Callaway’s Calling
The story of Callaway Gardens is reminiscent of Bible prophecy. Isaiah 35:1 NIV: The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. According to horticulturist Chris Hall, “Mr. (Cason) Callaway was into conservation. This property was burnt-out cotton and...
Chivalry. In a Teahouse?
When wife Cindy suggests I write about a “teahouse” in Auburn, I’m not too excited. But my deadline is approaching and I don’t have time to plan a truly exciting writing assignment like rappelling from a helicopter into a tropical jungle. How does an outdoorsman...
To Give Old Doors New Life
For good reasons, we still get frequent questions about the doors on Cindy’s design studio at The Waters in Pike Road. Over the past 20 years, hundreds, if not thousands, of people have been photographed in front of them. We acquired the doors during the...
Go Live Life
Some nights, my mind drifts back over years of travel and features I’ve written for BOOM! I’m often astounded that so few people have heard of the places I’ve written about. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Before I ventured out and explored, I’d scarcely heard...
A Bridge to Love
It’s a nature-made bridge to nowhere in the middle of nowhere. Nevertheless, it’s easy to find off Highway 278 in Northwest Alabama. Once important to ancient inhabitants, today it’s a significant Alabama tourist attraction. According to Peter J. Gossett, author of a paper titled Bald...
Tellus Science Museum
Cartersville, Georgia, has no less than three world-class museums: Booth Western Art Museum, Tellus Science Museum, and, maybe the best place to find the first car you ever cranked, the Savoy Automobile Museum. Wife Cindy and I recently spent a few hours at Tellus Science...
Discover Leiper’s Fork
Skirting Nashville, we found ourselves cruising south on Old Hillsboro Road, aka, Highway 46. While wife, Cindy, was attempting to navigate to Patina Meadows Farm, owned by her friends, California-to-Tennessee transplants Steve and Brooke Giannetti, I was merely taking the scenic route, not realizing I...
Historic Fryemont Inn
There’s a distinct difference between North Carolina’s Fryemont Inn and just about any modern hotel. The run-of-the-mill hotel, regardless of its glamour, brand or rate, will never exhibit a “Book of Memories” on the coffee table in front of the fireplace. But Fryemont’s grateful innkeepers...
Fly Fishing the Smokies
If we’re shooting a movie, it’ll be a cross between Deliverance and Hawaii Five-O. A scene from Deliverance was allegedly filmed nearby, but skipping over the lake at forty miles per hour is more like a scene from Hawaii Five-0… minus the sunshine. Storm clouds...
Great Smoky Mountain Hospitality
Record high temperatures have blanketed the Carolinas. We find ourselves apologizing for bringing a sweltering inferno with us from Alabama. But we’ll cool down soon. Our railway car on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad is air-conditioned. And they serve cold beverages too. We stop by...