A graveyard at Brookgreen Gardens

Just 18 miles north of Myrtle Beach, Brookgreen Gardens stands as the country’s first public sculpture garden, with 50 acres of lush, landscaped gardens dotted with over 14,00 artworks spanning the early 1800s to the present.  Besides art, nature trails, a zoo and exhibits, Brookgreen Gardens also boasts ancient graveyards that give a peek into the history of the people that lived on the land centuries ago. Read More »

A horse drawn-carriage in Montreal

Montreal is a city that brims with beauty, history and charm. You can see these elements everywhere you move but there’s no area more quintessential for Montreal history and landmarks than the Old Montreal neighborhood.  Called Vieux Montreal in French, this area displays all the European flavor and old world history that Montreal is noted for. Read More »

Happy  Thanksgiving, America!

You probably already know that the play you did in elementary school depicting a happy meal between people dressed in feathers and people dressed in black and white hats didn’t cover exactly how the meeting between the pilgrims and Indians went down. Hopefully you also know that the people who lived on this land long before the Mayflower docked at Plymouth Rock weren’t actually Indians. Indian, in fact, is an entirely different country on an entirely different continent.

But I digress.

Thanksgiving. Settlers. A meeting (or clashing, you might say) of the old and the new. There’s a few places to go to get a slightly more accurate overview of what was going on in New England in 1620.

• Pilgrim Hall; Plymouth, Massachusetts - find out more about the people who really did come over on the Mayflower, as well as the families and community they built on what would become American soil.
• National Museum of the American Indian; Washington, D.C. - the Smithsonian always does a phenomenal job and they have access to the best stuff. Added bonus – all of their museums, including the NMOAI, are free.
• The Mashantucket Pequot Museum; Mashantucket, CT – Near Mystic, CT, this museum can be challenging to get through because of an overwhelming layout, but it does an impressive job of explaining the conflict between Europeans and native tribes.

Plan a trip to one of these sites in the next 12 months and you can enjoy your turkey guilt free today!

Photo: Britt Reints

The Chicago Theatre

New York has Time Square and London has Big Ben but Chicago’s iconic landmark is the Chicago Theatre. This historic movie theater with the distinctive “Chicago” Marquee sign sits in the heart of the Loop and is one of the last standing movie palace’s in the country.  If you’ve never entered inside the theater and glided down the vivid red carpet or gazed upon the gold leaf  ceiling fixtures,  the Chicago Theater Marquee Tour should be at the top of your to do list. Read More »