I am often asked what my favorite ethnic food is. I’d have to say Vietnamese. It has a lot of fresh veggies and is never too spicy hot. My all-time favorite breakfast is pho, a Vietnamese soup served for breakfast and all day long. The light broth is full of flavor. On my last trip to Vietnam I learned about some other traditional foods on Pandaw’s Red River/Halong Bay cruise.
The Oswego Lighthouse, the icon of the city of Oswego, has basically been off limits to visitors until now. The breakwall that leads to the lighthouse is too dangerous to negotiate and, most likely, if reached by private boat the lighthouse will be closed. H. Lee White Maritime Museum now runs a tourist boat to the lighthouse twice a week for a mere $20 and includes admission to the H. Lee White Maritime Museum. John and I have been to the museum several times but each time is different.
Crazy Horse’s real name was “His-horse-is-crazy.” He was the leader of the Oglala Lakotas and led a group of likeminded Native Americans in a fight against the United States government protesting the government’s encroachments on their land and the effect it was having on the culture of the Lakota people. He and his followers finally surrendered to U.S. troops and Crazy Horse was imprisoned at Fort Robinson. On September 5, 1877, Crazy Horse was bayonetted to death by a guard who said he was trying to escape.
Heading south on Route 89 toward Alliance in Western Nebraska, what before my wondering eyes should appear? Carhenge rising out of the wheat fields! Carhenge is an assemblage of cars to look like Stonehenge built to scale and painted gray. Can’t make it to Stonehenge in England for the solar eclipse, then consider Carhenge.
“Go West, young man and grow with the country” wrote Horace Greeley in 1865 in the “New York Tribune.” He was encouraging Americans to take advantage of the Homestead Act whereby, in exchange for a small filing fee, settlers were given 160 acres of public land. People were already moving west. It was part of what some thought was America’s Manifest Destiny, the belief that the U.S. should reach from ocean to ocean.
One of the most interesting places John and I visited on Staten Island was Snug Harbor Cultural Center. It was a one-stop see-a-lot place. It is a Smithsonian affiliate that was started in 1801 by Robert Richard Randall as a sanctuary for aged sailors and grew to have 50 structures and nearly a 1000 residents from every corner of the world. Snug Harbor was a self-sustaining community with a dairy, chapel, hospital and music hall and by the 20th century the richest charitable institution in the United States.
There are few places where I go out of my way to revisit. Hocking Hills in the southeast part of Ohio near Logan is one of those places. About 10 years ago, John and I stayed at The Inn at Cedar Falls in the Hocking Hills area. We stayed in Dogwood Cabin nestled in the woods with two balconies that overlooked the forest. In the morning I wandered out to the top balcony with my coffee to see a deer watching me.
Remember the days of the Longaberger home parties? I do; however, I never bought one. Ten years ago when John and I were in Ohio, we stopped in Newark to see the World’s Largest Basket. It was actually the corporate headquarters for the Longaberger Company. The building is still there but sadly it is unoccupied and will be auctioned off with the starting bid – if you are interested – equal to the $700,000 tax debt. The building cost $32 million to build in 1997.
There are actually three Durbar Squares in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley, all of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The most famous is Basantapur Durbar Square which is considered the traditional heart of the old town and is famed for its traditional architecture. The Basantapur Durbar Square was in front of Nepal’s 19th century royal residence. It was hard hit in the 2015 earthquake when more than half of the temples were destroyed. Some buildings were badly damaged but are still standing and in the process of being repaired.
The names of some destinations have a magical draw for me, such as Katmandu and Timbuktu. I will probably never get to Timbuktu but I decided if I was ever going to Kathmandu I better go while I still can. When John and I arrived at Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport it was very busy with several planes arriving about the same time. We decided to get a visa on arrival, but so did most of the other passengers. So it was very hectic.
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