Summer Travel: Courses That Will Transport You

Summer travel season is here–my favorite time of the year! PLEASE JOIN ME FOR A WAY TO SAVOR TRAVEL EXPERIENCES AT HOME in a course I’m teaching in July at The Porch, Nashville’s Independent Writing Center. GO HERE FOR DETAILS:  Travel Tales: Writing Our Journeys Near and Far  is for anyone wanting to join a community of explorers with various  writing goals. Whether you’re a blogger or…

Five Reasons for a Southern Girl Getaway in Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville, North Carolina makes a great girl getaway destination–not only because of the beautiful Biltmore mansion (which housed the Glamour On Board: Fashion from Titanic The Movie exhibit I LOVED) but also because of five other fabulous finds. Reason 1: The Downtown Restaurants Reason 2: The Shopping Reason 3: Biltmore Gardens and Grounds Wonder beckons as you enter The Biltmore Estate through what seems…

Cindy McCain – Lost in Morocco

Originally posted on Learning in Virtual Environments (LIVE) lab :
I’ve been lost since 2014 when I left a teaching job of 27 years at a school my kidsattended K-12 three streets from our house. I moved to another continent 4,400 miles away. Solo. Sight unseen. As sure as Santiago in Coelho’s (Quelho’s) The Alchemist, I knew it was my destiny, an adventure to which…

What’s Happening in Nashville: Cheekwood in Bloom

Find a bit of blue sky April 14-15 to take advantage of half-priced admission at the closing weekend of Cheekwood in Bloom 2018.

Glamour on Board: Titanic Fashion at Biltmore Estate

The Vanderbilts cancelled their booking on the Titanic a week before she sailed, but their Biltmore Estate puts the ship’s massive splendor into perspective as backdrop for Edwardian style, a travel adventure, and a love story transcending death.

Woods in Winter

Today was the first time in almost three years I’ve crunched through snow. I didn’t laugh like I did  sledding in the Atlas Mountains,  but sliding along with Ella in our quiet Walden Woods was happiness. Peace. A snow day–time no longer spoken for– is a gift that feeds the soul. Frozen flakes falling like manna from heaven. An invitation to simply, beautifully just be.

Taking a Timeout in a Tennessee Version of Walden Woods

Yesterday at Dickens of a Christmas in Franklin  with my sister and brother-in-law, I ran into Edy, our wonderful Airbnb hostess last summer. She asked why I haven’t been posting on the blog.  To her and other readers, I apologize. Reentry into the US over the last six months after three years abroad has been an adventure in itself.   So much has happened which…

Cheekwood’s Celebration of El Día de los Muertos: A Nashville Tradition

I was thrilled yesterday to be headed again to  El Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  With all the changes that have happened in Nashville over the three years I lived abroad,  I was happy that Cheekwood still hosts one of my favorite fall events and one of the most important festivals in Latin American culture.   On El Dia de Los Muertos …

7 Days in Nashville: Homegirl’s Guide

See the second slideshow here on the week I planned for my friend, Kate, to introduce her to southern hospitality and the Nashville spirit.  Below is my guide for tourists, hosts, and locals on staycation.  No doubt I’ll have more suggestions as I explore new places, and I’d love for you to share in the comments your favorite discoveries and hangouts, too.  Enjoy! Click…

Hometown Hopkinsville, Kentucky: Eclipseville (and beyond) is Ready

Since returning to the US this summer after living three years abroad (in fact, on this day, August 19,  I landed in Morocco), I’ve bounced between my home of almost thirty years, Nashville, and Hopkinsville, the place I was born now called “Eclipseville.”  I spoke with vendors yesterday just after they set up, sat down, and waited for the Summer Salute Festival at Founders Square…

Additional Gallery of Northern Portugal and Spain: Camino/Travel Inspiration

If you missed my article above which explains the gallery below, please read it HERE. In seven days this Southern Girl Gone Global Goes Home.  After living in Morocco and The Dominican Republic for the last three years, I’m excited to return to Nashville–a city I love–where StyleBlueprint is bringing women together locally and globally.  Recently I described in the article above my adventure in Gorgeous…

48 Hours of Marrakesh Magic

Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion. —Leigh Hunt, English Romantic poet and critic I adore Europe, but it turns out after living two years in Morocco,  that Africa is my second home.  I found more beauty, adventure, and relationship (especially in Marrakesh)–the three things I seek most in life–than I ever imagined.  Sharing this place with my children,…