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Mile zero of 2,700 Amtrak miles. Posted about the first leg of the journey. Related
A contrite email: “We overbooked, we pay for a 4-star hotel.” (My hotel tonight: Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton, $0.00.) Related
Explored Tiffany art glass, including this dome at a Chicago Macy’s. (I’m looking up, 6 floors below the dome.) Related
Posted from this downtown Cleveland Holiday Inn Express. Breakfast, war, and rock and roll. Related
View from my Midtown Manhattan room. Arrived at Penn Station this evening, almost 1,400 miles into my train journey. Related
Gasped at the “chocolat” prices, then headed over to Macy’s for American chocolates. My Valentine flies in today. Related
Our chilly walk around Harlem took us past this sacred spot. Ella won amateur night here in 1934. Related
Walked around a model of Grand Central Terminal in Grand Central Terminal. Related
We walked on fresh, melting snow in Central Park, then learned about Cosmic Slop at MoMA. Related
The plan was to mail my winter jacket home before boarding the train in Washington DC’s Union Station. I think not. Related
Mailed my down jacket home: I plan not to wear it again until November. Wandered around Charleston in shirtsleeves. Related
In Savannah, walked through twenty four squares and an old graveyard. Related
Our dinner scenery in Savannah included allusions to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Related
Posted Iron Road to the Capital of Latin America. Related
Two of Savannah’s dolphin downspouts on a rainy day: a day for museums and laundry. Related
Grabbed dinner and beer, and found myself on reality TV: Barmaggedon. If the cap fits, etc. Related
Walked South Beach: the beach, then the art deco district. It’s more corporate, less edgy, less gay than I remember. Related
No immigration lines: we and 5 others got off the plane in Aruba. The flight then continued to Paramaribo, Suriname. Related
AUA/MIA, Air Surinam, then rental car to Marco Island. Lowered median age at hotspot, Snook Inn, closing at 10:00 pm. Related
Cycled through the Everglades past apparently somnolent alligators and elegant long legged birds. Related
Key Largo, peaceful evening before Spring Break: tomorrow our energetic nephews + parents + mother-out-law fly in. Related
Ripped, untimely, from their Minnesota beds this morning, our nephews burned off energy in the Gulf at Key Largo. Related
Florida Keys: we walked across the sea on a bridge that originally carried a railroad. Related
Saturday, I drop Dwight off at MIA for his flight to MSP. I’ll spend the weekend with friends in their Naples condo. Related
Police stopped me twice in posh Naples, FL. Apparently I resemble a similarly scruffy, but demented lost husband. Related
Fort Lauderdale, final Florida beach on this trip. Enjoyed fish and chips: a nod to my heritage, a seaside tradition. Related
Overheard an airline customer service agent in the hotel bar. Her colleagues call the Jerry Springer Show “church.” Related
At Houston, IAH, burning frequent flyer miles. (Actually, frequent new credit card application bonus miles.) Related
Posted An Unplanned Night in Houston, and lovely airline people. Related
View from an airport hotel room. Marriott, Houston IAH, Wednesday morning. Related
Day 3, 4 of Airport World: San Francisco to Tokyo Haneda. Depart SFO Wednesday night, arrive HND late Thursday night. Related
Airport World, day 4 of 5. At Tokyo International HND took subway 2 stops to third airport hotel this week. Related
Airport World, day 5. HND Airport conveniences. Toilet: child restraint. Check-in area: scales, special needs lounge. Related
Took a 787 Dreamliner from Tokyo to Kagoshima, then walked out of Airport World, into the sun and unfiltered air. Related
Exhausting day exploring ancient cedar forests on Yakushima. Knotted ropes were helpful in the steep bits. Related
Unashamed touristy photo at Ohko-no-taki waterfall, Yakushima, before hopping on a country bus to a trailhead. Related
Posted It Takes a Village (and the miracle of the lady with the beer). Related
Posted about a hike today in Kirishima-Kingowan National Park. Related
Pulled back the drapes this morning and saw this mushroom cloud. Sakurajima, 20 miles away, was active. Related
Kirishima … National Park. Ridge trail, then climb (Mt. Takachiho, 5,160 ft.). Most of the trail was 2011 ash. Related
Walked around Senganen Garden, Kagoshima, created 1658. It uses the bay and Sakurajima volcano as “borrowed scenery.” Related
First bullet train ride on this trip. I’ve died and gone to heaven, or, Kumamoto. An official gave me some stickers. Related
Today I go to the mountains of Unzen: bus from Kumamoto, ferry, then another bus. Related
Unzen: my view and room. Monks came in 701 AD to reflect on the 84,000 tortures awaiting wrongdoers in the afterlife. Related
Unzen-Amakusa National Park. Every time I saw a sign pointing to a peak, I climbed the peak. Related
Dejima, Nagasaki: tulips, representing the strong Dutch connection with Nagasaki, brighten up a rainy day. Related
The rain was bouncing off the platform and I could hear thunder. I abandoned my hike and took the next train back. Related
Hiked into the clouds to the top of Yufusan, northern Kyushu. A good day. Related
Beppu, northeastern Kyushu, giving thanks for the hot springs. Related
Fukuoka, my base for the next 4 nights. It’s a good center: I can catch trains going north, south, east, or west. Related
Drippy day. Took train to Dazaifu, established 1,300 years ago, ruled Kyushu for about 500 years. Related
Fukuoka from Aburayama. Plan: 4-hour hike. Actual: 7 hours. Reason: I had to backtrack. I climbed each peak twice! Related
Dep. Fukuoka Thurs. 7:15aArr. Chicago Thurs. 8:25aANA: FUK-NRT-ORDUnited: ORD-MSP35K United FF miles, FUK-MSP. Related
This week (thanks to the date line) I get two Thursday mornings. Thursday morning #1: Bloody Mary, Tokyo Narita. Related
Thursday morning #2: Bloody Mary, Chicago, O’Hare. It’s rather thundery out there. Related
Thunderstorms, flight canceled. App makes it easy to rebook. If the new flight is canceled, I’ll check in to a hotel. Related
Home after two months: wonderful to be met by Dwight at MSP. Waited all day at ORD for the weather to improve. Related