Sorry for the late add, folks! It’s been a week! 
Question of the week:
Have you ever been inspired to visit a real-life location because of a book?
2 Likes
I love history, especially the Old West, so there’s been many places in the West that I’ve visited after reading about them. Lincoln, New Mexico and its fame due to the Lincoln County Wars and Billy the Kid is the last place I recall. I’m actually more influenced by visiting the locale and then wanting to read more about it. I started doing this in my early twenties and I’m now in my early seventies. The first time was after visiting Cripple Creek, Colorado (before the casinos came in). I wanted to know more and read Cripple Creek Days by Mabel Barbee Lee. It made the visit even more of a learning experience and is a habit I’m glad I started.
3 Likes
Yes Scotland and loved my two weeks there.
Yes! Have visited New Bedford Mass as a result of reading and obsessing over Moby Dick and Herman Melville in general. Also Nantucket, of course! Then to Amherst Mass for Emily Dickinson home and Concord Mass for the Alcott homestead (fun trivia fact: the family name was Alcox until R. W. Emerson suggested changing it to Alcott would ensure greater success). While in this area, also visited Walden. Recommend it all for literature lovers! Don’t miss Sleepy Hollow cemetery.
1 Like
After reading “First Dawn” by Judith Miller about the the establishment of Nicodemus, Kansas (the oldest and only remaining Black settlement in the country) in our book discussion group, three of us drove across the state in order to visit. We stopped at various places on our 1000 mile trek (& never left the state!) You may think of us as flyover country but the prairie has a particular beauty.
2 Likes
I’m with you on that one, @Paula_Walters. I haven’t been there yet, but it’s on my bucket list.
The other place I’d like to visit because of the novels I’ve read is Rome.
Oh yes - two times.
After I read THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, I HAD to visit Barcelona and find all the places mentioned in the book. That was fun.
After I read ONE ITALIAN SUMMER by Rebecca Serle, I HAD to visit Positano, Italy, on the Almafi Coast. I have been there twice, and YES…there are STEPS everywhere just like in the book.
The Positano Hotel is gorgeous and at the VERY top of all of the steps.
1 Like
Closer to home I would like to visit Maine, have read many novels that take place there.
2 Likes
Inspired, yes! Done it … sadly no. It’s on my list for “things to do just for me once the kids are older” 
The Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton series come to mind.
Carol Ann Robb: Thank you for the book suggestion related to Nicodemus, KS. As a senior citizen Kansan, I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t visit it until last summer. It was well worth the drive.
Lana_Maskus: We drove from Pittsburg (extreme SE corner of the state) so unless you live in Hays or Colby, getting to Nicodemus is quite the trek! I’m afraid the National Historic Site will get shut down with all the National Park Services cutbacks & the fact it’s about an African-American community.
You should also read The Healer’s Daughter by Charlotte Hinger if you haven’t already.
Wow! That was a trek! I live in SW Kansas so it wasn’t a bad drive at all. My husband and I and our daughter and her family are huge National Park Service fans. We, too, are scared to death that most, if not all, of the national Historic Sites, Monuments, Military Parks, Recreation Areas, etc. will be shut down. I have to get off my behind and communicate to my congressmen and push others to do so. If you have any other ideas, by all means, let me know.
Also, thank you for the book suggestions. I’ve put them at the top of my TBR list. And it’s nice to communicate with a fellow reader and BookBrowse member from Kansas.
Yes! Especially Nantuckett after reading Hilldebrand books!
After reading Ann Cleeves Shetlan series i badgered my husband into going to Shetland. It was wonderful!
Two of my all-time favorite destinations were due to books I read.
The first was China. First, I read an article about The Terracotta Warriors which led to the first book that inspired this visit, The Terracotta Warriors: The Secret Codes of the Emperor’s Army by Maurice Cotterell. What an experience, not only seeing the warriors first-hand but the whole trip. It opened my eyes to so much history, beauty, and culture.
Steve Berry’s Amber Room: A Novel of Suspense hooked me immediately and led me to more research about the real Amber Room, which disappeared during World War II from Catherine’s Palace. Eventually, I read that a replica of the amber panels were installed in Catherine Palace-Tsarskoe Selo State Museum and Heritage Site. This trip was another eye opener to a culture I knew little about. I’ve always felt lucky to have been able to take these trips. So many wonderful memories.
YES!! After reading Demon Copperhead, I was inspired to visit Appalachia. I traveled to eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina. I was based in Gatlinburg and spent four glorious days hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was May and the weather was perfect. I loved every moment. I was within a short drive of Lee County, where Demon was based. I was motivated to see the physical beauty of the area (I live in Seattle) but also to experience Appalachia for myself. I think a big part of Kingsolver’s point in the book was about how maligning “hillbillies” in Appalachia is probably one of the last forms of “acceptable” bigotry in this country. Appalachia and its people have gotten a raw deal for a long, long time.
Yes, after reading The Personal Librarian, our book club took a tour of the JP Morgan library in New York City. Not a far trip, but definitely inspired by the book.