Well STATEd
Highlights of my trips around
the country
USA
I try to go to a different
state every year. In another year or so,
I will have visited them all. Every state offers unique, interesting and
beautiful sites. Here are some
highlights:
1.
Alabama- 1997- I
spent the night in a college town with my niece. The school mascot is a lion which is confined
in a cage in the middle of campus. After
the bars close, college students stop by and throw cats in to the cage and
watch the lion eat them.
2.
Alaska-2007-
Glacier National Park and the Artic Circle are two places like nowhere else in
our country; dog sledding, ice fishing, the Running of the Reindeer.
3.
Arizona- 1979- majestic
deserts, warm winter days and intense sun are just a few of the things that
call me to this state in the winter; 2018- the Grand Canyon, Glenn Canyon, Colorado River, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Petrified Forest, Sedona, Montezuma Castle, Desert Botantic Gardens
4.
Arkansas- 2010- Central
High School made history as the first mandated desegregated high school in the
state. The museum to highlight this event sits cattycorner to the school and
re-creates moments that made me feel as if I was in the middle of this awful
time in our history.
5.
California- 1983-SF,
SD, SJ, LA: Redwood Forest, Fishermen’s Wharf, Crooked Road, Venice Beach
6.
Colorado- 2003-
Left Handed Brewery, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, hot air balloon rides and
the Rocky Mountains, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Pagosa Springs, Crested Butte
7.
Connecticut- I
went to a Thanksgiving dinner and 37 people were there. The host put all of the living room furniture
in the dining room. Then multiple tables
were set up in the living room to accommodate everyone. Four turkeys were served.
8.
Delaware- 1973-tax
free shopping always draws me to this little state that started a nation; Bombay Hook Bird Sanctuary, Dogfish Brewery
9.
Florida- 1976- Key
West and all its bad influences held my interest for the first time while I was
still in college; Clearwater, Tampa, Cape Coral
10. Georgia- 2005-peaches and old mansions, old plantations,
beautiful old trees, the Jimmy Carter Center, seeing Carter in his church in Plains.
11. Hawaii- to
be seen
12. Idaho- 2016- Craters of the Moon National Park, long
road to nowhere.
13. Illinois- 1996- Chicago, my kind of town. It’s
hip. I once spent St. Patrick’s Day
there with a bunch of priests and we drank all day for free because everyone
wanted to buy beers for the priests. It
was great.
14. Indiana- 1974-Notre Dame University- my sister was one
of the first women accepted to this university. So I went there to visit
her. Her bathroom had a urinal in the
corner.
15. Iowa- 2018- I has here during a blizzard so I only got to visit two breweries.
16. Kansas- 1992-I took a group of high school students
here for a Science Olympia contest. We won the state (PA) title which allowed
us to compete at this level. I didn’t
understand most of what the kids discussed with each other.
17. Kentucky- 2018- Lincoln's birthplace.
18. Louisiana- 1976- New Orleans, Preservation Jazz Band
and the Mardi Gras.
19. Maine- 2003- Lobster Rolls; Windjammer Cruise;
beautiful coastline; quaint neighborhoods,
20. Maryland- Blue Crabs, Chesapeake Bay, Annapolis, Fels
Point, Baltimore, American Visional Arts Museum, blue herons, kayaking, and
historical Chestertown are just a few of the highlights of this state.
21. Massachusetts- 1999- I once spent three days at the Sam
Adams Brewery. It was time well spent.
22. Michigan- 1980- I went to a Women’s Music Festival in Champagne. I took the bus to get there and it took me
two days/each way to travel there.
23. Minnesota- 2018- crossed the Mississippi River, lots of farm lands, Karst Brewery.
24. Mississippi- 2019
25. Missouri- 1998- Branson, home of good, clean
entertainment.
26. Montana- 2016- The Big Sky- OMG, that sky has a presence.
27. Nebraska- 2010- All I saw were corn fields. I went looking for the spring migration of
the snow cranes but I never saw them.
28. Nevada- 2014- The Circque du Soleil show “O” is worth
the trip to Los Vegas.
29. New Hampshire- 2009- I was travelling from PA to Nova
Scotia and stopped in NH as a rest spot.
Long Trail Brewery occupied much of my time.
30. New Jersey- 1962- Long Beach Island: my family owned a
house on this island for 30 years.
31. New Mexico- 2001-Santa Fe and 10,000 Waves Spa are two
lovely paces to visit.
32. New York- 1963- I went to the World’s Fair and saw the
Pieta. Other things that hold my interest about this state include The Big
Apple, Broadway shows, Time Square, Chinatown, Central Park and on and on.
33. North Carolina- The Outer Banks offers easy, enjoyable
bay kayaking.
34. North
Dakota- I went here in July, 2020 in the midst of covid.
35. Ohio- 1976- I was there once for a Penn State vs Ohio
State game. I didn’t enjoy myself.
36. Oklahoma- 2010- I went on a road trip with my
12-year-old nephew and he made me go to a military museum right outside of
Oklahoma City. We saw personal
belongings of Hitler’s which our soldiers stole from his estate at the end of
the war. In a very, very small way, I
felt some vindication for his despicable acts.
37. Oregon- the Pacific Drive is breathtaking. I recently
attended the Northwest String Summit
38. Pennsylvania- my home town- Philadelphia, State
College, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Route #6, the Rathskeller, Lancaster, the Mann
Music center, the Keswick theatre, Bryn Mawr Film Institute, South Street, the
City Mural Program and my family are reasons enough to visit PA.
39. Rhode Island- 1973- the mansions along the ocean
cliffs are magnificent.
40. South Carolina- 2003-Myrtle Beach on spring break is
not the most pleasant time to visit but I did meet some locals who wanted to
hang out and chat up some good conversation.
41. South Dakota- 2012- Cluster’s State Park and Mount
Rushmore
42. Tennessee- 1995- The Grand Old Opry, Beale Street, Dolly Parton's Stampede Dinner Theatre, Civil Rights Museum and Elvis Presley’s home are worth seeing.
43. Texas- 1992- I once went to a high school competition
at Rice University to watch scholastic scrimmage teams. The campus and the competitors were
impressive. I also liked the Alamo.
44. Utah- 2006- Moab National Park. I traveled with my niece. We took a jeep ride up and down those
racks. The ride was thrilling and I
thought I was going to throw up.
46. Virginia- Blue Ridge Mountains. My brother lives in
central VA and I’ve visited them over 50 times.
I never tire of the beautiful scenery.
47. Washington- 2007- beautiful downtown Seattle offers
lots of places to sit and eat and people watch.
However, I spent my times in Olympia National Park and the San Juan
Islands. 2017- I spent a week with my niece in Seattle.
48. West Virginia- 1964- Black Water Falls- a family
vacation on a ranch. I felt as if I was
in a different world.
49. Wisconsin- 2018- lots of farm lands, not as many diary farms as I had expected.
50. Wyoming- 2005- dog sledding in Jackson Hole; closed roads due to winter conditions.
February 2012- present
