Traveling – Page 2 – Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

Two weeks in the United Kingdom

You may have wondered why I was writing about trip planning. As it happens, we’ve recently returned from a two week trip to the United Kingdom. It was going to be a two week trip to England, but some friends in Wales said “you’ll be so close, come visit for a day”. And so we did.

One of the advantages of traveling in the United Kingdom is they have an extensive train network, so to bounce around between various cities, I booked train tickets. The disadvantage is that I now have three different apps on my phone for the tickets for each part of the journey; distinct parts of the country tend to be serviced by different companies. There’s some overlap, and when there are system problems – a bridge repair or signal cable theft cancelling your train – the notification lets you know which other companies will allow travel as you reroute.

Headstone Manor, in North Harrow, England, from the garden

The photo above is Headstone Manor, a manor house with a moat in North Harrow, in walking distance of my cousin’s house.

It goes without saying that we had a fabulous time. We started by visiting family in two different cities; of my seven remaining first cousins on that side, we were able to spend time with six of them. (The seventh is currently in Australia, so we didn’t get to see him.)

We then visited with friends in Southampton in southern England, where we visited a labyrinth on a hill, the “Round Table” (analysis of the wood dates it to the 1200s, almost 5 centuries after the first mention of King Arthur in literature), a wildlife preserve with a focus on otters, and Corfe Castle, which we reached on a steam engine train. Oh, and a Build-a-Bear shop that we didn’t make it to the last time we visited Southampton.

And then we were off to the trains again, heading to Birmingham for Conversation 2023. Similar to WorldCon, Eastercon rotates between diferent locations within the United Kingdom. I had last attended in 2000, when it coincided with a planned trip to Scotland. This was a delightful opportunity to meet a collection of online friends, and an even rarer opportunity to attend a convention that I wasn’t working at… no party, panels, or other responsibilities. As an added delight, next year’s WorldCon, which will be held in Glasgow, hosted a cèilidh.

As the convention drew to a close, train cancellations (due to the aforementioned signal cable theft!) made for an interesting travel day as we made our way to Wales, where we disembarked from one train and headed to a smaller local station to take a scenic ride through the Welsh countryside on another. The scenic ride was optional and quite worth the time.

We ended our stay in Manchester, meeting my Dorkstock UK counterpart (Dorkstock UK was held a couple consecutive years in the early 2000s) after more than twenty years of friendship. Not surprisingly, we met up at a game store.

As I reflect on the trip and all the planning that went into it, it amazes me that my father used to organize visits like this, with a day here and a day there staying with different friends and family, using only snail mail and telephones.

Different aspects of trip planning

There are many things to take into consideration when planning a trip. I typically start with where we want to go, why, and how we’re getting there. There’s a significant difference between planning a trip to tourist sites versus visiting family and friends (especially if you’re visiting for a specific event), though there may be some opportunity for overlap.

Back in 2013, we did a big road trip (12 days) targeting national parks and monuments within the United States. Except for our stop near Mount Rushmore, we only stayed a single night in each location, mostly at KOA campsites. On our trip to Florida last year, we stayed two nights near the Everglades, three nights in Miami Beach, and just one night everywhere else, almost constantly moving as we progressed from Key West to Orlando. In contrast, on our last visits to Oregon and Guatemala, we stayed in the same place the entire time because the purpose of those trips was to visit with family in one area.

Three of the four trips I mentioned involved flying to get there, and two of those involved renting a car to get around. When travelling by car – either at a destination or on a road trip – consider whether you need to print directions ahead of time. I know that sounds archaic, but in 2013, there were cell phone dead zones in some areas we travelled (Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, for example), and even our GPS had trouble connecting. In other areas, we’re happy to rely on local transportation options, such as our 2018 trip to Philadelphia.

Once you arrive at your destination, where do you plan on staying? You can pick a hotel or bed & breakfast based on the activities you’d like to explore in the area, such as staying in the heart of Key West or a hotel in Florida City for proximity to the Everglades. In each of those cases, I wanted to minimize any extra driving where possible, knowing that parking is at a premium in Key West, and Florida City has the closest hotels to the Everglades.

When your trip is longer, like ours was last year, you may want to consider laundry options as part of your planning. Our three-night stay in Miami Beach was the ideal time for doing laundry, though a bit annoying because the minimum laundry card purchase was more than we needed. (I ended up handing off the laundry card to another visitor who was a dryer load short on his card.)

These are just a few of things I take into consideration when planning a trip.

Florida 2022: places to eat

I’ve discussed culinary tourism before… when traveling, we like to explore new (to us) restaurants. We certainly managed that in Florida! I’ll mostly let the photos talk here.

Key West: The Cafe – we had walked past several restaurants on Duval Street when this charming restaurant on a side street caught our eye.

Miami: Tapas de Rosa – this was a Google find, looking for somewhere to get a nice lunch between Vizcaya and Miami Beach. Being a tapas restaurant, we selected several small dishes to share.

Miami Beach: the quest for restaurants, hidden inside hotels and apartment buildings, led us (with Google’s help) to the delightful Lola Restaurant & Grill. We likely would have eaten there again if it weren’t for the next day’s lunch.

Dinner at Lola Restaurant & Grill in Miami Beach

Coral Gables: Havana Harry’s does not skimp on portions – we ate three or four meals from the leftovers after this lunch! Pictured below are three entrees and one of the plates of side dishes. (Also, arrive early for good parking.)

Lunch (and a couple other meals from leftovers) at Havana Harry's in Coral Gables

Melbourne: Pane e Vino, to my delight, had escargot on the appetizer menu. Yeah, I know, that’s a French dish. I had it anyways.

Kissimmee: Last, but certainly not least, was El Tapatio, a Mexican restaurant recommended (and rightfully so) by our hotel. What’s that greenish drink in the photo, you ask? That was a delicious avocado margarita (not to be confused with a key lime milkshake I had near the Everglades).

Florida 2022: places to go

We had eight days plus an evening, and almost four hundred miles to cover while picking interesting places to visit, ranging from Key West to Orlando. We tried to select a mix of interests, which seems to have resulted in mostly nature and science stops.

Key West: a rooster at sunrise, a butterfly at the Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory, a polydactyl cat at the Hemingway House, all set against the background of a rainbow crosswalk

Our Key West stops were a combination of new places and perennial favorites: a sunset cruise, a quick peek into a Wyland Gallery, a snack at Margaritaville, sunrise at the Southernmost Point, visits to The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory and the Hemingway Home & Museum. That was all under 24 hours!

Lego rabbits at Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach; a colorful lizard of some sort at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens; an orange flower at Mounts Botanical Garden; part of the garden at Vizcaya; artwork outside the Richter Library at the University of Miami; the fountain and new dorms at the University of Miami; sand and ocean at Miami Beach; part of the Rocket Garden at Kennedy Space Center; an alligator by the path at the Everglades National Park

The next few days weren’t quite as hectic. We started most mornings whenever we were ready, including the day we went to the Everglades National Park… that involved getting a tire replaced on our rental car, having picked up a roofing nail the evening before. (In case you hadn’t heard, there’s a bit of a shortage on rental cars; they didn’t have a replacement car available nearby.) We started at the visitor’s center just outside the gate (be sure to ask about the junior ranger activities if you have younger kids), paid our admission at the gate (good for 7 days), then drove all the way in to the Flamingo Lodge. We lucked out and saw a single manatee while exploring around the lodge, then drove back out to the Snake Bight trail for a nice, long walk in the heat. (Largely shaded, but still, hot.) Our final stop in the park was at the Anhinga Trail, which the ranger at the entrance visitor’s center had said was the best chance of seeing wildlife. The alligator by the trail clearly hasn’t read the rules that say people should stay at least 15 feet away from animals.

Our next day involved moving from Florida City to Miami Beach, with a stop at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens on the way. I had visited the gardens once, when they still hosted a renaissance festival in the spring, but had never been inside the house. What struck me about the style of the house, which was built in the early 1900s but designed to look older, was how similar in style it is to Spanish colonial buildings in Guatemala, with an open courtyard and some garden in the center of the house. Of course, it also has extensive gardens beyond the mansion, which most houses in Guatemala don’t have.

We met a friend at the University of Miami, revisiting my old stomping grounds – mainly the library, though we glanced at some of the new buildings as well. (We went off campus for a lovely lunch, which I’ll cover in my next post.) The visit to my high school was similar, rehashing memories with familiar buildings and amazement at some of the new areas of campus. (The motivation for the trip was my high school reunion.)

Then we headed north! On our way to meet up with friends in Palm Bay and Melbourne, we sidetracked to Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach (compensating for missing the Miami Beach Botanical Garden because Vizcaya and lunch ran later than we expected). By chance, they were having both a plant sale that day (no, we didn’t buy anything, it was all tropical) and a Lego exhibit. From Melbourne, we continued on to Kennedy Space Center, missing a shuttle launch by a couple days and several hours (even I wasn’t up before 4am on vacation), which was delightful and educational. Or delightfully educational? Something like that.

Orlando - Gatorland: warning sign that reads "Plese Be Safe. Do not carry children on your shoulders or stand, sit, or climb on fence railings anywhere in the park. If you fall in THE GATORS WILL EAT YOU! And that might make them sick. Thank you."; some baby alligators including an albino; a collection of young alligators on a boardwalk; a bird perched on the back of an alligator — Orlando – Gatorland: warning sign that reads “Plese Be Safe. Do not carry children on your shoulders or stand, sit, or climb on fence railings anywhere in the park. If you fall in THE GATORS WILL EAT YOU! And that might make them sick. Thank you.”; some baby alligators including an albino; a collection of young alligators on a boardwalk; a bird perched on the back of an alligator

Our final day in Florida was spent in the Orlando area. Instead of visiting the better-known tourist traps, some of which we visited a few years before (pre-blog, sorry), we opted to visit Gatorland. With “over 2,000 American alligators” onsite, the location name is stunningly accurate. Really the only disappointing part was not trying the zipline (yes, over gators) and arriving after they had already picked a “volunteer” to hold a tarantula at the Up-Close Encounters show.

We headed home the next day and were delighted to find out that the cats are all still talking to us. Mostly to say we should feed them, but hey, we’ll take it.

Florida 2022: places to stay

We recently returned from a trip to Florida, which as can be expected in April, was significantly warmer than Chicagoland. It was a busy trip, we stayed in six different cities in nine nights. Every place we stayed was nice enough for us to feel comfortable there, and in a good enough area for us to wander in the neighborhood. In each case, my minimum requirement was space for two people and free parking; where available, I also searched for breakfast included. (Links are through Hotels.com because that’s where I booked through.)

Key West: Wicker Guesthouse – we described this room as “comically small”; as you can almost see from the photo, there was just enough room at each side of the bed for someone to walk. While short on space, this was perfectly located for exploring downtown Key West – on Duval Street, a couple blocks from the Hemingway House. They have two pools, a continental breakfast, and were happy to let us park past checkout time. The hotel emailed a couple days before our trip to see when we expected to arrive, and included information on some of the Key West attractions. Of course, the size of this room became the running joke as we compared other hotel rooms throughout the trip.

Florida City: Quality Inn – this Quality Inn room, including an upgrade from two full to two queen beds, felt huge after the room in Key West. But that’s not why I picked it! Florida City is at the edge of the Everglades National Park, a must-see area of South Florida. We drove up from Key West, unpacked, and bought dinner from the nearby Gator Grill. (Food and attractions will be separate posts.) Every hotel we stayed at had a pool; we didn’t make it into this one. Their breakfast was a “hot” continental, which means a couple warm dishes (eggs, sausage, etc.) and a waffle maker were provided.

Miami Beach: Castle Beach Suites – this section of Miami Beach is strange in that restaurants are buried in buildings (apartments, hotels… or a combination of both). This was a “rental apartment,” with check-in at the building’s security desk, and parking through a consistently backlogged valet service. The apartment itself was nice, but with no information about the surrounding area. We never tried their food – we found a lovely restaurant hidden in the building next door, and went looking for breakfast well before they opened in the morning. We skipped their sizable pool in favor of walking out the back gate to the beach. The first time we retrieved our car from the valet took 15 minutes; the second time had a humongous line and took us almost an hour.

Cocoa Beach: Beachside Hotel & Suites – hands down, this was our favorite hotel of the trip. Our room included a sitting room, kitchenette, and bedroom, with separate doors to the parking lot and patio. Their shallow pool has a lazy river – with tubes provided; the pool bar includes reasonable dinner options; their hot continental breakfast includes a good variety; and the beach is only a block away. After our day’s outing, we unpacked, spent some time in the pool, ate dinner, then spent some more time in the pool.

Orlando: Park Royal Orlando – technically, this hotel is in Kissimmee, but that’s close enough to count as Orlando. We were pretty wiped out by the time we checked in, having spent all day at Gatorland, and just wanted to find food in walking distance before we crashed. The room itself was quite nice, the pool looked lovely, and they even have a tennis court. The lobby staff directed us to a lovely Mexican restaurant for dinner, and we wandered the same direction the next morning to get breakfast at IHop before flying home.

Six cities… five hotels… oh, you noticed that? Yeah, we stayed with a friend one night. No worries, that city will make it onto the food post.

Thoughts on Leave Only Footprints

Behold, a non-fiction book on my reading list! Yes, it’s a rarity. This particular book has been on my wish list since it was released, both because it’s about the US national parks and because the author, Conor Knighton, was on our Galápagos cruise along with Efrain Robles, the video journalist mentioned repeatedly in the book. When we met them, they were working, exploring nature and documenting the (50th? I don’t actually recall) anniversary cruise along with the owner of the cruise line.

In his book, Conor, reeling from a break-up, set as a goal to visit every national park (but not monument, trail, or site) over the course of one year. This book has fascinating details about each park he visited, but should not be mistaken for a travel guide; it’s clearly a deeply personal memoir of a geek searching for direction in his life. By all accounts, he found it: he convinced CBS to pay for his travels, and was rewarded with a deeply reflective experience and additional travel assignments. As I said, we met him the following year in the Galápagos, where he was working… I had to use more than half of my vacation time for that trip.

Despite being deeply personal, Leave Only Footprints is a light read with plenty of funny moments. From the way it’s written, I suspect Efrain rolled his eyes when he asked if the photos Conor requested with the Denali puppies were for Tinder. You’ll have to read it yourself to find out what the “nerdiest” thing Conor said when comparing national parks to dating. And I recommend not making a drinking game out of finding the geeky references that are thrown in, you’d probably stumble to bed before finishing the book.

Now the question… which national park should I visit next, and which ones should I add to my bucket list?

“Il Ritorno Dei Legionari”

Monday marked a year since Dad passed away, so he is understandably on my mind as of late. In sorting through Dad’s things this summer, I found a couple issues of Modern Languages Magazine that he helped produce in college. The piece he wrote for the debut issue about Much Ado About Nothing was fairly typical for him, dissecting literature and finding something typically overlooked. This, however, is the only piece of fiction I’ve found in his writing.

“Il Ritorno Dei Legionari“

And so he had come to Naples. Rome was delightful, too delightful; its glories too numerous to be viewed in the meagre fortnight at his disposal. But there were other places, not to be neglected; it would be a crime to miss Capri. So he was in Naples. But wherever he went, it was an entirely new world to him: he had never before been abroad; and only just in time did he taste the luxury of the Mediterranean. It was June, 1939. We all know what we should find there now – the rubble-scattered towns and the cemeteries filled with rows of new crosses, which seem to be the only legacies left to us from the bankruptcy of war.

War? All was peaceful then – yet war was abroad. The whitewashed walls, that shine so brilliantly in the unclouded Italian sun – these were belaboured with slogans, from a simple “Via il Duce” to an excerpt from one of his speeches. A news-boy passed him, waving a neatly-folded copy of the Corriere di Napoli, fresh from the Press. He bought one. He had never learned Italian, apart from a few conversational phrases, but it was simple enough to read – at any rate, the headlines.

“Il ritorno dei Legionari… Tremila Legionari Reduci dalla Spagna.“
Impossible to quote all of it – they had no notion of compressing or spacing a headline, but must needs extend it. He counted the words of the “headline,” and there were forty-five. He gathered that a large contingent of the Volunteers and the Fleet had arrived from Spain. “Il Re Imperatore” and Mussolini had been in Naples to review the troops. This he had missed: a pity, he thought, but the Fleet might be worth seeing.

The carabinieri at the barrier looked impressive, forbidding; but at the age of twenty, one is not impressed, still less forbidden. And so he approached them, producing a gloriously inscribed card – an exotic masterpiece – which he had obtained from the Italian Tourist Agency in London. Its purpose was to gain admittance to art galleries and places of amusement at half-price; no more then that. But it served its purpose with the military. Moreover, he was British – an English visitor. They would admin him where they might suspect a German.

Go where he would, everything was impressive. The submarines yonder – there must have been thirty of them, side by side: he must have a photo of those, if it were permitted. Then there were the destroyers and the flagship R.I. “Gorizia” – that was certainly worth a snap. But an official had been eyeing him for the last moment or two, and the camera slung over his shoulder was, he suspected, the reason. And there were two more carabinieri at the foot of the gangway.

He paused. The official approached, was very voluble, but quite incomprehensible. A certain amount of gesticulation on both sides, however, confirmed his suspicion that he would not be allowed to take a photo. But he was English, the official would see… and he disappeared about the battleship. In a few moments he was back with another whose appearance was smarter, and whose arms were possessed of some gold braid. His English was meagre, his message brief: it was forbidden to take a photograph; would the Englishman oblige by following him aboard ship.

The atmosphere was far from reassuring. He was in a small and bare cabin – alone: there the officer had required him to wait. The door was open, and the sun cast a sharp light into the centre, leaving the rest of the cabin quite dark. Just outside was one of the carabinieri who had followed them when they came on board, and now stood silent, never glancing towards him, but always on the alert. Overhead, an aeroplane passed, quite low. He moved towards the door to look at it, changed his mind, and returned to the centre.

The guard stood to attention – another officer entered, obviously of superior rank. His dress was perfect, his gold braid more extensive: surely he must be the captain. At any rate, he was someone of importance. His English was flawless: it was a great honour to receive an English visitor so soon after their return, victorious, from the Spanish affair. He understood the Englishman had desired to take a photo – he regretted that it was out of the question. But… he had not already taken any? No? That was very well; for there would have been difficulties. If the Englishman would wait until his return… there would be no further delays….

Once more alone. He glanced once or twice at his watch, but the seconds crept by reluctantly. The guard did not move, except to flick a fly off his nose. Was it permitted to smoke, he wondered. But that reminded him – at least he could take a photo of Vesuvius, with the heavy smoke rolling from its summit; that is to say, once he was out of this spot.

But a sudden shadow fell across the door and he looked up. The officer stood once again in the entrance, his arm slightly extended, his had gripping – an exquisite picture postcard of the battleship!

Off the beaten path: Mixco Viejo

There’s a limited selection of Mayan ruins close enough to Antigua, Guatemala to be done as a day trip. (While some travel agencies offer Tikal trips in 1-day, I recommend going for 2… it’s a lot to take in, starting with an hour from the Guatemala City airport, an hour flight to Flores, and an hour to Tikal itself, not to mention wait time at the airport.) We had visited nearby Iximche a few years ago, and determined that Copán in neighboring Honduras was just a little too far for a single day outing. Mixco Viejo, restored to its original Kaqchikel name of Chuwa Nima’Ab’äj in 2013, is not a normal tourist destination – we were only found one travel agency in Antigua that offered visits. Since we had several family members interested in visiting, we hired a van and driver for the day.

The first thing we noticed as we headed to Chuwa Nima’Ab’äj was that San Juan Sacatepéquez, a city we drove through, specializes in furniture. Seriously, the number of billboards advertising furniture was amazing, echoed by the furniture stores as we drove through – the city specializes in wooden furniture. Having discussed it with friends after the trip, it appears to be the best place in the country to shop for quality, yet low-priced, furniture.

As we rode up the windy dirt road to the ruins, we noticed a couple food vendors at the entrance. Being a warmish day, several of us stopped for granizadas, which Google Translate will tell you means hail, but is more accurately shaved ice with flavors added. If you want something salty, request a lime granizada; other fruit flavors are sweet.

Like most tourist sites in Guatemala, there are different prices for locals (including foreign residents) and tourists, encouraging Guatemalans to explore their heritage. We visited on a holiday, so there were a decent number of locals at the site, several of whom hauled in coolers with lunch for their extended families (we were lazy – we left the cooler in the van), and the parking lot was full by the time we left after lunch. There were at most a handful of foreign tourists.

At some points of the day, there are guides available for tours; we didn’t notice one, but I also didn’t look for one. There were vendors inside the ruins as well, selling food, and more importantly on a hot day, cold water and flavored ice. And while a guide would have been nice, there were placards at assorted spots explaining the buildings and their layout within the site. Every placard appears in three languages – Kaqchikel, Spanish, and English.

These ruins are from the PostClassic Maya Civilization, having being founded in the 12th Century AD. The city was still inhabited, and was thought to be the capital of Poqomam Maya civilization when the Spanish invaded in the 1500s. As it turns out, it may have instead been the capital of the Chajoma Maya; there was some confusion when interpreting colonial records. The mountain-top location was highly defensible, so when the Spanish defeated the residents after a month-long siege, they burned the city and relocated the survivors.

The ruins themselves are in great condition for explorers, allowing you to climb a number of buildings, including some seriously steep stairs. There are two different ball courts – smaller than Chichen Itza’s (meant for teams), but larger than Tikal’s (designed for a 1-on-1 game). Depending on your interests, you could easily spend a day wandering through the scenic site. Whether you choose to climb the building or not, expect to walk a decent amount – there’s more to this site than you can see from the entrance. As with all archaeological sites, take nothing but photographs; leave nothing but footprints.

Carving jade in Antigua, Guatemala

In Antigua, Guatemala, there are several jade shops; the oldest are Jade Maya and Casa del Jade. Both offer a selection of jewelry and carvings, as well as history of Mesoamerican jade use. Both guarantee the authenticity of their jade, which refers to jadeite and nephrite; the Chinese word for jade also includes soapstone, which is a softer stone, without a crystalline structure. Jade Maya has several copies of a massive book listing the last century or so of birthdays and the Mayan Nahual, or astrological sign, for each. Nearby flip cards display the symbol associated with each sign, with pertinent information including the animal. (Mine’s an armadillo.) Casa del Jade has a smaller display; both have assorted items engraved with the Nahual symbols. Both stores sell coffee and provide samples.

2-hour workshop every day! What can I create? necklace, bracelet, magnet, keychain. $49/Q392 *ask about our special prices In January, Casa de Jade opened a small section in their shop offering jade carving lessons. The basic two-hour lesson gives participants the opportunity to select a piece of jade from a variety of colors (lavender, black, and light blue are only available in jadeite; the jade found in China is nephrite). A couple pencil scratches later, your stone is ready to shape in a scary-looking saw that uses diamond dust to cut the jade. Our instructor placed her fingers on the running blade – without a problem, as it’s specially designed for rock. When you have the basic shape cut, another machine is used to refine the shape by smoothing the edges and adding curves as desired. (The saw only does straight lines.)

Of the two hour lesson, getting to the refined shape might be twenty to thirty minutes. The next hour or more – black jade being the most difficult – will be spent polishing the stone using a progression of different sandpaper. Every step from the saw through polishing involves water, so we all wore stylish Casa del Jade aprons, and had towels handy for drying our stones (and ourselves).

The first round of polishing was the longest, trying to remove any visible scratches, particularly where cutting may have roughed up the stone a bit. The next three were progressively shorter, and eventually followed by shining the stone with a blend of diamond dust and water against leather. The black jade piece was waxed to make the engraving (coming right afterwards) stand out.

The space holds four participants; three of us wanted engravings on our pieces and spent an extended amount of time drawing our designs on the stones with pens, then erasing bits with a wet wipe until it was perfected. We each opted to have the expert – our instructor – do the actual engraving with an engraving tool. We were the last lesson of the day, so nobody objected when it ran a bit past the two hour mark.

Transition from raw jade pieces (one black, one light blue) to finished stones, the black one with engraving of Black Panther's necklace. The standard choices for the two-hour lesson are a pendant, keychain, bracelet, or magnet. The instructor worked with each participant to determine which stones needed holes and drilled those before the final round of polishing, then threated the pieces with a synthetic plastic at the end. The one magnet in the group was affixed with a mix from two tubes after engraving, with a warning that one of the tubes smelled like fish.

We agreed that it was well worth the experience; the time it took to carve the jade was well spent, and were both happy with the pieces we made. The instructor is fluent in English, so don’t worry if your Spanish isn’t up to understanding instructions.

Road trip for literary heroines

Just after Christmas, I realized that there was an exhibit at the Putnam Museum titled Literary Heroines: Their Times, Their Fashions. The museum had been on my radar for the past few months; it’s just across the border in Davenport, Iowa, about a two hours drive, and neither of us had been to Iowa before. It was the next to last weekend of the exhibit, so our last chance to see it.

The Putnam website described the exhibit as “Strong and influential female protagonists spring from the pages of some of literature’s most iconic books with the Putnam’s the newest exhibit, Literary Heroines: Their Times, Their Fashions — open NOW!”

The exhibit featured “the apparel and interests of exciting and memorable characters, as they come to life through vignettes,” with a range of heroines form Hermione Granger (Harry Potter, of course), Laura Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie), and Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird). I can only imagine how hard it was to narrow the list down to these twenty titles. Every exhibit included information about the book and the heroine, along with a mannequin outfitted appropriately.

I came out of it with a reading list; while I’m familiar with most of the titles, I think I’ve only read three of them. This is the list of books represented:

The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton)

Putnam Museum: Literary Heroines exhibit
The Atomic City Girls (Janet Beard)
The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash)
The Forest Lover (Susan Vreeland)
Harry Potter series (JK Rowling)
The Help (Kathryn Stockett)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Like Water for Chocolate (Laura Esquivel)
Little House series (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
Miss Fisher Mysteries (Kerry Greenwood)
Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker (Jennifer Chiaverini)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
The Nightingale (Kristin Hannah)
The Plague of Doves (Louise Erdrich)
Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
Wonder Woman comic books

The rest of the museum was entertaining, with many hands on activities for children of all ages (including those of us who are children with jobs, aka “adults”). We took the time to watch a 3-D movie about Oceans; it was one of three choices in the time we were there. And we played a bit… infrared pictures are fun.

Putnam Museum: infrared picture of two people — Putnam Museum: infrared picture