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Where are Paul and Donna
Where are Paul and Donna

Where are Paul and Donna

s’est rendu dans 25 pays. En savoir plus🇺🇸East Windsor
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  • Jackson Pollack Pilgrimage II
    1

    Paying Respects

    28 septembre, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    Last year when we did our first Jackson Pollock pilgrimage we stopped by the cemetery where Jackson and Lee are buried. I left a paint brush on Pollocks’ gravestone.

    This morning as we are heading home we stopped by the cemetery. The paint brush was gone. But, I found the brush I left on Jackson’s stone had been moved to Lee’s gravestone.

    I don’t know - maybe I am foolish? But, I have created a connection with this artist. Maybe it is life of disfunction I relate to. Our like the hope of winning Powerball - I would like to find a thread of creativity within myself that matters. Or maybe I am just foolish?    En savoir plus

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  • Jackson Pollack Pilgrimage II
    1

    A quiet moment

    28 septembre, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    This morning I woke up early at our AirBNB. Pollock-Krasner home is only 1 mile away. I enjoyed a peace walk from the AirBNB to their house.

    While walking on the quiet roads I could only imagine how peaceful this area might have been 75 years ago.

    I sat on the rocks in the backyard and overlooked the quiet marsh and water. I did wave into the video camera as I entered the property after hours.

    Four deer crossed the property and made me smile.

    Pollock did good most creative work while sober and living on this property. His studio is large enough for his massive canvases. To be able to wake up each day and have the beauty of this nature scene refresh yo and start your day. If we ever move from East Windsor - this is the experience I want each morning. I want peacefulness and beauty.

    I was able to take a few photos - and try to capture just a bit of Jacksons’ energy and pocket it in my creative stash.

    I know I can be a loud in your face person at times - I am working on it - But, quiet times like this morning really touch my spirit.    En savoir plus

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  • Jackson Pollack Pilgrimage II

    Some things to do in East Hampton

    26 septembre, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Once we found our AirBNB - only a mile away from Jackson Pollock's home. We headed to "The Cookery" our favorite place to eat. a five minute drive from where we were staying. They have GREAT soup and bakery items. They also serve wonderful breakfast items.

    The we headed out to fine a Winery for a bit of adult beverage and Wine tasting. Lina at The Cookery pointed us to Wolffer Estate. We were a bit underdressed - It was a Friday night. and there were some high end bridal showers and bachelor parties under way. The chickery board was nice. we got a couple of wine flights and enjoyed our tasting process. Honestly, we weren't that impressed with their wines. THey were okay - not great.

    Donna found "The Clubhouse" a nice multi-pupose venue for all sorts activities and parties. They had a might little mini golf course which we played a round., We carry our putters with us when we travel. We were tied at the 9th hole - but then she beat me badly in the end.

    It was a nice way to spend the Friday afternoon and evening. we had a good time.    En savoir plus

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  • Jackson Pollack Pilgrimage II
    On the upper, getting ready to leave
    Enjoying the view

    New London Ferry to Orient Point

    26 septembre, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    Donna and I are on our way to East Hampton, NY. Our main purpose of this trip besides just traveling some more and getting away - is to visit Jackson Pollock’s home and studio.

    Last October we visited there and created our own drip paintings on the grass in front of his studio. Paul has loved Pollocks’ art since high school. The October visit was a spiritual pilgrimage for him.

    When we returned home, Donna asked if I felt like our paintings were done. At the time I said yes. But, since reading biographies about Pollock and viewing more of his art - Nah! They are not done.

    So, a couple of months ago I planned this weekend’s adventure. We packed the canvases in the car, booked an airBNB near his home, and we are on our way.

    Also, this is a good prep trip for packing light for our next upcoming travels to Europe. Paul is testing socks, underwear, and bringing minimal art supplies. So, this is a dry run for Europe.

    We have about an hour and a half to get to Orient Point. The ferry is smooth. It’s a lovely clear day in September.

    Please follow along - I will do my best to share with you this adventure.

    Donna is hoping that we finish our paintings this trip - she is not into annual trips. But, you never know???????    En savoir plus

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  • Where are Paul and DonnaEastern European River CruiseVoyageur

    Day 0: Eastern European River Cruise

    20 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 21 °F

    This post is just a placeholder for our future travels. I will update this Day 0 with new information as it becomes available.

    When on our Viking World Cruise, Viking offered us an opportunity to purchase another cruise. No surprise! We bought two. An Eastern Europe River cruise and a Mediterranean Ocean Cruise - This will help us make up for the countries we missed due to the World Cruise getting redirected.

    This trip will be much more than Eastern Europe: It is actually 3 seperate cruises two river and one ocean - with an extension to Jordan to experience Petra. (One of my bucket list items). Here is our itinerary thus far.
    2025 Cruise

    Bucharest, Romania – Friday, November 7
    Bucharest, Romania – Saturday, November 8
    Constanța, Romania – Sunday, November 9
    Constanța, Romania – Monday, November 10
    Pleven, Bulgaria – Tuesday, November 11
    Vidin, Bulgaria – Wednesday, November 12
    Donji Milanovac, Serbia – Thursday, November 13
    Belgrade, Serbia – Friday, November 14
    Novi Sad, Serbia – Saturday, November 15
    Ilok, Croatia – Sunday, November 16
    Mohács, Hungary – Monday, November 17
    Budapest, Hungary – Tuesday, November 18
    Budapest, Hungary – Wednesday, November 19
    Bratislava, Slovakia – Thursday, November 20
    Vienna, Austria – Friday, November 21
    Vienna, Austria – Saturday, November 22
    Vienna, Austria – Sunday, November 23
    Barcelona, Spain – Monday, December 1
    Barcelona, Spain – Tuesday, December 2
    Palamós, Spain – Wednesday, December 3
    Marseille, France – Thursday, December 4
    Villefranche-sur-Mer, France – Friday, December 5
    Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy – Saturday, December 6
    Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy – Sunday, December 7
    Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy – Monday, December 8
    Naples, Italy – Tuesday, December 9
    Sicily (Messina), Italy – Wednesday, December 10
    Crotone, Italy – Thursday, December 11
    Bari, Italy – Friday, December 12
    Šibenik, Croatia – Saturday, December 13
    Venice (Fusina), Italy – Sunday, December 14
    Venice (Fusina), Italy – Monday, December 15
    Venice (Fusina), Italy – Tuesday, December 16
    Split, Croatia – Wednesday, December 17
    Dubrovnik, Croatia – Thursday, December 18
    Kotor, Montenegro – Friday, December 19
    Corfu (Kérkyra), Greece – Saturday, December 20
    Olympia (Katakolon), Greece – Sunday, December 21
    Athens (Piraeus), Greece – Monday, December 22
    Athens (Piraeus), Greece – Tuesday, December 23
    Crete (Heraklion), Greece – Wednesday, December 24
    Sail the Ionian Sea – Thursday, December 25
    Ephesus (Kuşadasi), Turkey – Friday, December 26
    Troy (Çanakkale), Turkey – Saturday, December 27
    Istanbul, Turkey – Sunday, December 28
    Istanbul, Turkey – Monday, December 29
    Istanbul, Turkey – Tuesday, December 30
    Istanbul, Turkey – Wednesday, December 31
    Cairo, Egypt – Thursday, January 1
    Cairo, Egypt – Friday, January 2
    Cairo, Egypt – Saturday, January 3
    Qena, Egypt – Sunday, January 4
    Luxor, Egypt – Monday, January 5
    Esna, Egypt – Tuesday, January 6
    Aswan, Egypt – Wednesday, January 7
    Aswan, Egypt – Thursday, January 8
    Edfu, Egypt – Friday, January 9
    Cairo, Egypt – Saturday, January 10
    Cairo, Egypt – Sunday, January 11
    Dead Sea, Jordan – Monday, January 12
    Petra, Jordan – Tuesday, January 13
    Petra, Jordan – Wednesday, January 14
    Amman, Jordan – Thursday, January 15

    Honestly, I am hoping to expand this into February to spend maybe a month in Northern Italy. We need to be back in the States before Ozzy's 2nd birthday on March 7, 2026.

    Stay tuned for more nation as it develops.    En savoir plus

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  • Mediterranean Ocean Cruise

    Day 0:

    20 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 19 °F

    When on our Viking World Cruise, Viking offered us an  opportunity to purchase another cruise. No surprise! We bought two. An Eastern Europe River cruise and a Mediterranean Ocean Cruise - This will help us make up for the countries we missed due to the World Cruise getting redirected. This post is just a place holder for our future travels. Stay tuned for more nation as it develops.En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour
    Total mileage on trip-meter
    In our driveway 27 days laterDonna rubbing off park circlesDonna holding National Park MapWe've got mail!

    Day 27: Back Home in East Windsor, CT

    16 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 28 °F

    Twenty-seven days, 6,394 miles, eleven National Parks, one National Preserve, earned Junior Ranger badges at each park, several mini-golf courses, hotels, motels, airBNB’s later — at 5:24 P.M. on January 16, 2025 we arrived safely home!

    The worst traffic was the last six hours coming home through New Jersey, New York (George Washington Bridge), and Connecticut. For most of the trip, the weather was very favorable on our side; no snow storms, no real heavy rain storms. We ate fancy, we ate local, we did MacDonald’s & Subway, and we had Cheerio’s - it was a perfect mix to balance our palette. We spent time with friends and family. For Christmas we spent a few days with Keara & Eli and our Grandson Ozzy, and Eli’s parents. In Georgia, we visited a dog rescue which Donna supports and saw the Air Force Base now turned Miller Brewery where Donna was born in 1960. In Florida, we saw Paul’s family and co-workers from Yale - Rod (& Bob), Rosalee (& Steve).

    When we got home the next day Donna pulled the National Parks map down from over the fireplace and scratched off all the circles of the parks we visited. We are proud of our trip - and see we still have a lot more to visit.

    We visited the following 11 National Parks in this order (6,400 miles of driving look at the map to see our route)

     - Cuyahoga Valley - Ohio
    - Gateway Arch - Missouri
    - Hot Springs - Arkansas
    - Mammoth Cave - Kentucky
    - Biscayne - Florida
    - Everglades - Florida
    - Dry Tortugas - Florida
    - Congaree - South Carolina
    - Great Smoky Mountains - North Carolina, Tennessee (Drove The Tail of the Dragon)
    - New River Gorge - West Virginia
    - Shenandoah - Virginia (Drove Skyline Drive)

    Also —

     - Big Cypress National Preserve - Florida
    - Indiana Dunes - Indiana (We did this in November when we went to Indiana for Thanksgiving)

    The biggest regret is since we were on a tight time schedule - Paul needed to be back to Connecticut to start teaching Spring semester - we would have enjoyed spending more time at each park to really explore and check out more of what they each have to offer.

    In all of our travels the most common question we are asked is “Which is your favorite?” While some places stand out there is rarely a favorite. The things which we ember the most are the people we meet and interact with - and how each National Park has its own special character. It is important we as a nation continue to preserve these areas.

    For this coming summer - we are “thinking about” maybe pulling a small camper with the Mazda and staying inside or near the next set of National Parks we plan on exploring. So stay tuned for more information on this. We are in the market for a lite weight used camper - A-frame popup or feather weight. This next trip will be 8 parks and is an experiment to see if we can survive camping. We have never camped in the 30 years we have been together.

    On Saturday we had tons of errands to run, one of which was to get 6,400 mile swarth of grime off the Mazda. Steve our friend from Elite Detail in South Windsor, told use to go to Two Brother Hand Car WASH IN Glastonbury, CT on Main Street. It was a well deserved “Spa Day” for the Mazda which treated us perfectly for the whole trip. We average 27 miles per gallon, not bad for the the of driving we did.

    Thank you to those who have travelled along side of us on this and our other adventures. Your likes and your comments mean a lot to us.

    Happy Trails,

    Paul & Donna    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour
    Octagon is their award winning wine ... amazing!

    Day 26: Wines of Barboursville Vineyard

    15 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 32 °F

    Here are all the wines we tasted at the Barboursville Vineyards in Virginia. It is lovely vineyard, with excellent people, great wine, and amazing food.

    #Barboursville #BarboursvilleVineyard #wine

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  • USA National Parks East Tour
    Met Chef Mike - he is a Chef God ....
    Governor home ruins on the property.One of many lovely views.This place must have been beautiful back in the dayAnother beautiful viewAmazing backstoryAmazing meal - Donna loves Chef Mike's Bread pudding

    Day 26: Barboursville Vineyard Virginia

    15 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 32 °F

    We started our day pretty early, completing our drive through Skyline Drive & Shenandoah National Park around 1:00 pm. As we headed back towards the AirBNB, Paul found a vineyard not too far out of the way in Barboursville, Virginia. The grounds are lovely with ruins of the Governor’s Mansion designed by Thomas Jefferson to see. The history of the town, Governor Barboursville, and the vineyard made for a colorful visit and story,

    We did the wine tasting which was excellent. See the next post for all the wines we sampled. From there we had an amazing lunch/dinner in “The Library” — They also have a fancy 5-star restaurant on property. We weren’t in the mood for that type of meal. “The Library” is pretty upscale already.

    During the tasting they did NOT include “Octagon” their premium award winning wine. It’s only $75 a bottle. However, having tasted all their other wines we needed to experience their best. We each got a half-glass of Octagon - Everything about this wine takes you to a whole other level. This is not just a nice wine. This is a journey to a whole other level flavor and savor. The color, the nose, the complexity, the movement of flavor, with a very pleasing linger - a person doesn’t have to think long to understand why this is their flagship.

    Our meal was amazing. Paul decided to have bread pudding for desert. Donna not really liking bread pudding figured she would have a test or two. We shared. Well almost! This was a bread pudding like non-other. Donna really loved this desert - we needed to order a second one. Executive Chef Michael who has been with Barboursville Vineyard for some time now takes dinning to the 5-star level. The whole culinary experience made us feel like we were eating at “The Chef’s Table” on the Viking Neptune World Cruise. All this orchestrated by Chef Michael.

    Visiting Barboursville Vineyard was our capstone experience to complete our four week adventure. Tomorrow - we head home.    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 26: Abstract iPhone Photography

    15 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 23 °F

    Every once in a while we see things patterns, shapes, light, designs in just normal every day stuff. I really like seeing the abstract in every day life. These images are from the light coming through the dirty window of our car as we drove along Skyline Drive. With a bit of post processing to enhance the color and contrast.En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour
    Selfie at Shenandoah National Park sign
    A GREAT breakfast at Jacks!We got sworn in as Jr. Rangers in our car.Beautiful overlook views throughout Skyline Drive

    Day 26: Shenandoah National Park, VI

    15 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 25 °F

    We got up early, had breakfast at Jack’s Shop Kitchen, in Ruckersville, VI. The servings were huge - the food was a delight. This is not a Denny’s breakfast. We have all had an okay normal breakfast - then every once in a while you stumble on to a place that you will remember the meal. Jack’s Shop Kitchen is such a place.

    After breakfast - we headed towards Sperryville, VI - Shenandoah National Park - we had about a 90 minute drive. To basically get to the other end of the park to start our drive through the park.

    When we got there we learned the visitor center was closed. The park ranger on duty at the gate booth, gave us our Junior Ranger material to study, and swore us in while sitting in our car at the toll booth. Yes, there was a car behind us waiting! We promised to complete the book later. We got our badges and went on our way.

    This is a good point to mention the importance of spending the $80 for a Lifetime Senior National Park’s pass. Not all National Parks charge for entry - but many do. To drive Skyline Drive it cost $30 - Free with the pass - With all the parks we have visited the Senior Park pass has more than paid for itself.

    Honestly, once we got going we really didn’t know where we were heading. It was great to find out we actually were heading back towards the AirBNB. It is a beautiful drive with a few twisties, and tons of over-looks. Again, we were there off-season so we didn’t fight the crowds or traffic. A nice way to spend the morning. This completed the goal - we visited all ten of the National Parks and earned our Junior Ranger badges we planned to, and two parks we didn’t plan on visiting or even knew about. Twelve parks in total.

    Read the posts about Baboursville - to see how we ended our last day before heading home.

    #nationalparks #shenandoah #shenandoahnationalpark #skylinedrive    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour
    3 days a week you can catch an Amtrak in Thurmond WV
    Welcome to Thurmond, WV a ghost townThey have a Post Office - it was closed.If these walls could talkI feel like Jessie James casing the bank.Erie and peaceful at the same time.

    Day 25: Thurmond, WV - New River Gorge

    14 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 25 °F

    This was a thriving city back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s - twenty trains would stop here each and every day. Now Amtrak goes through Thurmond, WV three times a week.

    This city with a population of 8 [ I think ] is nestled well within the mountains, and very much worth the 45 minute drive on a a narrow road to get there. There was nobody there. We felt like we took a time machine back to another world in another time.En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour
    Swearing in ceremony - New Jr. Rangers ready to report for duty

    Day 25: New River Gorge National Park

    14 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 21 °F

    Here are some pictures of our stop at a couple of places within New River Gorge National Park. Also, our swearing in ceremony as Junior Ranger’s of New River Gorge National Park. There is a separate post of Thurmond, WV which is a little gem of the historic past within New River Gorge.

    So, when we headed out on this trip we planned to visit 10 National Parks earning our Jr. Ranger badges at each. What we didn’t know was New River Gorge was added as a National Park in 2020 - So, we added this park to our itinerary - It was well worth it. The Jr. Ranger booklet is excellent. More important the ranger went through the booklet with us (many do this) and really added more information about various topics.

    The ranger gave us the key places to go visit and it was well worth the little side trips.    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 24: Great Smoky Mountains & MiniGolf

    13 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 43 °F

    After finishing our ride through the Tail of the Dragon, we headed directly to The Great Smoky Mountains. Honestly, this was our least favorite experience at a National Park. We have never had to pay for parking before, and we never had to pay for a Junior Ranger Badge booklet ($4.50 each). Also, the Jr. Ranger booklet, is horribly designed. We completed all we could, and did get sworn in as Junior Ranger’s for the Great Smoky Mountains and got our badges. We felt a bit cheap - “like we bought our badges” we didn’t learn near as much as we have going through other Junior Ranger badge booklets at other parks.

    We drove through the park - some amazing views - and then headed on our way. Shortly after leaving the park we came unto The Toy Box Mini-golf. This is the most expensive mini-golf park we played our whole trip. It is themed very nicely with Toy Story themed holes. The golf play was good. Paul was completely off his game; Donna crushed Paul 38 to 49 strokes.    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 24: Tail of the Dragon, NC & TN

    13 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 37 °F

    My father-in-law use to talk about the Tail of the Dragon a bunch. This is where I first learned about the tail. Since it was an easy thing to do to add to our itinerary, we took the 2025 Mazda CX-70 on the Tail of the Dragon. As of now, we are claiming our CX-70 is the first CX-70 to do the Tail of the Dragon. Mazda just came out with this model, so until someone can prove otherwise - we are holding on to the title! This is the first Mazda CX-70 to do the Tail.

    It was the first time Donna and I had done the tail as well.

    We stayed at an airBNB treehouse, the night before in NC - got up early - gas up the car - and drove the trail. It was a fun drive, do it slow and careful you’ll be fine. 30 MPH speed limit. We switched drivers about halfway.

    #tailofthedragon #mazda #mazdacx70    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour
    Welcome to Frankies!
    Donna ready to tee off.Paul is all lined upAnother fun mini-golf adventure

    Day 23: Mini-golf at Frankie’s SC

    12 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F

    Continuing our mission to mini-golf in every state; we found Frankie’s in Columbia, SC as we were traveling to our next park. I am not sure who won this round - need to find the score card.

    #minigolf #frankies    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 23: Congaree National Park SC

    12 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 39 °F

    This National Park really surprised us. As we were driving towards the park, we were thinking this is just woods - no big deal. Congaree does an excellent job with a lovely easy to walk boardwalk, with markers to read along the away about each of the ecosystems you will pass through. The video in the visitor center is very well done. We had a lovely day. We saw the tallest tree in the park.

    While the Redwoods in California are amazing (we hope to visit there someday) the east coast has its own amazing forests. We so glad Congaree is a part of the park system. Over 200 species or birds and 800 species of plants.

    Of course, we earned our Congaree National Park Junior Ranger badge, see the photo of the swearing in ceremony.

    This is a lovely, often overlooked national park you will want to visit.

    #congaree. #nationalparks    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 22: Mini Golf Brunswick, GA

    11 janvier, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 36 °F

    We left Key West, Florida early in the morning. Got MacDonald’s for breakfast and headed north. It was about 600 miles to Brunswick, GA where we found an indoor Black Light Mini Golf place and Donna won in a close game 44 to 45 strokes. The course was fun and challenging. It was a pleasant surprise to find a place indoors and fun like this.

    Then another 100+ miles and couple of hours to land at a Day’s Inn in Hardeeville, SC. This was a very decent hotel for a one night stop.

    What all this driving did was get us out of Florida, got Mini Golf in Georgia, and land in South Carolina so we could hit Congaree National Park the next morning. It was along day of driving but work out for our schedule. By this time we are entering into our fourth week of traveling, and have four more National Parks to visit, and we could start to see our Northstar home to East Windsor, Connecticut.    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 21: Dinner “Bobahus” Big Coppitt Key

    10 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Wanting to NOT l with parking and traffic in Key West proper, we opted to take the highway out of Key West in search of a place to eat. We found this nice little place with just the right character for the trip.

    Music outside was loud - we stayed inside - The food took a while to get served - But, it was well worth the wait. Service was excellent. We did enjoy the Key Lime pie for desert. Would highly recommend this restaurant as a fun place, with lots of character, and excellent food.    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 21: Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas 1:2

    10 janvier, États Unis ⋅ 🌬 72 °F

    There are three ways to get to Dry Tortugas - Boat/Ferry (can’t be a private boat), Sea Plane (can’t be private plane), or swim (just to far). We opted for the plane ride. The ferry is much cheaper (need to get ferry tickets weeks in advance) but the plane ride in the second half of the day was perfect. When the plane arrived at about 3:00 pm the last group of ferry people were leaving. Two planes, about 24 people, we had the island to ourselves. Except for a small group of tent campers already on the island. Well worth the extra money.

    The pilot did and excellent job pointing out ship wrecks, sharks, turtles, and dolphins along the route, as well as, telling us history and antidotes along the way.

    This is one of the least visited National Parks - You must visit it. Donna and I got our Jr. Ranger booklets and went to work and was able to get sworn in as Junior Rangers for Dry Tortugas National Park.

    This park is very remote and not kept up as nicely as other parks. The visitor center needs a major upgrade. I wish they would add more funding to this park. If I was to be a park ranger I would love being at this remote park, the solitude and knowing I could do things to help this park be even nicer.

    The history is interesting - the goal of this park was to protect the Mississippi River from foreign intruders. By the time the park was built - war technology had changed so much that the walls would have easily been destroyed. Three of President Lincoln assassination conspirators; Dr. Mudd, Samuel Arnold, and Edman Spangler were imprisoned at Dry Tortugas for a life sentence of hard labor.

    However, in general the intent of the government project for building Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas was pretty much a failed project.

    If you love camping and solitude this would be a place to spend some time. Like all of the parks we have visited I wish we could have spent more time here.

    #drytortugas #nationalparks    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 20: Ernest Hemingway’s Home Key West

    9 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Truly Ernest Hemingway was a renaissance man.

    Our tour guide did an amazing job telling us about his homes, wives, cats, and life. The house is wonderful. These are the most photographed cats in the world. If you are a photographer, artist, or just want a place to absorb creative energy this is a must visit stop. I would love to have his office.En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 20: Key West, Florida

    9 janvier, États Unis ⋅ 🌬 59 °F

    Today’s goal was to get to Key West Florida. It was about a three hour drive, 130 miles from Florida City to Key West. It’s a pretty drive for a while then got boring. We checked into our hotel about 1:00 pm and then went out to explore Key West. We took the hotel shuttle into town.

    We had fish & chips at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, with margaritas, of course! We visited Ernest Hemingway’s home (See separate post) Then we walked Duval Street to the Southern most point of the United States, to get pictures of everyone in line - getting ready to get the mandatory selfie at the southern most point marker.

    We then went to the very start of US Route 1, mile marker 0 … I am sure many of us have Route 1 memories some where along the route from Florida to Fort Kent Maine. (my mom try is driving Route 1 from Foxboro, Mass into Boston, Mass - and the Norwood Speedway on Route 1.

    Now, I have added to the bucket list needing to visit Fort Kent Maine, to get the selfie at the other end of Route 1.

    After a bit more walking to the hotel shuttle pick up point, only to learn we missed the shuttle and had an hour wait for the next one - We called an Uber back to the hotel.

    The weather in Key West is great. It is the ultimate tourist beach town. We are happy we were not there at peak season - it would be a zoo. Overall, our this whole trip was off-peak and the timings for visiting the places we visited was perfect. Weather has been on our side. No major crowds or long lines.    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 19: Hotel Day, Florida City, FL

    8 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 50 °F

    Yesterday, we left the Hollywood Tower Beach Hotel, headed just 90 minutes south to Florida City, Hilton Home 2. We have a couple of days before we need to get to Key West - a little under 4 hour drive from where we are staying.

    Paul, had Art History homework to complete. While Donna found a touch-less car wash to get the “bird stuff” off of the Mazda - we were the recipients of an air attack from a bird strike a couple of days back when traveling to Biscayne National Park. The car looks better now. Donna brought back sandwich’s from Subway - this was a perfect lunch.

    After lunch we headed to the Palmetto Golf Course, in Miami about 30 minutes away. They have a mini golf course there as well. It is very nicely laid out and some of the holes are very challenging. Paul was not on his game. Donna crushed Paul with a final score of 51 to 60. After Paul’s humiliating defeat, we headed back to the hotel. Paul did a bit more homework and is happy to be caught up. Donna just relaxed - the TV got turned on for a bit - then time for bed.

    Tomorrow we drive to Key West. We will be in Key West Jan 9 and leave on Jan 11th.

    Three weeks is a long time to travel in a car. Taking suitcases in and out, eating on the road, no sense of a home base. We have been to six National Parks and one National Preserve. Each place has its own unique character. It would be nice to have more time to explore the parks and hike around. We have four more parks to visit to make our goal of ten parks on this trip.

    Yes, we are a bit tired, but we are doing good. The adventure continues.    En savoir plus

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 18: Everglades National Park (2:2)

    7 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    Here are some more pictures from the Everglades. It was worth the extra drive to Flamingo point to see the manatees. Also, had some fun with pictures of the trees.

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 18: Everglades National Park (1:2)

    7 janvier, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    We checked out of the Hollywood Beach Tower and did MacDonalds for breakfast then headed to the Everglades National Park.

    Since the Junior Ranger booklets were combined with other parks we went to the Ranger desk and got sworn in and received our badges. The ranger gave us some tips on where to drive and what to see. We saw manatee’s, all sorts of birds and watershed plant life. We even visited one of the old Nike Stations, which was closed down in 1979.En savoir plus

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