Tagged With "Spirit Island"
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Pictures from a small island - Portland Bill
Some 5 miles to the south-west of Weymouth is Portland Bill, a narrow promontory (or 'bill') at the southern end of the Isle of Portland, and the southernmost point of Dorset, England. This point of Portland bears the brunt of the many storms that...
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Punalu'u Black Sand Beach Park, Hawaii Island, Hawaii
I love visiting the state of Hawaii. Although I have enjoyed all the Hawaiian islands I have visited (Oahu, Kauai, and Hawaii Island), my favorite island would be Hawaii Island (aka the Big Island). The diversity of the Hawaii...
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San Juan's El Morro: Layers of Stone, Layers of History (Where Gumbo Was, #84)
El Morro, the giant fortification that's guarded San Juan Harbor for nearly 500 years, is the sight we saw before we saw it. Its image is everywhere when you do online research for a trip to Puerto Rico; its "garitas"—small domed...
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Portland Bill Revisited: Pictures from a small island
Begging indulgence from the Senior Gumbo Gurus. Following my previous visit to stormy Portland Bill last week, yesterday the sun came out and the wind picked up a notch more, so I just had to make a quick trip back there to see what might have...
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Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
Many Americans (myself included) are thinking much more seriously now about visiting Cuba with the relaxed process. But don't expect it to be smooth yet—veteran traveler Brian Kelly, who runs ThePointsGuy (an extremely useful site...
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San Juan, Puerto Rico: Outside the Walls
Because Puerto Rico was the first freshwater island for 16th-century travelers from Spain, and because it guards the entrance to the Caribbean, its Spanish masters went out of their way to defend it, not only with the huge fortifications at the...
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Eurail kicks off new year with new plans
Eurail has enhanced its offerings for the new year with some new passes and some upgrades to existing ones. One of the best bits for families: children 4-11 now trvel free if accompanied by a pass-holding adult. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro...
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Old San Juan: Beautiful...and not all old
San Juan, Puerto Rico is a city of contrasts, of modern skyscrapers, crowded residential areas of different eras, resort hotels and casinos along Condado, and much more...but the image that usually comes to mind is really that of Old San Juan, the...
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Casas Particulares in Cuba
Visiting Cuba has forever changed the way I view accommodations when I travel now. For one I was always a chain hotel kind of girl racking up my points and being loyal to said luxury chains. I had the option to book luxury hotels in Havana...
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Frontier's raising bag fees; will the other "low-costs" follow?
Frontier Airlines, which last year joined Spirit and Allegiant in the ULCC (ultra-low-cost-carrier) class that seems to mean ULC (ultra lots of charges) for most folks, is raising its fees for checked bags. The only checked bags that will not go up by...
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Ryanair dries out a notorious 'party flight'
Just like a conscientious bartender, Ryanair is telling some of its customers "you've had enough!" The budget airline is banning alcohol from the cabin on its twice-weekly flights from Glasgow to the Spanish vacation island of Ibiza. That means...
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Super-tide at Mont-Saint-Michel: High water and 30K viewers
Last Saturday's "super-tide" at Mont-Saint-Michel, the island monument just off the coast at the border of Normandy and Brittany, drew over 30,000 spectators from all over the world, anxious to see the storied island as it seldom is...completely...
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Index: Mont-Saint-Michel
A Visit to Normandy: Magnificient Mont St. Michel Mont-Saint Michel: Like no other, Part 1, Island and Village Mont-Saint-Michel: Like no other, Part 2, the Abbey
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Will Social Media Change Spring Break?
The Nikki Beach hotel on the island of Phucket in Southern Thailand faced severe criticism when posting the above photo on their Facebook page showing a baby elephant near a pool with party goers and one riding on top. Read more:...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, April 13, 2015: Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii
Located on the west side of Kauai, Waimea Canyon stretches 14 miles long, is one mile wide, and is more than 3,600 feet deep. These photos were taken from the Waimea Canyon Lookout (elevation 3,400 feet) which provides these...
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Brooklyn's Spectacular Botanic Garden (Where Gumbo Was #112)
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a pint-size treasure that always seems bigger than it is (and which occupies an outsize place in botanical research) was this week's answer to Where in the World is TravelGumbo? Because the Garden presents an array...
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Pu`uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park (The Place of Refuge), Big Island of Hawaii (Where Gumbo was #113)
Perhaps the best place on the Big Island to enjoy a sunset (from many great possibilities), Pu’uhonua o Honaunau (the Place of Refuge) is a remarkable destination. This is a National Historic site which should be...
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"Kona Coffee": Greenwell Farms Coffee Tours
Kona coffee is world famous for its full-bodied, non-bitter, bold flavor. Hard to put the taste into words, but it's good coffee! The micro-climate just south of Kona, around 1000 - 2000 ft above sea level, is perfect for...
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British Air adds year-round Iceland flights
British Airways will be flying Heathrow-Rekyjavik three times a week, starting October 25, becoming the first mainline trans-Atlantic carrier to offer year-round service. BA and others have operated summer services, but the winter has been largely...
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Lanai: Sorry, Island Closed for Renovation
Larry Ellison, the software billionaire (Oracle) has a dream of making the Hawaiian island of Lanai "the first economically viable, 100% green community" and he's closed down the island for a while to work on it. He can do that, because three years...
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Ait? Meol? Landscape's hidden language in new book
An ait (above) is a river island, splitting the main stream—and most often seen filling out three spaces in a crossword puzzle. If you've either puzzled endlessly over that an other odd landscape and geology terms, or if you're in...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, May 14, 2015: Opaekaa Falls, Kauai, Hawaii,
Opaekaa Falls is a waterfall located on the Wailua River in Wailua River State Park on the eastern side of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. It is a 151–foot waterfall that flows over basalt from volcanic eruptions millions of years...
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Volendam and Edam, the Netherlands: A Historic Riverfront Adventure
AmaWaterways river cruise ship AmaCerto leaves Amsterdam heading for Volendam and Edam. Gliding north along the Markermeer and Ijsselmeer rivers, the ship arrives just after lunch for a tour of the towns now united under one municipality. ...
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Spirit grows its route system
Spirit, the penny-pinching fee-hiking airline everyone loves to say they hate, must be doing something right, because they're able to launch nine new non-stop routes from Atlanta and 3 from Los Angeles in the next few months. The routes will be...
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A Day in Caguas
Caguas is a late-comer by some standards; San Juan, 30 miles away, was already 250 years old when Caguas was settled by Spain—and yet it proudly calls itself “La Ciudad Criolla” and “El Corazon de Borinquen,” the Creole...
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Gumbo’s Pic of the Day, May 1, 2015: Pulpit Rock
Pulpit Rock is a coastal feature at the southern tip of the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. The artificial stack of rock was left in the 1870s after a natural arch was cut away by quarrymen at the Bill Quarry on the famous headland, Portland Bill....
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Skedans, Haida Gwaii, British Colombia (Where Gumbo was #106)
Gumbo was visiting the "misty isles", Haida Gwaii, in British Columbia. Specifically, the remnants of the Haida village of Skedans. Sadly, not much remains of the village, captured at its prime in the above image (1878), rich...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 5 2015: Portland isle at dusk
For no better reason than I rather like this picture, please allow me to show you the island of Portland in Dorset, England, at low tide as the sun sets on a late winter's afternoon. We look out from below the defensive castle - the 'Nothe' (or 'Nose'...
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Bobbies on the Beat in Spain's Ibiza
Spanish authorities on the Balearic Islands vacation spot of Ibiza have arranged for a dozen British police to work with Spanish Civil Guards this summer when British tourism is at its height. The idea is that the British cops, who will have free...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, March 12, 2015: King Kamehameha Statue, Kapaau, Hawaii Island, Hawaii
King Kamehameha I (1758 - 1819) conquered the Hawaiian Islands and united them to formally establish the Kingdom of Hawai ʻ i in 1810, thus founding the Kamehameha Dynasty. By developing alliances with the major Pacific colonial powers, Kamehameha...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, October 27, 2014: Nene, Kauai
A nene is a goose native to Hawaii and is that island's state bird. The first time I saw nene was several years ago when my wife and I spent a week in Maui. We spotted them while on a drive to the summit of the dormant volcano,...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, November 10, 2014: Weddings in Paradise
Many people look for a very special place to hold their wedding, so it's no surprise that Hawaii is a popular destination for nuptials. Most of the folks I know who were married in Hawaii did so on an isolated beach in Maui, or Kauai, or...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, November 26th, 2014: St. Simons Island, Georgia
A wide sandy beach stretches out in front of The King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort on St. Simons Island, Georgia. The hotel was founded in 1935 as a seaside dance club by Frank Horn and Morgan Wynne. The hotel took on this name...
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Billy Bishop Airport, Toronto. Where Gumbo was #77
Gumbo's heading out to Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ), sometimes also called Toronto Island Airport. Congratulations to ace travel sleuths Roderick Simpson and PortMoresby (by email) for being the first to correctly...
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Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Paris: A Park with a Past
Like so many of the great parks, Paris' Parc des Buttes Chaumont, seems to be at one with nature, or even to be nature itself. But while this park is beautiful, and a favorite of Paris families in the northeastern part of the city, it has a...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, April 28, 2015: Kinbrook Island Provincial Park
While visiting my daughter in Brooks this past weekend, I was impressed by the ocean-like waves I see in Kinbrook Island Provincial Park , on Lake Newell! To see such a large lake with beach and ocean-like waves on the relatively dry...
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Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory Tour
Much like lei made of tropical blossoms, or Dole pineapples, Mauna Loa macadamia nuts have long been a symbol of Hawaii for me. As a child I recall family friends returning to the frozen White North from Hawaii, bringing small cans of...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, July 8, 2015: Butterfly, Vancouver Island
This is a close-up I took of a butterfly while visiting Vancouver island . The sun was out early and I suppose it was warming itself in the early morning heat. I think what impressed me was the delicacy and design of the insect, which let...
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Brooklyn's Prospect Park Greenmarket
By a quick count, I’ve photographed markets in nearly three dozen cities in the U.S. and Europe; they’ve often appeared here on TravelGumbo. And yet the market I visit most often, and where my wife shops almost weekly, hasn’t found...
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Visiting Sicily: An introductory overview
Travel guru Rick Steves likes to say (and I'm paraphrasing) that Italy either gets better or worse as you head south from Rome, depending on what you like. If you like a quieter people, trains running almost on time, etc. head...
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Fort Barrancas Has it All: Cannons, Gun Turrets,Tunnels and Great Views
Fort Barrancas is located within the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. You have to show your drivers license, or other ID, to enter the base. It sits on the barranca ,or bluff, overlooking the entrance to Pensacola Bay. This National Historic Landmark...
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Where Was Gumbo? Paris. Where's the Statue? Everywhere!
Where in the World was TravelGumbo? If we simply said "At the Statue of Liberty," it wouldn't have been a very precise identification, because, as I found and you shall see, the iconic statue is everywhere and in so many forms! In today's blog, I'm...
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Carnival Celebrations in Trinidad & Tobago
Carnival is an annual celebration of life found in many countries around the world. It first originated as a pagan festival in ancient Egypt which was subsequently celebrated by the Greeks and then the Romans. Carnival was later adopted by the Roman...
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Ireland's Answer to NY High Line: 16-mile path to the sea
Scheduled to open in 2017, Ireland's gift to cyclists and hikers uses an abandoned rail line from Glenbeigh to Cahersiveen along the wild and scenic Kerry coastline in remote south-west Ireland. It crosses Gleesk Viaduct, and gives views of...
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Visiting Cuba pt 2. + more cars !
EXPLORING CUBA (Missed pt 1 ?..... http://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/visiting-cuba ) Getting about in Cuba varies dramatically. In the populated areas they have regular buses. Out in the countryside you'll have to take a taxi or go on an...
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A Day in Ponce, Puerto Rico (Where Gumbo Was #87)
On our second-to-last day in Puerto Rico, we headed to the south shore of the island, to the city of Ponce. It's smaller than San Juan, has less tourist traffic—all that, and yet it considers itself the cultural equal of the capital or of...
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Trinidad de Cuba
Trinidad de Cuba seems frozen in time. That was my immediate reaction on arrival. That was my leaving thought after exploring it for a week too. It's difficult not to fall in love with such a enchanting and unique city especially after experiencing a...
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Morse Museum: Tiffany and Much More
When it's time to leave Disney World for the Real World, Orlando's Charles Hosmer Morse Museum provides an excellent re-entry point.
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September 1, 2017: Guanche Chiefs, Cendelaria, Tenerife
Ian Cook shares some monochrome images of prior rulers of the beautiful island of Tenerife.
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Nov. 3, 2017: Auditorio Adan Martin, Tenerife
Ian Cook shares some beautiful images and the history of the beautiful modern opera house in Santa Cruz.