South of San Francisco in the town of Woodside, one can step back in time to an earlier era of refinement and luxury. Filoli Gardens is a place where one can imagine life of a bygone era. Visitors can explore a large mansion built in 1917 in which only two families have lived. They can also explore the beautiful gardens around the home. Of course none of this comes free, but if one is willing to pay the price, they…
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In the middle of San Francisco Bay lies one of the most infamous locations in America, Alcatraz. I remember as a kid hearing about Alcatraz and that the really bad criminals went there. In 1963 the government closed the prison, but even after that the stories continued to circulate. Today Alcatraz is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area managed by the National Parks and is open to the public. To visit Alcatraz visitors must get a ticket from…
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One of the reasons I wanted to go to the San Francisco area was to visit Muir Woods. Muir Woods is a US National Monument. I wrote about national monuments in a previous post. Muir Woods is one I had read about and wanted to explore. It took us about two hours to drive north from where Andrea lives to reach Muir Woods. The drive took us over the Golden Gate Bridge, and shortly after crossing we turned west. We…
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Silicon Valley conjures up images of high tech companies in shiny buildings with busy employees working far too much. We sometimes forget that word valley. A valley is an area between hills or mountains, and Silicon Valley sits near some hills which have been preserved for the valley citizens to enjoy and experience nature. One such location is Rancho San Antonio which is an open space preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains west of the valley. Here visitors will find…
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Two years ago my daughter Andrea and I visited the Keukenhof Tulip Gardens in the Netherlands. They had an amazing variety of tulips, and the beauty of their gardens is unrivaled. It’s a very worthwhile experience. However, not everyone can cross the ocean to see tulips. Fortunately, there are places here in the United States that celebrate tulips, and one of them is just north of Seattle in the Skagit Valley. Skagit Valley is one of the last major agricultural…
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A natural site one can count on to attract a crowd is a waterfall. My daughter Andrea is particularly fond of searching out waterfalls which we did on our trip to Iceland. There are many waterfalls in the northwest, but if you are looking for one that is easy to get to from Seattle, then Snoqualmie Falls is the one to check out. On a clear, beautiful day in March we decided to drive up to see the falls. First,…
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A beautiful, sunny day in February is a great opportunity to do some exploring. On such a Saturday we decided to travel down to Federal Way and explore Dash Point State Park. Washington state has over 100 state parks so there are a number of locations to see, and we have only visited a few of them. It was time to explore more. Dash Point is on Puget Sound in Federal Way. We took the 320th St. exit off I-5…
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My mom has always mentioned that she would love to see the Christmas markets in Europe. Given I’m still making up for missed trips due to COVID, I suggested that we make the journey to Europe this year to see some Christmas markets. My dad suggested Budapest and Prague. Of course perhaps I also wanted to go because I was turning 40 and felt like I deserved a special trip for my birthday. Ten years prior, for my 30th, I…
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Saturday was our final day in Prague. Unfortunately Silvette was not feeling well. She had a bad cold and decided it would be best to stay at the hotel and rest. Andrea and I then took off to take in our final experiences in the city. It didn’t all go as well as we had hoped. Our first stop for the day was a place I had discovered online. It was the Retro Museum. Prague seems to have a museum…
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A visit to Prague requires one to visit the castle complex. I say complex as this is a large area with a number of buildings and things to see. The complex is easily visible as it looks down over the Vltava River and the Charles Bridge. Today was our day to explore this significant part of Prague. First one has to make it up the hill. We weren’t exactly sure how to get up to the castle, but we figured…
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