Weekly Column

Pass the Crackers (and the butter, and the slaw, and the comeback), Please

Appetizers are often the most interesting part of a restaurant menu. I could live in the appetizer section, alone, and often do. There are several […]

My Favorite Season

It has been said that the four seasons in Mississippi are— almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas. I have friends who believe that the […]

Home Is Where the Realized Nouns Are

L. Frank Baum nailed it when he penned the line, “There’s no place like home,” in his novel about the man behind the green curtain […]

Restaurantsick

BARBERINO-TAVARNELLE, TUSCANY— Yesterday I was having a conversation with one of my travel guests who was talking about being homesick when she was sent to […]

RSJ’s Tuscan Top Ten

Barberino-Tavarnelle, Tuscany— For the past 11 years I have spent considerable time in this region. Specifically in the two towns of Barberino and Tavarnelle in […]

Home Away From Home

BARBERINO-TAVARNELLE, ITALY— Is it possible that one can fall in love with a town? I love my hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi— deeply— and can’t see […]

Sometimes I Feel Like a Magpie

PETROGNANO, TUSCANY— A few months after my wife and I started dating, she wanted me to meet her grandmother. We set out on the road […]

It Takes A Village (or at least a couple of Dutch People and several Italians)

BARBERINO-TAVERNELLE, TUSCANY— There’s a big difference between a tour host and a tour guide. A tour guide goes through rigorous training for a particular city, […]

All Roads Lead to Rome, They Really Do

ROME— If 2022 had a personal theme created specifically for me, it would be decorated in the green, white, and red of the Italian flag, […]

The 32nd Anniversary of My 29th Birthday

Yesterday I entered my 62nd year on the planet. The thing about turning 61 years old is that I thought I would feel differently at […]

Another Blessing

This morning I read a Business News Daily article that listed the most stressful jobs in America. Enlisted military personnel came first, firefighter, second, and […]

A Different Kind of Welcome

NEW YORK— I first came to the city sometime in the mid-1960s. My grandparents lived here. My father had recently passed away, and my mother […]