The U.S. is almost a magical place; like Hong Kong, it was built by immigrants and refugees who arrived with nearly nothing and faced with an uncertain future. With determination and grit, they resolved to make this a meritocracy where they believed anyone can make it with hard work. The Read more
San Francisco’s famous Lombard Street is much longer than just the squiggly bit with eight bends, it goes all the way from the Presidio Boulevard, through the hill where Coit Tower is, to Pier 27 on the shore. Tourists love to drive down the curvy bit of the road, and Read more
Not the French award for contributions to the state, but an art museum in San Francisco perched on top of a hill facing the Pacific Ocean on two sides. It’s a classic art museum with masterpieces like Fruit and Game by Jan Fyt and pieces by Anthony van Dyck. Even Read more
San Francisco made an assortment of boats and ships with styles such as Chinese junk brought over by immigrants. The National Historic Park has over 100 small boats in its collection maintained by traditional craftsmanship. Many of them are fishing vessels. The pier is noted to be an important crossing Read more
The ticking counter person taught me to exchange my Legion of Honor ticket for a de Young Museum ticket so I could visit both museums for free on a free day. I only skimmed the ground floor because I’m not that interested in contemporary art and abstract representation. I stopped Read more
I visited the same year Canada remembered the 100th anniversary of its Chinese exclusion act. The gold rush, for mostly worse, lured tens of thousands of Chinese workers in the 19th century under false promises of wealth. By the 1880s, more than half of all Chinese women in California worked, Read more
Federal land as a national park. Technically not part of California so you can’t smoke recreational Marijuana here. I recommend the first ferry as it gets you there just as the prison opens. The main exhibit is on the evolution of the US correctional system, like at Eastern State Penitentiary Read more
It’s not usually open to the public, but the once-a-year Doors Open Toronto event invites everyone to take a peek inside a collection of heritage buildings and city infrastructure. The interwar water treatment plant still provides about a third of Toronto’s drinking water supply at nearly a billion liters a Read more
The state capital of Wisconsin is located on a narrow isthmus between Lake Monoma and Lake Mendota, kind of like Interlaken or Istanbul. The narrowest point of land is only six blocks wide. Between the two lakes, I think the skyline from Lake Monoma is is better. Lake Monoma used Read more
The only reason I visited Green River was for a cheap room on the way to Salt Lake City. What I didn’t prepare for was a snowstorm in May. In the morning, the hotel clerk lent me her snow brush so I could clear off my windshield and be on Read more
I wanted to do a quick visit to Buffalo just before Christmas, but the border closed before I could go. So, I got a refund for my ticket to the Buffalo Botanical Gardens and credit for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House tour. The gardens open in the morning and I Read more