Sitting down on a park bench next to Scout, I peer at the book she is reading. Over her right shoulder is Dill. Over her left is Jem.  All the sculptured figures seem engrossed in the pages of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Behind us is the stately 1903 courthouse, the model for movie scenes where Scout’s father, lawyer Atticus Finch, fights valiantly to save a black man accused of rape. Read more...

Welcoming travelers to “Come back to something brand new,” Atlas Ocean Voyages is expanding its Antarctica luxe-adventure expeditions with two ships for winter 2022-2023.

World Traveller will embark on her inaugural Antarctica season, while World Navigator will return to Antarctica for its second. The two ships will offer travelers a choice of 20 expeditions, ranging from nine to 29 itineraries, sailing from November 2022 through March 2023. Read more...

Legend says that scrawling three Xs on this tomb will bring favors to the scrawler. A strange belief but I’ve seen all the Xs on the tomb and have been told that it is constantly being cleaned of those marks.

This trivia question has two parts. First, whose tomb is this (although it is disputed that she is actually buried in this particular grave). And second, where is the tomb? Read more...

Viking Octantis is now cruising to Antarctica as the company’s first of two new purpose-built expedition ships. Viking Octantis will be officially named in April in New York City by her ceremonial godmother, Liv Arnesen, the famed explorer and educator. Read more...

A mid-morning snack on a cruise is part of the pleasure of cruising. I don’t have mid-morning snacks at home but it just seems right to relax on a cruise ship and nibble at a cookie or some other fresh-baked sweet between breakfast and lunch.

One of my favorites aboard Royal Caribbean cruises is their popular Coconut Ranger cookies. When Royal Caribbean shared the recipe, I made the cookies at home for my family. We all agreed the cookies were delicious but something was missing – the ocean, of course. Read more...

Ben Blanchard was hoping to strike it rich by discovering oil under the Kansas prairie. Instead, in 1887, Ben found white gold – one of the largest salt deposits in the nation.

More than 400 feet thick, the salt deposit stretches from central Kansas into Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. Read more...

The new 930-guest Viking Neptune has now been “floated out,” the first time the ship has touched water. The event marks a major construction milestone for the Neptune.

“It is always a special day when a new ship meets water for the first time, and we look forward to welcoming guests on board the Viking Neptune this fall,” Torstein Hagen, Viking chairman, said in a news release. Read more...

The first time I walked by it on my Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas cruise, I thought it might be a children’s treasure game. You know, the kind where a gigantic robotic arm reaches down to retrieve a toy from a pile of rewards. Children often expect to get that big expensive toy and usually end up with an unwanted trinket. Read more...

She patiently stares out at sea waiting for a ship to dock. The small white dog was born deaf but somehow sensed when an incoming ship was about a half-mile away. She also had the uncanny ability to determine the dock where the ship would moor.

So, the trivia question has two parts. First, what is the name of this English bull terrier? And second, where is this statue located? Read more...

Celebrity’s newest spectacular ship has the perfect name. Apex. Meaning the highest point, the peak, the summit, the Celebrity Apex is all this and more.

Because of COVID-19, it took 581 days longer than anticipated for the Apex to arrive in U.S. ports. The vessel’s launch was originally planned for late March 2020. Read more...