"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
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
Literature Camp: Writing, Reading, and the Castle Oil Built
Why literature? Why poetry? Why a literature camp in a castle? For years, friends raved about the annual "Lit Camp", and last weekend I attended for the first time. We left at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. I drove, and with me were two sisters from New Holland, Dorcas and Annetta. None of us had ever been to Lit Camp before. The trip to western Pennsylvania took five hours. I hope this is worth it, I thought. The details were sketchy: a mansion in Franklin, PA, lots of great bookish … [Read more...] about Literature Camp: Writing, Reading, and the Castle Oil Built