Fran Severn

Freelance writer, editor, fact-checker, and researcher with 30 years' experience. Member International Food, Wine, & Travel Writers Association. Specialties: Travel, Lifestyle, Business, translating Medicine and Science into layman's language. Horsewoman. Pilot.

A Weekend in Camelot

WoodallsIt’s a fine day in Revel Grove, England. Banners flutter in the wind; the aroma of meats cooking over open flames fills the air; and a juggler catches whirling globes with casual ease, while at the tavern, minstrels strum their lutes as they serenade patrons with songs of lost love and life in these Medieval…

Visiting the Culinary Underground

The Culinary Institute of AmericaI have been to the CIA and explored its inner sanctum. I have seen its trainees in action, watched them learning the skills they will practice throughout the world. I have experienced the results of their work – the sauteés, the sauces, the soufleés. Yes, the CIA – The Culinary Institute…

Shopping for the Spandex© Set

Washington Flyer D.C. TrainersThere are more approaches to personal training than there are workout tapes by Richard Simmons. All personal trainers promise you a body that would make Cindy Crawford spit and Gilad look anemic, but they all have different ways of getting you there. Although it has all of the standard, gleaming weight and…

Kids and Canines: Perfect Camping Partners

Kids and dogs go together like peanut butter and jelly, so it’s only natural to take along the family pet when camping. But bringing along the dog means a little more than just loading him into the car. Advance planning and preparation will insure that you, the kids, and the pets all enjoy the outing.…

Airborne Dogs: Up, Up and Away

The next time your travel plans call for flying, instead of trusting your dog’s fate to the airlines, consider traveling by a small plane. For flights up to several hundred miles, it’s a realistic option. You might find it’s faster and more convenient and possibly cheaper. It’s certainly a lot more fun for your dog.…

Hunka Hunka Hawksbill Love

Whenever I go on an “up close and personal” nature excursion, I wonder who’s entertaining whom? “There’s a mountain goat that’s always here when we paddle this stretch of river,” the guide said on a rafting trip in Cody, WY. Every afternoon the rafts float by; every afternoon the goat — often joined by a…

The Force Awakens: Happy Hype

SPOILER ALERT: JAR JAR BINKS DOES NOT APPEAR IN THIS MOVIE. In fact, the three “prequels” are not mentioned. This gives purchase to those of us who maintain that those films were actually nightmares Han Solo suffered while entombed in Carbonite. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is a gleeful cinematic ride with as many dips…

Gridlock in Paradise

Fish Fry Barbados org

Barbados – broad sandy beaches, mellow sunshine, incredibly friendly people, unintelligible patois, wonderful food, rum in all manner of concoctions – and traffic congestion to rival the Capital Beltway at rush hour. How is it that this tiny island – all of 21 miles long and only 14 at its widest point (roughly twice the…

It’s NANO Time!

No, that’s not some high-tech innovation or trendy music group. It’s National Novel Writing Month. It’s a way of creating “someday,” as in “someday, I’m going to write a book.” Participants sign up and commit to writing a first draft of a novel during November. How long a novel? 50,000 words. That’s 1,667 words a…