Author: Ms. R.

The city of Toluca is known for the candy of alfeñique its residents produce for Día de Muertos (“Day of the Dead”). But its tradition dates back to the 16th century when the first manufacturer of these sweets was established in North America. The Museo del Alfeñique tells the story of these sweets and the way they are traditionally manufactured in the city. This story gets accompanied by skulls in every corner of the space, including some animatronic skeletons. Every……

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Nara has nothing delicious to eat. At least, this is what novelist Naoya Shiga wrote in a 1938 essay about Nara prefecture, which he called home for 13 years. Although he then qualified this statement with some faint praise for his local tofu shop, readers latched on to the damning line, and Nara has since been burdened with a less-than-flattering culinary reputation, even among the locals. To visitors, Nara is famous for the deer that roam its capital city,……

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In an unforgiving landscape of rock and dust beneath a broiling sun, they appear on the horizon. The pale, undulating figures take a serpentine course across a bleak and barren world. And then, with a final spectral whirl, they’re gone. Long a tool of cinematographers to signal inhospitable, sweltering deserts, dust devils are not limited to the hotter corners of our planet. They can occur anywhere that’s dry and sunny enough, and have been recorded from Antarctica to Iceland…….

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Local legend has it that over 280 years ago, the Catawba and the Cherokee were locked in a brutal and savage conflict in the smoky hills around what is now Lenoir, North Carolina. So many warriors were killed on both sides that the leaders came together to talk peace, not as victor over vanquished, but as equals. Distrust and enmity were conquered and peace was made—at least temporarily. The symbol of that peace would be two trees and their……

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Savannah is already a pretty funky city. Overflowing with colorful residents, celebrating bachelorettes, and wildly creative art students, the city’s reputation as an energetic and imaginative place is well-earned. Overflowing with personality, there’s an abundance of things to see in the Hostess City of the South, but most people chose to start with Leopold’s Ice Cream. Located right on Savannah’s main drag, Leopold’s is best known not for its actual desserts, but the unbelievably long line that stretches from……

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The world’s smallest oil refinery sits on the side of the road just outside of Lusk, Wyoming, a windswept prairie town, population 1,558. A half a world away in Islamabad, Pakistan, its owner, Zahir Khalid, works to keep the tiny industrial site from literally blowing away. Khalid purchased the C&H Refinery in 1998 after learning it was for sale on an early Yahoo chat room. A devout Muslim, Khalid has the military bearing and discipline from his former life……

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These vessels were abandoned during the early 20th-century and offer a unique exploration opportunity.  Canoe tours are regularly available from the Garden Island ramp including boats and dinghies. Located in the waters is the wooden hull of the six-masted sailing schooner known as the Dorothy H Sterling located in the middle of the channel. Close to the shore is the hull of the Santiago. The highlight of this ship graveyard is a collection close to the shore near the Torrens……

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