9/11 Memorial

Underneath the two square waterfalls where the twin towers once stood in New York City lies the memorial to the 3,000 who died. It sits in the original basement space of the towers with fragments of the mangled structure on display. I had previously seen one such fragment in Albany Read more

Ford’s Theater

Americans don’t have deep historical roots, their approach to history mirrors that of Catholic relics. They encase fragments of flags that flew during major battles in a glass case and show off Lincoln’s paperweights. None of those items have any historical significance apart from being associated with an event or Read more

National Mall, D.C.

Washington, D.C.’s main monoliths of power, culture, and history all lie in an inverse T-shaped park stretching two miles from end to end. From the Lincoln Memorial in the west to the Capitol in the east to the White House in the north, this half-kilometre wide grassy avenue was the Read more

Winnipeg Art Gallery

If I had a tail I’d wag, and it’s a shame their shop isn’t called swag. The museum in Winnipeg has over 24,000 works of indigenous art and the largest collection of Inuit art in the world. It has space for educational activities and docents that explain the works to Read more

Grand Rapids, MI

Grand Rapids was my bonus level in Michigan. I had only planned to visit Flint, Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Lansing on the trip, but efficiency won the day. Former president Gerald Ford was born and grew up in Grand Rapids, his presidential library and grave site has price space on Read more

Grand Pré UNESCO site

The landscape of Grand Pré was created by 17th century Acadians who built dykes, drained the seawater, and let the rain wash the salt away to create fertile farmland. Although the infrastructure holding the sea back has been replaced, visitors are still standing on the same tract of land cleared Read more

Canadian Museum of Immigration

Pier 21 in Halifax is what Staten Island was to New York—the first port of entry for many migrants in the 19th and early 20th century. The special exhibition on German-Canadian relations was told through a series of photographs depicting German immigrants to eastern Canada and Canadians occupying West Germany Read more