Home’s very nice, but going’s good too.

Famous places are fine, but the never-heard-of spots speak more to me.

You have to swallow hard to put hard-earned vacation time and money toward somewhere your friends and relatives haven’t longed for… been to …or heard of.

Me too, but pleasures and delightful people pop up every time I do. So I’ll share a few categories I’ve recognized this year, or some concepts about what perhaps to consider as you venture out in the new year.

My categories might not be yours, but I’m pretty sure that having a bit of a purpose in mind makes the going ever so much richer and fuller.





Is this really what I’m seeing?

Too crazy, can’t be true but I’m looking at it.

The Monastery of St. Clare is home to three nuns supporting themselves raising miniature horses. The herd of 60 tops out at 34 inches, two of three nuns are wheelchair users and the third is likely to be seen holding a horse in her arms.

Find them near Brenham, Texas.

Pasaquan is a vision of the future according to the artist who created the six buildings and colorful concrete sculpture.

Not your average neighborhood in the rural south; St. EOM as Eddie Owens Martin called himself interpreted his 1930s communications with a trio of spirits from a place they called Pasaquan.

Dedicated preservationists in Buena Vista, Ga., give tours in the spring and summer; you can stay in nearby Montezuma at Traveler’s Rest Bed and Breakfast, one of the top 12 vote getters around the world in the www.bedandbreakfast.com poll.

Crater of Diamonds is a state park in Murfreesboro, Ark. People wallow in the muck because finders are keepers and they find diamonds, amethyst, agate, jasper and more. Average daily treasure seekers: 1,500.



Remarkable! Who knew?



Exceptional collections and programming, passionate founders

The Patee House Museum in St. Joseph, Mo., immerses you in Pony Express history and America-heading-west development in remarkable exhibits throughout this 1858 former hotel with 140 guest rooms. Allow a day or more because it’s fun.

Apr. 1 – 3, 2010 is the official 150th anniversary of the Pony Express.

International Festival-Institute is in Round Top, Texas, population 77. Better stay in nearby Brenham with many fine lodging choices.

Come August through April for the concert series in the magnificent 1,100 seat concert hall or summertime for the music festival.

Or any time just to see this all-wood concert hall with intricate hand-carved wood designs and the grounds and gardens.





Chocolate and ice cream

Finding pleasure with taste buds and happy brain chemicals



Hot Chocolatier in Chattanooga, Tenn., is opening a shop in the Main Street district of Chattanooga in 2010; I tasted her luscious blackberries in white chocolate and Brie in dark chocolate while she was still building the business in a city-supported incubator.

Chocolat in Fredericksburg, Texas got some of my mail-order Christmas gift orders after tasting their exquisite cast liquid center candies. Port, red wine and fruits distinguish the very-fluid fillings. Quintessential they call their chocolates.



A gem

Not looking for it, noticed on my way somewhere else.

Luckenbach, Texas, starts you humming, thanks to the Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings song, and so does the real spot. Fun to find yourself in a place music defined long before you got there.

Hardly matters if you want a beer or not, this little bar has music - a couple of benches and chairs for pickers, singers and toe tappers. The dance hall is huge for weekend crowds.

Luckenbach is so small it would be easy to miss, down the road from Fredericksburg, Texas.

Once Upon a Bookseller in St. Marys, Ga., is a small space, but so is charming St. Marys near the sea. Can shops reflect their community?

This one does, offering an enormous range of titles in just a room.

It’s across the street from Spencer House Inn, 14-rooms built in 1872 and the right launching point for a day on Cumberland Island.

The Book Loft of German Village in Columbus, Ohio, is 32 connected rooms of many sizes. Packed tight, with books floor to ceiling.

Columbus is a university town with a big emphasis on fresh food, the arts and interesting neighborhoods named Short North and German Village.



New twist in a

familiar spot

Adding to what I thought I knew about things important

The Robert Frost Cottage in Key West has the original of “A Gift Outright” that Frost wrote in 1942 and pulled out of his head to recite at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration since the glare that day kept him from reading the words he had prepared.

And I used to think Key West was all about Hemingway and absinthe.

East Tennessee History Center touched my personal history and I don’t have Tennessee roots. I checked out the census search in this beautiful federal building in Knoxville and discovered an uncle I never knew I had.

Wondering and marveling are good travel partners.