Author: Ms. R.

There is a category of foods I love that I call “novelty desserts.” They typically feature a secret, improbable ingredient, like mayonnaise in cake batter or the vinegar in vinegar pies. Others feel like magic tricks, as in the case of hot-fudge cake, where a thick layer of chocolate sauce forms on the bottom of the pan during baking. The heyday of these desserts was the mid-1900s, during the rise of convenience foods and new appliances in American kitchens…….

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It’s quiet. The afternoon sky is draped in a blanket of clouds and a breeze weaves its way through the trees. Down a winding dirt path in the woods of Waltham, Massachusetts, is a clearing peppered with hundreds of small, gray slabs of concrete. They sink into the earth as if pulled down by invisible hands. These uneven stumbling stones serve as crass grave markers for the hundreds of people who died in two nearby institutions for people with……

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“Pomník Rudoarmějce” (Monument to Red Army Soldier), also known as “Pomník osvobození Rudou armádou” (Monument of liberation by the Red Army) is an interesting monument in the Central Bohemian city of Kladno, that was built in 1949 to commemorate the liberation of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Army at the end of the Second World War. The 2.8-meter (9 foot) tall figural statue of a Red Army soldier stands on a high granite pedestal and is flanked on both sides……

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The city of Carrara, Italy is justly famous for its marble, which has been used for building stone and statuary since antiquity. The town of Carrara, Nevada, aspired to the same fame but fell far short. A deposit that seemed to be high-quality marble was discovered in the early 20th century, in metamorphosed limestone about 10 miles southeast of the better-known town of Rhyolite, and a quarry operation began in 1913. A Lidgerwood cableway, named for the manufacturer who……

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This villa and farm was built around 1820 as a second home for Thomson Francis Mason and his wife Elizabeth “Betsey” Clapham Price. Mason, a highly regarded Virginia lawyer, served as Mayor of Alexandria during the late 1820s and was also the central figure responsible for “The Middle Turnpike,” which his company built after Mason received approval from President John Quincy Adams to proceed with the critical infrastructure project. Mason remained active in politics until his death in 1838…….

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Roughly 40,000 basalt columns formed naturally from volcanic activity rise along the coast of County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Minus, that is, the one found outside of Charleston‘s historic Hibernian Hall. The pillar section arrived in 1851, roughly a decade after Irish immigrants began arriving in the Palmetto State escaping the Great Famine. It was also exactly 11 years after Thomas Ustick Walter completed the Greek Revival style building where the column now stands.  According to Gaelic mythology the……

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Next to the cul-de-sac at the northern end of Main Street on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, is a small cemetery that contains only a single grave. A wooden sign identifies the patch of land as “Capt. Chandler Cemetery.” The placard also bears the years “1829 – 1877.” Set into the large rectangular concrete slab covering the grave are two grave markers. The grave markers identify the grave’s occupant as Capt. Joshua L. Chandler, born in October 1829 and died on……

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