About
Our family has wandered the world for generations, starting with Captain James H. Blethen, a Welsh sea captain who sailed a Vanderbilt steamship from New York, around the Horn, and into San Francisco in 1852. The family made San Francisco its homebase and Captain Blethen spent the rest of his life at sea.
Captain Blethen’s worldly view has carried down through generations and is a priority in our family. We live on an amazing planet. Each of us can become more understanding and more appreciative of differences as a result of wandering around the globe.
I’ve travelled alone as a single woman, with my daughter, and with family and friends. It doesn’t matter; there is always someplace new, exotic, and safe whether or not you go it alone or with someone.
Following is a list of countries/cities visited — sort of in the reverse order visited throughout the years. A few were toured more than once and I was fortunate to spend a summer studying English Literature at Worcester College in Oxford as a University of California at Berkeley Exchange Student. If you have questions about any of these locations, please eMail us at Marine Studios. We will be adding information to the site as we wander and as friends let us know about their favorite finds.
2009-2011: All Around Northern California: With budgets tightening, we decided to again visit local interesting towns surrounding San Francisco. We live in one of the more beautiful places in the world, rich with cultural activities, small towns, superb restaurants—including many with decks overlooking San Francisco Bay. Fairfax in central Marin, is home to mountain biking. The world-renowned Dipsea Race starts in Mill Valley goes straight up and over Mt. Tamalpais, and ends in Stinson Beach. During the annual salmon run in late summer, millions of salmon come through the gate to swim up into the Sacramento Delta. Marin is close to the wine country with its international award-winning varities. It is splendid!
December 2010: Hawaii: We love Hawaii, its views, beaches, kayaking, swimming in warm water, surfing, food, people, being barefoot . . .
October-November 2010: The Caribbean!
November 2008: Mexico and The Mayans
October 2007: The Mediterranean: This was our first Mediterranean cruise with several ports o’call: Civitavecchia (Italy), Monte Carlo, Livorno (for Florence and Pisa), Naples (for Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri and the Amalfi Coast), Santorini in Greece, Kusadasi in Turkey, Mykonos, Piraeus (for Athens), Katakolon (for the world’s first Olympic site), Corfu and Venice. Absolutely amazing. We would board another ship in a heartbeat . . . Photographs and commentary.
1998: France: My daughter had aced French in highschool, so I surprised her with a trip to Paris, Avignon en Provence, and along the Coté de Azur to Nice, Monaco/Monte Carlo, and Menton near the Italian border. (In the event you are thinking we have lots of money to spend, we don’t. We don’t buy much of anything because we prefer travelling anywhere — in the States or anywhere in the world. Also, because we all work hard, we get annual bonuses on occasion and they are always used for travel.)
2001: Bus Tour: This wasn’t our favorite trip. The bus broke down a couple of times so we had about 5 minutes in Bath, drove by Stonehenge, got up too early most days . . . Not sure why it didn’t work well because we’ve loved every other day on the road.
England: London, Greenwich, South End, Oxford, Stonehenge, Bath, Salisbury . . .
Ireland: Irish Ferries to Tramore, Blarney Castle and the Woolen Mills, Tralee, Killarney, Limerick, Adare, and Dublin.
Wales: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Cardiff, Wrexham,
Ironbridge, Llangollen. Would love to go back to Wales. Lovely place. Lovely people.
Summer 2001: Sixty Days. Six Countries. I took a corporate buyout. The question posed: “We’re starting in Tahiti and ending in Japan. Where do you want to go in between?” All travel arrangements for this trip were made via the Internet and checked throughout via eMail. It was one of the smoothest trips we’ve ever had; only one glitch and that was easily remedied by changing lodging in Phuket.
French Polynesia
Bora Bora and Moorea, a lifetime dream come true — a week in an over-the-water bungalow.
Around the island for a week. And unless you really want to slow down, I don’t recommend this. Marvelous people, especially at Kuri’s Kabanas, but very very slow. The one place we did not see that might be worth a return visit would be “One Foot Island.”
New Zealand
Devonport (a mixture of Berkeley and Sausalito, with the best of both), across the harbor from Auckland. Only a few days. Not nearly enough time.Australia
From Brisbane to Palm Cove to Cairns to Port Douglas on Australia’s Eastern shoreline by air and auto and back to Brisbane by train. Diving the Great Barrier Reef, a world wonder. If the Grand Canyon were filled with warm turquoise water and vibrant tropical fish, you would have the Great Barrier Reef.Thailand
Bangkok (travel by boat on the Chao Praya it’s the fastest, cleanest way to get around), the Reclining Buddha, elephant rides, Phuket, Ko Samui, Ko Pi Pi.>Tokyo, Nikko National Park, Fuji-Hakone National Park (Lake Hakone, Fujisan, Lake Kawaguichi, The Hakone Check Point), Kyoto (Nijo Castle, Golden Pavilion, Imperial Palace), Nara, Mikimoto Pearl Island, Narita (If you have only a one-night stopover near Tokyo, stay at Narita. It is a traditional village, very small, many airline personnel stay there for overnights.) Japanese Bullet Trains are on time, clean, excellent service.
Costa Rica: San Jose, Limon, Cahuta, Corcovado, Tilajari, Tortuguero, Tabacon (dinner on a terrace overlooking the springs fed by the active Volcano, Arenal), and zipcording through the jungle canopy.
Hong Kong: This was actually a business trip to view the million dollar pyrotechnical display to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year Fireworks 1998! I was a guest of the Sousa family of Pyro-Spectaculars, one of the finest pyrotechnic families/companies in the world and one of the oldest in the U.S. Business Class via the Polar Route to Hong Kong Harbor. Great way to travel! Kowloon, Harbor City, and the backside of Macao for the blessing of the fleet, including Russian ships then in the harbor.
British Columbia: Vancouver Island, Bainbridge Island.
The Channel Islands (English Channel):Hitch-hiking via sailboats through The Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Sark).
Mexico/Baja California: Puerto Vallarta and sea-kayaking out of Loreto in the Sea of Cortez for several days with Sea Trek Ocean Kayaking Center based in Sausalito, California.
Holland: Amsterdam, Den Hague, Delft. Lovely country. Lovely people. Dynamic art. Charming and comfortable walking cities with buildings that are older than the United States.
Jamaica: Ocho Rios, Kingston. My first trip off of American soil, which opened my eyes to the beauty of tropical locations and the warmth of tropical people and waters. I learned to swim in the waters off of San Francisco. Who knew that there was water above 65° F. Jamaica took my heart away and I’ve been on the road ever since.
