Wednesday, June 25, 2008
On July 3, 1608, French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded a fur-trading post on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.That fur-trading post is now one of the oldest cities in North America. And this summer, Quebec City celebrates four centuries of French heritage with a series of exhibits, festivals and performances.
We speak with Luci Tremblay from Quebec400 about this milestone anniversary, what it represents, and how the occasion is being celebrated.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
I’m a Dad and these days Father’s Day is different than it used to be. Not only am I on the receiving end now, but separated by decades, some of the propos of the day have changed.
Back then (1960′s), baseball doubleheaders and beer played as much a role as the cards, the barbecue and the obligatory gifts.
There are no longer doubleheaders, and the beers are mostly brands that did not exist back then.
In this Conversation on the Road, we speak with Dave Gausephol, a beer writer, collector and historian, about an article he wrote a few years back entitled, “Your Dad’s Beer: Sipping a Generation”.
Here is a link to the article: http://www.allaboutbeer.com/features/223dadsbeer.html
Friday, June 20, 2008
The Annin Flag Company is a place one tends to hear about in a year like this - a presidential election year. It’s possible that one of the candidates might try to show up there for a photo op before the November election (as Ronald Reagan did years ago).
But the flag factory is a busy place, even when the politicians are not there. It’s a place we tend to think about around Flag Day (June 14).
And for good reason.
The American flag was less than fifty years old when Alexander Annin began making US flags for the merchant ships in his sail-making shop on the New York City waterfront in the 1820’s.
Since that time Annin & Co.’s story can be seen paralleling that of the nation. For example:
In this Conversation on the Road, we visit with Dale Coots of the Annin Flag Company in New Jersey to see what Flag Day and every day is like there.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
It’s an exciting time in the world of beers. There are new variations, old standards are being revised. The possibilities are seemingly endless.
And in Vermont at the Long Trail Brewery, they are involved in something called “Eco-Brewing”.
Eco-Brewing is defined as the act of placing environmental considerations at the forefront of a brewery’s decision making process. It is actively seeking out ways to eliminate negative impact the brewery has on its natural surroundings and engaging in an constant on-going process to review current operations to find new ways in which the brewery may live in symbiotic harmony with its local environment.
But that’s just the start of it. For more listen in to this segemnt which recorded in August, 2007. You can also go to http://longtrail.com
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Tired of the same cookie-cutter generic accommodations ? You know, those places with the “free” breakfast buffet taht are so conveniently located at an interstate exit, next to a regional mall and just down the street from the omni-present national fast-food eateries ?
There’s an accommdations with a personal touch in Taylors Falls, Minnesota offering something a bit different. In fact, it is one of a kind place, The Old Jail Bed & Breakfast.
As the name indicates the modern day B&B used to be a jail. Theses days it is still set up that way.
The Taylors Fall Jail (now the B&B) was built next door to a saloon (now also part of the B&B) in 1884. Over the years it also served as an ice house, shoe repair shop and garage. Historian Helen White restored it as a Jail, and in 1981 it opened as Minnesota’s first licensed Bed & Breakfast.
In this Conversation on the Road (originally recorded in August, 2007) we hear more about the history of the buildings, how they werre turned into a Bed & Breakfast, and just what travelers might experience as they pay to spend a night in jail.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
“Loving County, Texas is the emptiest county in the United States. It covers six hundred sixty-nine square miles and has a population of ninety-one persons. It’s about one lonely soul for ever seven square miles. Loving County doesn’t have many people, and it doesn’t have much else”.
So wrote the late Charles Kuralt some 25 years ago. In this Converation on the Road, we went back to Loving County to see if it’s much different there these days.
Recorded August, 2006
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Once it was a fixture along the American road.
But try to find a Howard Johnson Restaurant these days. Its seems destined to go by the wayside joining the likes of the Studebaker and the Checker cab.
But there are still afew left.
In this Conversation on the Road, we visited with one of the last still operating HoJo restaurants – this one in Lake Placid, New York. Thankfully, some things still stay the same.
Taped: August, 2007
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Decades ago the late Charles Kuralt paid a visit to Darwin, Minnesota. It seems that a Francis Johnson from Darwin had this habit of never wanting to throw anything away.
Mr. Johnson saved some twine. He saved some more and still some more. By the time Kuralt came to town, the ball measured some thirty-eight feet around and nearly thirteen feet tall.
We paid a telephone visit to Darwin, Minnesota to see whatever became of Francis Johnson and his big ball of twine.
This feature was taped in August, 2006.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Because of its location and history, Baltimore offers a rare blend of Northern and Southern traditions. The result is a unique local culture.
Some things distinctively Baltimore include blue crabs, rowhouses, H.L. Mencken, lacrosse and Corned Beef Row.
Yet another is a Hon.
The term Hon is a friendly Baltimore greeting (“Hey, Hon) and comes from the word honey. But over the years it has also come to be known to represent a working class Baltimore of the 1950′s-1970′s to be found in neighborhoods such as Hamden, Canton and Highlandtown. In those days it was not uncommon to see women there dressed in bright, printed dresses with outdated galsses and beehive hairdos.
Honfest is annual festival held in the Hamden neighborhood of Baltimore. Started in 1994 as a local celebration of the Baltimore lifestyle and stereotype, it has since become a tope event.
We speak with Denise Whiting of the Hon Cafe about Hons, Honfest, “Miss Hon” and of Baltimore’s distinctive popular culture.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
June 3, 2008 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Jefferson Davis.
Davis was best known as President of the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War. But there was more to him than that. And just who was Jefferson Davis anyway ?
To gain some insight into these and other questions we speak with Dean Knight, Supervisor of the White House at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia. The Museum is staging a series of events during this year to mark the Davis birthday year.
