Travels – Page 3 – Slow Lane Musings

The call of the sea

Imagine yourself, on a sunny day, sitting comfortably on a chair, a bench or a rock, with a gentle sea breeze blowing toward you. You are looking out to the horizon where the blue sea meets the blue sky, listening to the waves lapping on the sand or the rugged shore below you. You may start to feel relaxed and happy, just remembering and visualizing an experience you had of being by the sea.

Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, an American scientist and marine biologist coined the expression “blue mind” to describe that feeling of calm and general happiness triggered by the “dreamy state of involuntary attention” that is experienced beside the water.

Many years ago, when we lived in Ireland, we were never more than a short drive away from the sea. We went there often, sometimes just for an evening stroll on the beach. Where we are now, we have access to lovely lakes and rivers, and we are grateful for them. But there is something magical and enticing about the open sea.

Old Québec City

Québec City is unique in many ways. It is one of the oldest and, by some accounts, one of the most beautiful cities in North America. The city has a large and well-preserved historic district, which was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1985.

We had not visited Québec City for quite a few years, so it was a delight to spend four leisurely days there recently. The city is best discovered on foot, so we left the car at home and took the train from Ottawa.

In a city that cherishes and preserves its history, we saw many sites that were pleasantly familiar. We also noted heritage buildings undergoing restoration, a few of the main public squares being beautified, and many new public sculptures and fountains associated with the city’s 400th anniversary in 2008.

Having no specific agenda or itinerary, we had time to wander and reflect on how it is possible to visit a familiar place with a mindset that keeps the experience fresh and exciting.

A jewel in Maine

A short but persuasive article in the Washington Post caught our attention recently. It was titled “Add some beauty to your summer travel with a trip to a garden.” In the article, the author shared her memories of being transported by the beauty and peacefulness of gardens she had visited. Although we personally tend to gravitate toward wild natural sites, we too enjoy a stroll through a lovely garden. This post is about one of them.

All gardeners can testify that every ornamental garden, big or small, has a story, and that story is a blend of love, patience, and steadfast labour. This is certainly the case for the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (Gardens). The Gardens opened in 2007, after 16 years of dedicated effort by a small group of visionary community builders who not only conceived every aspect of the project but also made, we were told, a significant personal financial commitment to fund it.

Their foresight and patience were rewarded since the Gardens have become one of Maine’s major attractions, despite being situated a little bit off the beaten track, in the small town of Boothbay. The saying “if you build it, they will come,” associated with the movie Field of Dreams, surely applies to those beautiful gardens.

Great Sand Dunes

The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado showcases a very impressive and unique landscape. These remarkable dunes lay at the base of the 13,000-foot snow-capped peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. While they are not the largest dunes in existence, they are the tallest in North America and they stretch over thirty square miles.

There is something that made this park feel different from any other U.S. National Park we have visited. Was it because of the silence or the vast open expanse? Or was it because of the dynamic nature of the dune-forming system? In this park, the human footprint is minimal; it’s all about the power of nature at work. We were awestruck in front of this exceptional natural spectacle.

Enchanting Taos

For one reason or another, we had failed to visit Taos on our previous trips to New Mexico (NM), although we longed to see it. To make sure we got there during our most recent trip, we made Taos our first stop. Taos is an interesting small town on a high plateau, approximately 7,000 feet above sea level, nestled at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost extension of the Rocky Mountains.

During our time in Taos, we visited the Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the home of one of the longest continuously inhabited communities in North America. We drove around the spectacular 83-mile loop known as the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, stopped to marvel at the Cimarron Palisades and the views from the Eagle Nest Lake State Park, and made a detour to get a glimpse of the Rio Grande Gorge and Bridge. We were there in May, a shoulder season, so the town was quiet, and we almost had the NM roads to ourselves. Everything came together for a relaxing holiday full of memorable discoveries.

Mission improbable

Sainte-Marie among the Hurons was a short-lived attempt to establish a first French mission-settlement in Wendake (“a land apart”), the ancestral land of the Huron-Wendat People, in what is now Ontario. From 1639 to 1649, Sainte-Marie was a thriving French community. When the mission failed after a decade, it was abandoned and burnt to the ground.

The site remained forgotten for two centuries. In 1920, the Government of Canada recognized it as a National Historic Site and the buildings were reconstructed in 1964. Today, Sainte-Marie among the Hurons tells its fascinating story to all who take the time to visit it in Midland, a two-hour drive north of Toronto, on the shores of Georgian Bay.