New York Travel - The Other Grand Canyon

Calling Letchworth State Park, the "Grand Canyon of the East" is a rather large exaggeration, but it doesn't take away from the fact that right here in the backyard of New Yorkers is one of the most scenic areas of the eastern United States. The Genesee River roars through the gorge over three major waterfalls between cliffs as high as 600 feet. Comprising 14,350 acres in the heart of three of New York State's most diversified vacation regions, Finger Lakes, Niagara Frontier and Chautauqua-Allegheny. Unlike the true Grand Canyon, this park is immersed in lush forests along its roughly 17 mile stretch of river.
There's a seemingly endless supply of things to do in this spectacular park in every season. Its popular for hiking, camping, kayaking, whitewater rafting, swimming, horseback riding, biking, hot air ballooning, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. I'm told in the fall it's nothing short of stunning, but this Florida girl was completely impressed by its summer show. Nearby there are winery tours, the Corning Glass Works, sailing on the Finger Lakes, the Eastman House, Sonnenberg Gardens, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Niagara Falls, and the historic Erie Canal.

I'm dreaming of returning in the fall (one day) to stay at the Glen Iris Inn which has to be near the top of the list for bed and breakfasts with the most scenic views (pictured in the arial views). I also intend to go hot air ballooning and horseback riding. As I said, to my brother, I can't imagine living up here and not visiting the park often. It truly is grand!

State Park

¸.•*¨*•*¨•*¨*•*¨A Little More Tennessee

It's hard to believe we were just here a few short months ago and up to our knees in snow. Now transformed it runs down the mountain melodically - every rock a note to play. Out of shape, like most tourists and wearing the wrong shoes, you hike feeling the altitude fight you all the way but, every trail turn beckons you further and every view is restorative. You keep going knowing that the next one may be more spectacular, the next stream more powerfully beautiful or that in the next tree you may behold a slumbering bear.
Here is our Tennessee story as only pictures can tell.•*¨*•*¨

Lastly, I hope this encourages you to visit Tennessee. It's truly beautiful. And if you are lucky enough to experience it with friends and family I have evidence it can be truly wonderful!

The Lure of Our Past

I have always found it fascinating that one whiff of a certain scent can send us time traveling in an instant. Helen Keller said it well, "Smell is a potent wizard that transports us across thousands of miles and all the years we have lived." The scent of lemon grass will always remind me of this home and the smell of fresh sliced mangos rockets me back to my grandpa's yard or my mom's kitchen in Pompano Beach. Even though it took me a long time to like mangos and although they're still not my favorite food I find the smell intoxicating. It's the sweet perfume of our memories. Perhaps nothing is more memorable than a smell, but whatever the sense that tugs and pulls us toward our past the longing to reconnect is irresistible. Absent the memory pensieve of a clever wizard our senses do a remarkable job of calling forth the past and although we can't always put a finger on the specific event the bond still exists. 

Fort Lauderdale Beach, FL

Like almost everyone, I could sit for hours listening to the sound of waves lapping the shore, but unlike everyone else that sound for me means home. Lucky, I know. Growing up in Southeast Florida with a father that was a lifeguard on its shore it is no surprise that most of my childhood memories are water related. Even in my adult life I could never go far from the shore. My parent's claim I drank nearly half the ocean dancing and singing in the waves as a kid so maybe I'm not 2/3 water, but rather 2/3 salt water. I am most definitely a water girl.

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Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse 

My mom's favorite lighthouse. She met my dad on this beach.

If you are lucky enough your connection to a place begins with the stories passed down from generation to generation, builds on your own experiences and passes through to your children. Southeast Florida is such a place for me. Even though I no longer desire to live there, like an addiction I cannot go without it for too long. 

Florida Keys

The smell of Mangroves and suntan oil mixed with salt air sets me on the shores of Marathon in the Florida Keys and the smell of spiced rum or the taste of oyster crackers puts me in Key West or on a sailboat in the Atlantic Ocean. Cherished memories, occasionally exaggerations and, in some cases, borderline fictional events can make us laugh and cry and reconnect with our core. But it is the untold stories of adventures yet to come that stir my mind with infinite possibilities.  

Sharing fond memories and the beauty of my birthplace with others is irresistible for me whether in words or pictures. I hope it inspires you to revisit some of your own cherished memories or stirs your pot of possibilities.

GOT MILK?
Definitely not your
typical photo from the
Half Shell Raw Bar in Key West,
but it is my favorite.

Other than by boat this is the best way to get around Key West.

Pompano Beach, Jan. 2, 1958
The lifeguard and the nurse on their wedding day
Love you Mom and Dad

The Annual Trek to the Ft. Myers Beach Sand Sculpture Festival

This years Sand Sculpting Festival was again incredible.  We've only been attending for the past 3 years but this was actually the 24 Annual American Sand Sculpting Championship and is a rather impressive event. There are food and craft vendors and a few kid activities. Many people make it a day at the beach and quite a few attendees even arrive by boat.
The hands down (or in this case hands up) winner for me was The Headache.  The sculptors creativity, originality and attention to detail was simply amazing.

The Headache

Of course everyone's favorites are different.  Morgan's favorite was this one called Pigs on a Blanket from the Amateur Competition area. Pretty amazing for an amateur!

Below are some more examples. There's pretty much something for everyone's taste.

Homage to native Americans

Alas, I could not resist including these parting shots!

FOOTNOTE:  I can't believe I missed this! I'm covering it anyway because I'm sure not going to miss it next year and you shouldn't either!  

The Sarasota Chalk Festival celebrated the spectacle of Street Painting, a 400 year-old performance art cultural tradition, during the weekend of October 30 & 31st when it became America’s First International Street Painting Festival. The art-form that originated in Europe when Madonnari (street-painters) would recreate images of the Madonna on the surface of the streets for tips. Professional I Madonnari (street-painters) and artists from all over the world transformed South Pineapple Avenue and all of Oak Street from Pineapple to Palm Avenue in Burns Square into a gallery of fine art using the street pavement as their canvas and chalk as their medium. 

Flock to Fort Myers Beach

This post is about the visual. No words seemed necessary. Enjoy!

La Florida

A true trip through historic Florida would not be complete without its earliest beginning and if I had only one opportunity to show you the beauty of Florida it might just be this place.  Of the hundreds of beautiful places in Florida this place is the cherry and it is rich in history.  But it might not be where you think.  I'm not in St. Augustine, not yet, but I'm close.
Guana River State Park is located along A1A just north of St. Augustine.  Few places exemplify Florida's beauty the way this place does. It is historical preservation the way nature intended it and it is as close to pristine as I've seen. For those of you who are history buffs a 1592 account by a Spanish historian has led present day historians to believe that Guana River was the site of Ponce de Leon's first landing in Florida but the precise location is still unknown.
According to the state of Florida within its (the GTMNER) 73,352 acres are beaches, sand dunes, salt marshes, mangroves, tidal wetlands, tidal creeks, oyster bars, estuarine lagoons, maritime hardwood hammock, freshwater depression marshes, pond pine flatwoods and shell mound forests. It is also an important calving ground for the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. The Guana River State Park which is part of the GTMNER (Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve) is where I landed, me and Ponce de Leon. For me, what's most interesting about this place is its awe inspiring beauty. I think Ponce de Leon was inspired by its beauty as well since he named it La Florida or place of flowers.  It can provoke quiet reflection through a nature hike or kayak trip but it can also inspire the minds of a whole hoard of fourth graders at its research facility or one single eleven year old transforming the idea of snow angels into sea angels on its beach. You'll know when you see it that this is how it was meant to be.  You may even feel as though you've just discovered La Florida!

Looking toward the park from the beach dunes.

Above the dunes.

Road Trip - Day 2, Part 2

After Micanopy I headed up 441 past Payne's Prairie through Gainsville and then on to High Springs.  I didn't have time to stop and explore Payne's Prairie but I did stop at the boardwalk viewing area on 441 to snap a few photos.   Birdwatching is unavoidable here (over 270 species) and I loved their sign!
After that I bee-lined it to High Springs a place I haven't visited in a while.  It use to be one of my favorite stops on the way to NW Florida but I've changed my route over the years.  It was time I revisited! I headed straight for my favorite lunch stop, The Great Outdoor Trading Company store and restaurant, only to find that it had closed two years earlier.  Luckily, a family that loved it as much as I did (actually more) bought the place, restored the historic building and turned it into a wonderful restaurant and named it the Great Outdoors Restaurant.  I'll be blogging more about them later but here are a couple photos to wet your appetite.  I had a delicious Pretzel encrusted Grouper sandwich accompanied by Naked Ed (more on this on my way back through).  Some things you just have to experience twice.

After that I shot a few goats, cows and even a dog. He was the least happy about being shot!