Travel is one thing, but really going somewhere is something else. Here are first-hand tales of exciting places to see in the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the United Kingdom.The manuscript beginning is a truism:“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”****—Saint AugustineBased on that long-ago quote, these stories originate from personal visits to a wide variety of destinations. The primary purpose is to entertain you ...

Broadcasting veteran John Rayburn presents classic, historic reenactment of the 1945 World Series championship games between the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers.Game 1Chicago - 9Detroit - 0Game 2Chicago - 1Detroit - 4Game 3Chicago - 3Detroit - 0Game 4Detroit - 4Chicago - 1Game 5Detro...

Victoria Van Allen was the name she signed to her letters and to her cheques, but Vicky Van, as her friends called her, was signed all over her captivating personality, from the top of her dainty, tossing head to the tips of her dainty, dancing feet.Young lawyer Chester Calhoun liked her from the first, and if her “small and earlies” were said to be so called because they were timed by the small and early numerals on the clock dial, and if her “little” bridge games kept in active c...

An unusual call from Chinese merchant Ling Tang began an ongoing set of circumstances for young Biff Brewster. He was planning a trip to Rangoon in Burma to visit his Uncle Charlie.The uncle had bounced around the world quite a bit. He had flown in a fighter plane during the Korean conflict and had traveled as much as he could about the Orient on his furlough time. After the military stretch he formed a fleet of planes for Explorations Unlimited with an old pilot friend. Their comp...

His great body stretched on the dirt floor in a shady corner of the barracks-room of the presidio … a fortified military settlement … his long moustache drooped, his big mouth open, Sergeant Carlos Cassara snored.His face was purple from wine and the heat; for the air was still and stagnant this siesta hour, and empty vessels on the table nearby told of the deep drinking that had been done.Scattered about were a corporal and a dozen soldiers, all sleeping and snoring. Again...

William Sydney Porter had an unusual personal history. He got a job as a teller and bookkeeper at a Texas bank when he was twenty-nine. He did what could be called some careless bookkeeping, and it appeared he may have embezzled some funds. No charges were made until about four years later when an audit found the previous shortages, and he was arrested. Bail was posted by his father-in-law, and Porter headed out to unknown places, living in Honduras for a while. When he returned to the sta...

Once upon a time there were four men—all bad. That is, they were each bad, but none was entirely bad. Nobody is. The four were closely associated in their interests and were of varying types and varying degrees of badness. Basically, one was the Cat’s-paw; one was the Brutal Ruffian; one was the Arch Villain behind it all; and one was the Judas Iscariot, who carried the bag, and who betrayed the whole bunch. A millionaire is battered to death on an ocean liner by a bronze hand modeled from...

With such books as Journey to the Center of the Earth and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, French author Jules Verne earned recognition as one of the founders of science fiction tales. Although, as one of those called “Fathers of Science Fiction,” Verne often said he had not aimed at seeming scientific, claiming, “I have invented nothing.” However, he did feel, “Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.” As one of those “other” men he did exactly that i...

Do you like to fly? If so, this is a great story that lets you in on the way things were in the early days of aviation, including the excitement and wonder of what it was like in the beginning. It all happens as a young inventor has hopes and dreams of breaking records with the new-fangled means of transportation. Along the way, he encounters not only dangerous weather conditions but also unscrupulous rival inventors. In spite of such hurdles to clear, the hero overcomes them with ambition...

Bret Harte was an American short-story writer and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a career spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. As he moved from California to the eastern US to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories, but his Gold Rush tales have been the works mo...

This is a story of a valiant man who became a sort of American version of Robin Hood. His efforts were a courageous attempt to restore justice in early nineteenth-century Mexican California, where a corrupt Governor was viciously exploiting the poor and downtrodden. It was a period when there were large haciendas and resident caballeros confronted by the harsh oppression.This brought forth a fictional effort featuring the persona of a masked laughing outlaw calling himself Zorro. H...

It wouldn’t be out of line to call this book a great world of pretend. It is actually eight short stories that are clever and magical, as well as frightening at times.For example, a fierce dragon crawls out of the dungeons of a castle and seems to be aiming at eating an entire nearby village. The wild beast frightens a poor blacksmith who has the sense and ability to trick the ferocious animal and save the town and its people.One of the classic tales tells of a princess who...