You know those Fodor’s and Frommer’s travel guides – right? Yeah, well this isn’t that.
What Wildsam Field Guides do is tell the lesser-known stories behind the cities of Austin, Brooklyn, Charleston, Detroit, Nashville, New Orleans, San Antonio and San Francisco. They pick up the local flavor, the distinctive look and feel, the smells and tastes of the city, no matter how gritty. You’ll find stories here about flesh and blood people. The things they did, shouldn’t have done or are still doing. The coffee houses and bars really worth hanging out at. The sights to see when you want to do more than help your kid complete her summer vacation essay.
You won’t learn how to stay in Nashville for $99 a day, but you will get a guided tour of local soul food icons and an essay from Roseanne Cash. If you don’t know who she is, get the hell out of Nashville.
Wildsam Field Guides are a little like meeting an unemployed local writer or professor in a slightly seedy bar. As long as you’re buying they’ll bend your ear and tell you the real stories about their beloved birthplaces. Not the top ten tourist must-sees, but they’d introduce you to Naomi Long Madgett, the nonagenarian “Poet of Detroit.” Or point out the right way to wear a guyabera in San Antonio.
And how about this spot-on quote regarding the city by the bay: “San Francisco has always hosted those who would defy gravity.” Exactly.
When you’re not looking for the chamber of commerce-endorsed stuff found in the free literature rack at the last rest stop before entering Charleston proper, lose yourself in a WIldsam Field Guide.