Like most people who grew up in southern California, I've visited Disneyland numerous times over the years. Even though I am familiar with some of the park’s secrets, like “hidden Mickeys” and the face of the Wicked Queen that appears every few minutes at a window in Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, I had no idea there could be enough history, secrets, fun facts, and insider tips to fill an encyclopedia. All I could say was, “Wow!” as I turned the pages.
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There are some place names in America that immediately conjure up images of outdoor adventure: Moab, UT, Bend, OR, Jackson Hole, WY, to name but a few. Las Vegas, NV, though? Not so much. For the majority of the 40 million+ people who visit the city every year, Las Vegas is a place of gaming, girls and gun ranges, somewhere to lose yourself in a haze of hedonism.
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Having enjoyed Chris Strodder’s earlier book, The Disneyland Encyclopedia, I looked forward to seeing The Disneyland Book of Lists, his new compendium of Disney lore, trivia, history, and insider info. To further test this new book’s depth, I enlisted the aid of a friend. Manny Mendoza has been a Disneyland aficionado for more than four decades. The holder of an annual passport that he never allows to expire, he visits the Magic Kingdom at least four times a month. He’s a walking reference book of Disney trivia and insider info.
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If you ever doubted for a moment that we live in a beautiful country, pick up a copy of Access For All: Touring the Southwest with Limited Mobility, the new book by Boulder City residents Deborah Wall and Dennis Boulton.
The journey described in Peter Thody’s travel memoir Yellowstone Roadtrip really began forty years ago in Leeds, England. Thody first dreamed seeing a wild wolf in its natural habitat when he was ten years old. By 2013, in spite of numerous road trips all over North America, Thody had still not realized his boyhood aspiration. Deciding it was high time to achieve his goal and see a wolf in the wild, Thody and his wife headed to Yellowstone National Park in the dead of winter.
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What could be more idyllic than a beautiful wedding on postcard picture perfect Nantucket Island? Beth Carmichael is orchestrating the event from the grave seven years after her death from ovarian cancer. When she knew that she would not be alive for her youngest daughter, Jenna's, courtship and marriage she recorded all the details of an ideal wedding day, commenting on every aspect from the choice of a groom to the choice of a honeymoon destination. She meticulously compiled a list of her recommendations in a binder she called " The Notebook" and now Jenna and her sister Margot are following through on their mother's plans, down to selecting the flavor of the icing on the wedding cake. Jenna seems to have found her ideal groom in Stuart Graham and the two young people optimistically look forward to a happy life together even though they
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On the same day in 1889, two women left New York City with the same goal—to circle the globe in 80 days or fewer. The two women could not have been more different. Nellie Bly, a fearless reporter for The World newspaper had made her reputation by writing daring exposés where she went undercover, reporting abuses and social injustices which shocked the nation. Elizabeth Bisland was a genteel Southern woman who wrote literary pieces for Cosmopolitan and who could often be found hosting salons where she and her friends would drink tea and discuss literature. When Nellie Bly announced her plan to circle the globe by traveling East, Elizabeth Bisland’s editor sent Elizabeth in the opposite direction with the goal of beating Nellie Bly’s time. Nellie travelled first by steamship across the Atlantic, and Elizabeth began her journey traveling by train across the United States. The two encountered seemingly insurmountable obstacles in completing
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