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Correspondent Tom Wilmer reports from Tampa , Florida where he meets with trend-setting mayor, Jane Castor . Central to Castor’s mission, following a 30-year career on the Tampa police force, is a passionate focus on affordable housing, transportation and workforce development. Castor’s legacy as an engaged Tampa police person, including a tour of duty as chief, has left a legacy of a brilliant, functional community policing policy where the community knows the policemen and the policemen know the residents of the neighborhood communities. Come along and join Castor to discover the reasons why Tampa is one of America's safest and fastest growing cities with a dynamic economy that attracts legions of 30-somethings to relocate from around the country.

In honor of Armed Forces Day May 15th, we repost Correspondent Tom Wilmer's report from Camp Roberts , where he visits with Gary McMaster, chairman and curator at the Camp Roberts Historical Museum . U.S. Army training base Camp Roberts is located 16 miles north of Paso Robles. Camp Roberts dates from March 1941, when it commenced operations as America’s largest U.S. Army basic training base. Throughout WWII, more than 436,000 infantry and field artillery troops completed a 17-week basic training stint at the base.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with Geoff Lippman at the American Armory Museum just off Interstate 80 in F airfield, California where an array of tanks, jeeps, trucks, armored personnel carriers and more are showcased and open to the public. Next up is a visit with Molly Tou, owner of the locals’ favorite diner Two60 Kitchen and Bar where she talks about the journey navigating her business through the COVID crisis and distinctive favorite dishes.

Rush Ranch is a haven for every variety of outdoor enthusiast, from hikers to birdwatchers and those who simply relish open space. Come along and join correspondent Tom Wilmer for a visit with Solano Land Trust’s executive director Nicole Braddock at the 2,000-acre Rush Ranch Nature Center on the outskirts of Suisun City, California. Underwriting support for Journeys of Discovery provided by Nashville's Big Back Yard economic initiative focused on rural communities in the southwest quarter of Tennessee and the Shoals Region of Northern Alabama. You are invited to subscribe to the Lowell Thomas Award-winning podcast travel show, Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer, featured on the NPR Podcast Directory , iHeartRadio , Apple Podcast .

Join assistant winemaker and co-owner of Sunset Cellars , Fah Sathirapongsasuti as he shares cool insights about the winery’s award-winning varietals including the flagship Barbera, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Fah is also a Stanford University grad with a PhD in biostatistics from Harvard in Computational Biology. He is also a founding member of 23andMe therapeutics.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with Ann and Mark Sievers, passionate stewards of Il Fiorello , producers of organically grown olive oil. Join the conversation to learn about discerning ways to utilize olive oil and visiting the farm situated on the outskirts of Fairfield, California in Suisun Valley. Il Fiorello’s sprawling farmland is graced with more than 13 different varieties of olive trees from Italy, Greece, Spain, France and Tunisia.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer reports from the coastal haven of Pacifica, California . Even though the oceanfront community is less than a 20-minute drive from downtown San Francisco, it’s a distinctly kicked-back seaside town. Join Wilmer as he visits with Pacifica City Council member, Mike O’Neill followed by a conversation with innkeeper Ella Patel at the new Anchor Inn with panoramic vistas of the Pacific Ocean.

A century following the genocide of more than 1.5 million Armenians, the Turkish government refuses to acknowledge or apologize their genocidal policies and actions. In the spring of 2015 in conjunction with the centenary of the Turkish genocide (1915-1918) correspondent Tom Wilmer met with Armenian-American Amy Hoogasian in San Francisco. Hoogasian recalled childhood memories of her grandparents’ tales of horrific abuse and mass murder at the hands of the Turks. Hoogasian shared her hope for some sort of mea culpa by the Turkish government. But six years after Hoogasian’s conversation first aired (April 24, 2015), the Turkish government remains mute on the subject. April 24th is the formal “anniversary” of the genocide, but the tragic period in Armenian’s collective memory lives on every day.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer met up with Sandy Lipkowitz, owner of San Francisco based, We Make Travel Easy —specializing in customized travel planning for the discerning traveler to learn about the Floriade experience. Ms. Lipkowitz shares details about her upcoming tour planned for May 29-June 7, 2022 to the legendary Floriade International Horticultural Expo on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Following the expo, participants will visit the Aalsmeer Flower Auction--the world’s largest flower auction. Participants will then board an AMAWaterways river cruise to visit legendary gardens in The Netherlands and Belguim.

Join Major Christopher Lauff, Commander, USAG HHC at Fort Hunter Liggett as he shares details about the May 15 open house. An array of activities for the public include a WWII C-47 fly-in along with an Coast Guard helicopter, and a hands-on chance for kids and adults to fire rifles and machine guns in the virtual reality lab. Joe Ping, Senior Training Instructor shares insights about how military training has evolved through virtual reality. Join correspondent Tom Wilmer at U.S. Army Reserve base Fort Hunter Liggett in Monterey County to learn the rest of the story.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer reports from Suisun Valley wine region on the outskirts of Fairfield, California where he visits with the owner of Wooden Valley Winery , Ron Lanza. When the Lanza family opened their Wooden Valley Winery on the heels of the Great Depression 85 years ago, there were just two wineries in the entire Suisun Valley . Join the conversation with Ron Lanza to discover the family’s history in the Valley and the array of their exceptional wines. Underwriting support for Journeys of Discovery provided by Nashville's Big Back Yard economic initiative focused on rural communities in the southwest quarter of Tennessee and the Shoals Region of Northern Alabama. You are invited to subscribe to the Lowell Thomas Award-winning podcast travel show, Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer, featured on the NPR Podcast Directory , iHeartRadio , Apple Podcast , the NPR One App & Stitcher.com . Twitter: TomCWilmer. Instagram: Thomas.Wilmer.

Wendy Voorsanger, Cal Poly grad and author of the award-winning novel, Prospects of a Woman talks with correspondent Tom Wilmer. Voorsanger shares insights about the book, and her work chronicling exceptional women throughout California's history featured on her blog She is California .

Join correspondent Tom Wilmer in Suisun Valley at the Blue Victorian for an insightful conversation about the art of crafting fine wines with award-winning winemaker Jake Stuessy for Vezer Family Vineyards . Suisun Valley is Fairfield , California’s historic wine growing region, less than 8 miles from Napa Valley.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer reports from the Jelly Belly Candy Company in Fairfield, California . Join John Jamison, VP of retail operations for the story of Jelly Belly the iconic American candy that was founded in 1898 and was a favorite of President Reagan. Jelly Belly candies also went in to orbit with the NASA shuttle Challenger in 1983.

Fairfield, California is just 45 minutes from San Francisco to the west and 45 minutes to Sacramento to the east, but it’s definitely a world apart. The Fairfield region is home of the legendary Jelly Belly candy factory, and Solano Land Trust’s Rush Ranch Nature Center with 2,000 acres of marsh and grassland. Fairfield also claims its very own wine-growing region called Suisun Valley just minutes away from downtown that’s a timeless treasure, and a California best-kept-secret destination. Join correspondent Tom Wilmer for an exploration of Fairfield and Suisun Valley wine region with Anand Patel, CEO at Visit Fairfield CA followed by a visit with Frank Vezer owner of Vezer Family Vineyard and his general manager Pam Valdivia. Vezer’s tasting room is located at historic Mankas Corner in the heart of Suisun Valley.

In honor of Fort Hunter Liggett’s 80 th anniversary we repost c orrespondent Tom Wilmer's conversation with Brian Neumann, Ph.D., a historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair in Washington D.C. Newmann talks about lieutenant General Hunter Liggett, who was second-in-command of the U.S. Army’s World War 1 American Expeditionary Forces in Europe. Liggett was a visionary tactician who transformed field tactics through combined-arms that remain employed by the U.S. Army today. Neumann ’s conversation was recorded at Fort Hunter Liggett in Monterey County November 8, 2018 following his presentation about the Meuse-Argonne Offensive—the last battle of World War 1; and the subsequent Armistice signed on November 11, 1918. Lt. General Hunter Liggett served in the regular Army prior to WWI with duties that included deployment to the Spanish American War and the Western Frontier. Underwriting support for Journeys of Discovery provided by Nashville's Big Back Yard

William Randolph Heart’s old ranch headquarters was constructed in 1930. Hearst and architect Julia Morgan’s classic, Moorish/Mission Revival structure, dubbed the Hacienda or Milpitas Ranch House, was sold to the U.S. Army in 1940. The Hacienda initially served as operations headquarters for Fort Hunter Liggett until the base facilities were constructed in the dawning days of WWII. Today the Hacienda remains as a treasured historic icon on Army base tucked in a remote valley in the Santa Lucia Mountains in southern Monterey County adjacent to Mission San Antonio . Come along and join correspondent Tom Wilmer and Lisa Cipolla, historian and Cultural Resources Program Manager at Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett for a tour of the Hacienda and tales from the past. Hearst and his friends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Marian Davies, Will Rogers, and Errol Flynn would come to party at the Hacienda. Today you can book an overnight stay in one of the historic rooms where the ranch hands

In the fall of 1990, correspondent Tom Wilmer spent time on the Rainbow Warrior II while the vessel and crew were in the midst of an environmental awareness campaign in British Columbia. Back in 1985 the French Intelligence Service bombed the Greeneace flagship vessel Rainbow Warrior in the port of Aukland, New Zealand. Straight away Greenpeace sourced a replacement vessel and in July 1989 a former the three-masted schooner, deep-sea fishing vessel was rechristened as the Rainbow Warrior II in Hamburg, Germany. Fast forward in time—the Rainbow Warrior II was sold in 2011, replaced by the Rainbow Warrior III which entered service in October 2011. The Rainbow Warrior II was ultimately scrapped on a Bangladesh beach in 2018. In celebration of the 31 st anniversary of Tom Wilmer’s travel show broadcasts airing over NPR affiliate KCBX, and Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer podcasts, we travel back in time to the fall of 1990 and re-share the Rainbow Warrior show as a Best-of-the Best

Join associate producer Molly Blaisdell and 30-year winemaker Jamie Hilgendorf for an exploration of Mendocino Coast’s coveted wine culture with the proprietors of Foursight Wines and Long Meadow Ranch Winery as well as the distinctive accommodations at Sheep Dung Properties and Alegria Oceanfront Inn & Cottages . Mendocino is part of the growing trend of micro-trip escapes for those eager to start traveling again. Whether you’re interested in exploring the dramatic shoreline and hiking your way through some of California’s most beautiful hiking trails or sipping your way through Mendocino’s robust wine region and sampling the organic coastal cuisine, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Underwriting support for Journeys of Discovery provided by Nashville's Big Back Yard economic initiative focused on rural communities in the southwest quarter of Tennessee and the Shoals Region of Northern Alabama. You are invited to subscribe to the Lowell Thomas Award-winning podcast travel

It all started back in 1930 when Nick Bullington was working as an advance man for Ringling Brothers Circus. He discovered a killer bowl of Chile while staying at a San Antonio Hotel. It was the Chili spurred Nick to open his own eatery in downtown Roanoke , Virginia --dubbed the Texas Tavern in homage to the San Antonio hostelry where he fell in love with the Chili. The chili dish is still on the menu and Nick’s grandson Matt Bullington continues his grandfather’s legacy. Not much has changed at all, including the exterior facade, and inside there's the same 1o swivel stools for sitdown dining---Matt says, "we can feed a thousand people--ten at a time". The Chili remains a big draw along with the Cheesy Western burger. Join correspondent Tom Wilmer in downtown Roanoke for a visit with Matt at the legendary Texas Tavern. The Texas Tavern show was originally broadcast back in 2011 and is reposted as a best-of-the-best travel feature in celebration of Journeys of Discovery's 31st