What started out as a beautiful day on the island has now turned to windy and rainy – ych. The best thing you can do at this point is to kick back and dream of where you want to go on your next vacation.
So what is higher than the Niagara Falls and one of the seven natural wonders of the world?
We’ve traveled lots of places (the main reason I started this blog) but I was kicking back, looking through pictures and I came upon a few pictures of The Natural Bridge in which my family and I visited on our way back from the Smokies a couple of years ago.
The Natural Bridge is unique in that it’s 20 stories of solid rock carved by nature. It’s really awesome to see.
According to Wikipedia, The Natural Bridge (located at Natural Bridge, Virginia) was a sacred site of the Native American Monacan tribe, who believed it to be the site of a major victory over pursuing Powhatans centuries before the arrival of the white people in Virginia. What’s really neat is that it is believed to be a fact that George Washington visited as a surveyor. In 1927, they found a stone engraved with “G.W.” and a surveyors cross and so they accepted that as proof that he indeed surveyed the bridge.
Hundreds upon thousands visit The Natural Bridge every year. We hadn’t planned on stopping actually because we had so far to travel, but you know how it is on the way home, you want to get in as many sights of interest as you can despite the fact you’re tired and weary from whatever you’ve been doing in the last few days or week or whatever, but somehow adrenalin or something kicked in because we had a blast.
Here is moi standing at the entrance. Tickets include admission to Natural Bridge, Cedar Creek Nature Trail and Monacan Village, Wax & Toy Museums and Drama of Creation Show (dusk) are $18 for adults and $10 for children 5 – 12. You can buy advance tickets online here.
And here are my babies…
You actually start out by purchasing tickets in a big brick building then veer off to your right coming out and begin the trail. It’s almost as much fun getting to it than being there. Lots and lots and lots and lots of steps. That’s my son who refuses to keep up with a woman who insists on taking pictures of every single thing. But it was a beautiful walk.
And here it is in all its splendor.
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To find out more about The Natural Bridge, click here!
Until next time, 
Island Chick
Paul V. Stutzman grew up in the middle of Ohio’s Amish and Mennonite community. His new book, Hiking Through, chronicles his thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, seeking peace and healing after losing his wife to cancer. He is available to speak to groups on the subjects of hiking the AT, working through grief, and finding a relationship with God. More information available at 
It has been a rough winter here on the island. I’ve never seen a winter as rough as this one! Started out with flooding, then snow, then snow and then…more snow.
We had 10 hours to do what we wanted before we were supposed to load back up and go home, but we saw nearly everything Manhattan had to offer. Climbed the Empire State Building, walked through Central Park, browsed the NBC studio at Rockefeller Center and ate at the famous Hard Rock Cafe. Life was great. This picture to the left was my daughter and I when we just arrived at Times Square.
I remember when we walked up to the disaster area (now it’s been six months since it happened mind you), you could still smell the smoke and in fact you could still see smoke coming out of piles that the fire department was still trying to get out. Crews were still out clearing things but it was the most eerie place you’d ever want to go. You could actually feel death. You could smell it; you could feel it.
Now this picture has an interesting story. There were signs everywhere saying no pictures allowed. Not quite sure unless it was just in case someone didn’t want to capitalize on the fact they could get some good pictures and sell them? Anyway, the signs never stopped me. I wasn’t going to walk away without getting some so I whipped out the camera, took a few shots, and put it away real quick. I’m not altogether stupid. This picture to the left is the memorial that was placed at the disaster site.
One of the really neat things about starting this blog is that I can finally mingle with like-minded individuals like myself who consider the open road an old friend, whether they are galavanting around the world or finding unusual places to visit right in their own neighborhood.
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