January 8, 2026 San Juan Capistrano is a town in Orange County, about an hour’s drive south of Long Beach. We started our visit there by having lunch in the Los Rios Historic District, which is California’s oldest continuously inhabited residential neighborhood. The main attraction in the town is its Mission. There are 21 historicContinue reading “San Juan Capistrano / Laguna Beach, California, USA”
Tag Archives: travel
San Luis Obispo, California, USA
September 26, 2015 San Luis Obispo (often known simply as SLO) is a city of about 50,000 and is the home of California Polytechnic State University. It is named after San Luis, Obispo de Talosa (Saint Louis, bishop of Toulouse). Louis (1274-1297) was the second son of King Charles II of Naples, but having beenContinue reading “San Luis Obispo, California, USA”
Central Coast, California, USA
September 25, 2025 After the Spanish style buildings of Santa Barbara, Cambria was decidedly western. In fact, it reminded us quite a lot of Winter Park, the small ski town where we met in Colorado. Our original intent had been to follow the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) all the way up to Carmel, but itContinue reading “Central Coast, California, USA”
Santa Barbara, California, USA
September 24, 2025 Santa Barbara was our first stop on our trip north along the California coast. It is a very pretty city. We started our exploration by walking along the palm lined beach. And then out onto Stearns Wharf. It was originally built in 1872 but facing a number of disasters, including an earthquakeContinue reading “Santa Barbara, California, USA”
Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand
April 1, 2025 Another day walking around Parnell, passing the usual mix or houses, apartments and light commercial buildings. Washington DC readers will find the colors of this house rather familiar. All hail the Commanders! Owners of one of these houses might want to ask their neighbor for the name of their painter. This houseContinue reading “Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand”
Hillsborough / Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand
March 8, 2025 The Pah Homestead is a historic home located in the Auckland suburb of Hillsborough. It is, currently, owned by the Auckland Council and is operated as an art gallery. It was built in the 1870s for businessman James Williamson. Among other things, Williamson was a Member of Parliament and co-founder of theContinue reading “Hillsborough / Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand”
Milford / Castor Bay, Auckland, New Zealand
March 6,2025 Finding ourselves in Milford on the North Shore, we decided to walk up the coastline to Castor Bay. Because this is New Zealand where having a cafe nearby at all times is mandated, we came across this cute little cafe by the marina. We then headed up around the headlands looking back downContinue reading “Milford / Castor Bay, Auckland, New Zealand”
Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand
February 26, 2025 Today we set out to explore one of Auckland’s oldest suburbs, Grafton. Today it is dominated by Auckland Hospital, surrounded by narrow streets that have not changed much since the neighborhood was established in the 1800s. The suburb is bordered on the east by what has always seemed to us to beContinue reading “Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand”
Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, New York, USA
October 24, 2024 The Storm King Art Center is a 500 acre outdoor museum in New York’s Hudson Valley. It is reminiscent of Gibbs Farm in New Zealand with its massive sculptures dotted within beautiful countryside. In fact, we noticed a number of works by the same sculptors that we saw at Gibbs Farm, includingContinue reading “Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, New York, USA”
Great Falls, Potomac, Maryland, USA
October 10, 2024 Built between 1828 and 1850, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (C&O Canal) extends alongside the Potomac river for about 185 miles from Georgetown in Washington DC to Cumberland, Maryland. It was built to transport coal and other goods but quickly became obsolete with the advent of railroads. It is now used byContinue reading “Great Falls, Potomac, Maryland, USA”
Mal and Lauren 