Where else but in the borderlands of New Orleans can you visit the spiritual borderland of voodoo? Last year I visited the town’s Voodoo Museum, which boasts that it is “the ORIGINAL and ONLY actual VOODOO MUSEUM in New Orleans, and the World.” Beyond the starkness of the claim, much […]
Up from Brownsville, TX, the land border changes to a sea one, arcing across East Texas, through Louisiana all the way to Florida. The luxury of hugging the Gulf and escaping the interstates is pure road bliss. [please hover over images for captions] ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]
After Big Bend, Texas plunges south again, transitioning from the desert southwest of Pecos (where law, west of the Pecos, was the Wild West) to the balmy tropical climes of the Rio Grande corridor, with the border towns of Del Rio, Laredo, Hidalgo, and Progreso. Come see parts of the […]
In the midst of the Chihuahuan Desert, Big Bend is so large it contains its own mountain range, the Chisos. Tucked in the lower-S of the Rio Grande, it is three-sided by Mexico for 118 miles, with the US only to the north, which may explain why is it the […]
Among the most beautiful, and long, border-hugging roads in the US, Texas Farm Road 170 runs alongside the Rio Grande and, further south, enters Big Bend State Park. This is my third drive along the enchanting valley, whose desert blooms and emerald rivering startle every time. Running fifty miles from […]
El Malpais: the badlands of central-west New Mexico offer sharp lava rocks covering a 40-mile valley sided by smooth sandstone bluffs, just east of the Continental Divide. The McCartys Crater poured lava 2,000 to 3,000 years ago, making the valley all but uninhabitable. Sandwiched between Navajo and Acoma reservations, the badlands […]
On a recent roadtrip, I got to take my time along Florida’s Gulf Coast, from Tallahassee south. What a quirky variety the coast boasts, with more old time Florida than the Atlantic corridor. Unfortunately, my mission to see the Mermaid Water Extravaganza at Weeki Wachee was stymied for the second […]
The first reading west of the Mississippi was so welcome and overdue, as much of the story takes place out West (north and south). An edited video from the reading: My nephew Christopher is the professional-level videographer. Thanks to everyone who attended and asked such good questions. As reward, a […]
You are cordially invited to a reading & signing by Ben Batchelder of his recently launched American adventure, Borderlands USA: Or, How to Protect the Country by Car, presented by the op.cit. books and Earthdog Press, in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Friday, July 10th from 6-7pm. Come travel with Ben […]
The remote border between southwest Texas and Mexico is among my favorites. It follows the Rio Grande and dips down into Texas’s big bend (following the river), entering several of the least visited parks in the nation: Big Bend Nat’l, and State, Parks. TX Farm Road 170 has to be […]
The Miami launch of Borderlands USA in October had three separate readings, with an exhibit of photos from the journey plus a “border tasting” of Blenheim Ginger Ale (lots of ginger!) from South Carolina, and took place in the lovely Miami Beach Botanical Garden. Thanks so much to so many […]
Come to the book launch, hosted by Earthdog Press, of Borderlands USA, with public readings and a one-night only photo exhibit of images from the journey by author Ben Batchelder. Signed paperback books will be on sale for only $10. The Botanical Gardens are located at 2000 […]
