Tag Archives: ground level travel
An Ode to the Home of Vidalia Onions
To paraphrase Shakespeare, would an onion by any other name taste as sweet?We think not, since most onions are hardly sweet at all. So what’s in a name? Vidalia, Vidalia, wherefore art thou Vidalia?
The only way to know for sure was to go directly to the… CONTINUE READING >>
A Tale of Two Cities… Uh, Counties… No, States
Check this out: we’re on the border of Tennessee and Georgia. We find a community that is split down the middle with a blue line painted through the town.It gets weirder (YAY!) — the blue line goes straight through buildings. Shops, a church, even a bar.
But wait, it gets weirder yet. The bar is also in two counties. And one of them is dry… CONTINUE READING >>
The Weight of Six Million Paper Clips
In a small town in Tennessee there is a monument so moving, so touching and so unlikely that the story behind it is almost unbelievable.Here is a tale of a group of school children who found out that even the smallest idea can spark a world wide movement. And how compassion can change the world… CONTINUE READING >>
Islands of Fire
The Galápagos Islands. The name conjures up images of rare birds, giant tortoises and fearless sea lions, but there is another side to this archipelago. A side may appeal to a geologist more than an ornithologist or herpetologist, because the Galápagos are a classic example of a geologic hot spot.A hot spot is where volcanic islands are formed as a… CONTINUE READING >>
Food for Thought: How Food Enhances Travel
An old adage says that you don’t really know someone until you walk a mile in their shoes. We believe it is just as true that you don’t really know a place until you eat a plate of its food.There is so much more to visiting a destination than seeing the sights. We try to immerse… CONTINUE READING >>
Finding Germany in the Mountains of Georgia
The unexpected surprises that lurk around the next corner are one of the things that can make travel so interesting.Boy, did we get one of those in the mountains of northern Georgia when we came upon the old fashioned Bavarian village of Helen. Tucked into a valley on the banks of The Chattahoochee River, we suddenly found ourselves driving through an anachronism of epic proportions. Every building, down to the gas station… CONTINUE READING >>
The Benefits of Seeing Europe By Car
Renting a car and taking off across a foreign land can be daunting even to the most seasoned of travelers.But, there are a number of big advantages to renting a car to visit Europe as opposed to other modes of travel. Driving is often the best way to see some of Europe’s most famous sites. How else could we have traced the route of the Monaco Gran Prix, or motored over magnificent mountain passes in The Swiss… CONTINUE READING >>
A Drive Through the Swiss Alps
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Massive San Bernardino tunnel, huge scenic Alps, dairy cows & waterfalls! For more on our drive through the Swiss Alps, including a stop in the tiny, wealthy country of Liechtenstein: CLICK HERE >>
Little Rock / Big Gem
Join us on a rip-roarin’ tour of Little Rock, Arkansas!We visited the Clinton Presidential Library, hit the Big Dam Bridge, witnessed history at the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site and ate avocado popcycles at the River Market!
Then, we mounted Segways and … CONTINUE READING >>
A Quick Trip to (and Overeating in) Colonia, Uruguay
Like most travelers, we enjoy putting another notch on our suitcase handle by adding to our list of visited countries.We found this remarkably easy to do while in Buenos Aires, just hop on a ferry across the river to Uruguay. The delightful town of Colonia del Sacramento lies on the other side of the Río de la Plata, so after a forty-five minute ride on the Buquebus, we were adding a stamp to our… CONTINUE READING >>
Dynamic Districts of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, like most large urban areas, is actually a collection of varied communities, and as we explored many of them we found each offered unique backgrounds and qualities.Perhaps no two barrios of the city capture quintessential Buenos Aires better than… CONTINUE READING >>
Swept off Our Feet at the Broom Corn Festival
Driving through the middle of America in early autumn meant we were bound to stumble upon some sort of fair or festival.But we never expected to find one dedicated to something that we had never heard of… CONTINUE READING >>
Northern (Ontario) Lights
Late summer in Northern Ontario has weather that humans were meant to live in.Warm, but not hot, during the days and cool, crisp nights. A perfect escape from the heat and humidity south of the border. Yes, that’s how Canadian’s refer to The United States.
Our mission north had a two-fold agenda, enjoy the climate, and finally find a… CONTINUE READING >>
Getting Pickled in Wawa, Canada
Check out the pickle-mania at Young’s General Store! Young’s in Wawa, WAY up in Northern Ontario, Canada is quite… CONTINUE READING >>
Livingston (Guatemala), I Presume
When we heard about Livingston, a tiny outpost on the Guatemalan coast with an intriguing history and only accessible by boat, we knew we had to go. So from the busy port of Puerto Barrios we sought passage north.After some difficulty trying to decipher the… CONTINUE READING >>
Getting Key-ed Up in Florida
One of the greatest drives in America has to be the trip down U.S. Highway 1 through the Florida Keys.We made a stop at the incredible Coral Castle, ate enormous amounts of seafood at the Marathon Seafood Fest and, when we ran out of road, landed in Key West… CONTINUE READING >>
America’s Other West Coast
Who knew America has two West Coasts? Well now we do, after discovering Florida’s hundreds of miles of beautiful coastline facing west onto the Gulf of Mexico.Sometimes called The Sunset Coast, most of it is much less crowded than the… CONTINUE READING >>
Everglades Airboat Tour
Gator Park had something that we’d been wanting to try for years, airboats. We, like most folks I suppose, were more interested in careening through the swamp at insanely… CONTINUE READING >>
Boy, Are We Everglade We Came Here!
Your GypsyNesters take on the Everglades – all good fun until a very uncomfortable Veronica gets her hands on an alligator!
We encountered gator wrestling, did some (really fast!) airboat riding and visited the smallest post office in the US.
And that’s just the beginning… CONTINUE READING >>
Meet Bigfoot’s Florida Cousin!
Skunk Apes are omnivores, with the ability to climb and make beds out of leafy branches, there are an estimated 7 – 9 of them in the Everglades, they like alligator caves, smell like rotten eggs, and they love lima beans. Skunk Apes lead a nomadic, hunter/gatherer existence, have a good memory and exceptional hearing.We had to find one for ourselves, so we headed deep into the Florida Everglades… CONTINUE READING >>
In Search of Skunk Ape
Your GypsyNesters go deep into the Florida Everglades, miles from any signs of civilization, in search of the elusive Skunk Ape and found some … CONTINUE READING >>
Life’s a Beach
Life’s a beach. In Florida that little pun takes on some real meaning. Of The Sunshine State’s twelve hundred miles of coastline, over half is covered by beautiful sandy beaches.We are big fans of the seashore, so much so that we spent almost a decade on a… CONTINUE READING >>
Florida Biking, Beaching, Birding & Beasting
The sand in Florida is packed down hard enough that we rode our bikes on the beach! Wow, Florida has a lot of wildlife… CONTINUE READING >>
Pelicans Fighting Over Fish!
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These birds aren’t designed to be on land, they looked absolutely ridiculous, but it did give us the chance to see them closer than… CONTINUE READING >>
Are Travel Agents Worth the Bother?
The nature of our travel style – what we call “traveling low to the ground” – does not conjure up images of luxury hotels, first class airline tickets and limousines. And for good reason. It’s not that we’re opposed to these things, in fact we quite like them, we just can’t see forking out the money for perks that don’t feel so perky when it comes time to pay the bill.We are suckers for every tip and trick that will save us money while traveling. After all, we have embarked on a roadtrip that can only last as long our bodies and our mutually agreed upon funds hold out. Therefore, we have vowed to stay in shape and be as frugal as possible.
Plane tickets are… CONTINUE READING >>
Manatee Time
Florida’s west coast is a manatee Mecca.
At least a dozen manatees began their leisurely evening swim out to the open water – passing right under our bridge! We gasped as we saw mama manatees with their calves in… CONTINUE READING >>
