History
Discovery and serenity in Cambria, CA
The Central Coast town offers a rare atmosphere of tranquility and peace.
When I think of Cambria, I often think of my Grandpa Bristol – outfitted in a pair of brown waders – prying large red abalones from tidepool rocks. The Bristol home was close to the ...
Ancient Wroclaw, Poland
Crossroads of the pre-historic Amber Road and medieval Via Regia (“King’s Road”).
I visited Wroclaw, Poland, during an interesting time in history: it was the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence, the 100th anniversary of the Armistice and the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht. As for Wroclaw itself, it ...
Fascinating Kinmen, Taiwan
Cold War tunnels and traditional villages greet the curious visitor to this tiny island group.
A convenient weekend break from the noise and bustle of Taipei is a one-hour flight to the island of Kinmen. Although Kinmen is controlled by Taiwan, it lies only eight kilometers from the Chinese mainland ...
Finding the iconic West in Monument Valley
Tour this rich desert landscape on the Utah-Arizona border with a Navajo guide.
“Be still and the earth will speak to you." ~ Navajo saying Monument Valley. Just the name conjures up images of the majestic, iconic buttes and classic western landscape so often seen in movies and ...
The KKK peaked in San Diego in the 1920s
But it was stronger in L.A.
Some San Diegans joined the Ku Klux Klan to better their careers.
World War II — San Diego eyewitnesses
San Diego with lights off, a Hiroshima bomber, I shot down Yamamoto, POWs suffer under and evade Japanese, Vietnam vet visits Iwo Jima, sunken subs off Imperial Beach
War! “Automobile headlights were painted out except for tiny slits. You could see cars oncoming, but the driver couldn’t see. Panic would occur when people thought attack was under way. Then if a light was ...
San Diego in the 1940s
Local Japanese sent to camps, tuna boats join the Navy, Midway-Rosecrans military housing, gas station struggles in Ocean Beach
It’s a Gas During the war, Bob recalls, "A-card owners got four gallons of gas a week. We had tires ordered when the business opened, but when the war came, they put them all in ...
History of San Diego, 1930s
Local WPA and CCC workers, the famous diva Schumann-Heinck, letters from a Depression housewife, a wilder San Diego, what women wore
Was the WPA a Boondoggle or Saving Grace? It's hard to look around San Diego and not see evidence of the WPA: the city library, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the dredging of Mission Bay (and ...
All eyes on Richmond, Virginia
The former Confederate capital is rich in Civil War history and foodie finds.
Richmond, the capital of Virginia, is a college town, a Federal Reserve site and the location of the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. There’s culture, a solid economic base and as it’s located on ...
History of San Diego before 1900
The Tub of Blood, Madame Tingley from one who knew her, Civil War vets camp in Coronado, murder in rural Mission Valley, and an amazing clock in Pt. Loma
The Little World That Almost Was “I was dressed in my ‘Little Lord Fauntleroy’ suit, and playing with K.T.’s dog (Theosophists are fond of using their leader’s initials). Suddenly, I looked up and said ‘I ...
San Diego in the '50s and '60s
Polio panic, San Diego bay full of sewage, Arnholt Smith takes Pat Nixon aside, Joe McCarthy vacations in La Jolla, a big shark attack at La Jolla Cove
The Polio Years I began to wonder whether I would just be a cripple the rest of my life or permanently stretched out in an iron lung. While I lay moaning in the back seat ...
Featured Photo
Featured travel
Street musician in Casco Viejo, Panama.
More featured | All travel photos | Submit a photo