Like the Highlander, sometimes there really should only be one. If you're unfamiliar with my arcane reference to the 1980s cult film, it's about a bunch of immortal highlanders who battle each other until only one is left. That's not really why I'm using this example.
Some people read only fiction. Some people read only nonfiction. I read both. But if you asked me for my top 10 favorite books, there would not be a nonfiction book in the list.
I recently came back from a road trip through New England (which I've chronicled on a blog series I've called Traveling with the Travelers). However, right before leaving on the vacation, I became a book fairy. Instead of waiting until I returned home to Northern Virginia to start my book fairy adventures, I decided to spread book fairy dust along our trek up the coast.
I live a relatively land-locked life near the Eastern US coast. The closest my family and I get to sailing is a swan-shaped paddle boat on a lake. That was until a recent trip to New England where I discovered the thrill of the open ocean and the stories it can tell...
It's literally a once in a lifetime experience. The blotting out of the sun. A total solar eclipse. Maybe that's why books and movies like to use eclipses for plot and metaphor...
I have two philosophies when it comes to travel. One: Choose one location and delve into all the nuances and quirks of that one place. Two: Visit as many different places in a general location that will reasonably fit into the length of the vacation. Regardless, I make sure to always visit the town's bookstore.
My family and I are currently traveling up the New England coast. Our first stop was Salem, Mass. After that stop, we drove up the coast and landed in Freeport, Maine with a quick visit to Portland, two very different and unique places...
Salem, Massachusetts is well known for one thing: witches. Those who have never seen the town often picture a tiny hamlet cluttered with decaying centuries old buildings and quaint stores hocking tarot cards and crystals. That is what my family and I imagined as we navigated up the eastern US coast to the historic port city. It wasn't what we found.
K.L. Kranes 