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Around The World Embassy Tour 2013

07 May 2013 By

PassportDCEvery year, Cultural Tourism DC presents Passport DC, a month-long celebration of international culture that lets us explore the world without ever leaving the city. Nearly every day throughout May there are programs: music and dance performances, art exhibits, workshops, embassy events, street festivals, food tastings, and more that bring global adventures to DC.

As our nation’s capitol, DC is home to over 70 foreign diplomats, embassies and consulates. Passport DC offers 3 different signature events each Saturday starting May 4th.

Last weekend Dave and I attended the first signature event – Around the World Embassy Tour showcased 44 embassies from Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, and the Americas. We took the metro to Dupont Circle station and started out tour with the Embassy of Indonesia. Altogether, we visited 7 embassies in 4 hours: Indonesia, Haiti, Japan, Cote d’Ivoire, Korea, Australia and Peru.

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DC Cherry Blossoms 2013

13 Apr 2013 By

It’s cherry blossom time again in Washington DC. The cherry blossom trees have now burst into flower and marked the unofficial start of spring. The National Park Service determined that peak bloom was reached on April 9th. One day after peak bloom, on April 10th, Dave and I rushed after work to the Tidal Basin to enjoy the beautiful cherry trees in full blossom.

The average peak bloom date is April 4. This year is a little later than average due to unseasonably cold local weather during March and early April, but last year’s peak bloom date came earlier on March 20, due to the warm weather and the blossoms were blown away by the storm right before the annual cherry blossom parade. We didn’t have a chance to see the spectacular trees in their blossom last year because of that. This year marks the 101st anniversary of the gift of 3,020 cherry blossom trees from Japan in 1912 to celebrate the two nations growing friendship.

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Luray Caverns

30 Mar 2013 By

Luray Caverns are the largest caverns in the eastern USA and a National Landmark.  The Caverns are situated in the Shenandoah Valley in Luray, Virginia. Enormous chambers of the caverns are filled with towering columns, shimmering draperies and crystal-clear pools. The underground cavern system is generously adorned with speleothems (columns, mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, mirrored pools, etc.).  A stalactite is a type of speleothem that hangs from the ceiling of limestone caves. It is a type of dripstone. The corresponding formation on the floor of the cave is known as a stalagmite. A column is a results of merging of stalactite with stalagmite. Flowstones are composed of sheetlike deposits of calcite formed where water flows down the walls or along the floors of a cave. Here is the picture from wikipedia with labeled speleothems.

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End of Snow Season

28 Mar 2013 By

The end of our snow season has arrived. We had a weekend retreat at Snowshoe again, thanks to our season passes. We had only one full day of skiing, but it was an unforgettable experience for me. The whole day was full of fun. The main reason was that, for the first time, I skied on the expert/black diamond slopes and felt comfortable doing it. It was unseasonably warm, 50° F, so it was also my first time skiing in the rain with thunder and lightning. Here is Dave on the Widowmaker slope. I can feel the rain looking at this picture. 🙂

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Skiing in Vermont

26 Mar 2013 By

A trip to Vermont was a highlight of our snow season. It was my first time to Okemo mountain with the largest vertical drop in southern Vermont, 2,200 feet (670 m). Besides, it was my first visit to Vermont. The 8-hour drive was a little tiring, but interesting. I was impressed with the size of the resort, high-speed lifts and the resort’s amenities. There are the nicest facilities and dining options available at Okemo. Here is a painting of Okemo mountain by James Niehues.

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from jamesniehues.com

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March Snowshoe Trip

09 Mar 2013 By

Snowshoe_Mountain_LogoOur second trip to Snowshoe was enjoyable as well. The post about our first Snowshoe trip can be viewed here. It was snowing all 3 days of our stay at the resort. My husband and I took a long weekend trip with some friends, and had a great experience. Snowshoe has wonderful trails for every skill level, good natural snowfall and snowmaking and about 6 large terrain parks. The lodging at the resort is nice, as almost every residence is situated as a ski-in, ski-out location. This time we rented a condo right on the edge of the Main Village. We had a choice to take a shuttle to the different ski areas, or just walk up long steep stairs and start skiing from the top of the Basin. Dave was snowboarding and I was skiing. It was nice to ski/snowboard on fresh powder. It takes about 4,5 hour to get there, but it is worth it. You can’t find another place with such a big drop and long runs anywhere near what Snowshoe has.

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February Snowshoe Trip

09 Mar 2013 By

Snowshoe Mountain is worth a visit if you like winter sports. Snowshoe Mountain is the name of the resort, not the name of the mountain itself. It is located in the bowl shaped convergence of two mountains, Cheat and Back Allegheny. Snowshoe Mountain Resort has some of the best skiing in the mid-Atlantic region and the entire east coast. It’s fairly remote, out in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia, but generally has colder temperatures and more snow than other ski areas in the mid-Atlantic. With so much area for skiing, it is not as crowded and congested as other ski areas in the region we have visited. 

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Deer at Snowshoe

06 Mar 2013 By

We saw many deer from the window of our rental condo during our stay at Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia. The morning before we left for home, William and I took a bowl with cut bananas and walked down through the deep snow, which had been falling all night, to feed the deer. To be precise, I was feeding the deer and Will took some cute pictures. 🙂 The deer showed up near our condo several times per day hoping to get some food, mostly in the morning. Only one time we saw a male deer with antlers, the other times there were all female deer.

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The Roosevelt Island Tram

23 Feb 2013 By

Being in NYC, we couldn’t miss another aerial view of the Manhattan skyline, so we decided to experience it by riding the Roosevelt Island Tram. The aerial tram-car is a unique mode of public transportation from Midtown to Roosevelt Island. Of course, it is not the only route to access the island. There is the Roosevelt Island Bridge which is the sole route for vehicular and pedestrian traffic and a subway train is available as well. The skyline view from the tram is incredible and a perfect photo-op. The tram follows right alongside the beautiful Queensboro Bridge overlooking a magnificent stretch of Manhattan and Roosevelt Island with the East River in between.

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Central Park Carriage Ride

15 Feb 2013 By

Our visit to NYC was a lot of fun, and we did a lot of walking, so at the end of the day, the idea of taking a carriage ride through Central Park seemed like a good choice to us. I was afraid that it would be really cold, since it was during Christmas time, but surprisingly, it was pretty comfy inside the carriage with the provided blankets. Our coachmen and guide provided a lot of information about Central Park’s attractions during the ride. According to him, horse-drawn carriages are a symbol of pre-modern life in New York City. Over time, horses remained an iconic symbol of New York City along with the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty and the street-side performers. Our guide also pointed out places in the park made famous by Hollywood films. We didn’t see the whole park. The place is huge: 843 acres filled with many interesting places to see. We just enjoyed our ride and took some pictures.

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