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After we checked into the Zion Lodge, we had enough time for a short hike before dinner. We headed to the trail head for the Emerald Pools, right across the street from the hotel.
We crossed the footbridge over the Virgin River and followed the paved path upriver. This is a very popular trail due to its accessibility. In the late afternoon, it was way too crowded for our taste.
After about a half-mile of dodging obnoxious tourists, we arrived at Lower Emerald Pool. Waterfalls spill over an overhang here and the path continues behind the falls to Middle and Upper Emerald Pools. We took a few photos at this point and decided to turn back because of the crowds.
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The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve lies within the Montara State Marine Reserve. It is in Northern California, 20 miles south of San Francisco along the coast in Moss Beach and protects some endangered species of butterflies and plants as well as the marine life off the coast.
It is a popular location to explore tide-pools. We timed our visit to coincide with low tide and saw lots of anemones, hermits crabs and other marine life.
The tide-pools are at the base of a cliff with a steep staircase down to the beach. We saw a couple of seals hanging out on a rock in the surf as we wandered among the tide-pools.
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The macadamia nut tree is originally from Australia, but the macadamia industry was born in Hawaii. Most of the world’s macadamia nuts are produced in Hawaii on small farms.
While on our tour of Oahu’s North shore, we stopped at Tropical Farms. This began as a roadside stand in 1987 with a husband-wife team shelling the nuts at night and selling them by day. It takes 300 pounds of pressure to crack the macadamia’s shell.
Now it’s a tourist attraction with a farm tour, demonstrations and a gift shop with lots of free samples. In the shadow of the Koʻolau Mountains with wild chickens running around the property, it is a lovely place to stop.
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Hamilton Grange National Memorial preserves the mansion of Alexander Hamilton. Built in 1802 on Hamilton’s land in Harlem, Hamilton would live there with his family for only two years before his fateful duel with Aaron Burr.
Upon his death, Hamilton’s political rivals sought to dismiss or take credit for his accomplishments. But Hamilton’s widow, Eliza, who survived Alexander by 50 years, spent the rest of her life ensuring that Alexander Hamilton’s legacy would not be forgotten. For women’s history month, we took a special tour of The Grange with the AHA society, which focused on Eliza.
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton was born into a wealthy family in upstate New York. Her father was general in George Washington’s army. She met Alexander Hamilton in Morristown, when the army was encamped there. They were married at her father’s home in 1780. Her marriage survived the nation’s first sex scandal (Alexander publicly admitted to adultery to clear up suspicion of financial impropriety while he was Secretary of the Treasury) and produced eight children.
Alexander Hamilton died in debt. Eliza was able to re-purchase the Grange after it had been sold off at auction with some help from her connections and her inheritance from her father. She lived there with some of her grown children for 30 years before selling it to move into a townhouse downtown.
Eliza sat for this portrait while the artist was in debtors prison so that he could earn some money towards his release.
She threw herself into charity work, helping to found the first orphanage in New York City and was the director of the organization for 27 years. She also, along with the widows of James Madison and John Adams, helped to raise the money for the construction of the Washington Monument.
Eliza tirelessly promoted Alexander’s legacy after his death and persisted in having his papers organized and published as a biography. She demanded an apology from President Monroe for the accusations he’d made against Hamilton and defended Hamilton’s authorship of Washington’s Farewell Address.
This piano was a gift from Eliza’s sister Angelica.
A week before the duel, Alexander wrote to Eliza: “With my last idea; I shall cherish the sweet hope of meeting you in a better world. Adieu best of wives and best of women. Embrace all my darling children for me. Ever yours, A H.”
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We stopped at Rockaway Beach in Pacifica because we’d heard there was a black sand beach there. When we got there, we saw brownish, ordinary sand. We needed to go a little farther North to Sharp Park Beach for the black sand.
But what we saw at Rockaway was a beach with hardly anyone else on it. We climbed down to the beach, watched a couple of surfers catch a wave and walked out to some cool rock formations with a colony of sea birds on them.
Location: Cabrillo Hwy and Rockaway Beach Ave, Pacifica, CA
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Island Beach State Park in New Jersey is a ten-mile long barrier island between Barnegat Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The State purchased the land from entrepreneur Henry Phipps Jr to preserve the natural environment as a park.
The State also maintains the Phipps mansion as a summer residence for the governor. This became infamous when Governor Christie was photographed vacationing there in the summer of 2017 amidst a state government shutdown (beach-chair Christie memes were very popular that year.)
Island Beach is one of few undeveloped patches of Jersey Shore. In the summer, visitors can enjoy the pristine beaches without all the commercialism of the surrounding boardwalk communities.
In the off-season, its a nice place for short hikes, fishing and dune buggying. The bayside has a network of water trails for kayaking.
Island Beach is also a diverse wildlife habitat. Foxes are often seen playing here and occasionally snowy owls are photographed in the dunes. There had been recent sightings of two owls in the park when we visited, but we weren’t lucky enough to see one that day.
The Interpretive Center is about 7 miles from the entry gate. We parked there first…the restrooms were open, but the nature center was not. We picked up the Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail behind the building.
First we took the fork to the right, through the maritime forest with its holly trees and on out to the dunes and the beach beyond. Even though it was mid-morning, the sky still had the pinkish glow of sunrise.
Then we backtracked and took the trail out to the bay side. We had to cross the park road to do this, but it was pretty quiet in the park. We walked through the salt marsh, past some vacant osprey platforms to the bay.
We drove down to the last parking lot at the southernmost tip of the island. This is where people with dune buggies can off road on the beach. Just over the dunes, we could see Barnegat Light on neighboring Long Beach Island.
Location: Central Ave, Seaside Park, NJ 08752
Designation: State Park
Date designated or established: 1953
Date of my visit: January 6, 2019
View of Island Beach State Park from Barnegat Lighthouse
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We frequently visit Ramapo County Reservation. It’s a great green space in the midst of densely populated suburbia, has plenty of well-maintained trails and it’s dog friendly. Scroll down for the link to my previous post about this park.
We were late getting there to celebrate the arrival of spring this year because Lily had been sick in April and required surgery. Finally, by Memorial Day Weekend, everyone was healthy enough to get out to the park.
We crossed the bridge past the turtle bog and headed straight to the section of the Yellow Vista Loop Trail that heads towards the park’s waterfall.
In May, there was still a decent amount of water flowing. By late summer, it slows to a trickle.
After resting at the falls, we headed back to the car, satisfied with a short hike for this day. Little did we know that this would be Monkey’s last hike. She fell ill and died only three weeks after these photos were taken.
