Tag Archives: travel

I Like Big Books And I Cannot Lie

I almost hate to say this with all the ranting about gun control going on lately, but one of my favorite things to do is to kill time.  We Americans are very adept at killing time with all our TV networks and video games and work days and whatnot; it’s almost as if we invented it.  (As a parenthetical aside, killing time actually goes all the way back to the ancient Bedouin nomads who liked to mix it with a little lemon and put in on their chicken.)

My favorite way to kill time is at a used book store.  Used book stores are the perfect place to combine the paltriness of my nominal adventurism with the gargantuan nature of my striking tightfistedness.  Continue reading →

Anchorage: Armpit of Alaska

Anchorage at low-tide, which varies as much as 38 feet--about the same as my belt size around the holidays.

Anchorage at low-tide, which varies as much as 38 feet–about the same as my belt size around the holidays.

One of my moist favorite travel destinations is Anchorage, Alaska (thank you, autocorrect).  Whether it’s to experience the boundless scenery, savor the minutes-old seafood, or just to warm up from a Minnesota winter, going to Anchorage makes those who claim they are going “up north” for the weekend look like whiney bed-wetting pansies. Continue reading →

Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’

Every four years or so we find it necessary as a familial unit to escape the borders of this great country of ours and venture out into foreign lands by way of some sort of ridiculously monstrous cruise ship. (The fact that such excursions coincide with Presidential Party Convention Season is purely coincidental by design.) This year found us battling Hurricane Isaac (named for the affable Love Boat bartender) while trolling about The Bahamas, a chain of islands off the coast of Florida best known for their mamas and the Utterly Unaffordable Atlantis Paradise Resort. Continue reading →

San Francisco: Oakland’s Greatest Suburb

San Fran’s skyline is easily recognizable by the Transamerica Pyramid, which points toward the cost of living there.

Among my favorite West Coast cities are Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, and Muskegon, the second of which is today’s topic for the simple reason that it is the one in which I am currently located. San Francisco, or as the Spanish like to call it, “San Francisco,” is built on a hilly peninsula in Northern California (a.k.a. whine country) and is named for Francis of Assisi, who was a Saint and yet a big 49ers fan. Continue reading →

Tale of the GOATmen

Today I attempt a “travelogue,” an effort to treat you with my exploits in travel.  This is not to be confused with a “pecan log” which is a treat you purchase while you travel past your local Stuckey’s. (Ha! Just kidding; there’s no such thing as a “local Stuckey’s.”  All Stuckey’s are somewhere else.  “Local Stuckey’s” is an oxymoron–like saying “jumbo shrimp” or “distinguished senator.”) Continue reading →