Blogs from North America - page 8280

Our bus left Puerto Escondido at about 2.30pm and from there it was a 5 hour ride to Salina Cruz where we then had a two hour wait before catching another bus to Villahamosa, which took a further 8 hours, and then finally a 2 hour trip to Palenque town, arriving about 8am the following morning. Palenque Town isn´t too amazing so we stayed about 5km down the road towards the ruins in a place called Margarita and Ed´s, which is set in the jungle. Margarita and Ed´s was pretty alright. We had a little cabana with bathroom, hot water, toilet roll, towels, soap and a good fan, and it was half the price of anywhere else we´d stayed recently. The hotel is grouped together with a number of other hotels, campsites, restaurants and bars ... read more

Our sojourn through South Carolina took us to Charleston, another beautiful and historic southern city. With a protected harbor, the city has been a trading port since pre-Revolutionary times. The Civil War began here, when Union troops fired the first shots from Fort Sumpter. Considering wars, fires, earthquakes and hurricanes, it is fortunate that so many historic buildings remain. Many have been beautifully restored and are now museums, tour destinations, bed and breakfasts, as well as single-family homes. Tourism is an important business here and restaurants abound. Diane ate her first plate of shrimp and grits—which she proclaimed delicious. One afternoon, we drove to Magnolia Gardens, a plantation owned by the Drayton family for hundreds of years, briefly occupied by the British during the Revolutionary War. The gardens were abloom with azaleas and camellias. We tour ... read more

We drove to Orange Park, Florida after leaving New Orleans. Due to bad weather and the length of the drive (over 500 miles) we stopped outside of Tallahassee for the night on the way there rather than doing the whole drive in a day. We also lost our dashboard lights a while back, so driving at night requires a flashlight and isn’t too fun... So we made it to Orange Park, where my (Brandi’s) family lives in a beautiful old house, on Monday. My Great Aunt Aggie and her husband, Uncle Jack, live in the big white house on the property, and their daughter Trish and her husband Matt live in the house off to the side. Up until recently, my Great Aunt Hallijeanne lived there as well, but sadly she passed away last year. ... read more

The National Gallery of Art was created for the people of the United States thanks to the generosity of Andrew Mellon. The Gallery includes both a East Building and a West Building. The West Bldg is the permanent collection of mostly European works from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. The Director’s Tour is a recorded devise discussing over 130 works of the Gallery, however it can be a bit tedious. Another option is a recorded tour, Adventures in Art Family style for kids. The Gallery allows artists to set-up an easel and copy the master’s work; it was quite interesting to observe. We also managed to catch a docent led tour; the gal was informative and enjoyed discussion and questions. The East Building includes modern works as well as visiting exhibits. The ... read more

friday april 6 hey hey! looks whos back in the states, jetlagged as all hell, and no longer blocked from xanga! though all the commands ARE still in chinese. weird. it's 1:58 AM missouri time.... and 14:58 the next day on my time. i'm exhausted and wired all at the same time. but i guess 30 hours of travel will do that to you. i'm in a hotel. dad's downstairs at the casino. home to the lake tomorrow. that is all for now. too much stimulation big cars, wide lanes, using american dollars, seeing real policemen instead of 14 year old boys dressed as "guards", my small drink being as big as a large drink in china, etc etc. bed. now. molly ***** sunday april 8 molly: well, i'm home. and it seems like i've never ... read more