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Travel Blog: Santa Barbara & Los Angeles
As we packed the car in the morning to make our way to Santa Barbara, we bought breakfast sandwiches from the Inn at Spanish Bay. It was my brilliant idea to take the sandwiches to go so that we could have some time in Santa Barbara, as it was our quickest stop overnight. The ride was four hours, and I wanted to at least see the town before we had to move on to Los Angeles the next morning. We picked a spot along the 17-mile drive and decided to eat our sandwiches at a picnic table overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Much to our surprise (and disappointment), a seagull swooped…
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Travel Blog: Day 2-4 | San Fran, Carmel & Pebble Beach
Days 2-4: San Francisco, Carmel, Pebble Beach On the second day in San Francisco, I clocked in over 16,000 steps on my tracker. We walked everywhere. We began by having breakfast at Farmer Brown, a nice homestyle-meets-jazzy-blues place, where we all devoured some eggs, pancakes, and waffles. Afterwards, we lined up at the trolley, and the line was pretty long. We waited over an hour to take the trolley, but we were standing next to a family from Los Angeles who was also celebrating their daughter’s graduation from high school, and we became fast friends. One of the things I love most about travel is talking to people and meeting…
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They Say That Travel Changes You
They say that travel changes you. This is known to be true. For every time you take a step, No matter how many or few– The perspective that you used to have Is replaced with something new. —stephanie verni—
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Eating My East Coast Snobbery and That One Sentence
If you ask my husband, he’ll tell you I’m horrible at admitting when I’m wrong, so I figured I’d practice eating my words today with the hope that I may become better at acknowledging when I am incorrect. Over and over again throughout my years, I have uttered this singular sentence: I am an East Coast girl. It has been a conscious decision to say these words. And I said them with pride and an air of snobbery. Now—here it comes, so get ready—because I have to eat my words. Every ounce of arrogance that is linked to that one sentence is false. It’s a lie, an error in judgment.…
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Meeting Guidebook Author and Travel TV Host Rick Steves
Today, my magazine writing students and I, along with members of the Stevenson University community, were treated to an afternoon session with guidebook author and travel television host, Rick Steves. Steves’ warm and friendly demeanor and sense of humor had the attendees listening intently as he shared his travel and work stories. If you’re not familiar with this expert traveler, you are missing out. Steves runs a company called Rick Steves’ Europe, which has grown from a one-man operation to a thriving company with over 100 employees. In this capacity, he produces more than 50 guidebooks on European travel and is able to host a weekly hour-long radio show on…
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The Case for the American Road Trip
A few years ago, I read Andrew McCarthy’s piece entitled U.S. Road Trips: Into the Heart of America, and I couldn’t agree with him more about getting into your car and going. He begins the piece with this sentence: There’s nothing wrong that a hundred bucks and a full tank of gas can’t fix. I heartily agree, Mr. McCarthy. One of the most special things about taking road trips, in my humble opinion, is not just getting there and seeing what you want to see, but also the ability to get lost and see what you didn’t expect to see. That’s it in a nutshell. Sometimes the best surprises, or…
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Annapolis Through A Historic Lens
When I get a few hours of free time and I happen to be feeling inspired, I grab my camera and go. While I have photographed Annapolis several times (and it happens to be my hometown), most often it’s been from the viewpoint of characters in my first novel, Beneath the Mimosa Tree. When I write, I tend to use photographs to help me describe settings, places, clothing, and sometimes, even people. Yesterday, however, I wanted to capture some of the historic spots in our great little city. Just because. Here’s what I captured. Stephanie Verni is Professor of Business Communication at Stevenson University and is the author of Inn…
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Through Books, You Can Travel
*** One of my favorite aspects about reading novels is that they allow us to travel to places we may never get to experience, at least not the same way the author sees them. Books such as Adriana Trigiani’s The Shoemaker’s Wife or Alice Hoffman’s The Museum of Extraordinary Things—two books I can’t and have no desire to get out of my head—submerge us into different aspects of the world and see it through their eyes. As another example, who reads Maeve Binchy’s novels and doesn’t want to go to Ireland? Who reads anything by Rosamunde Pilcher and doesn’t want to visit England and the villages of Cornwall? On the flip side, as…
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Writing About Places in Fiction – Maryland’s Eastern Shore in Inn Significant
As a writer, it’s important to research the places you may feature in your writing. I spent a ton of time walking around Annapolis, Maryland, for my first novel, Beneath the Mimosa Tree, and I did the same with the novel I launched yesterday, Inn Significant. It’s part of the fun, really. As my students in travel writing class can attest from last semester, it’s envigorating to write about a place, but there’s a trick. You have to allow yourself to be completely immersed in the place. Your writing won’t be as vibrant if you’re just a spectator. You have to become one with the place…become a local while you…
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An Eastern Shore Treasure: Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay
* As a Marylander who sometimes enjoys a quick getaway to the Eastern Shore, I recently had the privilege of once again staying at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa and Marina. Situated on the banks of the Choptank River, the resort boasts 342 acres in Cambridge, Maryland. As this was my third visit as a guest—having gone once before with my husband and then again for a girls’ getaway weekend—I always forget just how large, well-maintained, and picturesque it is. Unlike some resorts, it does not have an air of superiority to it; instead, it welcomes guests with open arms and invites them to walk the trails,…
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St. Michaels, Maryland: A Photo Essay & Setting For My New Novel
I love the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Whenever I can steal away and spend time in one of the many adorable towns across the Chesapeake Bay, I jump at the opportunity. Saturday was just such a time. Additionally, I have a vested interest in getting a good “feel” for the place as my new novel is set primarily in Oxford, Maryland, with jaunts to St. Michaels and Easton as well. I’ve done my homework—this summer, I spent time in Oxford. I made two trips there to walk around and get a feel for the place and the people. On Saturday, I took a stroll…it was just my camera and me…
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The Friday Random Thoughts Roundup
I haven’t been blogging much lately, and I’m feeling badly about it. I’ve been incredibly busy with two kids in high school, teaching at the university, volunteering for things, and serving on committees, in addition to actually trying to fit my new mentality of health and fitness into my daily regime. I wish I could write an insightful, meaningful post right now, but all I have time for is a quick roundup of random thoughts and things I want to share with you. So here it goes… I finally got around to watching the movie Me Before You last weekend which was based on the book by JoJo Moyes. I…
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