My January is half melancholy, half relief. I slip back into well-worn patterns, and find comfort in the familiar. There is beauty there, and surprises too. Ailsa’s Travel Theme, Routine, made me think of these — glimpses of other people’s ordinary moments. 1. Early commuters streaming to work in São Paulo. An hour earlier, I ambled through the sleeping city to São … Continue reading
As you explore the Big Island, several names keep coming up. Kamehameha the Great, the king who united the Hawaiian archipelago, and Ka’ahumanu, his formidable queen, are the island’s most dominant mortal protagonists. Among gods, two sisters lead the way: Poli’ahu, the goddess of ice and snow, and her perpetual nemesis, Pele, the goddess of fire, a pretty big deal on terrain … Continue reading
I love this week’s travel challenge by Ailsa: Waves. So many memories come to mind, but here are five favorites. Smooth waves of petrified sand at Antelope Canyon, with its neighbors Owl and Rattlesnake Canyons easily the most breathtaking landscape I’ve explored, ageless and intimate 2. Sinuous streaks of lava on Hawaii’s Big Island — … Continue reading
Los Angeles behind us, we headed to Las Vegas and its neon. But, first, a detour: a brief eyeful of Death Valley National Park. One spring, I mean to return and better explore its 3.4 million acres–this is, after all, the largest park in the contiguous United States. On this trip, I fell in love with the … Continue reading
When as a child I imagined America, the mighty Niagara Falls, along with Times Square, the Grand Canyon, and the Golden Gate Bridge, were my frequent backdrops. So when work brought me to Toronto, it was an easy decision to make: A day trip to the Falls, as soon as I could manage it. We … Continue reading
If you find yourself on the Big Island’s dry Kona side, don’t miss the Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, the Place of Refuge, where all sins and crimes were once forgiven. It is a magnetic place. Surrounded by a centuries-old mason wall — porous lava rocks assembled in the 1500s like a puzzle with … Continue reading
This week’s travel theme, “Below,” made me think of the serenity I felt while looking down on Harpers Ferry, where the Potomac and the Shenandoah rivers meet. It was a fine autumn day, and we decided to explore Maryland Heights, the highest of the mountains overlooking the town. Here’s what we saw: Your journey can begin … Continue reading
President Theodor Roosevelt called it “the most beautiful place around here.” Great Falls, shared by Virginia (today the Great Falls National Park) and Maryland (part of the C&O Canal National Historical Park), is our Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, rolled into one and scaled way down. It is a spot where the normally sleepy Potomac rushes … Continue reading
Costumed demonstrations at El Morro and Mount Vernon aside, I’ve never been to a large-scale reenactment. With Civil War sesquicentennial upon us, we thought we’d go big and head to Gettysburg, where annual battle reenactments have been drawing crowds for the past two decades. July 2013, the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, seemed like … Continue reading
We stumbled on it accidentally on our way to Mauna Kea and its dramatic sunset. A highway sign off Route 19 announced the Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park. It didn’t look promising — the Kona side of the Big Island is filled with large hotel developments, and this looked no different from afar, so we almost didn’t … Continue reading
I have been gone for far too long from this little page of mine. Ailsa’s weekly challenge is here to the rescue: This week’s theme is Deep. Deep like the tunnels of San Cristóbal in Puerto Rico. Down-down they go to the dungeon, with its walls peeling, grooves for explosives over your head, and–the centerpiece of … Continue reading
Our vacation on Hawaii’s Big Island was a kaleidoscope of impressions. Where to begin? I think I’ll start with our helicopter ride. We took off in Hilo, a town on the island’s rainy side. The helicopter seemed smaller than average, just big enough for four passengers and the pilot — not a bad seat in sight, … Continue reading
They budded, they bloomed, they floated to the ground. Here’s what the Tidal Basin looks like covered in a snowfall of petals, a charming farewell. More about cherry blossoms: Waiting for Cherry Blossoms The Cherry Blossoms in DC Wisteria season (late April): Dumbarton Oaks: That “Chambered Nautilus of Gardens” Waterlilies and lotus blooms (June/July): Water … Continue reading
Life is short like the three-day glory of the cherry blossom These are the glory days. There are over 3,700 cherry trees around DC’s Tidal Basin. Most of them are Yoshino cherries (Prunus x yedoensis), renown for their tangles of single, white flowers, each one a simple star of five petals. On peak bloom dates, … Continue reading
Thwarted! Our excellent Sunday plan was to wake up early and greet the sunrise at the Tidal Basin, followed by a “walk in the clouds,” an early-bird stroll among DC’s famous Yoshino cherry trees, all abloom. We came, the Sun lazily obliged–but the cherry trees? After days of delay, they are still taking a rain … Continue reading
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