Hole In The Donut Travels

This song, by award-winning inspirational artists Wayne Burton and Jenny Jordan Frogley, so beautifully expresses what I wish for everyone in the coming year and beyond. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

When I say that the display of lights in Dunedin, Florida was moving, I’m not talking about the “bring you to tears” kind of moving. I mean they were literally moving – on the water. At Dunedin’s annual Holiday Boat Parade last night, thousands of people gathered on the waterfront to watch perhaps three dozen [...]

I have long said that our values are out of whack in this country, that we covet material things to an unhealthy degree and spend needlessly in a futile attempt to feel better about ourselves. It seems I am not alone in this belief. Reverend Billy, along with his mock-religious Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, has [...]

I was surprised, during my recent ‘leaf-peeping’ trip to the Northeast, to discover a plethora of travel-related bargains. Two years ago, I could not have traveled in the U.S. and stayed in hotels – even if I stuck to the more modest mom and pop motels – for much less than $200 per day, including [...]

For days I’ve been unsuccessfully searching for an appropriate message or video to post here on Christmas Day, but nothing seemed quite right. Then, this morning I stopped by the web site “WhereTheHellIsMatt.com.” According to Matt’s website, he is a “30-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted [...]

Ask anyone if they think Christmas has become too commercial and they will most likely answer with an unequivocal “YES!” Stores bring out the Christmas decorations earlier every year. Kids’ wish lists get longer and pricier. Parents go deeper into debt each year. Christmas morning dawns to frenzied ripping of gift wrapping, with the contents [...]

There is no direct route between the Outer Banks and northern Illinois. National Parks and the Smoky Mountains block the way, thus the major Interstates drift either either north or south, and I always struggle with which route to take. This time, since the forecast called for no ice or snow, I decided to [...]

OK, here’s a guy who’s at least as wacky as me. This is my friend Matt, trying to be funny in study hall as his girlfriend videotapes him:

I met Matt some nine or ten years ago when his parents, Annette and Steve, decided to purchase a home on the Outer Banks and they selected [...]

I arrived back on the Outer Banks yesterday evening after a 14-hour drive and fell into bed, exhausted. I awoke this morning to dazzling sunlight streaming through my bedroom window. Sitting up in bed, I stretched and gazed out at the sparkling blue water of the Albemarle Sound. I had almost forgotten [...]