Tagged With "Big Island"
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Re: Visiting Erupting Mount Etna
We were there in 2014 and it was one of the most interesting days to walk around this area. We had no idea the volcano had so many side vents. We did not purchase the guided tour on the big tire vehicle, but were very impressed, nonetheless. We stayed in Taormina for a week and took day trips to various locations in the eastern part of the island. One place we spent an afternoon was a mountain to town with my last name. It was very cool. This place does not see many travelers and everywhere...
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Re: Lanai: Sorry, Island Closed for Renovation
Any idea how long the island is going to be closed? I'd hope to visit Lanai in about 2 years. Must be nice to buy your own Hawaiian Island -- and interesting to see if this "green" scheme will work. Lanai has limited resources, except for lots of sunshine a great weather.
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Re: Walking the Burgundy Canal
I received Melinda's newsletter this afternoon (she of ILoveWalkinginFrance.com ), and she confirms what I mentioned above about the down side of trying to follow French paths. "... I backtracked and turned right, thinking that walking around an island would be fairly straightforward. That path ended soon after, at the end of the port, so I backtracked again and followed another path which would join the coastal path at the eastern side of the island. It did, but was so badly marked that I...
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Re: Mar. 17. 2016. Why did the Chicken cross the road ?
Quote from Key West Guide Book "Luckily, the southernmost city outlawed cockfighting in 1970's, putting the Cubalaya chickens out of business, and out on the streets of Key West. Domestic chickens on the island were losing their homes at the same time when their owners moved away. Now the roosters & chickens were left to roam free, and nature took its course. So, some forty years later, we now have what we call 'Gypsy Chickens'. Like in the 1970's, they are still protected, and make Key...
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Re: Mar. 21, 2016: St. Augustine Beach
The recession really hit Anastasia Island hard. There were lots of foreclosures and empty hotels, restaurants and stores. But the last couple of years has seen a total transformation and the island is crowded and businesses are packed like never before.
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Re: Walking across the Ohio: Big Four Bridge, Louisville
No big city involved, but it reminds me of early teen years, walking the old railroad-then-highway bridge across the Missouri River from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The best part was the birds-eye view of the tugs and barges, and the long views downriver. Sadly, that one is gone, now.
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Re: Walking across the Ohio: Big Four Bridge, Louisville
Great post Jonathan. I love bridges and really enjoyed reading about this one and all its history. It's definitely being adding it my to-do list! Thanks for sharing.
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Re: Walking across the Ohio: Big Four Bridge, Louisville
Great travel experience and a fun place from which to see the landscape! Thanks, Jonathan.
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Re: Is a stopover in Iceland worthwhile
PHeymont has given you some excellent advice, Travel Luver. By all means, spend some time in Iceland. If you can fit it into your trip, 4 days would be my minimum stay here. As Paul pointed out so well, Iceland is unique. It is also very sparsely populated, with only 300,000 people on the island and two thirds of those living in Reykjavik. And it is a newly form volcanic land with tons of glaciers, waterfalls, and geothermal events. So by all means, see it. When you land at Keflavik airport...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Jan. 7, 2014: The "Big Edge", Las Vegas, Nevada
Some "modern art" leaves me cold but that image is thought provoking and lets the mind wander - as it has yours ! Nice piece DrF !
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Jan. 7, 2014: The "Big Edge", Las Vegas, Nevada
Stunning...and hard to imagine a better place for it. Curious: how big is it? In the close-up I get the impression they could be full-size boats?
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Jan. 7, 2014: The "Big Edge", Las Vegas, Nevada
Yes, they are all full size boats. Say an average of 4 meters (13 ft) each? Vegas is becoming a great place to see modern art.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Jan. 7, 2014: The "Big Edge", Las Vegas, Nevada
The word "audacious" comes to mind and, I think, appropriately. I think it's always been one of Art's jobs to make the viewer's say "What the hell?", and public art of this scale especially. It makes one want to meet the person whose mind conceived it. Good work, Nancy Rubins. ("crafted" indeed, DrF.)
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Re: A Walk through Florida's Everglades: Big Cypress Bend boardwalk at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
Looks like a great place for a walk and a learn! You might just be putting Florida on my map...
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Re: A Walk through Florida's Everglades: Big Cypress Bend boardwalk at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
What a great walk.I really enjoy the boardwalks that are all over Florida.Really let's you get on top of some interesting things that you don't want to walk through.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day. January 14, 2014: Calgary Peace Bridge
The bridge on the bottom right of the picture 3 is called Bow River Pathway. It's a pedestrian/cycling bridge connecting the downtown ore - Prince's Island Park - The North bank of Bow river. The Peace bridge and C-train bridge are further west! Ha Ha Karl, you need get out more
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day. January 14, 2014: Calgary Peace Bridge
I do need to get out more! Of course, I live south of downtown while you look at this view every day. We'll need to go for a walk there this summer, DrY! Prince's Island is a great place for those visiting Calgary. A lovely island oasis right off downtown. Wonderful escape from bustle of a city and literally just a minute from it all.
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Re: Pesuta Shipwreck, Naikoon Provincial Park, Haida-Gwaii, British Columbia
Like the tree pics. I picked up all of my glass floats a bit farther south - on the seaward side of Vancouver Island and on the western shore of the Olympic Peninsula. I think it was always in the summer. Maybe the tides and winds bring different material at different times of the year.
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Re: La Dolce Vita (Part 6) Murano and Burano
Dr. Fumblefinger, Nice slideshow with great pics. We were in Venice in 2012 for 6 or 7 days and made an excursion to Burano as a day trip. The first thing we noticed was that tourism has reached the tiny island. There was a new docking station for the vaporetti and all sorts of kiosks selling the usual stuff. The first time we were there was in 2008 and it was a sleepy island that time seemed to forget. In fact, we came across four elderly ladies sitting on a bench gabbing and knitting. I...
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Re: The Big Island of Hawaii (Part 1). Volcanoes Park
Great pictures, and great memories. This was our favorite part of Hawaii...especially the "end of the road" where the park highway suddenly comes to an end against a pile of lava from a few years ago. It's a big tourist attraction, yes, but it seemed much less so than many other places on the islands.
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Re: The Big Island of Hawaii (Part 1). Volcanoes Park
Thanks for the comment, PHeymont. It's a great destination partially because the tourist industry can't control it. The volcano will do what it wants and as the flow of lava over the road reminds us, we have little power to stop it.
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Re: "Surf and Turf" at Roy's in Waikoloa. Short rib with macadamia crusted mahi-mahi. Wonderful!
Please do a food review on this place! It looks delicious!
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Re: Hawaii: Coping with Hurricane Ana
It's not often we get an inside view of an event like this, while it's going on. Thanks! I've been wondering whether people on Kauai, where Iniki changed everything, had very different reactions to the possible storm than those on the Big Island?
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Re: Hawaii: Coping with Hurricane Ana
And another wonder...I wonder how many parks have signs ready on a shelf for closings due to "severe weather" and "tropical storm".
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Re: Hawaii: Coping with Hurricane Ana
Hawaiians are pretty mellow folks, as you know, PHeymont. And they weren't too excited about this Hurricane. Cautiously aware but no adrenaline flowing if that makes sense. Good point about signage, PM.
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Re: Hawaii: Coping with Hurricane Ana
You cant say your vacations are uneventful DrF. Something to remember for a long time. Here in the UK we're still sweeping up the debris after Hurricane Gonzalo came through this morning. Winds up to 88mph.. But I didn't pay for the privilege of having my day spoilt like you did. Sun will come out tomorrow - more pix needed please !
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Re: Hawaii: Coping with Hurricane Ana
The sun did indeed come out today (Tuesday). As you can see from the attached photo. Lots of photos of the trip already up on Gumbo on the Go, with more to follow. Check out that link here: https://www.travelgumbo.com/clips?fileType=IMAGE
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Re: Hawaii: Coping with Hurricane Ana
Wonderful collection of photos DrF. Very educational too.. I didn't know they grew coffee beans there too. My biggest regret is the 3 day stopover I had there. It was nowhere near long enough. But your pix have been an insight into some of the things I would have loved to see.
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Re: Hawaii: Coping with Hurricane Ana
Thanks for the comments, Garry. Kona coffee is among the most flavorful in the world. Very smooth and rich in flavor. Hawaii's not easy to get to, especially from Europe, but it's worth some effort to do so.
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Re: Hawaii: Coping with Hurricane Ana
Some of the best long haul flights stop off in interesting places. That's why I love taking a few days in San Francisco. And Hawaii. Mainly because I can walk for miles. So many US cities are not "Pedestrian friendly" I'm off to search the internet for Kona Coffee ! I have noticed that the Islands have the most memorable Flag of all the US States ! Thanks DrF !
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Re: Hawaii: Coping with Hurricane Ana
That flag must have been inspired by Captain Cook. And we all know what happened to him on these islands....(if you don't, google it).
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Re: Hawaii: Coping with Hurricane Ana
The Flag was adopted 70 years after the death of Cook. It was designed by the Head of the Hawaiian Navy. Who's previous employment was with the British Royal Navy.
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Re: Gallery: Hapuna Beach Prince Resort, Hawaii
Some resorts have a rule that the tree line is the maximum building height. Blends in with the local landscape much better. Looks like this hotel was built to fit the local landscape. With the gardens it looks wonderful.
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Re: Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii, Redux
A reminder of the destructive power of nature. I'd be worried about the soles of my shoes melting and welding themselves to rock ! Is the access a tourist has only to dormant areas ? Fascinating blog from what must be the most "lively" location on Earth. Once again DrF , educational and interesting !
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Re: Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii, Redux
Hi Garry, and thanks for your comment. The active areas within the National Park are off limits because of toxic fume levels, not so much because of lava. The roads to the Pahoe area (outside the park) of actively flowing lava are closed and access is theoretically restricted. For a fee, one of the locals will guide you to the flowing lava. Remember this is thick fairly slowly flowing lava, not unlike moving pancake batter. But it is hot and you have to be careful. Shoes can melt and worse...
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Re: Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii, Redux
Hmm.... maybe I was right ! I have no wish to terminate my "footloose" attitude. Sounds like a lake with thin ice. Diamond Head on Hawaii was my limit !
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Re: Pineapple field, Dole Plantation
Pineapples grown in Hawaii are consumed in Hawaii. There is no export to the lower 48 states. Between the locals and tourists that's still a lot of pineapples. Shipping anything to or from a remote island is expensive. Mainland USA gets a lot of its pineapples from Central America.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, August 12, 2014: Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
Wow, that would be something to see. Thank for sharing.
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Re: The St. Augustine Lighthouse
GutterPup -Great job sharing about the lighthouse. Anastasia Island, or known as "the Island" there has some pretty cool sights, beaches and restaurants. It's friendly and relaxed atmosphere is commented upon frequently and I found it's really true.Many people come back year after year and stay for months at a time. The historic sights of downtown bring people in, but the Island brings them back.
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Re: The St. Augustine Lighthouse
GutterPup, You posted some great pics of the place. The St. Augustine Light is one of the 10 most beautiful lighthouses in the USA. I read that in a travel magazine, so this is not just my opinion. It's gorgeous! In another lifetime, ex-wife type other lifetime, we were going there for a winter interlude in February from 2002 until 2006 and we stayed on Anastasia Island, not far from the light. We joined the member society, bought bricks in our kids's names, and visited there frequently.
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Re: Iceland's Keflavik airport aims to become major global stopover
Traffic at the airport has about doubled in the past 10 years. Who would have guessed that the UAE airports would be so successful. After all, very few people actually get out there, We'll see what happens. Iceland is beautiful and unique. I'm fond of Icelandair's deal where you can stop at the Island for up to a week without extra cost enroute between Europe and North America. If they keep expanding their routes, that alone will cause significant increase in traffic.
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Re: Coney Island Photos at Museum of the City of New York
Very Cool. Last year PHeymont took me to Coney Island and we were lucky enough to see the Carousel that had recently been restored . That craftsmanship alone is worth the trip to Coney Island. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05...ney-island.html?_r=0
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Re: Gumbo’s Pic of the Day, August 29, 2014: Postcards from Greece - The Portara on Naxos
It's delightful for a few days stay. We went there as part of a 3 Island visit - Santorini, Paros and Naxos. The Island of Delos, birthplace of Apollo, can conveniently be visited from Naxos. It is worth the, sometimes rough, trip to see what must have been the equivalent of the Las Vegas of its time in terms of its exotic extravagance.
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Re: Gumbo’s Pic of the Day, August 29, 2014: Postcards from Greece - The Portara on Naxos
I stayed once for a week on Naxos and the window of my room on the hill in the center of this picture had exactly the opposite view, this structure from a distance. I remember the guesthouse and the island fondly and could happily stay there for some time. An unpretentious and friendly place.