This trip was chosen as a 60th birthday present to me. For the first leg of the trip, in Egypt, we chose a no-brainer packaged 10 day tour that included Cairo, Giza, and a Nile River cruise with stops at various historical sites. Our package included a guide, most meals, transportation by boat and taxi and van, and entry fees to all the sites.
Category: Travel
Campus Martius – Heart of Detroit
“After the great fire of 1805 which destroyed most of Detroit, Judge Woodward was appointed to oversee the city’s rebuild plan to lay out the streets, squares and lots with the assistance of the best surveyors from Canada. They placed their instruments and astronomical devices on the summit of a huge stone from which they viewed the planets and meteors in order to determine “true North.” Today, we still call this the “Point of Origin,” which is located in center of Campus Martius at the junction of Woodward and Monroe. It is from this point that the City of Detroit’s coordinate system was created.
The People We Meet
When Cathryn and I travel it’s not all about the journey or the destination, or even the food and drink. Granted, those are all good reasons as to why we travel, but we also love to meet new people and share in their culture. People are one of the reasons you’ll see us perched on stools at the bar instead of sitting at a table by ourselves.
It’s not that we don’t enjoy each other’s company, we do, and we travel well together. Spending days or weeks together 24/7 can be trying for any couple or even close friends. Consider yourself lucky if you can get along with your travel partner.
Cheers to Boston!
The city is too big for everyone to know your name, but the film location of the TV sitcom Cheers is a cool place to browse photos of your favorite characters from the show. On the hot and humid day we visited, it was also the perfect spot for a cold beer. The street outside is lined with beautiful old residential buildings.
The Country of Quebec
Look closely at this picture and you’ll see one of the very few Canadian flags hanging limp, in the province of Quebec. The lovable red maple leaf is notably missing from government buildings, businesses, and homes across the French section of Canada. Are separatists still at work there, trying to divide our country.
Cathryn and I spent twelve days on the road, motorcycling from Windsor to Quebec City, and back. We spent the Canada Day weekend in the Kingston/Gananoque area, where civic and country pride were evident everywhere. Red and white banners, Canadian flags, and the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary flag were everywhere.
Unintended Adventures
What exactly is an adventure and where do you find one? Touring companies offer them all the time—they must know. Usually, for a tidy sum of money, they promise unique adventures that anyone can go on. Is that being adventurous—going where everyone else has gone before? Sure it is, but we don’t need to spend our hard earned money to have someone else show us something different, off the beaten path.
We call ourselves tourists, when we venture off to discover something new and different from the norm. Unfortunately, many of us become sheep, using travel agents and guide services to tell us how and where to find what we seek. For hard working individuals who need to get away from it all, there is nothing wrong with that.
For real travelers, or adventurers, we know what is required. We know that you have to get off that beaten path, peek over that fence, look around the next corner, and drive down that next road to see where it leads. It’s not rocket science, it’s a yearning, curiosity, and desire to enrich ourselves and learn something new. It’s enlightenment.
The Men of Melaque
Who are the elusive men of Mexico? To us Gringos who flock south for the winter, if we pay attention, we might just catch a glimpse of the homosapien species. Our first exposure was at the Puerto Vallarta airport, where throngs of eager males threw themselves at arriving snowbirds in the hopes of snagging fares for the taxis and shuttles that were stacked up out front.
Favorites – Venice
I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked where’s my favorite place I’ve visited. And, for those of you who know me personally, I don’t really do favorites. So why, you ask, am I posting Venice as one of my favorite places? Well, I must shyly admit that it is. Right now it’s the number one tourist destination in the world. That’s big.
Eddie Murphy & The Golden Girls
This story appears in my book, A Casual Traveler
Kananchuburi Provence, Thailand
I booked a no-brainer trip from Pataya Beach to the Kananchuburi province in Thailand, near the Burma border. It is home to the Bridge on the River Kwai, that was made famous by the movie of the same name. For those unaware, it’s where the Japanese used allied prisoners of war to build a railway bridge over the river, and through the mountain pass into Burma.
The shuttle bus picked me up at my hotel at 5:30 a.m. sharp, a despicable time of the day. The birds weren’t up yet, but there were still a couple people drinking at the bar across the street. Not unusual in Pataya. I’d behaved the previous evening, opting for a movie at the local cinema, instead of being one of those people at the bar.
I climbed into the van and saw with my one open eye that there were other people on the bus. Three older black women had nabbed the best seats. The looked like a darker version of the Golden Girls. I wedged myself in and didn’t pay the driver much attention, until he got lost two blocks from my hotel.
Sensual Awakening
Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia
This poem appears in my first book, A Casual Traveler
Chirping alarm clock
Curtains parted by golden rays
Bacon on the grill.
Tuk-tuk offers a rhythmic putt-putt
Scooters weave a tangled traffic web
Breakfast lingers.
Life Written and Reviewed 