The leaf-peeping season is one of the busiest times of year at The Horse & Hound, a romantic inn and restaurant nestled in the valley behind Franconia's Cannon Mountain ski resort.
What is surprising to me is how many of the inn's guests are from Europe, per full-time innkeeper Doug Maskiewicz. One week, the 10 rooms were filled by Brits, and the next by Germans. That's a long way to come to see maple trees turning red and yellow. But it's also a testimony to the inn's reputation.
(RNS) — Like many Catholics, Aleeya Francis is excited about Pope Francis' U.S. visit. But she's different from most: The African-American woman will get to meet him, along with six children from the New York Catholic school where she leads a student body that is 91 percent black and 27 percent Catholic.
"To have the opportunity to meet with the pope," the cradle Catholic said, "and to show him that black Catholics, we're a very vibrant, active part of the church, we carry out the same mission that he has in store, to serve — it means a lot to me."
