BODIES OF WATER 4 - THE ATLANTIC

(This is how themes get started. Post a shot one day, and then realize four days later you've got a theme. Who knew?) 

The Atlantic Ocean, formed as the African and European continents splits from the Americas millennia ago. It is certainly more turbulent than its larger Pacific cousin, with a dramatic history and influence on the human world.

This is the coastline of North Carolina, on Emerald Isle. A cold Autumn squall is headed in.

CHEF'S TOYS

A large grinder - coffee maybe? - in the foreground deep into the basement of the famous 

Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. A true American castle.

The full kitchen covers several rooms, with this room comprising 

the baking and staging area for the house.

As home tours go, the Biltmore House is an excellent one if you're in the area. 

Or even as a destination in and of itself.

WELCOME TO WAYNESVILLE

Two comfortable rockers (for sale) along the main shopping street of the charming little city of Waynesville, North Carolina. Twenty minutes from downtown Asheville, it's a world away in some ways, boasting a slower pace and the sort of town everyone knows everyone else. The friendliness of the shopkeepers is palpable, and the items are usually local. 

It's a beautiful little town and well worth a stopover if you're in the Smokey Mountains.

SCHOOLBELLS

The town of Maggie Valley in North Carolina is rife with "photo opps".

A small schoolhouse building set aside as an historic site. Just alongside the road, as if it's completely new and modern.

You can almost hear the bell toll announcing morning classes.

BEACHES - EMERALD ISLE, NORTH CAROLINA

On the West Coast we typically think of beaches as bright, sunny places with lots of sandy places to sun and tan.

Easterners, however, understand the darker and more fascinating nature of beaches during inclement weather. Emerald Isle, along the beautiful coast of North Carolina, is no stranger to inclement weather and even multiple hurricanes over the years.

Fortunately this event was only a fall squall which quickly blew by and allowed us some time on the sand.

EMERALD ISLES, NORTH CAROLINA - STORMY WEATHER

Late fall mist rolls in on the Emerald Island coastline, North Carolina.

EDITORIAL: Targeting Bigotry

I am a Traveler. 

I allow myself the conceit to capitalize that word. It means something to be a Traveler. It is a value, to be able to capitalize that word. Being a Traveler means you Travel with an open point of view, willing to learn and not judge. It means that having an accepting, inquisitive and open mind being not the least among the very basic requirements.

As a responsible Traveler and travel blogger, I find myself in the sickening position of having to strongly recommend travelers avoid two US states. There is a movement in this country, codified so far in North Carolina and Mississippi, towards legislating bigotry as some sort of protection of religion. 

Any religion which embraces bigotry and hate is not worthy of protection.

In North Carolina it becomes worse because the law forbids cities and counties from enacting their own legislation, thereby shutting down their protections under the Constitution.

This is personal for me. I have relatives and friends who are transgender.

I have relatives in North Carolina I must now tell I will not visit until their legislature grows up.

State-sanctioned bigotry, state sanctioned hate cannot be tolerated. It's where we, as a country once were and have worked tirelessly to grow beyond.

In that view, I must strongly advocate that travelers, tourists and visitors avoid spending money or time in either Mississippi or North Carolina until those states, those legislators, rejoin the 21st century.

They have so much to offer, but their legislative bigotry outweighs their undeniable charm.

North Carolina's beautiful Emerald Isle

The majestic Mississippi as seen from Vicksburg, MS

Pic of the Day: The Cold and Blustery Day

I first ran across the word "blustery" in the A. A. Milne classic Winnie the Pooh stories. A cold and windy sort of weather, usually typified in the fall. Where leaves of many colors can be spread across the lawn just days after you've raked them up. 

It's the sort of weather settling in across much of the US and Europe these days, even here in Southern California. The sort of weather best handled indoors, with a nice fire and cup of hot chocolate (or tea if you dislike sweets).

It's autumn. And it's about damned time.

(This shot, however, is from the very blustery shore of North Carolina, along the Emerald Isle looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.)

Pic of the Day: The Open Road

I love the open road. So much so that I even photograph them upon occasion.

Highway 24 through the North Carolina countryside.

Pic of the Day: Signs Along the Highway

A lonely stretch of highway 24 in North Carolina

I have no idea what Wee Peats is, but there are a number of ways it could go...puns intended.

Pic of the Day: Catch the Wave

You and I see an impending storm. These guys see the perfect wave. 

Cowabunga, North Carolina's Emerald Isle

Pic of the Day: Atlantic Storm Brewing

A stormy day along North Carolina's Emerald Isle.

Seek Out the Adventure

"We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls."   - Anais Nin 


Fun day today. Off to the Travel and Adventure Show at the Long Beach Convention Center. 


I'll blog in more detail about the show and its ilk at a later date, but this is the sort of thing we can do on a regular basis that gets the same Raman juices flowing. No, no, no. Not the noodle we all consumed in mass quantities during the lean college years, but the Hindu God who wandered in exile for fourteen years. Kind of like Anthony Bourdain without a camera crew.

Planes...

The fun of the Travel and Adventure Show is to wander the aisles thinking and dreaming and, at times, planning. And picking up lit. Lots of lit -- which ought to be loads of joy today since I have a spasming lower back. (A different story, filled with irony, but not really a topic for a travel page. Rest assured, it hurts.) Last year I met and have subsequently continued to be in contact with ace travel photographer and blogger Ralph Velasco -- a man who lives the life I'd like to. (If he turns up missing one day, don't blame me. I'm sure to have an ironclad alibi.) He is giving his most-excellent presentation "Developing Your Photographic Vision: The Importance of Looking vs. Seeing" -- which got my attention last year because of the content and approach it calls for in travel photography. (He has published an excellent book on the topic -- "101 Tips for Developing Your Photographic Eye & More" -- with an accompanying application for your tablet. Well worth checking out -- there is a link to his website below.)

...trains...

Anyway. 

Typically it's my wife and I who peruse the show, but this year our friends Mary and Evelyn announced they'd like to go with us. They're planning a cruise later in the year and want to gather as much info on possible itineraries as they can. This is a marvelous opportunity for them to go to a single place and get direct and useful feedback from the professionals in the booths. It's not necessarily a "sales-y" situation -- yes, some of the vendors view it as such -- but the majority are there to help you out and describe the best parts of whatever destination they are representing. (Hint: Hit the booths of travel bureaus and destinations themselves such as cruise lines or resorts. Packagers are excellent options, but they tend to be more aggressive in these sorts of shows.)

I'll fill you in on all the details, but check your local convention center to see if they have similar shows during the year. For lovers of travel -- and why would you be here if you're not -- it's like being a kid in a candy store searching for just the right Wonka Bar. The one with the golden ticket.

...and automobiles.

Ralph Velasco's website: http://www.ralphvelasco.com