Jane Simon Ammeson is a freelance writer who specializes in travel, food and personalities. She writes frequently for Northwest Indiana Times, AAA Home & Away, Cleveland Magazine, and Edible Michigan. She also writes a weekly food column and the weekly book review column Shelf Life for the Northwest Indiana Times, and has authored eight books. She is a member of the Indiana Foodways Alliance, a restaurant reviewer for Gayot.com and a James Beard Foundation judge. A member of Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), Association of Food Journalists and Midwest Travel Writers Association, Jane’s base camp is Stevensville, Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Michigan M-22 is a gorgeous highway running along the coast of West Michigan, one of the most beautiful in the whole country. It meanders 116 miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline where islands can be spotted in the distance and towering dunes fill the landscape Plan to stop at many small charming towns, wineries, cafes, scenic overlooks, beaches, light houses and eclectic...
On July 8, 1863, the General and his Raiders, some 2400 men strong, burned steamships they commandeered when crossing the Ohio River from Kentucky into Indiana. In these southeastern counties of Indiana, the state's only Civil War battles were about to take place.
Mills once stood along nearly every river and creek in Indiana, a meeting place for farmers to bring their grain and spend a while talking. Millers would even take payment in grain, turning it into whiskey–but that’s a different story. Visiting the remaining mills in Indiana is a trip into the past. Follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and...
African Americans, escaping from slavery, weren’t the only ones following the unmarked routes, known as the Underground Railroad (UGRR). Slave owners and the often brutal men they hired to return their human property were also aware of the towns and people sheltering those trying to escape. This situation set up confrontations between good and evil. Touring Underground Railroad Sites So it was with the...
Indiana’s two lane backroads twist and turn over wooded hills, crossing meandering streams (sometimes over covered bridges dating back to the mid-1800s). They run rhrough a rural patchwork dotted with woodlands and 19th century villages and hamlets. Stop to watch an old mill continue to grind grain into flour as it did almost 200 years ago. Or walk along a flowing...
The rolling hills of southern Indiana, dotted with caves, are a spelunker’s dream. The soluble rock, once it meets water whether in the form of heavy rains or rivers, turns the land under the hills into a complex system of passageways, attracting cave aficionados. There are a world of caves right below your feet. More than 2,600 caves exist beneath...
Bernal, Mexico. I’m not sure that it’s the most underrated but I’ve never met anyone who has been there and I find it one of the most enchanting Pueblo Magicos or Magic Towns with buildings washed with soft sunset colors, Moorish influences found in the tiled fronts of restaurants and hotels, friendly people and a mystical pena, one of the largest in the world. Nearby in one of Mexico’s wine regions and in the distance are the purplish haze of mountains.
Always take more than one book and more than one pad of paper. Now, I might update that to making sure your Kindle is loaded with reading material. I’ve been stuck in too many airports not to know the value of having paper to write on and something to read.
Whenever I can, I like to find a saddle barn and see the countryside on horseback. I’ve explored mountains carpeted in snow in Colorado and Alaska, caves and jungle in Mexico, ridden on beaches in Florida, Santa Domingo and other spots in the Caribbean, into the dessert in Arizonia and through the forests on the sides of volcanoes in Hawaii. And that’s just a start. Horseback riding lets you explore destinations in a totally different way.
No, but I’ve had to dig deep into my creativity.