Fedoras afield

We have just returned from a spring break trip with the kids and grand kids.
We went to St Louis and had a blast!
We stayed at the Union Station Hotel, it was amazing!

Then the grands had a visit at The City Museum, worth every penny. Next was the Aquarium at the Union Station. Also very much fun!

I also got the chance to stop by Levines Hat Store. Very nice selection of boxed hats and I also was able to speak with one of the owners son. I was happy to hear from him that he knew of the Fedora Lounge!

Saturday was on to see the Cardinals take on The Minnesota Twins. The Cardinals played well and won!!!

A very full and satisfying weekend!!

Just got back from a Spring Break cruise with the family, I bought my new Akubra Balmoral for this trip and it did not disappoint. The Caribbean was wonderful, gorgeous beaches with blue-green water and plenty of sun, what more could you ask for. It was quite breezy, honestly it was downright windy most of the time, and I am really glad I got the stampede string for this hat.

StoryPNW said:

Just got back from a Spring Break cruise with the family, I bought my new Akubra Balmoral for this trip and it did not disappoint. The Caribbean was wonderful, gorgeous beaches with blue-green water and plenty of sun, what more could you ask for. It was quite breezy, honestly it was downright windy most of the time, and I am really glad I got the stampede string for this hat.
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St Marten?

RickP said:

St Marten?

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Yep, famous airport.

StoryPNW said:

Yep, famous airport.

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Spent a fair bit of time there and over in St Bart back in late 70s / early 80s. ( before it got expensive lol) Had a few friends scattered around the Eastern Carib and Virgin Islands back then. Great part of the world to wear out a nice Panama hat lol. Good times

First hike after my toe surgery. Just a daytrip but boy, did it feel good!

Kinlock Falls and Mize Mill Falls from a weekend visit to the Bank head National Forest.

dh66 said:

Kinlock Falls and Mize Mill Falls from a weekend visit to the Bank head National Forest.

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Spring has sprung, looks beautiful!

Took my Akubra Traveler into the Sumo ring

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Our 28th wedding anniversary trip turned out to be a trip around various geological sites of significance. The Kii peninsula where we live was transformed from an area of flat planes to a mountainous area by a super eruption, the likes of which have been seen fewer than 50 times in the history of the earth.

mushikui iwa (bug-eaten rocks). They were actually formed by salt crystals.


The monolith above was formed in the same eruption 14 million years ago.

Last time I visited here, I made some zen stones, or which of several names you prefer. I did so again today.

Oh, yeah, my Hornskov Mogul accompanied me on the trip.

The rock formations behind me are the Hashigui-iwa…

Here they are again…

And in a panoramic shot…

The view from our hotel…

The hotel had a monument to the Ertuğrul, a Turkish (Ottoman Empire) ship that sunk off the coast of Wakayama in 1890.

Driving over the bridge you can see in the picture, you can see the area where the storm and the rocky Wakayama shores (again, created by the huge eruption of 14 million years ago) put paid to the ship.

Etsuko checking out a monument to the event (in her Akubra Leisure Time)…

The villagers were so brave and generous in helping and looking after the Turkish that Wakayama and Turkey have had a special relationship ever since. 100 years later (1985?), the Turkish recalled the events when making the decision to help evacuate Japanese from Iran when things had become so dangerous that the Japanese government felt they could no longer send aircraft to evacuate their citizens. The shipwreck and the events of 100 years later were made into a movie, Kainan 1890.

Heading back to the mainland.

The southernmost place in Honshu (the main Japanese island).

We also headed to the Phoenix Fold, only to discover when we got there that there was no access without a guide that had to be booked ahead of time. Here’s a picture of it that I found on the internet.

And a few random coastline shots…