Exploring the American Landscape
Old people and things
Between our daily visits to the Art Institute and the Chicago Architecture Center boat tour, you might think we didn’t have much time to take in other sights during our recent trip to Chicago. But thanks to the compactness of the downtown area, we were able to see quite a bit while relying exclusively on … Read more
A big part of our motivation for selling the Airstream and truck was to switch to a different style of travel: trips by air and trips to large cities, which we tried to avoid at all costs when towing our house behind us. Our first post-Airstream foray was a brief-but-busy trip to Chicago. I hadn’t … Read more
The last time we visited Ken’s brother and his family in Silicon Valley was way back in 2018, when we stayed in the area the week of Thanksgiving during our time on the road. A return visit was way overdue, plus we were in no particular rush to get back to the heat, humidity, and … Read more
The heyday of cigarette and underwear companies as employers in Winston-Salem was during the middle years of the 20th century. Eventually automation, the lower cost of overseas labor, and general market changes led to much of the manufacturing exiting the area, leaving Winston-Salem relatively bereft of major employers. The 1980s were not a great time … Read more
Judging by today’s numbers, Winston-Salem doesn’t seem like a powerhouse in North Carolina. With a population of about 250,000, it ranks as the fifth-largest city in the state and isn’t even the largest in its immediate region, with Greensboro taking top honors in the Piedmont Triad. But today’s population figures obscure the significance of Winston-Salem … Read more