Mary Anne and Steve’s Travels

…and sometimes other stuff

Latest Posts

Not a Christmas Card

Back in the day, I used to write a long letter at this time of year, print maybe forty copies, and mail them to friends and relatives. Did it take a lot of time? Yes. Was it expensive? Yes – International postage is not cheap. Did anyone read it? Who knows?

by Steve

Depoe Bay and Taft

The first question many of you will have is, “Where is Taft, Oregon?” It’s just north of Cutler City and south of Nelscott. Of course, you may never have heard of these because they are three of the five small towns that merged in 1965 to become Lincoln City,

by Steve

Devil’s Elbow

You will no doubt be pleased to hear the the mystery of the name “Devil’s Elbow” has been solved. Sort of. Heceta Head State Park (which includes Devils Elbow State Park) is located in a cove at the mouth of Cape Creek. There are picnic tables sheltered from the

by Steve

The Coast

Mine was a family of fixed habits. Back in the days of Kennedy and Kesey going out to dinner meant either to the Colonial Inn Buffet run by the VFW, or Johnnie’s Broasted Chicken run by, well, Johnnie. When the family Buick departed for the coast, we knew that

by Steve

Spencer’s Butte

The heart of Eugene, Oregon is bounded by Skinner’s Butte to the north and Spencer’s Butte to the south. What’s a butte, you ask? It’s a hill of modest height. Of the two, Spencer’s is the higher and steeper. it seems like almost from the

by Steve

Dockton

Dockton is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. But at the end of the Nineteenth century it was very much somewhere. This speck of a now-residential community lies on Maury Island, itself a speck attached by a thin isthmus to the somewhat larger Vashon Island. What put Dockton on

by Steve

Favorite Photos

I’m aboard Étude on a calm, clear morning in Gig Harbor, Washington. You’d think I’d have something better to do than write a blog post. Apparently not. While looking at photos from our summer voyage aboard Étude and our recent trip to Europe, I found a few

by Steve

Bordeaux at Night

It’s not a long walk from our hotel to the Garonne river, but after a day of walking, we decided to make the trip by tram. We got off at Place de la Bourse where we found a young violinist performing a jazzy version of “Killing Me Softly with

by Steve

Out and About in Bordeaux

Bordeaux is called the Paris of the South. It’s not as large, of course, and notably lacks a tower or pyramid. But it’s elegant, beautiful, clean and interesting. We will return. This is going to be one of those “mostly pictures” blog posts because I don’t have

by Steve

Popular Tags