Library Thing

O.K., I told you there would be some book stuff thrown in with the travel stuff. As I have said before, my favorite travel location is the beach. It doesn't really matter what beach (although my preference is Panama City). I love the beach because I can lie on the beach and read. Some might call this lazy but I prefer to call it intellectual. Since I read so much, I have a ton of books. I have recently started cataloging my ton on Library Thing. I have placed a link, in the bottom left hand corner of this blog, to my catalog of books on Library Thing. The above link is also viable if you don't want to scroll all the way to the bottom. So, if you are heading to the beach and need some inspiration as to what books to take with you, give my Library Thing catalog a look. Talk to you next blog.

Nassau, Bahamas

A few summers ago, I took a cruise to the Bahamas with my family. This picture was taken in Nassau. We were supposed to spend a day in Key West, Florida, and then go on to Nassau. Due to problems with our ship, we ended up spending one day in Freeport (Bahamas) instead of Key West and one day in Nassau. As much as I love Key West, I was really glad that we ended up spending a day in Freeport. I liked Freeport so much better than Nassau. Freeport seemed less commercialized somehow. In Freeport, we went to the little market (that sits right in the middle of town) and then we spent the rest of the day on the beach. I stayed off the ship the whole time we were in Freeport. Nassau was a different story. Nassau is very beautiful but it seems so commercialized. I did not get to rest on the beach in Nassau. Everywhere I went, peddlers were trying to sell me something or braid my hair. "Hey pretty lady, pretty American lady; let me braid your hair." "Hey pretty lady, pretty American lady; let me take you on a horse and buggy ride." UHH, after a few hours of this, I went back to the boat (excuse me, ship) to get some peace.

Charleston, South Carolina

These pictures were taken in Charleston, South Carolina. While Charleston is really beautiful, it can not compare to Savannah in my mind. While we were visiting in Charleston, we stayed on the Isle of Palms (which is actually across this big curvy, scary bridge from Charleston). The first day we were there, we ate at this little local place right on the water. They had the best Shrimp Po' Boys I have ever eaten. We did everything in Charleston. We went on ghost walk tours, we went on horse and buggy/history tours, we visited the Customs House, we went to market (just like the little piggies we are), etc., etc., etc. Charleston is great. There is so much history there that it is unbelievable. The above pictures are of the Mills House Hotel and the Riviera Theatre. The Mills House Hotel is where General Robert E. Lee stayed when he was in Charleston. Our horse and buggy/history tour guide, Adam, told us that there was a great fire in Charleston during that time. General Lee told the servants to take sheets, blankets, quilts, etc., wet them and hang them around the outside of the building. When the fire was finally out, every building in the surrounding blocks had been burned down but the Mills House Hotel was fine. The Riviera Theatre opened in 1939. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Tour Guide Adam also told us that the Riviera Theatre premiered the first color movie. The Customs House is also a really neat place to visit. They have a real treasure chest dating from the time that Black Beard the Pirate was imprisoned there. (For those of you who know me well, you will know that I love the pirates!) The market is a really fun place to visit. They have handmade sweet grass baskets and just about anything else you might want. I bought a really cool handmade purse there. The names of the streets in Charleston were also interesting. Streets that now are named Market Street, King Street, etc. began their life with really interesting names such as the street that leadeth to market and the street that the king prefereth. In a nutshell, Charleston makes me long for the past in a world that is filled with the future.

Savannah, Georgia

O.K., I am back to book stuff. One of my favorite books is Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. I love the book. I love the movie. I just love it all. One of the reasons I like the book so much is because of the characters. The characters are larger than life even though they are based on real people. Anyway, being such a big fan of this book, I was excited to get the chance to go to Savannah and see this "garden of good and evil" for myself. I love Savannah. It has to be one of my favorite places on earth. It is so beautiful and it has such a rich history. The above pictures are of the Telfair Museum and Forsythe Fountain in Forsythe Park. The Telfair Museum currently houses the infamous Bird Girl from the cover of the book. She was moved to the Telfair from Bonaventure Cemetery after the success of the book put her safety in question. While in Savannah, my family and I visited several of the locations detailed in the book. And, just like John Berendt, I found larger than life characters in Savannah. My favorite character had to be the artist that we met on one of the squares. He was selling prints of his paintings. The paintings were of various notable places in Savannah and I decided to buy three of the prints. The artist signed the prints for me and gave me his card. As we were walking away from him, I turned the card over and read it. It said something like: "Artist looking for a wife. If you are interested, give me a call." See what I mean? Larger than life. Another character that I love is Paula Deen. I love her recipes. I love to watch her cooking show. And, I just love her attitude. Usually, when my family is on vacation, instead of all separating out and doing the things we want to do on our own, each one of us will choose two or three things that we really want to do while we are there and then the whole family goes to do everybody's things. One of my picks in Savannah was to go to the Lady and Sons restaurant. It is owned by Paula Deen and it is wunderbar! If you ever get to Savannah, go and check it out. One of my other picks when we were in Savannah was to go to Bonaventure Cemetery. We got lost on the way there and it took us forever to find it. When we finally got there, my brother-in-law said: "I don't know what is wrong with you people. I have never looked so hard to find dead people in all of my life." You know, after thinking about his statements for awhile, I decided it might have something to do with what makes Savannah special. The dead exist in perfect harmony with the living.

New York City

The first picture is a cityscape of New York, the second is the Statue of Liberty, the third is the bull statue in front of the New York Stock Exchange and the fourth is Yankee Stadium. Every single one of these photographs represents New York to me. There are many things to do in New York City. They have Broadway shows, ballets, art museums, science museums, Yankee Stadium, the Statue of Liberty, etc., etc. The list could go on and on. If you like big cities, New York is probably the greatest one on earth. Having said that, I know that many of you want me to talk about September 11th. These pictures were taken about 10 months after the September 11th attacks. I have many pictures of the site but I have chosen not to place them on my blog. I don't like to dwell on bad things. In my world, everyone is happy and there is peace on earth. If only everyone else could live in my world.
(I want to say a big thank you to my sister and brother-in-law for letting me use some of their New York City pics in this blog entry!)

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.