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2 weeks ago | 
smithsonianmag.com | Kinsey Gidick
The James River Batteau Company, an outdoor recreation-meets-historical tour business, has designed a dinner cruise that honors the resilience and culinary ingenuity of enslaved boatmen As the sun dips softly behind the Blue Ridge Mountains, the James River unfurls like a ribbon of gold, cradling the reflection of a passing batteau. The flat-bottomed vessel, a wooden relic of the 18th century, glides through the water.
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2 weeks ago | 
gardenandgun.com | Kinsey Gidick
Mary Randolph Carter calls clutter poetry. To her, a house without books—stacked on shelves or scattered across the floor—feels lifeless, devoid of soul. She treasures objects with patina, favoring a “lived-in” look she says she fine-tuned during her childhood in Richmond, Virginia, where she grew up as the oldest of nine in a home on Monument Avenue.
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3 weeks ago | 
gardenandgun.com | Kinsey Gidick |Anna Davis
Country music legend Merle Haggard once told NPR’s Terry Gross that he hopped his first train at age five. The son of a Santa Fe Railroad carpenter had a lifelong love affair with locomotives—so much so that he actually named his twentieth studio album My Love Affair with Trains. Now, fans of rail travel, country music, and Americana can step into that legacy aboard Haggard’s former personal dome car, which was recently added to the Virginia Scenic Railway’s lineup.
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3 weeks ago | 
gardenandgun.com | Kinsey Gidick |Gabriela Gomez-Misserian
The Southeast is known for its rolling hills and Blue Ridge peaks, and one of the coolest ways to take in the scenery is at high velocity. Mountain coasters—gravity-driven rides that wind through natural landscapes—have surged in popularity across the region, offering an equal mix of adrenaline rush and Appalachian charm. Sevier County, Tennessee, is home to eight of these ridge runners alone, but you can find them peppered across the region.
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3 weeks ago | 
flipboard.com | Kinsey Gidick
Predators Lose 2-1 to Flyers & Revisiting the Alexandre Carrier Trade With MontrealPlus, a look at the club's latest results... The latest from our great team of Nashville Predators writers. Predators Begin Road Trip With Loss to …
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1 month ago | 
businessinsider.com | Kinsey Gidick
An etiquette camp might sound a bit old fashioned, but good manners never go out of style. H. Armstrong Roberts/Getty Images 2025-03-25T17:03:01Z Facebook Email X LinkedIn Copy link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? . My son attends many different summer camps. Adding a few days of etiquette to the mix seemed smart.
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1 month ago | 
yahoo.com | Kinsey Gidick
My son attends many different summer camps. Adding a few days of etiquette to the mix seemed smart. The camp focused on table manners, curiosity, and distinguishing gratitude from entitlement. It lead to noticeable improvements in the his manners and social interactions. He'll be going back. My 9-year-old son, Wells, has never been what you'd call a wild child. He's got a good-natured streak and — like his mother — a deeply ingrained need to be a people-pleaser. Behavior issues?
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1 month ago | 
travelagewest.com | Kinsey Gidick
Washington, D.C., is a perennial family travel favorite, and for good reason — the history, culture and sheer number of things to do make a trip to the nation’s capital a nearly obligatory American pilgrimage. But at the same time, the traffic and vast size of the “DMV” (District-Maryland-Virginia) — as it’s often called — can seem daunting to those tackling it with kids. Here are the top ways to make the most of a trip to D.C. and ensure a memorable experience for all ages.
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1 month ago | 
fodors.com | Kinsey Gidick
The dirty truth about airplane cleanliness. Never—and I do mean never—step into an airplane bathroom in just your socks. Better yet, keep your shoes on for the entire flight. Despite airlines’ best efforts to maintain cleanliness—protocols that ramped up during the pandemic—passengers have an uncanny ability to transform tight quarters into germ-ridden Petri dishes. Flight attendants confirm that the lavatory is one of the filthiest spots on a plane—but it’s far from the only one.
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1 month ago | 
parentmap.com | Kinsey Gidick
Photo: Fort Nisqually. Photo courtesy of Fort Nisqually Living History Museum Katrina Horbatko Durham never fails to capture her students’ attention when she reveals that their home state has five active volcanoes. “That always gets their attention,” the fourth-grade teacher at Ellensburg’s Ida Nason Aronica Elementary School says with a laugh.
