Month: July 2011

Bridge Differences with Legal Travel to Cuba

Cuba was my forbidden fruit and in 2003 before President W. Bush pulled the cultural licenses enabling Americans to visit with licensed operators, I had to find a way to legally visit. Insight Cuba was the solution and I traveled with them for an extended weekend in Havana on a people-to-people program. Travel Bridges Differences […]

Cool Stuff Others are Doing Florida Fun Fuzzies, Gadgets & Stuff

Pack Along “Beach Chair Diaries” On Your Next Trip to the Beach

“Salt water runs through my veins,” Janet E. Spurr, author of Beach Chair Diaries, Summer Tales from Maine to Maui wrote me in a recent email interview, “My parents met at the beach, my grandparents owned a guest house two blocks from the beach. My father once filled the floor of our basement with sand […]

Culinary Travel Florida Fun

Good Eating at Nancy’s Bar-B-Q in Sarasota, Florida

I’m not ashamed to admit I inhaled my pulled pork sandwich at Nancy’s Bar-B-Q in Sarasota, Fla., in mere minutes. It wasn’t because I was in a hurry but because it was insanely delicious. Piled high on a soft bun, the 4 ounce pork dripped with a sweet tomato-based barbecue sauce complementing the meat’s delightful […]

Florida Fun Snapshots

Wordless Wednesday: Final Space Shuttle Launch, July 8, 2011

Why yes, this week’s Wordless Wednesday is all about the space shuttle launch. While you’ve probably read this post and seen the images of Atlantis making her last launch, enjoy this very amateur video taken near Space View Park in Titusville, Fla., less than 15 miles from the launch pad. Can you feel the excitement? […]

About Me Social Media Travel Resources

My 7 Links: Wandering Down Memory Lane

As a writer, there are posts on this blog I love and others I tolerate. My friend Ben of Adventures with Ben recently nominated me to participate in TripBases ‘My 7 Links’ movement to pull out seven posts based on a specific topic.

Me with Three New Friends I Met and Shared the Historic Day of Watching the Final Space Shuttle Launch, Titusville, Fla., July 8, 2011

Florida Fun Solo Travel

Smelly, Sticky and Sunburn: Seeing the Final Space Shuttle Launch

Space shuttle Atlantis launched for a final time on July 8, 2011, from Florida’s Space Coast and in all my smelly, sticky and sunburn glory, I was there to witness the space shuttle program’s final chapter. No Frequent Guest Points Earned this Night Surprisingly, my rollaboard suitcase was quite comfortable when used as a pillow […]

Florida Fun Snapshots

Wordless Wednesday: 20th Annual Charlotte Harbor Freedom Swim in Punta Gorda, Florida

Twenty years ago a few friends decided to swim across the Peace River in Southwest Florida to celebrate Independence Day. They heard the activity was a rite of passage for local high school kids and called it the Charlotte Harbor Freedom Swim. Today, it’s evolved into something affectionately describe as a gloriously unorganized blobblefest where […]

About Me Culinary Travel

American as Rhubarb Torte

I was raised with rhubarb growing in my Western New York yard and as an adult, I still have a special hankering for it. Here’s my Grandma H.’s rhubarb torte recipe.

Florida Fun Solo Travel

Meeting Astronaut Sam Durrance During the Astronaut Training Experience at Kennedy Space Center, Florida

You can’t have an Astronaut Training Experience without a real live astronaut. After checking in for the attraction and reading who I’d meet, I was excited to learn Sam Durrance flew on an Endeavour (the first space shuttle launch I’ve seen) mission (STS-67) with his first space shuttle mission being Columbia (STS-35). He says he’s […]