Travel

 As the boat meanders through the bay, my guide and captain debate locations to check for manatees. They rattle off familiar ones we might run into, named and remembered by the map of scars...

When I was 19, I spent the summer in Nashville working in a show for Opryland theme park. I grew up in a tiny town called Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, so getting the chance to sing and dance for months with live musicians in front of a lot of people was my heaven.

He founded Durham’s much-lauded Four Square Restaurant and, before that, served as executive chef at North Carolina’s acclaimed Fearrington House. Now, Ingram has taken over the kitchen at the Restaurant at the Durham

It was early January in Orlando, and I’d just had my heart broken. I stood barefoot on my driveway in the wake of that miserable phone call, one in which a woman I was sleeping with told me that we’d only ever been friends, and tried to avoid an angry trail of fire ants.

Just a quick drive across the bridge from Miami Beach, the neighborhood of Little Havana feels a world away from sports cars and high fashion but still possesses the lively, colorful atmosphere emblematic of the city—and of Cuba

In Nashville, country music is religion, and while famed concert halls like the Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ole Opry may draw more disciples than this historic house of worship, the city’s Downtown Presbyterian Church—just a two-minute walk from the Ryman—is an icon in its own right.

One of the South’s most-visited attractions, Rock City in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, draws about half a million visitors annually. They come to wind through its famous rock formations, wander its gnome-filled gardens, and enjoy views of seven states from Lover’s Leap.

The spangled, white polyester jumpsuit will be with us always. It is not biodegradable, for one thing. However, as a longtime groupie, I also notice that interpretations of Elvis Presley are growing more subtle and complex.

In 1773, Thomas Jefferson planted sangiovese vines at Monticello, hopeful he could reproduce the European wines he loved on his own hilly terrain. While his efforts ultimately failed, today Virginia is home to more than 300 wineries, where both Old World and native varieties flourish.

Lake Charles, the largest city in Southwest Louisiana, reflects the wide variety of cultures that make up this region claimed by both Louisiana and Spanish Texas in the early 19th century.