If you have ever fantasized about taking a nature walk, the Mountains to Sea Trail in North Carolina might be the perfect vacation for you. When it’s completed, it will span 1000 miles. The directions are easy: just keep walking until you hit the ocean.
This trail just won the Steward for the Environment Award from REI. I don’t know what I would do with a 1000-mile trail through the wilderness. It would be hard not to keep going. I can imagine me urging Mike on, “Let’s just walk a little bit further. I’m sure the end is soon, we’ve been walking all day. It’s not like it’s going to take us all the way to the ocean or anything.” Hours later, exhausted and only partially through the trail we would come across a map, showing us that, yes it DOES take us all the way to the ocean.
I only had one thing on my list for this trip to Las Vegas. I wanted to see the Neon Museum that’s on Fremont Street. I had never been to the Fremont Street Experience, which is a travesty since I’ve been to Las Vegas so many times. There were only two interesting things at the Fremont Street Experience. One of them was Deep Fried Oreos at Mermaids and the other was the Neon Museum.
There is no charge to wander the dark area just off Fremont Street. I would have felt unsafe, but there was a security guard there, so I let my guard down and took out my camera to take pictures. The signs are anything but PC with depictions of scantily clad women, Indians and “smokin’ good times,” but I love them all anyway. Both the neon and the paint were in really good repair. It’s wonderful to see these old signs restored and beautiful.
If you are planning on going, I recommend going at night so you can see them in their fullest glory. A tripod is very helpful to get a steady photograph of the signs, especially since many of them flash on and off. It’s difficult to stay steady AND click at the exact right time, so a tripod is a must for photography.
One note of warning: The Fremont Street area isn’t the safest place to be in Las Vegas. Make sure you secure your valuables, stay alert and go to a busier spot if you are worried about someone following you. On our visit, we had a man follow us half-way to our car. All of us were ready to attack the guy if he had tried anything, but because it was four-to-one, he decided to leave us alone.
Where:The Neon Museum: 821 N Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV Google Map Phone: (702) 387-6366 Admission: Free, outdoor exhibit
The Boneyard is available for photography by appointment only. Next visit to Vegas, I’m shelling out the 50 bucks to see the boneyard!
After our big trip to Texas, I got home and wanted to hide in my house for months. I didn’t even want to think about traveling. I didn’t even want to write entries for Starling Travel about other people traveling. That’s how much I wanted to concentrate on home. It has been a little over two months, and now I’m finally able to think about leaving the house.
So we planned a road trip to Las Vegas over the Thanksgiving weekend! Stay tuned for hopes, plans, ideas and actual footage!
Tom Negrino is one of those lucky guys who has good friends. His buddies, Marc and Stormy, know of a good bunch of eating and wine places and they took Tom with them when they hit them. He gives us the wrap-up here:
Josh Leo is going to take you to the Grand Haven Salmon Festival:
The best advice came from one of the participants when asked how he chooses:
“I look for the long lines.”
Apparently, the fish and wine people with the longest lines have the best food. That makes sense.
I love Josh’s evaluation:
“Meat on a stick. I don’t think there’s anything better in this world.”
Josh invites us all to come next year:
“Come down next year for yourself and enjoy all the awesome salmon and wine craziness that’s going on here in Grand Haven. Yeah, it’s a great time! Good food, good people, good wine: thumbs up all the way around!”
I just love Josh’s reviews of the events in Grand Haven, Michigan. It shows me that no matter where you live, there is something exciting going on to enjoy.
I love to watch these drives across country that are sped up like this. Back in 1988, I was trapped in the back of my grandparents’ car on many a road trip that looked very similar to this video, except much, much slower. I bet if you’re familar with the area, the video is even more interesting to watch.
With a setting that looks like a postcard, the Casa Rio sits on the Riverwalk attracting tourists with the scent of their food and their singing. I live in a town with excellent Mexican food, so I expected touristy faire at Casa Rio and to be honest, that’s what I got. The food was good, but nothing was even near the spiciness that I’m used to. I enjoyed the enchiladas and queso sauce on my chips, but nothing brought tears to my eyes.
What I enjoyed most was the singing.
We were surprised at the reasonable prices of the food, so we sprang the ten bucks for a song. We figured we would have paid twice what we were paying in any other touristy place, so we were happy to splurge. The group singing played typical songs that are requested all the time like La Bamba and Tijuana Taxi, but they did it in such a congenial manner that I had a blissful moment when they were playing. Friendly AND professional, all at once, I felt so grateful that I had paid for a song. It was worth it for that moment of Zen.
Where:Casa Rio
430 E Commerce St
San Antonio, TX Google Map
Phone: (210) 225-6718
Fax: (210) 225-2216
During our trip to San Antonio, Mike and I took a break and went to Michaels Arts and Crafts. We went there to look at arts supplies and just relax. We have Michaels in Salt Lake City, so we thought it would be a familiar reminder of home. Instead, it was a very different store. There were two full aisles of ribbons in bright, primary colors. It was so interesting, I took photos. Michaels announced to the residents of Texas that they were your Homecoming Headquarters, but I had never seen anything like this for Homecoming. What was all this stuff?
While I looked at all the ribbons, flowers and megaphones, I became more and more confused. I asked one guy who worked at service desk what it was all about, but he was unable to explain it to me. I returned to the ribbons. A kindly woman said to me, “Ah, it’s Homecoming Time. They’ve got to get their mums ready.” I pounced on her like a housecat left alone too often. With some coaxing, Joan Anderson was willing to explain it all to me.
Texas sure does love their high school football. Using the artificial mums, ribbons and other decorations, you can create a Homecoming Mum. They are for girls and they wear them to the Homecoming game. It’s not for the dance, just the game (you get real flowers for the dance). This is only for football. Basketball doesn’t get this kind of attention.
I don’t know if this is still the case, but Joan says that the boys’ mothers would make the mums so the boys could give them to the girls they like best. A girl could have many different mums from many boys. The girl with the most mums is the most popular.
“Look there. There’s one over here that has three mums on it. This girl would have to be very special, wouldn’t she?”
Part of me wants to get a whole pile of mums from every boy in town. I want to be the girl with the most mums. I want to be very special. This Texan practice feels very guttural to me. I can feel it in my bones and gut. We had nothing like this in Salt Lake City, Utah. Who knew I would find something so unique and foreign a mere 1800 miles away.
Sometimes I can film exactly how I see things. I don’t need to edit the footage or anything. The film looks exactly how I remember it. It makes me feel exactly how I did the day I shot the film. That’s what happened this day in September when I filmed the bells at the San Jose Mission.
The bells seemed to tell me that we had to hurry and leave, but I hadn’t even gotten near the church when they rang. I wanted to capture all of it, but my traveling companions were hot and bored. They waited in the car while I hurriedly took photos. I just wanted to relax and listen to the bells.
Where: 
