Places I Remember with Lea Lane

Send us Fan Mail

Mona Mesereau, husband Tom and family have explored at least 75 of America's national parks and monuments. Mona shares history, tales, tips and the joys of family travels, exploring  the U.S.A.'s precious public parks system.

-- "America's Best Idea"- Mona shares the history of our National Parks, starting with the oldest, Yellowstone.

-- Lea shares some of her park experiences including sunrise at Acadia; a drive around southern Utah parks; the blue water of Crater Lake; dawn at Zabriski Point in Death Valley; Denali in Alaska; Dry Tortugas, 99% underwater -- "ya have to want to get there," on a catamaran from Key West;  birds of the Everglades, "brightened my mood, pumped me up,"says Mona; Gateway Arch in St. Louis; popular Great Smoky Mountains, "near the salt and pepper museum"; Hawaii Volcanos National Park, sometimes active; Joshua Tree (really  bushes and surreal boulders; Kenai Fjords, "whole bunches of bears"; Painted Desert, spectacular colors; Yosemite, stayed at the historic lodge, the waterfalls.

--  Mona tells of pleasures including Great Smoky National Park -- "a bear jam";  and Grand Teton in Wyoming, catching trout.

-- Mona recommends going off-course, a balance between planning and wandering, and using guides and tours; Grand Canyon,  Lake Powell/Glen Canyon, veering off to Wupatki National Monument; reservations for lodges, and the benefits of shoulder season.

-- On Mona's 50th birthday, she details a magnificent day at the bottom of the Grand Canyon,  exploring the back country.

-- She reminds us to protect our parks 'these are our houses in nature"; pick up trash, make purchases, get National Park passports.

-- Mona says take lots of photographs; great lodges and the beauty  of the parks remain much the same.

-- Leave crowds behind, there are plenty of trails, "I've seen Old Faithful erupt at midnight"; solitude of Glacier National Park -- "a chance to think."

-- Lesser known parks:  beyond ruins at Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly; Eastern Parks? New River, the newest National Parks in West Virginia; Gauley River nearby, to raft;  Harpers Ferry.

-- Mona's most memorable experience, at "the American Serengeti" in Yellowstone
_____
Mona Mesereau, editor and executive, launched Mesereau Travel Public Relations with her husband Tom, marketing executive and former magazine editor.  www.mesereaupr.com; (@monasays) / Twitter; Mona McCoy Mesereau/ Facebook.
_____
Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written eight travel books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs about travel at forbes.com  Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com
_____
Please subscribe and leave a quick review! New travel episodes every Tuesday, wherever you listen. 

Send us Fan Mail

---  Anne Born has walked The Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) in Northwest Spain nine times. Ancient pilgrim routes stretch across Europe, coming together at the tomb of St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. She shares info about history, varied routes, best lodgings, local foods, and symbols -- on this bucket-list adventure.  

-- The Way of St. James was one of the most important pilgrimages during the Middle Ages. The most popular walk, an ancient Roman trade route starting in France, is now a UNESCO Heritage Site.

-- Many routes, including one from Lisbon or Porto Portugal, converge to the Cathedral. And some travelers walk beyond, to the most western point in Spain, Cape Finisterre, on the Atlantic Coast in Galicia. Land’s End in Latin. 

-- Anne takes us through a typical day on the Camino. Some pilgrims walk for fun, some for spiritual reasons or to bond with others. She shares fascinating tidbits about the best  ways to meet people, the meaning of the scallop shell, where to stay -- and innkeepers' hospitality. She fondly remembers the best local foods, different ways to go -- including biking; and the spirituality that pilgrims find under the Big Sky of Northern Spain.

--- We also chat about major cities on the Camino, like Burgos, and of the magnificent cathedral there and in Santiago. And we end with her favorite travel memory of the Camino.
_____
Author/poet/photographer Anne Born is an award-winning New York-based writer who blogs on The Backpack Press and Tumbleweed Pilgrim. Her popular book is "Buen Camino! Tips from an American Pilgrim."  Her new guidebook is written about the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela for English-speaking pilgrims: “If You Stand Here.” TheBackpackPress.com
______
Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written many travel books, including Places I Remember, and has contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs about travel at forbes.com  Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com
______
Please subscribe to Places I Remember with Lea Lane, and leave a review on Apple! New travel episodes every Tuesday, wherever you listen to podcasts.

Send us Fan Mail

Millie Ball, former travel editor at the Times-Picayune, has traveled the world from Antarctica to Easter Island, but is still in love with the city where she was born: "There's no place in the world like New Orleans."

-- Millie first discusses the founding of the Crescent City on a curve of the Mississippi River, the diversity of the population, and the influence of slavery.

-- She shows us the delights of the French Quarter; a "Moon Walk" along the river; and the pleasures of a perfect day in the Garden District, including lunch at Commander's Palace and a strolling among grand mansions and parks.

-- We discuss the world-class World War II National Museum, and other New Orleans museums, parks and gardens.

-- And then, of course, all about Mardi Gras, from the local jargon to the newest tradition -- 'house floats.'

-- We talk of music, including jazz; clubs; and food, of course -- focusing on restaurants that locals love.

-- We end, as we always do, with favorite memories. Lea shares her first solo trip to New Orleans, at 19. And Millie tells us a story of when she was a Mardi Gras Carnival Queen, and what resulted -- the only time in almost 100 years of the tradition!
_____
Millie Ball has won numerous Society of American Travel Writers Foundations’ Lowell Thomas Awards, and writes for publications including the Los Angeles Times.
_____
Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine travel books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs at forbes.com 
_____
Please subscribe to Places I Remember with Lea Lane, and leave a quick review! New travel episodes every Tuesday, wherever you listen, or at placesirememberlealane.com

Send us Fan Mail

Valerie Benigno lives on Paris’ Left Bank, in the Latin Quarter near St. Germain des Pres —the heart of the 5th and 6th arrondissements. She knows that perfect cafe or shop, the best route to ancient cathedrals, and how to enjoy the charms of this artsy, historic area of Paris.

--- Valerie shares her favorite Left Bank places and memories. We find ways to tell a Left Bank resident from someone who lives on the other side of the Seine, and why the 5th and 6th are called The Latin Quarter. 

--- She talks of Left bank artists and writers, The Sorbonne and other schools on The Left Bank, and the Pantheon, where the greats of France are buried. She mentions surprising facts about the statue of St. Genevieve, and the ruins of the Roman city called Lutetia near the Cluny museum, famed for its medieval collection.

 --- There is the magnificent Luxembourg Gardens, with ponds and a carousel, a museum and pony rides, flowers and fountains and the ancient home of Maria de Medici, now home to the French senate. Narrow Left Bank streets are filled with delightful shops, including the famed chocolate shop that once served Marie Antoinette. 

--- We talk of the Delacroix museum; the oldest church in Paris, St. Germaine; and sites where movie scenes were shot: "The Da Vinci Code" in the ancient church, St. Sulpice, and the old restaurant featured in “Midnight in Paris.” 

--- Valerie offers her favorite memory  to end a travel conversation as delicious as a French macaron. By the end of the podcast we understand better why the Left Bank of Paris is  magical, and why so many of us seek to travel there.
_____
Valerie Benigno keeps up with the best of the Left Bank, advising travelers for over 20 years at Hotel St. Paul Rive Gauche. 
_____
Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine travel books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs at forbes.com 
______
Please subscribe and leave a quick review! New travel episodes every Tuesday, wherever you listen or at placesirememberlealane.com

Send us Fan Mail

We asked Marian Goldberg, who has traveled to Japan -- yes, 43 times, to tell us about some of her favorite memories of that island-nation. As one of this country’s foremost Japanese experts, she focuses on special travel aspects of Japan, from the popular to the unusual, and from serene to exciting. 

-- We learn about Shinto shrines, and the pleasures of visiting and staying in Buddhist retreats. There’s “forest bathing” which has nothing to do with water, and bathing in hot springs, which very much does.
-- We delight in the beauty of gardens and cherry blossoms, light-up festivals and strolls through bamboo forests, and ancient cedar forests on a sub-tropical island off Japan’s southern coast. And also traveling to the  shrines of the Shoguns.=
-- Marian tells of astounding views of Mt. Fuji from a skywalk outside of Tokyo, which also offers zip lines, huge swings and rock climbing.
-- We discuss tea ceremonies at a tea house with a geisha, in a town known for green tea. And we chat about one of the oldest pilgrimages in the world, passing by 88 temples set in valleys below towering mountains, and along the coast, where pilgrims can dress in traditional white robes, and walk up to two months to complete the route.
-- Snow monkeys look like old men as they bathe in hot springs. And hiking trails between Kyoto and Tokyo are classic and popular. Marian tells of skiing from a traditional village near Nagano, where mists surround you and the buildings are ancient. -- Marian takes us to a brewery with a 23rd generation brewer, and sake on tap.
-- And she ends with her favorite travel memory of all her many trips to Japan.
_____
Marian Goldberg was the Japan National Tourism Organization's Public Relations Manager for the Americas for 11 years and does personal Japan Travel Planning. She is a regular  presenter on Japan at the New York Times Travel Show.

She was the U.S. representative for Kyoto City and has been part of the team representing Tokyo in the U.S .Market. Prior to joining JNTO, she was a researcher and  producer at The Travel Channel. http://www.jaxfaxmagazine.com/contributing-writers/
_____
Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine travel books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs at forbes.com 
______
Please subscribe to Places I Remember with Lea Lane, and leave a quick review! New travel episodes every Tuesday, wherever you listen, or at placesirememberlealane.com

Send us Fan Mail

A short introduction about Places I Remember with Lea Lane -- an award-winning, monthly travel podcast, featuring conversations with travel experts, passionate travelers and savvy locals around the world. The podcast is hosted by seasoned, award-winning travel writer, Lea Lane -- author of eight travel books, contributor to dozens of guidebooks, and blogger at forbes.com. Lea has traveled to over 100 countries, and shares her warm memories and fascinating experiences along with her guests.