Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The above photograph was taken in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is a beautiful city. If I ever move to the north, I think I would like to live in Pittsburgh. I stayed in Pittsburgh for a week (a full 7 day week, not a 5 day work week). I enjoyed every single day I spent there. Pittsburgh has beautiful bridges. They all look like some type of suspension bridge and they are bright yellow. To be as large of a city as Pittsburgh is, it was very clean and beautiful. There are lots of things to do in Pittsburgh. They have the Andy Warhol Museum and the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Something you should know about me is that I love art museums and the Andy Warhol Museum is wunderbar!) The actual city of Pittsburgh sits down in a bowl. My favorite spot in the city is up on top of the bowl. They have a monorail type of thing that has little cars where you can ride up and down the side of the mountain. It is called the Duquesne Incline. This picture was taken from up on top of the mountain after I rode the incline up to the top. Something to remember when you go to Pittsburgh: they don't know what sweet tea is. So, be ready to sweeten your tea yourself and enjoy your beautiful surroundings.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

The above picture is of the Christ of the Ozarks statue near Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It has been a while since I have been to Eureka Springs. After Gatlinburg, this was my parents next favorite vacation spot when I was a kid. I think my sister and brother-in-law even honeymooned in the Ozarks. It is a beautiful place. For years people flocked to Eureka Springs and Hot Springs. They did not go for the beauty of it. They went because they thought the springs had medicinal purposes. I don't know about healing springs but it is a fun place to visit. I love the passion play that they have there. The last time we were there, I bought a VHS tape of the passion play. Now, I can watch it anytime I want. While I love the passion play, my favorite place to visit when we go to Eureka Springs is, of course, the Christ of the Ozarks statute. It was built sometime in the 1960s and was supposed to be an attraction at a Bible themed theme park. The park never materialized (even though one may materialize soon in Murfreesboro, Tennessee) but the statue is great. It makes me think of bigger things. It makes me think of the love of God. It makes me think of acceptance for everyone (because his arms are open wide). And, it also makes me think of going to faraway places. The reason it makes me think of going to faraway places is because it reminds me of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I would love the opportunity to go to Brazil and photograph it at some point. For now, I will have to wait. I will have to look at the Christ of the Ozarks and dream of the world.

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

This picture was taken in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. When I was a kid, we would go to Gatlinburg a lot. I used to love being up in the mountains. It seemed so peaceful there. Lately, I really haven't been to Gatlinburg much. I feel like Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge have become too commercialized. The last time I was there, you could barely move (by car or by foot) because there were people everywhere. What were those people doing? Were they looking at the mountains and the scenic views? No, they were shopping at the outlet malls. There is a ton of exciting things to do in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. You could go shopping, go to a nice restaurant, go to one of the many shows, go to Dollywood (which I love now that Opryland is no more), play mini golf, blah, blah, blah. I guess I just miss the Gatlinburg of my youth. I miss the most exciting part of the trip being the drive over the mountains into Cherokee, North Carolina, to see Unto These Hills. I miss diligently looking for bears on that drive over the mountains. I miss playing mini golf with my mom, dad and sister because that was all there was to do. I miss going to my favorite wax museum, Christus Gardens. But, most of all, I miss the quite beauty of the mountains themselves.

Knoxville, Tennessee

I have been through Knoxville on the interstate many times; however, I have only stayed in Knoxville on three occasions, that I can remember. When I was young, we went to the 1982 World's Fair. Some of the happiest memories of my young life are of that trip. The World's Fair was very exciting! I rode a huge Ferris wheel that was 5 stories tall and was right beside the river. When you looked down, it looked like the only thing below you was water. I also got to see the "House of the Future", the "Car of the Future" and I ate Dippin' Dots for the first time. That trip was when I fell in love with learning about other cultures. I remember going through different exhibits about people from China, Japan, Canada, Germany, etc. that showed how people in those countries dressed, what they ate, what they drove, etc., etc., etc. Ever since then, I have loved to get to know people who are different from me. I learn so much more from someone different than from someone who is the same. I think that should be one of the "habits of lifelong learners", to get to know people who are different from you and learn from their experiences. Oh, also on that first trip to Knoxville, in 1982, we got to meet Patrick Duffey, the man who played Bobby Ewing on Dallas. Obviously my first trip to Knoxville was wunderbar; however, my second trip was one of the worst experiences of my life. Have you ever seen that show, One Bad Trip, on MTV? This was "one bad trip." I went with three of my friends. One of my friends played in an Air Force National Guard band and we went there to hear her band play. We were staying with one of her National Guard friends at a house in a quaint, little subdivision. The only people we saw on the streets all weekend were little, old, blue-haired ladies walking their dogs and the occasional mom pushing a stroller. Well, we got in from the band concert about 3 in the morning and we were planning on getting up at 5 so we could go through Gatlinburg before heading back the next day. I had just gotten out of the shower when one of my friends came in and said we've been robbed. Someone busted the window out of your car and took all of our stuff. Since we are always playing jokes on each other, I started to laugh and told her it was way too early in the morning for that to be funny. She said she wasn't kidding and wanted me to put on my shoes and come with her to look. I went out in high heeled dress shoes and my hair wrapped in a towel. As soon as she opened the front door of the house, I could see the big, gaping hole in my back window. I freaked out! To make a long story short, we called the police and when they got there they yelled at me. Can you believe that? THEY YELLED AT ME! They told me I was young but it was good that this happened to me because it taught me a valuable lesson: don't leave valuables in your car. So, all in all, that trip cost me about $2000. I had to pay a deductible to get my window fixed and I lost over a thousand dollars worth of camera equipment. In the days that followed, the police did find the guys that broke in but the only item they recovered was one of my friend's mom's video cameras. They would not let my friend, who went up there once a month for National Guard duty anyway, pick up the camera. I had to drive for endless hours to go back to Knoxville and pick it up because it was my car. When the camera was returned, the tape was still in the video camera. The thieves had recorded themselves. They were trying to figure out how to work the camera and you see a panorama of this teenager’s room. One of the guys was saying, "We have to clean this up before your mom gets home or we are in big trouble." To which I wanted to say, "You are going to be in big trouble for breaking into my car you little punk." But, of course, he wasn't in big trouble. Nothing happened to them because it was their first offense. If they knew how to cut the alarm system on my car, which they did before breaking out my window, do you really think it was their first offense? This is where I should insert another habit that should be included in the “habits of lifelong learners.” Always use bad experiences as learning experiences. Bad things are going to happen so you might as well get something from them (a.k.a. learn something). Anyway, my third trip to Knoxville was very uneventful but it kind of scares me to be there very long. I think this is because it is the only place I have ever been robbed. Once you lose that feeling of safety, you never get it back or at least I haven't. Talk to you next blog.

Helen, Georgia

This picture was taken in Helen, Georgia. Helen is supposed to be set up like a Bavarian village. A little piece of Germany here in the United States. While I loved the food and the kitschy atmosphere, I did not like that we made reservations for a whole week. There are lots of nice restaurants in Helen and there are all kinds of little specialty shops. For example, I found a stuffed and mounted scorpion in one shop. The Ocoee River is also nearby so there are lots of things to do there like go rafting, tubing, etc. As much as I liked it, I have to say that I felt like this is more of a weekend getaway than a week long vacation. I have heard that they have a massive Oktoberfest every year and I would really like to go back some time during Oktoberfest. Maybe I could even get Organ Grinder Ted to go with me. Oktoberfests definitely need organ grinders. (For those of you who don't know Organ Grinder Ted, I am placing a link to his blog and his website on the sites list.) Helen is a great place for children as well. The hotel we stayed in had brightly colored paintings of fairy tale characters, such as Rapunzel, painted on the outside walls. Overall, it was a bright, vivid, happy place and I would love to go there again for a weekend getaway. Talk to you next blog.

Biloxi, Mississippi

This picture is from a trip to Biloxi, Mississippi. Even though the water is not as blue green and the beach is not as white as Panama City, Biloxi holds a special place in my heart. It is the place I saw the ocean for the first time. I had learned about Christopher Columbus in school that year and how a lot of people in his time believed the world was flat. (I would just like to point out that if these people had ever read the Bible, they would know that the earth was round. Isaiah 40:22 says: "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth.") I can remember standing on the beach thinking that I could see why they thought the world was flat because, where the horizon line was, it looked just like you could sail right off the edge of the earth. I have since been on cruises to the Bahamas and know that you can not in fact sail right off the edge. Just a side note about the gulf area of Mississippi, it has the best honey in the world. The father of one of my close friends has a honey farm on the gulf coast in Mississippi. I have to say that normally, I don't like honey but honey from the gulf coast is wonderful. It has a light flavor and it is so clear. So, if you ever go to Biloxi or Gulfport, be sure to pick up some local honey. Talk to you next blog.

Panama City Beach, Florida

This is one of my favorite places to visit. The above picture was taken in Panama City Beach, Florida. I love the blue green water and the white sand. One of my favorite places to stay in Panama City Beach is Days Inn. It is economical. It also has rooms where you can go out the back door and be right on the beach. This is perfect for little beachy bookworms like me. I should tell you that I don't know a whole lot about the activities in Panama City because when I go there, my favorite thing to do is lie on the beach and read. My father's favorite activity is to take my green float out in the ocean as far as he can and then ride it back in to the beach. Sometimes, this distracts me from my book because it is amusing to watch his ritual. It is a great escape.