http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/cschottland/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from cschottland en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:52:16 +0000 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:52:16 +0000 Eagle Battle at Tracy Arm I know this one is way overdue and I've had all the time in the world to put up some of the Alaska pictures but a lot has happened since July of 2008. At any rate here is a teaser. Tracy Arm a glacial fjord is located along Stephens Passage just around the corner from the strange little capitol city of Juneau in Big Southeast which would be better called Big So http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Juneau/blog-457962.html I look at my hands and my hands are newI look at my feet and they are too......don't worry 'bout me.Slightly Broken Ella Mae Hogue from under her umbrella sings quietly to herself while she waits for a breeze to relieve the suffocating August heat. From her front porch on Seventh Street she looks out on the cemetery across the street the massive spreading canopies of live oaks along Was http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-454901.html Um...I think you're going to be working...with Big John...on the church today says the guy with the long ponytail the cartoon Minnesota accent and a hat with two tiny LED lights built into the brim. The LED's keep drawing my eyes making it hard to look him in the face. He was winging by and stopped midstride to tell me this and once he came to a halt a dozen people formed a s http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-452498.html My good friend Marcos tells me that the subject of MRE's is not as interesting as I seem to think and he advises me to stick with the here's what I did today stuff. I suspect he felt inclined to add that he could have done without the ldquoNoxious Weed Mouseketeer Roll Callrdquo as well but was too polite to mention it. Other feedback or notable lack thereof suggests that he is correct o http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-432554.html Origin of a dumb ideaThe last time I was here I dropped about ten pounds despite the fact that I spent most of my time in the kitchen. You meet a lot of professional chefs around here and I can't say they're a thin lot. I was considering this while reading the nutritional information on an MRE envelope and wondering if combining a volunteer service program with a weight loss regimen might interest http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-430601.html The shirtless bus driver is having a blood feud with some guy right in the door of the bus but you have to ignore this sort of thing. Greeks have blood feuds all the time and it doesn't stop them from cheerfully conducting business at the same time. Even if the tourists balk at entering the conversational blast radius they will wave you in and take care of you with a smile just as they are inaug http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Rhodes/blog-426780.html Bring out your pitcher Bring out your canGet your nice fresh oysters from the Oyster ManChapter Two of Gumbo Yaya catalogues the calls of the street criers heard in early twentieth century New Orleans. This chapter is a little tedious to be honest and since the street criers are all but gone now anyway you might be inclined to skip over it. Between the unstoppable force that is Walmart and http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-424774.html Today I am proud to say I have officially earned a personalized rejection letter from Lonely Planet. Irsquove been sending applications and writing samples to smalltime independent blogs etc but I thought Irsquod aim one at the top just for the fun of it. I figured I could give the poor subeditor with the dreary job of wading through the slush pile of unsolicited manuscripts a little laugh i http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-424383.html Ancient Wonders and Wondering Where They Went The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes is very impressivehellipor at least it was. In 1856 long after the Knights of Rhodes had shuffled off to Malta a gunpowder explosion did by accident what the Turks could only accomplish by negotiation. The concrete I am sorry to say is not original. Most of what stands there today is a repli http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Rhodes/blog-416630.html A Salute to Independant Krewes the Real Carnival Back when I wrote about the Krewe de Vieux parade I think I said something about the small krewes capturing the original Mardi Gras carnival spirit. Obviously thatrsquos a bunch of grandiose nonsense because how the hell would I know about the original Mardi Gras spirit anyhow But I hope itrsquos true. I love the scaled down and adhoc approa http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-416667.html Mambo on St. Charles AvenueThe parade atmosphere on St. Charles is a little different than it is on Canal or in The Quarter. A parade down Bourbon Street is the crushing mass of drunken fools yoursquove heard about and expect. On Canal itrsquos an organized riot with barricades and crowd control ready to pounce on anybody that crosses the line. On St. Charles uptown of Lee Circle itrsquos http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-415098.html Got my laptop fixed and couldn't wait to use itI know this onersquos been a little overdue but now that I have my laptop back I can start catching up on a few things. First I have to pause to tell everyone how impressed I was by HPrsquos service. Since the unit was in warranty they shipped a box to my front door complete with packing materials a prepaid shipping label and even a little r http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-414933.html I went to Yo Momma looking to grab a bite to eat and a beer or five before meeting up on Frenchman Street for Krew de Vieux. There was probably going to be nonstop imbibing for the duration and while as you know I don't approve of that kind of behavior I didn't want to run the risk of getting cited for public sobriety during a Mardi Gras parade how embarrassing Yo Momma makes a perfect foundat http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-371776.html I'm buying postcards wading through racks of pictures featuring the familiar wild drunken revelers packing the streets of the French Quarter overcrowding the balconies and thronging the parade floats. You see the jazz bands with brass buttons the red steaming crawfish on top of mounds of corn and potatoes the nutty eccentrics in ludicrous costumes the battered streetlamps. There's music the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-370790.html AAE HostelIt's turned cold again. Not very cold but cold enough for me to feel like sitting here instead of walking around in the wind. So I'm spending the day working on a new watercolor and in between washes updating everybody on the accommodations I've found through Hostels.com a web site you want to know about.AAE Bourbon House is on the corner of Annunciation and Felicity which puts it http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-370371.html Whoever the Greek god of interstates would be he's happy at the momentNow I'm in New Orleans. Not only was it the most uneventful drive on the US Interstate system I've ever taken it was the easiest one I've ever heard of. If you've ever gone more than a hundred miles on IAnything the most vivid memory you probably have is the color orange. Orange cones orange barrels and orange signs. Slow http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-369613.html Worth the WanderAfter the last entry you may be wondering what possessed us to go creeping along the winding collapsing mountain roads of Crete. Brother Mark and I were looking for a small beach town on the Southwest coast called Sougia because it was the closest thing we could identify near Lissos. Lissos is an ancient site that's played host to a number of civilizations. The odd thing about Li http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/Chania/Sougia/blog-367482.html She crab soupBrain on the phone with parties unknown ldquoYep Irsquom taking them to Barbara Jeanrsquos for the shecrab souphellipldquoBrain from the front seat apropos nothing ldquoWe gotta go to Barbara Jeanrsquos for the shecrab souphellipldquoBrian lived in the Jacksonville area and Barbara Jeanrsquos was the nineteenth hole for him and his friends on Sunday afternoon http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Jacksonville/blog-365814.html Sir your goats are blocking the roadMy first visit to Crete was via Olympic Air from Athens on a vintage de Havilland aircraft possibly a variant of the DH.141 Heron circa 1950 possibly the real thing. Either way there was a certain Indiana Jones flight out of Cairo feel to it. I wondered at the time if a bright red line could be seen tracing our route on the surface of the Mediterranean below http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/blog-361515.html Does Ann know how cold that water isYou may be wondering why I a good SEC fan am traveling to the Gator Bowl to see Nebraska play Clemson. A fair question and one that I hope to make clear at some point but for now wersquore in Jacksonville Florida and we need a late night liquor store. I know ldquowho doesnrsquotrdquo but on this occasion itrsquos proving a little more difficul http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Jacksonville/blog-358796.html