Tales of a Technogypsie

The Diner* 4405 Fort Jackson Blvd * Columbia, SC 29209 * (803) 661-7676 * http://www.thedinercolumbia.com/ * http://www.facebook.com/TheDinerColumbiaSC * Just off the beaten path outside Gate 1 of Fort Jackson is a nice friendly little artsy diner plainly labelled after its namesake. They are after the classic American diner experience and image, open for breakfast, lunch, [...]

photos 12/24/12 042-052 Near the historic Smokey Mountains, in Graham County, North Carolina, is a small town built along the shores of Lake Santeetlah. The town and lake share the name. Boasting a population of approximately 67 (census 2000), the town has approximately 200 residences. Santeetlah is located approximately 6 miles north of Robbinsville and [...]

Fontana Village Resort * http://www.fontanavillage.com/ * Fontana Village Resort | 300 Woods Road • P.O. Box 68 | Fontana Dam, North Carolina 28733 * Phone: 828.498.2211 * We were seeking an escape to the mountains and while this time of year the blue ridge parkway had segments shut down, we ventured via main roads to [...]

Fontana Lake* Smokey Mountains National Park, Fontana Dam, North Carolina * Named after the Italian word for “fountain”, Fontana Lake is named after the flooded town of Fontana, which was the Smokey Mountains infamous lumber and copper-mining hub back in the day at the mouth of Eagle Creek. Now a reservoir contained by Fontana Dam [...]

Duffy’s Pond along Old Bluff Road, enroute to Congaree National Park, Columbia, South Carolina, USA I don’t know much about this pond historically and would welcome any local knowledge to be shared on this page. The following are photos I took roadside:

Congaree National Park100 National Park Road, Hopkins, SC 29061 * Phone: (803) 783-4241 * (outside of Columbia, South Carolina) * http://www.nps.gov/cong/ * One of the natural attractions to Columbia, South Carolina is the infamous Congaree National Park which preserves the largest tract of old growth bottom land hardwood forest that remains left in the United [...]

Bottomless Lakes State Park* Roswell, New Mexico, USA * Our swimming hole playground while living in Roswell, New Mexico – Bottomless Lakes provided much cooling off during the hot and dry summers of the desert. Only Fifteen miles from Roswell, the Lakes are Located along the Pecos River, and are a series of natural caves [...]

Charleston Municipal Marina, Charleston, SC Charleston Municipal Marina * http://www.charlestoncitymarina.com/ * 17 Lookwood Drive * Charleston, South Carolina * (843) 577-7702 * One of several, this beautiful marina is stocked full of boats, visitors, and harbourers. The floating docks look quite popular, even though we didn’t venture out on it, just sat on the bench [...]

Charleston Therapeutic Massage * 310 Broad St, Ste 8, Charleston, SC 29401 * (843) 723-7005 * charleston-massage.com * Very relaxing and healing experience as I found a massage therapy centre to fit exactly what I needed. As a fellow massage therapist, its often hard to find someone who can perfectly release your aches and pains, [...]

Gilligan’s Seafood Restaurant * 1475 Long Grove Drive Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 * 843-849-2244 * http://www.gilligans.net/ * My mom’s favorite seafood restaurant in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina has become my choice of seafood dining as well. Introduced to me as her “country club”, I found a very friendly, hospitable restaurant with fabulous service. Now on [...]

Trace Gallery is pleased to present: Ian Welling and Paddy Charles closing reception http://pathwaysart.com/trace-gallery Friday, April 6th, 2012 7pm-11pm. Please join us for one last look of these amazing artists work. * Trace Gallery * 3700 Franklin * Denver, CO 80205 * This is Ian Welling‘s first show in Denver since he returned from San [...]

The romantic enticement of cross-country road trips in America is almost as famous as its emblematic “apple pie”. Road tripping across rural America is made real popular by various novels, movies, and television series. The images of “Natural Born Killers”, “Leaving Los Vegas”, Jack Kerouac, “Thelma and Louise”, Neil Cassidy, as well as “Bonnie & [...]

Thursday, 22 May 2008 Washington, D.C. 11th annual D.C. Goth Prom “Under a Milky Way” * Town Danceboutique * 2009 8th Strett NW | Washington, DC 20009 * http://www.gothpromdc.com/ 11th Annual Goth Prom, Washington, D.C. 5/22/08 After the National Geographic Live and private reception, I headed over to my ‘first’, while DC’s 11th, Goth Prom [...]

Yorktown Colonial National Historical Park * http://www.nps.gov/colo * PO BOX 210, Yorktown, Virginia 23690 * Yorktown Battlefield Another National Park of the Historic Triangle lies a small museum and visitor center where the staff will orientate you on the history of the Yorktown Colonial National Battlefield with dioramas showing scenes from life around the battle [...]

The Great Sand Dunes* http://www.nps.gov/grsa/index.htm * One of my favorite parts of Colorado is its great diversity in the ranges of the Rocky Mountains. One of those hotspots of “oddity” is the vast Sahara-like desert of sand dunes in the San Luis Valley. Of course California, New Mexico, and Arizona has tons of sand dunes [...]

UFO Tower vortex and shrines The UFO Watchtower* 2502 County Road 61, Hooper, Colorado * $2/person or $5/car. * Open year round * www.ufowatchtower.com * 719-378-2296 * As we were driving back to Colorado Springs after a wonderful soaking weekend at the infamous clothing-optional Orient Land Trust hotsprings, we entered the “odd” strip of San [...]

The U.S. landscape is home to many unique natural formations that took thousands and thousands of years to develop, but as our population — and need for more space — grows, there’s a risk some may be lost to future generations. For your next trip, consider these Top 5 disappearing places and enjoy them before [...]

US Thai Cafe5228 W 25th Ave * Edgewater, CO 80214 * (303) 233-3345 * http://www.usthaicafe.com/ A nice little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Edgewater that serves some decent thai food. We had a variety of dishes, and while a big fan of peanut sauce can’t say they have the best, but I was pleased with the dishes [...]

Cafe Brazil * Marina Del Mar * 11736 West Washington Boulevard * Los Angeles, CA 90066 * (310) 391-1216 * http://www.cafe-brasil.com/ * A great little hole in the wall cafe, with atmosphere and food divine. It is a little more pricey than others for the portions, but of high quality and taste. Not too crowded [...]

Eastern California History, Lore, and more photos to come soon. Please check back soon.

Rocky Mountains* Colorado, United States of America * One of my favorite parts of Colorado were the stretches of the Rocky Mountain ranges that extend half-way through the state. Stretching over 3,000 miles from northern British Columbia down to New Mexico, across Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. It is one of North America’s major mountain ranges. [...]

Denver, Colorado, United States of America While living in Colorado Springs, Denver became a home for me on most weekends for nightlife, gatherings of family/friends, and explorations for my six years of living in Colorado from 2005-2011. Denver is the largest city in Colorado, and is its capital with over 620,000 residents. Mixed with the [...]

Mediterranean Platter & Chai Agia Sophia* http://www.agiasophiacoffeeshop.com/ * 2902 W Colorado Avenue * Colorado Springs, CO 80904 * (719) 632-3322 * A great little coffee shop and reading library right off of Colorado Avenue in historical Old Colorado City of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Old world charm with a great cup of Joe and spiritual benedictine [...]

Mitaki* 630 W 6th St # 110 * Los Angeles, California * 90017-3254 * http://www.mitakirestaurants.net/ * (213) 482-4812 * A fast, delicious, Japanese restaurant in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. Named after the famous temple on Mount Mitaki, it means “three waterfalls”. The owners chose the name to give their customers a sense of [...]

Happy/Sad Foot of Sunset Blvd* Sunset Blvd. * Los Angeles, California * There’s a whirling sign of a foot on crutches that locals claim has supernatural and mythical properties: The moment you glance at it … if it is a Happy Foot, good luck will come your way. If it is Unhappy, Bad luck comes [...]

Echo Park Time Travel Mart* Echo Park * Los Angeles, California * http://www.826national.org/stores/ * 1714 W Sunset Blvd * Los Angeles, CA 90026 * (213) 413-3388 * In the heart of Echo Park is the thriving little convenience mart for “Time Travellers”. Is your flux capacitor out of commission? This is the place to go [...]

“Kite Hill” on Baxter Street* Echo Park * Los Angeles, California * Also known as “Kite Hill”, the large steep hills that are criss-crossed in Echo Park by various streets such as “Baxter Street”, “Fargo Street”, etc. are the “steepest streets” in Los Angeles, and a little side-trip for visitors to historic Echo Park. Each [...]

Echo Park* Los Angeles, California * A great little artistic neighborhood with San Francisco steep style hills that is northwest of Downtown Los Angeles and southeast of Hollywood. The area was founded by Thomas Kelly, a carriage maker who eventually became a real estate developer. By the late 1880′s he alongside with other investors sold [...]

LAX: Los Angeles International Airport* Los Angeles, California * LAX is the acronym and airport code for the Los Angeles International Airport. The Airport is located southwest of Los Angeles, along the beach, in he neighborhood of Westchester, 16 miles from downtown L.A. It is one of the world’s largest and most busy airports with [...]

Los Angeles, California * www.lacity.org * The Infamous “City of Lost Angels” a.k.a. “LA” or Spanish for “The City of Angels” is also known as the “Entertainment Capital of the World”. Los Angeles was first settled in September of 1781, later incorporated as a city in April of 1850. The City is a landmass that [...]