I saw the Poe House in Philadelphia mentioned (well worth a trip for the annual celebration, not really much to see the rest of the year), but I don't think anyone mentioned Ben Franklin as a writer.

Also, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, James Michener is from Bucks County (the Michener Museum in Doylestown houses his gorgeous collection of Pennsylvania Impressionist art). Margaret Mead was also from Doylestown, if you want to cover two authors in one very cute town that is definitely worth a visit. Pearl Buck also used to live in Bucks, and her international foundation is still headquartered in that home. In Montgomery County, John O'Hara (Butterfield 8) is from Pottsville, where you can also tour and sample from Yuengling, America's oldest brewery.

Outside of Philadelphia (and not as well known and don't have places to roadtrip to, but IMO worthy of a mention anyway), muckraker Ida Tarbell ("The History of Standard Oil") was from Erie and August Wilson from Pittsburgh. Also, for a mix of religion and writing, Joseph Smith translated the Golden Plates for the Book of Mormon in Pennsylvania.

MLTimes, you bring up an interesting point about residences of authors and composers and such. Agreed that the Poe House in Philadelphia is very plain; I've also visited various composers apartments in Vienna (three Beethoven residences, Schubert's birth and death spots, the Haydn house and such) as well as the WC Handy House in Memphis and Scott Joplin House in St. Louis, which are also spartan. And for some casual tourists, these attractions may not be much of a draw.

However, if you're a Beethoven or Schubert or Poe or Joplin or Handy junkie, just being able to see where these people were born and lived and worked and died -- even if they're pretty much just an empty or minimally decorated series of rooms -- is a major thrill.

http://www.visit-vermont.com/current...nies_list.html has literary homes by state for New England. In NYC you can take several literary tours. http://newyorktalksandwalks.com/tours_literary.html There's even a literary pub crawl. You might want to check out this book about literary landmarks of NY. http://www.amazon.com/Literary-Landm.../dp/0789308541

The home of Edward Gorey, one of the quirkiest writers from the Eastern US, is available for viewing. It's in Yarmouth Port, MA. http://www.edwardgoreyhouse.org/

If you're interested in children's literature there's also Marshall, MI (Midwest, I know) where you can pick up a map for the John Bellairs walking tour of town.

Ah, here's a good one -- Rudyard Kipling's house in Brattleboro Vermont. Only occasionally open to the public. http://cather.unl.edu/community.tours.naulakha.html

A friend in Hartford just sent me this article about a new exhibit at the Mark Twain house (also one in Greenwich CT about Lincoln)
http://www.courant.com/community/hc-...,1859257.story


It and the Harriet Beecher Stowe house are on our list of places to visit some weekend this spring or fall.

I don't think Naulakha (the Kipling home) is open to the public for touring. It is operated as a rental property. Sleeps 8, minimum stay of 3 nights.

From time to time Naulakha is open for tours, usually for a few days in the summer.

Forgot to recommend the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia http://www.rosenbach.org. It houses Joyce's manuscript for Ulysses, Maurice Sendak's original drawings (eg, "Where the Wild Things Are"), the only remaining 1st edition of Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac, Bram Stoker's notes and outline for Dracula, and many, many other rare books, notes and letters. It's housed in a gorgeous and historic Rittenhouse Square mansion filled with the original 19th century owners' furniture and art.

I guess I will just keep checking back on the Naulakha web site to see if any tours are listed. I would like to see it. Would also be interested in staying there but that seems less practical

Our local AAA guide magazine just had an article on the Wadsworth Longfellow House in Portland, ME.

I just came across this web site which lists literary sites of interest
http://www.literarytraveler.com/trav...l_listing.aspx