Stories in this issue Springtime in North America

The best thing about springtime in the Rockies of Colorado is that it lasts four months. That’s because altitude plays such an important role when plants and wildflowers come out.

This year’s high rainfall and the natural fertilizer caused by the wildfires are causing a “Super Bloom” that is visible from space. Super blooms only happen once a decade on average in California.

Spring comes late to this high country. If it’s early June, bring your long underwear.

In 1771 a young chemist by the name of E. I du Pont left France and settled on the banks of the Brandywine River in Delaware where he started a gunpowder manufacturing operation. He and his descendants built both a lasting business empire and a lasting legacy of estates and gardens in the Brandywine Valley area of southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware.

Isolated off the coast of Cape Cod, shades of yellow blanket a small island 36 miles out to sea. More than three million Narcissuses have been planted throughout the 48 square miles of what many consider to be one of the most beautiful islands in North America. The annual Nantucket Daffodil Festival is a bright and uplifting harbinger of spring.

After a colder than usual winter for most of the U.S., spring is finally here and it’s time to leave our dens of hibernation and head outdoors. For a new type of playground, consider the Lake ErieIslands of Ohio.

Portland, Maine is home to almost 400 different restaurants and ranks among the top cities in the US for restaurants and bars per capita.

During your visit to Big Cedar or Top of the Rock, be sure to catch the Top of the Rock sunset celebration. Witness a magical moment as a traditional bagpiper plays in the background, the sky above Table Rock Lake a blaze of color, the sun’s last glistening rays announced by the roar of a Civil War cannon as you raise your glass.