Destinations

Seattle’s Cheshiahud Loop: Pipes, Bridges, and Houseboats

Travel articles often suggest that one needs to look at their own region through the eyes of a tourist. Since I am not always traveling to distant places to write about, I often look around the Seattle community to find experiences and places to share. That recently led me to discover Cheshiahud Loop, a route that goes all the way around Lake Union. The online information stated it was a six and a half mile walk. We figured that would…

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Ballard Locks: Boats, Salmon, Gardens and History

Seattle is a city practically surrounded by water. To the west is Puget Sound while to the east is Lake Washington. Water activities are an important part of life here. Historically the early pioneers used the waterways for transportation. As a result one of the early decisions was to connect Lake Washington to Puget Sound by digging a canal. When they realized that Lake Washington was higher in elevation than Puget Sound, they knew they needed to built locks for…

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Tacoma, Washington’s Colorful Art Glass Scene

One thing that many people outside of the Seattle area may not know is that the Puget Sound region has a strong emphasis upon art through glass. Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington. He became a forward thinking glass artist whose works can be found all over the world. They include huge chandeliers of glass that stretch five or six feet downwards as well as glass pieces in outdoor gardens. His contribution to glass making has had a big…

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Being a Personal Tour Guide in Washington State

Most of the time when I write a blog post, I write about myself and my experiences encountering other locations and cultures. In this post I want to reverse that. I thought I would share my experience as a sort of personal tour guide for someone from the African country of Malawi. In January of 2020 I went to Malawi for two weeks to teach pastors at a Bible school. That came about after meeting Bern the director of the…

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Surviving a Challenging Hike to Lake Ingalls

In June my brother contacted me and asked me if I wanted to go on a nine mile hike with him to Lake Ingalls. That seemed a very long hike for me, but I know I can easily walk five miles on the trails around here so I thought I would probably be able to manage a nine mile hike although I knew it would be a challenge. My brother David is almost exactly a year older than I am.…

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Our European Journey Comes to an End in Spain

Monday was my 72nd birthday. It was also a travel day as we were to take a train to Madrid where we would leave Spain to fly home. However, our train didn’t leave until nearly 3:00 so there was still time in the morning to do a little more exploring of Granada. We headed out towards downtown again. We were headed to the University which we had been near the day before, but it had been closed. I thought we…

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Discovering Granada, Spain Outside of the Alhambra

Sunday in Granada was another picture perfect day with blue skies and warm temperatures. After our early start to the day yesterday, we decided we were not going to push ourselves today. I woke up late and had a leisurely breakfast before we headed out to see what else Granada has to offer. We headed into the downtown core. We knew there was a large cathedral there so we thought we would start there. Since it was Sunday, I wasn’t…

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Alhambra: The Ultimate Moorish Architecture

Today was Alhambra day. I read that it was best to go early to avoid the crowds. Since it was also a Saturday, I figured that was even more true. There is one part of the Alhambra that has a timed entrance. All the rest you can enter as you please. I read that one couldn’t be late for the timed entrance so we got up and left shortly after 8:00 for our 9:00 entrance time. We grabbed some breakfast…

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Looking for Moorish Architecture in the Alcazar and the Alhambra

The southern part of Spain is known as Andalusia. In many ways it is primarily an agricultural region. Historically what made it significant was that for many years it was under the rule of the Moors. The Moors were Muslims mostly from North Africa. They brought their own distinctive architecture into the region, the Moorish style. When Christians took over the region again, they changed some of the buildings such as turning mosques into churches. However, many buildings still remain…

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Walking through Seville’s Beautiful Architectural Treasures

During our one full day in Seville we walked ten miles according to my wife Silvette’s phone tracker. Seville is one of the most fascinating cities I have been to in terms of architecture and places to visit. My almost 420 photos taken on this day would confirm that. I saw a sign there that said Seville is underrated as a tourist destination. I think that’s true. More people need to be aware of its intriguing and unique places. Our…

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