Another of the cities that feature in my novel Deep Plant, albeit mostly in cameo, is London. Paris is known as the City of Light, New York is the Big Apple, Rome is the Eternal City and Jerusalem is the Holy City. You might think a city of the prominence of England’s capital, would have a moniker more glamorous than Big Smoke.

You would be wrong.

Apparently Big Smoke refers to the ocean of air pollution that billowed into London’s skies, as workers flocked to the capital in search of work during the United Kingdom’s industrialization in the 1800’s into the 1900’s.

But make no mistake, London in many ways is the center of the world. Institutions we take for granted, spring from this amazing city.

Wikipedia reports that the International Civil Aviation Organization, which sets standards governing worldwide aviation, mandates pilots, air traffic controllers and other aviation authorities be proficient in their native language and English, making English the language of aviation. Numerous websites such as the Harvard Business Review, GoFluent, American Express and Rosetta Stone…. Testify that English is the lingua franca of business, science and technology.

The UK’s contributions to the world of sport are monumental. Soccer, golf, tennis and cricket all trace their origins to the British Isles.

But the single greatest thing Britain has given the world is …democracy. The Magna Carta, the foundation of democratic government was created at the English town of Runnymede in 1215. In the age of exploration, Britain alone planted democracy in many corners of the world. Great nations such as America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and many others, enjoy a system of government that Abraham Lincoln spoke in his famous Gettysburg Address, that is by, for and of the people.

In London, things you of course should see include:

• Buckingham Palace, originally built by the Duke of Buckingham as a private residence prior to its acquisition by King George III in 1761.

• The Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror in 1078. It has served as a fortress, a prison, and a royal residence. The last monarch to live at the Tower was King Henry the VIII. (Photo thanks to Nick Fewings).

• The Tower Bridge, easily one of London’s most recognizable landmarks, the Bridge was a focal point of the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympic Games when Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by James Bond, flew through the twin bascule segments on their way to Wembley Stadium. Cheerio!

• There are a number of famous four face clock towers on the planet. Completed in 1859, Big Ben is the heavyweight champion of the world. A cultural icon, as British as the Queen, the BBC, British Bulldog, the red telephone booth, and the Cliffs of Dover. Get there early as crowds gather quickly, no trip to London is complete without a selfie with Ben in the background.

• Westminster Abbey, coronation, church, cemetery; nation and kneeling. Few places will inspire and infuse your soul more than this place. Reigns commence here. Christians worship here. And some of Britain’s greatest heroes are interred here. Men and women like Queen Elizabeth I, Isaac Newton, William Wilberforce, Steven Hawking, and Charles Dickens. Just outside, above the Great Western Door are ten statues dedicated to 20^th Century Christian Martyrs, including Martin Luther King, Jr., and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The only tomb visitors are forbidden to walk upon is that of the Unknown Warrior, which is marked by red Flanders poppies, the Flower of Remembrance.

• Piccadilly Circus. Teeming humanity. Food melded to fashion. Flashing neon lights. It connects shopping and London’s famous West End, British Broadway. A Times Square vibration.

• Other places worth a visit would be the Royal Observatory at Greenwich on the Thames. What is notable? The world begins and ends here. Literally. The Prime Meridian is here, you can stand with one foot in the Eastern Hemisphere and the other in the Western Hemisphere, a world apart. (Notice in the picture below, the cities listed and how far they are from Greenwich).

If you have time, plan a day trip to Oxford. About an hour north of London by train, the town is home to Oxford University which traces its teaching history to 1096 AD, making it the second oldest continuously operated college in the world.

The town itself is very charming and unrushed. I hope you het the chance to visit the Big Smoke someday. Chip, chip Cheerio!

A city I’d like to visit is Jerusalem. Known as the Holy City, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on the planet. In the Old Testament, Jerusalem is called Ariel which means Lion of God in Hebrew. A lion is a symbol of bravery and of the tribe of Judah from which the Messiah, Jesus Christ came from.

You can find vastly more on Jerusalem in the Bible, in travel guides and in history books than I could possibly cover in this short vlog. Rather I would tell you what fascinates me about the city and what I would like to see.

Front and center would the Old City. At the crossroads of history and conflict, the Old City captures the essence of each of the religions so closely identified with Jerusalem. Divided into four quarters, Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian.

The Jewish quarter is home to the Wailing Wall. It is here that Jews believe that Abraham was going to sacrifice his son Isaac before God intervened. Today it serves as a sacred place to pray to God.

The Muslim quarter is the largest in the Old City and contains the Dome of the Rock from which Muslim’s believe Mohammed stepped off to heaven as part of his Night Journey.

In the Christian quarter, you’d find the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Christian scholars believe that the Church contains the sites where Jesus was crucified and the Tomb from which He rose from the dead. It would touch the core of my soul to visit the Church.

What would it feel like to step back to the days of Jesus? Wander the alleys of the Old City and you might hear the walls or buildings whispering to you. And the bazaars? Baked goods, spices, clothing, jewelry, rugs, fresh nuts, pottery, leather goods, souvenirs are among the array of things you can consider. But the best part I imagine would be to sense the vibe in the air as shoppers mingle with residents and vendors, voices engaged in that most human of dialogue, buying, selling, and just enjoying humanity.

Another place I’d want to visit is the King David Hotel. A magnificent hotel, it’s considered the finest in Israel. It has witnessed a great deal of 20^th century history. From 1938 to 1948, the hotel’s southern wing served as the military and administrative center of the British during that last days of the British Mandate.

The King David also provided temporary sanctuary to three former monarchs, King Alfonso XIII, of Spain in 1931, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie in 1936 and King George II of Greece in 1942, all forced to flee their homelands due to political upheavals or revolutions.

The Yad Vashem is Israel’s official memorial to the millions of Jews who died in the Holocaust, as well as those Jews and Gentiles who fought the Nazi barbarity. The name, Yad Vashem, means ‘a memorial and a name’. In the Hall of Names every name of every person slaughtered in the concentration camps is  remembered and honored. From what I’ve read of Yad Vashem, it is a place of reflection but also a place that forces you to confront the inhumanity of man.

If I had some extra time, I’d plan a day trip to the Dead Sea. So named because of the water’s high salt content that prevents any living organism from living in it. Salinity so high, a swimmer will float effortlessly atop the water’s surface. Supposedly bathing in Dead Sea mud, can be a healing and therapeutic experience. Years of anecdotal research, indicates Dead Sea mud might relieve pain from psoriasis, arthritis, lower back pain, acne, and other skin impurities.

Masada, is a fort located atop a rock mesa overlooking the Dead Sea some twelve miles to the east. History records that during the First Jewish-Roman War, nine thousand Roman troops, laid siege to the Masada mountain-top fort, where approximately a thousand Jewish rebels of the Sicarii clan, had taken refuge. Ultimately, the Romans captured Masada, but when they entered the fort, they supposedly found every Jewish defender had died or committed suicide rather than face capture.

While historians question some aspects of the story, it remains a source of great pride and inspiration to people the world over when considering battles against overwhelming odds.

I have only scratched the surface of this remarkable city. I hope you a chance to visit Jerusalem some day and maybe I’ll see you there!

Have you ever wanted to escape to your own personal island? Leave everything behind and just be away from the noise of the city? The noise of machines? The noise of you? Then I have the perfect place.
Sort of like a treasure hunt, but you’ll find your paradise atop Michigan’s lower peninsula. Just east of the Mackinac Island Bridge that connects Michigan’s upper and lower peninsula’s is Mackinac Island, located at 45°51′40″N84°37′50″W. The name, Mackinac, is derived from the native Ojibwe word mishimikinaak, or big turtle.
Originally colonized by the French, the British took possession of the island after the French and Indian War of the mid-1760’s. Mackinac bounced from British to American control before the United States eventually assumed dominion of the Great Lakes after the War of 1812.
After the Civil War, Americans increasingly had time to travel and take vacations. Mackinac Island National Park became the second U.S. National Park, after Yellowstone, in 1875. Soon tourists began to look to visit. But there were few places to stay.
In 1886, a number of the major mid-western railroads purchased land on Mackinac and set about constructing the Grand Hotel.

Opened in 1887, the Grand remains one of the last vestiges of America’s gilded age, that amazing growth period of prosperity and power from the end of the Civil War to the early 1900’s. Other grand dames of this period would be the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park, Ocean House on Watch Hill in Rhode Island and Del Coronado Hotel in Coronado, California.

There are 397 rooms at the Grand, including seven named for former First Ladies, Jackie Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, Rosalyn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush and Laura Bush. Visiting the Grand Hotel is museum married to a time machine. From the old-style ice cream shop to the massive front porch, the world’s longest, overlooking Lake Huron to the croquet lawn below and a lake front swimming pool, the Grand offers insights into a travel hospitality of yesteryear. My favorite was soaking in the sun, reading a book, or working a crossword puzzle, while seated in one of the numerous rocking chairs on the porch while a lazy day passed on Lake Huron.

But Mackinac, pronounced MACK-an-awe, provides a bounty of other hotels, bed and breakfasts and inns to accommodate all tastes and price points. Once you find a room, prepare to …relaaaax.

No buses, trucks, motorcycles, motor scooters or cars with boosted exhaust pipes. NONE. Everywhere you need to get to on Mackinac is via foot, bike, or horse-drawn carriage. I’m pretty sure you cannot put a price on peace and quiet.

Still if you want some activity, try the Mackinac Island checklist of things to do, see, eat, drink, or enjoy. Boating; check. Bike around the island at your own pace; check. Visit Arch Rock; check.

History your jam? At the Benjamin Blacksmith Shop, watch an actual smithy heat and shape metal, repair tools and shoe a horse. How did lightkeepers live? Visit the Old Mackinac Lighthouse and find out as well as examine treasure recovered from shipwrecks at the bottom of the Great Lakes.

If you get the chance, I’d highly recommend meeting the Grand Hotel’s resident historian, Bob Tagatz. He is a font of information about the Grand, and its past. In particular are the days of prohibition and how liquor was smuggled into the Grand. Great story!

One of the coolest things to do is watch colonial troops fire the cannon from atop Fort Mackinac.

Numerous restaurants offer a foodie’s paradise. Dine outside at Bistro on the Green at the Mission Resort overlooking the lake or the Woods Restaurant hidden in the forest on the west side of Mackinac. If craft beer or spirits are your preference, The Broken Spoke on Main Street, Great Turtle Brewery on Main, The Jockey Club at the Grand Hotel would be good destinations.

Golfers will be enchanted by Mackinac’s two splendid offerings. The Jewel consists of two nine-hole tracts.  The Grand nine, designed by noted golf architect Tom Bendelow, opened in 1901. Its name derives from its location adjacent to the Grand Hotel. The second nine, the Woods, opened in 1994, lies inland. A unique Mackinac experience is playing the Grand nine and then you and your clubs, being ferried by horse drawn carriage to complete your round at the Woods. On both courses, you’ll find exquisite, lush landscaping and spectacular views.

Mackinac’s other course is the charming Wawashkamo club. To play Wawa as the locals call it, you’ll need to step back to the earliest days of golf. Designed by architect Alex Smith, winner of the U.S. Open in 1906 and 1910, it evokes images of his hometown of Carnoustie in Scotland.

Of all the places I’ve been blessed to visit, few can match the charm and tranquility of Mackinac Island. You and your soul deserve a break from the chaos of the last couple of years. A visit to Mackinac is just what the doctor ordered! Travel well!

Another of the central locations in my new thriller, Deep Plant, is our nation’s capital, Washington D.C.. Sitting along the banks of the Potomoc River on land ceded by the states of Maryland and Virginia, Washington D.C. was established on July 16, 1790.

From its very genesis, it was intended to be the metropolis of the world’s new great empire. The United States of America.

By Its Very Existence, Washington, DC, Would Be Engineered to Dazzle and Daunt, Impress and Intimidate, Welcome and Warn.

At its center, would be a new acropolis, an august setting where the teachers, philosophers, scientists, planners, thinkers, priests and ministers, doctors, leaders, and revered of this great new nation would gather and chart its future: The House of the People.

As would befit a structure of this magnificence, its central feature would dominate the city’s skyline, the Great Rotunda. Soaring to almost three hundred feet, the massive dome stands watch at the East End of the National Mall and testifies to the bold ambition of the founders. To bring forth a new nation, committed to affording its citizens an opportunity to forge a better life—safeguarded through the creation of laws to nurture, guide, and protect it.

Below, on the circular floor of the great rotunda hall, are a host of statues dedicated to honored citizens such as Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr., Ulysses Grant, Dwight Eisenhower, and Women’s Suffragettes: Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony. Each state is allowed two and as you can imagine, this occasionally leads to heated debate over who and who should not be so honored.

While you can tour most of the Capitol, the dome is not open to the public. Which is probably not a bad thing as there are 365 steps, representing the number of days in a year, from the basement to the top. That would be a good workout.

Across the ceiling, and through the oculus or eye of the massive dome, one can find the famous painting entitled The Apotheosis of Washington. Draped in purple, signifying royalty, Washington is being received into heaven and the pantheon of the greats.

There are a multitude of things to see in Washington, but for today, I’ll focus on the National Mall. 

According to the website Washington.org, the National Mall is America’s most visited National Park. If you were inclined, you can walk all the way from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, but be prepared. It’s a distance of one-point-nine miles. And be prepared to stop. I mean a lot.

Like Mid-Town Manhattan, many of the DC things in movies, TV shows, books and magazines, are situated on the Mall.

The Mall is bounded on the North by Madison Drive, on the South by Jefferson Drive. Leaving the Capitol for the Lincoln Memorial, along Madison you’d pass both buildings containing the National Gallery of Art, check out the time based media displays—very cool!

Next stop, the National Sculpture Garden, which is all outside. Watch out for the giant spider!

And if the outdoors is more your forte, you’ll love the Natural History Museum, the largest collection of natural specimens in the world. One of the coolest displays is the Butterfly Pavilion, containing over three flitting and floating hundred butterflies! The Natural History Museum is also home to the fabled and supposedly cursed, Hope Diamond.

American history is on display at the National Museum of American History. Here you’ll find a vast array of Americana, over 1.8 million artifacts to be specific. Try seeing it all in a day. Whew!

Among the stars are the original Star Bangled Banner, the flag that flew over Fort McHenry inspiring Francis Scott Key’s composition of the national anthem.

Other amazing finds are an original copy of the Gettysburg Address, Dorothy’s Red Slippers from the Wizard of Oz, a C-3PO costume from Return of the Jedi, Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves, First Ladies exhibits, the first computer called ENIAC, the first Levi’s blue jeans—colored brown, can you believe it?

There’s a pack of the first Crayons, the 1960 Greensboro Lunch counter which was one of the first battle sights of the Civil Rights movement, and the operating room from the TV show MASH was on display.

There is something that will touch the spirit of every visitor.

We’ll continue our tour of the National Mall next month. If you have a DC experience, please email me, I’d love to hear about it. Until next month!

One of the central locations in my newest book, Deep Plant, is New York City. Known the world over as the Big Apple, it is a extraordinary collision of sights, sounds, smell, taste and vibration. What struck me about NYC was how close all the major landmarks we see in movies and TV are to each other. Central Park, Times Square, Empire State Building, Wall Street, Broadway, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, Tiffanys, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel … I could go on.

Manhattan is the most densely populated of the five boroughs and serves as the center of New York City’s self-identity. When people speak of New York, the often are referring to Manhattan. An island, it’s bounded by the Harlem River to the north, in the east by the East River, on the west by the Hudson River and the Upper Hudson Bay to the south.

Manhattan is the home to many amazing and impactful organizations and buildings. You often hear of New Yorkers referring to ‘uptown’ and ‘downtown’. Downtown is famous for Wall Street and Battery Park, while Uptown is home to things like Columbia University on the Upper West Side. But for today, I want to touch on Midtown Manhattan.

According to Wikipedia, it is this country’s largest commercial, entertainment and media center as well as home to some of the most expensive retail real estate on the planet. On Fifth Avenue alone, rents can be as high as $3,000 per square foot. It is home to two of America’s four major TV networks, CBS and NBC.

While the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade starts up by Central Park, it winds through and finishes at Macy’s Midtown flagship store. Midtown is the nexus of New York.

What are some of the cool things to do in there? Well what do you like? Loud? Vibrant? Crowds?

Be the star of you own movie here where the world celebrates New Years with the dropping of the ball at midnight. Neon lights, the life blood of one of the world’s most recognizable locations, pulse with energy. Hard to take a bad pic anywhere in the Square. Experts suggest taking selfies on the steps right atop a TKTS booth, facing south, which offer a unparalleled view of the Square.

Have you ever wanted to visit the winter ice skating rink you see in the movies or on TV. From Times Square, you’re a short walk, less than half a mile, to Rockefeller Center. On the way you’ll pass Hershey’s Chocolate World, the Ninetendo Store, NBC Studio 1A where they film the Today Show and FAO Schwarz Toy store, made famous in the movie Big. In winter, ice skating. Summer, outdoor bistros and dining. And of course in either season, Starbucks.

An interesting bit of trivia,

It was the vision of John D. Rockefeller Jr., son of John D. Rockefeller, the oil magnate who founded what is today Exxon.

Construction of the Center commenced in 1931, with the majority of the complex finished by 1939. It is home to many of America’s most recognizable establishments. Radio City Music Hall, home of the world famous Rockettes. NBC studios where you can see live tapings of the Today Show, SNL and the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. You can eat or have a drink at the iconic Rainbow Room, on the 65^th floor, used in the movie, Sleepless in Seattle with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

Other prominent features to be found at Rockefeller Center, is the extraordinary artistic influences. The building’s design, art, sculptures, statues and color, are massively dominated by Art Deco, an extremely popular style of the early twentieth century.

Two examples of this are the statue of Atlas holding the world at the eastern side of the Rock Center, across Fifth Avenue from St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The other, is perhaps one of New York’s most recognizable landmarks, the famed statue of Promethus overlooking the ice-skating rink.

I will continue my travelogue of Midtown again soon, but for now, these are some of the vast number of highlights to see when you visit New York.

If you have an experience in Mid Town to share, please email me, would love to hear about it. Until next time!