A tale of two lakes: #Amreading lake-set novels

It was a pleasant coincidence. I finished a novel I really enjoyed, The Summer We Lost Her, by Tish Cohen, which tells the story of a slowly crumbling marriage strained further by the disappearance of the couple’s young daughter. The setting plays a big role in the novel – the Adirondack Mountains lake town of…

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Enjoying a new angle – from NY’s The Vessel

When I was back in New York with my family this summer, we were curious to see a new monument that sprung up during our absence. In the building frenzy that is the Hudson Yards neighborhood of downtown Manhattan, a new landmark has taken shape – just beside the Hudson Yards subway stop. The Vessel.…

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Hanging out in Washington Harbor

Over the past weeks of travel blogs, I’ve written about a visit to Old Town Alexandria and returning to Washington via water taxi along the Potomac. It seems fitting to include information of where I disembarked – the newly developed Washington Harbor. I first visited Washington Harbor last year, when it was just opening. A…

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A garrulous population is a writer’s dream

“Well, in the South, everybody stays busy talking all the time—they’re not sorry for you to overhear their tales. I don’t feel in helping myself I ever did anything underhanded. I was helping out.” -Eudora Welty Love this quote from American, Mississippi-born short story writer (1909-2001) Eudora Welty. I am no expert on the American…

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Traveling the Potomac – via water taxi

Last week I wrote about a visit we took this past summer to Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, just a short trip away from Washington, DC. I’ve always been reached Alexandria either by car or the metro. On this visit, we took public transport, arriving by metro. But after a nice wander around the town and…

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Farewell to Summer 2019

I know I’m lucky where I live in Rome. There are no nippy breezes in September. No need to dig out the winter coats for some time yet. But still, as I watch the days grow shorter and shorter, I can’t help but realize the summer is winding down – and that autumn begins officially…

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A day in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

This past summer while I was with my family in Washington, DC, we decided to take the easy trip out to Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. It’s easy to reach with public transport – an easy stop on the metro. From the metro station, we enjoyed the pleasant summer day for a walk through the city’s…

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