Oh the Humanatee! Swimming with Florida’s Sea Cows
Category: Travel Recommendations
The Lowlights and Highlights of Travel
As I’m sure is true for many of you, the last few weeks of sheltering in place because of the coronavirus has given me lots of time to think about and reflect on life: where I’ve been, where I am right now, and where I’m going….
Raven & Lily: Collierville, Tennessee
Just a half hour east of Memphis you’ll find the truly charming town of Collierville, Tennessee. A walk around its picturesque central square, and the myriad little shops and restaurants that surround it, will make you feel like you’ve stepped back in time to an innocent 1950s or 1960s sitcom back lot. Visiting earlier this month, with the square decked out in Christmas lights and decorations, I would have sworn I had been transported into a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie!
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Fogarty’s: Where It’s Always Thanksgiving If You Really Want It To Be!
During an overnight stay in Dover, New Hampshire I was looking online for a good place to eat dinner, and my google search led me across the border to the town of South Berwick, Maine where I discovered an unassuming little restaurant called Fogarty’s.
Continue reading “Fogarty’s: Where It’s Always Thanksgiving If You Really Want It To Be!”Where Food is Art: Antica Torre
Last summer while staying in a rather remote area of Tuscany near the town of Vinci (of “Leonardo da” fame), I drove over the mountains in the direction of Prato and Florence and stopped for dinner at a restaurant called Antica Torre in the town of Carmignano. I was one of only a few customers that weeknight, but I was blown away by not just the quality of the food, but the amazingly beautiful preparations that made each dish seem like a work of art.
Italy’s Cinque Terre: A Mediterranean Hideaway
Almost halfway between the famous Italian cities of Pisa and Genoa on Italy’s western coast you will find the Cinque Terre or “the Five Lands,” a collection of five small villages, some almost 1,000 years old, separated from one another and from the rest of Italy by a series of steep and rugged mountains. The only ways to get there or to go from one town to the next are to hike over the mountains, take a local train, or drive over dizzyingly curvy roads. The area is not that easy to get to, but once you’re there and have left the confines of the train or your rental car, you’ll be glad you made the journey.
Riomaggiore from the harbor area
Vernazza, Italy from one of the hiking trails
Riomaggiore spilling into the sea…
Following in the Footsteps of The Walking Dead: A Visit to Senoia, Georgia
The horror genre has never been a favorite of mine, and I typically avoid these types of TV shows or movies like the plague (pun intended!). However, about two years ago I happened to be curled up in a warm hotel room on a chilly New Year’s Eve, avoiding the crowds and the drinking and the sub-freezing temperatures. Flipping through the TV channels I stumbled upon a marathon of The Walking Dead on AMC.
The iconic Season 1 poster
The same view from Atlanta’s Jacskon Street Bridge
When Tiziana Says, “Mangia”, You Better Mangia! – Sora Margherita, Rome
One of the joys of travel is meeting strangers who become new friends, and on my most recent trip to Rome, I met a man named Scott, a humanities professor from a university in the American Midwest who was living in Rome for several weeks while working on a book. After some conversation it was apparent that we were kindred spirits, and I invited him to join me at my favorite restaurant in Rome for lunch. Thankfully he liked my restaurant choice, and as we were parting ways for the afternoon, he said that the following day he planned to go to a small restaurant called Sora Margherita he’d been to a couple of years prior. He asked if I wanted to join him and I accepted, though I was a little unnerved when he mentioned something about a waitress who’d simply seemed to despise the friend he’d dined with there the first time.
Continue reading “When Tiziana Says, “Mangia”, You Better Mangia! – Sora Margherita, Rome”A Peaceful Oasis Outside Milano: Osteria del Laghetto
A 30 minute drive west of Milano, near the town of Arluno, lies a tiny, gastronomic oasis of green and tranquility just waiting from those adventurous enough to leve the city, get off the autostrada and find it.
Osteria del Laghetto
Get a table outside!
Portland: City of Roses… or City of Donuts?
This past weekend I attended the Western Psychological Association conference in Portland, Oregon. This conference happens every year and is held somewhere in the western states. Some years it’s in an exciting destination like Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Cancun, Mexico or Vancouver, Canada. Other years we find ourselves in such lackluster destinations as Sacramento, Reno or worse yet, Irvine or Burlingame, California. Therefore, my students, colleagues and I are always excited when the conference is held in Portland, and thankfully this is the 3rd time in the last 10 years that Portland was chosen as the site.
MATT: AT HOME IN THE WORLD 