Tracey Teo

Indiana

Contributor at Crossroads AAA Member Magazine

GO BIG OR GO HOME! That's my travel philosophy. I'm Tracey Teo, a travel journalist, and I never do anything half way. Come along on my journey!

Articles

Travel back in time to the Revolutionary War era in Alexandria

1 week ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Tracey Teo

Share The dockside tour is a bit like being an actor in a movie and just as thrilling. After all, it’s not every day you get to load a gunpowder cartridge and use a linstock to shoot a cannon on a 110-foot vessel that portrayed a pirate ship in two “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. Unlike the fictional pirate Jack Sparrow, the Continental Navy didn’t fight a Kraken, but it did fight a monster of a different sort — the British Royal Navy.
Explore Revolutionary Virginia in Old Town Alexandria

1 week ago | ajc.com | Tracey Teo

At the John Warner Maritime Heritage Center at Waterfront Park in Alexandria, Virginia, each visitor is assigned a crew member identity before embarking on a living history tour of Tall Ship Providence, a reproduction of an 18th century warship that was one of the first in the fledgling Continental Navy. For the duration of the tour, I am Able Seaman sailing on the U.S.S. Providence during the American Revolution.
Following in the steps of B.B. King on the Mississippi Blues Trail

4 weeks ago | ajc.com | Tracey Teo

As I drive my rented Dodge Hornet south on Highway 61 across the flat Mississippi Delta, the region’s famous native son B.B. King croons “Why I Sing the Blues” on the radio. Music that sprung from suffering fills me with joy, and I contemplate the paradox. This stretch of the Blues Highway cuts through the endless snow-white cotton fields that once defined the region.
Semiquincentennial Celebrations

2 months ago | kentuckymonthly.com | Tracey Teo

Shawnee warriors led by Chief Blackfish have lurked outside Logan’s Fort for weeks, forcing its inhabitants to live under a cloud of fear and anxiety. Venturing outside the Kentucky frontier fort is risky, but food is scarce, so on May 30, 1777, three brave women put on their bonnets and leave to milk cows under the protection of William Hudson, Burr Harrison, John Kennedy and James Craig—all armed with flintlock muskets. The party immediately is ambushed.
Curated secondhand shopping tours in New York City help move vintage fashion forward

2 months ago | chicagotribune.com | Tracey Teo

In the fashion archives at New York Vintage, a swanky vintage couture shop in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, I tried on a pair of 1980s bird cage earrings worn by Madonna in a provocative shoot for Vanity Fair Italia in 2023. These dangling works of art are too heavy to be practical, but what a glamorous look. Of course, nothing here is meant to be practical. Much of the extensive collection is over the top.
Southern river cruise traverses three states along the intracoastal waterway

Jan 14, 2025 | ajc.com | Tracey Teo

The historic St. Simons Lighthouse, a maritime sentinel of the Georgia coastline since 1872, looms over St. Simons Sound, long guiding ships to shore whenever the surrounding water’s mercurial temperament shifted from tranquil to ominous. As I trekked breathlessly up 129 steps that spiral to the top, I was thankful that, unlike the lighthouse keepers that resided here until the 1950s when the light was automated, I didn’t have to make the climb every day.
Princess Cruise on the Mexican Riviera Cures the Winter Blues

Nov 18, 2024 | hoosier.aaa.com | Tracey Teo

I love eating salsa as much as I love dancing the salsa, so when choosing shore excursions for my Mexican Riviera cruise on the Discovery Princess, Salsa and Salsa was at the top of my list. This seven-day cruise that sails round trip from Los Angeles with stops in Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas was my antidote to the winter blues. And in the seaside resort town of Mazatlán, a cooking and dance class combo gets spicy in the kitchen and on the dance floor.
Frighteningly Fun

Oct 3, 2024 | kentuckymonthly.com | Tracey Teo

If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call? Forget Ghostbusters. Call David Dominé if your ghost is in Old Louisville, one of the country’s largest historic preservation districts that some say is the most haunted. Dominé, an award-winning Louisville author and historian, has written several books about supernatural encounters in his former stomping ground, where flickering gas lamps cast an eerie glow on Victorian mansions.
Destin’s artificial reef program hopes to keep anglers hooked

Oct 1, 2024 | ajc.com | Tracey Teo

Feeling pretty satisfied with myself, I baited my hook aboard the American Spirit, a large fishing charter based in Destin, Florida. I had stopped asking my husband to put the malodorous, icky bits of chum on the hook and was doing it myself like the experienced deep-sea angler I wanted to become. I cast my line, and within minutes, a tug that nearly bent my rod in half had me scrambling to reel in my trophy. It was gonna be a big one!What? Nothing.
You don't have to be a billionaire to vacation on a yacht

Sep 25, 2024 | chicagotribune.com | Tracey Teo

When I told friends I was going to sail on a Dream Yacht Charter around St. Martin and St. Bart’s for six days with a small group of passengers I had yet to meet, they made lots of references to “Below Deck,” the Bravo reality TV show about yachts and yachties. I wasn’t familiar with the show, so I tuned in.