Goodbye, antibiotics, hello summer: travels with Lyme Disease
After the phone call, I realized that our pediatrician had an approach, a way of talking about a delicate subject that he had used many times before. After ten years […]
On my own on the Osceolas with Captain Samuel Willard
On the Osceola Trail, I’m on my own, but hiking in footsteps more than 250 years old — maybe. As I hike uphill on a moderate-grade-by-White-Mountain-standards, I wonder if this […]
Inventing Nature at Acadia National Park
I love the barren open summits of Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, Maine. On Memorial Day, we set out from the Jordan Pond House and completed the 6-mile-ish […]
Snow babies, seals, and maniacal Arctic travelers: A visit to Eagle Island
Even maniacal travelers need a respite once in a while, if only to plan their next adventures. Eagle Island, in Maine’s Casco Bay, was such a haven for big adventurers […]
Globalization, circa 1807, curses the Lady Pepperrell House
Lady Mary Hirst Pepperrell had impeccable taste. So say many sources, but the best indicator is the home she built in 1760 on Route 103 in Kittery Point. The Lady […]
Round up: Five great family hikes in Maine
The temperature has risen to a magical 60 degrees, the daffodils are blooming, and the forsythia are primed for an explosion of yellow. The tulips won’t be far behind, and […]
Lost in Lost (and a little bit late to the party)
Sometimes I wake up at 3 a.m. and I can’t stop thinking about them. Is Claire dead? Who will take care of her baby? And what about Jack? I am […]
Tiny travel, big world at the Peabody Essex Museum
I call this blog The Maniacal Traveler because I have a mania for travel in all its forms. Visiting museums, wherever they are, is a sort of super-condensed travel, or […]
Jill Kinmont, my forgotten hero
I remember the swishing sound of skis as she pulled up in front of the camera. Blond hair, blue eye, a big smile. “My name is Jill Kinmont, and I […]
March Madness: Torture by Thin Mint
Girl Scouts are scarce back here in the woods, but last week I scored a case of Thin Mints after following a trail of crumbs on social media. I met […]