Larry Brown highlights charming small towns in each state, pointing out interesting local sites and providing contact information.

I'd love to make a bookring out of this book, with each participant visiting and reporting on one town.

BOOKRING to begin in September...

An interactive bookring! Here's how it works:

1. Claim a town from the list - maybe one that's near to you, or one you've always been curious about.
2. PM (private message) your choice to kristamd.
3. When you receive the book, make a journal entry, and then use the information in the book to plan a visit to your town of choice.
4. Record a journal entry describing your visit. If you wish, you can enclose photos, postcards, or brochures from the town you visited when you pass the book along.
5. PM the next participant of the ring for their address, and then send the book along. Please try to mail the book within six weeks of receiving. If the next participant does not respond to your PM after one week, please continue to the next person on the list.

PARTICIPANTS:
kristamd - Harpers Ferry, WV
tnkbl - Sedona, AZ
JDT - Half Moon Bay, CA
Suefitz - Solvang, CA
Ixion - Wickford RI
Ilios - Cedar Key, FL(return book to kristamd)

Round Two:
awakeagain - Jim Thorpe, PA
Ceili - Cazenovia, NY
Megi53 - Smithfield, VA
Maurean - Fernandina Beach, FL

TOWNS INCLUDED (alphabetical by state):
ALABAMA
Eufala
Eutaw
Fairhope
Mentone
Mooresville
Somerville
ALASKA
Petersburg
Sitka
ARIZONA
Bisbee
Jerome
Sedona
Tombstone
ARKANSAS
Eureka Springs
Helena
Van Buren
CALIFORNIA
Avalon
Ferndale
Fort Bragg
Half Moon Bay (claimed)
Mendocino
Nevada City
San Juan Bautista
Solvang (claimed)
Sonoma
COLORADO
Georgetown
Ouray
Silverton
Salida
CONNECTICUT
Essex/Chester
Kent
Litchfield
Old Lyme
Pomfret/Woodstock
DELAWARE
New Castle
Odessa
FLORIDA
Appalachicola
Cedar Key (claimed)
DeFuniak Springs
Fernandina Beach (claimed)
Palm Beach
GEORGIA
Dahlonega
Helen
Jekyll Island
Madison
St. Marys
HAWAII
Haleiwa, Oahu
Hana, Maui
IDAHO
Stanley
Wallace
ILLINOIS
Bishop Hill
Carthage
Elsah
Galena
Geneva
Maeystown
Nauvoo
INDIANA
Corydon
French Lick/West Baden Springs
Madison
Metamora
Nashville
New Harmony
IOWA
Amana Colonies
Orange City
Pella
Villages of Van Buren County
KANSAS
Abilene
Council Grove
Fort Scott
Lindsborg
KENTUCKY
Bardstown
Berea
Harrodsburg/Pleasant Hill
Maysville/Washington
LOUISIANA
Abita Springs
Jackson
St. Francisville
MAINE
Bethel
Camden
Castine
Kennebunkport
MARYLAND
Chestertown
Havre de Grace
St. Mary’s City
St. Michaels
MASSACHUSETTS
Chatham
Edgartown
Lenox
Nantucket Island
Rockport
Stockbridge
MICHIGAN
Frankenmuth
Mackinac Island
Manistee
Marshall
Petoskey/Bay View
Saugatuck/Douglas
MINNESOTA
Grand Marais
Red Wing
Stillwater
MISSISSIPPI
Holly Springs
Oxford
Port Gibson
Woodville
MISSOURI
Arrow Rock
Carthage
Hermann
Jamesport
Ste. Genevieve
MONTANA
Fort Benton
Livingston
Red Lodge
NEBRASKA
Minden
Nebraska City
NEVADA
Eureka
Genoa
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Exeter
NEW JERSEY
Cape May
Frenchtown
Princeton
Stockton
Waterloo Village
NEW MEXICO
Hillsboro/Kingston
Lincoln
Mesilla
Taos
NEW YORK
Cazenovia (claimed)
Chautauqua
Cold Spring
Cooperstown
Corning
Lake Placid
Skaneateles
Southampton
NORTH CAROLINA
Beaufort
Edenton
Hendersonville/Flatrock
Highlands
Ocracoke
NORTH DAKOTA
Fort Ransom
Medora
OHIO
Berlin
Granville
Kelleys Island
Lebanon
Port Clinton
Roscoe Village
Vermilion
Zoar Village
OKLAHOMA
Guthrie
Pawhuska
OREGON
Astoria
Bandon
Cannon Beach
Sisters
PENNSYLVANIA
Bellfonte
Boalsburg
Doylestown
Hershey
Jim Thorpe (claimed)
Lewisburg
Lititz
Wellsboro
RHODE ISLAND
Watch Hill
Wickford (claimed)
SOUTH CAROLINA
Abbeville
Beaufort
Camden
Georgetown
Pendleton
SOUTH DAKOTA
Deadwood
Yankton
TENNESSEE
Greeneville
Jonesborough
Lynchburg
Rugby
TEXAS
Bastrop
Castroville
Fort Davis
Fredericksburg
Granbury
Jefferson
Salado
UTAH
Bluff
Park City
VERMONT
Greensboro/Craftsbury
Manchester/Dorset
Middlebury
Stowe
Woodstock
VIRGINIA
Abingdon
Chincoteague
Lexington
Smithfield (claimed)
Williamsburg
WASHINGTON
La Conner
Leavenworth
Port Townsend
WEST VIRGINIA
Berkeley Springs
Harpers Ferry (claimed)
Lewisburg
Shepherdstown
WISCONSIN
Bayfield
Ephraim/Fish Creek
Mineral Point
New Glarus
Rural
Sturgeon Bay
WYOMING
Saratoga

I kicked off the bookring today with a visit to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, located about 60 miles from Washington DC.

Harpers Ferry is most famous as the site of John Brown's 1859 abolitionist raid. Though the raid failed, the event was a catalyst for the changes that happened over the next ten years, including the Civil War.

Today the town is preserved as a national historic park. During my visit, I took the shuttle from Cavalier Heights visitor center to the town area. In town, I watched a fascinating speaker who recounted the events of the raid on the site where they occurred, now called John Brown's Fort.

I later visited the John Brown Museum, which includes videos and various interactive displays about the people, places, and events of the raid. Next door, I stopped by the National Park Service Wetlands exhibit.

Continuing along High Street, I joined up with a brief section of the Appalachian Trail, which crosses through town and climbs past the ruins of St. John's Episcopal Church, Jefferson Rock, and Harpers Cemetery.

My visit ended with a stop by beautiful Virginius Island.

I enjoyed my excursion very much, although I must confess I found park rangers and the AAA TourBook more helpful than the Charming towns guide. I hope to visit Harpers Ferry again someday soon! When I mail the book, I will include a park map and postcard that I picked up today.

As a bonus part of my trip, I was able to make several BookCrossing wild releases in town, including one which was already caught!

I just got this in the mail today. I'm going to try to make it to Half Moon Bay, my assigned destination, as soon as I can.

Last week, during a weeklong road trip through Arizona, we stopped in Sedona for a night. Driving up from Phoenix/Tempe, it was mostly desert. At one point, I realized that there were no longer any more saguaro cacti (the quintessential tall cactus with the crooked arms), and we were gaining altitude. Then, we rounded a corner and BF and I both exclaimed, "Oh..." at the same time. Suddenly in front of us were these great huge mountains of red rock, exactly as advertised.

Since our room at the bed and breakfast wasn't ready yet, we went to have lunch first at a local brewery in the Tlaquepaque shopping district. This is where there were a lot of small galleries in a disney-esque cluster of building made to look like a Mexican village. It was nice to poke in the shops and galleries, but things were generally a bit too expensive for us to take anything home.

We then checked in at our bed and breakfast, named "A Sunset Chateau." Not a bad place to stay, if you like the southwest decor and red stone. There's a nice courtyard area and it overlooks one of the most famous red rock views.

We drove up another hill to watch the sunset.

For dinner, we went to the Cowboy Club in the uptown area. Since we were early, we poked in the shops nearby and found plenty of inexpensive, kitchy items to bring back as gifts. The Cowboy Club is a must! I had a cactus juice margharita, rattlesnake and buffalo skewers, and cactus "fries", deep fried strips of cactus. How about that for local flavor!

The next morning, we headed out of town northward toward Flagstaff, stopping at Slide Rock State Park on the way. This was my favorite point. The park is basically a watering hole and river for swimming, set in a canyon made entirely of that red rock, smoothed down over the centuries so that the rocks are as smooth as slides. While we didn't go in the water, there were lots of families with kids splashing around, and it was a perfect blend of nature and human nature.

I'm including some pictures we took of the red rocks and a little map of Tlaquepaque in the envelope, and will get this out to the next bookcrosser as soon as I can.

Putting this in the mail to JDT today!

Ooh - I love the idea of this bookring!
Received today - and thinking of re-visiting
Half Moon Bay (thanks to tnkbl's change of itinerary!) - a favorite getaway of ours about an hour's drive west to the ocean from Pleasanton - and less than an hour south of San Francisco.

Half Moon Bay, CA!

A wonderful day of "research" yesterday.
I've enclosed a nice Visitor Guide with color pictures/ads, hotels, dining, activities, shopping, points of interest - with the favorites we've actually tried highlighted in yellow.

Right on the ocean, half-hour (and a world away) south of San Francisco; exactly one hour (mid-day - avoid commute times) west of Pleasanton.

- Wonderful, walkable, step-back-in-time-feel Main Street - shops, places to eat, locals and tourists.

Some favorites:
* Moonside Bakery & Cafe - for a coffee and delicious pastry. Depending on weather, (remember it can be cool/foggy) sit at tables outside or inside.
* Special dinner - more sophisticated, yet more comfortable than you'd expect: Cetrella Bistro - also Main St.
* Cunha Country Store - nice grocery store main floor and gift store upstairs. Long-time, historic store burned down couple years ago, re-built, all-new, but maintaining character/wood floors - with support of many.

* Beach/picnic - nice/close state beach ($6 parking) at the foot of Kelly St (west from Main St)

North of town on Hwy 1 - we enjoy the tiny, working harbor town of Pillar Point - stay overnight - harbor view- at Pillar Point Inn.
Eat at Half Moon Bay Brewery, or Mezza Luna - or little fish & chips place: Barbara's.

A little south of town - also Hwy 1 - it's fun to see the new, impressive Ritz-Carlton Hotel and golf course. For public access and a nice little walk - drive south on Hwy 1, turn west/right off Hwy 1 at Miramontes, til you can park in view of the hotel and the ocean. Nice walkway through golf course to the hotel.

We had forgotten: a big claim to fame here is flower and pumpkin growing. And this week before Halloween featured many pumpkin patches, groups of school-children choosing a pumpkin, pumpkin/Halloween decor in the shops.

Something for everyone in Half Moon Bay: quiet, peace, ocean weather and views, a total range of shops/restaurants/B&B's - from very low-key to luxurious - and everything/everyone feels comfortable.
On a warm summer day in Pleasanton, I love putting on a sweatshirt and heading to HMB for a day trip.

Sending on to awakeagain as soon as I check the address.

Ready to send to awakeagain - in Monday's mail.

Rec'd this book relay today. I'm going to try to get to my town before Thanksgiving, especially since it's winter there sooner than here.

Things kept getting in the way of my getting to Jim Thorpe, PA. I attempted to switch to something closer but there was still problems with getting away. Asked to be added to the end of the list. Mailed to Suefitz 1/4/05 to continue the ring.

Recieved and am anxious to look at. It looks like I've been able to visit a few of the locations listed.

RELEASE NOTES:

Releasing on to Ixion in RI

I got this book and it's heavy! Anyhow, looks like you guys visited some interesting places. How on earth can you mention RI villages and great places to visit without making a single mention of Block Island? Or chepachet? Instead, he picks the much more touristy Wickford and the extremely overrated Watch Hill (which is really a single block in Westerly, it's not even a real place so to speak).

I'm done with the book -- I have Ilios's mailing address and this will be sent out on Monday. I wish there were fewer locations and better descriptions. I guess it would have been better if he had split it up than a whole US book.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Firstly, I'll have to state that Wickford, RI is a very overrated section of the state. It's really a neighborhood with a small shopping section right on the water. There are indeed some beautiful houses, both old and new, but the vast majority of what people refer to as Wickford is in fact, a small Y shaped shopping street.

I first hit the dock area where I found a boat that was nicely labeled for the area that I was investigating. I decided to take a couple of pictures of the bookring book, the first being with the boat that was right along side the walkway. I also took one of the book sitting on the bench in front of the water.

Next I started walking towards the shop area in the bricklined (they called them brownstone) street. I of course took a picture of the local book store called the Book Garden and the local Wellness Store.

Most of the houses on the street are old enough to have those funky house name signs and dates they were built. This one also has house sign. It's one of the older ones on the street.

I noticed there were quite a few people around doing paintings, watercolors and drawings . Including two people who were paiting the Baptist Church . Across the street is one of the landmarks mentioned in the description for Wickford, Saint Paul's Church, built in 1847. I passed in front of it on my way back to the main street.

Further down was the only real landmark mentioned in the book, Old Narragansett Chuch. The church is actually set off from the street and houses have been built in front of it. The book description states it's "the oldest Episcopal Church in the northern United States. The church has box pews, a slave gallery, a silver communion set that was a gift from Queen Anne, and the oldest church organ (1680) in North America." (page 359) It's only open to the public in July and August.

At the end of the street is a very small park and a look at the view from the other side of the water. There was a Fisherman's Memorial Park where they have a list of local fisherman. There were also some lobster traps lying around, in case you've never seen one up close .

And of course, a few shots across the bay back towards where I began .

Oh, the book also mentions the HoofFinandFeathers, formerly known as the Carriage Inn. It states it has wonderful meals. I went there for Thanksgiving and the food was horrible. Venture in on your own risk.

Hi, there!

This book was waiting for me when I came back from Chicago (ABA conference) after Memorial Day weekend. I have a big project at work on June 20-21, but I intend to take a couple of days off after that. My plan is to spend at least 2 days in Cedar Key with my hubby. I'll update this journal entry once we come back.

This book really is enticing, and the brochures everybody included are really interesting. I might buy a copy for myself once I have more time (and money) to travel around the US.

Update 7/20/05
I expect to get a couple of days off in August to visit Cedar Key. Since this will take a little while, I decided to send the book on its way now. I'll update this journal entry with information about Cedar Key once I get there.

RELEASE NOTES:

mailed to kristamd via media mail. Only later I realized I forgot to include the brochures. Will be sending those next week. Thanks for sharing this!

The book has returned home and was waiting in the mailbox when I came home from a few days out of town. The brochures have not yet arrived, but are probably on their way. Thanks to all who participated. The book will circulate again for round two soon. A couple people are signed up, and I will re-advertise in case anyone else is interested.