"It's all over," said the woman sitting across from me on the MARTA train we were riding to airport. "Thank goodness!" Maybe everyone feels relieved when they leave the annual America's Mart, the largest trade show for gifts in the world. Traveling for work, flying, staying in hotels, eating in restaurants every night, are luxuries I never would have dreamed of as a child, and I try to remind myself every year when I visit Atlanta for the big show. But it's also a lot of work and … [Read more...] about Four Days in Downtown Atlanta and the World of Coca-Cola
Travel
Riding the Red Rose Transit Bus for a Month
For the month of November, I took the bus to work. Friends suggested the idea to me in October, during a group discussion about the merits of public transportation. Public transportation, they proposed, is less stressful than driving your own car. It reduces traffic, it's cheap, it's gets you into contact with others. So I decided to give it a try. The bus that goes past my home and close to my office is provided by the Red Rose Transit Authority (called "RRTA"). The Red Rose is the … [Read more...] about Riding the Red Rose Transit Bus for a Month
Spying Out Washington, D.C.
"Oh, Susan. You've never been to the Spy Museum? You should go," someone told me recently. Later, I related the conversation to my friend Martina, and she said, "I've never been there either! Let's go, I'll drive!" So last Saturday was the chosen day for Martina and I to visit the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. I get to Washington D.C. about every three years or so, and there's always so much to see, especially for people like Martina and I, interested in news and … [Read more...] about Spying Out Washington, D.C.
A Visit to Coal Country
Now I get the song Sixteen Tons. Last Christmas, instead of socks, I decided to give Dad the present of a day trip. I found a coal mine tour that seemed perfect, although it wouldn't open until spring. Last Thursday, we had off work for Ascension Day, and so Dad, Mom, and I drove seventy miles north to No. 9 Coal Mine in Lansford, Pennsylvania. This mine operated from 1855 to 1972 , the world's longest continuously operated deep anthracite coal mine. Anthracite coal is hard, shiny … [Read more...] about A Visit to Coal Country
The Big Peach
"It's like spending two days inside a shopping mall," I explained to those who got to stay at home as we undertook the annual 700-mile journey to visit the world's biggest gift market in America's sixth largest city via the world's busiest airport. As Jen and I made our way to Atlanta for AmericasMart last week, I imagined our coworkers and customers from Good's Store silently cheering us on through all the hassles of airports and hotels, two small-town Pennsylvanians in the Big Peach. "I … [Read more...] about The Big Peach