Jane Simon Ammeson is a freelance writer who specializes in travel, food and personalities. She writes frequently for The Times of Northwest Indiana, Mexico Connect, Long Weekends magazine, Edible Michiana, Lakeland Boating, Food Wine Travel magazine , Lee Publications, and the Herald Palladium where she writes a weekly food column. Her TouchScreenTravels include Indiana’s Best. She also writes a weekly book review column for The Times of Northwest Indiana as well as food and travel, has authored 16 books including Lincoln Road Trip: The Back-road Guide to America’s Favorite President, a winner of the Lowell Thomas Journalism Award in Travel Books, Third Place and also a Finalist for the 2019 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in the Travel category. Her latest books are America’s Femme Fatale: The Story of Serial Killer Belle Gunness and Classic Restaurants of Northwest Indiana.
Her other books include How to Murder Your Wealthy Lovers and Get Away with It, A Jazz Age Murder in Northwest Indiana and Murders That Made Headlines: Crimes of Indiana, all historic true crime as well Hauntings of the Underground Railroad: Ghosts of the Midwest, Brown County, Indiana and East Chicago. Jane’s base camp is Stevensville, Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan. Follow Jane at facebook.com/janesimonammeson; twitter.com/hpammeson; https://twitter.com/janeammeson1; twitter.com/travelfoodin, instagram.com/janeammeson/ and on her travel and food blog janeammeson.com and book blog: shelflife.blog/
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Always had a knack for snarky? Channel those comic instincts by learning improvisation comedy at Toronto’s Bad Dog Theatre.
For the inner comedian in all of us, no matter our age, Toronto’s Bad Dog Theatre Company is known for both their wide variety of family friendly comedy and improvisational performances and improv classes designed for every skill level. “Our Youth Academy offers week long summer camps for youth and teens all summer long,” says…
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Valerie’s Home Cooking: More than 100 Delicious Recipes to Share with Friends and Family
I had the chance to chat with Valerie Bertinelli when she was in Chicago a few weeks ago to sign copies of her new cookbook, Valerie’s Home Cooking: More than 100 Delicious Recipes to Share with Friends and Family (Oxmoor House 2017; $30). It’s always interesting to meet someone in real time that you’ve, in…
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A Train Ride Out West
Not long ago I traveled with friends to Williams, Arizona, a tiny rodeo-type town on Route 66 which bills itself as the Gateway to the Grand Canyon. On our arrival we parked at the historic Williams Depot, got our tickets for the Grand Canyon Railway, in existence since 1901, and then headed down the tracks…
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International Fare in Puerto Vallarta
I was invited to attend the International Puerto Vallarta Gourmet Food Festival, where chefs from around the world including the U.S., India, Sweden, Australia, South America and Europe, join the executive chefs of the many sophisticated city restaurants, developing recipes and menus during the weeklong annual event. It’s a great time and way too much food…
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Claudia Sanders Dinner House
My first stop in Kentucky last week was at Claudia Sanders Dinner House in Shelbyville, a large Southern Colonial style building with a long front porch, tall white columns and a row of rocking chairs. It’s the type of place Scarlet O’Hara would have been comfortable hanging around. If the last name Sanders sounds familiar,…
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Hauntings of the Underground Railroad: Ghosts of the Midwest
Before the Civil War, a network of secret routes and safe houses crisscrossed theMidwest to help African Americans travel north to escape slavery. Although many slaves were able to escape to the safety of Canada, others met untimely deaths on the treacherous journey―and some of these unfortunates still linger, unable to rest in peace. InHauntings…
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The Old Foodie: A Frenchman’s view of English food in 1823.
The Old Foodie: A Frenchman’s view of English food in 1823.: In 1823 a French liberal economist called Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui visited England and Scotland. The narrative of his travels was later publi…
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The Old Foodie: A Frenchman’s view of English food in 1823.
The Old Foodie: A Frenchman’s view of English food in 1823.: In 1823 a French liberal economist called Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui visited England and Scotland. The narrative of his travels was later publi…
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Fare Fit for a Founding Father
When George Washington ate a farewell dinner with his officers after the end of the Revolutionary War back when New York City was the temporary capital of the newly formed United States, the fare at the Fraunces Tavern at 54 Pearl St. in New York City included chicken pot pie, roasted corn chowder, pan-roasted cod,…
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Kayaking In a Glittering Light: Exploring the bioluminescent bay of Laguna, near San Juan – Puerto Rico
Night is quickly approaching as we paddle our kayaks across Las Croabas Bay, maneuvering around the anchored sail boats whose halyards are snapping in the light wind. To our right is the vast Atlantic Ocean, but we paddle instead for the narrow mangrove canal leading way Laguna Grande, one of only five bodies of water…
