Archive for the ‘scenic’ Tag
My father, a former USN sailor, absolutely loved Bermuda. His ship made numerous stops there during the war and he told me on many occasions how he wished he could live there. I’ve never been lucky enough to visit Bermuda but it certainly looks like a wonderful place. Here’s a short historical story you might enjoy.
Fact: Bermuda has a robust history of pirating.
Seven supply ships sent out for Virginia in June 1609. It was the maiden voyage of the London Companies flagship Sea Venture, the first British merchant vessel designed to transport passengers. Battered for days by a hurricane, the fleet was scattered, and construction flaws caused the Sea Venture to leak badly. Spotting land, company Adm. Sir George Somers deliberately steered the ship onto the reefs, enabling his crew and passengers to escape. Stranded on a desert island, the survivors built two boats and finally reached Jamestown nine months later.
Based on that shipwreck, England laid claim to Bermuda, which was incorporated into the London Company’s charter. And a later account by Sea Venture survivor William Strachey reached England and became the inspiration for William Shakespeare’s final play, the Tempest.
Fact: Rainwater captured from the roofs of its buildings is Bermuda’s only source of fresh water.
A poem of Bermuda:
wings catch the wind’s plea,
ancient calls across the miles,
new lands greet the sun.
Our third day in NO was a special day for me because for most of my life I’ve wanted to ride an airboat through these Louisiana swamps. We boarded a bus in the French Quarter which took us across the Mississippi River southeast into the bayous. Our destination was a bayou named Barataria where the pirate John Lafitte and his men helped Stonewall Jackson defeat the British at the battle of New Orleans. A beautiful place filled with as much history as you could ever want.
These boats are just as fast as you can imagine. It’s like flying on water.
We left the dock and proceeded into the bayou and the beauty of the place was breathtaking. I could have spent an entire week just riding around taking pictures. The guide took us to a rather cool cemetery where the brother of Jean Lafitte is buried. As you can see all bodies are buried above ground here in Louisiana.
This is the ultimate spooky graveyard.
I was especially interested in getting some wildlife pictures and I no sooner had that thought and BAM . . . we found a few gators. They were almost as curious about us as we were about them. This guy came to visit after we pulled ashore to get a better look at him.
Doesn’t he have the cutest smile?
We played around with them for a few minutes then it was back into some isolated logging channels where we ran into a couple of turtles sunning themselves on a log.
I hated for this day to come to an end but I was able to take some truly wonderful photos. This last photo is the one that will remind me of this trip for as long as I live.
WHAT MORE CAN I SAY?
everyuselessthing.com 