April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Kerry Park]

#234

Located on the south slope of Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, Washington, Kerry Park offers an unparalleled view of Downtown Seattle. People flock to this small public park to view the city’s iconic skyline, with the Space Needle standing tall on the left, the majestic Mount Rainier in the middle, and Elliott Bay on the right.

Despite the lack of public restrooms and the struggle to find free street parking nearby, people especially tourists remain undeterred and you’ll often find clear, non-cloudy evenings at this park to be crowded. Last Friday, though the sky was covered with dark gray clouds as you can see in the picture above, I was able to capture a decent photo of the skyline with Mt. Rainier gracing the background. It was a miracle for it to be visible amidst dense clouds.   

The neighborhood around this area of West Seattle is filled with beautiful mansion-like houses. I bet they’d be expensive though, as you might not get to enjoy a view like that every day without paying a hefty price for it!

We’ve visited Kerry Park more than a few times now, as it has become a typical tourist attraction. We take our friends and family there, each time someone visits us, and none of them have returned disappointed.

For those visiting, Kerry Park is a must-see attraction, perfect for capturing stunning photos and creating everlasting Seattle / Washington memories.

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Jurassic Valley]

#233

One of the top highlights of our Hawaii trip last year was the ATV (all-terrain vehicle; resembles an open jeep) ride in Jurassic Valley at the Kualoa Ranch.

My friend and I took turns driving the ATV through sandy, rugged, narrow roads, between pit stops. This went into my list of ‘things I did for the first time ever’. It made for an entertaining ride, with the beautiful backdrop of tall cliffs, lush greenery, and wavy mountains. 

‘Kualoa’ in Hawaiian translates to ‘long back.’ Our guide told us this, along with a mythological story about the Kualoa mountains, and about the volcanic formations in the island in general.

This ranch is a popular shooting spot for various Hollywood movies, the most well-known one being the Jurassic World trilogy. At each pit stop, we visited various dinosaurs, the T-Rex, velociraptors, and herbivores such as brachiosaurs.

Overall, a must-do, adrenaline-filled, unforgettable experience!

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Indian Wells]

#232

The Indian Wells Garden in Palm Springs, California is one of the largest stadiums in the world, with a capacity of over 16,000! It hosts a variety of sports events, one of them being the BNP Paribas Open, the world's largest combined men's and women's tennis tournament. My husband, his friends, and I booked tickets for the finals matches of both men's and women's tennis occurring last month, one of the most cherished, exciting trips of the year so far!

The national anthem was sung by actress and singer Katherine McPhee. Post that, we witnessed an exhilarating women's finals between Maria Sakkari from Greece and Iga Swiatek from Poland, the reigning champion, who defended her title well. Though 28-year-old Maria put on a really good fight, she was no match for the nimble 22-year-old Polish champion.

Soon after, we were on the edge of our seats for an even more enthralling men's finals between the reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz from Spain versus Daniil Medvedev from Russia. Alcaraz at 6 feet tall seemed quite short in comparison to the 6'6" Daniil, but his speed and determination fell nowhere short, as he hit almost impossible shots by running in opposite directions on the court.

Amidst the thrill of the matches, we enjoyed quinoa salad, flavored boba tea, and riveting discussions. At the end of each match, the winners and runner ups gave heartfelt speeches that included praising their opponent with genuine words, which showed good sportsmanship both on and off the court.

All in all, a wonderful event that left us with enthusiasm and satisfaction at watching a tennis match live for the very first time. 

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Hoover Dam]

#231

Yet another Vegas expedition was the Hoover Dam, a massive, tall structure over the Colorado River, which provides water and electricity to millions of Americans!

Fun facts: It was named after the US President Herbert Hoover, and spans two time zones - Pacific in Nevada and Mountain in Arizona.

An hour away from our hotel, it was a beautiful, scenic drive. We had a couple of viewpoints from across the dam from where we could take pictures, and we even stood from a different walkway which allowed us to look at the architecture and construction of different parts of the dam and related components.

Similar to most of the historic places in the US, here too we got to learn about its rich history and background into its durable construction. It is signified as one of the enduring spirits of the American achievement.

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Gondola Ride]

#230

One of the unique experiences we had in Las Vegas was the indoor Gondola ride at The Venetian.

True to the resort’s name, it gave us a glimpse of the allure of Venice. Though it was a short distance back and forth as it was indoors, the gondolier (TIL!) kept us entertained throughout with his mellifluous voice, singing various Italian songs, belting out melodious tunes, a few resembling the Godfather theme music.

His serenade made our experience romantic despite there being another couple on the gondola sitting opposite us.

Overall it felt like a great personalized adventure, and one of the highlights of our Vegas trip, where we explored a lot of things but did not participate in any of the casinos!

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [F.R.I.E.N.D.S Experience]

#229

As devout followers and fans of the beloved TV show ‘Friends’, my husband and I visited the F.R.I.E.N.D.S Experience in Seattle last year, which was an immersive, enjoyable, nostalgic journey from sets to props to scripts and more!

From the orange couch and fountain in the title song to the 2 fully set up apartments to the coffee shop, from the ‘pivot’ sofa to the ‘could I *BE* wearing any more clothes’ prop to Huggsy, from each main character’s costumes and hair to the 18-page script (front and back!) to the barcaloungers - we reminisced all of it - the episodes, the dialogs, the guest characters - as we walked through the well-set-up layout.

There were also interactive elements like trivia quizzes, and we got to see some of the behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. 

Overall, a truly experiential event we relive to this day about reliving memories from the show!

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Everglades National Park]

#228

Our trip to Florida started out as a spontaneous almost-unplanned trip with a day or two in Miami followed by Key West followed by a day in Orlando, but eventually fortuitously turned out to be a wonderful enjoyable nature trip!

After visiting the Dolphin center, we drove to the Alligator Farm in the Everglades National Park. This is one of the largest national parks in the US, Everglades being the largest wetland ecosystem in the country, spanning more than a 1.5 million acres!

It is predominantly covered in swampy land in which mangroves thrive, and a large population of (alli)gators. Because it was too hot and sunny to do kayaking in the lakes there, we ended up going to the indoor-ish covered alligator farm. One of the gator trainers there entertained us by putting his arms and head near a large male alligator’s mouth and opening it to count its teeth! It was scary to watch at first, and even scarier to see the trainer himself was pretty scared. The audience however kept applauding his crazy courage to put himself at risk like that.

At the end of it, each of us had the opportunity to hold a baby alligator, with its mouth taped of course, after being taught how to correctly hold it. It was an interesting first-time experience, it felt slimy and gooey underneath and scaly and hard at the top. A few folks didn’t end up listening to the instruction or just didn’t hold it correctly, so the poor alligator got a bit startled and tried to furiously twist and wriggle, until the trainer came to help with the situation.

Overall, a fun visit and experience - if you ever get a chance to hold an alligator, take it!

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Dolphin Center]

#227

One of the most intelligent and adorable mammals on this planet, are dolphins. Quick learners, problem-solvers, and playful, it is always a joy to watch these ever-smiling creatures out in the water.

That is exactly what we did in the Dolphin Center in Florida, located in the Gulf of Mexico.

This nonprofit organization is home to several sea animals - sea lions, turtles, and predominantly dolphins, several of them being rescues. 

We enjoyed a spectacular hour-long show where the trainers made dolphins perform several tricks like mouth-painting, scavenger hunting, and doing standing backflips. 

It was exciting to witness several enthusiastic, competitive although in a friendly manner, and hardworking dolphins play around in the water and earn treats as rewards for the tasks they accomplished.

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Crater Lake National Park]

 #226

We visited the Crater Lake National Park in Eugene, Oregon sometime last year. It was a bit of a journey to get there from Seattle - a 7-hour scenic train ride followed by a 4-hour drive from downtown Eugene to the National Park followed by walking in the snow while experiencing hail but it was all totally worth it!

As we reached this viewpoint, the hail stopped, the clouds started to clear, with the sun providing a bit of brightness from behind dark, dense clouds, and we got to witness this breathtaking view of the crater lake and the wizard island in the middle of it.

The snow on the mountains partially started to melt, giving them a neat, striped look, adding to the picturesque scene. Within ten minutes of standing there and taking in the gorgeous view, a crowd had gathered, and in the next few minutes, the clouds once again covered the sky and the top of the mountains, changing the color of the lake from shades of bright blue and white to dark blue and dark gray due to the shadows of the clouds above. 

We were fortunate and grateful for this experience and as we headed back into the city, ticked off yet another U.S. national park and city off our checklist.

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Blaine]

 #225

For New Year’s Eve, we went to a place in Washington known as Blaine.

It’s one of the places that is the closest to Canada, it’s very close to the border. It was a spontaneous long-weekend staycation where we enjoyed our first wine-tasting experience as well as witnessed a beautiful sunset where the sky looked like it’d been set on fire (the picture above).

It’s roughly a 2-hour drive from downtown Seattle, scenic at places. We also enjoyed long walks on and near the beach, admiring the ocean-facing houses and mansions, and discussing pros and cons of living in such a dwelling.

Fun fact: Blaine was apparently named after a senator who hailed from Maine (Blaine from Maine!) in the 1800s. 

The city’s official motto is: “Where America Begins”. Well, it was certainly where our new year began!