by Ellen and David Hill

There underground, nestled like silkworms in a mulberry leaf, is the witchetty grub, all fat and creamy, filled with a protein-rich almond-flavoured ooze.

At eye level there’s a Grevillea bloom, pregnant with syrupy nectar, already dripping its golden sweetness on your fingers. The air hangs heavy with the heady odour of dozens of bush oranges scattered in haphazard disarray on the ground.

Welcome to Doug Taylor’s supermarket in Australia’s Alice Springs Desert Park—right in the middle of the most arid continent on earth. 

by Janice F. Miller

Sixteen shady acres of dirt pathways, steeply pitched roofs on narrow buildings and even a few turrets… all signs of a medieval European village… pop up just 15 minutes from downtown Kansas City. It’s the home of the Kansas City Renaissance Festival, a.k.a. the KC Renfest.

by Earl F. Martinelli

A controversial poet, a scandalous divorce, a bizarre medieval-style stone tower, a love story unparalleled, a perfect bed to die in, a life of self-sufficiency, and waves bashing the shoreline—all of this is yours when you tour Tor House and Hawk Tower, the former home of poet Robinson Jeffers and his family located in Carmel, California. 

by Barbara-Jeanne Blank

Like a mustang, Tombstone—Arizona’s “Town too Tough to Die”—was born on its feet.  Silver built the town in the 1870’s in Apache country and silver still drives it... Apache silver and tourist silver.

Here are your best bets for spending a little of your tourist silver while you’re in Tombstone:

by Mary Anne Lonze

Sampans skim past, laden with heavy cargo that sinks their hulls into the murky brown water. Women cast circular fishing nets, then slap the water with paddles to attract fish into the traps.

Children lie on wooden decks scribbling homework as a stove seeps tendrils of smoke under a weathered pot of pho. The faded wedding photo nailed to the wall displays a smiling younger image of the woman now selling the jewel-colored silk robes and jewelry that she herself will never own.

by Leanne Matzenger

Campers, hikers, and horseback riders, eager to escape the congested streets of their hometowns, flock to the brilliant Superstition wilderness. Here, tiny lilac flower clusters dot the emerald hillside. Giant saguaro grow sky high, their ribbed branches bursting with white funnel-shaped flowers. And sporadic clumps of pale yellow grass grow haphazardly across rolling hills.

Forty-five miles outside of Phoenix, this lush mountain retreat rises high above the dust of the desert floor.

by Elaine M. Strom

The sun’s brilliant mantle slowly descends over the shadow cloak of night, revealing the most majestic mountains on this earth. Welcome to Banff, Canada. Draw back the drapes, step out onto the balcony, and you will find an invigorating adventure along the Bow River and Bow Falls trails waiting below.

Although these out and back trails are only approximately 1.5 kilometers along the north and south shores of the Bow River, make note of the potential this outing has to offer. A promise of uplifting and exhilarating beauty in nature and of pristine peace lies along the paved pathway ahead.