I am very excited about our upcoming cruise that follows the eastern seaboard from Fort Lauderdale up into Quebec, Canada through the St Lawrence Seaway. This will be our eighth cruise on “Princess” for good reason as we like the wide array of destinations they offer at an affordable price when we desire to travel. But this particular cruise itinerary over fourteen days length interests me for a special reason. For I’ve been granted a rare opportunity on this adventure to explore historic landmarks at seven scheduled destinations that seem relevant to important trends happening in the American news now.     

Of particular interest, I’m curious to notice the degree to which Thomas Jefferson’s time honored quote from the Declaration of Independence concerning  “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” remains alive and well during those excursions off the boat  that we choose. You can preview a brief description of each of these stopovers followed by one accompanying photo in the paragraphs below.

NEW YORK CITY

Glancing seaward beyond Battery Park in Lower Manhattan, I yearn to feel the excitement that new immigrants experienced in obtaining long sought freedoms in America as they arrived at Ellis Island in the early 20th century. Next  boarding a  “Hop On Hop Off” bus, they’ll be plenty more American patriotism to capture my interest with such iconic historic route stops at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza, Old Federal Hall, Fraunces Tavern, and The New York Stock Exchange. 

QUEBEC CITY        

In Old Quebec City, there’s an opportunity for me to time travel so to speak back to French and Indian War times in 1759 and imagine the great courage undertaken by British troops to climb up steep walls along the St. Lawrence River to reach the Plains of Abraham at that famous battlefield. Might I furthermore observe on this visit that this pivotal battle of heroic foreign conquest logically contributed to the American will decades later to fight for their independence from English “mother nation” rule during the Revolutionary War. One might consider as well that both of these wars fought in colonial times foretold the divisive manner in which MAGA Republican extremists are threatening our Constitution today.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 

During our Charleston, South Carolina  cruise free day, I foresee taking a slow amble on historic King Street or Meeting Street. Along the way we’ll view artifacts and documents displayed in  national historic monuments like the Nathaniel Russell House, and Charleston Museum. How reassuring I would feel as  a principle minded voter to notice strong evidence of our country’s Democracy principles in full display at one of America’s largest yet firmly Southern minded cities.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 

I possess a similar desire to explore on foot this historically rich city. So I will prioritize taking notice of how the rebellious  political spirit of America’s “Founding Fathers” in Boston provides worthwhile political guidance today as I observe sixteen designated historic sites along the downtown “Freedom Trail” including the so called Boston Common. 

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 

The long-existing military significance of Norfolk, Virginia stands out as America’s  largest naval base current operation. For a variety of destroyers, cruisers, submarines and  aircraft craft carriers stay ready for combat use in the area. Boat tours offered adjacent to the cruise terminal will thus enable me to assess my understanding of such strategic weaponry that vitally protects our country from  foreign attack. 

SAGUENAY, QUEBEC 

An exciting opportunity to observe North America’s historic past from a French Canadian perspective awaits as I tour the Saguenay fiords. Of course there will be gorgeous lake views along the way, but I will be also interested to examine the current cultural imprint in small villages we visit. For with potentially authoritative statements from our ex- President so prominent in the news today, it would be refreshing to find that common working people observed on our tour continue to freely pursue their traditional livelihoods north of American borders without government interference in wool processing, stained glassblowing and fresh market preparation of French cuisine

SYDNEY ( CAPE BRETON ISLAND)

A pivotal event in Canadian history happened when British forces captured the  French occupied fort of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in 1758 during the French and Indian War. Subsequently, a significant number of English loyalists would migrate to this part of Nova Scotia, Canada in opposition to the independence ideals of  the American Revolution. So from such a free will perspective, I wish to observe how successfully the English monarchy system maintains citizen allegiance to the crown as our “Best of Cape Breton” tour takes us to a picturesque harbor, rooftop garden, and a wealthy residential estate. Significantly as well, could America similarly satisfy this “consent of the people” principle if the election of 2024 elects such a  “King” to rule with unlimited term power. 

Sources Used:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_history_of_the_United_States

https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=2&smtid=1

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Grade-6-Unit-II-Document-D.pdf

When you’ve reached the holiday card only stage in communicating with a friend, you might sense that this longstanding bond between the two of you no longer exists. As you likewise observe so many people prejudging others and arguing incessantly on social media, you realize how damaging such high degree of political and moral unrest happening can be quite detrimental to your own social circle. But in overlooking such revealing life trends, Jason remained naively adamant that his longtime friend of over fifty years, Jackson, would remain his trusting companion for life. 

Being thus determined to bolster such firm beliefs about the strength of his bond with Jackson, Jason could thus easily flashback to their shared common interests in sports, music, and hard work pursuit of excellence throughout middle/high school, college years, and in their respective career professions. In particular, he could feel genuine joy now in recollecting about those close friendship moments of performing together in marching/concert band, exchanging timely resume and interview tips or engaging in lighthearted banter at a live, Major League baseball game. 

But then two events happened a few years ago to change the direction of their friendship. For one, a girl appeared in Jackson’s life to redirect his attention to get married. Following their wedlock, the desire to advance in his current position dictated that Jackson also accept reluctantly an out of state position at a higher pay. Keep in mind in this regard that Jackson loved where he lived now. So in spite of the move, he would retain a residence from his deceased parents back home and frequently fly back to stay there on many weekends. But on such return occasions, Jason noticed that Jackson seemed uninterested in allotting some quality time to spend with him. For any emails and text messages Jason received from him resonated excuses about being too busy to see him. Eventually, their electronic communication exchanges  grew totally silent. 

So as Jason settled into the  less hectic routine of his retirement years, he often pondered the reasons for this sudden cessation of their friendship. Had he said something that “pissed Jackson off”? Was his friend’s new wife jealous of him spending time with Jason? Was he suffering  from some taxing physical or mental illness? Or might he had just wanted to find more privacy in the absence of a steady job?

But then reality struck Jason as he took into his family a small  child who’d lost his mother and father during the violent gang war in Haiti. Thereupon reassessing the gift of life itself, Jason now felt that whatever the reasons for Jackson’s loss, he decided it best to “move on” from such friendship nostalgia with him. He definitely would still miss dearly his friend but now accepted  the realization  that he no longer wished to waste his precious time living on earth with such worrying.

Excluding any religious overtones, here’s a song I can always play to mark such feelings. Click the link below.

https://youtu.be/6d5ST3tbPIU?si=pWAPv8kgRehe4KEG

Whenever I’ve visited the Caribbean region on vacation, I’ve enjoyed the freedom to sample the profusion of tropical fruits growing in these exotic lands. Some of my most favorite fruits like coconuts, bananas and mangos can be easily enjoyed in this region as a tasty and nutritious delicacy as part of a snack or meal. While others with unfamiliar names and/or unusual shapes when I’m “out and about” often capture my strong sensory attention as well. So I must add to my favorite fruit list such locally grown delicacies relatively unknown to me such as lychees, starfruit, and ackees.

I might add that I’m curious to learn about such lesser known tropical fruits on those occasions when I strike up a conversation with a tour guide host or employee at a local store. For, I’m likely to hear about then the preventative health benefits provided from such unique tropical fruits that I notice hanging from surrounding trees.  

  But as a word of caution, I’m aware as well that it’s generally considered unwise to eat raw or uncooked food bought on or off the streets during my visits to these islands. So when hesitancy strikes me about cleanliness concerns for any tasty tropical fruit which stimulates my palate, I find it’s better to be safe than sorry and refrain from buying it. 

For the second time in a month, Jonathan left the house before work on Monday with his wife’s phone sitting on the kitchen table. He obviously knew better for his own phone would precisely be placed in the familiar kitchen basket every night before he went to bed. Instead he just took off that day in “grab and go” fashion.

So why then did this mistake happen ? Very simply, Jonathan had overbooked his schedule which clouded his mind with such “back to back” time events he needed to accomplish ahead that day.

So it seems that one small improvement that Jonathan could make in his busy life might require him to slow down and just concentrate more mindfully on each present moment of his life. In doing so, his speedy performing phone itself packed with emails, texts, and daily appointments would not solve the problem. Skip the morning caffeine as well.

One of the more challenging aspects of our travels involves searching for landmarks where events in the past of major significance took place. Such historic adventures often focus on public monuments honoring the notable accomplishments  of a person etched in either metal or stone. Putting such a search in proper perspective, I might notice that hundreds of historic markers along our road trip itinerary are often heavily  concentrated in a particular area.

So in addition to obvious time allotment and daily distances to travel, what other considerations might most matter to me in deciding which monuments  to visit?

As a first requirement, I might prioritize beforehand visiting only those monuments that depict truthful  representations of a place or person in memorialized fashion. In doing so, I would look for various wordings on these markers that contain obvious signs of politicized opinion bias or blatant fact omission. Consider for example that during our travels through the U.S. Southern region, I often questioned why so many public monuments of Civil War generals  like Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Nathan Bedford Forest remained  standing. For it seemed wrongfully prejudicial to showcase each of them as revered military heroes while disregarding  any written evidence on these  memorials that they also led the Confederacy in the Civil War down the dangerous path of slavery’s wrath via white supremacist” dogma.

On a related matter, I would consider it important to visit only those monuments that offer redeeming values of optimism to our present times. So in our country so drastically afflicted by social and political disharmony now,  I cringed on those occasions of observing those monuments praising Christopher Columbus in front of  prominent public buildings in various urban settings in America.  For of what societal value with respect to lawful treatment of immigrants in our country today would it make to conspicuously showcase this Spanish conquistador where accumulated evidence indicates he enacted policies of cruel forced labor to subjugate Native American tribes he encountered many centuries ago.

Lastly, I’d use good sense and try to visit those monuments at which the surrounding environs enhances the visitor’s curiosity (with minimal distraction) to obtain an authentic “feel” of past historic understanding.Consider in this regard that I’ve been “turned off” in interest by (1) 9/11 monuments placed along busy state and interstate highways 2)  important Gettysburg Battlefield plaques standing nearby fast food “heavy districts and (3) road access to Mount Rushmore lined with “tacky” tourist shops. 

So examine below a brief photo sample of several monuments taken during our recent travels. Which of them do you find least and most worthy to visit on an upcoming vacation? Please free to explain your evaluation. 

Book Source:

What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong , By James W. Loewen

Never take the weather lightly no matter what season I’ve learned on those long cross country journeys. A prime example of this credo  happened to us in early April on our road trip when we encountered a sudden snow burst without warning driving along Interstate 40 into the higher elevations of Flagstaff. Know then as the road quickly slickened into an icy mush with the temperatures dipping below freezing, my car proceeded to wobble sideways  Slowing down to 25 mph thus seemed the best way to handle such little traction on the road as I tightly grabbed the steering wheel with both hands to level off while gingerly moving behind a line of semi trucks. When the skies gradually began to clear in our descent from Flagstaff, I hoped that we had escaped the full wrath of the storm.

A new weather issue however soon developed as I began to notice strong cross winds kicking up dust and whistling through my car windows on the treeless high plateau. As these strong gusts proceeded to shift my vehicle to the left curb, I again placed a firm double grip on the steering wheel all the way to Winslow. So given the chance to find relief from such hazardous weather, this small town seemed to be an excellent choice for an early afternoon motel stop that night.. Enjoy this latest side trip collection of photos I took as we cruised along Route 66 on a later tour of this legendary town that “The Eagles” band  song “Take It Easy” arguably made famous. It’s linked below. 

https://youtu.be/32Oc2d_3yEk?si=N6Vbdxuk-FAnNMun

I’m not a gambler, drinker or lover of nightly hedonism in my normal life. So why do I continue to book some extended time on our road trip vacations to enjoy Las Vegas with its attention deficit  pursuit of “gold and bold”. Actually I enjoy accepting  the challenge of “getting out there” in Vegas to find something new or interesting in the right moment at an affordable cost.

But don’t get me wrong! I have no desire to drag Ruth and myself on foot along the strip tirelessly from one resort to another to exact my hedonistic pleasures at this stage of my life. But I’m in a city where everything seems to continually change. So I might simply do some “window shopping” around the grounds of the casino during our three day stay at the Rio Resort Hotel to discover some interesting visual impressions. Or I can just take a long gaze out of our hotel room window located several stories over glitzy Las Vegas Boulevard to discover a striking architectural innovation. Scanning the street activity around my vehicle location while idling at a red light or a curiously looking around while I await my breakfast at a local diner might also yield some revealing images of human interest as well. 

Of course, we’ve scheduled at least one of these days visiting some desirable locations along this world famous Las Vegas Boulevard strip. Such places will include the Bellagio Hotel with its outdoor fountain displays and indoor botanical gardens, the elegant Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian resort and a concert featuring Foreigner at the Venetian Theater. Sadly, one historic landmark of interest, the Tropicana Hotel, will be closing its doors permanently during our visit to soon undergo demolition for the scheduled move of the Oakland A’s to a new stadium on this site in the foreseeable future. 

So check out my latest photos compiled after we completed this latest road trip stopover in Vegas. Do you notice anything that might “shake up” any current thoughts and actions pertaining to your daily routine? 

Know then that such an outing into Marin County countryside would begin for us with a northwest turn into the steep mountainous ridges paralleling the Pacific Ocean coastline. Such an arduous route would thus require me to attentively maintain tight control of my steering wheel as I faced a series of “hairpin” turns and steep descents to and from the  Pacific coastline. Our loss of G.P.S. car guidance as we faced similar topographic challenges driving to sightseeing points within Point Reyes boundaries caused further directional and distance confusion at times.

Yet for all the intense driving effort I put in, our weekend outing here seemed totally worth it from a positive mind perspective. Such moment to moment impressions of this day trip are thus captioned in the following photo series. I hope to connect with you once again in my latest road trip blog series as we head to Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday afternoon.  

I’m not much of a “beach bum” in South Florida in spite of the fact that I live in such close proximity to prime oceanfront land. So it’s an interesting contradiction that I’m magically “drawn” to the Central California coastline, particularly in springtime, and thus make it a point  to stay three or four days at  favorite sites along this region on our road trips at this time of year. Thus it’s fully expected that Ruth and I would again include on our latest Pacific Ocean based plans on this road trip the  picturesque town of Morro Bay.           

So you might wish to understand what makes Morro Bay so special every time we visit? For one, consider that its enticing midway location along our coastal driving route from Los Angeles to San Francisco regions makes it a convenient stopover point to reset our energies. It’s also quite reassuring to know  that there’s reasonably priced lodging usually available within one or two blocks  of the ocean where we can find peace and quiet. Then there’s the stunning views!  For we often book within sight of a massive volcanic landmark called  “Morro Rock” which offers ease of free walking access to a profusion of marine life surrounding its vast perimeter. 

Usually, the timing of our “Rock” visits means that we prioritize taking pleasant walks along the calmer inland bay lying on the south side of the rock. For nearby this shoreline, we usually find captivating photo opportunities of barking seals, playful otters, scurrying squirrels and aggressive sea gulls co-existing in their natural habitat conditions. As we also move to the opposite north side of this towering rock slab, we’re directly facing the wild Pacific Ocean, whereby the surfing crowd will typically enthrall our attention us as both young and old participants challenge the big waves.

Hoping for sunny weather on our  Morro Bay stopovers, we also set aside a morning for a scenic coastal drive north from Morro Bay on California Highway One. Along the way, we’ll be looking out for Elephant Seal colonies humorously sunning themselves on the beach, lazily enjoying  our picnic lunch at historic  William F. Hearst State Park and gaping with awe at some steep cliffside views at the beginning sections of the famed Big Sur Highway.

Of considerable environmental interest to us as well a few miles south of Morro Bay lies “Montana de Oro” Park.Upon enjoying some easy trekking along the Bluff Trail there, we frequently pause for closeup observations of crashing waves along the jagged rocks as well abundant  birdlife flying in and out of their spring nesting grounds.

The Morro Bay region might lack the sheer size and scale of natural grandeur that more notable California landmarks like “Lake Tahoe”, “Yosemite National Park” and “Redwood National Forest” definitely do. But its appeal to less experienced hikers like us makes it considerably more manageable to visit. We next make our way to the San Francisco Bay vicinity for four nights. Enjoy the photos.

Whenever I’ve visited the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, I’m at war with myself as to how much time I could spare at this spectacular panorama of geologic history. So it simply did not seem fair to myself to endure once again the expected stress of waiting for a rare parking spot and then competing with so many other tourists for the best vantage points to look over the edge across from the Visitor Center. Nor did it make sense for me to engage in a strenuous hike down to the Colorado River to please my masculine ego or wait in long lines for a park shuttle. I simply needed to take my time to more patiently absorb what I was experiencing there and thus fully engage my senses in the present moment with less distraction.

So on our present  road trip visit to the Grand Canyon, my new plan focused more on visiting multiple sites along the Rim located in less populated places. So after a short walk along the more familiar Mather Rim vicinity, we then took a slow drive east along rim parallel, Desert View Drive to continue our visit. Our three stops along the way at Grandview, Moran, and Navaho Points each offered different visual perspectives of the canyon environs below in considerably quieter conditions. So take a look for yourself in the photo set below. What landscape images most stand out for you in each of these photos? 

I encourage you to also click on the following video link to learn more about the Grand Canyon from an inspiring musical perspective. We’ll be reaching Southern California by way of the Mojave Desert next on this adventure.