Greetings and salutations!
I regularly travel for work, events, and sport activities. In the past, I mainly just went to my destination and back. But in the past year, I have put more time and effort into exploring the locale.
As for why put my thoughts into a blog, part of it is to document things since memories fade and details get fuzzy. If you visit a lot of museums or zoos or aquariums the finer points of differentiation may blur together. Also, I tend to be very analytical and detail-oriented, so perhaps others may find my observations and assessments to be helpful. While it would be nice if other people actually read and benefit from these posts, I am primarily doing this for fun and so I am not really concerned about likes/upvotes, number of reads, follows, or virality.
My particular interests include:
#1. Animals, especially cute animals (zoos, aquariums)
#2. Museums (natural history, art, science, historical)
#3. Historical and cultural landmarks
#4. Impressive architecture or beautiful scenery
Furthermore, I enjoy browsing gift shops for cute things. Even if I usually don't buy anything, I do take note of (and often pictures of) cute and interesting trinkets.
To get a sense of my cuteness art aesthetic, here are two of the special cards I created and designed for Splinterlands, a blockchain card game. (I designed many cards but these were two personalized cards where I also got to create the theme, the name, and art specs):
BYZANTINE KITTY
(with quokka and otter friends)
(Byzantine Kitty got made into a plushie through Makeship. Next to Byzantine Kitty is Yodin Zaku).
LILY SHIELDPAW
(with Yumbo the giant panda and Onegin the snow leopard)
Here is a list of upcoming blog posts that I intend to write about. All of the pictures below were taken by me.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA
A1: Sarasota Overview & South Lido Key Beach
A2: Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium and Save Our Seabirds Wild Bird Learning Center
A3: Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
A4: The Ringling, Museum of Art, Bayfront Gardens, Ca' d'Zan, and Circus Museum
DOWNTOWN CHICAGO
B1: Chicago Overview, CityPASS, & Millennium Park
B2: Field Museum of Natural History
B3: Shedd Aquarium
B4: Museum of Science and Industry
B5: Art Institute of Chicago (Part 1)
B6: Art Institute of Chicago (Part 2)
B7: Lincoln Park Zoo (2026) (Part 1)
B8: Lincoln Park Zoo (2026) (Part 2)
CHICAGO SUBURBS
BOSTON AREA
D2: New Bedford Whaling Museum
D4: Museum of Science (Boston)
WISCONSIN
E1: Racine Zoo
E3: Ochsner Park Zoo
E4: International Crane Foundation
NORCAL & SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
F1: San Francisco (SFO) & San Jose (SJC) Airports
F4: California State Capitol Museum & California State Capitol
INDIANA
G1: Fort Wayne Zoo
G2: Potawatomi Zoo
G4: Art Museum of Greater Lafayette
G5: Haan Museum of Indiana Art (Part 1)
G6: Haan Museum of Indiana Art (Part 2)
CENTRAL & NORTHERN ILLINOIS
H1: Peoria Zoo
H2: Miller Park Zoo
H3: Scovill Zoo
TENNESSEE
I1: Zoo Knoxville
VIRGINIA
MINNESOTA
K1: Como Park Zoo & Conservatory
BACKLOG
B7: Willis/Sears Tower Skydeck, the Rookery, Chicago Fed Money Museum, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago Cultural Center, & Design Museum of Chicago
B8: Medieval Torture Museum (NSFW)
C2: Brookfield Zoo
C3: Cosley Zoo
C4: Six Flags Great America
C5: Chicago suburbs: Six Flags Great America - Fright Fest
C6: Morton Arboretum (2024)
F2: San Francisco Bay Area Overview & CityPASS
F3: Winchester Mystery House, Santana Row, & Valley Fair
F4: Triton Museum of Art & San Jose History Park
F5: San Jose Museum of Art
F6: California Academy of Sciences, Blue & Gold Fleet SF Bay Cruise, & San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
F7: Legion of Honor, de Young Museum, & San Francisco Zoo & Gardens
F8: Monterey Bay Aquarium
F9: Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
F10: Foster City Lagoon
G3: Indianapolis Museum of Art, Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, and Holcomb Observatory
(Below placeholders need to be reordered):
H1: Nice, France Overview & Museum Pass
H2: Musée d'Archéologie de Nice-Cimiez, Musée Matisse, Arènes de Cimiez, Monastère de Cimiez, & Jardin du Monastère de Cimiez
H3: Musée de la Photographie Charles Nègre, Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, L'artistique, & Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice
H4: Musée Masséna & Palais Lascaris
H5: Antibes - Musée d'Archéologie d'Antibes, Musée Peynet et du Dessin Humoristique, & Musée Picasso
I1: Genoa, Italy Overview & Museum Card
I2: Musei di Strada Nuova - Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Bianco, & Palazzo Doria-Tursi
I3: Acquario di Genova & Biosfera (Aquarium & Biosphere)
I4: Bagni San Nazaro (Beach)
I5: Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria
I6: Cattedrale di San Lorenzo, Museo del Tesoro di San Lorenzo, Museo Diocesano, Museo Biblioteca dell'Attore, Museo di Sant'Agostino, Galata Museo del Mare, & Villa del Principe
J1: Milan, Italy Overview, City Passes, & Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
J2: Duomo di Milano, Museo del Duomo, & Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (Cathedral & Museums)
J3: Civico Museo Archeologico, Chiesa di San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore, Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, & Museo del Novecento
J4: Acquario Civico di Milano, Castello Sforzesco, & Museo di Storia Naturale
K1: Oklahoma River (Oklahoma City)
L1: Philadelphia Overview
L2: Rodin Museum & Philadelphia Museum of Art
M1: Kenora, Ontario, Canada
(From 2023):
N1: Atlanta Overview, CityPASS, Lenox Square Mall, & Phipps Plaza
N2: Michael C Carlos Museum & CDC Museum
N3: Center for Puppetry Arts, Museum of Illusions, Millennium Gate, Woodruff Arts Center, & High Museum of Art
N4: Georgia Aquarium & World of Coca-Cola
N5: Atlanta History Center & Swan House
N6: National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Centennial Olympic Park, & Fernbank Museum of Natural History
N7: Zoo Atlanta
O1: New Orleans Overview, Jackson Square, French Market, Woldenberg Riverfront Park, Holocaust Memorial, Spanish Plaza, Riverwalk Outlets, & Convention Center
O2: Mardi Gras World
O3: Audubon Aquarium & Audubon Insectarium
O4: World War 2 Museum
O5: Audubon Zoo
O6: New Orleans Museum of Art & Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden
I did not take pictures at a few of my earlier visits (the Michael C Carlos Museum & CDC Museum in Atlanta and the interiors of the Musée d'Archéologie de Nice-Cimiez & Musée Matisse in Nice, France) but I do have various pictures of all the other places I visited. It may be relevant to note that I am NOT a fan of selfies, nor do I like to be in pictures. So most of the pictures are of the attractions and that is the center of attention - not me! Also the photos are taken by my cell phone, which is a little old. Apologies for any pictures that are blurry.
