Ogasawara or Bonin...It's All Gorgeous

Okay, so we've taken quite a tour of the eastern United States.  It was fun, but let's talk about something more exotic.  I do so love to find out of the way destinations that make me salivate over the idea of going to it, or doing it, or seeing it, or in the case of the Ogasawara Islands, all of that.  What are they and where are they?  Interesting question.  The islands are a set of about thirty islands off the coast of Japan...1,000 k off the coast of Japan.  The main islands are Chichijima (Father Island) and Hahajima (Mother Island), which are also the only two inhabited islands in the chain.  Fellow travelers, these are the Galapagos of the east.  You have to check these out.

History tells us that the islands were discovered in the 1500's.  They have been traded and conquered for centuries.  They were even taken over by the United States in WWII, and weren't returned to the country of Japan until 1968.  There are many remains from WWII on the islands from rotted out tanks to bunkers where the locals hid during air raids.  It is an open air museum atmosphere designed to remind people of the horrors of war.  I've been to more than one of these styles of museum, and I must say that it does make you into a peace activist.

The towns here are small and few.  The accommodations are comfortable and luxurious.  But,  bring Japanese currency.  Only a few places accept credit cards, so you will need cash.  You cannot exchange currency on the islands, so do it before you leave the mainland.  There are a couple of ATM's around, but come prepared.  Also, this is your big chance to unplug.  There isn't much in the way of cell coverage on the islands.  If you need to be connected that bad, bring a sat phone.  But remember, this is one of those places that you go to in order to get away from it all.  Unplug and enjoy the isolation in a perfect subtropical island feel of it all.

The beaches are the beats all ends all for those of you who want to hang out on the beach, take a swim in comfortable waters and get a tan.  The adventure here is to relax.  This is one of those places where time seems to stand still and you don't need to do anything for days on end.  It's a good feeling.  Take a dinner cruise or lay on the beach.  Look for some sea shells by the seashore and have a good time.

Or, you could head out to sea.  The Bonin Islands as the British called them are world famous dive and swim locations.  The whale watching of all kinds is amazing and there are different seasons for different whales.  The Sperm Whale is the one to view in the fall, so if you go there now, that's the one you are most likely to see.  During various seasons you can go and see Blue Whales, Humpback Whales and several other kinds of whales.  Also, many people go to the islands and swim with dolphins.  It's one of the more exciting events on the islands, and there are several tour operators who can take you out for the experience.  You can also go snorkeling in the shallower areas, sport fishing on a charter, and wreck diving.  Water is a great way to enjoy the islands.

Now, land is a little different.  The Ogasawara Islands were never part of any continent, and that means that there are plant and animal species that cannot be found anywhere else.  Therefore, what you can bring into the area with you is tightly monitored.  They do not want anything to come in and screw up there ecosystem there.  It is protected as a World Heritage Site since 2011 and a National Park, so if you chose to go into the wilderness, follow the rules.  Many of the animals are bordering on extinction, and the people of the islands are trying to save them.  There are many guides who will be happy to take you to the best spots, and even some that will take you on night walks so that you can see all the stuff that comes out and night and may even glow in the dark like some of the mushrooms.

So, what's the adventure for anyone?  Is it the fact that the people come out to watch the gorgeous sunsets?  No.  Is it the pristine beaches?  No.  Is it the ecosystem?  Somewhat.  So, what's the adventure?

The trip is the adventure.  You can fly, but who wants to do that?  I love the activity of flying, but when I travel, I love the more interesting methods of getting around.  The Ogasawara or Bonin Islands are about 1,000 kilometers from the mainland, and they have a ferry that makes the trip in about 25 hours one way.  It's like a little mini cruise.  You take it out to the islands overnight, and then you stay for about six days.  That's the recommended time.  Then, you take the ferry back to the mainland overnight.  While in the populated areas they recommend that you get around by scooter.  When traveling to other islands there are ferries, and when getting around the inhabited islands they have a great bus system.  It's the travel in the travel that makes it an adventure.  So, if you like to get away and unplug, this one's for you.  If you've never heard of them, you aren't alone.  But, it's a can't miss, because you have whales, dolphins, beaches, shopping, resort hotels, boats and hiking in a protected ecosystem.  Leave the phones behind and enjoy nature at it's very finest off the coast of Japan in the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands.
Enjoy!

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e8200.html
http://www.ogasawaramura.com/en/
http://en.japantravel.com/view/ogasawara-island
http://www.ogasawarakaiun.co.jp/english/
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/travel-tips-and-articles/exploring-japans-subtropical-ogasawara-islands
http://www.island-search.com/asia/bonin-islands/
http://travelscope.net/episodes/view/a_land_far_far_away_the_bonin_ogasawara_islands/
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e8202.html
https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIUYR_hVIiAABHw0nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByN2RnbHFoBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMw--?p=Ogasawara+Islands&vid=4ee775c8276c9bf1d5d8871f39cb8d85&turl=http%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DWN.uDRbLbzljvfsB9rE1tq%252b7A%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D224%26w%3D300%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJ3bW2GlHBc4&tit=OGASAWARA+ISLANDS+JAPAN&c=2&h=224&w=300&l=235&sigr=11bblhaje&sigt=10nlilnu1&sigi=12n1d7nkq&age=1397773693&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=ymyy-t-999&hsimp=yhs-att_001&hspart=att&tt=b
https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=Ogasawara+Islands&vid=e121fba9b95fe901264a58485495bc74&turl=http%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DWN.6%252fMuxeNrjVUHpVRjjXfc5Q%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D168%26w%3D300%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DqxLGOIHqdLs&tit=Ogasawara+Islands&c=3&h=168&w=300&l=112&sigr=11bek7i91&sigt=10hbdofs8&sigi=12nobfh8t&ct=p&age=1393245231&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=ymyy-t-999&hsimp=yhs-att_001&hspart=att&tt=b
https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=Ogasawara+Islands&vid=b9456c6de34b5e47794df62792502593&turl=http%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DWN.6ImLu0poZQN1GYLY49yDZQ%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D163%26w%3D300%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dxr5r218fvVQ&tit=Ogasawara+islands+TOKYO&c=6&h=163&w=300&l=161&sigr=11b49eidj&sigt=10ng4fckm&sigi=12lgphb70&ct=p&age=1394860766&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=ymyy-t-999&hsimp=yhs-att_001&hspart=att&tt=b
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://terri-dixon.artistwebsites.com/
https://www.fictionpress.com/u/530752/Nina-Kindred
https://www.facebook.com/adventuresforanyone?fref=ts

It's Here...Fall in New England!

It's the stuff that great stories are made of.  It's the art that comes only once a year from mother nature.  It's that time when we in New England enjoy our last days of freedom before most of us are snowed in for the winter.  It's the last of the beauty, and it's the best of the beauty.  It's all about getting out and celebrating life, before it's too late.  It's Fall in New England.  It's the best time of the year!

So, what goes on in the Fall?  We've discussed some of this before, but let's talk some more.  Vermont is ground zero for what we New Englanders call leaf peeping.  There are any number of bus tours that you can take from New York City and all over the area.  They will take you on all the best roads like Route 9 across southern Vermont and over Hogback Mountain.  It's a great drive.  You get to stop in one of my favorite towns, Wilmington.  You also get to visit the farms in Bennington.  But, if in Vermont, don't forget those ski towns.  The gondolas and ski lifts in places like Killington are a great way to get a look at some peak foliage.  Brattleboro is a great stop if you like kitchy towns with some interesting shopping and food.  Manchester is another great stop for shopping and eating.  Try out the Von Trapp Lodge for some old time more romantic types of foliage appreciation.  If you bring the kids, head up to Burlington to make a Vermont Teddy Bear, or over to Waterbury to see Ben and Jerry's in action.  Check out the festivals and fairs as well.

Massachusetts is also amazing in the fall and in the fall we New Englanders love to have festivals and fairs.  The biggest of them all is the Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts.  It's New England's State Fair, and since our states are so small, they all got together and had one major blowout.  It's a lot of fun and runs in the last half of September.  But that's not all that Mass has to offer for fall.  There are any number of fairs both on the mainland and out on the cape and the islands.  One of my favorite things to do is visit some of my favorite spots along Route 2 in norther Mass, also known as the Mohawk Trail.  It's slow and beautiful along that road with all kinds of little stops along the way.  It's windy and the breakfasts at Gould's Sugar House are amazing.  Yankee Candle and area are another great place to visit in the fall and a great place to get a head start on some Christmas shopping.

Now Maine you might want to take a look at a little earlier than the rest of New England.  It turns fast up there, but it's a great place to start the season.  It's quieter along the coast and the views in Acadia are worth the drive up there to see.  Cadillac Mountain is amazing in the fall.  But, my favorite is the International Sea Plane Fly In in Greenville, Maine.  Every year, the weekend after Labor Day, hundreds of sea planes land at Moosehead Lake and the good folks of Greenville throw a big festival to celebrate all things sea plane.  There are community meals, all kinds of events and competitions, and if you like planes...well you've come to the right place.  Don't forget all I've told you about the area as well.  It's great moose watching, great outdoor activities, and the world's greatest people.

Rhode Island is also full of activity in the fall with fairs and such.  Newport still runs tours of the Cherry Street Mansions throughout the year, but this is a great time to walk the cliff walk.  Fall air is some of the crispest and the skies get so blue that a view from the cliff walk is unmatched.  The tourists are mostly gone by then and you have a little more breathing room.  Fall River is a great stop in the fall and Battleship Cove is a great place to visit, I don't care how old you are.  It's a lot of fun and a great look at history.  The views of the river are amazing and Heritage State Park is right there to enjoy the rest of your day.  Before leaving Fall River, check out a Portuguese Restaurant and try the city's most famous native food.

New Hampshire is one of our most scenic states and this is where you need to go and take a train.  In the fall all the trains run so that all of us leaf peepers can get a great look.  Take that last chance to take the Cog Railway up Mount Washington before all hell breaks loose for winter up there.  There are also scenic railways in Conway, Lincoln, Winnipesaukee and more.  New Hampshire is train central and none of them will disappoint.  There are also a number of gondola rides to look at the leaves on with the longest one in the Northeast being at Cannon Mountain.  This is also the last time you'll get to ride the mountain coasters and the Alpine slides at the ski resorts.  It's a lot of fun to look at leaves in New Hampshire.  It's probably the most active area in New England, and this is the last chance to do all the stuff before they switch over to winter sports at a huge number of massive ski resorts.

Now, in Connecticut we love fall.  All of our fairs are in the fall from Goshen through Riverton.  We love them and we go all over to them to eat junk food and watch the pigs race and the see the wood cutting competitions.  It's how we ride.  We have some great parks and trails to go and see the foliage.  One of my favorite spots is the Barkhamsted Reservoirs for leaf peeping.  It's along the beautiful combination of Route 219 and Route 318.  There are some beautiful drives in general and fall makes it better.  But, Connecticut has some great foliage roads besides those.  I love Routes 4, 202, 44, 154, 7, 63, 254, 10, 72, 69, and 8 just to name a few.  I also love spending some time in the parks like Kent Falls, Campbell Falls, and Enders to name a few.  I wear out my camera during these weeks in the fall, because the foliage is so beautiful here.

But, in addition to our country fairs here in Connecticut, we have some other great fall fun.  Columbus Day Weekend is when Hartford has their marathon.  Norwich throws a Renaissance Faire.  And Lake Compounce puts on the Haunted Graveyard.  We still sail and camp and hike and bike this time of year.  We love it when it cools off a little around here.  We love it all.

So, New England is the place to spend Fall.  We do it up right, and you will never get bored.  We will show you how to have a pumpkin paddling race, navigate a corn maze, joust, and win a wood cutting contest.  We have more to do in the fall than really we do any other time of year here.  And the view?  Anyone will tell you that there is nothing more beautiful than New England in the fall.

Enjoy!

http://www.vacationsbyrail.com/united-states/usa-fall-foliage/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=fall-foliage&utm_term=fall+new+england
http://discovernewengland.org/season/new-england-fall
http://www.boston.com/travel/new-england/2015/09/12/fall-festivals-happening-across-new-england/X4tBkVbxeigTBDkPEZOiYI/story.html
http://www.caravan.com/tour/usa-new-england
http://www.yankeefoliage.com/peak-foliage-forecast-map/
http://www.visitnewengland.com/all/fall-foliage-in-new-england/
http://discovernewengland.org/season/new-england-fall
http://www.funtober.com/festivals/connecticut/
http://www.ctvisit.com/
http://www.massvacation.com/massachusetts-fall-events/
http://www.foliagetrains.com/
http://www.funtober.com/festivals/newhampshire/
http://www.mainetourism.com/fall-foliage
http://foliage-vermont.com/
http://ctfaire.com/
http://www.thebige.com/
https://www.lakecompounce.com/
http://www.battleshipcove.org/
http://www.benjerry.com/
http://www.vermontteddybear.com/Static/Factory-Tour.aspx
http://www.seaplanefly-in.org/
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
http://terri-dixon.artistwebsites.com/
https://www.fictionpress.com/u/530752/Nina-Kindred
https://www.facebook.com/adventuresforanyone?fref=ts

Along Lake Michigan

Some days are just gorgeous, and sometimes even I cannot resist a little time at the beach.  I do have some favorite spots and this summer I took my son to one of them.  The location is the amazing dunes of the east side of Lake Michigan and my favorite spot to visit is around Holland, Saugatuck, and Douglas.  There's a hometown feel to Douglas that I've never been able to explain, but it's comfortable there.  Saugatuck is the playground for wealthier types from Chicago, but it's beautiful and the shopping is good.  Holland is that quirky little city that you'll always remember fondly after visiting.  All together they make a trio that's irresistible in the summer.  Even for a non beach girl like me.

Holland is known for it's Dutch heritage.  There are obvious signs all around, from the tulip festival to the wooden shoe place to the bridges, locks and shops in Windmill Gardens Park.  It's a lovely place to spend the day with beautiful gardens, authentic crafts from times gone by, shops, a carousel and so on.  It's a beautiful place to spend a little time.

Oh yeah, they do have a full sized authentic Dutch windmill that you can tour as well.

But the Holland area has a huge history and the Dutch History is only part of the story.  Most of the rest of the story comes with the dunes.  The whole area around Holland is made of sand.  There are some dunes that are as high as 350 feet, and the people at Saugatuck Dune Rides will take you out to see them in style.  Dune schooners are a way of life along the east shores of Lake Michigan.  The dunes cover so much land that hiking them is not the best way to appreciate them.  Specially designed dune schooners can take you to the best spots to see the views from these amazing monsters, and the drivers will also tell you a little bit about where they come from and how the humans have learned to coexist with them.

We joke about all the sand, we admire the views from the tops, and we enjoy the vastness of them.  We drive dune schooners on them, surf down them, and hang glide off of them, but in the past there have been real problems.  The grass that is growing across the dunes was planted by volunteers in the 1960's and 1970's.  The dunes were taking over and they had to find a way to stop it.  Underneath these very dunes are the remains of an entire town called Singapore.  In some places along the shore you can see the remnants of the foundations of the town.  The rest is somewhere underneath the 350 foot hills that we call the dunes.

The views are amazing though and the rides are fun and thrilling.  I recommend the dune schooner rides.  They are a lot of fun and a little education.  In addition to the dunes that the schooners run on, there are over 100 miles of dunes in this section of the shore.  In the Holland area are Holland State Park, Tunnel State Park, Saugatuck Dunes State Park, and Oval Beach State Park in Saugatuck/Douglas.

Oval Beach is a great place to spend your time at the beach.  No offense to any of the others, but Saugatuck Dunes is a long walk to the beach.  Holland is the one that all the tourists visit when in town from Chicago.  I like the local spot and Oval Beach is that.  The beach is open until sunset, so that you can see the amazing sun at work over the lake.  I really enjoyed this visit, because we met a very nice family visiting from Northern Michigan and the kids all had a really good time.  That's the benefit of the local beach.  People are friendlier and the whole atmosphere is more relaxed.

There are plenty of things to do in the area besides go to the beach.  Saugatuck has a nightclub, a lot of great shops, the yacht club for all the wealthier visitors, restaurants, and great views.  If you like, just outside the Singapore Yacht Club is the story of the town that got devoured by the dunes.  It's an interesting read.  It's a great place to relax along the way.  They even have a paddle wheeler boat that will take you all around the area, including out onto Lake Michigan.  We were very busy on our road trip and the stop in the Holland area was relaxing and gave us a chance to recharge before heading back east and home.  The views are great, the parks are good, the beach is fun and relaxing, and the food is great.

Michigan is full of friendly and amazing people.  The greater Holland area of the Lake Michigan Shore is no different.  It's only a couple of hours from Hell and only a couple of hours from the north shore by Sault St. Marie.  It's only a hop skip from Chicago on the other side, whether you go by car or by boat.  The bottom line is that it's really not far from a lot of places.  It's just one of those places that you kind of want to go to and be in the know.  It's quiet, friendly, beautiful, and fun.  It's the kind of place you don't want to miss, even if you just stopped by to see the view.
Enjoy!

http://www.holland.org/
http://www.michigan.org/hot-spots/holland/
http://www.cityofholland.com/
http://www.michigan.org/city/holland/
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http://www.michigan.org/property/saugatuck-dunes-state-park/
http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/details.aspx?id=458&type=SPRK
http://www.saugatuck.com/beaches.asp
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http://www.michigan.org/hot-spots/beachtowns/
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
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http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
https://www.fictionpress.com/u/530752/Nina-Kindred
https://www.facebook.com/adventuresforanyone?fref=ts