A glass vial with the dying breath of famed inventor Thomas Edison.

The maroon chair, still blood stained, where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford Theater.

A folding camp bed that General George Washington actually slept in during the Revolutionary War. Read more...

What must the first Aztec Indian been thinking when he or she decided that the abundant agave plant could be used to produce a potent drink. Creative, for sure.

Walking through La Consentida Tequila Museum in Costa Maya, Mexico, we learned the fascinating history of the popular liquor. The museum is within easy walking distance from where ships dock and was part of shore excursions I booked on my Celebrity Equinox cruise. Read more...

George Glenn Jones almost died before he got a chance to live. The family doctor dropped the baby shortly after delivery. The sturdy newborn survived with only a broken arm.

But what a life the country music legend went on to live in that interval between the day he entered this world on Sept. 12, 1930, and the day he left on April 26, 2013. Read more...

She made it look so easy. A few knots here, some stylish tucks there, a loop around the neck. And viola. A beautiful pareo, the sarong-like clothing worn by Polynesian men and women.

Asking for volunteers from our group of cruise ship passengers, the Mama Ruta designer created four different sarong styles. That was quite impressive but what I found even more interesting was how the artists at Mama Ruta’s hand craft the colorful fabrics used to make the pareos. Read more...

Part of the pleasure of cruising is the cuisine. Sometimes we get a chance to enjoy dishes that we may never have tried. Or we welcome old familiar standbys.

On my cruise aboard the S. S. Legacy for UnCruise Adventures, one of our favorites was the cookies that were served every afternoon. Fresh baked and delicious, the cookies always seemed better than the ones I had at home. Read more...

The first cruise I ever took was the 1976 inaugural tour of the Mississippi Queen. The paddle wheeler went from New Orleans to Cincinnati for my memorable voyage.

A favorite of cruisers, the Mississippi Queen was dismantled and sold for scrap in 2011. A sad loss for her many fans. Read more...

When a shaman wearing a loin cloth and feathered headdress welcomed us, we knew this was not going to be a typical museum visit.

It wasn’t. Our tour of Kakaw Chocolate Factory in Costa Maya, Mexico, was entertaining, informative and delicious. The three guides were excellent actors who seemed to delight in the characters they were playing – the shaman, Sister Rita the nun and Dr. Adamstein the mad scientist. Read more...

Patsy Cline saved the memories of her life. That memorabilia, after being locked away for more than half a century, is now being seen at the Patsy Cline Museum in Nashville.

“Patsy Cline was very sentimental,” said museum founder Bill Miller. “I think people will be really surprised at what we have in the museum.” Read more...

Cruise ships and mojitos seem to go together in my mind. On a cruise, I am often heading to some sunny island and the cocktail is a cold refresher.

Legend says that the mojito was Ernest Hemingway’s favorite drink. But the origins of the sweet and sour concoctions go back much further than that. Read more...

The little boy ahead of me at the Aviarius wasn’t too sure about this. Hold out his hand with bird seed and let a bird alight to eat it from his hand?

“What if it bites me?” 5-year-old Aaron of Florida asked his mother. After watching other people do it, Aaron bravely stuck out his hand and was immediately visited by a small bird. Read more...