Continuing the “Tourist In My Own Town” theme, Mike Moon has posted an excellent video showcasing Lakeview Park in Oshawa, Canada.
I love the video of the swings, especially when the camera focuses on the point where the swings connect with the frame. They squeak and bend under the weight of the swinger. Enjoy the sound of the lake water hitting the sand. It’s a “kick in the butt.”
Last month, Mike and I went to California. Our friends there took us to Old Town. It is a state historical park with antique buildings and shops. I was on a quest for the most beautiful Milagro cross, but I didn’t find it there. Instead, we had a relaxing lunch at El Fandango and listened to the music. Here is a snippet of that day in my life.
There are so many small places that are vying for tourist attention in the noisy tourist haven of Southern California. Sometimes the best time is spent quietly eating tortilla chips and listening to the band in an old building.
Where: Old Town State Historic Park: San Diego Avenue and Twiggs Street San Diego, CA Google Map
Official Websites:
Lan Bui lives in Orange County, California. The four hour drive from the OC to Las Vegas, Nevada has been condensed into this short, one-minute film.
I love the drive from California to Las Vegas. It’s a quick drive and there is Barstow to stop at along the way. If you are trapped at work, take the minute to download this video and enjoy it.
This a link to three beautiful videos of Devlon’s drive to Ski Hill at Apex Mountain in Canada.
Sometimes we have skiing as late as May in Utah, but it’s very rare and really rocky. If you still have a skiing jones, you can head up to Canada for some spring skiing. The area is beautiful. Just make sure you don’t get lost.
For More Information:
Amanda Congdon toured The New York Museum of Moving Image in Queens, NY and posted this informative video about it.
This museum collects the physical equipment used to make movies, video games and such. While there is a room full of video cameras that might seem a little boring, there is also a collection of the props used in films like The Exorcist. They have many interactive exhibits where you can create your own movie, dub your voice into The Wizard of Oz, or play with a blue screen (it’s green, actually. shown above). If you are planning a trip to New York, there are so many museums and sites to see, but you’ll be rewarded if you try the Museum of Moving Image.
For More Information:
Where: The Museum of Moving Image 35 Avenue at 36 Street Astoria, NY 11106 Google Map Phone: (718) 784-4520
MUSEUM HOURS
Wednesdays and Thursdays: 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Fridays: 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. (Free after 4:00 p.m.)
Saturdays and Sundays: 11:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
ADMISSION
Adults: $10.00
Senior Citizens, College Students with I.D.: $7.50
Children (5-18): $5.00
Members, Children under 5: Free
One of the highlights of our visit to the Swami’s Beach tide pools was seeing sea slugs in action. They are so well camouflaged, I must have looked at them for ten minutes before I knew they were there. Here is a short collage of video clips I took with my digital camera. It may look like seaweed moving in the current, but trust me, there’s a sea slug in there. At the end you can see him turn his mouth toward the camera and begin to eat a leaf of seaweed.
Previously:
37Signals had an interesting conversation about city planning and how streets are set up:
Utah does have a unique method of naming their streets. I used to live on Bard Lane, which sounds poetic in a Shakespearean sort of way, but in reality, it was 1325 West. Not so poetic now, huh?
The numbering system stems from the Salt Lake City Temple. Like a piece of graph paper, the temple is (0,0) and all the numbers advance from there. North of the temple, the streets are named North Temple, 200 North, 300 North and so on. South of the temple, they are named South Temple, 200 South, 300 South and so on. East of the temple, they are named State Street, 200 East, 300 East, etc. West of the temple, they are named West Temple, 200 West, 300 West, etc.
So, when I lived at 8305 South Bard Lane (1325 West), I lived 8305 blocks south of the temple and 1325 blocks west of the temple. It’s a great system, even if you’re not LDS. After a few years of living here, you eventually forget that the founders of the town set up the temple as the center of the universe and just use the grid system to your advantage.
The grid system in Utah makes getting around the city a breeze. Next time you plan a visit to Salt Lake City (or any of the towns in Utah), take a moment to look at the map and understand the grid system. It will make your traveling much easier.
Every time we visit San Diego, we spend a day at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, a huge wildlife preserve 35 miles north of the Zoo. This park is like the opposite of a zoo—the animals are roaming through wide open spaces, while humans are confined to limited fenced areas.
Every year in spring they have thousands of butterflies in the Hidden Jungle, a large walk-through greenhouse. It’s certainly the most butterflies we’ve ever seen in one place—they even land on people. Here are a few of the many photos we took of these beautiful insects.
The annual Butterflies event ended May 7th. Be sure to catch it next year—it’s well worth waiting in line.
Schlomo Rabinowitz went to Las Vegas and stayed at the New York New York hotel. He got footage of the casino. Every time I’ve tried to take pictures or video in ANY casino, they have stopped me. Good job getting all that “forbidden” footage!
He doesn’t seem to enjoy the Vegas experience quite as much as I do. I love the New York New York hotel. He kept asking what burrough he was in. I wanted to scream at the screen, “You’re in Central Park!” I guess he doesn’t like the imaginary version of New York quite as much as the real one.
I didn’t know tide pools were anything but interactive spots at Sea World and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. You know… you go to the aquarium and the tide pool is the spot where they let you touch the starfish and sea cucumbers, right?
Wrong.
Our friends live in Cardiff By The Sea and they were eager to tell us about the joys of tide pools. They are spots on the ocean that hold water even at low tide. Sea creatures hide out in them until the tide comes back. You can actually go into the REAL world and see local sea life. What you see depends on where you are looking. We didn’t see any starfish, but we saw enough wildlife to truly understand the joy of watching the ocean.
We went to Swami’s Beach in Encinitas, California. Here’s the view from the top of the stairs.
When we got closer, these rocky areas were to the north of the staircase.
On the stairs, the city of Encinitas had posted this sign about the wildlife that we might be able to see.
Some of the wildlife isn’t lucky enough to find a tide pool. They become easy targets for birds.
Here are some good examples of tide pools. Look for areas that are like holes in the ground that hold water while the tide is low.
You can look over the side of ledges also.
There was a sort of shimmer to the water. I don’t know if it was some sort of polution or a local ore. It felt like the water was filled with gold.
This shore crab didn’t make it through low tide. He became a dinner for a bird before we left the beach.
We saw so many anemones. Some of them were exposed by the low tide and dried up quickly. These two were safely hidden in the tide pools.
There were many hermit crabs and other shellfish.
Mike was much better at spotting animals than I was. He found this octopus. His head was about two inches long, but if he had spread out his legs, he would have been about seven or eight inches long. He was very shy and hid under the rocky ledge when my shadow passed over the tide pool.
The most excellent find was the sea slugs. They were at least eight inches long and four inches in diameter. They moved slowly under the water, eating the seaweed surrounding and hiding them.
Our trip to the tide pools at Swami’s Beach was an enjoyable and relaxing couple of hours in a busy week. I can’t wait to go back to California to do this again.
For a how-to guide on tide pool watching, see this entry:
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas, California: Google Map (taken at high tide, so you can’t see the tide pools)
Beach Parking: 5am – 10pm
Beach Use: 4am – 2am
No dogs, alcohol, or glass allowed
Lifeguard Towers Open: 10am – 6pm during the Summer Season (late June to Labor Day)
For more information: 760-633-2740
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