A Record of a Lifetime of Wanderlust
Palms Book State Park, Manistique, Michigan When preparing for a trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, many travel recommendations suggested a stopover at Kitch-iti-kipi. Translating as “Big Cold Spring” from the native Ojibwa language, the park’s highlight is Michigan’s largest natural freshwater spring. The spring is over 200 feet across, 40 feet deep, and…
Beverly Shores, Indiana “How are you good at skipping rocks, Daddy?” If my boys had only known how much of my youth I spent on the banks of the Dan River, they would understand that skipping rocks was a right of passage for anyone who spent time on the river. We would always aim to…
Chicago, Illinois We were in downtown Chicago in search of a bite to eat when I pulled up my phone and had a suggestion for the Billy Goat Tavern. The place had decent reviews (Currently 4.5 stars with over 5,000 reviews on Google), good prices for inner City Chicago, and a menu that the boys…
Ashland, Wisconsin When most people think of Culver’s, they probably think of butter burgers and custard, not outdoor seating with gorgeous sunsets overlooking a bay. At the Culver’s in Ashland, Wisconsin, sunsets like these are a daily occurrence when the skies are clear. Taking advantage of its location on a former paper mill site, the…
Chicago, Illinois Lake Shore Drive is arguably the most scenic inner-city drive in America. On our most recent trip to Chicago, we stayed on the city’s South Side, but we drove to Wrigley Field to the north. Google Maps was initially trying to send us on the stop-and-go traffic of I-90, but as the driver,…
Chicago is a town that inspires when it comes to its architecture, and the best way to appreciate an overview of what the city has to offer is via a cruise on its namesake river. The Chicago River is an engineering marvel as it originally flowed into Lake Michigan. The river’s course officially reversed in…
Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois I’ve had a lifelong love affair with trains, from getting my first model train set for Christmas when I was three to embarking on my first train trip to Washington, DC, in Junior High to taking my first trip across the United States by train when I was…
Munising, Michigan Named for their striking resemblance to works of art, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a great place to visit on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Pictured Rocks stretch for 43 miles along Lake Superior from Munising to Grand Marais, Michigan, and form a formidable cliff on the south side of the lake. The best way…
Chicago, IllinoisWalking around the corner in the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, the hair on my arms raised when I first saw the submarine. The U-boat was a machine of cunning design that caused mass terror on Allied shipping for years. The U-505 is one of the few remaining examples of these machines and…
Oshkosh, WisconsinI’ve wanted to attend the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh for as long as I can remember. Being born in the state famous for giving birth to mechanized flight and having an uncle who flew Boeing 737s for a living, I’ve always been fascinated with flight. Reading about the Oshkosh air show as a kid…