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Hitch up the buggy and head to Indiana’s Amish Country for the holidays! This episode of Big Blend Radio’s "Food, Wine & Travel" Podcast with the International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) takes us to Shipshewana with Sonya Nash, CEO of the Shipshewana/LaGrange County Convention & Visitors Bureau. About two hours east of Chicago and two and a half hours north of Indianapolis, Shipshewana is home to the third-largest Amish settlement in the U.S., and at Christmas the whole town glows. Sonya explains how the Amish celebrate a faith-based holiday while still enjoying the beauty of the lights, then walks us through everything there is to see, taste, and do. In this episode: - Shipshewana’s Lights of Joy drive-thru display, plus more than a mile of hoop lights decorating the sidewalks downtown - Horse-drawn buggy rides, including a lit buggy ride, for couples and families - Handmade gifts and crafts: baskets, pottery, mugs, Amish furniture, and leather goods - Why Shipshewana calls itself the RV capital of the world, with free factory tours - Breakfast with Santa and holiday photo ops - Shows and concerts at the Blue Gate Performing Arts Center - Pie, comfort food, and the My My American Pie Trail - Where to stay, from the Blue Gate Garden Inn and Farmstead Inn to the Van Buren Hotel - Menno-Hof, the Amish Mennonite Interpretive Center, plus quilt shops, local makers, and barn quilts - The free gingerbread village at E&S Bulk Food Store, an “Amish Costco” - What to do after Christmas: the Spicy and Icy Festival in January and Pajama Days in February - A hot chocolate with a cause at Das Kaffee Haus, and the story behind Ben’s Soft Pretzels - Tips for visiting Amish Country respectfully, including why to leave extra time for buggies on the road Whether you’re planning a holiday getaway or just want an armchair trip to a real-life Hallmark town, this one will put you in the Christmas spirit.  LINKS & TRAVEL RESOURCES: - Plan your Shipshewana getaway: https://visitshipshewana.org/  - Learn more about the International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA): https://www.ifwtwa.org/  - More "Food, Wine & Travel" episodes with IFWTWA: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/food-wine-travel-ifwtwa  - Big Blend Radio Travel, Food & Wine Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/travel-food-wine-magazine

This episode of Big Blend Radio’s "Wanderers Compass" Podcast heads to Slovenia, a small Central European country with big mountains, fairy-tale castles and a story of independence that is still young.  Travel writers Joelle Machia and Ryan Slough have visited twice and take us from the lively riverfront of Ljubljana to Lake Bled, the quieter Lake Bohinj, and the hairpin turns of the Vršič Pass in the Julian Alps. Along the way you’ll meet the Lipizzaner horses at Brdo Park (yes, you can pet them), wander Ljubljana’s dark and fascinating public art, and find out why Slovenia is such an easy, affordable and safe place to travel. They also talk about how a country that has seen so much history is now protecting its rivers, forests and bees, and what travelers can learn from that. LINKS & RESOURCES: - Read Joelle and Ryan’s Slovenia article, plus resources and links: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/slovenia-small-country-extraordinary-story  - More epsiodes of Wanderers Compass Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/wanderers-compass-podcast  - Wanderers Compass Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/wanderers-compass-magazine  - Follow Wanderers Compass: https://www.wandererscompass.com

This episode of Big Blend Radio's "Jo Goes Everywhere" Podcast takes you on a road trip through South Carolina's Old 96 District. Travel writer Jo Clark picks up where last month's Ninety Six National Historic Site episode left off, with stops in Spartanburg, Pelzer, Greenwood, Ninety Six, Abbeville and Edgefield. Along the way: historic inns (including a night in a caboose at Clevedale Historic Inn and Gardens), a winery visit that came full circle at City Scape Winery, a James Beard-honored meat-and-three at Wade's Restaurant, a Greenwood barbecue festival, candied pecans at the 96 Pecan Company, Abbeville's Veranda on Main and Belmont Inn, Indigenous Underground, and Edgefield's pottery, peaches and farm-to-table dining.  Jo also shares why these smaller towns reward a flexible traveler, and why South Carolina pecans and wine make great holiday gifts. LINKS & TRAVEL RESOURCES: - Jo's full guide, "The Ultimate Old 96 District Trip: B&Bs to Battlefields": https://recipestravelculture.com/old-96-district-spartanburg-upstate-trip/  - Last month's article, Ninety Six National Historic Site: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/ninety-six-national-historic-site  - Jo's earlier stop at Francis Beidler Forest: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/audubon-francis-beidler-forest-center-sanctuary  - Jo Goes Everywhere podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/jo-goes-everywhere  - Jo's digital magazine: https://online.fliphtml5.com/yhwzg/kkbr/  - Have Glass, Will Travel: https://haveglasswilltravel.com/

Ever wandered the produce aisle and asked, “Who wants to be in my soup?” Shelley Whizin, The Live & Die Happy Coach, joins producer Lisa D. Smith on Big Blend Radio's "Soul Diving Sunday" Podcast to share her Butternut Squash Ginger Carrot Instinct Soup, a cozy fall dish that would be right at home on your Thanksgiving table.  They talk about cooking with joy and intention, cooking for one, why a smile changes everything, trusting your instincts in the kitchen, and the garlic bread grilled cheese that goes with it. Shelley’s recipes are in her book, "What Do You Bring to the Table?" LINKS & RESOURCES: - Get Shelley's soup recipe: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/instinct-soup-cooking-with-joy-and-intention  - Read Shelley's article: https://shelleywhizin.substack.com/p/a-little-soup-a-little-love-and-a?  - Visit Shelley’s website: https://www.liveanddiehappy.com/  - Shelley's Book, "What Do You Bring to the Table?" is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/What-You-Bring-Table-Inspirational/dp/1087932106?tag=whizin1-20  - Browse more episodes of Soul Diving Sunday: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/soul-diving-sunday

Skagit Valley is famous for its Tulip Festival, and this conversation touches on it, but it covers so much more. On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Sip, Savor & Travel" Podcast, Linda Kissam, the "Food, Wine & Shopping Diva," sits down with Kristen Keltz of the Skagit Tourism Bureau for a warm tour of this Pacific Northwest escape.  They cover year-round whale watching and kayaking out of Anacortes, farm-to-table dining, oysters and Samish Bay cheese, pumpkin farms, a chamomile tea farm stay and historic theaters. They also cover holiday parades, art festivals, snow geese and eagles, and a few "ultimate days" in Skagit. Come for what you already know, and stay for what you didn't expect. About our guest: Kristen Keltz, IOM, CDME, is CEO of the Skagit Tourism Bureau, where she and her team work with local businesses and communities to share Skagit Valley as a year-round destination. 📖 Read Linda's article, "Skagit Valley: Tulips and Beyond": https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/skagit-valley-tulips-and-beyond  🌷 Plan your visit to Skagit Valley: https://www.visitskagitvalley.com  🎧 More Sip, Savor & Travel Podcast episodes: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/sip-savor-travel  📚 Sip, Savor & Travel Digital Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/sip-savor-travel-magazine  🍷More from Linda Kissam: https://foodwinetravelchix.com

This episode of Big Blend Radio’s "Toast to The Arts & Parks" Podcast, with the National Parks Arts Foundation, features landscape oil painter Dawn Waters Baker, a “Painter of Spiritual Landscapes,” fresh from her second NPAF artist residency at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. It’s her fourth NPAF residency overall, following Big Bend National Park and Gettysburg National Military Park. Dawn shares what a month on the Big Island gave her: - A caldera that has changed dramatically since her 2020 stay. It’s now steaming, it has sunk lower, and it erupted while she was there. - The resilient, community-minded people of Nāʻālehu. - A night on Mauna Kea under the Milky Way. - Her habit of hiking, sketching and journaling before she ever lifts a brush. We talk about painting mist, veils and glazes so you feel a place instead of seeing every detail. We also cover Nan Shepherd’s idea of going into a mountain, putting the phone down long enough to receive a landscape, and why art matters for preserving what’s at risk. Dawn also tells of fireflies rising over the Gettysburg fields at twilight and the trees that carried her story there, and why Big Bend is the park she cried her way out of. She wraps up with her plans for gold leaf and tree paintings from this residency, and her hope to show the new work at a Fort Worth gallery. LINKS & RESOURCES: - Dawn Waters Baker: https://www.DawnWatersBaker.com  - National Parks Arts Foundation: https://NationalParksArtsFoundation.org  - Browse more episodes: https://arts-parks.podbean.com/

November is a big month at The Peanut Patch in Yuma, Arizona. It’s Thanksgiving and Gratitude Month, it’s Peanut Butter Lovers Month, and the store is celebrating 29 years. In this episode of Big Blend Radio’s "The Peanut Patch" Podcast, Donna George talks about the little thank-you gifts that mean the most, from fudge and peanut brittle for a hospital nurse to treat bags for delivery drivers and airport workers. Donna explains why fresh-roasted, fresh-ground peanut butter is a whole different thing from the store-bought jar. We talk peanuts and peanut butter as road trip food (dog treats too), plus Yuma’s holiday events, including the light parade and the Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival. We also share four recipes from Donna’s digital recipe magazine: Country-Style Peanut Butter Cookies, Peanut Butter Crispy Bars, Peanut Butter Bars and a Frozen Peanut Butter Brittle Pie. Along the way you’ll get host-gift ideas, from Medjool dates to fudge to a set of three jars tied with a bow. The Peanut Patch anniversary celebration is Saturday, November 21, with classic cars, vendors and free samples. LINKS & RESOURCES: - Shop The Peanut Patch: https://thepeanutpatch.com  - Listen to The Peanut Patch Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/the-peanut-patch   - Recipes from The Peanut Patch digital magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/recipes-from-the-peanut-patch  - Subscribe to Big Blend Radio on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BigBlendRadio

Snow is already falling in places in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, the lights are going up in Visalia, and Exeter is getting ready for Santa. On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "California’s Sequoia Country" Podcast with the Sequoia Tourism Council, producer Lisa D. Smith talks with Holly Streit of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Suzanne Bianco of Visit Visalia, and Shannon Schroth of Experience Exeter.  You’ll hear about: - Winter in the parks: layers, road conditions, tire chains and ranger-led snowshoe programs in Grant Grove and at the Giant Forest Museum - The Pear Lake Winter Hut with Sequoia Parks Conservancy, with reservations expected to open November 12 - Visalia’s 80th Candy Cane Lane Parade on November 30 and the holiday market at Kaweah Oaks Preserve, December 4-6 - Exeter’s Christmas Thursdays (December 3, 10 and 17), Santa at the farmers market November 18, and chamber gift certificates - The North Pole Market at the International Agri-Center in Tulare on December 12 - Sequoia Parks Conservancy’s 25% off shop sale through December 31, the Christmas Bird Count on December 19, and the Trek to the Nation’s Christmas Tree on December 13 - Cozy holiday weekends: cocoa, cookies, soup, gingerbread houses and a good book LINKS & TRAVEL RESOURCES: - Explore the region: https://www.discoverthesequoias.com  - Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: https://www.nps.gov/seki  - Visit Visalia: https://www.visitvisalia.com  - Visalia Holiday Guide: https://www.visitvisalia.com/articles/visalia-holiday-guide  - Visalia Winter Weekend Getaway: https://www.visitvisalia.com/articles/visalia-winter-weekend-getaway  - Experience Exeter, Exeter Chamber of Commerce: https://exeterchamber.com  - Sequoia Parks Conservancy (shop sale 25% off through Dec 31): https://www.sequoiaparksconservancy.org

Heading into the holidays with a bottle on your list and no idea what to buy?  On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Wine Time with Peggy" Podcast, Peggy Fiandaca, co-owner of LDV Winery in Arizona, shares easy, thoughtful ways to gift wine, even if you don't drink it, and what to bring to Thanksgiving dinner. Plus: new 2019 Grenache and 2019 Signature Petite Sirah releases, why bottle glass color matters, wines for a vegan Thanksgiving, and Peggy's Sweet & Spicy Carrots. LINKS & RESOURCES - Get the recipe: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/sweet-spicy-carrots-recipe  - LDV Winery: https://ldvwinery.com  - Wine Time with Peggy Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/wine-time-with-peggy  - Wine & Bites Digital Podcast & Recipe Magazine: https://online.fliphtml5.com/yhwzg/fmlb/

Travel writer and photographer Sharon K. Kurtz, host of Big Blend Radio’s "Wander the World with Sharon" Podcast, turns the microphone around in this conversation with Lisa D. Smith. Sharon shares how a midlife pivot became a travel-writing career, why she’s been to about 70 countries and still walks out the door with no plan, and her advice for new writers: write from your heart, don’t mimic anyone, and sleep on it before you submit. Then it’s seven fun questions: her spirit animal, who she’d invite to a dream dinner party, what she’d never eat, and what she wants in the new Big Blend Media House. Along the way, Lisa gives a tour of the house, including the wine cellar, the travel mapping room, the speakeasy and the Cabinet of Curiosities. LINKS: - Read Sharon’s Success Insider Q&A: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/travel-writer-success-insider-sharon-k-kurtz  - Explore more Wander the World with Sharon episodes: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/wander-the-world-with-sharon  - Visit Sharon’s website: https://sharonkkurtz.com  - Check out the "Wander the World with Sharon" Digital Podcast Magazine: https://online.fliphtml5.com/yhwzg/gyoy/#p=1

Asheville’s music scene is so much more than fiddles and bluegrass. On this episode of Big Blend Radio’s “Adventures in Asheville” Podcast, producer Lisa D. Smith joins cohosts Steve and Karen Wilson (“Mr. and Mrs. Wild”), owners of The Lion & The Rose Bed & Breakfast in Asheville’s Montford Historic District, for a lively tour of where to hear live music in the Blue Ridge Mountains and why plenty of people plan a whole music week around it. Along the way they share: 🎸 Where to catch a show: The Grey Eagle, Asheville’s longest-running live music venue, where you can stand right up at the stage; The Orange Peel and its great acoustics; Asheville Music Hall and The One Stop; Thomas Wolfe Auditorium; and the underground rooms Third Room, Eulogy and Revival. 🍺 Breweries with music: Burial, Wicked Weed Funkatorium, One World West, Highland Brewing’s meadow stage, and shows at Sierra Nevada, in a city that’s earned the name Beer City USA. 🎤 Famous Asheville names: Roberta Flack, Jermaine Dupri, Luke Combs, Warren Haynes, David Holt, Marcus King, Balsam Range and Bob Moog, plus a look at the Moogseum. 🎄 Plan ahead: Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam on December 12 with Greta Van Fleet, The War on Drugs, Gov’t Mule, JJ Grey & Mofro and more, Billy Strings’ five nights in February, and Christmas at the Biltmore. 🎨 The Orange Peel’s story: from roller rink to auto parts warehouse to famed music hall, and the Lionel Richie mural by Gus Cutty. 💿 Vinyl, listening rooms and street music: Records in the RAD, the Joyful Noise listening lounge, Montford Porchfest, Hillbilly Jam, busking and the Friday-night drum circle. Whether you love blues, bluegrass, funk, jazz, hip hop or symphony, this episode is packed with ideas for planning your own Asheville music getaway. LINKS & RESOURCES: 🧩 Piece together the online jigsaw puzzle of the Grey Eagle mural, and see the photos and venue links: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/asheville-music-scene  🛏 Stay at The Lion & The Rose Bed & Breakfast: https://www.lion-rose.com/  🎤 More from Steve and Karen, their “Beyond the Stage” series: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/t/beyond-the-stage  🎧 Adventures in Asheville Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/adventures-in-asheville  📖 Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/adventures-in-asheville-magazine

Step inside one of the South's grand historic hotels with Big Blend Radio's "Travel with Terri" Podcast. On location in downtown Mobile, Alabama, travel journalist Terri Guthrie sits down in the lobby of the Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa with General Manager Margo Gilbert, who has led the hotel since 2004. Margo shares the hotel's remarkable story: built in 1852, lost to fire in 1905, rebuilt in 1908, shuttered in 1974, and brought back to life as a Historic Hotels of America member and AAA Four Diamond property. You'll hear about the two-story lobby and its hand-painted trompe l'oeil portraits, the whispering arch where there are "no secrets in the lobby," and the Crystal Ballroom, where Mobile locals still stop by to remember their proms. Terri also explores the amenities: 238 rooms, restaurants and bars, a 10,000-square-foot European spa, a pool deck with pickleball and tennis, and a location right on the Mardi Gras parade route. Along the way, Margo shares the movie stars who have stayed here, and Terri explains why this one is now a favorite. This episode is part of Terri's Mardi Gras Train series along Amtrak's route from New Orleans to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and Mobile. Coming up next: what to see and do in Mobile. LINKS  & RESOURCES: - Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa: https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mobbr/  - Start the series with Knox Ross of the Southern Rail Commission: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/mardi-gras-train-gulf-coast-amtrak  - Last time, Bay St. Louis by Train: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/bay-st-louis-mississippi-mardi-gras-train  - Plan your ride on the Mardi Gras Train: https://www.amtrak.com/mardigras  TRAVEL WITH TERRI - Travel with Terri on Big Blend Radio: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/travel-with-terri  - Travel with Terri: https://www.travelwithterri.com  - The Luxe Explorer Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.travelwithterri.com/magazine

Author Robin Rosenbluth joins Big Blend Radio’s “Table & Compass” Podcast hosts Joelle Machia and Ryan Slough of Wanderers Compass, and producer Lisa D. Smith, for a conversation about her new memoir, "Living with Strangers: Healing a Wounded Heart in a Distant Land" (She Writes Press). Robin was eight when her mother died. Her father placed her and her younger sister in foster care, even though relatives had offered to take them. With help from a high school guidance counselor and a few scholarships, she made it to college. At nineteen she traveled to Songa, a remote village in northern Kenya near Marsabit, to teach elementary school. She lived there for nine months among the Samburu and Rendille people, and found more connection than she had known with her foster family or her father. The conversation follows her story through the UN Sustainable Development Goals: quality education (SDG 4), clean water (SDG 6), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), and life on land (SDG 15).  Robin shares: - the story of a boy who asked only for a jar of water; - the adult literacy class she started by candlelight; - what a cup of chai says about welcome; - how vulnerability mended a friendship; - the difference between tourism and connective travel; - what people misunderstand about Africa; - a message for older foster youth; - how the Northern Rangelands Trust brought Songa into its conservancy network. LINKS & RESOURCESl - Robin Rosenbluth: https://www.RobinRosenbluth.com  - Robin’s Substack, My Jagged Journey as a Debut Writer: https://robinrosenbluth.substack.com  - You Gotta Believe: https://www.yougottabelieve.org  - Northern Rangelands Trust: https://www.nrt-kenya.org  - UN Sustainable Development Goals: https://sdgs.un.org/goals  - Wanderers Compass: https://www.WanderersCompass.com  New episodes of Big Blend Radio’s “Table & Compass” Podcast air every first Monday. Listen to more episodes: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/table-and-compass

Join host Lisa D. Smith and co-host Johnny Schaefer, an award-winning singer-songwriter, who joins us every first Sunday of the month, for Songs for Positive Change on Big Blend Radio’s "American Jukebox," part of our America 250 celebration. Autumn is a season of change, and these songs remind us that change is inevitable, that ordinary people have real power, and that it all starts with love. We spotlight Nina Simone, Tracy Chapman, Blind Melon, Patti Smith, Aloe Blacc, the late Joey Stuckey, and Johnny’s own “Love Shines On,” plus a special interview with Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester about her song “‘Til We Remember Who We Are.” 🎵 Hear the episode with every song, and enjoy both playlists, and check out all the links mentioned: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/american-jukebox-songs-for-positive-change  🎙️ Keep up with Johnny Schaefer: https://hearjohnny.com/  🎙️ Listen to all of our American Jukebox episodes:  https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/t/american-jukebox

Have you ever scrolled past a gorgeous old stone house in Italy and thought, “I could live like that”? Our guest Debbie Levitt did more than dream. An American who now lives full-time on the island of Sardinia, Debbie is an Italian citizen who calls herself the Italian Inpat: an immigrant who came to Italy and found home, not an American who left. In this candid conversation on Big Blend Radio, Debbie shares what it really takes to make the move. She talks about how two days added to a 2017 vacation turned into a self-employment visa, five suitcases and a new life, and why she kept her move easy to undo for the first two years. You’ll hear about: - The difference between an “expat” and an “inpat” - The visa paths Debbie mentions, from self-employment to investment, retirement and digital nomad visas - Why citizenship takes years, and what Debbie understands about recent changes to citizenship by ancestry - Paperwork stories, including the flight to Rome to swear she is really herself - Why a geometra (a local surveyor) belongs on your team before you buy, and how zoning can surprise you - The truth about one-euro houses: distressed properties, hidden costs and villages with no grocery store - The residence permit (permesso di soggiorno) wait - Everyday life in rural Sardinia, from the village butcher to the driving school saga Today closes out Italian American Heritage Month, and we’re marking it with the real story of moving to Italy. Debbie shares her personal experience and general information. This is not legal or immigration advice, so check current rules with an immigration attorney or official sources. Links: - Debbie Levitt, Italian Inpat (the first call is free): https://ItalianInpat.com  - Follow Big Blend Radio on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BigBlendRadio