Barbara Redding - Freelance Travel Writer

A love affair with the rocks of Southern Utah

Adventures, Family, Food & Drink, History, Stories, Travel

September 20, 2021September 20, 2021 by Barbara Redding

“Utah has the best rocks.” That’s what my friend Shellie told me when she learned about my plans to visit the Mighty 5 National Parks in Utah on a road trip last May. I laughed and nodded. But I didn’t really understand what she meant until we turned south on Utah 128, not long after crossing into the state on I-70 from Colorado. We’d just driven through the magnificent Rocky Mountains from Denver. We’d gaped at several 14-teeners, wound around numerous lofty cliffs, and...

Following in the Footsteps of Ancestral Puebloans at Chimney Rock

Adventures, Family, History, Travel

April 17, 2021April 17, 2021 by Barbara Redding

I love mysteries, whether they unfold on the page or echo from a craggy rock formation in the high desert of southwestern Colorado. Crisp, fall air drew me to the twin peaks of Chimney Rock National Monument last fall, during a road trip through New Mexico and Colorado. After clambering up the steep trail to the top for a 360-degree view of the San Juan Mountains, I was captivated by the legends linking this isolated outpost to the ancient Chaco culture. Ancestral Puebloans, as they...

LBJ Ranch: A Relaxing Escape to the Texas Hill Country

Family, Lifestyle, Stories, Travel, Wellness

March 13, 2021 by Barbara Redding

During the peak of the coronavirus pandemic last summer, a road trip to the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, Texas, provided welcomed relief — even in the middle of a Texas heat wave. You can read about my road trip in the December 2020 issue of Food, Wine, Travel Magazine, starting on page 70.

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Ordinary Cubans Living on an Extraordinary Island

Adventures, Travel

January 13, 2021January 17, 2021 by Barbara Redding

When our tour guide in Cuba married his high-school sweetheart, the couple had two choices: move in with his parents and grandparents in an already crowded apartment or share the porch with another couple in the tiny dwelling of her extended family. They chose the porch. There were no other options for the newlyweds in Havana in the early 2000s. Anthony DePalma’s new book, “The Cubans” reminded me of the stories I heard about ordinary Cubanos when I visited the island-nation on a small...

An Elephant Experience in Texas

Adventures, Family, Travel

December 22, 2020 by Barbara Redding

Elephants in Texas? No way. That’s what I thought until I spent a September afternoon with five gregarious pachyderms at the Hill Country Elephant Preserve outside of Stonewall, Texas—about 65 miles west of Austin. I learned about the preserve while perusing a list of typical businesses on the website of the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce. Immediately curious because I’m fascinated by elephants, I emailed the preserve for more information. An invitation to join an “elephant experience” arrived a few days later. I followed Google maps...

Exploring the ‘Grand’ Canyons of Texas

Adventures, Family, Travel

November 3, 2020December 16, 2020 by Barbara Redding

The glowing orange sphere slowly peaked above the dark walls of the “Grand Canyon of Texas,” illuminating subterranean spires, buttes, and mesas bathed in soft terra cotta colors. Watching the stunning sunrise over Palo Duro Canyon was well worth skipping soggy scrambled eggs and dry bacon from the hotel breakfast buffet. But I was sorry I waited so long. Palo Duro Canyon State Park has been on my travel list almost since I moved to Texas two decades ago. But every time I was near...

Rendezvous in Wyoming’s Green River Valley

Family, Lifestyle, Travel

August 21, 2020September 1, 2020 by Barbara Redding

Trout are plentiful but elusive in the fast-flowing Green River in western Wyoming. Anglers from big cities on the West and East Coasts arrive every summer by private jet to stay at rustic ranches in the shadow of the snow-capped Wind River Mountains. They rise early to cast fanciful, hand-tied flies into the clear emerald water in hopes of hooking an inquisitive cutthroat. Fishing was not what drew mountain men, Native American Indians and traders to the lush Green River Valley nearly 200 years ago....

A Rolling History Ride in Durango

Adventures, Family

August 18, 2020September 1, 2020 by Barbara Redding

When I bought a ticket to ride the narrow-gauge train from Durango to Silverton last summer, my only concern was nabbing a window seat for views of the San Juan Mountains. Unfortunately, riders on the historic train face more challenges this year. The “Baby Train,” as it is sometimes called, is running again — sort of. Shut down by the coronavirus pandemic in March, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNGRR) was ready to roll again in June when businesses in southwestern Colorado began...

Tranquil Beauty of Tuscany

Luxury

July 23, 2020September 1, 2020 by Barbara Redding

After spending two weeks hiking in Cinque Terre and hopping ferries on Lake Como, I was ready to relax with friends on a secluded agritourism farm in Tuscany. From the sleepy Sinalunga train station, I traveled in a sleek Italian sports car along narrow country roads that dipped and curved abruptly around tiny hamlets, walled estates, olive groves and vineyards. Porcelain-white Chianina cattle grazed contentedly along the road sides. Red poppies and mustard-colored rapeseed covered the rolling hills as far as I could see, interrupted...

São Paulo Entices With Art And Energy

Adventures

November 24, 2018September 1, 2020 by Barbara Redding

Sao Paulo – Brazil’s biggest city was not on my bucket list. Rio de Janeiro, yes; Manaus in the Amazon rainforest, definitely. But I was pleasantly surprised by the sprawling business capital of the largest country in South America during a visit in early October 2018. This city of some 20 million is packed with eclectic museums, edgy architecture, and vibrant graffiti art. Designer shops, award-winning restaurants, elegant accommodations, and high-energy night clubs abound throughout the city’s multi-ethnic neighborhoods. And the gregarious Paulistanos, as locals...

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