Harvey Travel Arts

This is the view from our room at the hotel Santa Chiara in Venice over our Thanksgiving holiday. Pretty dismal, you might think. Unfortunately for many reviewers of this hotel, this is all they saw. Brian and I had already booked the room here when we started re-examining the reviews. So many people complained about the "noisy bus stop" and how horrible it was. They neglected, I suppose, to realize that there were solid wood shutters on the window, or that the busses shut down overnight. The other thing these individuals did not realize was that their same window likely had a view similar to the one below: You see, both these views are out of the same corner window. The beautiful water, trees, boats, and all that is Venice when looking to the left, and the busses when looking to the right. Sometimes life is like that. We can't see the beauty in our lives because we are too concerned with all the noise. What blessings are you missing out on today?

Breakers. What was once an impressive display of a family's wealth is now a tourist attraction. How time changes things. Brian and I recently went to Newport, Rhode Island to view the historic mansions of the Gilded Age where some of America's wealthiest families once passed the summer social seasons. Listening to the history of these mansions was bittersweet. While the families had beautiful palaces overlooking the ocean made of the finest stone, marble, and gold, their stays were but brief moments of time. Some of the palaces were abandoned, others sold off, some eventually rescued for pennies on the dollar. Today the Preservation Society takes care of these ghosts. Day after day, tourists walk through, peering into the secrets of a society that is long past. We enjoy our visit and return back to our normal lives, for which we should be thankful. For although we don't live with forty servants at our every whim, when it comes down to it, do you want people traips...

I thought about calling today's 9/11 post "Looking Back" but then thought, what about those who have to look forward? Those whose lives will never be the same, whose families changed that day, who have memories, but who had to unexpectedly charter a new way of life. They had to draw on their faith, their strength, and somehow plan for future. *** We'll never be able to grab those precious moments again, so cherish them now. Embrace your spouse, hug your children, call your parents, friends, and spend time with them. Time is guaranteed to no one. For tomorrow is another day, a day that we are not promised. *** "'For I know the plans I have for you,'" declares the LORD, "'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Brian and I recently took a driving tour of England and Wales. We love doing these drives, as we get to see a bit of the countryside and things that are off the beaten path. However, we started with a city that is familiar to many. This is Bath. Home of Roman history, Roman baths, a temporary stop for Jane Austen, and a city of spires and structures like most of their historic cousins, pointing toward the heavens. Brian and I can't get enough of the inspirational architecture we encounter on our vacations. Although I am a fan of modern day clean lines, I can't help but be inspired by the things that were created by men with their hands. How much more impressive is the creation, the heavens that churches direct their children to, the Heaven those in Christ will see, all this by our Creator and Savior.

A couple of weeks ago, Brian and I took a daytrip to see the wild ponies at Assateague Island. Their exact origin is unknown. Whether the descendants of horses from the Spanish shipwreck, or those left behind by other settlers, we'll never know. This little guy in particular won me over. He was such a sweet pony, there next to the road with his family. At one point, he pranced up to a vehicle, and began nuzzling it. So precious! The mother was there, and ever so watchful over her young. I am reminded again of how precious each and every life is to God. For even a sparrow has a nest.

A recent weekend trip took Brian and I to Hamilton, Ontario. My mom had just been in town for a ten day visit, and we had just dropped her off at the airport. Instead of returning to a quiet, lonely house, we decided to go out of town for the Memorial Day weekend. When research proved that places in the US were quite expensive, we decided to return to Canada. We'd already been to Toronto and Niagra, but what about lesser known places of beauty? One such place is in Hamilton. With 100 waterfalls, 30something of which are public, the small city is a nature lover's paradise. We only saw three of the falls in our short visit, each having just a little different scenery, and all beautiful for different reasons. People are like that, you know. We have different abilities, different gifts. Some are like the fast moving waterfalls, others meander along at a different place, filling another role. But we're all part of the package; part of God's creation.

Let's talk about this tree. From our hallway in St. Lucia, my husband and I could see this majestic creation. The roots have taken hold, deeply plunged into the soil. Over time, water and wind have eroded part of the ground, but the roots remain firm. This tree isn't going anywwhere. As new life springs up around it, the tree remains strong in its resolve. What about you, my friend? Have you planted roots in good soil? Is your life where it should be? When the rain of life comes swooping down, eroding away at your comfortable surroundings, will you remain strong in your convictions? Strong in your faith? Putting faith in Christ will allow your roots to take hold. Those roots will grow stronger as you develop a relationship with Him. Troubles are still approaching. Why not take the first step to keep yourself from falling?

Rain happens in beautiful places. Just let that statement sit in the air, while you think about the lush grass and colorful flora. The rain that trickles down from the sky, even in the hottest of climates, cools the air just a bit. Brings a new freshness to the grass. Makes beautiful landscapes like the one above. If rain creates all that beauty, then why do we complain about it? Sure, it slows us down on the roads. But we're probably traveling too fast to begin with. What about the rain in our lives? The difficult times that we experience, where things aren't as cheery as they could be? Think about it. Perhaps the challenges we face are there to make us grow. We can, with God's help, overcome the rain in our lives. We can live another day to see the beauty He has created.

On a recent trip to St. Lucia, Brian and I arrived to the usual warm welcome from the Sandals staff. This welcome included two t-shirts, cookies, coupons, and all the information we needed for our stay. We were glad to be there. The day long trip took us through three airports and a car ride. The car ride is the most telling part of the trip. You see the world as the locals see it; from the large banana trees shrouded in blue netting to the cars left by the side of the road. Once on the resort, it looks something like the picture below. This picture was taken the morning after our arrival. Sometimes it rains. We didn't mind. It kept the temperatures in the 80s, which was just perfect. Not too hot so that our energy was taken out of us, but warm enough to enjoy the pool, sand, and fresh air. This is the view we had from our balcony. We really were spoiled with the upgrades. If you travel to Sandals, I recommend signing up with their Signature Guest Program. It's...

I am a voracious reader. I read before bed, travel with a stack of books for the plane, and have a an abnormal fear of running out of reading material. Reading is a hobby that I chose at an early age; a lack of siblings and hours at the school library provided me with an encouraging environment for seeking solitary entertainment. I found myself researching the Kindle a year ago. The more I read, the more I fell in awe of the concept. I would be able to fly across the Atlantic, spend a few days traipsing through Paris or London, and return home all with one device as my downtime entertainment. No more lugging 4 paperbacks and 3 or 4 thick magazines around in a heavy carry on. Fast forward to my birthday this March; I opened up the mail to discover a lovely surprise from Brian. The Kindle was easy to start; instructions were clear. I plugged it into the wall, but was delighted to discover that it already came charged enough for me to use it right away. Downloading the books was s...

Recently, I talked with a friend about the places I've been. She and I have a shared experience in moving, traveling, and exploring our world. We also have a shared faith, which led to the pictures seen here. We were talking about our past travels to London, and she asked if I had been to the British Museum. "Oh, yes," I said. "I loved it...the Rosetta Stone was incredible," I continued. Unfortunately, I had only gotten the glossed over tourist view of the grand museum. "The next time you visit London," she said, "let me know and I'll give you some papers that I have from a visit we took." Those papers were a guide of sorts, tracing Biblical history via selected artifacts at the British Museum and the National Library. Just a short time afterward, my husband surprised me with a trip to London. I got the Biblical history guide from my friend, and Brian and I saw the museum from an entirely new perspective. Instead of going through the har...

I have but one photograph to show you today, my friend. These men were sharing the gospel of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the middle of London. It was very refreshing as a Christian to see other Christians while on vacation. I was delighted and amazed that they are still allowed to do so. I fear it may not be the same in the future. Brian and I went over to talk to them and they invited us to service. We would have gone but had a conflicting appointment regarding our return trip that we needed to keep. Perhaps the next time we are over there, we'll be in a posititon to go. Sadly, not many people appeared to be actively listening. There were a few protesters, which I don't understand. The men were preaching the salvation message, they had no political agenda. Why do people feel the need to speak out against it? Disrupt? I encourage you to pray for others who are out there, boldly proclaiming Christ's love.

Brian took me to London for Valentine's Day, and the highlight of our trip was going back to the Rubens for afternoon tea. The Rubens is a lovely hotel across from Buckingham Palace where the people of the court used to stay. The hotel itself is amazing! A few years ago, we had the privilege to stay there. These days, we just enjoy the tea. It all started with the chocolate drizzled strawberries, above. Those were accompanied by champagne. Well, Brian doesn't like champagne, so he opted for beer. We relaxed and enjoyed the view. By the way, the best view in the house is the chaise lounge in front of the window. People watching is an exciting sport. They have a new pastry chef there, which explained the lack of petit fours. In their place were these mildly sweet yet delicious desserts. The merengue swan was my favorite. Scones and clotted cream were tasty as usual. And of course, the starter tea sandwiches were simple yet provided a little bit of something savory that we needed....

I wanted to share with you these beautiful (sea kittens) fish. They spend their days swimming through the safe waters of the Aquarium in Atlanta. I wonder if they realize that they are different from their cousins who are freely exploring an ocean somewhere? Or are they content to just be entertainment, teaching children and adults about their nature? I find something quite peaceful about watching schools of fish swaying back and forth, ducking around each other, clumping up to travel great distances, or in this case, a few feet. Then you get to these creatures. The mighty stingray. Looks just as peaceful, gliding effortlessly across the water. They really are beautiful creatures. Their smooth, slippery skin is quite deceptive. You think that such beauty, they'd be harmless. And so many times people swim among them and they are fine. But we all know that people have died encountering the stingray. It's a very important life lesson. Do not be deceived, be on your guard.

Several years ago, Brian and I went on a cruise that took us to parts of Mexico and Belize. The boat itself was nice, but it was the little day trips traipsing all over history that interested us the most. If you follow this blog long enough, you know that we love to see history! We enjoy visiting historical places, sometimes repeat and threepeat visits to see what we didn't before. That's when you start noticing just how similar ancient civilatizations all over the globe were. There are pyramiddic structures in not just Egypt, but Europe, Central America, Asia...everywhere! All a little different, one ritual here, another there, but they were all trying to preserve a tradition. Preserve a life toward the afterlife. Appease their idols. If they only knew that only one God, one faith, and one relationship with Jesus Christ would make the difference. It's not too late for you, my friend. Stop building idols out of material goods. Electronics. Gadgets. Granite countertops. Th...

What an inspiration! An antique established town in the heart of historic America. The charcter here in Harper's Ferry is like something out of old world Europe, but it's right here! Brian and I have so much fun traipsing through places like this. Hiking on a nearby trail, one gets lost in the moment. Buildings built before there were codes, zones, city planners telling us to do this and that, wanting their cracker box neighborhoods to be neat as pins. This is much more imaginative! If only these walls could talk... If they could talk, they'd tell the history of this town. They'd tell of it's role in the Civil War. The war that had many causes, many concerns. But the most known was that awful word...slavery. People forget that slavery comes in many forms. We're all slaves to sin, at least until our faith and repentance to Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour sets us free!

These adorable animals were at Fossil Rim, a wildlife park in Texas. Brian and I went last March and had a wonderful time! Animals like the lamb above are such awesome reminders of God's love for us. These beautiful creatures are a wonderful testimony to our Creator. Just look at the diversity! Step into a zoo, and you'll see that there is a wonderous variety of horned animals, birds, reptiles, felines, canines, bears, rodents (yes, even these can be cute!); I could go on and on. Every one is a little different, and serves a different purpose. The tiniest markings, the twist of the horn, the fluff of the tail...So many characteristics. I couldn't begin to imagine even 1% of God's diverse creation. That's why He alone is worshiped above all.