Modesto Twist
The year was 1963. It was one of those rare moments when things are on the verge of becoming something else. We were off to have adventures during a Spring Break, with no direction anywhere, much less home. It wasn’t like the last time I was out on the road, in March of 2009, and had a Modesto hotel reserved for the end of the day. This was a different time. In this time I was not driving, I was certainly not in charge, and I really didn’t care if we had a reservation anywhere, simply because we were on our way.
This was us, the three of us, me, Jack and Dale. We’d been going to school together forever, and it seemed like we’d always be going to school together. Little did we know that this 1963 trip was close on the tail when we’d last hang out together as friends. It was close to Modesto, I’m sure of that, because the Gallo was getting cheaper, and you could find more locals who had good advice on how to drink their special economic offerings. We’d been through different kinds of juice, but had not considered cranberry, and that might have been the thing that turned everything so very strange.
I don’t really regret 1963, now that it’s 2009, because there’s a lot of water under that bridge. For many years, I didn’t even care to know where that bridge even was, but now these things do matter, just because I want to be able to do right by the people I knew. On that trip, there were lots of missed turns, and a hundred directions that went out of our teenage ears. We did end up somewhere close to Canada, eventually, and it seemed like as good a place as any to stop and get out for awhile. For me, awhile lasted for some 15 years, and for the others, I don’t know when they made it back home. If they did, however, I hope they don’t remember the last moments of the trip, because it wasn’t terribly pretty. But the first part, that was something worth remembering.
Treasure Coast of Florida
in Travel
as Blue Cypress Lake, luxury accommodations, Spanish treasure ships
My friends Mike, Joe and I decided to take a two week road trip through what is known as the treasure coast of Florida. It’s actually a really cool stretch of coastland that basically extends from Hobe Sound to up north above Sebastian, I believe. Anyway, a lot of the legends about the Spanish treasure ships crashing into the shores is supposed to be true and pieces of those treasures are still found. So it’s not uncommon for guys like us, and even some tourists sometimes, to search the area along the treasure coast and try and find some of those lost gems.
So, it was actually Joe’s idea to take this trip but it sounded great to Mike and me so we planned to take a full two weeks and find our treasure. We figured we could afford it since we really thought we would recover a fortune. I mean three guys with our search and recovery skills and two weeks of dedicated hunting, there was no way we were walking away with a treasure chest of some kind. And then, not only would we be financially set, but we would also keep some of the loot, you know? I mean, could you imagine a better gift for your girlfriend than a ruby or something that came off a Spanish treasure ship?
Okay, so we really put effort into finding our treasure for about, oh, I’d say the greater part of the first morning we were out there. We stopped to have lunch and Mike mentioned that we weren’t too far from Blue Cypress Lake and suggested we put up our tent there. No luxury accommodations for us, we were roughing it. We decided to call it a day and head on over to the lake. It was actually incredibly beautiful and we all loved being there. We swam a little and thought we could fish the next day. In the morning the sunrise reflected off the water and made the cypress trees look blue. It was pretty incredible to see Mike, always the poet, said that might be the treasure we were looking for. Well, it’s the only one we found on that trip, but then that first morning was really all the treasure hunting we did.
Too Much of a Good Thing in Singapore
in Travel
as Botanical Gardens, find a restaurant
Singapore was really a great amount of fun. Of course, it is a huge contrast to the little island paradise we were just at, but it was a great relief to be in a country that is fastidious. All the politeness and the strict attention to details caught us off guard. Every tourist information desk we stopped off at were actually very informative. All the employees in all the establishments we entered were helpful, polite and honest! At first, we didn’t know if we were on a different planet, like we entered the Twilight Zone or something, but after spending a whole day, we were becoming acclamated, as it were, to being in a nice country.
Naturally, there was a price to pay for all this niceties, cleanliness, organization, air-conditioning, over-the-top service, it’s called piles of Singapore dollars. In two days, we saw our budget go to pot. It was all worth it though, like I mentioned at the beginning, we had a blast. We found this site to help us find a restaurant, which we went out to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. All the restaurants listed on this site were marvellous. We found several sites online for interesting things to do in Singapore, which it was hard for us to choose what would be more exciting or more interesting, because they all seemed great. We spent one entire day at the Botanical Gardens, and even that wasn’t enough time.
We found Singapore to be a shiny, sparklling jewel, the sidewalks are immaculate, no stray dogs, cows or elephants like in India. But, we did find one thing wrong with Singapore, there really isn’t enough time to do everything, even if you were here for two weeks and there are too many places to spend our well earned money, just too many places.
Ocean City Ghost Tours
I don’t do ghost tours, except when I have to. And sometimes I have to. It’s my job. I’m a ghost cop. I don’t have to explain what I do, but I do explain it all the time, because I like to, because I like to talk. You spend as much time alone as I [...]
A Romantic Time in San Antonio
in History, Travel
as At the Alamo we saw the 1845 war, better hotels in San Antonio
Valentine’s day was in two days, so we decided to go to San Antonio, Texas; we thought it might be an ideal romantic place to visit. We took off on Friday morning, so we could have 3 days wonderful days to play and explore. I looked up on the Internet for the better hotels in [...]
Low-Risk Investments in Your Home
in Home
as Home Depot, house flipping, window blinds, window treatments, windows
For many of us, when we buy a home it is an investment in the future rather than a strictly monetary investment. Even though house flipping was all rage a few years back, with the real-estate industry still deep in a slump that has never been truer. Although we would love to see the value [...]
Ruth Bianco in Malta
in Travel
as Malta has plenty of luxury hotels, Ruth Bianco, territory
Malta is one of those islands that is one of the lesser-traveled tourist destinations, making it rather ideal for the discerning global traveler. There aren’t as many developed tourist agendas here, and it’s possible to really get in touch with the local population, along with the local rhythms of place. It is also completely equipped [...]
Juanitas
in Travel
as green cities, hotel rooms, Juanita’s Mexican Food in Boulder
I visited Boulder for the first time in my life a couple of months ago. It was actually on accident. I was in Denver with a friend of mine. We were going to go skiing and flew into Denver to make the trip. We were having lunch in a local café when my friend Tom [...]
The Intrepid in New York
in Travel
as casinos, find in many hotels, Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum, New York meant for adults
Twenty-eight years ago, a museum opened in New York City that’s unlike most others. It’s the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, which now receives ten million visitors a year to a place that is focused around the Interpid, an aircraft carrier (CVS-11) that’s now a national historic landmark, and one of the city’s great [...]
Jimmy Buffetts Margaritaville in Florida
in Travel
as hotels along the Florida beach, Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, Key West Museum of Art and History
Jenny anticipated that she would spend a great deal of time on the beach when she accompanied her husband Phillip to Florida for an, as he put it, essential business convention. He didn’t like to go on business trips as a general rule, primarily because he wasn’t comfortable sleeping in hotels, the reason for which [...]