

If a parent merely questions the presence of a book on a required reading, it should not be viewed as an attempt to remove the book from circulation at the school or local library. Unfortunately this is how organizations that run Banned Books Week tend to view it. Instead, we need to continue to maintain an open dialogue between the two parties. If parents raise concerns over the bad language, violence, or sexual content of a book it should not be viewed as a move for censorship, but rather a move to protect their children.

These decisions should be viewed on a case by case basis. Afterall, each town in our country has a different set of values and way of life. A single attempt to remove a book from a school curricula is not a threat to censorship. At the end of the day, books have won. This is something to celebrate.

What to do?