Sunset on the Pacific

With the new year comes the promise to revive neglected projects.  My blog is one such example.  Although I have continued to travel and rack up memories and photographs, I have become derelict in my writing.  Having just returned from 3 weeks visiting the Pacific Northwest,  my camera is brimming with memories and my mind the accompanying narrative.

We spent our first week  in Vancouver, where we took advantage of the opportunity to take an early morning ferry to Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia.  We had fun poking around Chinatown, the second oldest in North America after San Francisco.  Fan Tan Alley has cute touristy shops, art galleries and of course, chinese restaurants.  The narrowest street in Canada, it measures only about 2.5 feet at its narrowest.

Another day we  all braved the wobbly walk across the  Capilano Suspension Bridge;  then later drove to Whistler, where the 2010 Olympics were held.  The snowy wintery mountains put us in a mood for Christmas.

Bicycle in Fan Tan Alley taken with my iPhone

Fisgard Lighthouse at the entrance to Esquimalt Harbor

I recently returned from visiting family in Rochester NY and made a side trip to scout out some spots for autumn photography along the Finger Lakes.  A chain of lakes in the west-central section of upstate New York, the Finger Lakes consist of 11 long, narrow, roughly parallel lakes, aligned north to south as fingers of a pair of outstretched hands.  Two of the lakes,  Seneca and Cayuga,  are among the deepest in North America with depths  below sea level. These lakes all formed over the last two million years by glacial carving of old stream valleys. With names derived from early their Iroquois roots, the area is rich in history and culture, education and art.

Today the Finger Lakes area is New York's largest wine producing region with over 100 wineries and vineyards centered around Cayuga, Canandaigua, Conesus, Hemlock  Keuka, and Seneca  lakes. A leisurely drive through the drumlins reveals the neat rows of ripening grapes waving down to the lake.  Farming is a way of life in this part of the state.  Neat rows of corn and alfalfa stand beside tumbledown barns, as testament to the state of the economy and how it has especially hit American farmers.  Yet among the decline stand proud homes with grand porches boasting of more prosperous times.

I love visiting the Southern Tier, as it is called,  and often wish for more time to explore in depth the many towns and villages;  coffee shops and museums.

Comfortable lake homes along Conesus Lake

Crystal clear waters of Canadice Lake

Red Barn near Letchworth

Corn field in winter

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover  ~  Mark Twain


Over Thanksgiving holiday we took our first cruise; a 9 night trip on Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas departing from Baltimore with ports of call including Cape Canaveral, Nassau Bahamas, the Florida Keys and the ships private island Coco Cay.  We kayaked among the mangroves and manatees in Cape Canaveral; admired the view of Nassau Harbor from Fort Charlotte and walked the 66 stone steps of the Queens Staircase from Fort Fincastle. Key West has always held a certain intrigue and our visit did not disappoint.  We walked the entire island, taking in the notable attractions: Mallory Square, the Ernest Hemingway House, replete with the six- or seven-toed polydactyl cats descended from Hemingway's original pet 'Snowball' who live on the property, and of course, a stop at Durty Harry's Bar on Duval street for oysters.  Our final port call to the ships private island of Cocoa Cay provided another opportunity for kayaking where we paddled the azure caribbean waters with sightings of starfish, sea cucumbers, and stingrays.  


A wonderful relaxing way to spend the holiday.  Perhaps a new tradition?

Leaving Baltimore we were favored with a spectacular sunset

Key West Transportation

Key Lime Pie on a stick: a Key West delicacy

Besame Mucho

Colorful Key West window

Kayaks on Cocoa Cay