American Miracle Under an Italian Hat

Have you seen this hat before? No? Really? Look again. It’s been on my head every day as I’ve hiked around the Italian Riviera.

Here it is atop Monte Manico del Lume, at 2,400 feet above sea level.

And here it is, seen from the inside.

The thing about this hat is, it was made in the USA. Is that possible? Nothing is made in the USA anymore, is it? I showed the label to astonished Italian friends, and promised them I’d blog this all-American hat, made for the Harbor Pilots of Genoa. Now, a tale hangs from this hat, a tale of our adventures with the head of the harbor pilots a few years back. You can read about how I got the hat, and the discoveries Alison and I made in Genoa with the city’s head harbor pilot, in a new anthology of travel writing, just out with Lonely Planet. My chapter is titled “Of Baskets, Boars and Brotherhood.” I’ll say no more. Here’s the cover of the book and a link to Amazon.