Imagine you just traveled to Vermont to escape this sweltering summer heat, and now you are in love with the area. You already work from home, and now you are thinking, why not work from Vermont? Back in 2018 when I wrote this article for Worldwide ERC, Vermont’s remote worker incentive program was ahead of its time. While it is currently not accepting applicants for its New Remote Worker Grants, at least nine other states offer incentives to move there. Here’s Vermont’s creative initiative which jumpstarted this digital nomad incentive trend.
This hurricane season is predicted to be one of the most active in recent history. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasts a range of 17 to 25 named storms, 8 to 13 hurricanes and 4 to 7 major hurricanes for the 2024 season. Hurricane Beryl kicked off the season in July, wreaking havoc throughout the Caribbean and Texas coastal communities. This article I wrote for New Home Source a few years ago is a good reminder for property owners in coastal communities.
Do you dream of hitting the road and working from wherever, whenever? Before COVID, that was still considered a relatively “crazy” idea. It was around 2015 when I heard about this young couple, the Padgetts, who were doing just that in their RV and why not? They love to travel and found a way to see the country while generating income. What’s not to love about that?! Here is their story, and the bigger story about location-independent workers, that I wrote for Worldwide ERC in March 2018.
What You Need to Know about Location-Independent Workers
I love a good farmers market and make a point of visiting them whenever I am traveling. Last summer, we happened upon a great little one smack dab in Seward, Alaska. On a girls’ trip to Napa recently, we spent a Saturday morning browsing the fabulous market in downtown Napa. And on a fly-out with friends to Santa Fe, we literally planned the schedule so that we’d be there for the incredible Saturday Farmers Market at the Railyard. So I jumped at the chance to hop in the plane and head to Jackson, Mississippi, on this assignment to get a look at what makes its Mississippi Farmers Market special. Here’s my article, originally published in Landscapes magazine, from that trip.(photos: Debra Ferguson/Southern Images)
As farmers markets spring up across Mississippi, more and more consumers are finding out where their food comes from.
The Mississippi Farmers Market in Jackson is a much different place today than it was just a few years ago. Back then, commercial farmers had taken over most of the market’s spaces, leaving little opportunity for local mom-and-pop agricultural businesses to market their products. Much of the produce sold in the market was brought in from large out-of-state agribusiness operations rather than grown locally – the opposite of what consumers expect at a farmers market.
It was a trend that didn’t go unnoticed by Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture Lester Spell. In 2005, Spell was instrumental in establishing the Mississippi Central Market Board to reinvigorate the market and bring it back to its original purpose as a marketing conduit between local growers and local buyers.
Retiring from office this year, Spell recently told the Mississippi Business Journal that one of his biggest achievements as commissioner was that, “numerous successful marketing and product identification programs have increased marketing opportunities for farmers and have provided fresh, safe, homegrown products for consumers.”
The Jackson market and growing network of farmers markets across Mississippi can be counted among those successful programs.
Longtime Southern AgCredit Director Jack Winstead of Lawrence, Miss., was one of six individuals appointed by the governor to serve on the newly created Mississippi Central Market Board in 2005.
Rules Favor Local Growers
“The farmers market here started about 40 years ago in a heavy industrial area in Jackson. Vendors had been there 25 and 30 years, and it had become pretty commercial,” recalls Winstead. “There were no rules, really, on what could be sold there, and it was a little intimidating for smaller producers to try to market there.
In Louisiana’s Cajun heartland, brothers Brant and Jason Lamm have grown a successful business, taking crawfish from the pond to the plate. I visited them for a first-hand look at what it takes. (original article published in Landscapes magazine Summer 2009 issue; photos: Phillip Gould)
It is a cool March Friday evening in Lafayette, La. At Brant and Jason Lamm’s two restaurants, the drive-through line slowly snakes out to the street, and patrons gladly wait an hour or longer for a table. For these two brothers, all this means one thing: It’s crawfish time.
Since forming their business just out of college, the Lamm brothers have evolved into two of the most successful and respected crawfish entrepreneurs in Acadia Parish — no small feat in a region replete with crawfish operations. Through hard work, an eye on quality and a lot of smart decisions, these Louisiana Land Bank customers have built a career that neither one ever anticipated.
An Unexpected Career Turn
The elder brother, Brant, majored in business administration at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, fully expecting to join his dad in the medical administration business. But when a friend suggested that Brant team up with him to open a small drive-through location selling boiled crawfish, Brant jumped on the idea. “I had worked in my uncle’s crawfish operation during college, and had learned a lot about the business,” Brant says. A few years later, when Jason graduated college and the original partner moved on, the brothers joined forces to grow and market their catch.
Your adventure awaits in Moab, a general aviation-friendly destination and an outdoor lover’s dream trip. Here is what you should know in planning a fly-in to Moab, from my article in AOPA’s Pilot magazine, March 2024 issue.
When most Texans think of Texas wineries, the Fredericksburg area most likely comes to mind. But you might be surprised to learn that wineries large and small can be found all across the Lone Star State. Here’s the back story on one of them – Watson Vineyard in Coleman. Article originally published in Landscapes magazine Winter 2017 issue. Photos: Jim Lincoln
Navy Signalman Hartzell Sherrill
Eighty years ago today, a 22-year-old farm boy from Pledger, Texas, helped make history.
The D-Day Invasion that launched on June 6, 1944, had been the subject of top-secret planning for months. But Navy Signalman Hartzell Sherrill – my dad – and the crew alongside him on the SS Charles M. Hall were clueless as to what they were about to experience. It was an invasion so audacious, and so historic, they likely never could have imagined it.
My dad’s story is just one of the stories of the 160,000 allied troops – 73,000 Americans – who witnessed D-Day. With most of the survivors now well into their 90s or beyond, only a few may still be alive to tell their stories. Only 119,550 total WW2 veterans were still living in 2023, according to the National WW2 Museum in New Orleans.
As each generation moves one notch farther removed from a personal connection to D-Day, telling these stories becomes ever more important. Today, on the 80th anniversary of one of the most important battles every fought to protect our way of life, I’m sharing the story of just one young hero from Matagorda County, Texas.
Agritourism has a special place in this travel writer’s heart. Over my years of writing for Landscapes magazine, I’ve traveled across the South getting to meet incredible agribusiness entrepreneurs and share their stories. Since most of these operations are off the beaten path, having my own personal pilot to get into small general aviation airports is a definite bonus.
Along the way, I’ve interviewed Mississippi catfish farmers, seen what it takes to farm shrimp in South Texas, and watched Louisiana and Texas crawfish farmers harvest and process their catch. But one of my coolest fish-story experiences was getting out on Mobile Bay to learn first-hand about this Alabama oyster farm. Here’s their story from a 2018 issue of Landscapes magazine, published by Farm Credit Bank of Texas.
The water lapping under the 62-foot catamaran gently rocks us awake. In our quiet stateroom – one of four guest cabins on board – the sun is barely peeking through the hatch cover we left slightly open after stargazing the night before. Emanating from the salon up top, we catch the first whiffs of Capt. Dennis’ French press coffee and the heavenly aroma of banana pancakes on the griddle in first mate/chef Stephanie’s tiny galley.
And so starts another day in the British Virgin Islands. Just don’t ask us what day, date or time it is. Here in paradise, a visitor can lose track of time and (gasp!) forget they even own a cell phone.
We have Christopher Columbus to thank for discovering the BVI in 1493 on his second voyage to find the New World. But after a week of sailing these aquamarine waters, exploring deserted white sand beaches and being lulled into complete relaxation by soothing trade winds, we marvel that the rest of the New World was ever discovered at all.
If a sailing adventure is on your bucket list, read more and sail away with me in this article I wrote for Texas Lifestyle magazine’s Fall 2018 travel issue.
It has been a few years since I wrote this feature for Texas Lifestyle magazine, but with the 80th anniversary of D-Day just around the corner (June 6, 2024) it seems like as good a time as any to resurface it. I became a fan of this little Fredericksburg gem on my first visit years ago, and in 2018, I had the opportunity to share it with my 96-year-old dad, a WW2 veteran himself. Next time you are in the Hill Country, take a break from wine tasting and spend a few hours in this amazing historical treasure right in our own backyard. (Originally published in Texas Lifestyle magazine Spring 2018)
Fredericksburg Museum and Hotel Bring 1940s Era to Life
Think of Fredericksburg, Texas, and it’s likely that wineries, shopping and restaurants come to mind. But this popular Hill Country destination also is home to a world-class World War II museum that’s been sharing the story of the Pacific Theater battles for more than 50 years.
It is only early June and already the Texas summer heat is settling in. It has me dreaming of a lounge chair under an umbrella at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton, Naples. Come along for a visit to this recently re-energized resort.
Welcome to the Reimagined Ritz-Carlton, Naples: Refined Luxury on Florida’s Paradise Coast
From its vantage point near the San Juan Mountains, Durango, Colorado, is an active outdoorsy person’s year-round playground. The hardest part about planning a summer visit there is not in finding something to do, but in deciding among so many options.
#TravelTuesday: Destination Durango, 5 Summer Days in Ski Town
BlogFeatured Post / 13 November, 2023
Magnificent Moab: Southeast Utah’s Mecca for Outdoor Adventure
With two national parks, a renowned state park, bountiful slickrock access for hiking and off-roading, and the cool waters of the Colorado River nearby, Moab, Utah, has something to keep any outdoors enthusiast entertained indefinitely.
Magnificent Moab: Southeast Utah’s Mecca for Outdoor Adventure
Looking for a destination for your family’s next getaway that is all about exploring the great outdoors? Give Seward, Alaska, a look. Watch your young travelers’ eyes light up as their ride with (and pet!) sled dogs in training for the Ididarod, touch starfish and safely see wildlife up close. This charming Kenai Peninsula waterfront is brimming with family-friendly fun.
Travel Tuesday: Seeing Seward, Alaska, through a Toddler’s Eyes
It seems like everyone I know has Greece on their bucket list this year, and so did I. When I was presented with a chance to visit there with a group tour through a major travel company, though, I admit to a little hesitation. Would this independent adventure traveler enjoy a group tour? Or, would I discover that I had been missing out on the perks of having someone else handle all the details? Here’s what I learned along the roads and waterways of Greece.
If a future Ryder Cup is on your bucket list, here are some tips we learned that may help you. Advice in a word: plan. With four years before it returns to home soil, now is the time to start teeing up a great Ryder Cup experience.
I shocked my friends by having so much fun in our five days at the massive airshow known as Oshkosh. It was fun, too, to get to share the experience in the beautiful Texas Lifestyle magazine, with photos by my talented son-in-law Ryan. Even if you aren’t a pilot, this event is worth adding to your travel wish list.
Our friends, Jean and Phil, are about to head out on their first Alaska adventure. I’ve been scouring notes and photos from our own epic time there a couple of years ago, and came across this blog I never published. It brought back a lot of great memories of the unique people, places and experiences that give Alaska its true color. Here’s an intro into a few of the colors of Alaska. Read more.
If the call of the wild – as in breathtaking national parks, sparkling rivers and lakes and abundant marine life habitat – is calling you, then consider Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula for your next adventure vacation. You’ll also be treated to quaint main streets, meet interesting locals and learn a thing or two about Alaska’s rich history. Here’s some of what to expect, in my article from Texas Lifestyle magazine’s 2019 Travel Issue.
Have you ever dreamed of seeing the great Alaska frontier, but a cruise isn’t your idea of a back-country vacation? I know many friends who’ve loved their Alaska cruise experiences, but we wanted to experience Alaska on our own terms. It took a lot of planning, but our uncruise checked a bucket list in the most unforgettable ways. Here’s part of our story.
I hesitate to admit this publicly. But I’ve just never been a big Willie fan. I know, heresy, right? And, before you ask, yes, I am a native Texan.
Given that confession, you might understand that when our friends invited us to see Willie and friends at the Outlaw Music Festival last week, I jumped at the invite – but not for Willie. It was only because I would finally get to see Chris Stapleton live in concert. My plan was to leave when Chris left the stage. I mean, I really didn’t need to see the American flag drop down behind the stage to yet another rendition of Whiskey River as Willie came out on stage. The same opening song he’s used at every Willie concert I’ve ever been to.
But a funny thing happened before I could slip out of my seat. Read more.
Living and Ranching in New Mexico: Special Place, Special People
Featured Post
Blog / November 13, 2023
Magnificent Moab: Southeast Utah's Mecca for Outdoor Adventure