Wild Goose
We were told there were bears in Black Mountain. The signs were everywhere: "Caution, Bear Territory;" or "Nature Area—Bear Habitat;" or my favorite: "Bears live here. Use Common Sense." We were even shown a video of a bear at night wandering through the area in which we would be staying. There is a difference, however, in knowing that bears live in an area and personally encountering a bear. Our first encounter with a black bear occurred as we were winding our way down from
The Room Where it Happens
Do you want to be in the room where it happened? Aaron Burr certainly did—or so the song goes. How could he not have wanted to attend dinner that night in 1790 between Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton at 57 Maiden Lane New York, New York? Somehow, over the course(s) of the evening, our country's capital shifted down to the Potomac and the federal banking system got its start. Burr, for all his connections and charm, was out in the cold while big things
