As offered by BRCTraveller Stirling Grodner
NY: We had been gone all weekend and I just wanted to go home. But my dad and my brother had other ideas. They wanted to go play at Taughannock Falls, a waterfall outside of Ithaca, New York, and the waters surrounding it. In spite of my weariness, I certainly wasn’t going to let them have fun without me!
All week, the night air has cooled just enough in Basking Ridge to .jpg)
allow us to sleep with french doors flung open, a reminder that the days of summer are numbered yet again. As autumn approaches, we welcome it with a bittersweet resolve as the fleeting days of summer retreat.
Want to help the season go out with a bang? Below you will find a listing of fun, unique, full-blown celebrations being held around America this Labor Day weekend, worthy of your time and participation.
Continue Reading...MS: 363 days ago, a region of quaint hamlets were overcome by powerful waters, tearing at the delicate web of humanity.
363 days ago, a chain of events put in motion by the spontaneity of nature and perpetuated by the inefficiencies of man broke the hearts of a nation.
363 days later, we have witnessed the worst and the best of the human spirit, as people have come together to rebuild lives and communities that were traumatized to their cores.
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As offered by BRCTraveller Ginny Herman
GA: "I took this photo around 8.30 am coming down from my cabin towards town, going past all the rhododendrons, hemlock trees and creeks. I turned the corner and WOW. It was a wonderful experience that set the mood for the entire day for me."
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CT, NY, VA & AL: The fashion gurus tell us that monograms are back "in."
For a girl raised in the South, it was never really out of fashion. For me, there are few things in life that don't look better with a little personalized pizazz! A gold filigreed monogram ring. Bath towels. Guest robes. A sofa slipcover. Engraved glasses and silver platters.
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Small-town shops in Connecticut (Personal Best Monogram Shoppe), New York, Virginia (The Monogram Shop) and Alabama (Oodles of Ribbon) are offering ideas and choices for anyone who wants to add monogrammed accents to their home, their life, their style.
PA: Travelling the Dutch Country of Pennsylvania on Highway 22 .jpg)
near Hershey, an unusual sign catches your eye around the borough of Shartlesville. “Roadside America Exit Here” it quietly beckons. Always a glutton for “out-of-the-ordinary” attractions, I found the allure too much to resist – I had to explore further. Pulling into the driveway and crossing the attraction's threshold, I had some initial reservations. After all, this was about as 1950s,
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Americans.
(And down the road is Ina Stoudt's not-to-be-missed antique store, crammmed to several sets of rafters with antique and vintage furnishings, household decorative items, unique tchotchkes and eclectic vintage clothing.)
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Today's New York Times ran an article on "happiness decor" or how making one's environment cheery and bright can affect your mood and perhaps even be a factor in your overall happiness.
It is a philosophy that more of us are applying to all aspects of our lives, including me.
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NJ: A place where animals lounged and basked in the sun in days past is a place where human beings love to hang out and live in the present. Basking Ridge, New Jersey is today’s featured “charming town.”
Located 36 miles west of New York City in central New Jersey, Basking Ridge is a combination of rural simplicity and small-town amenities with big-city proximity.
Continue Reading...Stirling and Alex went to Alaska with their grandfather. Stirling sent me this postcard in (partial) jest.
She knows me well enough to know that I have romantic notions about old buildings, renovated barns and relocated structures. Before we moved into our current home in Basking Ridge, I seriously researched saving a historic home from a summer estate and moving it to a new lot (ultimately the home was demolished to make room for three, new $1.5 million homes). And on a recent trip to the Finger Lakes, NY, I was enamored (to the boredom of my family) with an abandoned, red Dutch-style barn on the approach to our friends' lake home.
As we make decisions about our future living arrangements, I know my family waits with anticipation (and perhaps a little fear) to see what crazy ideas I propose for our next "home sweet home."
It is state fair season in much of America. Over the years, .jpg)
this annual event has evolved from a simple celebration of a locale's agricultural progeny to include a full-blown extravaganza of music, amusements, and family activities.
To visit the state fair is a chance for some to revert to activities that evoke childhood memories; for others, it is a chance to experience some of life's simple pleasures for the first time. Regardless of your vantage point, the state fair is a great way to spend a day or a weekend -- eating fresh produce and down-home cooking, enjoying local arts and crafts and experiencing the novelties available on local fairgrounds everywhere this summer and fall.
Continue Reading...ND: "Do you have what it takes to be a 21st century pioneer?" Some towns in North Dakota are asking this question as they seek new residents and explore innovative ways to sustain an easy-going lifestyle while bolstering dwindling populations. In fact, you may even be eligible for free land and tax incentives if you are willing to pick up and move to the northwestern regions of the state.
www.prairieopportunity.com is the brainchild of The Northwest North Dakota Marketing Alliance, a coalition of leaders from local municipalities, looking for people interested in making a move to this very rural setting. But for modern-day homesteaders up to the challenge, the benefits can be many: magnificent wildlife, majestic scenery, entrepreneur-friendly environments and small town living.
Continue Reading...TN: Antique European watering cans, flower pails, wagon wheels and saddles may not be what you
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would expect to find for sale along a small-town stretch of highway in central Tennessee. But then the Highway 127 Corridor Sale is unlike most any event you could possible imagine.
Billed as the “World’s Longest Yard Sale,” this 450-mile extravaganza stretches from Kentucky to Alabama, meandering through Tennessee and Georgia along the way. Now in its 19th year, the sale has earned a reputation as a truly unique experience and bargain-hunters' paradise.
Don Daniels, who runs the aforementioned booth (pictured at right) packed with these treasures and more from England, Holland, and France as well as points throughout the United States, has been participating in the 127 Corridor Sale since its inception, and has been named a "shoppers' favorite" vendor for several years.
VA: The pink low slung building with turquoise window frames blinking across its facade lazily .jpg)
co-exists with a horse pasture in Natural Bridge, Virginia. A King Kong gorilla statue keeps a watchful eye on the colorful outpost. And inside, you are welcomed by a bronze life-sized Elvis. You have arrived at the very original Pink Cadillac Diner.
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