Karen Torme Olson

Christmas Traditions fest alive and well in charming St. Charles

August 23, 2019 at 8:47 p.m.

Jean Baptiste Point DuSable must have seen exceptional potential when he settled in this Missouri river town in the early 19th century. After building the first settlement and trading post...

"Viagara" wine, whose name is a play on the prescription medication Viagra, comes in blue bottles for men and pink for women at Illinois River Winery in Utica.

7 wineries to visit near Peoria, a good base for touring Illinois vineyards

June 22, 2019 at 12:06 p.m.

This Midwestern city has everything you need for a quick weekend getaway roughly 150 miles from Chicago: a thriving riverfront with green space and shopping, rejuvenated restaurant and music scenes,...

Mike Smith, whose Quaker descendants settled in Cass County before the Civil War, examines a first-edition "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which he found among a trove of vintage documents in his attic.

Exploring Underground Railroad ties in Southwest Michigan

May 11, 2019 at 10:26 p.m.

It takes just two hours to get from Chicago to this don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it town in Cass County, but the drive through farmland and small towns in Southwest Michigan ends in a...

This travel trailer was popular in the 1920s and '30s, and it's now on display at the RV/MH Hall of Fame.

100 hours of music — and much more — at Elkhart, Ind. jazz fest

August 23, 2019 at 8:10 p.m.

They'll be dancing in the streets in downtown Elkhart starting June 23, when the sights and sounds of the city's annual jazz festival fill the air for the 30th time....

Small ski classes for women boost confidence, camaraderie

August 23, 2019 at 7:40 p.m.

My family's idea of the perfect vacation is to follow winter around the world and schuss down a snow-covered mountain as fast as gravity allows. That's not quite my speed,...

A statue of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower is on the 22-acre campus of the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum & Boyhood Home in Abilene, Kan.

After a visit to Abilene, I like Ike

August 23, 2019 at 7:10 p.m.

When vacation plans shift from fun and sun to the prospect of traipsing through a dusty library, a bright blue sky can turn cloudy in an instant. My group tour...

The Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan, Kan., opened in 2012.

Head for the Flint Hills of Kansas for a relaxing roam

August 23, 2019 at 6:45 p.m.

It's time to abandon the idea that Kansas is little more than a 423-mile-long, east-west ribbon of Interstate 70 to be endured on the way to the Rockies. If you...

There's little doubt about what you can get here.

Ukraine may be at war, but in Kiev the concern is coffee

August 23, 2019 at 5:13 p.m.

When I recently told my friends I was going to spend a couple of weeks in Kiev visiting family, I was met with questions like "Is it safe?" to "Are...

Tulsa chocolatier’s sweet gig

May 11, 2019 at 7:53 p.m.

Chocolate has never been my "thing." Chocolate ice cream? Chocolate cake? Chocolate milk? I've never been tempted by any of them — at least not until I stepped into Glacier...

Navigating Chinese food

August 23, 2019 at 3:51 p.m.

XIAMEN, China — Forget everything you think you know about Chinese food when you travel to mainland China. Even if orange chicken is on the menu, it won't look or...

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