Hungry Shoppers

From what I hear, folks enjoy watching Shark Week. I lived it. Snorkeled within pole vault distance of a seven footer as she patrolled the edge of a reef off Fiddle Cay. Photographed a dozen others along the journey. Sand … Read More

Mother Ocean

I’ve seen her angry. Squalls. Tropical storms. A hurricane. Each time is a reminder who’s boss. Sailing from West Palm to Everglades Cut, she reminded me again. Two thirds of the journey, dead calm. The last five hours was a … Read More

Key Ozark

We pulled into Marathon Key. Cuba sat a hundred miles across the water. And we were running out of time. No problem. We found a durable old connection waiting for us like a surprise party. Way down here, where you … Read More

Drive Me Crazy

After days at sea, we reached dry land and hopped in a car. Strange experience, changing from helm to steering wheel. I found myself coaxing other drivers. “C’mon, lil’ Texter, you can move on through that stoplight. It turned green … Read More

To learn the value of a culture, check their barbecue.

The credit card machine kept disconnecting. I didn’t have cash, or my checkbook. “No problem,” said Perry Foster, “mail me a check.” Perry Foster’s Bar-B-Que embodied all that is good about humankind: Trust and harmony and world peace. Oh, and … Read More

Drive in movie

In the darkness, I followed a silver Suburban for two hours. Visible through its back window was a video screen playing to backseat passengers, so as I drove along Route 60 to Springfield, I watched Finding Nemo on a small-screen … Read More

Maps

My ride and me, we never used a GPS. No compass. No MapQuest. We abstained from sextants. For the first third of this journey, a state highway map was our only guide. Deeper into our drive, untraveled roads became harder … Read More

Locked Out Again

Locked Out Again

Connie stays across the river from downtown Kansas City at the old municipal airport. She’s known more formally as a Lockheed Constellation, the airline workhorse of the 1950s. If you saw her, you’d instantly recognize the plane, with her curvy … Read More

Now Showing

Of the thousands of drive-in theater screens that dotted the countryside, few remain. Many are ghost screens, forever blank. But now and then…

Winter Camping Alone

If you wanted to hide from creditors or a hit man, Lake Wappapello would do nicely. Isolated in rugged hills, wholly surrounded by the thick woods of Mark Twain National Forest, the lake stands apart from the crowd. Driving to … Read More