36 articles tagged with midwest destinations
When my daughter Asha and I found ourselves with an unexpected free weekend during our US family visit, we decided to explore Overland Park, Kansas – a place that had been on my radar for its surprising blend of outdoor...
Alright folks, I'll be straight with you – Olathe, Kansas wasn't initially on my cross-country motorcycle bucket list. But when my vintage record hunt led me to this Kansas City suburb, I discovered a place with way more character than...
There's something uniquely charming about South Bend that I didn't expect when I first visited for a business conference. This modest Indiana city, home to the legendary University of Notre Dame, carries both the weight of Midwest industrial history and...
There's something about suburban sprawls that reminds me of those understated jazz basslines – seemingly simple at first listen, but rich with complexity once you tune your ear to the right frequency. Warren, Michigan might register as just another Detroit...
Standing at the edge of Lake Erie as the sun dipped below the horizon, I found myself captivated not by celestial bodies, but by Cleveland's evolving skyline. The city that once earned the unfortunate nickname 'the mistake on the lake'...
As someone who studies how environments impact human health, I find smaller cities like Oshkosh, Wisconsin fascinating microcosms of American cultural resilience. During my recent research trip studying seasonal illness patterns across the Midwest, I carved out a weekend to...
There's something architecturally fascinating about the transition from urban grid to natural landscape—a spatial relationship I've come to appreciate both professionally and personally. Last summer, I traded my usual international haunts for a week exploring my home country's heartland: Kansas...
The moment I stepped onto the historic streets of Waukesha, Wisconsin, I knew I'd stumbled upon one of those rare Midwest treasures that manages to fly under most travelers' radars. Having explored rainforests from Costa Rica to Borneo, I never...
The Red River winds like a slow-moving ribbon of molasses through Grand Forks, North Dakota—a place I'd admittedly never considered for a solo adventure until a chance conversation with a farmer at the Marseille market about his childhood home. His...
When most people hear 'Manhattan,' their minds immediately drift to towering skyscrapers and Broadway shows. But tucked away in the Flint Hills of Kansas lies another Manhattan—affectionately dubbed 'The Little Apple'—that captured my heart during a recent hockey tournament detour....
There's something mesmerizingly rhythmic about America's heartland that reminds me of geothermal patterns—predictable yet uniquely beautiful in each iteration. After years of documenting erupting geysers across continents, I found myself drawn to a different kind of natural pattern: the agricultural...
When my best friend invited me to visit her family in Naperville last summer, I expected a typical Chicago suburb. What I discovered instead was a family travel gem hiding in plain sight! Just 30 miles west of Chicago, Naperville...
As someone who's explored wildlife sanctuaries across three continents, I never expected to find such a delightful family destination tucked away in Illinois. Elgin might not have South Africa's dramatic safaris or New Zealand's whale watching opportunities, but this charming...
Standing beneath the expansive wings of historic aircraft, I found myself contemplating the curious intersection of human innovation and ecological impact. Dayton, Ohio—birthplace of aviation—might seem an unusual destination for a wildlife biologist accustomed to tropical canopies and island ecosystems....
There's something profoundly humbling about trading celestial observations for terrestrial explorations. When my department at Australian National University sent me to Kansas City for an astronomy conference, I extended my stay to explore Lenexa—a suburb that promised both night sky...