Practical travel information for practical travelers
The USS Potomac was used by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as his presidential yacht, and to this day it is affectionately referred to as the “floating White House.” The ship was a 165-foot Coast Guard cutter before it was commissioned by the US Navy in 1936 and put to its new purpose. FDR hated to [...]
Do you scratch your head and wonder how they schedule routine highway and bridge repairs? I assumed that it would be a pro-active process, with planning and timing designed to work around any peak travel times. Clearly any major repairs are going to involve disruption, but I would think that the powers that be would [...]
While it may not be the Grand Canal in Venice, you can experience an authentic Venetian Gondola ride on Lake Merritt in Oakland, California. Operating year round, Gondola Servizio offers private tours (meaning you are not thrown together with strangers) on a reservation only basis. Come as a couple for a romantic sunset rid, or [...]
One of my favorite buildings in the Oakland, California skyline is the 21-story Tribune Tower. Originally opened in 1923, it was the home of the Oakland Tribune newspaper, with the top floor of the clock tower as the home for KLX Radio. After the Tower was damaged in the 1989 Loma Pieta earthquake, the newspaper [...]
I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Oakland, California, this month, and while it’s not one of my favorite cities, it is starting to grow on me. There is a vibrant Chinatown, a great place for people watching. It is also an uncomfortable dichotomy of ramshackle apartments adjacent to modern office buildings. The perpetual difference [...]
The weather cooling down at the end summer means that harvest time is just around the corner. All those lovely fall fruits and vegetables. But perhaps most importantly, it’s harvest time in the vineyards. Aaaaaaaaah, for a little taste of the grape! Last month is was Grapefest, and this month it’s the Sonoma County Harvest Fair, [...]
In addition to traveling, Mary Jo likes lingering over a cup of coffee, wandering in a museum, sipping wine at a cafe, enjoying a relaxing massage, and sharing it all with friends and readers.
Her most recent travels were to Portugal and Italy.
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