Thursday, May 31, 2012

New Mexico - Land of Enchantment

Land of Enchantment
New Mexico is celebrating its Centennial this year! Scenic and historic, the Land of Enchantment is throwing a party all summer long with festivals and events that will surely be second to none.

 The actual date of New Mexico's Centennial is June 16, so for those of you in the West and Southwest United States, you still have time to plan a trip to what will I'm sure be something that will leave you with memories that will last you for the rest of your life.
New Mexico at Night
From its magnificent scenery to its incredible history...(cont)

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Celebrate Wisconsin's 164th Year as a State!

Cheesehead Lighthouse
Today I want to fill you in on some stuff about one of my favorite places in the Lower 48 - America's Dairyland,Wisconsin.

I spent a couple of months in Wisconsin about 25 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday. What a beautiful place with some great people. Great people including my very good friend Kevin who lives near the Mississippi River not far from La Crosse. Wisconsin is also home to my favorite NFL team, the 13-Time World Champions, Green Bay Packers! No, I am not a fair weather fan. I have been a Cheesehead for over fifty years, so I don't want to hear any guff from you guys, OK?  :)

Continued here...

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Boothbay, Maine - Coastal Splendor

Boothbay, Maine
With the onset of gardening seasom here in Maine, I am looking back with great fondness on this year's garden. I live in an apartment with my wife and kids, so I am limited as to exactly what I can do gardenwise, but I plow (pun intended) ahead by doing as much as I can without pissing off the Property Manager. And those you that know me know that I teeter right on the edge of "acceptable" and "don't you dare". Such is life.

While time is short until first frost here in Maine, we still have time to enjoy the bounty before us and I know just the place to enjoy said bounty - the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. From mainegardens.org/  we learn of the humble beginnings of CMBG, "This magnificent and ambitious project began with a kernel of an idea generated by Rollins Hale of Boothbay Harbor. He and other mid-coast Maine residents who shared the belief that northern New England in general, and Maine in particular, were in need of a botanical garden founded the grassroots organization in 1991." Sixteen years later, on June 13, 2007, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens became a dream come true. The Gardens now encompasses 248 acres, a 9500 square foot Visitors Center, a seasonal cafe and a gift shop, as well as a bevy of  blooming botanical beauties bound to bewilder you.

The CMBG also serve as an educational experience, with information about natural history, botany, horticulture and the ecology of the area. Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens can be reached here. CMBG is privately funded (as far as I can tell) and that alone is reason enough to label it as 248 acres of awesome.

Coastal Maine Accomodations and Activities

While much of the country has enjoyed Spring for several weeks, we are just getting started with it in New England and a place like Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is a perfect reminder of the bounty that awaits us.So getting to a wonderland like CMBG is a must for Northeast US residents.

Boothbay is a neat little town in a great area for family fun and exploration. Given Boothbay's location, fishing and boating are the obvious activities at hand. But there is much more to the area than that. There is dinner theater, music arts and along with water sports, terrific opportunities to see the flora and fauna of Coastal Maine. This handy Calendar of Events has an itenerary that has a variety of offerings surely to please everyone in your family.

As far as places to stay, you'll find everything from campgrounds to fine hotels. Dining, including bakeries and specialty food shops dot the seaside and believe you me, they are outstanding!


More Info

I realize that I haven't covered all you need to know to plan a trip to Boothbay, so click on the Boothbay Region Information Center's web site and scroll down to the bottom for contact numbers and such.

Be sure to click on one of the ads on this page to look for the right hotel/motel for you.

Order your FREE Maine Travel Guide at visitmaine.com.

Friday, May 25, 2012

We've Grown Up! New Site Has More Info Than Ever on All 50 States!

Three States Plus One has expanded! We have grown from our original three states plus one to the Lower 48 (Plus 2)! The new blog will feature more information on each of the fifty states in the United States to include food, lodging, history and stories of interesting people relevant to that day's "State of the Day".

The Lower 48 (Plus 2) allows you to learn about the featured state, its festivals and attractions as well as plan a trip to that state all in one location! We will be giving you year round information, so you can go fishing in the summer or snow skiing in the winter with all the tools you need to make your trip a memorable one.

If you're not quite sure where you want to go or what you want to do, we'll even look up the information you need to help you make a decision FREE of charge! All you have to do is email us at lower48plus2 AT gmail DOT com, make your request and wait for our reply. It's that easy!

America is a wondrous place with many exciting and even off the beaten path things to see and do, and The Lower 48 (Plus 2) is just the place to help you discover the hidden gems that are a part of this great country

Simply click on over to The Lower 48 (Plus 2) and see what all the fuss is about!

Thanks,
Toby
Head Tour Guide
The Lower 48 (Plus 2)

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Ten Years Later; Never Forget, Never Forgive

Heroes
WARNING: THIS POST IS FULL OF ADULT LANGUAGE. If you are easily offended, DO NOT READ THIS!. Consider your self warned.

Where were you when the world stopped turnin' that September day... I was at work and for some inexplicable reason, I was there about two hours early. I had already grabbed the Dallas Morning News and was reading the Sports section. With the TV at the bar tuned in to Fox News Channel, I just happened to look up and read the crawl across the bottom of the screen. The first plane had hit the North tower of the World Trade Center. My first thought was that the pilot of the jet had a heart attack or something. Then the second plane struck the South tower. It was at that point that I knew this was much more serious than someone having a heart attack. This was an attack OK, a cowardly attack on thousands of Americans, innocent people, just doing what they do every day, an attack on my country! The second that the plane blasted into the South tower, I knew it was an act of terrorism. The United States was effectively in a state of war. The worthless bastards that perpetrated this horrendous murder of almost 3000 American citizens had, by their actions, made it so. President George W. Bush made it all but official a short time later when he addressed the people of New York City that this was indeed an act of war. A few weeks later, we let those Islamic assholes in Afghanistan know that the United States of America meant business. That was when our President was a real man, unlike the pussy occupying the White House now. Hundreds of New Yorkers were killed on impact and dozens more decided it would be better to leap to their deaths than to be incinerated in the inferno of the WTC. The rage within me grew more intense with each innocent human being that was forced by the goat fucking Islamist sons of bitches to make a sudden die by fire or die by jumping out a window 1000 above the ground decision. My hatred for those pedophile "prophet" worshippers was boiling inside me like the towers that burned before me eyes. To this day, that feeling of hatred, pure fucking hatred for those cocksuckers simmers just below the surface. I hope God will forgive me some day, but I cannot yet bring myself to forgive those barbarians. These motherfuckers not only viciously murdered 3000 men and women, but they had forever changed the lives of tens of thousands more family members and friends of the dead, so I hope they all burn in hell for eternity. They are beyond redemption and deserve the endless torment of the fiery lake of Hades, so fuck them with the barbed cock of Satan, their true master. If that makes me a bigot, then so be it, I am a bigot. Their so called "holy book", the Koran, commands people (and I use that term loosely) like them to slaughter the Infidel simply because he/she is not a Muslim. The Koran compels them to do this kind of shit, like flying jets into buildings, so the name of Allah will be glorified. Are you fucking kidding me? From newadvent.org (The Catholic Encyclopedia) I found this:"The Koran contains dogma, legends, history, fiction, religion and superstition, social and family laws prayers, threats, liturgy, fanciful descriptions of heaven, hell, the judgment day, resurrection, etc. — a combination of fact and fancy often devoid of force and originality. The most creditable portions are those in which Jewish and Christian influences are clearly discernible." Legends, fiction and superstition, huh? Sounds like an Oliver Stone movie. I don't know about this Allah asshole, but the one true God that I worship tells me that I must treat others as I want to be treated, not to slay innocent human beings for not being a Christian in order to bring glory to God. As for the other billion plus idiots that follow this cult called Islam, if you believe the same absurd shit that the nineteen hijackers of 9/11 did, then I have no use for you either. You are breathing my air, so stay the fuck away from me. I will not discriminate against you, but I want nothing to do with your sorry asses until you repudiate Islam and the violence and bigotry inherent to it. Until then, kiss my ass. Islam is not a religion, it is an ideology. A political ideology.True religions dictate that you show kindness, mercy, compassion and charity to your fellow man, not slice his head off for merely being a non-Muslim. True religions call for forgiveness of our transgressors, not the brutal stoning or hanging of someone who "offends" your twisted view of spirituality and worship of whatever you assholes worship, like that stupid fucking rock in Mecca or whichever God-forsaken third world sewer of a city you call Muslim "civilization". Defending your "religion" is one thing, but the wholesale murder of innocent men, women and children to show the rest of the world that they are "infidels" is beyond repulsive, it is degrading to God and his children. Americans don't cotton to the kind of vile behavior you proclaim in the name of Allah and we will not stand still for that kind of shit! We will slap a missile from a Predator drone up your worthless asses and not think twice about it. You asked for war, then dammit we'll give a fucking war, dickweeds. When we kick the slimy America-hating, steaming pile of camel dung that we call a President out of the White House and get a man or woman that loves this country like the average Citizen does, you'd better have more than Allah to protect your sorry souls, because there will be no place to hide. We will show no mercy in tracking you down like the pigs you are and ask you exactly once if you want to surrender. If your answer is "no", then we will happily and without giving it a second thought to it, dispatch you to the 72 virgins you so naively believe to be waiting for you in "Paradise".  We have sent our sons, fathers, daughters and even mothers to find and kill you bastards. Thousands of them gave their lives so the United States will be free of murderous lunatics like you, and thousands more volunteer every day to pick up where the fallen left off. America is not afraid of you. We stand vigilant, eyes and ears wide open, so we may detect you and will do whatever is needed to stop you before you commit more atrocities against our Citizens. We ain't scared, assholes. You may succeed in your homicidal mission from time to time, but rest assured, the every day American you seek to intimidate, will not cower to you and your deadly intentions. We will, however, happily and with extreme prejudice blow your evil carcass to Kingdom Come when it becomes necessary to the plot. We, as Americans, owe that much to the 3000 innocents you killed at the World Trade Center and to the thousands of our young men and women who perished in the line of duty when sent to defend the United States from deranged motherfuckers like you. In the words of Todd Beamer, a passenger on Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania, "Let's roll". Simply put, send your soul to Heaven because your asses are ours. AMF - Adios Mother Fuckers, have a nice day. I will never forget nor will I ever forgive!

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All Original Material © Toby Shoemaker