Getting Ready for Hawaii

Hawaii is, of all the places I have traveled, one that is truly not over-rated and is in fact every bit as great as it is made out to be. My wife and I, along with another couple, are currently getting ready for an 11-day visit to the islands, which we will be splitting between Oahu and the "Big Island" of Hawaii itself.

We have been putting together a great itinerary of activities, and some of the most fun and exciting are the ones I have been discussing with fellow author and ghosthunter Lopaka Kapanui, head of the Mysteries of Honolulu tour company. Among other things, he will be taking us to a number of haunted sites of historical significance including an ancient sacrificial temple and a clifftop battlefield where some 5,000 people were driven into the sea. Lopaka is very knowledgable and a lot of fun to talk to and I can tell we are going to have a great time with him.


Other things I am hoping to do while on Oahu are visit Pearl Harbor and the Arizona memorial, which I have not yet managed to do on previous trips, and go back to the Diamondhead and Punchbowl volcanic craters (the former being a park and the latter a military cemetery, and a view of the stairway leading to the top of the latter shown here). My wife and her friend would also very much like to do a luau and at this point I am looking at Germaine's Luau, which has a pretty good reputation.


I have only been to the island of Hawaii itself one time, during a 13-day cruise my wife and I took on NCL's Norwegian Wind over the 2004-2005 holidays, whic h started in Oahu and went on to Hawaii/Big Island; two ports in Maui; Kuai; Fanning Island, Kiribati; Hawaii again; and then back to Oahu. Our excursion out to Volcano National Park was an amazing experience and it was incredible to be able to stand right next to live flowing lava. So, among the other things we do on the big island this time round, a return to the volcanic lava fields is a must.

Keep your eye on this site for more about our plans and then reports and pictures on what we do on the islands! And your own comments, suggestions, and feedback are certainly welcome.

Natural Bridge Caverns: A Bridge to Another World

The caverns decribed in the following feature also appear on the Texas Bucket List that appears on this site.


If you have seen the billboards for Natural Bridge Caverns around San Antonio, Texas, and wondered whether you should go and visit the popular local attraction, the answer is definitely yes. And, if you are wondering when you should do it, the answer is now (for reasons that will become apparent).

“The caverns have been known about since the early 1900s but their extensive [nature] wasn’t really known,” Travis Wuest, vice president of Natural Bridge Caverns, told me when I visited the site. His family has owned the surrounding land for more than a century.


“This was all ranchland and the sinkhole was just a pretty place to picnic,” Wuest said of the area spanned by the natural bridge of rock that is the namesake of the place. “It was always thought to be a small, very insignificant cave.”

“But in 1960, four college students who were amateur cave explorers heard about the Natural Bridge and the sinkhole and got permission from my grandmother to explore it,” Wuest continued. “On their fourth expedition here, on March 27, 1960, they discovered about two miles of never-before-seen cave passage, probably the first men ever to have seen it.”


Based on that great revelation, the family decided to open the caverns as an attraction. It has grown ever since and this year is celebrating the 51st anniversary of the cavern’s discovery and 47 years in business. Today, it is the largest series of caves open to the public in Texas.

“I’ve grown up here doing it and so it’s very much my life,” said Wuest, who is his 30s. “It’s a fun industry to work in.”

“The caverns themselves are spectacular,” Wuest said. “And they are absolutely stunning right now because of all the rain we’ve had. So, the pools of water are full, water is dripping and flowing, you’re going to get water dripping on you in various places. This is a really beautiful time to see the cave under pretty much ideal conditions. Because the water just adds a dimension to it and makes it even prettier.”


There are currently five different guided tours of the caverns available:

* The Discovery Tour begins at the mouth of the original cave, beneath the natural bridge, and goes through the first half-mile of the area discovered by the St. Mary’s University students half a century ago. Chambers as much as 250 feet long, forests of towering stone pillars as tall as 50 feet, and bridges over darkened chasms are among the highlights of this 75-minute trip through the underworld.


* The Illuminations Tour descends 180 steps down into a strikingly beautiful half-mile section of caverns known as the Hidden Passages that were discovered seven years after the main section (part of which is pictured here and in the next picture, below). Highlights include the glistening Diamond River, delicate, hollow soda straws as much as 10 feet in length, and all sorts of strange and unique formations.

* The Lantern Tour, which runs each morning at 9 a.m., is a new feature that is offered just once a day. In it, guests are guided only by a lantern and can get a sense of what some of the earliest explorers of the caverns experienced.


* The two Adventure Tours are for the most hardcore of visitors and start where the other tours end, going off the beaten path into parts of the two subterranean complexes that are not generally open to the public.

“Those are reservation-only caving trips to undeveloped sections of the caverns,” Wuest said. “You’re down and dirty, rappelling, crawling, climbing, hiking. It’s a great, great trip. Very different, though. On those, it’s down and dirty, you’re going to be very sweaty and muddy, and you’re going to be crawling. They’re a riot, a lot of fun.”


Natural Bridge Caverns is located just north of San Antonio at 26495 Natural Bridge Caverns Road, off of FM 3009 and eight miles north of that road’s intersection with IH 35 at exit 17. For more information about this great site, call (210) 651-6101 or go to www.NaturalBridgeCaverns.com. Amenities include a giftshop, snackbar, various informational exhibits, and the “Watchtower Challenge,” a climbing tower equipped with two 350-foot ziplines.

Back from Celebrity 'Constellation'

Back home after two weeks on board the beautiful cruise ship Celebrity Constellation and, with the suitcases now unpacked, I wanted to start posting a synopsis of the trip and acknowledging some of the people that made it such a terrific experience. This 14-day, 3,400-nautical-mile cruise made nine ports of call, including Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Kralendijk, Bonaire; Oranjestad, Aruba(seen here is Constellation from near the port area); Willemstad, Curacao; Castries, St. Lucia; Bridgetown, Barbados; St. George's, Grenada; St. John's, Antigua; and Phillipsburg, Dutch St. Maarten (to see synopsis of all these ports of call, go to Cruising the Southern Caribbean on the Celebrity 'Constellation').

I served as one of the “Beyond the Podium” speakers on board the vessel, where I gave presentations on “Blockade Running During the Civil War,” “The History of St. Maarten,” “The ABCs of the ABC Islands,” “Exploring the Bermuda Triangle,” and “Ghosthunting Florida.” The other speaker, Chicago lawyer Peter LaSorsa, gave great talks on both baseball and forensics.

Thanks to the great staff and crew who made this cruise possible, including cruise staff Rich Clesen, Mike Gibbons, and Mike Siebenthal, and all the terrific passengers who have taken the time to chat, drink, and otherwise interact with me and my wife Diane! Thanks also to the many passengers who took the time to come to my talks and chat or have a drink with me after them; good turnout and attendee interaction are what make a program like this a success and we had plenty of that.


People we especially enjoyed spending time with included our tablemates Helmut and Gaby Proske and Frank and Mel (seen here with us in a picture sent to me by Gaby), our drinking buddies Karel and Koen, cruise commentator Richard Wagner, art auctioneer Tommy Varzos, comedian Jason Chase, our waiters Carlos and Nixon (the picture below by Gaby is of Diane harassing them), and the sommelier chicks at Cellar Masters and the main dining room!


Very special thanks are also due to Charles and Teresa Baltzell from the Acupuncture center! I injured my foot a few days before we headed out for the cruise and was in a lot of pain my first day on stage and their treatments made the rest of the experience much more enjoyable for me, both because I could stand comfortably and was able to easily walk around our various ports of call. They are also both terrific people, with a great philosophy of life and a generous nature, and Diane and I were grateful for the time we were able to spend with them. We certainly hope to cross paths with them again one day in Texas.

Varhola's Non-Fiction Books

A number of people on the most recent cruise on which I spoke, Celebrity Constellation, asked me about the various books I have written, chatted with me about them, etc. Following are the various non-fiction titles I have either authored or co-authored. For anyone who might be interested, most or all of these are available through online sites like Amazon.com. Signed copies of some are also available through the retail site run by my own Skirmisher Publishing LLC and I have provided hotlinks back to them.

Everyday Life During the Civil War
Fire & Ice: The Korean War, 1950-53
Ghosthunting Maryland
Ghosthunting Virginia
Life in Civil War America
Shipwrecks & Lost Treasures: Great Lakes
Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder & Mayhem in the Lone Star State
Armchair Reader: Civil War (co-author)
D-Day: The Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944 (co-author)
Writer’s Complete Fantasy Reference (co-author)

Fort Lauderdale International Airport has Free Internet!

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA -- Always pleased to discover an airport that has a good free Internet connection! About half of them -- the best half -- seem to and Fort Lauderdale International Airport falls into that category.

Availability of free wi-fi is not usually the kind of thing that can be taken into consideration when making travel plans but, whenever travelers can, they should be sure to give positive or negative feedback about it! This is a good way to acknowledge the good airports that do offer this and might eventually start inducing some of the others to follow suit.

Cruising the Southern Caribbean on the Celebrity 'Constellation'

I have just come off the Celebrity Constellation, where I was serving as the educational speaker during a two-week cruise through the southern Caribbean! Following are images from our various ports of call, starting with those most recently visited and working back toward the earliest ones. I have yet to post images from Kralendijk, Bonaire, and Oranjestad, Aruba (and did not take any either starting or ending in Fort Lauderdale), but have currently got four each from Willemstad, Curacao; Castries, St. Lucia; Bridgetown, Barbados; St. George's, Grenada; St. John's, Antigua; and Phillipsburg, Dutch St. Maarten. Pictures of more and additional text to come!

Kralendijk, Bonaire
Bonaire is much less developed than many of the Caribbean islands but, like most of the others run by the Dutch, feels more Europeanized than many of them. It is also very flat, even moreso than Aruba, with sporadic highlands scattered around the island. Pictures here are a type of traditional local fence made from live cactuses (which I have talked about in some of my lectures but never before seen such a good example of); the port area as seen from an upper deck of Constellation; a Lions Club time capsule sealed in 1964, added to in 2004, and due to be opened again in 2044; and the creepy mascot of a local eatery that my wife posed with.






Willemstad, Curacao
This was much more of a real city than many traditional cruise ports and had a very European feel to it. Images here are of the historic district; part of the "floating market" of fish, produce, and crafts brought up by boat each week the 40 miles from Venezuela; the Queen Emma Bridge, a pontoon span that gets moved to allow boat traffic through; and a view past one of the many forts that still have remnants throughout the city. Internet: For a good free -- if you're drinking -- connection, check out the cute and brand-new little KubaKor cafe right next to the cruise ship docks.






St. George, Grenada
This was a much more interesting and charming island than we expected it to be and we will keep our eye out for future itineraries that include it. Internet: for customers there is a good free connection at the bar just inside the cruise ship terminal.






Bridgetown, Barbados
Following are images of Lord Nelson at Hero Square; the Parliament of Barbados; the Oberon 5009 Sea-Axe megayacht escort vessel; and a view of the Bridgetown cruise terminal at night on our way out of port. We had a great tour of the houses of Parliament while in Bridgetown, courtesy of Facilities Coordinator David Best!






Castries, St. Lucia






St. John's, Antigua
Views of the port from and looking toward our ship; the local cathedral, currently under renovation and not open to visitors; and the Celebrity Constellation itself! For anyone who is interested in ghosthunting and related subjects, I have also posted some pictures of the probably-haunted graveyard graveyard of the cathedral on the America's Haunted Road Trip site, at http://www.americashauntedroadtrip.com.






Phillipsburg, Dutch St. Maarten

A Texas Bucket List

In its March 2010 issue, Texas Monthly magazine ran a wonderful feature about an 83-item “bucket list” of things submitted by its readers that people in the Lone Star State should do at least once before kicking the bucket.

A list like that is subjective, of course, and there were many things on it — including some I would otherwise not been aware of — that I will definitely make a point of getting out and doing. There were certainly a handful of items that I was just not interested in and which did not need to be on my bucket list, as well as a number of personal “musts” that did not make the magazine’s list.

The primary function of lists like that should be to inspire rather than dictate anyway, and it certainly did the trick with me. Accordingly, I started to compile my own “Texas Bucket List,” a few initial items of which appear below. (The numbering system presented here is for purposes of this article only and is not intended to represent a qualitative rating).

#1) Visit Canyon Lake. It is amazing how often I meet people from other parts of Texas who have never heard of Canyon Lake, much less visited it, and it thus seemed like a good place to kick off this list. Visiting the lake any time of the year can be rewarding, but my first impressions of it — during a blazing summer when the still waters of lake were spread out below a cloudless blue sky and the limestone rim around the shoreline was almost too bright to look at — are likely what will always come to mind when I think of it.

“Canyon Lake, in my opinion, is the most beautiful lake in Texas," said Seth Warnick, co-founder of Operation Float a Soldier, which brings wounded warriors out to the lake. "I haven’t been to every lake in Texas but I’ve been to a lot of them and am absolutely totally in love with Canyon Lake and go out there often. You get [wounded warriors] out of the hospital and out on Canyon Lake and it’s such a beautiful place that they just forget about their injuries and their rehab, and it’s part of their healing. It’s just such a great mental break.”

#2) See as much of the Guadalupe River as possible. As a resident of Canyon Lake, I have the pleasure of being able to drive across the Guadalupe on a regular basis, both the brown, rolling river above the lake and the more placid teal stream below it. It is amazing the extent to which this river, which rises in the Kerr County Hill Country to the west of Comal County and empties into the Gulf of Mexico, changes along its course. Spots along it I have yet to visit include its North and South Forks converge to form the main body of the river near Hunt, and where it splits near its mouth to flow separately into San Antonio Bay as the North Guadalupe River and the South Guadalupe River.

#3) Eat pork asado at Chuy’s in Van Horn. When the publisher of the newspaper I edit, Karen Russell Holmes, recommended my wife and I eat at Chuy’s restaurant in her hometown of Van Horn during a recent trip through west Texas, I admittedly took her words with a grain of salt. To say that the establishment’s savory, hot, red chili pork asado is very possibly one of the best things I have ever tasted would in no way be an understatement. And if you don’t eat pork for some reason, then try the delicious catfish pecado instead.

#4) Become a Texas Master Naturalist. If you live in the Lone Star State, there is probably no better way to obtain an understanding of its plants, animals, geography, geology, and everything related to them. I graduated from the year-long training course in November 2010 and am currently working on my certification for it.


#5) Visit Natural Bridge Caverns. To say that the two networks of caverns associated with this attraction north of San Antonio are a world-class natural wonder would certainly be an understatement. Located near a well-known natural rock bridge, the caverns were discovered by four adventurous college students in 1960. (I have also posted an entire feature about the caverns on this site, titled Natural Bridge Caverns: Bridge to Another World.)

That is probably a good start on my own Texas bucket list and, hopefully, it will inspire you to start thinking about your own. And if you would like to share the top one or two things from your list with the other readers of this TravelBlogue, go ahead and send them in!