We left Spring Training in Mesa, Arizona after watching several San Diego Padres ballgames. We were only planning to stay for 2 nights, but my husbands dad had to have emergency surgery (every thing is fine now), so we instead stayed 4 days. But, has we are retired, our schedule is very flexible. While we were in Mesa, we decided to pick up our daughter and our 2 granddaughters; one age 4 and the other is 5 years old. They’ll be traveling with us for a month or less depending how it goes.

We headed north to San Francisco with a stopover in Palmdale. We made reservations at the hotel Palmdale and had lunch at a restaurant located on a golf course called Cascades . Our granddaughters really enjoyed themselves when we let them chase the ducks around the pond. We had dinner served in our hotel room, where the kids got enjoyed a hot dog.

The next morning, we headed out and made a quick stop at Morgan Hill, which is about 60 miles south of San Francisco, because it was so beautiful with rolling green hills. We let our granddaughters get out of the car and run off some energy by running up and down the hills. They had so much fun rolling down these small hills, they giggled all the way down. It was so wonderful to travel with our daughter and granddaughters. Our daughter is a very loving, compassionate woman, our granddaughters are so fortunate to have her as a mother, too bad their dad wants nothing to do with them.

We made it to San Francisco and we were all stunned with it’s beauty. Before we parted ways with our daughter and granddaughters, we took a drive down the most crookedest street in the world, Lombard Street. Our daughter had made arrangements to stay with her ex-in laws so that they too can enjoy there grandchildren.

We said our goodbyes, it was so hard for me to do that, I wish they could be with us on our journey across America, but at least I think our granddaughters will have found memories of us.

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Last summer Carl suggested that we take the boys on a historic discovery tour and vacation. Generally we make our summer plans based on theme park and adventure journey contexts and to be honest most of our vacations are based on those kind of thrilling experiences that are pure commercial spectacle and entertainment. Of course we’ve also done things that are more educational or outlook enhancing such as going to Sea World in San Diego. It’s not all just outdoor sports thrill and adventure, though our boys do have a lot of energy and it’s always nice for them to get to spend it in this way. That would generally guarantee that Carl and I could have a little quiet time in the evening, which was also an important part of our own vacation. So, after a bit of deliberation we decided that the boys were definitely old enough to appreciate some of American history and we decided that booking a room in one of the Philadelphia hotels would be a great place to start.

One of our first destinations was the Academy of Natural Sciences. We decided to begin with the dinosaur exhibit because we felt like this would be a good introduction to the appreciation of history. The boys love dinosaurs and the life size Tyrannosaurus Rex was almost as thrilling for us as it was for them. We wandered through the dinosaur hall and the boys were completely intrigued the entire trip. After we finished with the dinosaurs we walked over to the live animal center which also seemed like it would hold some intriguing creatures, though of course these were live. And sure enough we and the boys had a great time there too. We compared some of the reptiles to the various dinosaur we had just scene and felt like we were getting a bit of evolutionary understanding out of it. The boys, however, seemed to be more thrilled with the idea that these were actual living dinosaurs than with noticing similarities and differences from the past. At any rate the next stop was the George Washington Carver temporary exhibit. This also turned out to be interesting to the boys and they were particularly attracted to the life size reproduction of the Jesup Wagon. Ultimately we knew our stop at the Academy of Natural Sciences was going to pave the way for a great rest of our trip.

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New York gets more interesting when you are chasing something.  It’s possible to chase someone, looking for an elusive love that keeps slipping out of your grasp, but it’s better that the someone remain nameless, because people often get away, or they can be caught and you might end up finding yourself married to the mysterious entity.  Worse things happen here, and worse things can befall a person than falling in love.  But it seems as though the city is really just built for the chase, and part of the challenge here is to know what you’re looking for.

Lots of young artists come here every year, checking into a cool hotel to have a look at the city while deciding whether or not to move here.  It’s a good idea to make several trips first, because it can be difficult to gauge with just a couple visits.  The city can behave rather flirtatiously with anyone that’s considering getting close, and there are moments when it feels like this is the place where everything is possible and everything can happen.  But just like a relationship that seems so nice on the dance floor, it becomes a very different thing when it’s in the kitchen and there are dishes to be done.

Part of the allure of the city is that it does have an ability to be flexible in providing the answers to dreams for so many different kinds of dreams.  But it also rewards those who have an idea of what they are looking for, and the ones who wander are often the first to be lost.  Unlike other places, where there is some degree of aimlessness that’s appropriate and encouraged, New York embraces the sharp wits who are looking in one direction, and with great focus.  These are the ones who push the rest of the human race into changing their way of thinking about things, so that other worlds are possible.

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This is where she came in, a storm dancing on the edge of a knife, and a night balanced on the edge of a song.  She said she did not come to stay, and no one stays here for very long, because the sweetest places are also the most precarious places, and for that night I had convinced myself that I could live in her heart for just a moment.  She rains on me like a storm, she comes on like thunder, she focuses in a thousand directions at once, and complains that she cannot focus.  This is the spirit of a buffalo, and this is the way things fold in half, and then another hundred thousand times, raining like madness and desire over all the marketplaces in the world, able to make sense of wars, and sometimes even joy.

Oya-Yansan, the Yoruba deity of the wind, among other things, has made appearances in Tampa whenever she wants to be seen.  It’s very difficult to stop the wind for more than a moment, and it always turns out to be a bad idea to try and stop her.  Someone more savvy about gravity and falling might be able to hang adventure on tenuous chords, lit by the summer’s flight of imagination, but I did not imagine her at a summer hotel.  She always comes in the fall, or that’s when I first noticed her, running on the beaches in my mind’s eye, and I wanted to know her.  But the roots and the bones speak to the hardness of ourselves, and our own inabilities to know who we are while we are living in these bodies.

I was infatuated with Oya when I was just a boy, since I was a boy, and my first ghost was connected to the wind.  She flew by my window, a white sheet passing in a storm, and my mother said it was just paper and cloth blowing, and I didn’t believe her because I didn’t think these things were shaped like human heads, hearts, and hands, even in the strangest of winds.  I would fall in love with the wind later, much later, chasing it to the edges of the cemetery.  This is where I would come to understand Oya’s roughness, tasting it for the first time, and becoming enamored with the sweetness that is on the tip of the tongue when death is always so very close.

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There are places high in the mountains, low along the coast of the Atlantic and plenty of green in between to explore in the state of Georgia. The history is rich with stories of winning and loosing battles and rebuilding communities. The state is also shining with pride in these modern times as it has created such metropolises like the city of Atlanta. So let us help you find fantastic hotels of luxury in Georgia so you can plan a few stops in the state without a hitch.

In the northern part of the state, you will find some fresh mountain air at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains. These mountains will eventually work there way up through South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The part of the mountain range that spans into Georgia had some bloody battles between the Creek Indian and the Cherokee Indian tribes and they are named Blood Mountain. There are many waterfalls and wild life to experience while hiking in this forest.

Along the coast of Georgia there are many little towns with a lot of rich history. Brunswick was named in honor of the original home of King George II. The streets still hold there original revolution  names like Albany Street for the brother of King George III and Amherst Street for a commander of the British troops, Jeffrey Amherst, during the Revolutionary War. There are some interesting museums in town that can tell you more about the area like the Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation Historic Site. There is also an experience to be had at Jekyll Island National Historic Landmark district and the Liberty Ship Memorial. Oh, there is so much to see and so little room to write about it so get out you guide and enjoy the state of Georgia.

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The Eastern U.S. city of Philadelphia is similar to many Eastern cities of the country, in that there is an appreciation not only of the arts and music, but of the history of those arts and that music that is shared willing and enthusiastically with all those who come to visit the city for the first time.  The hotels in Philadelphia are artistic and historical, as are the gardens, the pubs, the various art galleries and music venues.

The visual arts and the performing arts are celebrated and supported in the city, and so it is no wonder that the oldest museum of art in the country is located in the heart of the downtown Center District.  This is the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.  Their vast and varied collection spans more than a decade and holds the original treasures of such masters as the Wyeths, Thomas Eakins, Charles Wilson Peale, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, and Edward Hopper.  And that does not begin to scratch the surface of the works in which they house in their collection.  The building itself is a 1876 work of art, the creation of architects George Hewitt and Frank Furness.

No other building could be such a backdrop for the work that is found within its walls and hallways.  There are bronze ornamental fixtures, gold leaf trimmings and intricate and delicate carvings within the wood work.  The school and the museum was founded in 1805 and is and always has been, the epitome of style and the illustration of the finest American artists of all time.  Modern painters are represented as well such as Diebenkorn, Lichtenstein and O’Keefe.  This is not only a museum for the adults but one which offers classes on the weekends to the children of the city and to those who happen to be traveling through with their parents.  This is truly one of the gems of the country, and for those looking for a bit of history mixed with art, this is the place to attend on any trip to Philadelphia.

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We were going to Los Angeles first, to visit Allen, a long time friend and his wife Carey, when we got a call from Allen and he told us to pull up this hotel website http://www.hotelsburbank.com: on our Iphone, because he found us a place for the night at a Burbank hotel and this site will give us the directions. What was really great was Allen had paid for our accommodation and even the valet parking! We thought we would be staying with them, but he proceeded to tell us that since he never gave us a wedding gift, that this is his very belated present. Plus, he told us, he has no time to visit with us, so this was another way to make it up to us. After we got off the phone with him, we couldn’t help but be thrilled about staying at a great hotel for the night.

We saw our first sign for Los Angeles and the mountains in the distance, which surround the city were all telling. The highway into the city was wide, about 7 lanes and every lane was packed with cars, we were lucky to be against traffic, because the cars going the other way were almost at a standstill.

Our Iphone gave us great directions to Burbank and to our hotel. It was really nice. Our room was awesome and the beds were very comfortable. It was so close to Universal Studios, to North Hollywood, and Griffith Park. When we got to our room, Allen had them prepare a nice dinner for us in our room and a nice bottle of champagne. We really are going to have to thank him! Wow.

The next morning, we got some breakfast at the hotels restaurant, which was really very good and then we took a tour of LA and then went for lunch at a restaurant in Melrose which had some very awesome organic options on their menus. Unfortunately, our day had to end, because we had more traveling to do, our next stop is San Diego. We really hated to leave our wonderful accommodations, but the ocean was calling us.

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I grew up just outside of Atlanta, Georgia and as a child I can remember my grandparents taking me into the city to see a movie at the Fox Theater. They always made such a big deal about it and I always had a great time but didn’t realize what a major landmark the theater was. It dates back the early 1920s and is one of the grand movie palaces that was built during that time. Now the theater hosts the Atlanta Ballet and a number of touring shows, such as the Broadway series. I hadn’t thought about that theater in years until yesterday when I was walking up Peachtree and passed by it. In fact, I haven’t even been near Atlanta in years and happen to be back because I got a gig at the Masquerade and will play there tomorrow night.

I arrived in town a day early because I wanted to get in contact with some old friends and just kind of kick around old neighborhoods I used to hang out in. While I didn’t actually grow up in Atlanta, I was close enough that I could regularly visit my cousins who lived in the city and it was my second home. I love the Atlanta Hawks and would go to games at Philips Arena whenever I could. I was never much of a baseball fan though I did like the Braves and would follow their season. The same thing is pretty much true for the Falcons, so while I was an overall city fan basketball is my favorite sport and I have always been a passionate Hawks fan.

The Atlanta hotel that I’m staying in was around back in the day and I chose it specifically because I remember passing it so many times as a kid. I always had dreams of becoming a famous rock musician and those have sort of given way to being happy that I can make my living playing music. I wouldn’t call it having given up on my dream, it’s really more of a reality perspective. I really love the life I’m living and superstardom just isn’t what I’m looking for anymore. It’s ironic to think back now of all the things I dreamed about now that I return to the hotel that was destined to be my point of glory I realize I’m happier with the life I have than the one I dreamed about made me at the time of the dreaming.

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At a time when the world is becoming infinitely smaller day by day, travel becomes a bit easier, perhaps, and certainly more necessary.  Although it’s much easier to communicate with friends, loved ones, and new acquaintances in other countries, it’s still important to be there, in order to start to have any real kind of understanding.  Fortunately, there are some places that have always been wonderfully desirable tourist locations, such as South Africa, and they are now more interesting than ever.  The contemporary offerings for cultural attractions here are much more cosmopolitan than ever, reflecting a trend toward a global sensibility.

This doesn’t in any way undercut the extreme importance of local cultures here, and they have that balance between local and global down.  It’s a wonderful time to visit, and some excellent hotels are available, too, to make your stay enormously hospitable.  For those whose interests are in contemporary art, a visit to Michael Stevenson is certainly in order.  However, if you’re interested in South African art history, then the same place will also fit the bill.  On the other hand, if you want to see global art in a South African context, Cape Town’s Michael Stevenson is still one of the places to be.

For its variety of specialization, it’s still got a very fine focus, and they show very specific projects.  One of the most exciting works to show here is Thomas Hirschhorn’s Black & White Hemisphere, because of its resonance to contemporary Cape Town.  Hirschhorn is Swiss, and has been working on this installation as a part of a series on German Angst.  This particular work focuses on introducing the viewer to a sculptural world where we can reflect on race and division.  Its message in South Africa is very immediately grasped, just as it is in Germany, where the ideas of divisions, borders, and the weight of history stand together like uncomfortable sisters at the beginning of a long family dinner.

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You never really know a person until you can sit down and have a long meal with them.  At least, that’s one of the best ways.  You can find out all sorts of things about a person by the way they conduct themselves when they’re busy eating.  It might sound a little creepy, like I like to watch people eat because I’m a sort of a spy.  In fact, I sometimes pretend I’m a spy during a dinner, especially if the conversation gets enormously boring and there’s nothing to do but make inferences about the way someone holds a fork.  There are some amazing things you can discover about a person in this way.  In New York, the restaurants are so good, that most people don’t think about how they eat because they’re so busy enjoying themselves.

The other night, however, I found myself lost in a conversation to the point where I didn’t make any of my usual observations.  He was an old friend I knew in high school, and we were meeting to catch up on our lives.  I imagined it would be the usual conversation about marriages, jobs, and kids, but he hadn’t really done any of those things.  After high school, he decided he was going to learn about the Druids, the living ones, and set out for adventures.  He’d traveled extensively in Ireland and Wales, and even part of France, and apparently got in touch with some people who taught him some very interesting things.

The funny part of this is, not only do I not remember much of the meal, I don’t even remember most of the conversation.  We must have sat for a good three hours, and I know he told me story after story.  I was amazed.  I remember being amazed.  I also remember that he did everything in series of threes.  He said it was all a part of it, and that was the correct way to begin an incantation.  He spoke about goddesses in trees, that much I know, but the rest, the rest is like a song.  It was a dinner that was just like a song, and at some point I guess I forgot to pay attention to the fork.

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