Travel | DeKalb TV

Caribbean Dunn’s River Falls More Than Expected

A few years back, we decided to go on a Western Caribbean cruise with a group of friends. We had never been on a cruise, so we thought it was about time to see what this was all about.

Bernie (with camera of course), Ethan, & Maureen

We sailed out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida in mid July. Even though it was a bit warm that time of year, once you get out on the water, it’s not as hot as you might think for that part of the world.

You have the opportunity to experience a number of excursions that are available at your “port-of-calls.” Just about anything water or island related you can take part in.

After we spent a day in Key West on our first stop, we set sail for the open sea, and were heading towards Jamaica, and our excursion there was something we were all looking forward to.

Once docking in Jamaica, we headed for an attraction known as “Dunn’s River Falls.” Our whole group were all going to traverse up the Falls. Naively, we thought it would be something where you would walk up around the side of the Falls, maybe get a little wet, and then be done with it.

That was not the case. Now this wasn’t Niagara Falls, but there was plenty of water, and you got plenty wet. You literally walked up the rocks with the Falls drenching you with water for almost the entire time. Sometimes it was a bit slippery and dangerous, and you would have to help each other out, but eventually, you would make it up the Falls if you were careful.

I had my video camera with me, and I got off the trail up the Falls at about the 3/4 mark, and was able to take video of Ethan & Maureen getting to the top.

It was truly a great experience that we still talk about. The rest of the cruise was certainly a lot of fun, especially all of the wonderful food. But the true highlight was “Dunn’s River Falls.”

Haight-Ashbury, Still Crazy After All These Years

Street Sign at Intersection of Haight & Ashbury Streets in San Francisco

When we traveled to San Francisco recently, one of my “must-do” bucket list items was to travel to a part of the city known as Haight-Ashbury. The name simply derives from the intersection of two streets right in the middle of this area.

If you are around my age, or are even a history buff who studies these things, you know that back in the late 1960’s, Haight-Ashbury was the epicenter of what this era was known for – hippies, drugs, protests, make love not war, music, more drugs, and so on and so on.

Tremendous amounts of people, mostly 15-ish to 25-ish flocked to San Francisco, and would ultimately end up in the area known as Haight-Ashbury.

While we were there, it was easy to go back in time and picture the thousands of people lining the streets, as well as congregating in the nearby park, and doing all of the things that I mentioned above.

Whether you agreed what was going on there or not, it was history in the making, and it was the cutting edge of a time that shaped what is going on in our country today.

There are a number of shops & restaurants that are still run by the people who were there and experienced the 1960’s first hand, even though, they are now “hippies” of an older variety.

If you ever get the chance to travel to the “City by the Bay,” make sure and visit this area. I truly enjoyed the experience.

Wow, man.

America’s Past-time on “The Rock”

In a previous post, I talked about being in San Francisco a few weeks back and being able to see Norwell’s Jarrod Parker almost throw a no-hitter.

While in “the City by the bay,” I had the opportunity to see the game of baseball from a different perspective, and what it meant to a certain group of people in our not so long ago past.

One of my personal “bucket list” items was the chance to visit the old Alcatraz Prison that sits on an island in the middle of San Francisco bay. We made the arrangement for tickets a few weeks ahead of time, because if you don’t, there’s a good chance you will get shut out of going out to the island on a certain day.

Once you get out to “The Rock,” if you enjoy history, you will be immediately mesmerized by the whole atmosphere of what went on in the past, as well as its current state.

It is a self guided tour, and you can take as much time on the island as you like. When you get to the cell block, where the prisoners were kept, you are given headphones to listen to someone guide you through what went on in every nook and cranny of the prisoner’s quarters.

When the “guide” led you out into the “recreation area” of the yard, I was particularly enthralled. Even though it is now dirt, dusty, weedy, and most of all lonely, you can picture how it was from 1934 until it closed in 1963 for the prisoners when trying to pass their time.

The favorite way to pass time, and get a little bit of exercise as well, was to play the great game of baseball. You can still see how the “diamond” was lined up, and where the hitters and pitchers did their thing. There were a number of prison teams back then, and from the way it was described, some pretty good players to boot.

As you can see from the picture, due to space constrictions, it wasn’t that long of a shot to hit one over the center field fence. I’d guess about 250 feet. We were told that if you hit it over the fence, that it was an automatic out.

Only on weekends were you allowed to play baseball in the recreation area. Two and a half hours on Saturday, and two and a half hours on Sunday, and may I say, the time had to be earned.

It was truly a learning experience, and something that I will not soon forget.