Posts in: travel

No better place for critter-watching than the beach. This one was on Captiva island in 2021, one year before the big hurricane. I hope it made it.

Close-up photo of a beige crab half-buried in sand.

A blue heron in a sea of blue, as seen at the Calvert Cliffs beach.

A lonely great blue heron standing in water under a clear blue sky.

Thomas Jefferson built this plantation and called it Monticello — “little mountain”. Note the difference in size, proportion and style between this, a real mansion, and a McMansion.

A view of Monticello from across the front lawn.


You may not be able to tell, but there is a mound of (Waiola!) shaved ice under these red beans, and it is all delicious.

A paper bowl with a pile of read beans covered in syrup.


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.

A birthday cake with chocolate glazing, two (plastic) black-eyed Susans and a (paper) Maryland state flag placed on top.


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.

Two iguanas on a tropical beach, facing the water. One is approaching the other from the left.

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

A narrow window from a dark room looks onto a rocky beach and a crystal-clear turquoise sea under a clear blue sky.

Who is the flaneur here?

Six people waiting at a crosswalk, five in street clothes, the sixth in a colorful festive dress.

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?

A variety of short cacti in front of the “Ethel M Chocolates” factory.

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

Honolulu skyline as seen from the elevated National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.