Jenna’s Travels – Page 6 – Life Aboard the Traveling Circus

February 8, 2014

The Champions of the Polar Vortex

For the last few weeks, the already unpleasant East Coast has been experiencing a whole new animal of gelidity – the starkly named Polar Vortex. Each day, we bundle up with our thickest jackets and our heaviest mittens and stuff our faces inside our woolen scarves for the thirty-second walk to the car. We are now shoveling out our cars on a daily basis; illy equipped from our usually cushy lives on the couch.

However, to other remote parts of this icy, cruel world, thirty degrees is the height of summer and warrants a walk in the park (or alongside the frozen pond). And I am here to remind you that no, you do not live in Antartica, but this is just a small, cold phrase of an unusually stark winter (and the end of the world). So, check out the darkest, coldest, and remote regions of the world to make you feel a little better that your job still won’t call in a damn snow day.

1. Verkhoyansk, Russia somehow maintains its roughly 1500 residents in the average-temperatured -50 degrees Fahrenheit. Not surprisingly, it was also the home of political exiles between the 1850s and early 1900s. In 1892, residents recorded a record -90 degrees Fahrenheit which still holds its first-place title today.

2. Oymyakon, Russia is yet another Russian home of about 600 very cold people, who’s kids still go to school when the thermometer hits -52 degrees Fahrenheit. Sadly enough, the village is named after a local hot spring, which can be reached by locals when cracking through the ice. Believe it or not, a tourism board also sits on duty, which promotes their town as an extreme destination for adventurous travelers.

3. Hell, Norway is fittingly named as it is frozen over for about a third of each year; from December through March. Hell maintains its notoriety not only for its sub-artic average temperatures, but also for its clever name and attraction to tourists bored of the beach.

4. Barrow, Alaska doesn’t break freezing until June and even then, it stays barely at 40 degrees Fahrenheit before the sun sets in November and doesn’t reappear until the end of January. Probably for the best, it is only reachable by sea or air.

5. Antartica recently broke its own 30 year record by hitting -136 degrees Fahrenheit, which is colder than dry ice. The only beings that even exist there are organisms such as algae, bacteria, penguins, mites, and seals. There are no permanent human residents and even less survival resources. Feel better yet?

December 29, 2013March 3, 2018

The Best Meal I Ever Had

Due to my journalism training, I tend to stay away from grandiose statements such as the best place I’ve ever been, because unlike blog posts, it is very difficult to numerically list such abstract things in life, especially when you’ve been around the block a few times and you’re getting up there in age. When people ask me where I would like to live or who my favorite writer is, I’m often left sitting there speechless like some sort of imbecile. However, when someone asks me what the best meal I ever had was, I already know my answer before the question is out of their mouth.

If there is a Heaven, the rest of us will spend eternity enjoying the cooking of those with dark hair, loud voices, and beautiful accents – the Italians. When I studied abroad in Florence, Italy last fall, I could easily declare the dinner I ate each and every night the best meal I ever had. Because hell, let’s be serious, when you’re a beautiful Italian man dishing out red wines, limoncello, tiramasu, fresh bread, and every kind of pasta I have ever seen, it’s hard to not be overcome with dinner emotion. However, I didn’t know what I was talking about until I visited Acqua al 2 located on a narrow side street, Via della Vigna Vecchia, in the heart of Florence near the Duomo.

Study abroad students and Italian visitors in general are known for saying “Oh, you just have to go to this restaurant, best food I ever had, except hold on, can’t quite remember what it’s called….” but the blueberry steak at this place makes it a difficult restaurant to forget.

My roommate Andrea and I visited Acqua al 2 on several occasions, however now looking back, I wish we had gone a lot more often. We started out sharing a dry house red wine with our freshly baked unsalted bread before moving onto the pumpkin pasta, one of the chef’s daily new creations. This pasta was coated with what appeared to be a red-orange vodka sauce, but instead, had been enveloped in this fall flavored pumpkin topping. The pasta sampler is another great option, giving you the chance to try basically whatever the chef feels like making, which is good enough for me.

Then, we moved onto the main course – the blueberry steak, a small lump of steak about the size of one’s fist that in size, does not measure up to the typical Florentine t-bone steak, however this tender and girthy piece of meat is also soaked in a thick blueberry sauce who’s deep taste and texture are only emboldened by the steak’s flavor. A steak sampler is also offered, which contains the blueberry steak, the balsamic steak, and a classic steak, however blueberry is really the way to go due to its oddness.

And then, finally, we would always cap the whole thing off with the dessert sampler, which contained a cookies and marshmallow cake, homemade tiramasu, a vanilla and raspberry cheesecake, and, of course, cannolis.

Great. Now I’m hungry and all I have to eat is damn Elio’s pizza.

Acqua al 2 also has another location located at 212 7th St SE, Washington, DC. You can call at (202) 525-4375 for more information.

December 9, 2013December 9, 2013

When The Clock Strikes Midnight

Each and every December we have all pondered the same, all-consuming question… where the hell am I gonna spend my New Year’s Eve?

There’s always the standard top “destinations”… the local bar, where you’ll pay top dollar for a poorly organized open bar, the big, bright club in the nearby city, or your best friend’s basement, reminiscent of the high school days. However, if you’re ready to grow up and really bring in the new year with a bang, then check out these real top destinations for December 31st.

1. Times Square in New York City

With its glitz, glamour, and 12-foot sparkling sphere dropped from Times Square at the turn of midnight, it’s no secret that New York City is the new year’s capital of the world. Since 1907, over one million people have flocked to New York City per year to view a polytechnic lightshow, gawk at celebrity performances, and write down their hopes for the new year on the New Year’s Eve wishing wall.

2. Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia

As the centerpiece for the city that can call itself one of the first to celebrate New Year’s Eve, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is the spot for two fireworks displays set off from river barges and rooftops. Besides the staple fireworks, Sydney also creates an elaborate polytechnic lightshow setting the Harbour and the Opera House aflame. The night also includes aerial acrobatics, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smoking ceremony to cleanse the evil spirits of the past year, and an Acknowledgement of Country presentation, culminating in the magnificent Harbour of Light Parade.

3. Edinburgh, Scotland

It’s not surprising that the raging and rainy Scottish capital hosts a four-day celebration, Hogmany, in honor of New Year’s Eve. Each year, 250,000 thirsty people flock to the event to celebrate the centuries-old tradition. To start the party – I mean proceedings – a torchlight procession takes place which is then followed by a Ceilidh, or a traditional Celtic party accompanied by live music set across various stages throughout the city. When midnight hits, 4.5 tons of polytechnics set off to light the sky aflame. And it’s not over following whatever time you stumble into bed either – on New Year’s Day, hungover partygoers stick around for a dive into Loony Dock and dog-sledding across Hollyrood Park.

4. Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada

The party capital of the world would never miss a celebration like this. Each year, over 300,000 people head to the Strip to spend their night gambling, partying away the night with live music, and pyrotechnic displays in this massive street party. Every bar and nightclub in town turns up the prices for this raging celebration as people gather to glug champagne in the streets, kiss under the Bellagio’s dancing fountains, and win (and lose big) for the coming year.

5. Theme parks in Orlando, Florida

No matter what park you head off to in Orlando, you’re guaranteed a good time in Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld, which are all open until 1:00 am. On the Universal Citywalk, live bands line the streets and partygoers can view the Times Square ball drop once the clocks strikes midnight. Perhaps one of the best plus-sides as choosing Orlando as your New Year’s Eve destination is that the party doesn’t start when the sun goes down – instead, spend the day viewing Cirque du Soleil performances, dance parties, rainbow confetti, and live entertainment from artist favorites.

Information courtesy of Zoe Smith for Viator on HuffingtonPost.com.

November 25, 2013November 25, 2013

My Life Aboard The Traveling Circus

As anyone who has ever read one thing written by me ever, you probably know that the most settled I have ever been is the few years where I lived in the boondocks at the edge of the woods with my mother, a yappy beagle, and an orange cat. Not very exciting… or so it seems.

Now that I’m back, (poorly) adjusting to post grad life, it seems all the more depressing. I have no one to hang out with, the only thing to do on a Friday night is go bowling (except there’s no one to go with…), and the only bar within a reasonable distance is Applebee’s, which doesn’t really work for me because I’m not ready to pick up soccer moms quite yet.

However, back in the day, this town was the place to be! Well, not really, but we made the best of it. Because there was nothing easy to do (…the closest mall is still 30 minutes away…) we had to make our own fun. Every single day. Mostly because we didn’t have a choice, but even still, it made us able to have fun in a cardboard box. I used to be good friends with a girl who moved to London, and her friends there in the city wouldn’t even believe her when she told them the trouble we got into on the weekends, no mind-altering substances necessary. We didn’t have a bar or a movie theater or a mall to keep us company, so we certainly never gave up being creative trying.

We would take our friends’ cars and hide them around town and make scavenger hunts for them to find them again. We would play golf in the middle of the night, setting up our own courses in abandoned playgrounds. We made our own boardgames, tie-dyed sheets in the backyard and then made them into tents and camped out under them, ran through high school hallways by nightfall, and otherwise caused innocent mischief like only kids can do.

To do these things, I didn’t have to get on a plane or pay an astronomical museum “donation” fee. I didn’t have to try to find a dirty hostel to stay at or figure out why I had to pay for tap water at an overpriced tourist restaurant and I didn’t have to listen to a tour guide with a heavy accent tell me the history of anything. Instead, all I had to do was walk outside and call one of my dopey friends to come over.

In many ways, I think that it was these boondocks adventures that prepared me for a nomad life, one spent living out of a suitcase and scavenging for free meals and trying to solve little crises that only happen when you’re 18, dumb, and broke. Irony is, as much as we all complained about living in the edge of nowhere back in the day (and then, trying to make the best of it by having more fun than anyone who lived in civilization), it was those quirky adventures that made us yearn for it for every year onward, always keeping us upon the life aboard the traveling circus.

November 17, 2013November 17, 2013

Staying Awake in the City That Never Sleeps

New York City has never, and will never, be a sight to me. It will never be a tourist destination; it will never have the romanticism of Florence or the grandeur of Paris or the history of Budapest. However, I’m also realistic to know that this isn’t New York City’s fault. This hub of business and fashion – an epicenter of power that many people hope to one day visit – is probably about 45 minutes or so away from me, which, when you already live in a town with only a general store to call its own, isn’t much of a drive.

Each time I visit this graying city, I feel prompted to feel guilty that I have never climbed the Statue of Liberty and never rode a double-decker tour bus, although I can boast that I have scoured the Louvre and stood upon the Cliffs of Moher. I feel bad that I’ve never even skimmed a New York City guidebook or bothered trying to find a worthy pizzeria. Instead, I make sure I bring $20 for the monstrous tolls and hope that I don’t get home too late to shower off the city scum.

So here is my challenge to myself, and maybe you, too : below is a collection of New York City sights and attractions that will make the horrific parking worth it and maybe, if the city is in your backyard, too, make you rethink your need to hop on a plane for every new destination.

1. Little Italy is no Florence, but it’s still pretty reminiscent of classics like The Godfather with its zeppoles, pasta joints, and pastry cafes lining the streets.

2. Washington Square Park arch is a good ol’ American replica of Paris’s Arc di Triomphe where you can stop and listen to some street musicians, watch the hippies and beatniks, and enjoy a cup of joe.

3. United Nations Secretariat Building is a 39-story complex which isn’t open to the public, however visitors can tour the midcentury dignitaries room when it is not in use, check out the current exhibits, and send out personalized postage using its own post office.

4. New York Public Library is guarded by Patience and Fortitude, the two marble lions that dote the entrance, before you can hustle on in and check out the muraled 300 foot Rose Main Reading Room.

5. St. Patrick’s Cathedral boasts more than 200 saints, stained glass, the alter of Saint Louis, and an oversized copy of Michelangelo’s Pieta crafted by the same man who created Patience and Fortitude, above.

6. Radio City Music Hall houses opulent chandeliers, lush carpets, and its own Art Deco concert hall meant to resemble a setting sun, and is also the place where the Radio City Rockettes find themselves each Christmas season.

7. Museum of Modern Art contains constantly-updated new exhibits and a sculpture garden with works by Picasso and Rodin.

8. Green-Wood Cemetery is the final resting place of famous New Yorkers such as William “Boss” Tweed, Leonard Bernstein, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lola Montez and Louis Comfort Tiffany. Be sure to check out its massive Gothic arch at the main entrance as well as climb to the top of Battle Hill, one of the highest points in Kings County and a pivotal spot during the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776.

9. Flatiron Building is a notoriously un-tourist friendly attraction because the space above the ground floor is inaccessible to the public (where publishing house Macmillan calls home), however its making in 1902 still represents the coming modernity and innovation to the city, although back in the day it was said that the building would never stand the high winds.

10. Brooklyn Bridge was constructed in 1883 and, at the time, was a feat in itself – it was the longest suspension bridge in the world and now, is a nice stroll for pedestrians and cyclists to enjoy the views of lower Manhattan for a little more than a mile.

11. Empire State Building, a staple of the Empire State, was the city’s highest building upon its completion in 1931.

12. The Statue of Liberty offers breathtaking views of the New York Harbor and Ellis Island, the entrance of immigration for millions of hopeful soon-to-be Americans.

13. Central Park is a 843 acre plot that has become a cultural hub as well as the destination for sunbathers, ice skaters, and bird watchers.

14. Grand Central Terminal sports a constellation adorned ceiling and a four-faced opal clock over the main information booth as well as a Tiffany glass timepiece and a likeness of Mercury, the god of travel.

15. American Museum of Natural History hosts dinosaurs, fossils, and human origins and culture halls.

16. Staten Island Ferry runs 24/7 and is totally free, providing the scenic tour from Staten Island to lower Manhattan.

17. Times Square was once a hub for vice, teeming with sex shops and drug dealers. Over time that notorious reputation has eroded, and now the area can feel like a tourist-clogged shopping mall.

18. Bronx Zoo houses 5000 animals over 265 acres.

19. Rockefeller Center is a tourist hub that contains the bronze Atlas statue, the skating rink, the Today show plaza, Top of the Rock, and the rinkside Prometheus statue.

20. Yankee Stadium opened in 2009 to much fanfare and stands opposite the now-flattened original.

Information courtesy of Time Out New York

October 15, 2013October 15, 2013

The Most Haunted Places in the World

With Halloween approaching fast, many of us are flocking to the nearest “haunted” attractions – the Headless Horseman in New York, The Beast in Kansas City, or the 13th Gate in Baton Rouge. However, cheap thrills under a fake house are very different than the real thing. If you’re looking to fork over $25 and then laugh as you hold your boyfriend’s hand, visit the attractions. But if you’re really looking to check out some ghosts, then visit some of these most haunted places in the world… or just read about them.

1. Aokigahara, Japan‘s Suicide Forest, located near the base of Mt. Fuji, is the second most popular spot in the world for suicides (to the Golden Gate Bridge). Also known as “Japan’s Death Forest,” nearly 100 suicides occur there every year, although exact numbers are unknown since as of recent years the government has stopped publicizing the numbers in order to curb attempts. The “Sea of Trees” is so thick that even at midday, it often remains eerily dark and is mostly devoid of animals because of the cold and rocky ground that is also shrouded with over 200 caves.

2. The Catacombs of Paris, France keep the remains of over six million people in piles of human bones which litter the 186 miles of underground tunnels which date back to Roman times. By the end of the eighteenth century, when cities began to pile up their own bodies (and disease), Paris officials decided that the tunnels should be used as an underground graveyard instead. Many people have lost their own way while trying to explore the pitch-black maze, which sparked Paris to form their own police division dedicated to patrolling the tunnels.

3. Edinburgh Castle of Scotland is located in the most haunted city in all of Europe, possibly the world. Deep in the depths of the Castle, dungeons and a labyrinth of tunnels lie beneath which were used for imprisonment and torture over the centuries. The vaults were once used to quarantine and entomb victims of the plague. Archaeological evidence points back to the Iron Age, so Edinburgh may be the longest continually occupied site in Scotland, making it for a popular ghost destination. Take one walk through cobblestoned Gothic and rainy Edinburgh and you’ll almost expect to come face-to-face with the paranormal.

4. Eastern State Penetentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is considered to be the world’s first “true” penitentiary, built in 1829, which originated and encouraged solitary confinement as a form of rehabilitation. In true solitary confinement format, prisoners lived alone, ate alone, and exercised alone in individual yards. When an inmate left his cell, a guard covered his head with a hood so that he remained in confinement through and through. Although this system was abandoned due to overcrowding, it is widely believed to have caused mental illness among its prisoners. It operated as a regular prison from 1913 until its closing in 1970, during which time it famously housed Al Capone. After its closing as a prison in 1971, strange happenings started and never ceased to be reported from its stone walls.

5. The Amitville House in Amityville, New York is the famous site of the brutal family murder in which 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo, Jr. shot and killed his parents and four younger siblings on November 14, 1974. However, the real haunting started a little over a year later, when the Lutz family, knowing about the prior murder but choosing to buy the place based on its great price and upscale amenities, moved in and experienced subsequent horror. The Lutzes’ said they began experiencing strange things such as footsteps untraceable to any family member’s movements, mysterious and pervasive odors, green jello-like substances leaking from walls, toilet water turning back, swarms of houseflies and eyes peering in from outside the windows.

August 17, 2013August 17, 2013

Halifax, Peggy’s Cove, and Nova Scotia Silence

Being that I am usually on the bottom floor of cruises with the animals, it was a big step-up this time to be on deck eight, where we had a balcony that I spent a lot of time on (eavesdropping). As the Carnival Glory pulled into the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the third day of our cruise out of five and our second and last stop, I heard the accented New Yorkers on the balcony say, “Yesterday it looked like we cruised into the Bronx. Today, it’s goddamn Newark.” Ahh, Canada.

After a previous rather disappointing day on the Bay of Fundy, aka the Bay of No-Fundy (I’m sorry) I wasn’t really that psyched to get on another bus with a bunch of dimwitted tourists to go to our next destination, Peggy’s Cove, also located about one hour from the main city. I was even less excited when the irritating tour guide wouldn’t stop yapping about the native flowers to Canada and more culture-y things I don’t care about.

However, as we neared Peggy’s Cove, I started to change my mind, even though the tour guide still wouldn’t shut it. This place wasn’t the touristed-out lake that I paid $60 to visit yesterday. This place, although still reminding me of Long Valley (can’t escape), had an untouched, silent elegance to it that made you think that the people who inhabited these tiny, colorful seaside cottages actually probably had a pretty sweet life, breathing in the sea salt and rocking by on their canoes all day long.

The bus barely made it through the windy dirt roads that neared the edge of the town where a lighthouse sits on rocks next to the water and makes the high point of the place. Even though rain started to fall the second we got off the bus and it wasn’t exactly promising to see people piling on their layers in August, it was very much worth it to be in a place where you could feel a breath of air in the serenity and peace of Peggy’s Cove.

We climbed up and down the rocks, trying not to fall down and tossing wishing stones back into the water, before walking down the dirt roads to spy on the rainbow homes dotting the grass. Cars, swing sets, and boats surround each house, however it seemed that the fact there were tourists didn’t bother any of the gentle inhabitants that called it home. We stayed until it was too cold and too rainy to do anything more before getting back on the bus.

After, we went to the Fairview Lawn Cemetery, which is where 121 victims of the Titanic are buried, some of them simply bearing a number because their bodies were never identified and able to be claimed by families. Halifax was the closest port to the resting place of the Titanic, so three ships went out the morning after the crash to gather the bodies, since the lifeboats did not take any of them with them for obvious reasons.

Nova Scotia, and Canada in general, isn’t the most exciting or coolest place in the world. But it sure knows where to gather quiet when it needs it.

August 17, 2013

The Bay of No-Fundy

O CANADA. When I think of the land of maple syrup and moose (which, really, is all I know about Canada), the last thing that I think of is oil refineries, tankers, and a passing breeze of cold smog. However, when I opened up my windows in the early morning on my third official day of my trip on the Carnival Glory to Canada, expecting to be greeted by crisp sea winds and singing whales, this is what I got. I guess there’s a reason people make fun of America‘s losery sister.

Okay, backtrack here. To be fair, I didn’t really venture inside the city of Saint John, the largest city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick and the first stop on our five-day cruise. Before venturing off to the Bay of Fundy, a bay on the Atlantic coast famous for their having the highest tidal range in the world (it’s about as cool as it sounds), we mostly just stayed on the outskirts of Saint John near the water. The Aquila Tours bus picked us up like the lame cruisers that we are and good old Grandma Jane proceeded to show up where her in-laws lived, where her husband works, and oh yeah, the picturesque brown bay.

The extent of Canada that I saw basically looks exactly the same as Long Valley, New Jersey (also as interesting as it sounds). There are a lot of trees and… yeah that’s about it. On the way to the Bay, about an hour’s drive from Saint John taking the scenic route (thanks for nothing, Jane) we did pass some colorful cottages, churches, but unfortunately no moose.

The first stop on the tour is St. Martin’s, a Canadian fishing village on the Bay of Fundy. This story sums the place up pretty well – Jane said that in her early days as a newlywed, for her and her husband’s exciting nights out, they would take a trip to the city dump… to watch the bears dig for garbage. I wish I was kidding, because this story really concerns me for my future in Long Valley. However, nightmares aside and nonetheless boring, St. Martin’s is still a pretty little place with a lighthouse, some sea caves only accessible when the tide is low, lobster traps, and two covered bridges that I’m still not quite sure what the hype is about.

Apparently it’s the only place in the world where you can take a picture of two covered bridges at once… whoopitydoo

Down the street from St. Martin’s, we stop at some shamelessly plugged restaurant that I won’t even name because the whole thing is so ridiculous it’s not worth mentioning in any more detail. At low tide, one can stroll the rocky beaches and search for a “wishing stone,” which is just a normal rock that is encircled by a white line all the way around that you’re supposed to make a wish on and then give to a friend.

On our way home, someone asks Jane what she does in the wintertime, when the summer 60-degree weather becomes harsh and chilled. “I paint white lines on rocks,” she says.

June 29, 2013June 29, 2013

Do It For Journalism

I don’t know my neighbors. I never have, and I probably never will. I never brought them brownies when they moved in, or volunteered to babysit their kids, or waved to them when I happened to be in the yard. However, in South Carolina, the neighbors don’t just wave at you from across the yard, but they have keys to your house and stroll in to say hi and leave their dogs there to hang out and best of all, they take you out on their boat.

My aunt’s neighbor, and his two 5-and-under sons, took us out tubing out on their boat on Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, South Carolina, which is about 30 minutes away from Savannah, Georgia and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Palmetto Bluff isn’t a lake or a collection of islands that’s just sitting next to the road, stuffed full of million-dollar mansions. Instead, it’s a homey, hidden paradise, stocked full of Southern glory and an almost eerie quiet. After driving down their driveway for ten minutes-literally, ten minutes-we arrived at the Bluff, tucked away behind weeping willows with birds, moss, and dolphins scouring the area.

I knew I was getting old when the neighbor asked if we wanted to go tubing first since his sons were nervous and I was actually the one who was scared, maybe more than these little kids were. Nervous of riding behind a boat in a tube. Puh-lease. However, as I climbed into this tube clearly made for children with a borrowed t-shirt on and hoping the thunderstorms didn’t come through, I just thought to myself, Do it for journalism.

Because that’s it, isn’t it? Today, I’m in South Carolina with my friend, hanging out at pools and shopping at the outlet mall, pretty standard stuff. But tomorrow? Tomorrow I’ll be zip lining in Belize, screaming for my life. Visiting psychics camped out in the forest in Cambodia. Wondering how the hell I’m gonna get down from a mountain in China. So for today, I’ll do every little scary thing I can, even if it’s probably not even that big of a deal. I’ll do it for journalism.

June 25, 2013June 25, 2013

Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil: A Destination Creation

If you read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which, from 1994, almost seems like a classic nowadays, you may see it as a sort of off-the-beaten-path travelogue about Savannah, an underdog of the South, for the beginning of the book. For what seems like the first half of the book, John Berendt simply describes the peculiar characters he meets, such as Lady Chablis, a transgendered drag queen. However, as the handsome descriptions and drama get going and readers meet Jim Williams, a respected antique dealer, and Danny Hansford, a good-for-nothing gigolo, it becomes clear what evils are really underfoot.

If you have any intention of reading the book or you don’t know the story, don’t let me spoil it for you and DO NOT read the next paragraph.

Townspeople always wondered why calm, collect Jim Williams kept Danny Hansford around, who was always getting in bar fights and generally causing mayhem, but it seemed like he was just doing the kid a favor. That is, until Danny and Jim got in a fight in the front parlor of Williams’ home, known as the Mercer House, located near the Victorian District and Forsyth Park in the Historic Center. Williams alleged that he shot Hansford in self-defense in that front parlor, although the evidence showed otherwise, which led to four mistrials which eventually led to Williams acquittal. Throughout the mess of the four trials, Williams was a visitor to a voodoo witch in Bonaventure Cemetery, located outside of Savannah, which is where the front cover photo of the book is from (The Bird Girl, now located in the Telfair Museum). Following his acquittal, Williams passed away very suddenly of a heart attack in his front parlor sitting room. In the exact same spot where Hansford fell years before.

In Savannah, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is often referred to as The Book, since much tourism has been garnished simply from Berendt’s novel, even though this is not the only media production to be taken from this Southern city. However, being a nerd (and not really into Forrest Gump) visiting Savannah, and most specifically, the Mercer House (also known as the Murder House) brings a whole new life to an already beautifully composed crime novel.

As I strolled throughout the happy city surrounded by families clutching maps and ice creams and the hands of children, I never forgot how Berendt had strolled those same streets. I saw the magnificent Victorians that Williams restored, which almost appeared as his old children to me. I thought about the affluent couples that walked those blocks to Williams’ famous Christmas parties, which brought Berendt to Savannah in the first place. I thought about Hansford stumbling home in drunken stupors, broken beer bottles in hand, off to possibly be Williams’ lover, which he was alleged to be. And, most importantly, I thought of Jim Williams when I stood in his front parlor sitting room, in the very spot where he possibly killed Hansford and, in the process, lost his own life years later.

Travel work doesn’t have to be all about where the best beaches are or where you can score the cheapest hotels on this side of the Atlantic. Instead, travel work should do what Berendt did– bring a little-known world to life to readers. Whether or not Williams was really the alleged killer does not take away the fact that Berendt brought a city to life before there were tour buses. This is what you should look for when traveling: Stories about people, about life, about extraordinary events in ordinary places.