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Puerto Rico
“This picture was taken in the San Juan, Puerto Rico airport. We started in Puerto Rico, hopped on a ship, and then stopped at the Dominican Republic, Aruba, Curaçao, St. Lucia and St. Kitts. I thought to myself, ‘We are going to be busy, I’d better take the picture now.’ We traveled with 118 people, friends and family. Celebrating a friend’s 70th birthday.”
— Sarita Aguillard, LAPD
Ireland
At the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland.
— Lorean Soo Hoo, Retired, LAPD
Tuzigoot National Monument and the Crane Petroglyph Site – Verde Valley, Arizona
Intrepid traveler Dr. Ed Krupp, Director of the Griffith Observatory and Club Member, visited Tuzigoot National Monument and the Crane Petroglyph Site in Arizona.
By Dr. E.C. Krupp
On the drive from Phoenix to Flagstaff, Arizona, and back again during a three-day trip to attend a Skystone Foundation board meeting, I returned to a couple of sites I have visited several times in the past: Tuzigoot National Monument and the Crane Petroglyph Site (formerly V-Bar-V Heritage Site). Both are in Sinagua territory in Arizona’s Verde Valley, not far from I-17.
Tuzigoot is a hilltop prehistoric pueblo, built of stone in the twelfth century A.D. The Sinagua left the area around 1400, and Tuzigoot fell into ruin. The view here is from the top room and looking down and south. There is no evidence anyone watched the sky—as the Ancestral Pueblo did—from this location, but it would have been a good place to do so.
The Crane Petroglyph Site is a tall and massive vertical wall of sandstone comprising several major panels of prehistoric Southern Sinagua rock art, which is thought to have been carved into the rock face between 1150 and 1400 A.D. Boulders that were deliberately placed into ledges high on the one end of the wall cast shadows onto the rock art that are believed by some to indicate seasonally important displays of light and shadow.
On the Arizona highways,
— Ed
Letter From Washington, D.C.
Lobbyists, School Groups and Tourists
Since the British Empire burned Washington, D.C.’s Presidential White House and assorted government buildings in response for America’s acts of destruction on Canada during the War of 1812, the rebuilt capital city has become popular with tourists and schoolchildren alike, as many of its new museums, art galleries and public buildings are free to enter. It’s always nice to have friends when visiting a city’s popular attractions. So, the private tour of the magnificent Kennedy Center and a visit to the President’s box were the highlights of this vacation. Not to say that the African American Museum, opposite the 550-foot granite and marble Washington Monument obelisk, was not interesting, from its bright red Cadillac in the musical arts exhibition on the top floor to the incredible escalator system leading down to the cafeteria in the basement packed with hundreds of loud, excited students.
For a more tranquil place for lunch, try the National Portrait Gallery. It has a beautiful, covered courtyard, lots of seating, and no school groups. Its small cafeteria is an excellent place on a hot day as it is air-conditioned.
While visiting the Capital Building, it seemed every law enforcement officer in the country was in town for a convention, all wearing very differently shaped hats and uniforms. The Capital Building tour is well worth taking as it explains all about its many statues and artwork collection. For example, the bronze female Statue of Freedom, designed by Thomas Crawford, stands on the top of the building and is often mistaken for an Indian figure because of its helmet with an eagle’s head and feathers. In the Crypt, a large circular room with 40 Doric columns supporting the Rotunda, there is a replica of Britain’s Magna Carta.
Just around the corner on the same grounds is the United States Botanic Garden, which has a collection of rare and endangered native plants of North America and offers a great view of the Capitol Building.
Urban legend has it that President Ulysses S. Grant coined the word “lobbyist” because he used to sit in the lobby of the Willard Hotel with a cigar and brandy, listening to those who wanted favors. However, the term actually originated in England and dates back to 1837, when it referred to a specific lobby in the House of Commons, where the public could speak to their representatives.
Behind all the lobbyists, agenda-seekers and their part-time staffs is a great collection of fascinating local people who keep the whole city running, from the museum and hotel staffs to dozens of food truck operators selling fried comfort food at popular tourist spots, and street vendors providing fresh-cut coconuts. There are many small local bars with great music just a stone’s throw from the city center that never see a tourist, as they are not as trendy as those along the Potomac River.
The parks and gardens of Washington, D.C. provide a breath of fresh air amidst the urban bustle, especially when the cherry tree blossoms, “Sakura,” are in full bloom. In 1912 these trees were gifted to the People of the United States from the People of Japan. One of the most popular places to see them in full bloom is the Tidal Basin, which has a three-mile path and views of the Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Washington Monuments in the background. Visit the U.S. National Arboretum or East Potomac Park for less crowded locations. Both have several paths lined with cherry blossom trees, and for golf enthusiasts, there is also a 19-hole golf course, a driving range and mini golf!
Tip: To take tourist-free cherry blossom photos, you must be an early bird.
Enjoy your capital while it’s still mostly free.
— The Captain
