DARROW, La. — The grand old homes that sit along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans — an area called Plantation Country — are filled with tales that stretch back hundreds of years. But the history and the stories that are shared vary wildly depending on which plantation you visit. At Houmas House, an 1829 Greek Revival mansion flanked by manicured gardens, a tour guide walked visitors through the high-ceilinged rooms on a recent gray afternoon. The house was brimming...

Michelle Lepere had no idea how many people would show up to her event last December. Would complete strangers see her post on Facebook and come to the Kowloon restaurant bravely dressed as the 1970s sitcom character Mrs. Roper from “Three’s Company”? Would Bostonians have any interest in joining the International Order of Mrs. Ropers or participating in the phenomenon known as the Roper Romp? “I thought we’d maybe get five people,” said Lepere, 46, of Winchester. “I couldn’t even get my...

When climatologists look back at the summer of 2023, they’ll see a three-month stretch of weather extremes: unrelenting heat, unprecedented wildfires, and record-setting storms. Wildfires returned to Greece and debuted in Maui. Hurricanes intensified at rapid speeds, glaciers continued shrinking, and tropical storm Hillary flooded the deserts of California and Nevada. These shifting — and worsening — weather patterns are also shifting tourists’ vacation habits, with more people looking for...

Americans endure a lot of stress in the pursuit of relaxation. While the word “vacation” brings to mind chaise lounges sprinkled with hibiscus petals and coconut-scented sunblock, the idea of traveling to reach that sparkling final destination evokes a very different emotion. In a new study, 92 percent of Americans said travel is nerve-racking. Given the amount of dread and jitters most people experience around travel, it’s a wonder they ever leave home. The respondents to the study, which...