My Scrawls

I am very happy to state that My Scrawls has crossed more than 50 posts! I started this blog on Jan 1st 2009, soon after we came from our vacation that we spent in the Caribbean (Paradise Island, Bahamas). I was so much thrilled about our Bahamas SUB adventure, that I started this blog and posted our experience in the Atlantic under waters. The encouragement and appreciation from relatives and friends made me to write more.

I feel much elated about my posts on Info about the Skywalk - Grand Canyon West Rim and the trip to Grand Canyon South Rim. I was overwhelmed when people found the posts much informative to plan their trips (that was my intention too). We all usually plan a lot before starting our trip. Traveling with kids or parents makes us to double check every minute details! Hence I came up with posts on our trip to the Grand Canyon. I am glad many have found it very useful and I feel contented as I could help them plan their trip

Slowly I started posting my ramblings and musings in the General category in My Scrawls. One fine day, the amateur cook in me prompted to post her experience in the Kitchen! Thus Anu’s Kitchen was created. With all the encouragement from blogger friends, am improving my culinary skills

Thanks a lot dear readers for spending time with My Scrawls. I assure to give informative and useful posts! Today am here with yet another travelogue. We had been to Door county and Green Bay this memorial day weekend. It was a short trip and hence we couldn’t explore much. I would like to share few info about the place, climate, sightseeing, outdoor fun,lodging, dining etc.

Door county, as the name suggests is a county in Wisconsin. It is a popular vacation spot in the mid west. This county consists of the Door peninsula and the Washington island (please see the map below). I was wondering why it has got the name “Door”? Dear hubby answered the question in his as always humorous way… Its दूर (far away in Hindi) from Chicago, hence the name Door (दूर) County

Uncle Wiki gave me the right answer The county is named after the strait between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island. The dangerous passage, now littered with shipwrecks, was known to early French explorers and local Native Americans. Because of the natural hazards of the strait, they gave it the French appellation Porte des Morts Passage, which in English means the “Door to the Way to Death,” or simply, “Death’s Door.” [Source: Wikipedia]

Door County

Door county has lots to explore and enjoy. One would just get lost in the beautiful scenic shoreline drives, the lush green forest lands and sparkling blue waters of the lake Michigan! Lots of water sports activities like kayaking, scuba diving, para sailing can be done here! We can rent a boat and spend our time leisurely in the calm waters of lake Michigan. Want to do fishing…hey this is the right place for u! Water sport activities are open from spring to fall Door county has plenty of swimmer friendly beaches too. Traveling with elders? Want them to explore the fun in the beautiful lake? Take them for a water cruise! Lots of scenic cruises are available in almost all the bays in the Door Peninsula and in Washington island. Check this to know more about the trip ideas in Door county. Due to lack of time we couldn’t enjoy the water fun activities but spent our time in the romantic sandy beaches of the Door peninsula

A view from Egg harbor

Near Sister Bay

Veggie food is available here. We had hot potato pancakes and waffles for the breakfast and they were great. Veggie pizzas and sandwiches are also available. We couldn’t find any Indian restaurant in the Door County. The nearest Indian restaurant is in Green Bay!

Lots of cottages, cabin, motels are available for us to have a pleasant stay in this beautiful place. We stayed at sister bay. The rent was nominal and we also enjoyed complimentary breakfast

Its good to visit Door County from spring to fall to enjoy water activities and the warm pleasant climate. But there are lots of winter fun happening here too. Door County winter wonderland is one of the popular mid west winter weekend gateways.

Cattle grazing - Country view

Traveling with kids? Take them to Hands On Art studio in Fish Creek. Here the kids can unleash their creativity in painting and decorate cups, plates and other pottery. Door county Historical Museum and Door County Maritime Museums are sure to keep kids busy and amused. There are 2 wonderful animal farms. “The Farm” at Sturgeon bay and the “Plum Loco Animal Farm” in Egg harbor, allows us to feed farm animals, play with them and pet them Children would find this more interesting and entertaining too!

Wanna take a pony ride? Visit “Kurtz Corral Ridding Stables”. There is a drive-in theater too!! You could find “Skyway Drive-in” theater between Fish Creek and Ephraim.

People here are very very friendly. You cannot pass a person who doesn’t stop to smile at you and greet with a “hello” This warm gesture of the locals here enlightens our holiday spirit!

Route to Door County from Chicago: We took I-94 and headed towards Milwaukee. Then took I-43 to reach Green Bay. From Green Bay there are 2 routes to reach the tip of Door Peninsula. We can take either I-57 or I-42. We took I-42 while going towards Door county and took I-57 while coming back… just wanted to explore either bays Traveling by air? The nearest airport is at Green bay!

Rural America

Dairy Farm - Near Green Bay

On our way back to Chicago, we spent few hrs driving thru the farm lands of the Green bay. It was so pleasant and relaxing to see the greenery around us. It was nice to enjoy the rural America after being in the skyscraper filled Chicago City

Do visit the Door County and enjoy mother nature’s splendid beauty! See you soon in my next travelogue

Travel Door county, Door peninsula and washington island, Green bay, Wisonsin America's dairy land trip

From the day I landed in Chicago, I desired to visit the Sears Tower sky deck. I wanted to see the city from the tower top. My dreams were fulfilled. We got a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the view of this windy city from the sky deck of the Sears Tower.

Sears Tower is one of the seven wonders of Chicago! It is the tallest Chicago skyscraper consisting of 110 floors. Sears Tower is now the fifth tallest building in the world (Source: Tallestbuildingintheworld.com). Sears Tower was built in 1974. It took 3 years to complete the construction of this majestic building.

Over the past 10 yrs, many new skyscrapers, all over the world have surpassed the Sears Tower in terms of height. Nevertheless, Sears stood unbeaten, holding the title “World’s tallest Tower” for a period of 30 yrs!!

Designed by Fazlur Khan, the architecture of Sears tower is based on bundled tube system of structural engineering. Imagine 9 individual skyscrapers of various heights bundled together. That’s how Sears Tower looks.

Sears Tower, Credits:Wikipedia

Sears Tower consists of a bundle of nine square tubes. All the nine tubes (skyscrapers) reach up to the 49th floor. At this point, two of the outer corner tubes terminate. At the 66th floor, the other corner tubes terminate. Three more tubes terminate at the 90th floor. The remaining two tubes reach the full height of 1450 ft.

Sears Tower, Credits: ecow.engr.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/get/cee/340/davidcamac/studentsbu/searstower.doc

Sears Tower looks different from each angle. This bundled tube structure provides it the strength to withstand the strong winds of this windy city, Chicago!

The sky deck admission costs $12.95. We had to wait in a queue to get into the elevators to reach the observatory floor. I have to mention about the elevators. It took just one minute to reach the 103rd floor (the sky deck observatory). These elevators operate at 1600 ft/min!

Here are the few snaps that we clicked from the tower top.

John Hancock tower and other skyscrapers from the Sears sky deck

View of Chicago city from the Sears Tower sky deck

On a clear day, we can see the neighboring states Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan from the Sears Tower sky deck! It was a splendid experience to stand on the top of the tower and take a bird’s-eye view of the city! Visiting Chicago? Don’t forget to catch the glimpse of this beautiful city from the Sears Tower sky deck!

Travel Chicago skyscraper, Sears tower, World tallest tower

I had promised one of my zealous reader that I would come up with a post giving all the details about our Grand Canyon trip. Well there was a delay in me coming up with the report… better late that never

We had visited the Grand Canyon during the last Thanks giving holidays. In order to avoid the eleventh hour rush, we had booked the tickets for the Skywalk well in advance.

Grand Canyon West is located in the Hualapai reservation in Arizona. Here is the site to book the Grand Canyon Skywalk tickets. There are various options to explore the Grand Canyon West Rim. Travel packages are available for the Skywalk, Skywalk with helicopter ride, helicopter and the pontoon boat ride etc. We chose “The Skywalk Package“. This is the least expensive package which costs about $81 per person.

Here are the Directions to reach the Grand Canyon West Rim – Skywalk from the Las Vegas:

Take US 93 South for about 32 miles to Hoover Dam. Cross Hoover Dam and continue South on US 9 for about 40 miles. Turn left (north) on Pierce Ferry Road and drive for about 28 miles. Turn right (east) on Diamond Bar Road for about 21 miles until you reach the entrance to Grand Canyon West Rim.

view near the Grand Canyon Skywalk - the West Rim

view near the Grand Canyon Skywalk - the West Rim

The road to Grand Canyon Skywalk is horrible for a stretch of 14 miles. It’s really scary to drive on this road. Incase you like to spare your car from the rough road; there is an option to park your car at the Welcome Center at the Dolan Springs. From there you can take the Park and Ride coach service on to the Grand Canyon West Rim. It costs $10 per person. For reservations, email reservations@destinationgrandcanyon.com. If you plan to rent a vehicle, then SUV (or any 4-wheel-drive) is a good option.

We are not allowed to take our camera on the Skywalk. But cameras are mounted on the rails of the Skywalk… We have to look for the camera and pose. The snaps can be got at the lounge.

We have to leave all our belongings including purse, handbag, cell phone etc in a locker before we start moving towards the Skywalk. All our items were safe. Do keep some cash in your pocket We had hot chocolate at the Grand Canyon Skywalk, it was worth the money.

Update: I was honored to receive a comment from the marketing department of the Grand Canyon West, Destination Grand Canyon. They had mentioned about a couple of information that I would like to share with my readers. Vegetarian food is now available at all the viewpoints in Grand Canyon West Rim. That’s indeed gr8 news for us the Veggies!! And one more update… no fees for the locker at the Skywalk! Wow…. The locker to store all our items is not only safe but cost free too

During our entire trip we took rice cooker and rice with us. Am sure parents would find it hard to take pizza and sandwich. It’s better to take chapattis / tortillas incase you have the microwave oven in hotel u stay at. Some suites provide a kitchenette! Do confirm these data before planning your meal.

Make sure that your vehicle has enough fuel as you pass the gas station… coz you may find the next one at least 50 miles away!!

The Grand Canyon West Rim – Skywalk is open through out the year. The timings may vary for the summer and the winter months. It’s better to visit the Grand Canyon during the spring or fall and avoid the scorching heat of the summer.

Do check this out before planning your trip. Grand Canyon West - Skywalk offers unique and wonderful viewpoints of the great Grand canyon. Explore the Grand Canyon… Have a safe and enjoyable tour. Good luck!

Travel Grand Canyon Skywalk trip details, Info about Grand Canyon Skywalk, Info about Grand Canyon West Rim, Park and Ride, Rough roads in Grand Canyon West Rim

Grand Canyon National Park | Grand Canyon West Rim - Skywalk | Grand Canyon South Rim - A Short Tour

We visited the West Rim and the South Rim of the great Grand Canyon, in the month of November 2008. Fall had just started there. We admired the colorful trees in the Grand Canyon National Park. Grand Canyon is a steep canyon carved by the Colorado River. Grand Canyon National Park is situated in Arizona.

We started our journey from Las Vegas (Nevada) towards the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. All we could see in our journey was mountains and vast desert!!!!

The west edge of the canyon is owned by “Hualapai indian tribes“. It’s noted that the popularity of the Grand Canyon West has been increased only after the opening of the Grand Canyon Skywalk. Grand Canyon Skywalk was opened to the public on March 28th 2007.

The Skywalk at the Grand Canyon West is about 2 hours drive from Las Vegas. From the main highway we need to take a poorly paved road to reach the Skywalk. This is the road to reach the Skywalk at West Rim of Grand Canyon…

Road to the Grand Canyon West Rim - Skywalk

Road to the Grand Canyon West Rim - Skywalk

America vil epadi oru roada? Yes! We had to drive through this worst road for a stretch of 14 miles. Still we enjoyed the drive

The Skywalk is about 4000 ft above the floor of the Canyon. How would you feel on walking through a glass bridge jutting 70 feet into the canyon and 4000 ft above the floor of the canyon? Remember this is a glass bridge! You are standing on transparent surface thousands of feet above the Colorado River!!

If you are not afraid of heights (not acrophobic) and bold enough to walk thru the glass bridge and enjoy the scenic beauty below you… then this is the right place for you to have fun! For safety reasons people with heart condition are not allowed to take a walk here. We are not allowed to take snaps on the Skywalk

Oru thick glass mela nadakanum… yetho andharathula nadakara madhiri erukum… adhan skywalk nu peru vechierukanga.

After experiencing a thrilling “Sky Walk” adventure in the West Rim of the Grand Canyon, we reached the South Rim to enjoy the scenic beauty of this steep canyon.

There are many view points in the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We explored few of them. Mather point, Yaki point, Yavapai point, Hopi point, Maricopa point and Mohave point are the observation points that we checked out. At the Yavapai point, there is the Yavapai Observation Station, which sells books and displays information about the geology & history of the Grand Canyon. The Yavapai and Yaki points are considered to be the best viewpoints in the Grand Canyon South Rim!

South Rim of the Grand Canyon is open through out the year as opposed to the North Rim, which remains closed during the winter months. North Rim is at a greater elevation than the South Rim; hence the temperature here is much lower than the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It’s noted that most of the visitors come to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

The sky was clear and the weather was pleasant. Gentle breeze swept across us as we started to explore the Grand Canyon. It was amazing to see the splendid beauty of this vast canyon. Our eyes turned voracious as they feasted on this breathtaking scenic beauty.

Here are the few snaps that we clicked at the viewpoints in the South Rim.

A view of Grand Canyon South Rim

Near Yavapai viewpoint

A view of the Grand Canyon South Rim

Are you planning to take a tour to the Grand Canyon? Read this before you start planning. We visited the Grand Canyon with our parents. All of us enjoyed this memorable tour

Travel Grand Canyon Rough roads, Grand Canyon South Rim, Grand Canyon trip details, Grand Canyon West Rim, Yavapai point views

To read the first part of this journey click here.

We woke up early and afresh. After hot complementary breakfast we started to explore the Atlantis. It was amazing to see the tall towers. We spent some time at the casino and at the shopping mall near the coral tower.

We enjoyed playing in sands of the beautiful beach and being engulfed in the warm sunshine. Motor boats are available for about $75. Couples can try this too… take your loved one in the motor boat and enjoy the tides in the Atlantis beach!!

After lunch, we visited the downtown Nassau. We took a ferry boat to the New Providence Island. We had a nice walk down the bay street of the Nassau. Bay Street is the most popular place for the duty free shopping. It almost resembled our famous “Usman Road”… well, not very populous though

All the products including food items are imported from US. Hence everything is very costly here. We heard from the locals that most of them come to Miami to shop. Only milk and bread are duty free imports.

Interesting information about Nassau is that people here buy water from the nearby Rose Island, Bahamas. Through out our stay at the Paradise Island and in the Providence Island (Nassau), we had to buy water bottles. First we were quite puzzled as we couldn’t see even a single water fountain. A Bahamian explained us that the ground water is very salty and hence they buy the water from a neighboring Island!

In the evening, we visited the straw market. The Bahamian women decorate dried palm and sisal plant leaves to create items such as baskets, bags and dolls. They sell their hand made goods at the straw market. We got few handicraft decorative items here. We didn’t bargain but feel the items are worth the money.

Ganesha wanted to sip hot coffee. This coffee fever amuses me. Well I take pride to mention that he is not a coffee addict, one cup a day would suffice him Let me not digress. We targeted star bucks at Nassau and had refreshing evening drink. After a little “paet-ki-pooja” we took the water taxi (ferry) to reach our resort.

The next day we booked a city tour. We wanted to explore the Nassau, of course with a local guide. We visited Queen’s staircase, Fort Fincastle, water tower and Fort Charlotte.

Queen’s staircase has 65 steps. It is carved out of solid limestones by slaves in the late 18th century. This staircase was named in honour of the 65 years of Queen’s Victoria’s reign. The staircase is dedicated to Queen Victoria for it was during her reign that slavery was abolished. Fort Fincastle was built by Lord Dunmore, about 1793. Fort Charlotte is the largest of the forts found in Nassau. It was built in 1789 by Lord Dunmore. This fort has never fired a shot in Battle.

We clicked few snaps at these historic places

Cannon at Fort Charlotte

Inscription on the wall of Fort Charlotte

Hey! We got a chance to see the locals getting ready for the Junkanoo… wats it? It is street parade that occurs in most of the town in the Bahamas. My friend Wiki (he he wikipedia) says the largest Junkanoo parade happens in Nassau, the capital of Bahamas.

Wats special about this parade? Junkanoo groups’ dance to the music of cowbells, in costumes made from cardboard covered in tiny shreds of colorful crepe paper, competing for cash prizes.

We heard from one of the Junkanoo group, that they start preparing the costumes for this parade and keep it a secret so as to hide their ideas from the other groups. On the d-day they give a blasting performance to win the cash award! All their costumes are made out of card board. We didn’t forget to click few snaps of this wonderful Junkanoo costumes… well the secret was revealed only to us before the actual show

Junkanoo Costumes

After enjoying the Nassau city tour, we hit the bed dreaming about our under water venture that we were going to attempt the next day!

We woke up early and had a very light breakfast. The bus from Stuart Cove picked us from our hotel. We drove through Nassau to reach the Stuart Cove. It was about an hour travel from our hotel. We thoroughly enjoyed the pleasant sunny morning.

On reaching the cove, we picked up our wet suits. These suits can be rented at $10. The dive boys explained us about the underwater scooter. We were taught few “very simple postures”. These are the signals to communicate with the dive boys within the water. There are few postures that alarm the divers that we are in trouble. After this introductory session we were are all set to enter the ocean. I really thank all the dive boys who made our day. Needless to say we enjoyed the thrilling adventure. Not to forget… we were safe and comfortable.

We returned back to the cove at about 1pm. The bus from Stuart Cove dropped us at our hotel.

To know more about our experience, have a look here.

We stayed at the Paradise Island. How can we ever miss the water rides at the Atlantis? Of course not!!! We spent the next two days in exploring the Atlantis. We enjoyed playing in Current rapids, water drops, water falls, and the swimming pools. There are kid’s water parks too.

Our 5 days Bahamas trip came to an end. We enjoyed this trip to the core. We started from Nassau to reach our next vacation spot Orlando (Florida).

We spent next few days at the Universal Studios and the Disney World. We saw the holiday parade at both Universal and the Disney (Magic Kingdom). Words cannot explain the fun that we had here. Being holiday season, there was huge crowd. We had to wait for long time to enter the roller-coaster and other thrilling rides. Nevertheless we enjoyed all the fun there!

Wow… time flew away. Our 10 days holiday trip came to an end. With all the fun still lingering in our mind, we reached Chicago fully invigorated looking forward to the start the New Year with joyful spirits.

Hope u guys too had fun in this virtual tour. Thanks for joining us!

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