It seems like everywhere you look these days in blogs and websites, the craft brewery industry is taking center stage. This, coupled with the fact that many cities and states are revising their former liquor laws, opening the taps, pardon the pun, to a whole new beer culture with plenty of enthusiasts to match.
In “The Great Northeast Brewery Tour: Tap into the Best Craft Breweries in New England and the Mid-Atlantic,” author and beer expert Ben Keene turns the spotlight on what he considers to be among the best known and most-visited craft breweries in the northeast. Keene takes the reader along on a unique, picturesque and insightful journey through 62 breweries in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C., highlighting their owners, philosophy and processes. Keene also includes their year-round and seasonal offerings, plus what he calls “Local Flavor”—tidbits about the town’s early founding—nearby accommodations and local dining options. Together, this makes “The Great Northeast Brewery Tour” an indispensable companion for craft beer aficionados exploring the northeast.
“The Great Northeast Brewery Tour” is available on Amazon.com.
Say you strike up conversation with a guy in a bar and out of the blue, he says, “I know the best places to eat monkey brains.” You might be tempted to move to the other side of the room or lean in a little closer. In “How to Drink Snake Blood in Vietnam: And 101 Other Things Every Interesting Man Should Know,” author Gareth May offers fascinating facts, exciting adventures and intriguing anecdotes, such as how to survive a shark attack, etiquette for nude beaches, how to say “cheers” in any language, how to eat deep-fried tarantula and the best red-light districts in the world.
You know the book has to be good when the first topic is how to get rescued from a desert island (the international sign of distress is a triangle, not writing SOS in the sand); five of the best nudist resorts in the world (get naked under the stars while camping in the Mecklenburg Lake District in Easter Germany or enjoy the “swim up” suites via an artificial river connecting the entire Hidden Beach resort in Quintana Roo, Mexico); and how to avoid a bear in the Canadian wilderness (no whistling—bears may mistake you for a rodent variety that looks like a squirrel called a Marmot). More tame tidbits for those a little less adventurous include general Japanese etiquette, how to eat with your hands in Africa and Asia and how to roll the best Cuban cigars. In short, don’t embark upon a travel sojourn without this book!
“How to Drink Snake Blood in Vietnam” is available at Amazon.com.
There’s much more to Cape Cod than its reputation as the hot spot for multigenerational political families and the otherwise rich and famous. The island’s spectacular beauty and interesting history that appeals to people from a wide array of socioeconomic backgrounds is beautifully featured in the new book “In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide.”
Written by Christopher Setterlund, a 12th generation Cape Codder, it captivates the reader by delving deeper into the soul of Cape Cod, from one end to the other via foot, bike and motor vehicle, exploring popular beaches, historic homes, lighthouses, well-known attractions and many less recognized spots that only “locals” would truly know and treasure.
“In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide” is available through Schiffer Publishing.
I don’t usually review books that are more about one’s inner spiritual journey while traveling, than a travel destination or specific topic itself. But I like the fact that all profits from “12 Days in Africa” will be donated to building lifesaving wells in African villages desperate for clean water.
So why did Alaskan soccer mom and author Lisa Sanders write this book? To shed some light on the lives of people outside of the tourist environments whose experiences we might not otherwise come to realize. According to the author, “From where to stay and what to eat, this book is a guide of encouragement and raw emotional experiences for others preparing a trip to Uganda.”
“12 Days in Africa” is available through Amazon.com.
Last but not least is an enchanting account of how one couple fulfilled a dream of living abroad one country at a time and invented a new vision for a second lease on life. Written by married couple Lynne and Tim Martin, “Home Sweet Anywhere: How We Sold Our House, Created a New Life, and Saw the World” details their insightful and hilarious adventures and misadventures around the world during a period of “retirement wanderlust,” with nothing but their 32-inch suitcases, two computers and each other, without borders.
Not just for retirees and baby boomers, the book whisks the Martins and their readers from Turkey to Britain, Morocco, Buenos Aires, Mexico, Paris and other locales as they live on the road and stay in apartments, mansions, hotels and friends’ homes. These experiences, they said, taught them much more than their travel junkie personalities bargained for about navigating language barriers, financial stability and coping with the family they left behind in order to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime adventure with a home-free life.
“Home Sweet Anywhere” is available through homefreeadventures.com and Amazon.com.
Lysa Allman-Baldwin writes for numerous online and print publications, including as the Cultural Travel Writer for www.Examiner.com, and as a senior travel writer for SoulOfAmerica.com, an Afrocentric travel website. Lysa can be reached at lallmanbaldwin@kc.rr.com.
