A Sea Of Red

In the course of your life, what would you consider to be the most exotic & fabulous place you've ever experienced? It could be a national park, a tropical island, a European city or a mission trip to Guatemala. Let's just hear the circumstances surrounding the experience and what made it so awesome.

South of The Border

Circumstances surrounding the experience(s): Return trips home with the family from Myrtle Beach

What Made It So Awesome: You'd think it was the sheer quantity of crap available for purchase, but it wasn't. It was one and only one thing. The vast array of exotic and fabulous fireworks that were unavailable to me as a child in North Carolina. Anything and everything a kid could want. M-80's. M-90's. Roman candles. Mortars. Yes. Never have I experienced anything more fabulous or exotic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_of_t ... ttraction)

High on my list would be Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Krueger national park in South Africa, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand and searching for boat people on the South China sea. All these were in the 70s when I was a student at LU and traveled with Roscoe Brewer and the SMITE team.

Starting sometime late next month I will be able to say that the most exotic and fabulous place I have LIVED is the Dominican Republic.

El Scorcho wrote:South of The Border

I loved that place as a kid. When I was a kid we would stop there for a break whenever we drove to Florida. The place itself has lost it's luster, but it brings back many good memories.

Some of my favorite memories as a kid are of the times I spent with my grandpa at Wrigley. I can still remember the first time I walked up the steps behind home plate and saw the field for the first time. It seemed like time stood still.

haha south of the border. I remember seeing that. All the advertising that leads down to it reminds me of the JD's signs on I-40 and I-77 (if you're from North Carolina you know what I mean).

Probably the most exciting place I've ever been was Machu Picchu down in South America, one of the seven wonders of the world. I hiked a little bit of the Incan Trail, it's so beautiful there. Something that I'll never forget.

Guatemala is also a beautiful place to go. Especially if you've ever been to Antigua. If I remember right it's only about an hour drive southwest of Guatemala City.

I'm enjoying the responses thus far. If you have any pics, it would enhance the thread as well.

I am still trying to decide what I will be going with in this thread. Most of the more exotic places I have visited have been while on business (I am headed back to Papua New Guinea & Australia this summer). But the times where I get the most enjoyment are with my family (headed to Grand Teton & Yellowstone this summer). So I am torn on which path to follow.

And Olldflame, congrats on the new path for you in the Dominican. You are going to have to live vicariously through FlameFans like some of the rest of us. It is extremely tough. But the DR would be worth it.

The University of North Carolina..........in Western Argentina!

There's only one negative effect about trips to latin american countries... the mandatory sinus infection you get about always one week in

LYNCHBURG VA

YAYYYYY!!!!!!!!

ive always wanted to use that smiley.
bus seriously, 3 place come to my mind. i also dont know how to adjust picture size so some of these might be slightly large. sorry for that.
1. acadia national park. i went their as a church mission trip in high school. AWESOME place with mountains to hike up and cliffs right up against the atlantic ocean.


2. pikes peak/ garden of the gods/ colorado springs, CO. my sister lives out there and i got to visit once. amazing place.


3. yea, im actually gonna say lynchburg and specifically the veiw from atop peaks of otter here.



that hike is awesome every single time ive done it. and i think ive hiked it (not kidding) around 10 times now.

THE Grand Canyon:





And New York, which this is the only picture I have but it was taken one year and three months to the day after 9/11/2001:

Unfortunately, most of my global travels occurred way before the advent of digital photography, and I didn't even carry a cheap camera with me because we had a world-class photographer, Tony Black with us on most of our campaigns. I'll sort through some of my DR pics and post a few.

I've gone to Hawaii twice (Maui and Oahu on each trip) and it was amazing both times. If you ever get the chance to visit Maui, do it.

Israel-
not the prettiest, or most exotic place I have had the chance to visit. But, nothing makes Scripture come alive like walking in the very places the Bible talks about. Getting baptized in the Jordan River and taking communion at the Garden Tomb (or what some believe is the location of the Garden Tomb) was an experience that I don't think I'll ever top.

(And, yea, went to Israel before digital cameras...although I do have lots of snapshots-just no scanner.)

FAN If I knew how to post pictures here I would share some of mine from the early90's

For the record, you an using a picture hosting site like imageshack.us or even twitpic to get a url. Then just utilize the img tab above the edit box when posting. If you have problems, PM me and I'll help you get it done.

I've been ruminating my choices and I have narrowed down some of my favorites:

• Most Spectacular Scenery: Alaska
  
  Most Amazing National Park in Continental United States: Glacier
  
  Most Exotic Sounding Name: Abu Dhabi
  
  
  Most Exotic Cultural Experience: Papua New Guinea
  
  
  
  
  
  Most Poignant Historical Site: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
  
  
  
  
  Most Exotic Beaches: Fiji
  
  
  

And for the record, Machu Picchu & Israel are on my bucket list (with a few others) but that is fodder for future threads.

Sly Fox wrote:And for the record, Machu Picchu & Israel are on my bucket list (with a few others) but that is fodder for future threads.

I promise, you'll never regret going to Machu Picchu. You might already know this but the only way to get there is on train. I think it connects from Cusco, but I connected from Ollantaytambo.

It comes to a small town of Aguascalientes, which then takes you up the mountain to Machu Picchu. Be very careful there, the restaurants and natives will try to rip you off. It's the only place in Peru I've ever had that attempted on me, and it did not end well for the person who tried it

Minus the fact that Cuarto Poder did a story a week before my trip about the Shining Path robbing a train... the very train I was supposed to ride on

Here are a few of thousands of photos I have from my numerous trips to the Dominican Republic. They are probably not even close to the best I have. It just takes too long to go through them all.

Salto Baguaite near Jarabacoa in the central mountains of the DR. This was about 5 years and at least 30 pounds ago.



Beach at Bavaro on the Eastern tip of the DR


Traffic delay on the mountain road between Puerto Plata and Santiago.


Playa Najayo, near San Cristobal. I keep forgetting to post this in the "flamefans goes global" thread.

By far the most amazing place I have been was when I visited Papua, Indonesia with my then girlfriend (now wife). Her parents are missionaries over there so we went there to visit them. It was beautiful, yet at the same time it gave me a whole new perspective of the world in general, it was a life changing trip on many different levels.

Here is the public album from facebook for photos from the trip


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... f62e432834

Most exotic place I've lived would be Kenya. My favorite vacation spot would definitely be the coast of Kenya, that Indian Ocean is amazing! The most exotic place I've visited would be Italy, specifically Florence. Wasn't a huge fan of Rome, but I loved Florence.

Here's a couple of pics for your viewing pleasure:

Mount Longonot, an extinct volcano in Kenya and popular hiking destination:


View of Lake Nakuru with flamingos:


Samburu Women - Northern Kenya:


St. Peter's Cathedral (inside) - Vatican City


The Duomo in Florence, Italy:

It's between Costa Rica & Lake Tahoe. Went to Costa rica fot a senior hs trip, where we did mission work in San jose during the first part of the week and then to Jaco Beach for rest. There was resort we stopped by between the two cities that was near the Arenal Volcano and had a bunch of hot springs. Its cheap to take a trip down there as well and spend the week at obe of the resorts. Lake Tahoe was just incredible with the views and tgins to do. I might have to agree with the Lynchburg comments. There is just something special about a burg trip in the fall.

A few years ago my sister was finishing up her master's research in Peru, so we went to visit her. Incredible views.

Machu Picchu




Cusco Hill


Overlooking Cusco


From the top of Machu Picchu

Great pics, tddance234 & ECUnited!

Cusco itself is also on my Bucket List tied to Machu Picchu.

And jack, Costa Rica's days of being cheap are in the rearview mirror. And Panama & El Salvador are catching up to them at a rapid rate. None of them are hidden treasures anymore.

El Yunque Rainforest in Puerto Rico. Hiking through there & swimming at La Mina Falls. Loved Old San Juan & Fort Cristobal. Went there for our 5-year anniversary a couple of summers ago.