Blogs

photo by Charoenkwan Blacharski

The city of South Bend, Indiana always makes me think of Fozzie Bear. While a few of the residents there may actually resemble the furry muppet, the real reason for that thought is that South Bend is the historic home of Studebaker automobiles, and every Muppets fan remembers the iconic ’51 Bullet-Nose Studebaker Fozzie drove in The Muppet Movie.

The city may not be the cultural capital of the world, or even of the Midwest. It’s not on the A-list of tourist destinat

Whether you love grand architecture, great art, animals, scandals, generosity, or damn-the-torpedos eccentricity, you've got to love Doris Duke and Rough Point, Duke's seaside mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. Known as “the world's richest girl,” Doris Duke inherited her wealthy father's estate when she was 12 and ended up suing her own mother for control of the properties. (And you thought your family had spats?) Judging by what happened later, it's a good thing she did.

Duke grew up to be a