Category Archives: Uncategorized

October 28, 2023 Named after Griffith J. Griffith (cool name), who donated the over three thousand acres on which it sits, the Griffith Observatory is the place to go for extensive views of Los Angeles and the nearby Hollywood hills. Opened in 1935, it is a beautiful deco style building that has featured in numerousContinue reading “Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California, USA”

October 27, 2023 Silver Lake is a hip suburb in Los Angeles. It is east of Hollywood and straddles across Sunset Boulevard. Our son, Ben, recently purchased a property there. On yet another sunny LA day, we headed out to explore the neighborhood. It was quite a strenuous walk as it is very hilly inContinue reading “Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA”

October 25, 2023 Our son, Jake, and daughter-in-law, Kylie, recently purchased their first home. It is a beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival house in the California Heights historic district that was developed in the late 1920s. Jake and Kylie took us for a tour through the neighborhood. Here are some of the houses we passed, startingContinue reading “California Heights and Los Cerritos, Long Beach, California, USA”

October 23, 2022 In the center of Los Angeles, next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) are the La Brea Tar Pits, an active paleontological research site. Over many centuries, animals ventured into the pits and became stuck and their bones have been preserved. There is now a museum on the siteContinue reading “La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles, California, USA”

September 5, 2023 Outside Charlottesville, high up on a hill, is Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello. The name derives from Italian, meaning “little mountain”. Originally, the property consisted of a 5,000 acre plantation growing tobacco and labored on by slaves. Jefferson designed the home at the age of 26 and the similarities with the University ofContinue reading “Monticello, Virginia, USA”

September 4, 2023 On a scorching hot Labor Day, we found ourselves In Charlottesville, Virginia, home of the University of Virginia, commonly known as UVA. We headed down to the pedestrian mall, in the historic part of town. But with most places closed due to the holiday and temperatures soaring into the high nineties thereContinue reading “Charlottesville, Virginia, USA”

August 9, 2023 We visited the Brandywine Museum of Art with our good friends, Dale and Joe. It is a beautiful museum in a bucolic location, housed in a converted nineteenth-century mill on the banks of the Brandywine Creek. There was an exhibit of works by the Italian-American artist, Joseph Stella (1877-1945). Stella is bestContinue reading “Brandywine Museum of Art, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, USA”

July 27, 2023 With temperatures hovering around 100 degrees farenheit (38 degree celsius), we decided to head out of the city and find a quiet spot to go for a swim. So along with our good friend, Kelly, we drove out along River Road to Poolesville. Along the way we passed by Bretton Woods CountryContinue reading “Seneca Creek, Poolesville, Maryland, USA”

July 8, 2023 Our good friend Michele and her daughter Marian guided us around their favorite walking spot, Brookside Gardens. Opened to the public in 1969, the gardens are extensive, with 54 acres of lawns, woods, ponds, sculptures and flowers. The garden grounds were originally part of a landscaping and garden center on a smallContinue reading “Brookside Gardens, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA”

May 29, 2023 A must see in Memphis is the National Civil Rights Museum. It is a particularly poignant place, as it is attached to the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time because there is a lot to see. The endless tales of courageContinue reading “Memphis, Tennessee, USA”