I’m Cindy, a single empty-nester, writer, editor, and English professor passionate about travel and culture. My story is here. I’ve been in school since I was five. I can assure you as an educator and learner that NOTHING teaches us more about the world and ourselves than traveling and living cross-culturally. This blog empowers women […]
I partner with travel/hospitality brands to provide readers with experiences of beauty, adventure, relationships, rejuvenation, and reinvention. My photography portfolio is here. Below is my press kit, logos of brands from collaborations, and links to work I’ve done for them. Please see if we would make a good team. If so, contact me at cindylmccain1@gmail.com.
Travel Fix and Titanic Fashion at The BiltmorePerfect place for a King of the World Fly Photo
Climb aboard The Biltmore! You have until May 13, 2018 to experience Glamour on Board: Fashion from Titanic the Movie , the maiden voyage of the first large-scale costume exhibit from the iconic film that won 11 Oscars including Best Costume Design. No location could be more fitting for simulating a first-class passage on luxury liners, “Floating Palaces” of the early 20th century.
On this ultimate girl getaway, my friend, Sally, and I channeled-for- a- day lives of patrons of White Star Line ships: Rose DeWitt Bukater, movie heroine, and Edith Dresser Vanderbilt, Mistress of Biltmore. Edith’s love story with George Washington Vanderbilt II was truly “A Transatlantic Courtship.” Their home, inspired by the Chateau de Blois in the Loire Valley in France, was constructed by George from 1889-1895. While gorgeous in every season, The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina is the perfect spring escape/road trip for romantics and history-lovers. This exhibit is also a marvelous Mother’s Day gift.
With Biltmore as backdrop, I finally had a real-time reunion with Sally, best friend since we were five growing up in Kentucky. We both lived in Africa, though not at the same time, and love trading travel tales. She’s now in Virginia, and I’m in Nashville, so we met in the middle.
Thankfully, after spending winter in Paris, George, Edith and daughter Cornelia who were booked on Titanic’s first and only voyage cancelled a week before the ship sailed. They arrived home April 10 and learned two days later that 1517 people perished on The Titanic after hitting an iceberg. Edith wrote to a friend: “For no reason whatsoever we decided to sail on the Olympic and had only 18 hours to get ready in. We were homesick and felt we simply must get home, and changed our ship, as I say, at the 11th hour!”
Time for a beauty, adventure, relationship break at The Biltmore
Something for everyone, the movie was a collaboration of realism and romanticism. Director James Cameron explains in a 2014 TED Talk: “I went and pitched it to the studio. It was ‘Romeo And Juliet’ on a ship. It’s going to be this epic, romance, passionate film. Secretly, what I wanted to do was I wanted to dive to the real wreck of Titanic, and that’s why I made the movie.”
Cameron spared no expense on authenticity–$200 million which was more than the budget that built the Titanic. Our Biltmore guide on the Premium Tour, Tom, said 20th Century Fox bought every gown they could find made around 1910. Costume Designer, Deborah Lynn Scott, used patterns and parts from vintage garments and some in pristine condition on extras. According to Vogue, Rose’s red “jump dress” (see below) was one of the seven most expensive dresses of all time, selling for $330,000. According to the Hollywood Reporter the beading on the gown took 1,000 hours to sew. When she accepted the Best Costume Award for Titanic she said that her two young daughters’ beauty was her inspiration. Her range is legendary. Design credits for other cult classic favorites include Back to the Future, About Last Night, Legends of the Fall, Transformers, and The Amazing Spider- Man 2.
The exhibit immerses us in authentic Edwardian style–intricate beading and patterns; sumptuous velvets, satins, and chiffons; tailored suits. For me, reliving The Titanic up close and personal was a dream–vintage style worn on travel adventures and a love story transcending death. I have loved Kate and Jack (and Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio who played them) since first seeing the film twenty years ago with my grandmother and children, but learning about the adventurous, kindred spirits of the exhibit’s host family was a bonus. Before Edith married George, she had traveled to the Caribbean, Europe, and South America. George had been to 26 countries across Europe, Northern Africa and Asia. They were regular first class passengers on White Star Line, the company that owned Titanic, and brought back art, books, fashion, and other treasures from their travels.
The Biltmore’s 250 rooms, 2.4 million cubic feet space is breathtaking and puts the massiveness of The Titanic in perspective. The ship had 416 first- class state rooms. In The Biltmore, costumes are displayed in context–fashion for each room’s function. Clothes indeed made the man (and woman and child). Characterizations were achieved through wardrobe.
This outfit was the designer’s favorite creation. When curators learned 20th Century Fox was making available costumes, they selected 50 consisting of over 650 items.Rose makes her entrance onscreen from under this hat. The acorn on the hat pin is the Vanderbilt family symbol also seen at Breakers, their New York City Estate.Rose’s “Jump Dress”–my favorite in the movie–is what she is wearing when she meets Jack. Though he persuades her not to commit suicide, tripping on the dress’s train almost causes her to fall to her death.
The exhibit inspired me to learn how to make beaded jewelry from Sally, something she does beautifully for her soul.George Vanderbilt personally chose 10,000 books for this library he shared with guests–half of his 22,000 volume collection of American and English fiction, world history, religion, philosophy, art, and architecture.Jack plays Rose’s guardian angel, saving her from jumping overboard. The Chariot of Aurora, painted in the 1720s by Italian artist Giovanni Pellegrini was originally in the Pisani Palace in Venice.
In her suite on Titanic (Edith Vanderbilt’s bedroom at The Biltmore) Rose recovers from the scare of almost losing her life at sea. She’s then given the Heart of the Ocean by Cal.Like other married couples of the Vanderbilts’ social class, Edith and George had separate bedrooms so maids could dress her and valets could dress him. Behind curtains is Edith’s walk-in closet. Her closets held 1,000 square feet of frocks.Cal, Kate’s fiance, wore the best even to bed
In the mirror reflection in George Vanderbilt’s bedroom is his paw-footed tub cut from one piece of Italian marble. His walls were 22 carat gold. The mansion has 35 bedrooms and 43 bathrooms.
The morning after Jack saved her, Rose looked at his drawings as they drew close. This was her dress on the promenade deck.
Cal reveled in showing off his wealth–even by wearing shirts that buttoned up the back. This announced he had a valet that dressed him. I couldn’t help but notice the parallel between Cal and Fitzgerald’s Tom Buchanan, and how Leo DiCaprio as Jack and Jay Gatsby played the perfect foils to the obnoxious characters. I also fell in love with the pink etched champagne coupe glasses.Our guide pointed out the Victorian-style dress of Rose’s mother (heavy damask pattern like on wallpaper) contrasted to Rose’s more romantic, loose chiffon and silk dress.
The Unsinkable Molly Brown (Kathy Bates) was snubbed for being nouveau riche asthe daughter of Irish immigrants whose husband struck it rich in Colorado mines. Based on a historical hero, she forced the captain of her lifeboat to go back to save lives and later fought for women’s suffrage and labor rights.
In the Biltmore’s Banquet Hall under the seven-story ceiling are costumes worn by Rose and Jack. Molly Brown loaned Jack one of her son’s tuxedos for the dinner thanking him for saving Rose. Men wore white ties and tails to dinner; women wore evening gowns.
The scale of this fireplace is in keeping with The Titanic’s enormous size. There are 65 fireplaces in the Biltmore.This 1916 Skinner pipe organ towers above the dining table which seats 38. The Vanderbilt family often ate by the fireplace 7-10 course meals. Five crystal wine glasses were set at each place for enjoying George’s wine collection.The Countess of Rothes helped 3rd class passengers onto the boats and raised money for those widowed and orphaned by the sinking of The Titanic.
Stairs lead to costumes displayed on the second and third floors.In the 2nd floor Living Hall, guests at The Biltmore would wait to be called to dinner in the ballroom by a gong below.These costumes were worn by John Jacob Astor IV and his new wife, Madeleine Talmage Force. John was 47 and his wife 18 when they married 3 years after he divorced his wife. Though he was the richest man on the Titanic, the couple was snubbed for the scandal. He, like most first-class males, did not survive for lack of lifeboats, but his wife did. When it was discovered she was pregnant, gossips softened toward her and her child.
Jack slips Rose a note to meet him downstairs for a real party after the formal dinner. There he dances with a little girl and introduces her to his friends–immigrants and refugees. See this site on how The Titanic impacted US immigration and other historical facts.In the basement of the Biltmore were the maids’ quarters where 24/7 they awaited calls from the bell in the hall, including setting pins and returning balls (below) in the bowling alley. On the Titanic, first-class passengers had electric buzzers to summons 322 stewards and 22 stewardesses in addition to their personal valets and ladies’ maids. One of the kitchen maids survived not only the sinking of The Titanic but of two other ships on which she worked.
The Biltmore pool was filled with cold mountain water. On board the Titanic the pool had heated salt water.When Cal’s spy reports that Rose was below deck, Cal threatens her over breakfast. Above is the Oak Sitting Room between Edith and George’s bedrooms where the Vanderbilts shared breakfast and Edith planned the day with her head housekeeper.
This gorgeous piece has hidden panels for hiding treasures, such as the Heart of the Ocean necklace.
In the Biltmore music room, completed in the 1970s, are church-going costumes. Rose attends with her mother and Cal after promising them both she won’t stray from their plans for her arranged marriage.This room played a huge part in preserving National Treasures. See below. Also here are candlesticks made for Empresses Amalia and Maria Theresa of the Austrian Hapsburgs.
Just before moving to Morocco in 2014, I saw The Monuments Men starring George Clooney, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, and Matt Damon, based on Robert Edsel’s book. Read here on the Biltmore blog more about the estate as proof of the premise of the film: “the importance of art and the lengths to which nations and individuals will go to either steal or save it.”
In the Flemish tapestry gallery hangs a 1530s set, The Triumph of the Seven Virtues, where curators placed costumes from afternoon tea. When Rose sees a little girl forced to play a part Rose is no longer willing to play, she boldly chooses freedom as a virtue.Loved this form most because she looks relaxed.
Adore this lookWigs are made of watercolor paperAfter the tea scene, Rose is ready to fly from her cage. Below is the “fly” dress in a room that compliments its rich color.
This robe Rose wears briefly before asking Jack to sketch her like one of his “French girls.”Our guide pointed out the frayed ties on the robe. Kate did several takes of the scene to unveil herself picture perfect wearing only the necklace.Outside the bedroom where Rose posed on a chaise lounger is this painting, the last bought by George Vanderbilt before his death, of a Spanish woman on a couch.At this time, the Titanic hit the iceberg that cut into six of its sixteen watertight compartments. It was built to withstand four losing water, but the blow was fatal for most of the passengers save the first class women and children.The last dress in which we see Rose is worn throughout the second half of the movie. There were many replicas made to film her in water in different scenes. The chiffon was chosen so it would float. The coat was a size 8–purposely too big for the actress to show her vulnerability.I have always loved backs of dresses more than any other feature–especially when this beautiful.Rose’s mom dresses in high fashion to go into the boat, complaining that seating etiquette by class isn’t being upheld. She is oblivious to the suffering of those who won’t be able to escape the sinking ship. Of the 48 lifeboats needed, only 20 were onboard and some of them were dropped during the panic only half-filled.
Ostrich feathers were in high demand in Edwardian wear.
When the Titanic sank, valuable cargo on board was a shipment of twelve cases of ostrich feathers insured for $2.3 million in today’s money. In 1912 only diamonds were worth more by weight than feathers. Hats covered in feathers, even entire birds, were the rage. Ostrich feathers were exported from South Africa as were diamonds and gold.
Edith Vanderbilt painted by Giovanni Boldini
In the billiard room were costumes worn by Rose and Jack in the final scene when they are reunited after death. Though they enter the grand ballroom together, Jack is wearing the clothes he boarded the ship in–not a tuxedo. Rose is wearing an elegant but free flowing dress, clearly part of his world.
The Vanderbilt family’s love of learning moved them to support what is now Vanderbilt University. Likewise, opening the Biltmore to the public provided a portal to the past and future because, as Keats said: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” Thanks to this exhibit, we can enjoy splendid, classic couture, elements of style which designers continue to revive in modern fashion. More importantly, the The Titanic movie reminds us of what’s important in life and death. The story of Jack and Rose is timeless because underneath the face and form we wear for the world, we all want to our core to be treasured for our essence. For someone to say as Jack did to Rose:
Winning that ticket, Rose, was the best thing that ever happened to me… it brought me to you. And I’m thankful for that, Rose. I’m thankful. You must do me this honor. Promise me you’ll survive. That you won’t give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless.
In the end, their story is our story. We want someone–friend, family, lover–who says, “You jump. I jump.” Whether hanging onto the bow of a sinking ship or flying high, we want at least one ride or die person in our lives.
Thank you to The Biltmore Estate for this unforgettable experience. As always, opinions here are my own.
Today was the first time in almost three years I’ve crunched through snow. I didn’t laugh like I did sledding in the Atlas Mountains, but sliding along with Ella in our quiet Walden Woods was happiness. Peace. A snow day–time no longer spoken for– is a gift that feeds the soul. Frozen flakes falling like manna from heaven. An invitation to simply, beautifully just be.
Yesterday at Dickens of a Christmas in Franklin with my sister and brother-in-law, I ran into Edy, our wonderful Airbnb hostess last summer. She asked why I haven’t been posting on the blog.To her and other readers, I apologize. Reentry into the US over the last six months after three years abroad has been an adventure in itself. So much has happened which I’m still processing and will be part of the memoir I’m writing. And, yes, I’ve been away from the blog and all of you too long.Thank you, Edy, for sharing my Nashville Guide with guests and encouraging me to post this…
In the morning I watched the geese from the door through the mist, sailing in the middle of the pond, fifty rods off, so large and tumultuous that Walden appeared like an artificial pond for their amusement. But when I stood on the shore they at once rose up with a great flapping of wings at the signal of their commander, and when they had got into rank circled about over my head.—Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Mom and I watched the geese from the patio as they picked through grass by the pond. The week after Thanksgiving had been quiet. As much as we loved having my grown kids with us, we hated seeing them go. Determined to have everything done before they arrived so I could savor time with them and too excited to sleep, I was in the kitchen till 1 AM the night before, cooking and binging on Outlander.We blinked and only leftovers in the freezer were proof that the holiday really happened. Now Christmas calls. But as I walk Ella over crunchy leaves beside still waters at Edwin Warner Park, I remember not only being there with Cole and Brittany Thanksgiving Day, but how nature reminded me all fall I’m never alone. I’m grateful for last autumn—my first in three years.And I thank God that I spent much of it in my own Walden Woods.
In 1854, Henry David Thoreau published Walden or Life in the Woodsafter living in a 10’ X 15’ cabin beside a pond for two years, two months and two days.Though I’ve never been to Walden Woods outside Concord, Massachusetts, I’ve been inspired by Walden and so have my students. Thoreau was the original American minimalist. I’m learning to follow his advice to “Simplify! Simplify!” and after living in apartments three years while abroad I have grown accustomed tosmall spaces. I’ve culled and curated my material possessions which were packed into 1800 square feet for over twenty years, then a storage unit until I moved back.
I moved home and had no house.Virginia Woolf was so right when she said women need a room of their own—or at least room, space— to write, create, think, breathe.I am grateful for three months spent with my mom in my hometown as I job searched, then began teaching university and college English. At the end of September, I finally settled in Nashville, where I call home.I was able to focus on writing my memoir of the three years abroad–why I went and why I returned. Surrounded by peace, quiet, nature, I could hear God, my Muse, again.
My “tiny home” is 785 square feet beside three quiet lakes where geese greet me each morning. Minutes away is Percy Warner, Cheekwood, and the Harpeth River. I craved green space while in Santo Domingo where my apartment had no outdoor area and was surrounded by loud, relentless traffic and high-rise condos. When I returned to Nashville, I ironically found much of the same.
Friends and family warned that Nashville had grown and changed. Drastically. But last September I managed to find a place where I now see deer on daily walks.A couple of weeks ago, after all the leaves had fallen, I realized I could finally see into the woods.At the moment I looked up, peering past the pine trees, I saw on a shag carpet of burnt orange and brown leaves two of them staring back at me.On Thanksgiving Day we saw a buck snorting through the woods not far for where we walked Ella. The next day, Cole spied three deer while sitting on my living room couch.
Here I watch cardinals, bluejays, and finches take turns at my bird feeder and chipmunks enjoying seeds that they drop to the ground.A covey of doves feed there, too, reminding me again that although I have no idea what 2018 holds, I have peace. I still miss my home of 21 years which I sold in 2016.I always will and still can’t bear to drive by.But I believe I made the right choice and am where I need to be.In stillness I’m moving in the direction of my dreams.
Since moving home last June it has been a journey, and on it goes—a new season in a new life which a former coworker in Morocco called “the new new.”With all the change over the last 3+ years—4 schools and 4 addresses in 3 countries—I’ve not posted on the blog as much since I lived in Morocco.I’m writing a memoir that will explain, as I continue to understand, all that happened there and in the Dominican Republic, and what is happening now as I repatriate and try to create a new life in Nashville.
For me, moving to foreign countries was easier in many ways than making a new life in what used to feel so familiar. Career transition can be one of the scariest moves of all.Trading the security of what we’ve always done for what we now want to do is risky. I’d been in a classroom Monday through Friday since I was five. It was time. Teaching as an adjunct gave me a season to prioritize writing though I still put in eleven-hour days commuting to two schools twice a week. I missed full time pay and travel, but taking a timeout meant more time with Taylor who lives nearby and Mom who needs me now. And more time to create the life I imagine.
At Belmont University I designed and taught a course called “Long Way Home: Essential Journeys.” Truly life is like a web of adventures radiating to and from a center—home. I believe our Creator is home. That He lives within and guides us on journeys uniquely designed for each of us to become the person he or she is meant to be. My students chose journeys out of their comfort zones they felt would positively impact their lives. They researched the benefits and risks, the how-tos and whys, and for a month carried out their quests. We had focused on narratives and memoirs, particularly Cheryl Strayed’s, Wild.Check out the book and the movie it inspired produced by Reese Witherspoon, a Nashville girl, who played the lead. Cheryl’s journey — hiking 1100 miles of the Pacific Coast Trail alone—was a physical and spiritual task. What she learned wasn’t so much about the finish line as what it took to cross it. It always is.
They shared the challenges and takeaways of playing instruments, learning sign language, serving in the community and beyond. They practiced yoga, veganism, and ran, boxed, rock-climbed, and hiked their way across Nashville. One student after learning to play the guitar changed her major from Music Business to Music Therapy; others sought counseling to heal old wounds so they could move forward. They challenged each other to use less social media to make friends in real time and get more sleep.
Like my high school students who had completed The Deliberate Life project from Music City to Morocco, students at Belmont taught me a lot. So did my night classes at Vol State where I enjoyed working with adults who gave their all despite full time jobs and responsibilities to their own families. Students who believed an education would help them follow Thoreau, too, who said: “Go confidently in the direction of your dream. Live the life you’ve imagined.”
Cheekwood is minutes away–part of my Tennessee Walden Woods
Ella loves our daily walks, especially at Edwin Warner Park.Ella is ready to ride at Bellevue’s Red Caboose Park.
I was thrilled yesterday to be headed again to El Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). With all the changes that have happened in Nashville over the three years I lived abroad, I was happy that Cheekwood still hosts one of my favorite fall events and one of the most important festivals in Latin American culture. On El Dia de Los Muertos families honor relatives who have passed into the next life by creating altars as memorials and tapetes (carpets or murals usually made of sand to represent the brevity of life). They also celebrate the gift of living with joy and thanksgiving. The fall before I moved to Morocco, my International Club students and I really enjoyed the event. This time I was with my friend Sara, a teacher at Centennial High School, who was excited that their school had done its own festival and students were also participating in Cheekwood’s Tapete competition. I was excited, too, that her son, Trent, was at his first celebration.
As we headed to the food trucks, I saw another old friend, David, who had taught my students Latin dance years before. “Welcome to Nashville!” he grinned.
He pointed to a booth where I’d see what he had been up to. There I saw another Colombian friend, Marcela Gómez, who had founded a company called Mi Tribu (My Tribe) which gives back to her home country and shares its beauty with the world. Mi Tribu sustains female indigenous and displaced artisans who create the unique goods and reminds women everywhere we belong to the same tribe. Check out the website for Christmas gifts that will continue giving.
As Sara, Trent, and I walked to the Frist Center to see the Aztec dancers, we passed a long line of school busses. In its fifth year, Cheekwood’s El Dia de Los Muertos fiesta had drawn students from many Tennessee and Kentucky middle and high schools–some sharing their native tradition, others wanting to learn more. The tradition here was alive, well, and growing. Authentic crafts, foods, art activities, face painting, and live music against a backdrop of gorgeous grounds beginning to burst into autumn color was energizing. Seeing people of all ages from diverse backgrounds having fun together was beautiful.
Nashville families gathered for fun.
El Día de los Muertos at Cheekwood
Marcela Gómez and David Sandoval (third partner, Claudia Barajas, not pictured) selling Colombian goods which support indigenous female artisans and showcase the cultural beauty of their native country.
Centennial High School’s Tapete Competition Entry
Thanks to the Hispanic Family Service, Catholic Charities of Tennessee for more history:
Dia De Los Muertos started 3,000 years ago by the indigenous people in what is now Mexico. The practice was discovered 500 years ago by Spanish Conquistadors.
When the Spanish couldn’t eradicate the ritual, they merged it with Catholic theology and moved it to coincide with All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2). Skulls are still used as they were by the Aztecs to symbolize death and rebirth. The Aztecs and other Mesoamerican civilizations believed the dead visited during the ritual. They didn’t fear death but embraced it: “To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake.”
Today Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico and in some parts of the US and Central America. In rural Mexico, families visit the cemetery where loved ones are buried. They decorate the graves with marigolds and candles, toys for children, and tequila for adults, then picnic beside the graves eating the favorite foods of loved ones. In larger cities in Mexico and the US, families build altars in their homes memorializing the dead with flowers, food, and photos of the deceased.
Another Christmas gift idea…
I’ve been a fan of Cheekwood since moving to Nashville in 1987, and now that I’ve moved less than two miles away, I bought a membership to enjoy all the 55-acre botanical garden and historical estate has to offer. (It’s also part of my Walden Woods season–more on that in the next post). I’m looking forward to fall in full bloom, then holiday lights November 24-December 31. Check out their plans and discounts for military, educators, students, and seniors (65+), benefits locally, and reciprocal admission to nearly 200 botanical gardens, arboreta, and conservatories nationwide and over 60 museums in the Southeast. Reciprocal admission is also offered in Canada, The Cayman Islands, and the Virgin Islands, and opportunities for Travel Study abroad with the American Horticulture Society are linked here.
See the second slideshow in the previous post here on the week I planned for my friend, Kate, to introduce her to southern hospitality and the Nashville spirit. Below is my guide for tourists, hosts, and locals on staycation. No doubt I’ll have more suggestions as I explore new places, and I’d love for you to share in the comments your favorite discoveries and hangouts, too. Enjoy!
*Updated June 2022. Always check business websites for latest information.
When I was living abroad for 3 years, my go-to for winter and summer breaks in Nashville was the Honey Bee Suite.
The owner, Carol, is a friend. Her place is so popular it was already booked when Kate visited (usually booked 8 months out). See why I love Carol’s home and the area here ).
Kate and I stayed in the “Charming Cottage in 12th/Belmont” but were told it was being sold and the link no longer works. 🙁
I read within a poet’s book a word that starred the page:
“Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage!”
Yes, that is true; and something more you’ll find, where’er you roam,
That marble floors and gilded walls can never make a home.
But every house where Love abides, and Friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home-sweet-home: For there the heart can rest.–Henry van Dyke
Since moving home from The Dominican Republic in June, life has been a blur. Two days after landing, I bought a car, braved Nashville traffic (the city has been growing by 100 people per day since I left three years ago), and began reconnecting with family and friends from Knoxville to Kentucky. Trivia Night at ML Rose, Knoxville’s Market Square and hiking trails, movies, and malls… Nashville’s live music of Santana, Phillip Phillips, the Goo Goo Dolls and my guys at the Irish pub …an eclipse, a wedding, salsa… a nine- month job search finally ends.
Nine weeks after landing I’ve put 5,000 miles on my car. Some days the journey home still feels long. Expats warn that when we reenter the US after so long away we find everything changed. Nashville is now a maze of high rise apartments and new restaurants and shops. Everything, everyone seems different, including me, because life is fluid, and the only thing constant is change.
This weekend marks the official end of summer–my favorite season which is partly why I chose to live in two warm-weather countries for awhile. But I’m also looking forward to fall–my first in a long time–to process all that’s happened. Today… I’m simply thankful for what has been, for what is, and for what is to come.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
An unexpected highlight of the summer was when an Australian friend visited me in Nashville, allowing me to share southern hospitality. When I left Africa over a year ago, Kate said we’d meet up somewhere in the world soon. An empty nester like me, she arrived in Morocco a month after I did in the fall of 2014 to manage a riad. She’s still in Marrakesh in the apartment complex where I lived when she isn’t traveling the world or visiting her kids. When she decided to come “see the South” and me, I first said to wait until I am settled in a home again so I can make her feel welcome. But Kate, knowing what I had learned and already forgotten–that home is anywhere friendship abides and we are at peace…that we don’t put off for later blessings we are offered today–came anyway. I’m so thrilled she did.
At our first Airbnb our host had written the poem above on a blackboard by the door. Truly home is where friends, family, love abides. I’ve been blessed by family, friends, and strangers who have opened their couches, cots, and rooms to me all summer as I’ve been seeking what’s next. Likewise, what a blessing to share with my soul sister my roots. Seeing again where I am from through the eyes of someone who marvels at church steeples, Broadway, and town squares… at grits, gravy and cornfields… someone who danced for the first time in her life when two friends pulled her on the floor to merengue and now wants to take dance lessons… were moments like other summer pleasures and people who have given me wings again.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
My next post, a downloadable Seven Days in Nashville: Homegirl Guide.
Since returning to the US this summer after living three years abroad (in fact, on this day, August 19, I landed in Morocco), I’ve bounced between my home of almost thirty years, Nashville, and Hopkinsville, the place I was born now called “Eclipseville.” I spoke with vendors yesterday just after they set up, sat down, and waited for the Summer Salute Festival at Founders Square to get going. On Main Street and beyond, energy and excitement revved and this weekend is taking off full throttle.
The talk of the town all summer, the Epic Solar Eclipse is the biggest event that’s happened in Hopkinsville in my lifetime–probably ever. The guys at Food Lion and The Wood Shed spoke of doing business with strangers who’ve come to town.
Drive-through meat and 3 and the best pies in town
Downtown as the first band played, southern rock ladies line-danced, couples jitter bugged Happy Days style, while children on the sidelines slurped blue snow cones. By the time I headed back to Mom’s with groceries, cars with headlights on–telltale signs of guests arriving–streamed into town. A Nashville friend messaged that her family will set up camp five minutes away. Cousins are meeting at their family farm, and my kids are coming in as reunions happen all over the county. NASA and national media will watch from a farm in Cerulean, miles down the road from Hopkinsville, at the point of greatest eclipse.
2017 has been a challenging year for me personally and globally. I know I’m not alone. Despite all the country–the world–is facing right now, people still long to celebrate life–to look up in awe rather than around in fear and confusion or down in dread. As a community–residents and travelers– looked up last night at the fireworks, we look forward to looking up on Monday. With so much we can’t control, the time feels right for heavenly bodies to move. To experience celestial power at work by a Creator who loves and sees all. We’re ready.
Highlights of Summer Salute Festival Founders Square (For more info and updates go here.)
Saturday, August 19: Fort Campbell Band 12:30, WSM Road Show Winners 6:30, Tracy Lawrence 8:00
Sunday, August 20: Church Service 10 am, Train Rides 10 am, Carnival Rides 10 am, Gospel Music 11:30, The Classic Rock Experience 7-10 PM
August 21 Public Viewing Areas: DeBow Park, Tie Breaker Park, Ruff Park, Trail of Tears Park, Western Kentucky State Fairgrounds, Pardue Lane
Also August 21 Hopkinsville Community College will display science activities including a satellite balloon will be launched. Also fans of Edgar Cayce, the most documented psychic of the 20th century who many consider the father of holistic medicine, will gather for a seminar and watch at his birthplace Beverly Academy. Go here for details.
I grabbed some BBQ and enjoyed catching up with John Banks (seated in front) who graduated from Christian County High School a year ahead of me.
Stop by to see Debbie and Ginny at Top This! They’ll fix you up!
Unique piece by Jamaican Barbed Wire Artist and Motivational Speaker, Sean Wallace http://www.windowsofopportunity.com He also designed glasses below.
Plenty of bling for fans of UK, my alma mater
And to cool off, stop by Griffin’s Studio–my favorite discovery, located across from the courthouse and Alhambra Theater, top of Main. Unique artwork, classes, and owner Griffin Moore, is a lady of southern smarts, art, and charm.
I adore Europe, but it turns out after living two years in Morocco, that Africa is my second home. I found more beauty, adventure, and relationships (especially in Marrakesh) — the three things I seek most in life —than I ever imagined. Sharing this place with my children, my friend, Moni, and former students was a privilege I’ll never forget. Likewise, I was thrilled when my niece, Emily, and Andres stopped by for a couple of days after Emily’s work trip to Turkey and some time in Italy. If you’re in Europe and want a taste of Morocco, 48 hours in Marrakesh can be an unforgettable experience.
For $45- $100 roundtrip on RyanAir, you can fly to Marrakesh from Milan, Rome, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, London, and many other European cities. (Arriving on a one-way ticket from one European city, then departing to another is a way to see more, but note that you will pay for all baggage above the size of the smaller-that-standard carryon allowed for free.) If you have the time, in Marrakesh you can relax by pools at regal resorts and riads (many featured on this blog), take cooking classes, or volunteer. You can also do excursions to Essaouira, the Atlas Mountains, the Sahara Desert, Chefchouen, Agadir, or Casablanca. But even if you have only two days, the trip is worth it because you will definitely experience some Marrakesh magic.
Here’s what these two did with 48 hours in Marrakesh …
Andres and Emily made a quick trip from Italy to visit me in Marrakesh. For an expat, nothing is better than when family stops by!
Arrival Day
After dropping off bags at my apartment, we were joined by my artist friend, Jon, who walked with us to the medina where we had lunch at my favorite daytime restaurant with a rooftop view of the Koutoubia Mosque.
The Koutoubia Mosque, located in Marrakesh’s Djemaa el Fna Square, is the largest mosque in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Emily is a textile designer, so our first mission was checking out intricate tile patterns and woodwork and shopping.
The Ensemble Artisanal(see gorgeous entrance below) sets the standard for the highest authentic, quality goods made by the superior local artisans selected to work there. Here you can see them working and teaching apprentices, and it’s a great place to check out fair pricing before bargaining in the souks.
The entrance of the Artisianl Ensemble is a popular photo opp. Here you can find fair prices for Moroccan-made goods and know that what you buy goes to the artists.Emily is a textile designer. She has traveled to India, China, Turkey, and many other locations for inspiration, something Marrakesh is known for.The workmanship here is top quality.
El Badi Palace
Giant storks greeted us as we entered the remains of El Badi Palace. Began in 1578 by Arab Saadian Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, the complex, built with ransom money from the Portuguese after the Battle of the Three Kings, exhibits the architecture of the Saadian Period. For tour times and more information, go here.
Storks make their home at El Badi Palace.Two artists, Jon Womack, and Emily Salgoad, marvel at El Badi Palace ruinsEl Badi Palace
My first official outing in Marrakesh was a tour organized by my school of the Jewish Quarter and Bahia Palace. I never tire of its quiet, cool grandeur.
Intricate designs at El Bahia PalaceAndres Salgado takes photos of Emily.El Bahia Palace makes a dramatic backdrop for a beautiful couple.Photo by Jon WommackWe bargained later with Jon’s friend in the souks and then he served mint tea, two rites of passage.
Andres got a deal on a fez for his dad, and we had sodas and more mint tea while watching the snake charming below.I take my photos from the rooftop bar to avoid having a snake draped around my neck.Watch where you step!Tourists and locals gather to see the snakes.Too tired to go out, we ordered in the first night. Seeing these two smiling on my couch made me happy.
Full Day
On their only full day during their 48 hours in Marrakesh, they got up early for two must-sees, Jardin Marjorelle
Jardin Majorelle is a must-see, must-get-photos iconic landmark in Marrakesh.
Emily and Andres Salgado at Pepe NeroEmily took a photos from the second-story apartments at Pepe Nero.Our server was great. Here he is pouring tea the Moroccan way at Pepe Nero.
Departure
No trip to Marrakesh is complete without hanging out with local friends at a riad, the traditional style of home in which all doors and windows open to an inner courtyard with a fountain and/or pool. My friend, Kate, arranged a riad rooftop breakfast for us at the location she managed, Riad Mur AKush. The November weather was perfect for a panoramic view of the medina. Mustafa’s morning music ended their 48 hours in Marrakesh on a high note.
Breakfast at Riad Mur Akush MarrakeshMustapha provides brunch music
Palmeraie Camel Ride
Though Emily and Andres had a 3 PM flight to catch, Ismail, my driver, hooked us up for an hour-long camel ride after breakfast in the Palmeraie on the way to the airport. It was Andres’ first time on a camel, and he had a big time. They felt the Marrakesh Magic, and having them there, was a double dose of magic for me, too.
When I told US friends I was moving to The Dominican Republic, several said they’d vacationed there and loved it. Most, like many of my coworkers and school community, enjoyed seclusion at Punta Cana’s resorts where they received five-star treatment. I get it; I loved this stay at Barcelo Bavaro Grand Resort last fall. Perfection…or at least one version of it. But like my friend from home, Sara, who said she had wanted to see the “real DR,” I also understand why many local friends love the Samana area for adventure and authenticity. I especially like Las Terrenas because of its “mom and pop” properties–private apartments and beach bars I remember from my childhood summers in Florida.
I love the laid back vibe of the province of Samana and will be forever grateful for the good times spent there with friends —horseback riding, swimming in a waterfall, drinking pina coladas on a small island off the main island, and whale watching in Samana Bay. I’ve seen couples enjoying different stages of life together there, too–newlyweds, retirees, and recently a pair from Canada who decided to pack up, move south, start a beach business, and live the dream.
I’ve always been fascinated with expats reinventing their lives in faraway places, like folks I met in Marrakesh like Aussie Alexandra featured on this blog who are doing just that. Likewise, Samana has enticed many from North America and Europe to move to the Caribbean.
Something pulls people here–even if just for a weekend. Anyone who travels regularly from Santo Domingo knows the thrill of coming around this curve, parking on the roadside lookout point, and thinking I’ve arrived. Paradise pops in Renoir-rich blue and green until sunset softens the sky with Monet-muted purples and pinks. This place definitely leaves an impression.
Riding through the province of Samana is also colorful. Mountain homes teeter on cliffs and balance above deep ditches while motorcycles and cars careen around curves.
Last January I loved the villa where my friends were married and vowed to stay in such a place near the hub of town on my next trip. I had instead chosen an all- inclusive in El Portillo because I’d snagged a Daily Deal on Booking.com. I looked forward to pondering possibilities for the new year and not having to decide where to eat or what to cook sounded relaxing.
I left Nashville on a redeye flight after the holidays, had a layover in Miami, then a three-hour bus ride from the Santo Domingo airport. Seventeen hours later, I was excited to finally drop my bag in the room and head for the fridge. I’d planned to grab a beer, order room service, and take a hot bath in the Jacuzzi, but the fridge was empty, room service was not included, and the bath jets were dead. When I went to the terrace to regroup before making the trek back to the front desk, the sliding glass door’s lock fell to the floor. Two days and multiple hikes to the front desk later, I was moved to a room where everything but the safe worked. It was fixed a day later. But on the very bright side–where I like to focus–the weather was perfect, and I loved dancing/exercising at the pool with fun instructors, great music, and guests from Europe. Hearing French, German, Italian, and Spanish on the beach was sweet as was eating every meal on the water, Brazilian steak night, the Crème brûlée, and the French man who sang while couples danced in the dark (see video at bottom).
Winter weather in the DR is amazing. Sunny, mostly dry, breezy and low humidity compared to the rest of the year.
My next trip to Las Terrenas was in mid-March and amazing. Thanks to Sana we had a private villa, Casa Anna, with a pool she found on AirBnB; Italian owners, Allesandra and her husband , greeted us when we arrived. The perfect location, it is in a quiet neighbourhood just a five minute walk to the fisherman’s village, Pueblo de Los Pescadores, the town’s pulse where locals, expats, and tourists shoot pool, watch games, listen to live music, eat, drink and are merry. We started the weekend with dinner there; I had a whole fried fish and a mojito as lights blinked along the shore like fireflies and water lapped the shore near our feet.
Steve and Sana
The next morning we had coffee with the hummingbirds on the bungalow’s covered porch, then went looking for an American-sized breakfast on the beach. We found it at One Love Surf Shack. Owners, Barry and Chef Kari, served bacon, eggs, toast, and rosemary potatoes (delicious). Barry joked if we were looking for granola and yogurt we’d come to the wrong place. I enjoyed every bite but was too full to join the three generations of ladies doing Zumba on the beach beside us. Barry said to come back for Happy Hour, their signature burgers, and open mic night.
Backyard Blooms
Chillin’ with Cava and Fresh-Squeezed Passion Fruit at One Love Barry and Kari, owners of One Love Surf Shack
The Canadian couple scouted locations around the world to open their restaurant: Mexico, Ecuador, Galapagos Islands, France, Thailand, Panama, England, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hawaii. Why did they choose the DR?
“Health care, title to own the property, exchange rates, tax treaties (getting their retirement money from Canada), basic amenities and infrastructure as opposed to ‘nice to have’ things which we placed on the bottom of the list. We tried to stay away from the ‘la-la’ happy things and focus on daily reality basic fundamentals when making our decision.”
It seems they made a great call… maybe even got it all… judging from the jovial crowd of back-slapping regulars reminiscent of buds who gathered every night at the bar Cheers. We watched the US play the DR in baseball. There was a whole lot of happy going on.
I’ll be leaving the island in June but will maybe return one day with a dance partner like these guys at El Portillo. Sana says she’d like to stay here with Steve and sell coconuts on the beach. No doubt business in Las Terennas will be booming.
Spring break may be in April this year in The Dominican Republic, but spring flings have been happening here for awhile. Every January-March humpback whales go rogue—migrating to Samana from Greenland and Iceland over 3000 miles away. Dr. Ken De Pree, author of Whales of Samana, likens their mating behavior in Dominican waters of Samana Bay, Silver and Navidad Banks to humans cruising singles bars. To attract the ladies, males croon tunes, form bromances to size up the competition, then brawl-it- out with up to nineteen rivals for the most fertile female. Breaching, tail slashing, body slamming each other– sometimes even drawing blood–there’s a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on. Pregnant moms then carry calves for eleven-twelve months, give birth, and nurse another eleven months until their babies are strong enough to make the journey back to the North Atlantic.
Whale watching ranked top of my DR Bucket List since moving here in 2016. Thanks to my friend, Sana, who booked Kim Beddall, an English- speaking Marine Mammal Specialist with Whale Samana, and her husband, Steve, who booked a car to get us there, we set sail last Sunday on Pura Mia, a 55- foot custom whale watching vessel. We loved returning to beautiful Samana Bay.
Since humpbacks are the most active species of whales anytime, knowing our boat would be a bit bigger than creatures that average 40-50 feet and weigh 30-40 tons (the record is 59 feet and 60 tons) was reassuring. Even so, the traffic of an estimated 1500 whales—400 that congregate at one time in rough waters in Samana Bay– made for some rocking and rolling on the waves. The tour company offers Dramamine, but most, like me, who had never been seasick didn’t take it. A rookie mistake. Thankfully pressure point bracelets, Sprite, and crackers helped as an hour in many of us were turning green.
Steve and Sana
The company offers the next trip free should no whales be spotted, but we, thankfully, hit the motherlode—a 45- foot mom and her 15-foot baby girl that rolled and flailed right beside our boat. Mama Crochet, a regular to these parts named for her lace-like markings, shared her offspring (below) with us up close and personal for much longer than is usual.
Humpbacks are in the family of great whales and are named and catalogued by the unique patterns on their tails, or “flukes,” which power them through the water. These tail markings, like human fingerprints, are one-of-a-kind.
Their heads resemble those of alligators, making them seem prehistoric (the DR was scouted by Spielberg for Jurassic Park after all) as they peer at strangers with their eyes just above the water.
They have grapefruit-sized bumps, two blowholes, and an accordian-like gullet, chest, and stomach. Though they can stay underwater forty minutes, they never fully sleep, but take turns resting each side of the brain to avoid drowning. They have a dorsal fin as keel and body heat regulator. Their flippers are approximately one-third of their body length and their scientific name, Megaptera novaeangliae means “big wing from New England,” the place where they were first academically described, though there are drawings of them on caves in the DR by aboriginal inhabitants predating Columbus.
Mothers of newborn whales don’t stop moving but tow their calves in their slipstream because babies do not have enough fat or blubber to float and could sink and drown. Also, until they are ready to swim well, they could be attacked. When strong enough to travel north, the mom has to fight off Orcas. Collisions with cruise ships are sadly too common and should mom die in the first year of a calf’s life, baby will die too because it is still nursing, consuming fifty gallons of milk per day. Adult whales do not eat while in the Caribbean but live off their fat until they migrate home. Their daily diet–1.5 tons of fish and shrimp-like crustaceans during feeding season—is the equivalent of 12,000 MacDonald hamburgers. It takes energy to carry 1,000 pounds of barnacles—enough to fill a pickup truck—on their bodies.
I highly recommend Whale Samana. They observe safety regulations and $3 of the fee ($59 adults/$30 children under 12) goes to the Marine Mammal Sanctuary.
We spied two adult males and tried to catch up with them, but they stubbornly dove deep and reappeared ten-twenty minutes later in different directions farther away.
We were serenaded by a male’s song by way of a recording played on the ship. Only males sing and can hear each other twenty miles away. Jacques Costeau called them the “Carusos of the Deep.” Prior to 1952 when the first scientist captured their song on tape, sailors and whalers were spooked by haunting sounds from beneath their ships. Though that mystery was solved, there are still many unknowns about humpbacks and what lies beneath.
Sources: Whales of Samana by author Ken De Pree, PhD, who has studied humpbacks near Samana since 1987, and contributors Osvaldo Vasquez, a leader among Dominican scientists in the study of humpbacks and Kim Beddell, founder of whale watching in Samana Bay in 1984-85. Also special thanks to Kim Beddell for amazing information given at sea.
Never miss a post: travel inspiration, destination itineraries, tips, trends, and tales from the road here. Be the first to hear about online and destination travel writing retreats and workshops.
