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As I tell my students in the special topics in travel writing course I teach, travel happens as soon as you step outside your door. Day trips, afternoon trips, and evening trips can all be wonderful experiences, especially when you’re sharing the time with someone you love. It can also be great to go exploring by yourself.
In our local travel writing class, students often pick Annapolis as their spot. I love to read about my hometown from their perspective, some of them only visiting Annapolis for their first or second time. As I’ve grown up in this area and have spent lots of time cavorting and entertaining in our little historic city (which was the temporary capital of the United States from 1783-1784), it always feels like home to me, although sometimes, like most things in life, it shines a little more brightly on certain days and nights.
Last night was one of those nights, and the photographs I’m sharing were all taken from my iPhone. I loved the way the city looked, and it reminded me of the opening scene in my first novel, Beneath the Mimosa Tree. The city looked exactly as I pictured it at twilight through Annabelle’s eyes as she tells her side of the story in this contemporary romance novel.
While it’s not a travel book per se, my novel incorporates the city into the story to help put you there and experience the city as both Michael and Annabelle see it. Additionally, my new novel, Little Milestones, contains a few scenes in Annapolis, so I guess you could say that anytime I’m in the city, I’m taking mental notes for my writing projects.
It requires us to have our eyes open at all times.
That’s our job as writers.
