Enjoying your own town and locale?

Now that the weather has turned (almost, it snowed yesterday), every Sunday since the pandemic we pick a different neighbourhood for a morning walk. Our favourites usually take us along the Elbow River and then up into the Mission neighbourhood which is full of trendy coffee shops and restaurants. Or we follow the river into Inglewood; one of Calgary's oldest neighborhoods which leads us to where the Bow and Elbow Rivers meet and where in 1875 the Northwest Mounted Police built Fort Brisbois which would later be named Fort Calgary after the beautiful bay on the Isle of Mull in Scotland.

The primary daytrip is to Banff which is 75 minutes door to door from my house. It's only a daytrip and not an overnight stay from now until September as like many places around the world, Banff has an overtourism problem which makes it too crowded and too expensive. A $200 hotel room in March will run you $600+ until September. Another daytrip that we enjoy is 90 minutes NE of Calgary to Drumheller and the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology which houses one of the world's largest collections of dinosaur skeletons.

On our way last Friday to a softball tournament in Morris, Minnesota, we stopped by Detroit Lakes to find the trolls and the golden bunny.

Yes, although I’m usually tired of the heat by September, I do actually love summer in Texas. We boat and camp. Texas has some great lakes to hang out at. I’m past my water skiing days but we do swim.
Fort Worth has wonderful world class art museums and I’m a member of the 3 biggest ones. I’m very grateful to be able to enjoy them frequently.

On Thursday I’m taking a walking tour of my neighborhood, Adams Morgan, offered by Smithsonian Associates. It ends about two blocks from where I live.

Depending on my energy level may hike up to the Griffith Observatory to watch sunrise. Or stay home, enjoy coffee and solve NY Times puzzles.

Third option is to sleep in, wake, have coffee and try a new place for a Philly Cheesestake. Oh and visit a car wash.

Exciting times.

I am actually headed up to Whidbey on Thursday. It is such a beautiful area, and I never tire of seeing/hearing the jets.

We are in a small farming town about 30 minutes north of Seattle and I adore it. Small town, but the main downtown is wonderful with loads of independent shops/restaurants and you can walk along the river or along the Centennial Trail. The historical homes are wonderful to walk around as well. Lord Hill Park has some great hiking trails and is just on the outskirts of downtown, so maybe 10 minutes from us. Our neighborhood is across the road from a nice county park, so our daily walks are through that. It feels a lot like Mayberry, in a good way:)

Not right in our neighborhood, but as BC residents and Seniors we can travel free as foot passengers Mon-Thurs on BC Ferries.
Have done many day trips to Vancouver Island and some Gulf Islands.
Taking local buses on arrival.

We are planning to visit the DeYoung Museum for current exhibits on The Etruscans and Monet & Venice. We also plan to visit the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden and the Berkeley Rose Garden soon.

We are hoping to take our grandsons to a Rail Fair at a nearby regional park this weekend, but not sure yet if that will happen.

Many years ago at a family reunion, we went as a group to an historic village/church site. There was an Historical Marker on the highway at the road leading to the site. Everyone jumped out of their cars and started taking photos of the marker. One man, who was a local, expressed that he was so glad to meet so many others who jumped out of vehicles to take photos of Historical Markers like he did. That made us "his kind of people".

There are so many markers where I live now, and have lived, and in so many other places I used to live, that I never stopped to read. I regret that. I try to do better now.

Stop to look in your own back yard. Go to the local museums, libraries, parks. Even if "your people" didn't come from there, you did. And someday, your descendants may be looking up your life in those places, so they know where they came from.

One of my favourite things to do in London is visit historic homes- most recently, we visited Danson House in Bexleyheath, which I highly recommend (tho it is only open on Sunday per month, and only in spring/summer). It's not too far from Red House (William Morris' home) so could be a combined visit. Even if you can't get inside the building, which these days is primarily used for weddings as the Bexleyheath registry office, the grounds are lovely.

Outside of London, we've been gradually completing the South Downs Way. We've already completed the Thames Path, Ridgeway, North Downs Way, Capital Ring Walk, and London LOOP as day trips from London. I really recommend all of them to anyone who enjoys long distance walking.

We live in a locale considered an international holiday destination, so even after forty years here we've still that feeling of being adventuresome expats.

Allan. Sounds lovely.

mnannie. Your trolls look like ours in and around Seattle. Same artist, I see. Thomas Dambo.

Lyndash. I spent an afternoon on your Museum Hill at the Kimble (TY Sister Wendy), the Western Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum.

Kim. Many years ago, we had a wonderful West African dinner in Adam’s Morgan. Cool ‘hood. And you have all those free museums in DC, though I’m glad we saw some of them in Sept. ‘24, before enforced exhibit changes may have occurred; hopefully they’ve not been too drastic.

Claudia. You’re too modest. You’ve got a lot to enjoy in your area, though 50 years ago I left the SF Bay Area because I thought it was getting to resemble LA. You have beaches, great museums and dining, and lovely nearby getaways at your doorstep.

Mikliz and S J. We share a lot.

Cat, thnx for your contributions here and to my recent posts about your England.

Barbara. My old stomping grounds. I went to John Muir and Willard … and Cal. We get to the area once or twice a year to see our son and his wife. We loved the Manet and Morisot this past winter and the Monet [and others] in Venice show looks great.

GPB. Playing it close to the vest. Care to share, where is there? And what you find new, refreshing or adventuresome?

Nothing better than spring and early summer in the Pacific Northwest! That's why I typically travel in spring/fall so I can soak up the sun (usually). My recent local excursions included biking at Champoeg State Heritage Area, picking up my wine club shipment at Illahe Winery, catching the latest exhibition at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, and strolls to see the massive fields of blooming camas near my house. My little town has a lot of summer events so it is never hard to fill the days. I also have summer camping trips planned for Beverly Beach (Newport), Umpqua River (Roseburg), Clyde Holliday Park (John Day) and Beachside (Yachats), and all are new-to-me even after 50+ years of northwest camping.

fred, my husband has parked at Willard for at least 20 years when he goes to Cal home football games. We both have strong Cal connections.

Adding that we had such a great general tour at the Prado last year that we are now considering the docent tours at the San Francisco museums even though we have visited them many times.

And we get a lot of use out of our East Bay Regional Parks pass.

Barbara. We were disappointed with the docent tour we started at the Legion (Manet & Morisot show). Hopefully you will have a more insightful experience.

CL--I grew up in Salem and you just reminded me of many great memories:)