At a British- or Irish-style “public house” in an old colonial town, a fictional action figure named John M. Edwards sucks down suds with serendipity. I was standing at the bar at the Jolly Trolley in Westfield, New Jersey, staring at my Fuller’s London Pride, when I decided I was so drunk I would indeed have a hangover in the morning. The red label reminded me of the Protestant solidity of London and the infinite possibilities of drinking … [Read more...]
Ring in the New Year all Over Again in Richmond BC
Authentically Asian city readies for two-week Chinese New Year festivities Richmond, BC, Canada (January 23, 2014) – Already abandoned or forgotten those New Years resolutions? Don’t despair. Chinese New Year, celebrated this year on Friday, January 31, is just around the corner. It’s a second chance to say good riddance to nagging bad habits and usher in good ones. Also called the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, Chinese New Year is the … [Read more...]
Can food broker peace? Mamnoon Restaurant, Seattle
Celebrating Syria: “We couldn’t go back, so we started mamnoon instead.” -Richard Bangs “For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.” -T.S. Elliot There are so many delicious facets to this story. I first met Wassef Haroun in Zambia, at the Kafue River Camp, owned by a mutual friend who had invited us for a week-long private safari. Towards the end of the week Wassef excused himself from the Rhodesian teak table … [Read more...]
Touring Koror, Palau
Whenever we arrive to a new place, we attempt to learn about the country. Therefore, our first stop in Palau was the Belau National Museum where the exhibit: “A Cherechar A Lokelii: Palau Through the Years” gave us a detailed introductory education. Strolling through the halls we learned about the past presence and influences of the Spanish, Germans, Japanese and the United States from a historical context. The Spanish first visited Palau in … [Read more...]
Cock-a-Doodle-Don’t, Cockfighting in the Philippines
John M. Edwards attends a horrific “cockfight” on Bantayan Island in the Philippines, only to end up wondering what exactly were the ingredients in the national dish of adobo. . . . The roosters swaggered around like Mick and Keith, with dangerously sharp spurs attached to their legs. While the apocalyptic poultry sussed each other out with malice, the excitement began to build. My two new Norwegian backpacker friends snapped photos with … [Read more...]
The Olympics of Travel, 2014s Competitve Travel Adventure
Travelers are a competitive bunch, from "How many countries have you been to?" and "We've been there, did you do...?", to watching TV's The Amazing Race and saying, "I could do that!" A 2014 travel adventure competition is set to finally allow travelers to test their travel savvy and compete with other great travelers mano-a-mano for "The World's Greatest Traveler™" trophy and a free trip around the world. One former participant calls it … [Read more...]
Brr-cold in Barbes-Rochechouart: Christmas in France
In Paris’s Muslim quarter, Barbés Rochechouart, John M. Edwards finds ho-hum Christmas cheer, but no champagne or beer. . . . Back when I lived in Paris, one of the most comically incongruous things I saw as a temporary expat was a pathetic Pere Noel with a guelle de bois (“face of wood” = hangover) peeing in the snow, with an excessively painful grin, on the legendary Boulevard St. Germain (namedropped ad infinitum in Hemingway’s elegy to the … [Read more...]
Peter Greenberg, The Travel Detective
Peter Greenberg is one of America's foremost travel correspondents and travel experts. It is admirable what he has accomplished and done for consumers (as well as his valuable contributions within the travel industry) during the past few decades. With someone who logs 400,000 airline miles a year, he maintains a rigorous schedule that would leave most people gasping for air! He has taken time out of this busy schedule to answer a few … [Read more...]
River Gods: Confessions of a Grand Canyon Guide
It all began, for me, at a meeting of the Canoe Cruisers Association, the Washington, D.C. chapter. In the midst of the button-down capital there is an underground of cutoffs and t-shirts that each weekend assembles by the banks of some Shenandoah or Appalachia river to rake the whitewater with paddles. A recent high school graduate searching for life’s passion, I joined up at the urging of my old Scout leader, and was immediately hooked. My … [Read more...]
Biscuits, Booze, and Bodies – 36 Hours in the Florida Keys
Normally, I'm not big on cocktails before 10am. But when we blearily wandered in at 8am to the Blue Heaven, one of Key West’s signature restaurants, that’s what our server suggested. Sitting in the crazy-quilt courtyard, with its rustic artwork and scurrying chickens, looking up at the former bordello on the second-floor, and knocking back some booze seemed in keeping with all things Keys. I opted for the pancakes, which I found just as … [Read more...]
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