Margaret Littman

Visit Mississippi's massive Vicksburg National Military Park — it covers more than 1,700 acres just two miles from Vicksburg — to relive a pivotal battle in the Civil War. There's much to see: 1,325 historical monuments and markers, 20 miles of reconstructed trenches, two antebellum homes, 144 cannons, a national cemetery, and a restored ironclad gunboat. Plus, it's beautiful. “Visitors are usually overcome with the park's unique topography of rolling hills and steep ravines, and many remark how stunning every monument is,” says Brendan Wilson, VNMP's chief of interpretation.

As the historic 111-year-old restaurant readies for a relaunch, we look at its history of culinary traditions
Even if you’ve never stepped inside the restaurant, if you care about good food in Nashville and appreciate local chefs, Capitol Grille has had an influence on you. For more than a century, even under different names and — obviously — led by different chefs, Capitol Grille’s kitchen has been more responsible for Nashville’s culinary development than any other.

In April 2021, the Bobby Hotel announced that it would become the first hotel in Nashville to accept cryptocurrency—including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and stable coin—as payment for its rooms and services. If you're considering cryptocurrency as you plan your next holiday, consider these pros and cons.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2020, a small, masked crowd stood in a liquor store parking lot waiting for a 30-foot-tall neon sign to light up. It may sound odd, but to the neighborhood of East Nashville, this was hope.
When a violent tornado ripped through Main Street after midnight on March 3 of that year, it knocked down the neon sign that had towered above Weiss Liquors since the late 1940s.

The time-honored milkshakes-and-more spot is scheduled to reopen May 11
For nearly three decades, Miss Linda — full name Linda Melton — baked pies and seated people in booths at the Elliston Place Soda Shop. Using her grandmother’s recipes, she’s been the face behind the chess pies, meringue pies (the taller the better) and banana pudding that have satisfied locals’ sugar cravings for decades.

When we were searching for toilet paper and building makeshift classrooms in the living room a year ago while trying to work remotely, few of us were busy worrying, This pandemic is really going to tank my credit score. But for many of us, that happened. If you find yourself in the position where you want your post-pandemic credit score to go up, here are seven suggestions for improving your situation.

Visiting Yad Vashem a decade ago, Alon Shaya got to see some of the Jerusalem Holocaust museum’s culinary-related artifacts that aren’t always on display to the public.
It was the James Beard Award-winning chef’s introduction to the fact that concentration camp inmates distracted themselves by recalling and secretly writing recipes — on scraps of hidden paper and cloth — from their prewar lives.
“Food is such a big part of everything I do."

Since 2017 the Sexual Assault Center has run the Nashville Safe Bar program to train hospitality workers to recognize and prevent sexual violence. New funding and a pandemic pivot are expanding the efforts this year, says Rachel Freeman, president and CEO of SAC.

As with many other non-profits, the coronavirus pandemic meant that Make-A-Wish had to pivot. In the past, 80 percent of requested wishes were travel-based, which are difficult to grant now. That means there are more opportunities for activities like Ferlando’s wish, and more opportunities to get involved. Businesses can donate services, such as light-hanging or calligraphy, other than cash.

Welcome to Hot Springs National Park (HSNP). Without an entrance booth or gate, and with attractions both indoors and outdoors, this isn't your typical national park. With its abundant natural resource of hot spring water, people come here to do the Hot Springs Soak, a centuries-old bathing tradition, in ornate bathhouses. HSNP boasts 47 springs, 27 of which are used for bathing, soaking and drinking. Loyalists like to tout HSNP as the country's first national park. In a way, they have a point.

Imagine a national park so complex and, well, mammoth, that no one really knows its true size. Yes, signs mark entrances and exits, but underground, where limestone and water have carved the world's largest cave system (412 miles and still counting), no one knows how vast it is or what will be discovered next. That's the majesty of Mammoth Cave National Park (MCNP) in Central Kentucky. Every time you come back, you can learn about what has been newly discovered.

For the majority of my life, “xenophobia” was a word that existed only at synagogue.
There’s a prayer Jews say, the viddui, when we repent and ask for forgiveness for our sins. While there are other occasions to recite it, many Reform Jews primarily do this only at Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur, cataloging our sins from the previous year, and then letting go.

“It is rare that you hear a bank plan to lose money,” laughs James Anthony. While he wasn’t trying to hurt the bottom line, he was, like leaders at many community banks, looking at unusual ways to help clients cope with 2020.

Anthony is CEO of the $845-million asset Martha’s Vineyard Bank, the only bank based on the island. When the coronavirus hit and travel halted, Anthony knew that his Massachusetts community’s businesses were at real economic risk.