Best South Atlantic U.S. Regional Travel
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2018 explains how Walt Disney World works and how to use that knowledge to make every minute and every dollar of your vacation count. "If a restaurant serves bad food, or a gift item is overpriced, or a certain ride isn't worth the wait, we can say so, and in the process we hope to make your visit more fun, efficient, and economical." And because they've found that "spontaneity and self-discovery work about as well at Walt Disney World as they do on your tax return," The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World is packed full of essential advice for anyone braving the frontiers of the mother of all theme parks. "Indispensable". ― The New York Times.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Recommend, if you are going to Disney."
"This book is right on about everything I read in the book. With Disney this book is a must."
"This one covers it all- the rides, theater and attractions of WDW, including every hotel, restaurant, foodcart, with breakdowns in popularity for multiple age groups, fear factors, height restrictions, and a ton of Disney trivia that will prove invaluable in saving time, energy, money and will greatly increase your any trip immensely."
"It's a very informative book."
"In this book, TONS of reviewers like you and me who have made the trip give advice and tips on how to make the Disney experience less stressful, more enjoyable, and less expensive. Wanna save 4 hours a day of standing in line at the various attractions at each of the parks?"
"So, you have to flip back to find the restaurant section, then figure out what place is in which park. It is also huge and heavy, so don't expect to carry this while you are touring the parks."
"Very informative book on everything about Walt Disney World and beyond."
"I have read 3 versions of this book, and I love to just read it to get my "Disney Fix" when I'm not there."
Emma Gatewood was the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail alone, as well as the first person—man or woman—to walk it twice and three times and she did it all after the age of 65. Journalist Montgomery draws on interviews with Gatewood’s surviving family members and hikers she met on her five-month journey as well as news accounts and Gatewood’s diaries to offer a portrait of a determined woman, whose trek inspired other hikers and brought attention to the neglect of the Appalachian Trail. Maps of the trail and photos from Gatewood’s early life enhance this inspiring story. “Grandma Gatewood’s Walk is sure to fuel not only the dreams of would-be hikers, but debates on the limits of endurance, the power of determination, and the nature of myth.” —EARL SWIFT, AUTHOR OF THE BIG ROADS.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The book alternates between the story of Gatewood's life from the time she was married to an abusive husband until the time she started her "walk" with the story of her time on the trail. She not only hiked the AT three times (twice as a through hiker and once in segments), but she also hiked the Oregon Trail and helped to create a trail system in her native Ohio."
"Grandma Gatewood went out to "take a walk" dressed in dungarees and tennis shoes with a small drawstring sack containing a shower curtain, a warm coat, a pocket knife, a flashlight and a few snacks. Ben Montgomery, staff writer at the Tampa Bay Times, brings Grandma Gatewood to life in beautifully written and meticulous detail, not only following her perilous walk, but lush in description of the countryside around her, from amazing vistas on the tops of the many mountains she climbed, to the freezing cold, treacherous rock and storms that nearly took her life."
"What is there about little old ladies that they seem to get typecast in our minds, and then when an author like Ben Montgomery tells her story we are gobsmacked by this woman, and her life. And you think, “You GO, girl!”. For the trek, of course, she wore pants — dungarees — but still, those tennis shoes, and carried her supplies in a drawstring sack she made herself. She stuffed in a warm coat, a shower curtain to keep the rain off, some drinking water, a Swiss Army knife, a flashlight, candy mints and her pen and a little Royal Vernon Line memo book that she had bought for twenty-five cents at Murphy’s back home.""
"However, i give this four stars because I don't understand why the author had to go into such excruciating detail about how the US highway system developed and all the technicalities of hurricanes."
The Disney family coat of arms standing guard at the entrance to Cinderella Castle The surprise song that plays in the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train queue area The mysterious concentric circles in the Temple of Heaven in Epcot's China pavilion The lipstick stain on the champagne glass sitting on the table in the Tower of Terror. You can take this as your guide and walk-through the parks learning about all the Hidden Magic that you only needed to know about to see." If you are planning a trip to Walt Disney World--this book is a must have. Susan Veness is a travel writer, researcher, and itinerary planner specializing in Florida, Disney, and the theme parks.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love to read anything & everything about Disney World!"
"Interesting, full of lots of information."
"As I said before, I love learning about all things Disney, but not as much as actually being there!"
"So many amazing little secrets I didn't know."
"Great resource for anyone attending Disney World, even the experienced visitor!"
"Neat way to find out great things that some may never know about Disney!"
Best Georgia Travel Guides
From her years as a spirited, secretive child, through her university studies—a period of exquisite freedom that imbued her with a profound appreciation of friendship and a love of travel—to her escape to a new life in California, Mayes exuberantly recreates the intense relationships of her past, recounting the bitter and sweet stories of her complicated family: her beautiful yet fragile mother, Frankye; her unpredictable father, Garbert; Daddy Jack, whose life Garbert saved; grandmother Mother Mayes; and the family maid, Frances’s confidant Willie Bell. Her “southern memoir” is a tale straight out of Faulkner, rife with episodes of dissipation and disillusion, parents who loved and fought with equally wild abandon, and ancestors with names like Big Mama and Daddy Jack. But she and her husband were sufficiently compelled to relocate from Northern California to North Carolina, settling in a university town with a far enough remove to allow her an objective distance from which to analyze the signature episodes of her childhood. With her trademark skill for capturing the essence of place and time, Mayes candidly reveals a youth riddled with psychological abuse and parental neglect that, nevertheless, ignited a fiery passion for adventure and self-discovery. “With perfect-pitch language, Mayes unblinkingly describes her growing-up years… One can almost taste the mushiness of ‘a pot of once-green beans falling apart in salt pork’; one can almost smell the cloying scent of honeysuckle, gardenias and overripe peaches that infuse the always-too-humid air.”– USAToday.com “Just the right balance of humor, irony and tragedy. “ Under Magnolia is a gorgeous, dreamy remembrance of hot Southern afternoons, mothers in red lipstick and Shalimar, Elvis turned up loud to cover up the family troubles that ran deep. In her new southern memoir, Under Magnolia , Frances Mayes describes the birth of her extraordinary sensibility, the deep-pooled clarity of her writing, her giddy love of nature, and her sharp and satirical eye for those who brought her up to honorable womanhood in the tortured South of her girlhood. “No one could have invented a more combustible, joy-starved pair of glam and oblivious parents or a more incandescent child to dive into the blue ruins, explore the sealed-off passages, blacked-out dreams and neglected outlets by the beams of her own incredulous eyes; then break the surface a smart-mouthed, truth-seeing sensualist, fully in attendance to the vibratory moment. The deft framing, the exacting word picks, apposite references, high speed wit, singled out synecdoches of a life; the cadence, phrasing, and pulse of a muted Georgian accent are all signature to the prose and poetry, stove-tops and passport stamps of Frances Mayes. Frances Mayes, a petite, brainy beauty from what we used to call politely 'a troubled home' has written an unnervingly honest and refreshingly open account of how a child can be neglected even amid privilege and a large family...
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The author has painted a word portrait so vivid that the reader feels as if he/she has had an extended visit to the places she describes. Lee Smith makes the reader"know Appalachia while Mayes lets the reader know the South."
"While on a book tour stopover in Oxford, Mississippi (home of the University of Mississippi, William Faulkner, and ground zero for the Southern Gothic literary genre), Ms. Mayes takes a stroll through the grounds of the unoccupied Faulkner home and becomes inspired to leave her Tuscan and California lives behind and return to her roots in the southeastern US. Ms. Mayes grew up in Fitzgerald, GA, which gives her an opportunity to revel in all the typical southern literary conventions."
"If you did read it, now is the time to follow Frances Mayes from California back to the south."
"So that is why this book was interesting to me, as I recognized a lot of the people she mentioned in the book (although she misspelled my aunt's name when she was mentioning the matchbooks!)."
"It's like a trip into my own past, but with the beautiful poetry and prose of Frances Mayes."
"Thinking about it now, I think it's a connection to a simpler time that I feel, the kind of life Mayes describes was the life of America's small towns and incipient suburbs of the 1950s. The main differences that I noted were Mayes' emphases on the outdoor life of a Southern girl, the heady atmosphere of Fitzgerald-- the smells of flowers, bushes, rain and river that permeated Mayes' being."
Best Virginia Travel Guides
The majority of the photographs have been donated by individuals to ensure that history does not lose these significant personalities, past or present, who left an imprint on their community. Carole L. Herrick writes for publications in the Washington, DC, area and has authored seven books, including Images of America: McLean.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Excellent!"
Best Florida Travel Guides
shows, it’s both of these and, more important, it’s a Petri dish, producing trends that end up influencing the rest of the country. Without Florida there would be no NASCAR, no Bettie Page pinups, no Glenn Beck radio rants, no USA Today , no “Stand Your Ground,” . It’s a state where the voters went for Barack Obama twice, yet elected a Tea Party candidate as governor. It attracts 90 million visitors a year, some drawn by its impressive natural beauty, others bewitched by its manmade fantasies. "This entertaining book will amuse and astonish Floridians and anybody interested in the absurdity of the Sunshine State or human nature in general."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Craig Pittman captures the irony, diversity, and bizarre stories of America's bellweather state."
"It is shocking to see how Senator Cruz or Governor Bush, two names n the news now, continue long traditions of folly that began in the Civil War era. Folks who are not really from Florida see little reason to demand and pay for government services like health care, decent prisons or schools."
"Along with plenty of good laughs and oddball facts, the book lives up to its title and explains the many ways Florida has influenced the rest of the nation, right up to Supreme Court decisions."
"If you live in Florida, are thinking of moving to Florida, or simply plan to visit us sometime soon, I highly recommend you read this book."
"Oh, Florida presents the often confounding, perplexing, and sometimes shocking details of the adventure and misadventures of Florida Man and Florida Woman in a vivid and entertaining manner."
"The book is a must read for natives and wannabe natives to appreciate our special state."
"He is an excellent story teller who points out the oddities that take place his beloved state (he clearly loves his subject)."
"Pitttman is a fantastic writer."
Best South U.S. Regional Travel
The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes — and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings. When this American transplant to Britain decided to return home, he made a farewell walking tour of the British countryside and produced Notes from a Small Island . Accompanied only by his old college buddy Stephen Katz, Bryson starts out one March morning in north Georgia, intending to walk the entire 2,100 miles to trail's end atop Maine's Mount Katahdin. As Bryson and Katz haul their out-of-shape, middle-aged butts over hill and dale, the reader is treated to both a very funny personal memoir and a delightful chronicle of the trail, the people who created it, and the places it passes through. Awed by merely the camping section of his local sporting goods store, he nevertheless plunges into the wilderness and emerges with a consistently comical account of a neophyte woodsman learning hard lessons about self-reliance.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm a sexagenarian who, on a recent vacation, happened to walk out and back on the first three miles or so of the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail (Springer Mtn, GA) and, in a fit of exhilaration, decided then and there that I would, by golly, hike the AT before I died. As I was joyfully entertained by his incisive sense of humor, I was simultaneously and seriously learning history, biology, geology (and several other -ologies) as well as being discomfitted by Bryson's documentation of our culture's dismissive practices regarding ecology."
"Read one and except for a few events, you've pretty much read them all and almost any extended backpacking trip involves the same rigors, risks, weather and that mixture of misery and exhilaration."
"One of the funniest books you will every read."
"Bill's storytelling captured me immediately...I was taking every step he took, I enjoyed every vista he looked out on, I was eavesdropping on his conversations with his fellow hikers and feeling the spectrum of emotions held for his friend and hiking companion."
"An adventure that walks you experientially and historically through the nation's longest series of trails from Georgia to Maine while feeling every fear from blisters, hunger, thirst, wildlife, climate changes, man's limitations and nature's nuances, all the while trekking with a forty pound pack on your back, and any one of these could do you in, well it's a wonder why the wild is so compelling."
"With the film in theaters, I decided to pick it up and give it a go. I loved this book, and place it among Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild," Cheryl Strayed's "Wild," and Elizabeth Gilbert's "The Last American Man" in terms of well-written essays that explore our yearning to return to a simpler, untethered way of life."
"Unfortunately some of his stories about what happened to people along the trail, made me not that interested in walking any trail."
"I think Bill Bryson is an incredibly good writer whose humor extends to poking as much fun at himself as he does at others."
Best General Southern US Travel Guides
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2018 explains how Walt Disney World works and how to use that knowledge to make every minute and every dollar of your vacation count. And because they've found that "spontaneity and self-discovery work about as well at Walt Disney World as they do on your tax return," The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World is packed full of essential advice for anyone braving the frontiers of the mother of all theme parks.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I got him to agree to following the plan until we took our break each day, and be a little more lax in the afternoons - he became a believer after a couple days. Unless you go to WDW regularly, and don't mind seeing just a a few things each day, you really need to plan your days."
"If you’re lookin for info about making a trip to Disney World, this book is absolutely amazing!"
"Recommend, if you are going to Disney."
"You don't want a rained on Kindle (God forbid ) It seemed as thought there was a lot of "filler" in this book, I understand this is a subjective book , but just my opinion."
"If you get it, go ahead and spend the $10 for their online access (touringplans.com) - it's an essential piece to customize travel plans in the parks for what you want to see and when."
"However, many rides in WDW have been closed (Maelstrom, Backlot Tour, Pirates of the Caribbean, the sorcerers hat in DHS, etc) that are so significant they need to urgently put out a revised edition."
"So informative, it's insightful, and it's the go-to book for how to successfully navigate Disneyworld."
"Just got back from my first trip to Disney, information made the trip much better."
Best North Carolina Travel Guides
The disappearance of the Lost Colony, the raids of the pirate Blackbeard, and the Wright brothers' first attempts at flight. North Carolina's Outer Banks region, 180 miles of shifting sands, has both a romantic past--including the lost colony of Roanoke Island, the Wright brothers, pirates and shipwrecks--and a unique natural history. In a popular style of science writing that will appeal to lay readers, the authors discuss the history, geography, and ecology of North Carolina's Outer Banks in the context of barrier island geology and ecology. Pr, 1982, and Paul V. Godfrey's Barrier Island Ecology of Cape Lookout National Seashore and Vicinity, N. Carolina, G.P.O., 1976), this work is suitable for natural history collections in public and academic libraries.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Ribbon of Sand explains the dynamic, fragile and unique ecosystem that is the Outer Banks and the relatively recent pioneers in botany, geology and herpetology that have studied the area and flipped conventional science upside down."
"This is another book about the Outer Banks."
"A very interesting discussion of the geology of the outer banks interspersed with its history and kept most interesting and readable."
"I purchased this book to learn more about the Outer Banks, which I have long wished to visit and where we will spend a week this summer."
"The book was reviewed & purchased after briefly looking at several pages."
"One could call an “Outer Banks for Dummies’ Alexander presents the story of the outer banks as one of a long lost paradise that is no stranger to the elements of change."
"Beyond the fascinating subject, the authors' chapter by chapter analysis of the forces that compete on the Banks -- sand, wind, land, forest -- is a clarifying approach to writing about the science of the Banks."
Best Family Activities
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2018 explains how Walt Disney World works and how to use that knowledge to make every minute and every dollar of your vacation count. "If a restaurant serves bad food, or a gift item is overpriced, or a certain ride isn't worth the wait, we can say so, and in the process we hope to make your visit more fun, efficient, and economical." And because they've found that "spontaneity and self-discovery work about as well at Walt Disney World as they do on your tax return," The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World is packed full of essential advice for anyone braving the frontiers of the mother of all theme parks. "Indispensable". ― The New York Times.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Recommend, if you are going to Disney."
"You don't want a rained on Kindle (God forbid ) It seemed as thought there was a lot of "filler" in this book, I understand this is a subjective book , but just my opinion."
"However, many rides in WDW have been closed (Maelstrom, Backlot Tour, Pirates of the Caribbean, the sorcerers hat in DHS, etc) that are so significant they need to urgently put out a revised edition."
"So informative, it's insightful, and it's the go-to book for how to successfully navigate Disneyworld."
"Just got back from my first trip to Disney, information made the trip much better."
"I have used this book every time to help plan my trip. I have learned that if you do not plan a WDW trip as a "type A" personality, you will lose out not only on time, but money, and in the case of Walt Disney World....time equals your money spent."
"This fantastically organized and well-researched book includes attraction details for all four Disney Parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios), plus the same level of attraction details for both Universal Parks (Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure). We admittedly went during the slower season, but following the touring plans in the book (with my modifications due to our interests) prevented us from having to ever wait in line for more than 10 minutes - and we got on most rides and attractions within about 2-3 minutes of arriving at the attraction. The Kindle version works great for how I use the book, but if you want to be able to have a hard copy of the park maps and touring plans with you, the paper book would be better. While older versions of this book would work in a pinch, I will likely continue to buy the latest edition of this book each time I plan a trip to Disney - the parks are constantly changing. I then use the touring plans in the back of the book to get an order in which to view the attractions in. Because we can ride things like that at any county fair in the state, we don't ride those sorts of rides at Disney - a fact which inevitably means the touring plans I used won't work for families with young children, as those are the rides they most want to see!"