You Should Be A Traveling Fool 2

            1 Vote The Getty Center in the Brentwood section of Los Angles is an amazing feat of architecture. Designed to allow maximum viewing along with introspection from all areas; it is a place to go just to enmesh yourself in the soul of a building. Screw the art! The Getty was built in 1997 and designed by Robert Meier. Bountiful gardens and vistas open up throughout the facility giving visitors a chance to be one with the glory of nature. With outdoor sculptures and numerous lavish fountains dotting the 24 acre complex it makes for a full-scale outdoor art experience. Of course, the Getty, viewing one of the greatest collections of paintings in the world  by artists such as van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Delacroix; is an amazing experience. For those with an interest in illuminated manuscripts and old photographs; the Getty Center doesn’t disappoint.   But for the kids, the best part of the trip to ...

Arriving in Vietnam was an interesting experience. Unlike most countries it was an easy entry process. Effortless, really.That was a welcome surprise in a land seeped in tradition. As we drove to our hotel it was eerie to see the War Museum and all the weaponry from the Vietnam War lining the streets acting as museums to those who drove out our young men. Driving past empty barracks that United States soldiers lived in was likewise very strange. My kids, of course, don’t remember the war, but I do. It was a really big thing when I was growing up and every night I watched the news on t.v. to see how many soldiers had been killed that day. My mother woke me up to watch the news when our Prisoners of War returned home from the Vietnam and I saw many of the protests when I was growing up. I grew up with Vietnam in my conscious memory…in fact, my brother-in-law was a soldier here when he was 18-22.  The war changed him and his experiences in Vietnam made it difficult for hi...

            1 Vote If you are like me lighthouses hold a deep fascination. It’s not just the buildings themselves that pull at my heart but its also the people who dedicated their lives to ensuring that passing ships were not swallowed up by the sea. The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse on the Mendocino Coast is nothing short of breathtaking. The lighthouse hugs this wild and windy shoreline like a blanket, warming and protecting the boats which pass by headed to distant ports around the world.  Wildlife is abundant. Walk quietly and you will see the deer grazing, some eagles soaring, and most likely you will be able to hear the seals bark; as the Fresnel lends patrols the outer coast for a distance of 13-15 miles, 24/7. This lighthouse was constructed in 1908 and was lit for the first time at midnight on June 10, 1909. The point was chosen to increase and protect maritime travel as boats picked up loads of timber that wer...