About thirty miles north of Jacksonville, close to the Georgia-Florida border, is the 13 mile Amelia Island. We have stayed in the historic district several times. This short travelogue will focus on our journeys to this charming community. Amelia Island is the southernmost part of the Sea Islands chain that stretches above Charleston, SC. Fernandina Beach is the main community…
On our second sojourn out to see the famous Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque we visited in 2018 the interesting New Mexico town of Taos. It is over a two-hour car-ride, or 130 miles away from Albuquerque. The area is well worth exploring for at least two nights if not more. The area was settled in 1610 with Spanish settlers. …
From Kuhului to Hana, Maui the road is about 65 miles in distance. Normally, it would be an hour drive on most roads—not to Hana. The drive will surely take over two hours and even up to four hours depending how many stops you make. There are 59 bridges. And, most of these bridges are one lane. You have to…
On the western side of the Big Island of Hawaii lies Kailua-Kona region (I will call the area “Kona” for brevity). It is the “drier-side” of the Big Island getting an average of less than 20 inches of rain compared to the 130 inches in Hilo, located on windward or eastern side. In 1978, the first Ironman Triathlon took place. It…
There are about 272 days in a year that Hilo, Hawaii receives some rain. The annual rainfall is usually above 130 inches a year. However, there was one year the city only received 60 inches. I would be prepared, though, for rain. In reality, Hilo is the “Fourth” wettest city in America. There are three other cities in Alaska…
In 2019 my daughter Pamela and I made a trip to Iceland—in early February. We stayed five nights in the capital of Iceland—Reykjavik. In a previous expose, we detailed our experiences in this interesting and modern Icelandic city. We used the comfortable Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Marina as our home base. We upgraded to a “sea view “room. As told before,…
The usual length of our travels is a month or longer. But, in 2019 my daughter, Pamela and I took a five-day sojourn to majestic Iceland—in the beginning of February. The current winter weather reminds me of our experiences. It was definitely the “coldest” we would ever be. My wife, Kathie, wanted nothing to do with this adventure as it…
We flew into Naples in early June 2018 from Rome. It took about fifty minutes. There is a dedicated bus to Sorrento right outside the airport. The cost was about $10. If you go by bus, make sure you seat on the right-side to see the beautiful coastline. Going back to the airport, you sit on the left-side. A taxi…
I learned about the destruction of Pompeii in grade school. As the story is told a “farmer found an artifact revealing the city” which is over a 1000 years old. Every so often, National Geographic would have an article about this city that once was lost in time. I have been blessed to have visited Pompeii twice: once when I…
There is no question that this region is one of the more spectacular places to visit in Italy. Other places would be the Almafi coast, the Isle of Capri, Venice, Corsica, the Vatican and Sicily. We flew into Milan’s International airport, Malpenza, and stayed a few days. We were forced to stay an extra day due to a railroad strike.…