Posts in Category: United States
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Dry Tortugas National Park – You Must Go
I’ve been going to the Florida Keys for over forty years, but until today I never got to perhaps the most interesting spot in all of Florida, the Dry Tortugas. When tourists line up for a block to get their pictures taken at the Southernmost Point buoy in Key West, most of them don’t realize that […]
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Hemingway House – A Key West Gem
Ernest Hemingway was, without doubt, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century and I use the word writer, rather than novelist on purpose. He not only wrote compelling novels, but some of the best short stories ever written. Throw in works of non-fiction including the incomparable A Moveable Feast and some books of poetry […]
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Key West Cemetery – Out of the Ordinary
A visit to Key West Cemetery will dispense with the three reasons most people have in visiting a cemetery: They are going to a funeral. They are visiting someone who’s already there. They are the funeral. However, there are plenty more. Cemeteries can tell you as much or more about a place than any history […]
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Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, Florida
This is the next entry in my ongoing series on Florida State Parks or ‘The Real Florida’ as their motto states. The more of these parks I visit the more inclined I am to agree that the motto is dead on. A couple of examples in this series include Myakka River State Park and John […]
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Mound Key Archaeological State Park, Florida
This is another in my continuing series on Florida State Parks or to borrow their motto, The Real Florida, with which I have to agree. I’ve been coming to SW Florida for almost 40 years and have been fascinated with the history of the Calusa Indians, who once called this area their home for well […]
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Corkscrew Sanctuary – Every Visit is Different
I’ve visited Corkscrew Sanctuary in SW Florida at least a dozen times over the past thirty years and I’m always amazed at how completely different each visit is from the past ones. On one visit the water might be high and there will be wildlife everywhere, while on another it might be low and instead […]
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Koreshan Historic Site – Seven Reasons to Visit
Alison and I have been driving by the entrance to Koreshan State Historic Site just off Highway 41 south of Fort Myers for at least twenty-five years and we’ve never gone in – until today. I had enough interest in the place to know that it was an historic site of a religious community that […]
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The Quin – Modern Comfort in New York City
Finding a great hotel in New York City is a lot harder than it sounds. The choices are overwhelming – Trip Advisor lists almost 500 hotels alone. There are a number of factors that need to be taken into account, most notably value for your dollar and location. In NYC it is not always the […]
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Fort Sumter – Symbol of Hope or Symbol of Hate?
Even though I am a Canadian, I have always been fascinated by the story of the American Civil War and the lessons, learned and unlearned, that came out of that conflict. Estimates of the war dead have always been difficult, but there is no doubt that at least 620,000 men died from wounds, disease or […]