Our Life - Travel Guides & Photography » Winter Trips

Sapphire Beach at St. Thomas

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:28:02 +0000

Sapphire Beach is a beautiful beach on US Virgin Islands well known for its Sapphire Colored Waters. It is located on the east end of Sapphire Beach Resort on St. Thomas Island, USVI. The beach is a great place for relaxing and enjoying the waters. You can swim, windsurf or jet ski. The snorkeling is not really great as there are large waves and the water is deep and not really clear.You can find lot of Iguanas on the beach but they won’t harm you. Sapphire beach is near to Point Pleasant Resort Resort.

We loved the sapphire color of the water and the white sands. It was such a soothing experience. Here are some photos from our Trip.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

admin — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 21:52:24 +0000

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) is a 23-mile (37-km) long bridge-tunnel crossing the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and connecting the Delmarva Peninsula’s Eastern Shore of Virginia with Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads, Virginia. It is a modern engineering marvel and is considered the world’s largest bridge-tunnel complex. It was opened in 1965. It includes two one-mile (1.6 km) long tunnels beneath Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake navigation channels, four artificial islands, two high-level bridges over two other navigation channels: North Channel Bridge and Fisherman Inlet Bridge, Fishing Pier and more. The CBBT promotes the bridge-tunnel as not only a transportation facility to tourist destinations to the north and south, but as a tourist destination itself.

There are 2 Scneic Overlooks where drivers may stop to enjoy the views of the Atlantic – at the north end of the bridge and at Sea Gull Island, near the south end. At Sea Gull Island, passing ships may include U.S. Navy warships, nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, as well as large cargo vessels and sailing ships. The CBBT authority runs a restaurant and gift shop on the island. Fishing is encouraged from the 625-foot (191 m)-long pier, which is open 24 hours a day, year-round. Restrooms, fish-cleaning stations and a certified weighing station are at the pier.
Toll collection facilities are located at the both ends of the facility. Tolls are paid in each direction. For Toll Information, please visit the Official Site.

Here are some photos from our Trip to Chesapeake Bay.

Billy Graham Library

admin — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:19:59 +0000

Billy Graham is America’s greatest Christian evangelist. It is said that Graham has preached in person to more people around the world than any other preacher in history. Billy Graham Library is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It features Billy Graham’s life and his works.

You can tour the Library, Homeplace and Prayer Garden. The library is 40,00 square-foot and reflects Billy Graham’s journey from a humble farm boy to an international Gospel Preacher. Billy Graham HomePlace is where Billy Graham lived from age 9. The house and the gardens are really beautiful. The library is open Monday to Saturday 9 am – 5 pm and admission is free. You can spend around 3 hours in the library. This is one of the best attractions in Charlotte for free.

Here are some photos from our trip to Billy Graham Library.

Mohegan Sun Casino

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:23:45 +0000

Mohegan Sun Casino located in Connecticut is the second largest casino in the United States with 364,000 sq ft (33,800 m2) of gaming space. It is located on 240 acres along the banks of the Thames River. It is at the heart of the scenic foothills of southeastern Connecticut, where 60 percent of the state’s tourism is concentrated. It features the 12,000-seat capacity Mohegan Sun Arena, home of the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Connecticut Sun. It houses a 350-seat Cabaret Theatre, 300-seat Wolf Den, and 100,000 sq ft of meeting and function room space, including the Northeast’s largest ballroom and 130,000 sq ft of retail shopping.

The Casino was developed in 1996 for the Mohegan tribe. The Mohegan tribe is an Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe that lives in the eastern upper Thames River valley of Connecticut. The casino’s decor is Native American in style in many aspects. The artwork throughout the casino and the structural design has Native American feel. In addition, several mechanical wolves stand high atop rock structures inside the gaming areas that occasionally sit back and howl lightly. The Casino of the Sky has a functional planetarium utilizing fiber optics to display the sun, moon, and stars accompanying the lighting effects of the Wombi Rock, which is a three-story high crystal mountain crafted of alabaster and more than 12,000 individual plates of hand-selected onyx from quarries in Iran, Pakistan, and Mexico; which were transported to Carrara, Italy and fused into glass. A 55 ft high indoor waterfall called “Taughannick Falls“, representing a treacherous crossing point during the tribe’s migration.

The casino contains slot machines, gaming tables including poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, Caribbean stud poker, keno and baccarat. The race book offers live horse or greyhound racing from around the U.S. as well as from Australia and England.

We visited Mohegan Sun during Memorial Day Weekend. We drove to Connecticut from New York City. The casino was flooded with people from all over US.

The casino is really impressive and majestic. There is something for everyone to do, even if you are not into Casino Gaming. You can shop, dine, stay, relax or roam around for hours. Here are some snaps from our trip.

Lazy 5 Ranch

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:41:08 +0000

If you stay in Charlotte or happen to visit Charlotte, North Carolina, then be sure to check out Lazy 5 Ranch. It is a beautiful ranch located in Mooresville, about 30 minutes drive from Charlotte. It is a drive through Ranch which has over 700 animals from around the world which roam around freely. As you drive through 3.5 miles over pasture lands, you get to see both domestic and exotic animals from six continents including giraffe, buffaloes, zebras, llamas, emus, cattle, sheep and more. ‘The ranch has several petting areas, picnic areas, snack bars, play grounds and a gift shop.

It is open all days of the week. The admission fee is $8.50 for adults and$5.50 for children. You can also chose to visit the ranch on the horse drawn wagon instead of your car. The wagon rides cost $2.50 per person. You can buy animal feed for $3 per bucket.

We didn’t go for the wagon ride but drove thru in our car. We had a great time trying to feed all sort of animals. Surprisingly, these animals are least scared of human beings and are friendly They happily put their heads inside your car window expecting food. Kids are definitely going to love this one of a kind experience which they won’t get in zoos. Both adults and kids are definitely going to love Lazy 5 Ranch. You can easily spend 4-5 hours here. So when you are in Charlotte, don’t miss out this beautiful place.

Please visit the official site of Lazy 5 Ranch for more information. Here are some photos from our trip.

Here is the Gallery View of all Photos. Click on the thumbnails to view Larger Images.

Festival of Lights at Tanglewood

admin — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:21:02 +0000

Every Nov and Dec, Tanglewood Park at Clemmons, North Carolina transforms into a winter wonderland with its Festival of Lights. It is one of the largest and the most spectacular light shows in the South East. Tanglewood is about an hour’s drive from Charlotte. So people staying in the Piedmont region can conveniently visit Tanglewood during Winter.

We went to Tanglewood on New Year’s Eve of 2009 and had a wonderful time. It was the most beautiful light show I had seen in my life. Most of the light shows are animated.

Please visit http://www.forsyth.cc/tanglewood/fol_info.aspx for more information.

We ended up taking more videos than photos. I will be uploading the videos on YouTube.

Here is the Gallery View of all Photos.

World of Coca-Cola, Atlanta, Georgia

admin — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 03:49:26 +0000

World of Coca-Cola was the second place we visited in Atlanta, Georgia after Georgia Aquarium. It is situated right opposite to Georgia Aquarium at Pemberton Place. The World of Coca-Cola was opened in May 2007.

It’s a beautiful place to explore and learn the history of the world famous drink – COCA COLA. There are about 1200 artifacts from around the world.

You get to taste more than 60 varieties of drinks from all around the world. That was a really interesting tasting experience. We got to taste some good flavors like Bibo - a kiwi drink. There is a 4D show (3D with moving seats) which is quite good.

You also get to see a fully functional bottling line and get to take home an 8 ounce bottle of COCA- COLA.

There is a 7 foot tall Polar Bear who is always ready to pose with you for your snaps. Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience.

Visit the official site of World of Coca-Cola here.

Here are some photos from our Trip.

Here is the Gallery View of all Photos. Click on the thumbnails to view larger images.

Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:13:58 +0000

Atlanta is a beautiful city, and is the capital of Georgia State. It is a major business center and is equally famous for tourism. Atlanta is 4 hours drive from Charlotte, North Carolina. We had decided to explore Atlanta on Martin Luther King long weekend in Jan 2009.

Georgia Aquarium was the first place on our List. Georgia Aquarium was opened to the public on November 23, 2005. It claims to be the world’s largest indoor aquarium. Georgia Aquarium features more animals than any other aquarium in more than eight million gallons of water. You will love every minute you spend in the aquarium. The White Beluga Whales, Giant Whale Sharks, tiny garden eels, lovely Pacific Sea Nettles will make you fall in love with under water creatures.

The aquarium is divided into different sections – Georgia Explorer, River Scout, Cold Water Quest, Ocean Voyager, Tropical Diver and so on. You also get to see Deepo’s UnderSea 3D WonderShow at the 4D Theater but you need to pay extra for that.

There is also a special Behind the Scenes Tour which requires a separate ticket.

Titanic Aquatic is a new exhibition which again requires a separate ticket. It brings to life the story of the fated Titanic through authentic artifacts and hands-on interactive experiences. Titanic Aquatic includes a vast collection of more than 190 artifacts recovered from Titanic’s debris field including 40 that have never been seen before.

The visit to Georgia Aquarium was absolutely entertaining and fascinating. It was a good educational experience for us. You can spend an entire day in the aquarium viewing the amazing varieties of the Under Water World.

Click here to visit the Official Website of Georgia Aquarium.

Here are some snaps from our Trip. Enjoy!!!

Here is the Gallery View of all Photos.