Travel Tips & Adventures

What better way to celebrate USA’S birthday than a visit to Washington, DC!

Imagine standing in bone-chillingly freezing weather near a large, manmade lake (The famous Tidal Pool) with two impressive monuments across from you, just waiting for sunrise.  That was the scenario for me several years ago in Washington, DC during the spring cherry blossom season.

Almost on a dare, I decided to try photography at sunrise since I’d always heard it was the best.  Well, it was, but the cold was so numbing that I almost couldn’t get my fingers to push the camera shutter.

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Jefferson Memorial at Sunrise

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Boston, Massachusetts conjures up images of the fight for United States independence, history and old buildings.  It’s all of that and much more.  With the 4^th of July this week, Boston seems a great place to celebrate the USA’s birth.

Quincy Market - where street performances happen often

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Every girl likes her pearls – or other beads. It turns out that men, too, throughout time have valued beads. Beads are the featured and the only items on display in the unique Bead Museum in Glendale, Arizona.

What are beads? Anything that has a hole in it that can be strung. That means that our ancestors of 13,000 years ago who took a reindeer tooth and strung it on a leather strand had an early bead.

Iridescent decoration made from beetle wings

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Frank Lloyd Wright is an iconic figure in the world of architecture. His buildings, which blend into the landscape, use geometric shapes to create eye-pleasing designs.

Taliesin West with the pool

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So Sedona has red rocks.  You may ask, “What’s the big deal?” The big deal is an impressive natural wonder that extends across a region, bringing an awe-inspiring display that makes visitors feel “at one with nature.”   Plus, you’ll find great hiking, terrific restaurants and amazing shopping!

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Despite the critics and naysayers, Phoenix, Arizona finally joined the modern world by developing and running a light rail, which debuted in late December, 2008.  Although I’m lucky that I don’t need to commute daily with the light rail, trying the rail sounded like fun! (more…)

Until the end of May, 2009, an exceptional exhibit combining nature and the masterful glass works of Dale Chihuly is on display at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.  This eye-popping series of displays encompasses the entire garden, with installations of colorful glassworks mimicking the real flora of the desert nearby.

The glass radiates light, warmth and sunlight (at night some of the works are lit) and allows the viewer a spectacular visual treat.  Just inside the entrance, “The Sun” greets visitors with orange, yellow and red tendrils exploding from a core.

Another display consists of floating geometric-like figures that give an otherworldly feel as the glass shifts with the water’s flow.

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