Although it only takes a single look to be awed by the Grand Canyon, there are nearly 600 miles of rim ledge from which to gaze, each mile offering a new vantage point and unique perspective of the mighty crack. The Canyon itself is constantly changing with the seasons, one month offering the contrast of baked rock against muddy waters and another mixing white snow with green underbrush. It is no small thing to look at the Grand Canyon, and it would be impossible to see all of its wonders in one trip. As an American, I reassure myself that I can return to the Grand Canyon. But what if your trip was a once-in-a-lifetime event? What if you didn’t know you could return – and really, none of us is ever guaranteed another trip anywhere – and you wanted to make the most of your...[more »]

“It’s a building,” my kids said. “Yeah, I’ll pass,” my husband added. None of my family members could understand why I was soexcitedto spend an afternoon touring a house in western Pennsylvania that no one had been vacant for forty years. Even I, a Frank Lloyd Wright fan, wasn’t sure what to expect beyond an initial moment of awe upon seeing a home teetering on the edge of a waterfall. The waterfall, as it turns out, was only a smart part of what made the former home of Pittsburgh department-store tycoons, the Kaufmann family, such a marvelous spectacle to explore. Fallingwater was built for the Kaufmanns in the 1930s as an escape from the dirt and noise of the Steel City. When they originally commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright for the project, t...[more »]

The gorgeous Atlanta Botanical Garden The first time I tried to visit Atlanta’s Botanical Garden was in early March of 2010. My then fiance and I were on a date, and I was looking for something romantic and peaceful to enjoy. As we walked up to the Botanical Garden’s entrance, I quickly realized that most of the plants were still in their “sleepy” winter state. In other words, most of them were rather dead and sad looking. Even though it was late winter, the day was beautifully sunny with clear, blue skies, and it had never occurred to me that late winter was not the best time to go. “Do you still want to go in?” my fiance asked. “No,” I admitted. And that was that. If only we had persisted with our original plan! Now, after four years o...[more »]