Where Was I? - 2

Thank you everyone for your overwhelming response to my first "Where Was I" post last week!  There were a lot of really great guesses!

But ultimately Kay from "Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel" had the right guess after reading your comments and narrowing it down to, Where I was!

Reno, Nevada!!!!

Who knew?  Such a beautiful street in Reno Nevada could make you think and feel like you were actually driving down a country road in the English Countryside....Good Guess One Fly!

So let's see if you can guess today's "Where Was I?"

I spent a long weekend here, surrounded by vineyards, storks and castles!

But nothing could match the quaintness of these cobblestone streets winding through brightly colored buildings filled with pastries, souvenirs and hot wine!

Thank goodness I didn't have to stop at either one of these places to grab a bite to eat!

Why would I, when I could have a meal like this!!!

Where Was I?



Where Was I? - 1

So I thought I would try something new!

I will post pictures from places I've been and you try to guess where I took the pictures!

I will give you a hint, or two, to help you narrow down your guess.

I was out for a drive, just getting familiar with the new area.  Didn't want to drive where I had already been.  I've already mingled with the tourists walking along the River while watching Kayakers practice their techniques. It was too cold to go to the Lake, but not enough snow to ski!

This is what I saw!

Where Was I?



SkyWatch Friday - Solar Eclipse

Wow!  I've been gone for awhile from posting on my blog!  Whole new format!  So let's see if this works!

First of all, to all my followers, again, so sorry for not being very active here and for not sharing some of my great adventures.   I've been to some really great places since living here in Reno and I know you are going to love the stories, pictures and tips!!

Okay, time to share the Solar Eclipse as seen from my backyard in Reno!

Of course as soon as it was time to see the Eclipse the clouds decided to roll in!

All the pictures above were taken SOOC with no filters!

These next pictures, Stijn brought me a CD to use as a filter after reading about it on the internet.  He is such a thoughtful husband!!

Stella just didn't see what the big deal was....

I am particapating in "SkyWatch Friday"

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top O' The Morning to you!

I'm not doing anything to awfully special this St. Patrick's Day.  Well, I will be making Stijn some Corn Beef and Cabbage with potatoes since this is something he's never had.  They don't celebrate the wearing of the green in Belgium!

And actually the most exciting thing I ever did for St. Paddy's Day was drive up to Savannah Georgia in 2009 when on a home exchange in Ponte Vedra Florida.

I had so much fun that day, I thought I would re-post my story from that day again.  I don't think a lot of you have read this story yet.  If you have, maybe it will be fun to read again!

Here is how my day went!

I know March 17th is St. Patrick's Day. I know you should probably wear some green, unless you want to get pinched. I know that corned beef and cabbage is more than likely what you're going to eat today, and that you will definitely have some green beer. Who doesn't know this? What "I" didn't know is that in Savannah Georgia, St Patricks Day is treated somewhat as a "National Holiday".

 

I've heard about what a beautiful place Savannah is, and that it has a wonderful historic district. I thought since I will be so close while I'm in Ponte Vedra on my home exchange that I would take a drive up there and check it out. Why not? So I check somethings out on the Internet and I find that there are several companies who offer trolley tours where you can hop on and off all day long for $10.00. Cool! I had done this in Boston and it was a great way to see everything.

 

I decide that Tuesday is a good day to head up to Savannah. Not because it's St. Patrick's Day mind you, but because the weather on Tuesday is going to be better than any other day of the week. That's why.

 

So the first place I go when I get there is "Oglethorpe Trolley Tours" . Hmmm, strange, it's closed. Maybe they're out to lunch, it is 12:15pm. But would they really do that? So I head down the street a little further and see the Oglethorpe Trolley Welcome Center and park across the street. Hmmmm, closed. For the life of me I can't figure out why they would be closed on a Tuesday. Maybe it's the off season and they don't start doing tours until April or May? Maybe they aren't in business anymore? I continue to walk towards the Visitors Center and I pass another Trolley company and a gentleman who is cleaning some things up around one of the trolley's says "Good Afternoon Ma'am". Perfect! I ask him if this trolley service is doing tours today and he says to me, "No Ma'am, we're closed for the Holiday". "The Holiday? St. Patrick's Day?", I reply in surprise. What I learned was that there is a big parade that takes place in the historic district and the trolleys "can't" run. Bummer.

 

I head into the Visitor Center and discover that the 185th St. Patrick's Day parade is still going on. How lucky for me! This parade is the second largest in the U.S., behind New York, and the celebration is the third oldest, behind New York and Boston. The lady at the counter pulls out a map and points out that Bull St. is the route of the parade and that I could follow that right to the historic Riverfront, and then she hands me the map.

 

As I step out of the Visitor Center and walk down W. Liberty St. it becomes immediately apparent to me that St. Patrick's Day is taken very seriously here. There was not one person that I passed that wasn't all decked out in some sort of "green" fashion. When I get to Bull St. the parade is indeed still in progress, but I'm not so much impressed with the parade as I am with the thousands of people who are lining the streets in their green hats, green shirts, green beards...... Suddenly I am feeling a bit out of place. I truly was the only person in Savannah not wearing green. It really was sort of embarrassing walking around in a pair of blue jeans and a white sleeveless shirt.

 

As I continue down Bull St. taking pictures along the way, I come to the first of many squares, "Chippewa Square". And here I just stop and I can't believe what I'm seeing. The square is packed with more people who have set up canopies covering their tables filled with food and coolers filled with beer I'm sure. Some people even had their gas barbecue grills here!

At another square there was more of the same along with vendors selling green paraphernalia from carts, and fountains with green water.

 

I just couldn't stop people watching and taking pictures. And everyone was really friendly and ready for a group photo.

By the time I make it to the Riverfront the parade has ended and the thousands of people I just passed are also headed here.

I really enjoyed walking along the river on the cobblestone and seeing the old cotton warehouses that had been converted into cute shops and boutiques, and restaurants and pubs over looking the river. There was plenty of music with a live band and a little further down a DJ playing some favorite dance tunes.

I thought about going into one of those great Irish Pubs and getting myself a green beer but the lines to get into any bar were entirely way to long...........

.......so I opted for some ice cream at this great little shop where you could also watch Pralines being made and have someone throw some taffy at you that had just been freshly twisted and wrapped.

Well it's time to start thinking about heading back to Ponte Vedra Beach. But there is a Lighthouse nearby on Tybee Island and I must go take pictures.

My day is complete now.

Before driving back to Ponte Vedra Beach I stop in at a little road side ice cream stand and order me up a large black cherry waffle cone! The perfect way to end a perfect day!

There are a whole lot more pictures of my day in Savannah at "Where's Debbie". To see them just click on the album "St. Paddy's Day".

Sky Watch Friday - Las Vegas Sunset

Another beautiful sunset in Nevada. 

taken Sept 14 2009

I am participating in "Skywatch Friday"

Virginia City Cemetery Fences

I love walking through old cemeteries and taking pictures of the ornate headstones. 

I've been to several old cemeteries all over the World.  Only 23 miles southeast of Reno, I can now add the old cemetery in Virginia City Nevada to my list. 

I think of all the cemeteries I've visited, this one had the most variety of fences.

From wooden to ornate

From circles to chains.

From standing long and strong...........

......to weak and fallen

 I am participating in "Friday Fences"



The Beginning of a Blog - Part 1

I started this blog in November 2008, back when I didn't have any followers.  Of course it was a learning process along the way and now I have a following of some very special people!  I've even had the chance to meet a fellow blogger while on a trip to Belgium!  Kay from "An Unfittie's Guide to Adventuous Travel" and her husband we're visiting Belgium for a short period while on their European escape.  So we met up for a great evening of dinner and a stroll through the streets of Brussels.

Some of you I haven't had the pleasure of meeting, yet!  But you are all very special to me and I love staying in touch through your blogs.  It's interesting to learn how some of us have the same love of adventure and sites, like with Betsy from "Joyful Reflections", and George from "Photos by Senior Hiker".  We do love our Waterfalls, don't we?

Well I could go on and list everyone of you with why I appreciate you, but then this post would never end!

So what I would like to do is re-post some of my first blog entries for all of you.  I hope you enjoy these first stories of my travels, and please do leave a comment to let me know if you are enjoying reminicsing along with me!

Let me help you to understand why I love to travel!

 

Who Knew?

I really want you to get to know me.

So what you need to know first and foremost is that I love to travel.

Growing up we never took a family vacation. We never went anywhere actually. I grew up in Los Angeles California and a "vacation" for us was to load up the station wagon and make the drive down to Salton Sea to visit my grandparent"s little getaway they had there for the weekend. And this wasn't very often. I remember how excited I would be knowing we were going "somewhere"! I was thrilled to stay in my grandparents great little 1950's silver camp trailer and help my grandmother sell hot dogs and snow cones from her little portable food stand while my grandfather fished all day for corvina from the pier. I can remember at night sitting outside and looking up at the stars and pointing out the Milky Way and both "Dipper's".
When we had the opportunity to move to Nevada in the early 1970's, I had my mother packed and renting a UHaul "To go where no Smith has gone before". Out of the State of California! Now this was only to the neighboring State of Nevada in a little town called "Tonopah" but at the age of 14 I thought, what a great adventure!

When I was raising my family I made sure we took family vacations nearly every summer. I would get ideas of places to visit from magazines, television or even just talking with co-workers and friends. But most importantly from my children. One year my daughter learned in school that there was a place where she could stand in one spot and be in four States at the same time. So I planned a whole vacation around her curiosity. I would always figure out how to see and do as much as possible in a two week period.

During these 23 years we were able to explore so many beautiful places. Oregon, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and even back to California. And then finally.....the airplane ride! My first airplane ride at the age of 37 to Nashville Tennessee to see Christmas in the Park. I remember getting there, parking the car and walking through the parking lot and I just started to cry. I was so overwhelmed with the thought that I was actually experiencing such a beautiful place. I get that way. I can't tell you how many times I have had to fight the tears when I get somewhere.

The past 12 years I have had the opportunity to visit just about every State now and about 23 countries.

I look back now and think to myself that I have always had a desire to get out and explore new and different places.

Who knew?

Watery Wednesday - Fiji

While visiting Fiji in December 2007 I came across these children playing in the water.

What a great place to be a kid!!

Click Here to visit Watery Wednesday where you will see more pictures from around the World!

Shadow Shot Sunday - Rhyolite Nevada

This is a great little stop if you happen to be traveling on US95 through Central Nevada.

Ryolite is about 100 miles north of Las Vegas and about 350 miles south of Reno.  So it's a great place to take a little break and get the blood flowing through your veins again!  And it's FREE!!

I have been here several times, but all the pictures I have are pre-digital.  So on January 14 while driving from Reno to Las Vegas I was able to get some digital shots.

This is one shot I choose for Shadow Shot Sunday and Scenic Sunday.  It is one of many sculptures in this little ghost town.

The Last Supper

Poland-born Belgian sculptor Albert Szukalski completed this sculpture in 1984.  He made the figures by wrapping live models in plaster-soaked fabric to achieve his Apostle o' Shrouds effect. Szukalski, died in 2000 at age 54. Although his Last Supper was built decades before the first Lord of the Rings movie was released, his ghostly white forms resemble the dark Ringwraiths in those films.  What do you think? 

Click HERE, for more Shadow Shots from around the World!

Sky Watch Friday - As the Sun Sets in Nevada

While driving North to Reno on January 4, which by the way is a 7 hour drive from Las Vegas, I saw this beautiful sunset when leaving Fallon, Nevada.

So you know I just had to take some pictures........

........through the windshield!

Traveling is not just the destination, it's the journey!

Happy Friday!

I am participating in Skywatch Friday.