Behold, the Maryland state flag — one of the best in the Union — and state flower on top of the Maryland state desert, the Smith Island (birthday) cake. Best of all, this was a birthday we celebrated while on Smith Island.

The iguana on the right was in a bad mood: moments later it slapped the other one with its tail. So much for hanging out.

On a Caribbean island, even the view from an outhouse is approaching transcendence. Especially the view from an outhouse.

Who is the flaneur here?

The Las Vegas travel guide for families: come for the chocolates, stay for the surrounding cactus garden.

As an aside, is there anything more American than being so bored in retirement that you start a new business which 20 years later gets sold back to your old company?

As tall as they all are, Honolulu’s skyscrapers still respect the sky.

We had great hopes for the Dole plantation on Oahu, being great fans of their pineapple soft serve. Alas, it was a pure tourist trap.

The train ride was the only good part: the soothing sounds of the engine combined with the rocking and the outdoor breeze led to the best nap I’ve ever had.

These signs work for raising awareness as much as they do for prevention. Case in point: we were half an hour too late to see those sea turtle eggs being deposited, so the next few mornings we were up even earlier for our morning walks hoping to catch another nesting. Without any luck, of course.

A perfect sunny day in the Windy City, which may not be called “Windy” for the reason you think.

Peace and quiet are all relative. For my wife and me nothing could be more serene that a morning walk down an empty beach on a nice day. For the birds trying to catch food and constantly running away from the waves, I imagine life is quite hectic.