I love trains. Not in the way Sheldon Cooper (of The Big Bang Theory) loves trains, but I love them. I love the haunting sound of their whistle in the distance and the promise of adventure they represent.
Category: US travel
(A personal tribute to my heart’s companion in travel and in love.)
It’s been seven years since Rich died.
As I recently told a friend, in some ways it feels like an eternity ago; in other ways, just yesterday.
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After two days at sea our first port of call was Ketchikan, Alaska, where we were greeted by enthusiastic short excursion guides – and clear skies! (Ketchikan is known for its rainy weather.)
After Carrieanna and I enjoyed our “private tour” of the Saxman Village Totem Park, we returned to the main part of town for another, more rowdy experience – the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show!
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Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska
When I saw Carrieanna’s photos of Tracy Arm Fjord (from her 2013 Alaskan cruise), I remember thinking “Oh, that’s pretty scenery.” It looked like a nice location, but I did not feel deeply moved.
That all changed when I saw Tracy Arm Fjord for myself in May.
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Carrieanna’s first cruise experience was with her Aunt Vicki three years ago – you can read about it here – when they went to Alaska with a Multiple Sclerosis Foundation group on the Celebrity Solstice.
She found she loved cruising, and when MSF announced a cruise to the Caribbean in January of 2014 she asked me to accompany her – and I discovered that I, too, enjoyed cruising!
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Called “Alaska’s First City,” perhaps because it is the first port cruise ships visit on their way up the Inside Passage, Ketchikan is the southernmost city in Alaska. Located 700 miles north of Seattle and 235 miles south of Juneau, Ketchikan is known for its rainy skies, lush island setting, and abundance of totem poles.
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Visiting one of the “Cities of the Dead” was high on my “must-do in New Orleans” list.
Our hotel was in the Garden District, so while Amanda was doing homework I went exploring, camera in hand, and found Lafayette Cemetery No. 1.
I visited midmorning on a Saturday and found very few people there – although one man did approach to tell me about the open crypt (see below). I’m pretty sure he was hoping I would ask questions and then give him a tip for being a “tour guide.” I did neither, just politely thanked him.
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Laura, A Creole Plantation
Because “visit a plantation” was one of Amanda’s bucket list items, I asked her to share her thoughts about our tour of Laura, a Creole plantation located along Great River Road in Vacherie, about 35 miles southwest of New Orleans.
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Alligator Cheesecake
When my daughter and I decided to spend a week in NOLA in April, I told her one of my bucket list items was to go on a swamp tour. “Not me, Mom,” she said; she had no interest in going.
But I wanted to go, and didn’t mind making a solo trip.
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When my firstborn, Amanda, suggested that we travel to New Orleans to celebrate our spring birthdays I quickly said “Yes!” Because hers is in late March and mine is mid-May, we decided that April would be a great meet-in-the-middle time to go.
Plus, the French Quarter Festival was scheduled to be held during the second weekend in April, which was the perfect time for us to visit.
Whenever we travel we each designate two or three things we “must do” at our destination, ensuring that we’ll experience some of our bucket-list items.
My top two desires: Go on a swamp tour, and walk around the French Quarter and take photos. Amanda’s two wishes were to visit a plantation, and to experience the food for which New Orleans is famous.
Anything Is Possible Travel 