Chilling on the California Coast
We visited Hercules, CA, last week to catch up with an old friend. Lunch with a view of San Pablo Bay was great. The East Bay suburb’s past as a major producer of black powder, dynamite and all things explosive was fascinating.
Who knew?
Continue reading “Our Visit to Hercules, a Bay Area Burb Born of Black Powder & Dynamite”
There’s nothing quite like perambulating the Crissy Field Promenade at The Presidio to lift your spirits, especially when San Francisco’s Wave Organ lets you down.
Continue reading “Crissy Field Promenade Rescues a Grand Day Out in San Francisco after Wave Organ Falls Flat”
Every mighty river has a humble beginning. The Mississippi runs wide, deep and muddy for most of its 2,300 miles, draining 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Yet it begins as a babbling pour-off suitable for wading at Minnesota’s Lake Itasca. Who knew? Continue reading “Bond of Brothers at the Headwaters of the Mississippi; Mom would be Pleased”
NOTE: We’re sorry to report that shortly after posting this story we discovered that Z Pie had closed several weeks earlier. But there are still plenty of fruit pie options on the road to Tahoe. Enjoy!
Lots of travelers enjoy stopping for a sweet slice of fruit pie at an Apple Hill orchard on the road to Lake Tahoe. But the most unique pies in the region just may be the savory variety available at a tiny pot pie restaurant not far away in Placerville.
Who knew? Continue reading “Pie Shopping on the Road to Tahoe; Don’t You Love New Traditions?”
A hillside of shiny obsidian born of liquid rock and thrown by Mother Nature herself atop a fiery geologic potter’s wheel rises from the Newberry Volcano just south of Bend, Oregon. It’s so cool they named a beer after it!
It smells bad. It tastes bad. A sign cautions moderation. Yet the lithia mineral water streaming from eight cheery bubblers in the town square of Ashland, Oregon, has attracted health naïfs and the merely curious for more than 100 years.
Who knew? Continue reading “Public Fountain Bubbles Up Foul-Tasting Mineral Brew; Go ahead, Have a Sip”
Discarded headlamps. Unused castors. Spare sheet metal. Stray tools. The medium is culled from dark barns and dusty flea markets. The whimsy and talent to transform junk into art resides in Sebastopol, CA. Florence Avenue is the gallery.
Continue reading “Whimsy Transforms Junk into Fantastical Sculptures on Florence Avenue Art Walk”
Part 4 of a series:
Iron-rich mineral springs color the ochre mud of the Paint Pots of Kootenay National Park. The vivid contrast with the park’s green forests and milky blue rivers is visible from space. Continue reading “A Big Orange Smudge Visible from Space in the Canadian Rockies; What the Heck is That?”
A coast redwood grown from seeds that orbited the moon grows in Monterey, California.
Who knew?
Continue reading “Monterey Harbors a Tree from Outer Space; Find One at a City Near You”