Month: March 2011
Made the Other Shortlist: #NASAWaitUp
If you haven’t heard, there are only two space shuttle missions left (at least at the time of this blog post) with Endeavour, STS-134, making its last launch on April 19, 2011. Tickets for the event are at a premium and tickets for viewing the launch at the Kennedy Space Center sold out quickly. Potential […]
Continue ReadingBlogging for New Zealand Tourism
Having worked in Florida destination marketing for more than a decade, I know disasters can cause more than physical damage to a tourism area. Misconceptions can economically hurt a region because potential visitors aren’t properly educated about available services. My most recent experience dealing with this was last year’s Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Although no […]
Continue ReadingI Ate Bugs and Tolerated It: ECHO Farm, Fort Myers
“Would you like a grilled cricket?” the young woman said while holding a bag of chilled mealworms. I attended ECHO Farm Day at Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization in North Fort Myers, Fla., yesterday. Founded back in the 1970s, it’s a global Christian organization believing in equipping people with agricultural skills and resources to reduce […]
Continue ReadingWordless Wednesday: Faces of Japan
Like most everyone, I’ve had Japan on the brain since last Friday’s earthquake, tsunami and now nuclear power plant situations. I devout today’s Wordless Wednesday to some of the people I met along the way during my Oct. 2004 trip to Japan. I extend my thoughts and prayers to the Japanese people.
Continue Reading
Art of Bathing in Japan
Two of my worst fears came to fruition during my month-long visit to Japan in 2004: being nude in public and singing in public. Luckily, not simultaneously. This is a tale of my Japanese bathing experiences and karaoke is for another time. I visited Shizuoka and Yamanashi Prefectures, the home of Mt. Fuji.
Continue Reading
Embracing Nostalgia with Shuttle Launch
Grandparents are the most wonderful gift a kid could have. They offer security parents do, yet they’re more playful than authoritative. In 1981 when I was 11-years-old, my brother, sister and I spent more than two weeks in Sarasota, Fla., with my grandparents. It was during that trip we ate cookies everyday, ice cream every […]
Continue ReadingThe Weather Channel to Debut ‘From the Edge’
If you’re like me and enjoy travel then you certainly love photography. Good folks at The Weather Channel (no, not Jim Cantore) recently made me aware of a new show called ‘From the Edge’ which brings together the works of Mother Nature and photography. Master Photographer Peter Lik is the show’s host and throughout the […]
Continue ReadingWordless Wednesday: Batter Up!
Yeah, yeah. I know Monday’s post was about baseball but hey, it’s spring training time here in Florida so here are additional snapshots from recent spring training games.
Continue ReadingVisiting Orioles Spring Training Stadium in Sarasota
Saturday I journeyed an hour north to see the Baltimore Orioles play the Boston Red Sox during spring training play. What I ended up actually doing was explore the renovated Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, spring training home to the Orioles. It’s a fabulous stadium and it wasn’t my intent to spend so much time […]
Continue ReadingWhen Travel Planning Goes from Me to We
One of the reasons I enjoy traveling solo is independence and freedom of choosing what I want to do and when. I enjoy immersing completely in a new environment and sometimes when traveling with others, I can’t relax and enjoy the experience. I feel the need to entertain other people traveling with me and am […]
Continue Reading