Marathon, Marfa, and more

An assortment of pictures of Marathon and Marfa, Texas and surrounding areas.

In Marathon, we had lunch at the V6 Coffee Bar:

V6 Coffee Bar

The only (very small) grocery store in Marathon, The French Co Grocer:

The French Co Grocer

We got some BBQ from Brick Vault Brewery & Barbecue:

Brick Vault Brewery & Barbecue

An interactive map of a drive to Keesey Canyon Hoodoos for a picnic lunch, then Fort Davis National Historic Site (as seen in the previous post), and Marfa:

Keesey Canyon Hoodoos picnic area:

Keesey Canyon Hoodoos picnic area

Welcome to Marfa sign:

Welcome to Marfa sign

Marfa

The Giant Marfa mural, a tribute to the 1956 James Dean/Liz Taylor film “Giant“:

Giant Marfa mural

We enjoy quirky roadside attractions.

Ashland, Oregon

Some miscellaneous photos around Ashland, Oregon.

Ashland Springs Hotel:

Ashland Springs Hotel

Oregon Shakespeare Festival gift store:

Oregon Shakespeare Festival gift store

We enjoy the hills around Ashland:

Hills

Varsity theater:

Varsity theater

Creekside restaurants:

Creekside restaurants

Lithia Park pond:

Lithia Park pond

Lithia Park bridge

Lithia Park pond

DC monuments by night tour

We did an evening guided tour of Washington DC from the Cherry Hill Park campground.

Selfie in the bus:

Selfie in bus

US Capitol:

US Capitol

Washington Monument:

Washington Monument

Back to our bus; there were lots of food trucks like this lining the roads in DC:

Bus and food truck

Treasury building:

Treasury building

The White House:

The White House

Guide talking about the White House:

Guide talking about the White House

Washington Monument:

Thomas Jefferson Memorial:

Thomas Jefferson Monument

Sunset:

Sunset

Lots of tour buses:

Lots of tour buses

Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial:

Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial

Korean War Veterans Memorial:

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Washington Monument and the Capitol beyond the reflecting pond:

Washington Monument:

Lincoln Memorial:

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial:

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

World War II Memorial:

World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial:

World War II Memorial

Driving around Wasington DC

While staying near Washington DC, we did a quick drive through the city, around the Capitol and along the National Mall.

An interactive map:

US Capitol:

US Capitol

Other buildings:

DC buildings

Washington Monument:

Washington Monument

Washington, North Carolina

While staying across the river in Chocowinity, North Carolina, we visited the larger city of Washington a couple of times. According to that Wikipedia article, it is commonly known as “Original Washington”; it was established in 1776, and is the first city named after President George Washington. (Washington, DC was founded in 1791.)

An interactive map:

View from bridge:

View from bridge

“Washington Square Mall” — a small strip mall here, not at all like the big Washington Square Mall in Portland, Oregon:

Washington Square Mall

We had dinner at Boss Hog’s Chicken & BBQ:

Boss Hog's Chicken & BBQ

Waterfront:

Waterfront

Main Street:

Main Street

Crab sculptures:

Crab sculpture

Crab sculptures

Main Street

We went to the Blu Farm to Table restaurant for my birthday, dining on their rooftop patio:

Blu restaurant

Unfortunately, we didn’t particularly enjoy the food. Oh well.

Waterfront:

Waterfront

Artwork

Main Street

A fairly cute little town.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

While staying at Myrtle Beach State Park, we went into Myrtle Beach proper a couple of times. Not the popular boardwalk and such, but along the endless strip of mini golf, beachwear, and pancake shops.

Myrtle Beach Welcomes You

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Rope course:

Rope course

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Park:

Park

Beachwear:

Beachwear

One excursion was to try Cook Out:

Cook Out

Cook Out menu:

Cook Out menu

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Beachwear:

Beachwear

Beachwear:

Beachwear

Beachwear:

Beachwear

Treats:

Treats

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Beachwear:

Beachwear

Beachwear:

Beachwear

Pancakes:

Pancakes

Beachwear:

Beachwear

Pancakes:

Pancakes

Beachwear:

Beachwear

Beachwear:

Beachwear

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Beachwear:

Beachwear

Beachwear:

Beachwear

Pancakes:

Pancakes

Mini golf:

Mini golf

You get the idea. Not the most exciting part of town. I kinda wish we had checked out the boardwalk area, but it was probably more of the same.

Myrtle Beach Welcomes You

Key West, Florida

We did a quick visit to Key West, Florida.

Lots of golf carts on the roads:

Lots of golf carts on the roads

And tour trams:

Tour trams

And bikes:

Tour tram

Also lots of free-range chickens (mostly roosters):

Chickens

Rooster

We visited the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, which will be featured in subsequent blog posts. But we also stopped by the beach in the state park for lunch, which I’ll include here.

This beach is one of the southernmost points in the continental US. Quite a nice and popular beach, too:

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Direction sign on the beach:

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

We grabbed some lunch at the cafe on the beach:

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Another rooster:

Rooster

We had considered visiting the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum and other touristy places, but had enough of walking around, so drove by them instead.

Houses with nice Caribbean paint jobs:

House

The aforementioned Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum, with a bit of a line outside:

Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum

Why did the chickens cross the road? No, really, why?

Chickens

The famous Southernmost point buoy, which as mentioned isn’t actually southernmost, but is a popular spot for selfies, with a long line of people waiting their turn:

Southernmost point buoy

Really not our kind of town; way too crowded.

Carrabelle

We didn’t really do anything during the three weeks we stayed at Ho-Hum RV Park over the holidays. That seems to be fairly typical for us, just taking some downtime to relax. Especially with some very busy times coming up after this (stay tuned!).

Ho-Hum is in a kinda out-of-the-way area, but near a town called Carrabelle (population 2,778). We did go to one restaurant, the post office, and the local grocery store; that was pretty much the limit of our exploring here. There are definitely a few more things to do and see, e.g. we considered going to check out a couple of nearby lighthouses, but we’ll save that for our next visit.

Here’s an interactive map:

Carrabelle

We had lunch at Marine Street Grill:

Marine Street Grill

Pizza

Next to the post office is the world’s smallest police station:

World's smallest police station

The Gulfside IGA Plus grocery store is a little small, but had almost everything we wanted:

Grocery store

(There is a Walmart 45 minutes away, for people who use that as a marker of civilization.)

Clock and memorial:

Clock and memorial

We do enjoy cute little towns, and this is definitely one. We’ll have to make a point of exploring it more when we’re here again.

New Orleans

We did a bit of exploring of New Orleans, Louisiana, including walking around the French Quarter, a quick drive through the Garden District, and elsewhere. This post has an assortment of pictures from the city.

An interactive map:

Lots of pictures from the distinctive French Quarter:

French Quarter buildings