27Feb 2016 by David Kravetz

A Trip to New England: Part III – September 2015

Antsy McClain, Backroads Discoveries, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Maine, Massachusetts, Museums, New Hampshire, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Seagulls, Selfies, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Vermont
After a pleasant night stay in Old Orchard, ME, I got up early in the morning with my grandchildren Joselyn and Rockwell to hopefully catch a sunrise and boy did we get a royal treat!! The skies were colorful with shades of pink, purple, blue and orange and then the ball of the sun rose up over the Atlantic Ocean.  One of the most amazing I have ever seen!! This was going to be a long day for us as we would drive up to Portland to see a famous lighthouse and then into New Hampshire, onto Vermont and then back to Connecticut to drop Rockwell off.  From there we would return back to Lexington...a good 20 hour day from start to finish. Following is the route map for the…
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06Jan 2016 by David Kravetz
2015 In Review: The Year In Travel

2015 In Review: The Year In Travel

Antsy McClain, Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, BBQ Places, Big Cities, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, California, Car Art, City Skylines, Colorado, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Kentucky, Large Statues, Maine, Mountains, Murals, Museums, National Parks, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Seagulls, Selfies, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Utah, Wall Art, Washington, West Virginia
The year 2015 started off with plans to travel to a couple of locations, but not the extent of the travel that I enjoyed in 2014. As it turned out, I had some great experiences and more travel than had been originally planned. It was truly a good year for my travel as I have noted in my blog posts and Facebook posts throughout the year. Unlike most of my travel, which I like to do by car on back roads, the year's travel adventures saw me traveling by airplane on a number of occasions. I don't mind flying, honestly, but I prefer driving because I can see more of the landscape. However, schedules and other things necessitated my flying to many of the destinations I went to this year.…
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23Dec 2015 by David Kravetz

Christmas Time in Santa Claus, Indiana

Backroads Discoveries, Bucket List Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Giant Things, Indiana, Large Statues, Museums, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Travel Blogging, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places
Over the years, I have traveled to a number of what I call "Theme Towns." These would include places such as Vulcan, Alberta with its Star Trek theme (see post of my visit in 2007); Metropolis, IL and its Superman theme (see post of my visit); Hershey, PA and its chocolate theme (see post about recent visit in 2015); Roswell, NM with an alien theme; Douglas, WY and its Jackalope theme (see post here); and Hell, MI with its Devils and hell-fire (see post here). Another one I visited back in 2012 was Santa Claus, IN with its Santa and Christmas inspired themes. That visit was a short pass-thru visit on my way west to Kansas City. On my grandson Landen's 7th birthday, Dec. 17, we gathered up Landen, his…
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10Dec 2015 by David Kravetz

A Trip To New England – September 2015

#TBT, Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, Bucket List Trips, City Skylines, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Flowers, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Television Shows, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Vintage Neon, West Virginia, Wildflowers
At the end of August we had a new grandson born into the family -- Samuel Kravetz is now grandchild #10.  He was born to my son Seth and his wife Holly, who, at the time, were living near Hartford, Connecticut.  Naturally, this was a cause for celebration and for a trip to Connecticut to see this new bundle of joy. So, we planned the trip and our daughter Marissa and her three children would join Julianne and I for a visit to New England.  On September 5th we headed east on I-64 for this "see grandson/see nephew/see cousin/see New England" trip.  I was excited not only for the grandchild, but also because this trip would afford me the opportunity to knock off the last 3 states on my list...I…
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08Nov 2015 by David Kravetz

Wall Art in Lexington: PRHBTN 2015 Projects and more

Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Kentucky, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Street Art, Unique Places, Wall Art
Once again the great team at PRHBTN and all of its supporters have brought 4 great artists into Lexington to add 4 more lovely wall murals around Lexington.  These artists from New York, Italy and Portugal all visited Lexington and left with their art work colorizing more of town. (See updated map of all murals in Lexington embedded below) The first week of November I made my rounds to grab shots of these murals. I have done similar posts in the past ( see 2014 2013a 2013b ) and this is the 2015 version. Unlike the art the past couple of years, we actually have a piece that is probably closer to conventional wall art rather than the street art influences, especially in Portuguese artist ODIETH's marvelous Louis Armstrong mural…
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24Sep 2015 by David Kravetz

Finally Made It! All 50 US States – Sept. 2015

Alabama, Alaska, Antsy McClain, Arizona, Arkansas, Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, BBQ Places, Big Cities, Bucket List Trips, California, Caves and Caverns, City Skylines, Colorado, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Delaware, Dream Highways, Eateries, Enchanted Highway, Family Travel, Farmland, Florida, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Georgia, Giant Things, Giant Twine Balls, Graffiti Walls, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indian Ruins, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Landscapes, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Murals, Museums, Mythical Creatures, National Monuments, National Parks, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Place Names, Rhode Island, Roadside Attractions, Rocky Mountains, Route 66, Selfies, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Travel Blogging, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, US Highway 101, US Highway 2, US Highway 212, US Highway 61, US Highway 89, Utah, Vermont, Vintage Neon, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yard Art
WARNING-This is a long post. It took me nearly 59 years to get to all 50 states! On September 8, 2015, I set foot on the side of the road just north of Brattleboro, VT after we crossed over the Connecticut River from New Hampshire on Hwy 9. I got out and took a selfie of myself under a Welcome to Vermont sign.  I had finally set foot in my 50th US state...a nearly 59 year journey. Stay 3 or more nights & save up to 25% now! At participating hotels Following is a state by state chronicle of my nearly 59 year journey in order of states visited. My 50 State Adventure 1- Ohio (1956): I was born in Cleveland in the Little Italy section of town to Joe…
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31Aug 2015 by David Kravetz

Washington State: Fat Smitty’s – The Quirky Burger Joint

Backroads Discoveries, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Giant Things, Large Statues, People Shots, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, US Highway 101, Wall Art, Washington, Yard Art
Every so often I come across an eatery that looks so quirky and fun that I must stop there.  On my recent trip to Washington, we stopped in one of these places.  Weeks before the trip, my daughter and son in law apprised me of these place near Port Townsend, WA and said that it was "So Sumoflam" that we would go there. Fat Smitty's is a funky little burger joint sitting on US Hwy 101 at the junction with WA Route 20 in the Discovery Bay region of Port Townsend.  The outside is decorated with a couple dozen chain saw carved statues of food and other oddities.  Colorful and fun, it is a must stop! So, on our trip to Neah Bay in July (see post here) we stopped…
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13Aug 2015 by David Kravetz

Washington State: A Day in Seattle

Airlines, Birds, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, City Skylines, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Giant Things, Landscapes, Large Statues, People Shots, Roadside Attractions, Seagulls, Selfies, Street Art, Street Musicians, Street People, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, Vintage Neon, Washington
After a long day of travel to Washington via Delta Airlines, first to Salt Lake City and then into Seattle-Tacoma Airport, and then a good nights rest, we had the opportunity to spend a day in Seattle with the family. Bremerton Ferry Since my daughter Amaree and her family live in Port Orchard, we had to take ferries across the Puget Sound to get to Seattle. We started with the Port Orchard Foot Ferry Service that took us from Port Orchard into Bremerton. Then we got on the Bremerton Ferry which is a much larger ferry that also carries automobile traffic and enjoyed the one hour boat ride to Seattle.  We rode on the M/V Hyak, which can carry up to 2000 passengers and as many as 144 cars. It…
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08Aug 2015 by David Kravetz

Washington State: A Week of Travel and Variety

BBQ Places, Birds, City Skylines, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Murals, Mythical Creatures, National Parks, Roadside Attractions, Seagulls, Selfies, States and Provinces, Street Art, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, US Highway 101, Wall Art, Washington, Yard Art
After our beautiful vacation and stay at the Borneo lodge which you can find on borneoecotours.com/borneo-rainforest-lodge, my wife and I had the opportunity to fly to Seattle at the end of July for a nice week (actually 9 days) of fun with our family out there.  Over the next couple of weeks I will have a few posts about our adventures, but wanted to provide a brief preview of what we experienced: Beaches, Mountains, Sights, Sounds, Eats and Quirky fun!! Day 1: We  took a ferry from Bremerton, WA and then spent a full day walking around parts of Seattle...then took a Duck ride. The ferry is followed by hungry seagulls who would swoop down and eat from people's hands. I got some amazing closeups of the birds. Once we…
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22Jul 2015 by David Kravetz

Flying High To Utah: Home Sweet Home

Airlines, Geologic Formations, Landscapes, People Shots, Roadside Attractions, Rocky Mountains, Selfies, Texas, Unique Places, Utah, Wildflowers
In mid-July I had an unexpected opportunity to go to Utah for a website-related photo job with former Navy SEAL and author Rob Roy, who recently published the Navy SEAL Art of War (see my review). Rob is also the owner of SOT-G (which stands for Special Operations Training Group) where he does Leadership Training sessions called "LUF Redux."  My trip was to both experience and photograph one of these training sessions that SOT-G was carrying out for a client of theirs. For me this was going to be a unique experience as I watched former Navy SEALS and other former military staff members work a group of business leaders through a rigorous and grueling leadership and team building experience.  At the same time, I was "going home" from where…
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