Winter is right around the corner. Here’s a video of the change in seasons.
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JFB
Author: Joe Benning
Author, photographer, musician and entrepreneur...
Autumn Arrives
Fairfax County Virginia has an extraordinary system of public parks. There are lakes and nature trails everywhere you turn. In addition, Great Falls National Park in McLean Virginia features a spectacular series of waterfalls in addition to picnic grounds and hiking trails. Now that the end of October has arrived, the trees are bursting with fall colors; kayakers are braving the rapids of the Great Falls and fishermen are casting for perch and bass in the lakes. Have a look below at recent photos taken in the parks.
JFB
George Washington’s Farm in Mount Vernon
One of the very nice things about living in Virginia is the abundance of historical sights. For instance, the Smithsonian is 15 miles away in DC; there is the Manassas National Battlefield Park, and the Mount Vernon Ladies Association maintains Washington’s farm and mansion and runs a first rate museum and film center.
We recently paid a visit to Washington’s mansion and the grounds in Mount Vernon. The tour begins with an excellent short film that focuses on Washington’s leadership in the Revolutionary War. The grounds are beautiful and the story is inspiring. It is hard—impossible actually—not to reflect on the courage and leadership of Washington compared to the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. That alone makes the trip worthwhile, even though there is so much more.
Perhaps the difference between Washington and the current crop is best summed by Washington when he said “I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.” Something to think about.
Some photos below.
JFB
Touring Banff: Walking on Glaciers and Sailing on Turquoise Lakes
Banff deserves a priority listing on any to do list. The place is a natural wonderland, with spectacular mountains, valleys and lakes. It is full of good restaurants; it has wonderful hotels, the service is first rate and there are numerous tours lasting from a couple of hours riding a tour boat on a lake to weeks long camping trips. Among other things, we booked a tour that allowed us to walk on a glacier.
We also booked an all-day tour with a guide named Sam who took us all around Banff, Lake Moraine and Johnston Canyon, where we did a considerable amount of hiking around. One place was more spectacular than the next. (Thanks Sam!)
Now we are back in the airport in Calgary waiting to fly back to DC. It was a great trip and belongs on everyone’s to do list. Here below are a few shots from the tours.
JFB
Banff, Canada
Banff is nestled in the Canadian Rockies in Alberta, Canada. It is a place of spectacular beauty, which may explain the proliferation of one of the banes of modern life. I refer to that most horrid of devices: The Selfie Stick. It seems like everyone in Banff has at least one, ever ready to snap a photo of the owner with a mountain or lake in the background. Which is not to short change go-pros; they are everywhere as well, if only slightly less obnoxious.
But even the ever present selfie stick fades into insignificance in the midst of the breath taking beauty of Banff. The Canadian Rockies are ever present; the lakes and rivers are a clear gorgeous turquoise, and there are massive glaciers all over the place. Our initial outing included a trip to Lake Louise, Peyto Lake, and the Athabasca Glacier, which we got on chance to walk on. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Here are some photos below. More will be posted in the coming days.
JFB
On to England
After spending some time in Ireland doing some sightseeing and visiting family, we made our way over to England to visit (and stay with) with our good friends Michael and Sally Oxlade who live in the country side. They were kind enough to take us on a 2-day whirlwind tour that included Winchester Cathedral, Highclere Castle (where Downton Abbey is filmed) and the Winchester Museum that, among other things, includes a re-creation of King Arthur’s Round Table. These are just a few of the spots we visited. Perhaps most importantly we all went to the village pub to relax and share some memories before having one of Sally’s delicious dinners.
Thanks, Sally and Michael (and your son Charley) for a wonderful time. Here are a couple of photos of places we visited on the too short visit.
JFB
Ireland in Summer
We are just back from a short trip to Ireland and England to visit family and friends. While in Ireland we spent several days in Dublin and then headed west to the Atlantic Coast and Westport in County Mayo. There is an interesting and stark difference between the two.
Dublin has become a wee bit less distinctively Irish and more like other large cities in Western Europe. There are lots of nationalities represented in the city as well as lots of different languages. The government is still trying to encourage the use of Gaelic, but that looks like a lost cause.
The coastal area around Westport on the other hand seems to have retained much, if not most, of its traditional Irish character. It remains mostly rural and has kept its stunning views of mountains and ocean. There are lots of farms and sheep stations and large expanses of green hills and valleys.
Here (below) are a few shots taken in Dublin and around the coast on our recent trip.
Joe Benning
Wasting Away in Margaritaville
Well, here we are in Key West, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, also known as the Conch Republic. It is quite a scene. In some respects, it bears a faint resemblance to Nashville’s honky-tonk scene. There are lots of bars and restaurants with working musicians playing guitars looking for a break. Like Jimmy Buffet. But Key West is far more upscale.
Located in the Straits of Florida, Key West (Cayo Hueso in Spanish) is an island city at the Southernmost point of the North American Continent. It is closer to Cuba than it is to Miami. He island is very small—only 1 mile long and 4 miles wide. If you walk the length of Duval Street (the main street) you will have walked from the Gulf of Mexico at one end to the Florida Straits and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.
The permanent population is about 25,000, and tourism is a very big deal here. And the tourists arrive by plane, auto, ferry and cruise ship. In the first three months of 2018 alone, cruise ships brought about 275,000 tourists to the island and airplanes brought about 120,000.
Key West is (or was) home to quite a few notables, including Earnest Hemmingway, John Dos Passos, Tennessee Williams, John Dewey, Winslow Homer and Calvin Klein to name a few.
Anyway, Key West is a more than a bit bohemian with an independent streak and a live-and-let live attitude that is kind of refreshing. More than refreshing, actually. There may be a lesson here.
Here (below) are some photos taken during our too short stay.
JFB
St. Bart’s: Land of the Rich and Famous
St. Bart’s, St. Barth’s, St. Bartholomew—take your pick, the names are used interchangeably—is one of the 4 islands that make up the French West Indies. The other three are Martinique, Guadeloupe, and the French side of St. Martin. Most notably, St. Bart’s is where the beautiful people come and play, including the likes of Leonardo Di Caprio and Mick Jagger. (Mick sends his best).
St. Bart’s is deservedly big in reputation, but small by area and population. There are only about 9,300 full time inhabitants, and its total size is just under 10 square miles. Tourism is its most important business. The small island attracts over 200,000 visitors each year. The island and its visitors are well-matched: they are relentlessly upscale. Upmarket shops dominate the capital city Gustavia, the harbor is full of yachts and the hotels tend toward the boutique.
About the hotels: there are about 25 of them scattered around the island. Most have 15 rooms or less. Instead of regular hotel rooms, most hotel accommodations take the form of villas. One of the most notable is Eden Rock, where we stayed about 15 years ago. Then again there is the Hotel Le Toiny where the rooms / villas start at $2,000 per night in January.
We spent our time in St. Barth’s wandering around the beautiful town of Gustavia, which is right on the water. Here below, are some photos taken there.
JFB
On to the Caribbean—Aruba
After traversing the Panama Canal, we arrived in the Caribbean Sea, leaving South America behind us. Our first stop in the Caribbean was Aruba. It is a small island, just 19 miles long and 6 miles wide and a population of about 104,000.
The geography of Aruba is very interesting. One side of the island is the Caribbean. That is the side with the large tourist hotels and white sandy beaches. The other side faces the Atlantic Ocean where the sea is fairly turbulent. The Atlantic here is violent enough to have carved out from the cliffs the highest and most spectacular natural bridge in the Caribbean. (It collapsed in 2005).
We went touring mostly on the Atlantic side of the island, visited the rocky shores of the Atlantic side as well as desert-like areas and a butterfly farm. Some photos are below.
JFB