The Portland Observatory in Portland, Maine
Earlier this summer, we enjoyed a few days in Portland, Maine, a beautiful seaside city on Casco Bay. One of the highlights of our visit was a guided tour of the Portland Observatory. Built in 1807 by Captain Lemuel Moody and one of the oldest marine signal stations in America, the six floor tower was…
10 Things to Do at the Green Cay Nature Center in Boynton Beach, Florida
On a recent visit to Delray Beach, Florida to visit family, we explored the nearby Green Cay Nature Center in Boynton Beach and ended up spending the better part of a morning enjoying the beautiful wetlands and exhibits. Originally farmland, the 100 acres property was sold by the farmers at a significantly reduced rate to…
City Guide: St Augustine, Florida
Located in the northern part of Florida, St Augustine has the distinction of being known as the oldest continually occupied European settlement in North America. It was founded in 1565 by Pedro Menendez and his soldier and colonists, fifty years after Ponce de Leon claimed the area now known as Florida for Spain in the…
Playing “I Spy” at Victoria Mansion in Portland, Maine
Ruggles Sylvester Morse and his wife Olive Ring Merrill Morse were prominent New Orleans hotel proprietors in the 1850s when they decided to leave the summer heat of the South and build a house in Portland, Maine. The house, built in the Italian Villa style, was finished in 1860 and the couple lived there until…
Playing “I Spy” at the Flagler Museum on Palm Beach Island, Florida
We recently spent time exploring St. Augustine Florida, a city that Henry Flagler basically built after the start of his 1912 Florida East Coast Railway and subsequent hotels, hospitals, schools, churches, and farms. (Read more about our adventures in St. Augustine in these posts. So, it was fitting when we also traveled to the West…
10 Ways to Explore Alligator Park in St. Augustine, Florida
We’re not a huge zoo family, but every guide we read about St Augustine, Florida, as well as a couple of fellow travel writers, all suggested visiting Alligator Farm Zoological Park. So, on our recent visit to St. Augustine, we started one of our mornings at the park and agreed it’s a special place the…