ArcaMax

More than 25 million Americans visit Washington, D.C., each year. Most come to enjoy the magnificent monuments, take a guided tour of the White House and see other buildings where history has been -- and is being -- made.

Fewer venture beyond the major tourist attractions to find often-overlooked sites and neighborhoods filled with hidden gems ...Read more

I recently joined about 3,000 other spectators watching armor-clad horseback-riders engage in combat jousting. King Henry VIII and Queen Jane Seymour, the third of his six wives, strolled out onto a balcony overlooking the arena and waved to the crowd. Then I accompanied those seated in my section of the stands in shouting encouragement to the ...Read more

During a recent visit to Florida, I strolled along a section of a trail that provided close-up views of magnificent scenery, rolling beach sand dunes and a virtual aviary of colorful birds. I was walking on part of the Florida National Scenic Trail, a 1,500-mile-long footpath that weaves its way across the state from the Big Cypress National ...Read more

So, yes, I'd heard about Lewis and Clark (that would be Meriwether Lewis and William Clark). And I vaguely knew that Thomas Jefferson had dispatched them to explore the Louisiana Purchase that he had just acquired from France in 1803. But not until my husband and I took an American Cruise Lines expedition of our own to the Snake and Columbia ...Read more