Last year I had the opportunity to visit Daytona Speedway, and I’m remindsx of it today while the Daytona 500 is running. To be honest, I’m not a NASCAR fan, nor really of racing in general – although I have plenty of friends and family members who are. But I went to the speedway with an open mind to learn about a sport than fascinates millions of people. This photo was taken in front of the stands (the ones you see, if you’re watching on television today). It’s an iconic shot with the stands, pit row, and the finish line right at hand. After some time to take photos, we were loaded up into a pace car for a few laps around the 2 1/2 mile tri-oval course. Although our speed was nothing like the race speeds, we did get […]
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Traveling the East Coast Underground Railroad
In honor of Black History Month, I am pleased to feature this guest post on the Underground Railroad, a part of history that’s well worth spending time learning about. —- Over the years, I’ve found that introducing history to my children through travel has made more of a difference than anything they’ve read in history books. Visiting the places where history actually happened gives children and adults so much more knowledge. It also gives them a real connection to the past. As February is Black History Month, I’ve been researching Underground Railroad locations to bring history to life in our neighborhood and in preparation for our forthcoming family travels. Here are the most interesting Underground Railroad destinations on the East Coast which are open to the public: Florida – Fort Gadsden State Park, Route 65, Sumatra – This abandoned fort, […]
Read MoreSplendor in San Francisco: Visiting the Palace of Fine Arts
In the middle of San Francisco’s Walter S. Johnson Park, sits the Palace of Fine Arts, an easily recognizable piece of San Francisco architecture. You’ve likely seen it in many photographs, with attractive shots both by day and by night, so you’ll want to make plans for visiting the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California. The Palace was designed as part of the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition, an event hosted by San Francisco to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal. It was also seen as an opportunity for San Francisco to rise from the ashes of the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire. A site was chosen in what is now known as the Marina District, and architect Bernard Maybeck designed the Roman-themed/Greek-styled Palace of Fine Arts. Exposition exhibits are temporary and therefore made with collapsible materials, so […]
Read MoreForture Cookie Factory Tour in San Francisco
Many cities with large Chinese and Chinese-American communities have fortune cookie factories, and many provide tours. If you are in San Francisco’s Chinatown, you can find a fortune cookie factory tour at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, in an alley historically known for its brothels and gambling. You can smell the fortune cookies being made, so just follow the wafting smell of sugar wafer, and you won’t be able to miss the fortune cookie factory. At the factory, the cookies are still made the old fashioned way — by hand. The cookies themselves are formed by batter poured into a mold, making a flat, 3-inch wafer. After they cook on a griddle-like, rotating machine, they are picked up either by hand, or with chop sticks, and a fortune is inserted into the center of the wafer. They are then […]
Read More5 Awesome Day Trips From San Francisco
A guest post for today, Black Friday, as I take a long weekend off to enjoy time with family and friends. With these great ideas to get you thinking, there’s no reasons not to get away from San Francisco for a fun day trip. —- San Francisco is a wonderful place to visit not only because of all the things to see in the city, but because there are plenty of day trips you can take as well. San Francisco is located within 2-3 hours of many other must-see Northern California attractions. Here are five ideas for awesome day trips from San Francisco that will be sure to please visitors with a variety of interests. Napa Valley – Located in Napa County north of San Francisco, Napa Valley is one of the top wine regions in the United States. It […]
Read More30 Free Things to Do in Santa Barbara
In honor of Buy Nothing Day, Friday, November 26th, this post will try to convince you that the best things in life are free – even when it comes to travel! So let go of your need for expensive 5-star hotels, gourmet meals, and spa treatments. While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying those delectable luxuries (and I do enjoy them), sometimes you need to get back in touch with reality by traveling on the cheap – or free. There are plenty of things to do and see for FREE, even though you might be traveling to an expensive part of the country. With its beautiful location on the ocean, and its lovely temperate weather, Santa Barbara is often referred to as the American Riviera, and common sense tells you that’s not going to come cheap. Still, this seaside community located […]
Read MoreRocky Balboa, Art & Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is as important to the City of Brotherly Love as it was to boxer Rocky Balboa, the unlikely here of the movie Rocky and its sequels. Rocky, played by Sylvester Stallone, trained for his first big fight by running up the steps of the museum. While a visit to the museum will usually find someone running up the steps, known as the Rocky Steps, merely walking up them gives you entrance to a very special world of art and culture. And yes, there’s plenty of people grasping their hands overhead in the Rocky stance! The museum was founded in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition and opened to the public the following year. The current building, quasi-Greek revival in design, was opened in 1928. The museum houses impressive collections of paintings from Renaissance masters, […]
Read MoreDinner & Movie at Foreign Cinema
Long the classic date, dinner and a movie usually requires delicate timing. And early dinner and a late movie? Or an early movie and a late dinner? With both choices fraught with potential for timing disasters and arguments, why not do both at the same time — at San Francisco’s Foreign Cinema. Movies, which start at dusk, are screened in the covered outdoor courtyard. Seating is available in the courtyard, inside by the fire, and upstairs in the semi-private mezzanine that overlooks the dining room. In addition to the dining room, cocktails and a complete menu are served in the main bar and on the patio. The menu and wine list, which changes daily, are heavy on California-Mediterranean cuisine, and features a good selection of plates suitable for sharing. If you’re not ready to call it a night after dinner and […]
Read MoreHonolulu’s Punchbowl Honors Veterans
Overlooking the city of Honolulu is the extinct volcano Punchbowl Crater, home to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, frequently referred to as Punchbowl Cemetery, or simply the Punchbowl. In addition to its tremendous views of the city, Waikiki, Diamond Head, and Pearl Harbor, the Punchbowl is the final resting place for veterans of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. During holidays, the individual graves are decorated with small flags, making it a quite sobering view. Marble slabs called the Courts of the Missing list the names of military personnel who are missing in action or who were lost or buried at sea (in photo above). At the base of the staircase leading up to the Courts of the Missing reads the following inscription: In these gardens are recorded the names of […]
Read MoreHotel Review: ARIA Hotel at City Center, Las Vegas
Earlier this month, while I was in Las Vegas for Blog World & New Media Expo, I had the pleasure of staying at the ARIA Hotel at City Center. Over the years, I’ve spent more than my fair share of time in Las Vegas. It’s a haven for conference, convention, and trade shows, and at only a couple hours out of Seattle, it’s a popular choice for a quick getaway weekend. I’m not jaded at everything that the city has to offer, it’s just that I’ve seen most of it and so it takes a lot to impress me. But impress it did! Like most hotel properties on the strip, ARIA is best reached from the airport via cab. The fare from the airport to the hotel will run about $15-16, including tip and the required airport add-on fee. The […]
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