Looking at other people’s old chewing gum not your thing? I don’t blame you. However morbidly fascinating it might be, there’s something more than a little gross about it. Luckily, there’s far more to Seattle. Unlike many large American cities that sit on bays, lakes, or other enclosed bodies of...
Art / Off-the-beaten-path / USA
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published May 10, 2018 · Last modified May 7, 2018
Activities / Logistics / Modes of Transport / USA
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published December 29, 2015 · Last modified December 23, 2015
Standing near the base of the Statue of Liberty and looking up into her giant green face, it struck me that I had actually done it. No one believed I could. Not even me. Yet here we were. As I looked up at the face of Lady Liberty, I felt...
Adventure / Modes of Transport / Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / USA / Wandering
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published December 1, 2015 · Last modified November 24, 2015
“Look straight down,” the balloonist told us, “you see that dirt road that kind of squiggles off to the left? If you were to follow it down into that canyon you’d end up at a bunch of dinosaur fossils.” “Real fossils?” “Yes. Still embedded in the rocks. There’s a walking...
Adventure / History / Modes of Transport / USA
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published April 16, 2014 · Last modified November 17, 2015
With a great deal of chuffing, 500 tons of steel slowly begins inching along. Not even walking speed. Trees and landmarks creep by the windows. The brass fixtures and polished wooden trim speak of a bygone era. An era most of us have never seen firsthand and yet, one which...
There are just some things that grab your attention. Driving down a back-country highway on a long road trip, I heard someone in the car say, “Oh look, a slave cemetery.” How can you not stop for something like that? My ex-girlfriend and I (back when we were still dating)...
Facts & Trivia / History / USA
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published January 29, 2014 · Last modified February 5, 2014
Silent puffs of smoke rise on the distant shores. Sailors gather at the rails to watch the cannonballs splash harmlessly into the water. Not even near enough to get their shirts wet. Laughing, they sail into the city and pillage. With the American Revolution and the War of 1812 still...
“Learning the secret of flight from a bird was a good deal like learning the secret of magic from a magician. After you know what to look for you see things that you did not notice when you did not know exactly what to look for.” – Orville Wright Everyone...
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published January 1, 2014 · Last modified February 5, 2014
To paraphrase one of the great movie quotes of all time, “Ocean? There’s no ocean. We don’t got no ocean. We don’t need no stinkin’ ocean!” The voice, of course would be that of a distinctly Hispanic-sounding Donald Duck and he’d be speaking in reference to surfing classes offered at...
