I’m not a big fan of pizza. I like it well enough, but I had never had a pizza that I thought was extraordinary. There is one exception - I’m originally from Northeastern Pennsylvania and pizza from the town of Old Forge really is delicious. But with square cuts from a big rectangular crust, thick tomato sauce, and an American cheese blend, Old Forge pizza always seemed outside the realm of ordinary pizza, in its own category, at least in my … [Read more...]
About Marianne Ruane
Marianne is an international writer/ filmmaker who came to Philadelphia by way of Washington DC, Novosibirsk and Moscow (Russia), Miami, and Los Angeles after earning degrees from Cornell and the University of Miami in Russian studies and film production. She loves telling stories, whether in pictures or words, and is grateful to anyone who will watch, read, or listen! One of her passions is traveling, which she had the chance to indulge while living overseas in Russia for almost eight years (the entire time of President Clinton's administration). She prefers the kooky and quirky, loves the great outdoors and hot springs, and believes in finding something interesting wherever she is.
New Haven: Mecca for Revolutionary War Fans
Working as a tour guide in Philadelphia’s historic district, I must have become a little Pennsylvania-centric on my view of the American Revolution because I was absolutely stunned when I stumbled upon the Trumbull Room at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut. It was the thrill of unexpectedly running into dear acquaintances while on vacation – the familiar blue and yellow uniform in the painting of my favorite founding … [Read more...]
Knoxville Rocks the History Trail
Tennessee is really a fascinating place, particularly for history buffs. There are sites exemplifying pioneer history, the founding of the United States, the Civil War, the Great Depression, WWII, and the Civil Rights Movement – all easily accessible from Knoxville (itself named after Henry Knox, Revolutionary War hero and Secretary of War under President Washington). Most interesting to me is that America as the grand experiment - a country … [Read more...]
Knoxville, TN: Holding on to the Stories
“When an old person dies, it’s like a small library burning.” -- Alex Haley, author of Roots, spoken to his friend John Rice Irwin, founder of the Museum of Appalachia[i] Until I went to Knoxville, Tennessee, I hadn’t experienced a place with such a strong sense of preserving the past. Not just the events or places of the past – I work as a tour guide in Philadelphia and we have that here – but the importance of each individual life gone by, … [Read more...]
Pittsburgh: Land of Celebrities
I am a self-acknowledged history nerd with a film degree. I had no idea that Pittsburgh had an abundance of sites covering my two big interests - colonial and current celebrities. Mostly I am interested in the places celebrities were - so that I can stand in, sit on, or touch the same spot. I imagine I am forging a connection that transcends space and time, that the celebrity's genius energy can infiltrate my own and affect it in a positive … [Read more...]
Pittsburgh: Inspiring Awe and Nostalgia
Visit Pittsburgh. It’s a vibrant city with fantastic views and all kinds of easily accessible ways to see them, a sports legacy to envy, and vital American history. But more importantly, it is a tribute to what city government, public and private enterprise, and concerned citizens – what we, as human beings – can accomplish. In the last 50 years or so Pittsburgh has orchestrated a miraculous environmental transformation. Ride to the top of the … [Read more...]
Gliding to Confidence in Hocking Hills, Ohio
One of my favorite activities is hiking, yet I’m afraid of heights. I love trying different modes of transportation in my explorations, but I’ve been seasick on whale watching trips and catamaran booze cruises. While I’m a huge fan of beautiful views, driving in elevation, particularly if the roads wind and twist, tends to make me carsick. I generally feel colder than everyone else around me. To function at an optimal level, I need to eat more, … [Read more...]
Coming Home to Hocking Hills, Ohio
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. -- T.S. Eliot The press trip to Hocking Hills, Ohio, that I was invited to sounded like just my kind of quirky fun – visits to a washboard factory and the world’s only pencil sharpener museum, candle and pottery-making classes, off-road Segway and zipline rides, and hikes - including a haunted one … [Read more...]
Sacred Guides
The eighty degree weather we’d had at breakfast in a California border town transitioned sharply into the fifties by lunchtime at the Grand Canyon. I exchanged my flip flops for socks and hiking shoes, threw a jean jacket over my summer dress, and donned a beanie, the only warmer things I had easy access to. My dress whipped around my legs in the chilly wind. The weather was unexpectedly far from ideal for sightseeing, but we couldn’t drive past … [Read more...]
Philadelphia: the City of Ghostly Love
I was on my way to Philadelphia's Triumph Brewing Company to meet with my boss, Joe Wojie of Grim Philly Twilight Tours, and Laurie Hull, a paranormal investigator from Tri County Paranormal. We were going to discuss and map out the route to our Halloween tour, a hands-on historical ghost hunt. I had been waiting at my South Philly bus stop for over 40 minutes, alone. An older man, tall and skeletal, inappropriately dressed for the sweltering … [Read more...]