I visited Banff, Canada, this past July and it is easily the most impressive place I've ever been.
26.07.2023 - 10:11 / nytimes.com
In American fiction, my state is code for outpost. Maine is where you send a character you want to get rid of, someone who goes off to raise goats, farm oysters, prep for the apocalypse — or write a novel. Apart from California, I can think of no other state in the Union that lives as strongly in the national collective imagination as a place to play out a festering dream.
I was in my mid-20s, waitressing on an island off the coast of Rockland, Maine, when the actor William Hurt — ultrafamous, at the height of his career — sat down in my section. I’d heard rumors that morning that he was on island, as they say, on a solo “soul-searching” sail up the coast and that his navigational equipment had broken down. He’d come to the nearest harbor for help. That was my first glimpse of the power of Maine’s particular allure. I’d grown up in Massachusetts, and no one ever searched for their soul there.
The standard fantasy is often coastal and involves fog, wet rocks and lobster boats rumbling out at dawn. Our shoreline is vast, over 3,000 miles of it, with hundreds of peninsulas and more than 4,000 islands. But Maine is not all coast. It is farms and mill towns and forests, small cities and suburbs and strip malls that look like those anywhere else in the country, except for the pointed trees off in the distance.
Some extraordinary literature has come out of this state, from all regions. Reading and writing are deeply valued up here, and we have a big, passionate literary community. Even our governor is a poet. Here are some suggestions to start with, but I barely scratch the surface with this list.
Start with by Morgan Talty, a citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation. This collection of linked stories came out last summer, keeps winning prizes and is magnificent.
Move on to by the novelist and playwright Monica Wood, a memoir of growing up in the mill town of Mexico, Maine. Somehow Wood spins the story of her father’s sudden death and the slower death of the once-vibrant economy of her hometown into an exhilarating read, chock-full of love and humor and beloved characters. You will not pass through a Maine mill town again without thinking of the Wood sisters and their mum.
Chances are you’ve already read Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer winner about one of literature’s most well-rendered and uncomfortably human protagonists. If so, read everything else by Strout. Most of it is set in Maine and could be set nowhere else, and she is a genius.
E.B. White is at least partially responsible for the pulling-up-stakes-and-moving-to-Maine impulse. In 1938, he and his wife and young son left New York for Brooklin, Maine. He raised hens and pigs and cows and wrote about it in a collection of short essays originally written
I visited Banff, Canada, this past July and it is easily the most impressive place I've ever been.
When Billy Joel sang about a “New York State of Mind” he was talking about going home to the Big Apple.
Ottawa, the charming capital of Canada, is a cultural destination often seen as the city of museums. This makes perfect sense with so many unique and educational museums and galleries to explore. In fact, Ottawa is home to seven of Canada’s nine national museums and visitors can experience the entire country in one city and immerse themselves in Canadian history while exploring top attractions. Ottawa has now turned popular points of interest into 156 Unofficial Museums across the region to inspire your next trip.
Appalachia is a region and a mind-set. Our devotion to our place belies the fact that we’re hard to pin down on a map: a swath of highlands crossing parts of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and the coal country of Kentucky and West Virginia, plus a smidgen of Pennsylvania and points north. State lines make little sense here; we have more in common with other mountain communities than with the far ends of our states and their capitals. Appalachia has few large cities, our economies are land-based and, unless you live here, we’re probably not what you think.
Are lengthy tarmac delays happening more often? It certainly feels that way, with several frustrating incidents having gone viral in recent times in which passengers were stuck on planes for hours before their flights were eventually canceled.
Somewhere in the world there is an excited dog flying for the first time. Whether this lucky pooch is flying economy or business class, it’s best to be well prepared for the big day. Flying with your dog takes planning and it’s important to prioritize their needs and follow airline requirements. As a travel writer I have met several jet setting pooches on my flights with happy wagging tails and a sense of adventure. But that is not to say all dogs love to fly, even if they do get a window seat on a private jet.
Maine might not be the first place that comes to mind when the word “surfing” is mentioned, yet the state has a long history of hardy surfers braving the cold waters of the Gulf of Maine in search of the perfect wave.
Enter the Jarlsberg “Perfect Pairing” sweepstakes by September 12, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a four-night trip for two people to Oslo, Norway, including air and hotel.
Sometimes it’s the look of a place that inspires us to want to visit. For travelers who roam the Internet looking for visual inspiration to decide where to go next, Pinterest has a handy new tool.
Every now and then a lucky traveler discovers a far-off place that feels like home. San Franciscans might find comfort in hilly Lisbon; Dubliners have been known to flock to their unofficial sister city of Boston; and New Yorkers often find solace in bustling capitals like Tokyo and London. But it’s not often that two oft-compared destinations also share an identical name.
Travel rewards can be an excellent way to save money when you use miles and points correctly. The average credit card rewards point is worth one cent. But some cards, such as business rewards credit cards, offer more bang for your buck. With these suggestions, your rewards points can be worth at least twice the value. Let’s take a look to see how.