North America
- California, Independent travel, North America, Outdoor Activities, Photography, Travel Blog, USA, Walking, Wildlife
California: Chill Time Before We Head Home
Underfoot the ground is parched, rock hard and dusty, the sun shines hot from crystal skies and occasional breezes rustle the trees and send dust clouds up into small eddies while only marginally cooling the heat. Tufts of weed and grass remain but seem to be turning to pale yellow by the hour, some already sun kissed enough to disintegrate into more dust if we step on them. It’s all very different from the verdant forests and regular rain of the last three weeks. Spring is turning into summer into the mountains above Los Angeles. Acton, the small town which is my daughter Lindsay’s home, receives its hot days of…
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On The Road Again: From Smoky Mountains To Sweet Home Alabama
It’s with a real sense of occasion that we set off from Gatlinburg through the greenery which is this morning made even more intense by the glorious bright sunshine brightening the leafage and dappling the roadway. We’re on the road again on the final leg of our southern states road trip. Ahead of us lies an 850-mile journey from the Smoky Mountains back to New Orleans where we will return the rental car and catch a flight to Los Angeles; splitting the trip into three sections means two more small town one night stands on the way. Anticipation is buzzing inside the Chevy. With more time between check out and…
- History, Independent travel, North America, Outdoor Activities, Photography, Tennessee, Travel Blog, USA, Walking, Wildlife
Smoky Mountains, Black Bears & The Trail Of Tears: Gatlinburg, Tennessee
It’s the sort of thing you take with a pinch of salt, advice placed inside the apartment on what to do if you meet a bear when you go out the door. I mean, it’s never really going to happen, is it…. Except it does. On our fourth, and last, night here, we set off towards town for our last evening meal, and get no more than 50 yards from our door when we come face to face with a young black bear in the street outside. Thankfully he or she is more scared than we are, and turns and trots the other way, soon joined by what looks like…
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Non-Stop Nashville: 4 Days In Music City, Then Time For A Change
The Interstate cuts a sunken swathe right through the heart of Nashville, the gleaming skyscrapers of the city telling of its recently gained reputation as an economic powerhouse. Giant companies such as AT&T, FedEx, Nissan and Bridgestone have all set up major bases here as Nashville grows in confidence and influence, commerce clearly adding another string to its bow. Or maybe another string to its guitar. It may have made that move, but as we walk down Broadway (aka Honky Tonk Highway) for the first time there’s absolutely no mistaking the fact that Music City is still Music City, not only another site of huge musical origins and influence but…
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Walking In Memphis, Singing The Blues
“Hey guys, how you doin’”, calls the guy on the corner of Beale Street as we wander out to explore Memphis for the first time. “Well”, he continues when we tell him we’ve just arrived, “Memphis is about four things. There’s barbecue, there’s the blues, there’s Elvis Presley and there’s Martin Luther King”. Interesting that he says barbecue first. You know, when learning about a new place on our travels, we often feel as if we’re unravelling history to piece together what has made that town or city what it is today. Memphis is to turn out to be the exact opposite: our time here is all about learning that…
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Hot Springs & Little Rock: Exploring Arkansas
Bathhouse Row is once again an elegant and proud place. Thoughtfully restored in the last decade after years of decay following the collapse of Hot Springs’ illicit economy, the eight buildings now form an impressive collection which speaks of quality and indulgence. Once again visitors flock to the town to enjoy the calming – some say healing – properties of the pure, hot waters from the springs. The adaptation of the bathhouses to the modern day vacation market has been cleverly done. Five of the bathhouses have been developed into your typical spa resort destinations with attractively presented updated facilities and prices to match. One has retained more of the…
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Hot Springs Arkansas And Its Remarkable Story
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Hot Springs Arkansas And Its Remarkable Story
It isn’t difficult to work out why this town grew in the place that it did – the clue is in the name Hot Springs, after all. What is fascinating about this attractive little town though is its history, not just its social history but its centuries old geological history too. Unlike most other places centred on hot springs, this one is nothing to do with volcanic activity, there is nothing of the sort around here. Here, the gushing of seriously hot water from numerous springs in what is now a National Park, is caused by a fascinating chain of events which literally takes millennia to evolve. The rain which…
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Hot Springs & Little Rock: Exploring Arkansas
- History, Independent travel, New Orleans, North America, Photography, Travel Blog, USA, Wildlife, World food
New Orleans Is Unique, Y’All
Unique is an adjective regularly used to describe New Orleans, with guide books and websites consistently referring to the city as “unique in the whole of the USA”, a description based largely on the amalgam of cultures which have clashed, fused and evolved into the persona which The Big Easy enjoys today. To us, it feels like this fusion and integration has created a single style: a Nawliner is one particular type of person, regardless of historical cultural background. No barriers, no segregation, joyous inclusivity. You are more from this city than from any one particular background. A big guy is playing Barry White and Bill Withers on his keyboard…
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New Orleans And All That Jazz
“Hey y’all. Y’all havin’ a good time?” Everyone responds. “O’ course y’all havin’ a good time. You is in Nawlins and in Nawlins everyone has a good time. If you ain’t havin’ a good time, den you is in da wrong place” And so the scene is set for our time in New Orleans….. We’ve given ourselves some changes of scene which have bordered on culture shock in the past, but we’re not sure we’ve ever made quite such a leap as this one. One minute we’re in the Amazon rainforest listening to the gentle lapping of the waters of the Rio Negro, the next we’re taking a stroll down…
- Africa, Asia, Independent travel, North America, Photography, South America, Travel Blog, USA, Vietnam
Crossing The Line
We’ll be crossing the equator on Monday night this week as we head out for our first ever visit to South America, arriving in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday morning. Perhaps surprisingly this will be only our second ever foray across the equator, our one previous destination south of the line was our honeymoon trip to Tanzania and Zanzibar back in 2013. Given that Rio will be the furthest point south we have so far visited, our thoughts have turned inevitably to the extremities of our previous adventures. The furthest point north so far is St Petersburg, a beautiful and majestic city which we visited in the depths of its…
