With a smooth swish, chef Loren Leflore spreads mile-high whipped egg whites on coconut cream pie. Then she invites a class member to use a culinary torch to brown the meringue. “You’re doing great,” she encourages the tentative torcher.

Next, Loren demonstrates how to make parmesan-crusted catfish and Delta hot tamales. All the while, we are snacking on fried dill pickle slices while awaiting the meal our instructor is preparing in the famous Viking Cooking School in Greenwood, Mississippi. Taste buds are delighted to be educated here. Read more...

The familiar whistled theme song floats through the air. A well-worn wooden chair where Sheriff Taylor sat waits by his desk. His typewriter, vintage phone, jail cell keys are neatly arranged nearby. And a continuous loop of “The Andy Griffith Show” plays on an old TV. Read more...

           “Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”                             

                                                        Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) in The Shawshank Redemption Read more...

Riverboats and passengers who are going to be in Nashville on New Year’s Eve are in for a musical treat. And for folks who can’t be in Music City as the old year ends, the fun will be televised live on CBS.

“From the very beginning, our goal was for Nashville to be the Central Time zone celebration on national television and rival New York City,” Butch Spyridon, President and CEO of Nashville Convention and Visitor Corp., said in a news release. Read more...

The words on the sign are very clear: “Please do not sit on furniture.”

And yet there he was. Sprawled on his back with his feet propped against the brocaded fabric, he was snoozing away on the antique settee. Or maybe the offender was a she.

Whatever, the napping cat doesn’t have to read the signs or pay attention to them. These cats are special and they are pretty much allowed to do what they want. Read more...

He strutted down the street like he was cock of the walk.

“He’s beautiful and he knows it,” a woman said, watching me try to take a photo of the confident rooster.

I think she was right. Perhaps this preening critter knew that he was a popular sight and that he could come and go as he pleased – protected by the laws of this American city. Read more...

After a very difficult year, Nashville is going to celebrate a bright future with the largest fireworks display show in the city’s history.

The Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4^th event also will feature country music superstar Brad Paisley with fireworks synchronized to a live performance by the GRAMMY-winning Nashville Symphony. Read more...

When the American Duchess riverboat stops in Clarksville this year, a special guest will board the paddle wheeler and entertain passengers with his signature tunes.

Music legend Lee Greenwood will visit with passengers aboard the vessel before taking the stage with the American Duchess Ensemble. Read more...

Even on a sunny California day, the island was shrouded in fog. We were almost on it before the sun broke through and we could see it well.

The island is one very scary place, and that is exactly what it was intended to be.

Rising from the middle of San Francisco Bay in California, Alcatraz Island drips with the dark atmosphere of danger and notoriety. Perhaps the most famous ex-jail in the world, Alcatraz doesn’t have a creepy reputation for nothing. From the start, Alcatraz was for the “worst of the worst.” Read more...

How about a really tough challenge? This raven is one of seven that live very pampered lives. A caretaker makes sure they are well fed and not inclined to fly away.

Every night the ravens are safely secured in their comfy cages to protect them from marauding foxes. Read more...