Taking out the Canon VIXIA HFM400 with Sunray 2000 lights for the first time I filmed the video at four dive locations off of Marsh Harbor in Abaco, Bahamas: The Towers, The Aquarium, Shark Ledge, and Grouper Alley. The dives were lead by Kay of Above & Below Abaco with the crew as listed below. I was using the standard Canon WP-V3 underwater case thus it was an interesting challenge to get the Sunrays to mount with this camera – interesting enough, if fact, for me to probably write a little post about the effort. Stay tuned for that to appear hopefully in the coming days.

Since being certified in 1978 this is easily rated as one of my best diving experiences and Kay and crew provided the absolutely perfect environment to make the surroundings that much more enjoyable. One of us also achieved certification during the four dives and I know he would have never found a better instruction experience that what Kay provided anywhere else. To date I have ever only seen one shark underwater and that was a nurse shark well hidden under a reef ledge where I managed to get a photo of its tale. On this dive I was quite surprised by one that was swimming my way while on the bottom alone waiting for the others to descend and lost count in the end. I was also surprised by the actual friendliness of the groupers who actually followed us around sometimes looking for attention.

Reef Shark

Kay Politano – NAUI Instructor Trainer, SSI Instructor, CPR/First Aid and AED Instructor, Licensed Boat Captain, NACD Certified Cave Diver, 34 Years Diving Experience, MA in Counseling UCF.

Kristin Jones – SSI Dive Con/Assistant Instructor, Equipment Technician, Safety Diver, Abaco Central High School Graduate, Honor Student, Recipient of The Governor General Youth Award.

Ashton Forbes is a 15 year old high school student who is doing a Summer Internship. He is currently working on his Advanced SCUBA Diver certification. He is also the Bahamas National Champion in Judo, in his weigh class, and will soon be going to International competition.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Three years ago was the first visit to Little Dix Bay and since then I have renewed my SCUBA certification and gone diving around a half a dozen times. I was first certified almost exactly thirty years ago and after a long time out of the water it was good to finally be back. Yet, for some reason BVI has stood out as having a magic that I have yet to find elsewhere and I did not even have to have a tank on my back to experience most of it. I remember vividly from our first trip that it would seem every time I entered the water I would see something completely new to me and on this second visit there was no exception.

With just a snorkel in the bay I saw my first spotted eagle ray. Stingrays are common, you can see a lot of them in the bay and after being at Stingray City in Grand Cayman (where they are simply enormous and you have an opportunity to feed them by hand) they do not seem so scary anymore. Yet, the eagle ray caught me by complete surprise as it literally circled me before heading out further than I could see. The tail on it was enormous – maybe making it around 15 feet long in total – and though the tail might be pencil thin having something that big in the water not very far away was something that never happened to me before.

Spotted Eagle Ray

Although common in the bay it is the first time I really paid attention to the Flamingo Tongue Snails. The interesting fact about these little creatures is “when it is alive, the snail appears bright orange-yellow in color with black markings. However, these colors are not in the shell, but are only due to the thin flaps of live mantle tissue which usually cover the shell. The mantle flaps can be retracted, exposing the shell, but this usually happens only when the animal is attacked.”

Flamingo Tongue Snails

You need to have quick eyes to catch sight of the Caribbean Reef Squid. They move pretty quickly but more problematic is they blend in quite well to their surroundings as they float and hover rather than swim like a fish.

Caribbean Reef Squid

There was certainly a lot more to see in the bay but the most amazing encounter I had was with a strange creature I have never seen the likes before anywhere else. It was only in around maybe eight feet of water and looking down at the sandy bottom I saw what looked like some kind of hook yet it had an organic ‘feel’ to it. Not knowing if it was alive I swam vertical and ever so gently brushed my fin near the top of it. When I did this its fins popped out and it moved a little. Well, obviously it is alive but I still had no idea what it is. I took a couple of photos and later headed over to the Dive BVI shop where Paul, the dive master I had on my dive the previous day, happened to be behind the desk. At first he looked puzzled but at least he had a reference for what it might be. He looked in his book to check his idea and indeed it seems to be some kind of batfish. We have yet to identify exactly what kind it was but checking into the species a little bit this one seemed to have traveled very far from its normal hiding place in the darkness of very deep water. I attempted to go out and find it again to get a few more photos but I did not have any luck. For all I know I might have passed over it several times and simply did not see it again!

Batfish

In deeper waters, at least for me, I managed to see something else new – my first shark experience ever while diving at the “Wall to Wall” site off of West Dog. A nurse shark was hiding quite well under a ledge and I managed to only see the back part of it though others (of course I learn this after I am back on the boat) were able to see its head from a different angle. I thought all sharks need to keep moving in order to breath but I see that for at least this kind of shark it is “able to respire while stationary by pumping water through their mouths and out gills.”

Nurse Shark

Going in August the island is indeed pretty quiet which is actually quite nice. The Little Dix resort at the time of our visit was only at around 40% occupancy and this makes nearly everything you do feel like you have the place to yourself. This is good for enjoying the environment but it can be just over the too quiet line for what little night life there is on the island and some restaurants are closed and others are open at idle speed. The weather can be unpredictable as Hurricane Earl came in for a visit not long after we left but in general, at least for our experience, things still seem to work out well. At this time of year it is not unusual for a quick thunder storm to pass through and now I know why the airport at Tortola is a dry only runway. When the rain does come it can arrive in amazing quantities that quickly turn any surface into a raging river – but only for a moment. For as quickly as the rain comes it usually goes away and one amazing torrential downpour we were in lasted at the most a mere ten minutes.

Little Dix at Night

There are two trails for the adventuresome on the property and though there is not much of a swing in temperature throughout the year the August weather does make them more of a challenge. In other words bring a lot of water with you! At the top of the Cow Hill trail there is a tremendous view of both Little Dix and the harbor as your reward. Three years ago on the Savannah trail we saw loads of hermit crabs whereas this time there were none. I wonder if some kind of migration was under foot the last time we were there?

Little Dix viewed from the top of Cow Hill

The Baths was a revisit on this trip and this time we visited it via the free drop off from Little Dix to Devil’s Bay. From there it was a 20 minute challenging and rewarding journey through the ‘caves’ to get to the Baths. If you go this way instead of by land you might still want to walk up to The Top of The Baths as there is a restaurant up there along with a couple of gifts shops with local goods.

Between The Baths and Devil's Bay

Speaking of restaurants, two of our favorites are The Mine Shaft Cafe and Rock Cafe & Sam’s Piano Bar. If you go to the Rock Cafe be sure to get there early enough to sit behind the main restaurant on the tiered terrace that is surrounded by, you may have guessed it, giant rocks with a water fall. The menu covers everything from pasta dishes, to pizza, to fresh seafood, and even burgers. It other words there is certainly something on it for everyone in the family.

When going to the Mine Shaft for dinner be sure to arrange your arrival to get there before the sunsets and get there with a reservation for sitting outside to see the amazing view as the sun goes down. It has an extensive menu including Caribbean dishes and the wings (Mine Shaft Suicide) are worth a try if you like it hot!

Sunset view from The Mine Shaft Cafe

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My previous experience with Arizona has been limited to the brief encounters on 15 heading west into the Las Vegas area or on 93 crossing the Hoover Dam out of Nevada just to turn back around. This year we made Scottsdale our base of operations, had amazing weather at the early part of June, and took three great detours to see other parts of Arizona while staying there. It is not meant to be a travel guide for the area but perhaps it could spark some ideas for planning your own visit.

First Detour: Sedona

We were all up and out just a little past our target time of 8:00 AM to leave for Sedona. It was pretty close to a two hour drive from Scottsdale to get there and one of the first things you notice after getting on 17 going north is your not anywhere near the East Coast anymore with a speed limit of 75 miles an hour. Though we certainly have our share of crazy drivers who think this is the norm it feels strange to be pushing the rental this fast just to get up to the limit!

The trip itself is interesting as you see all of the saguaro cacti as you start out change into grass lands as you reach higher elevations. If you have an external temperature sensor in your car you will see that start to swing lower as well. The most striking change, however, is when you reach those final miles getting into Sedona as the red rocks appear out of no where in the distant ‘mountains’. You truly enter a different world by the time you park your car in Sedona to begin your adventure.

Our ‘Sedona Moment’ was having our guide get to our meeting point at exactly the same time we did. Meeting at the Hilton Sedona, Näthan Gangadean from Sedona Private Guides was our adventure guide charged with taking us around all that is Sedona. Soon we were off in his car to our first stop of Bell Rock. With this being a bit of a whirlwind orientation tour we only walked the path to just the base of the rock and our moment of reflection began. People seem to approach the feeling of Sedona from many different angles; energy meridians, vortexes, and so on. I believe the trouble with finding the right description is we simply have not evolved enough to be able to measure why this place is different. Do read the books, do listen to the experts, and above all find what works for you. Besides the physical dangers of doing something stupid climbing the sandstone there are certainly no bad vortexes to steer away from. The best explanation I have heard of the so called bad vortexes are areas of the land that promote introspection. It would seem that this could be interpreted as a negative experience by some yet quiet introspection can be extremely valuable, so again, find what works for you.

View From the Chapel of the Holy Cross

As we traveled about we saw many sights. The Chapel of the Holy Cross is a must visit and while you are up there you will have an overhead view of one of the most interesting pieces of over the top architecture in Sedona – be sure to take the time to scratch your head wondering how they got that one past the town planners. For lunch we packed a wonderful meal from New Frontiers Natural Martketplace (and for me it was a Vortex Veggie Sandwich plus GT’s Raw Organic Kombucha #9) and ate in the park near Oak Creak. After eating we dipped our feet in the cool waters and had probably the best view of Cathedral Rock you could ever hope for. One of the last stops we made before doing some shopping was to visit the Airport Mesa. The view was simply tremendous and no matter how wide of a lens I tried there was no way to capture the feel of the land before us.

Leaving Sedona I had a true sense of being cleansed. I felt lighter and was looking even more forward to life ahead. Perhaps it could have been just being outside and walking around all day but sleep for some of us was more deep and fulfilling than it has been in recent memories. I am already looking forward to returning at some point and next time I want to go deep into the experience of Sedona with a long hike and meditation and end the day seeing the sun set from the Airport Mesa.

Montezuma Castle National Monument

On the way back from Sedona we made a quick stop at Montezuma Castle National Monument. An amazing site and even more amazing to hear that the structure home to a mere 35 people. For a virtual tour of the inside (which is no longer accessible by the public) go to the National Park Service’s site.

Second Detour: A Balloon Ride

Getting up super early we actually made it out of the house near on time at 4:50 AM and met up with Hot Air Expeditions at the Deer Valley airport parking lot. There we met another couple going on the same ride with the four of us and got into the van to be driven over to the launch site maybe 20 minutes away. As soon as we got to the site the crew trucks came in right behind us and started to set up. The baskets moved into position, the balloons were unrolled, and soon the fans started inflating them on their sides as much as possible before firing up the propane. With people that obviously do this very often the process is smooth and goes by in the blink of an eye. It is amazing how very little time it takes when the fire is turned on before the balloons lift to their vertical positions and you need to climb into the baskets to give weight for a controlled takeoff.

Hot Air Expeditions

The transition between the ground and liftoff was almost non-existent. At one moment you see the crew still hanging around the basket on the ground and the next moment you look around you see the other balloons still inflating from an ever growing distance. It has been probably 30 years since my first and last balloon experience and it truly is something you will never forget in your lifetime. The peace of the flight is only interrupted by the extreme heat of the propane blast into the balloon to either gain or maintain altitude.

For those who have never been in a balloon before the wind tells the balloon where to go and the only control a pilot has is to change altitude in hope of catching a different direction. If there are balloons up ahead of you they are a great source of information and if you are the lead balloon (as we were) then you are on your own.

Ballooning in Arizona

For the trip we flew at different altitudes taking in both close views of the beauty of the desert, including the wildlife, and tremendous vistas of the surrounding area. Flying over a desert makes for an interesting landing challenge. As barren as a desert might seem it is truly hard to find a place large enough, flat enough, and especially free enough from saguaro to make a landing. Oh, and did I mention the rocks? When we did come down they were doing their best to keep the basket in one place as the balloon still had a different idea with the gentle wind of the morning. Though it seemed like we would tip over that moment never came and touch down was complete!

The crew van was minutes away and soon a breakfast table of celebration was prepared at our landing site. It was a wonderful experience in all ways possible – from the weather of the morning, to the crew and pilots, to all that we saw during the flight, and of course what it feels like to be in a balloon to begin with. Be it in Arizona, or somewhere else in your travels, find a way to make this experience a part of your life.

Third Detour: West Rim of the Grand Canyon

At 7:00 AM and were driven to the Deer Valley Airport for our Grand Canyon West Rim Adventure Tour by Westwind Air Service. After checking in and waiting for some other people to arrive we soon boarded our eight seater plane and headed out to the canyon. It was about a one hour flight that took us over an ever changing landscape until we reached our destination.

Upon landing we got weighed in for our helicopter ride and I managed to get front seat status! Cool! From there it was not long before we headed over to the helicopter pads and boarded for an amazing ten minute flight down to the bottom of the canyon. Thus far I am surprised at the pace of the tour as everything is moving very fast for, as we touched down and got out, we walked straight down a hundred stone steps or so to a pontoon boat waiting to for a fifteen minute ride on the Colorado river. The water at this point in the river is about 18 feet deep and though the white water is probably 40 to 50 miles away from here the current is still noticeably fast moving somewhere above 10 miles an hour. The boat trip was smooth and peaceful and of course the fifteen minutes pasted in the blink of an eye. Our boat captain brought a bucket of the river water on deck for us to feel the cool temperature and splash some on our foreheads for good luck and offered answers to any questions we could think of in the short period of time we had with him.

Getting off the boat we walked back up the stairs and almost immediately boarded a helicopter for the ten minute journey back to where we started. Yes, our trip to visit the bottom of the canyon was indeed quick but was is more amazing is seeing just how many trips were being made. The helicopters were literally on the ground for perhaps three of four minutes total. It was a constant shuffle back and forth and the tour we were on was obviously not the only one taking place in the area either.

Back up at the airport we had some down time to poke around the gift shop while waiting for the bus to be ready that would take us on the next leg of our adventure. The trip to Eagle Point was only about ten minutes and of course the big attraction there was the Skywalk. Our pilot, who would be following us for the rest of the trip as well, informed us no cameras were allowed on the Skywalk anymore. It seems that at some point someone dropped one and chipped the glass surface. This would not be a safety hazard but given the cost of the glass panes  it would be a maintenance nightmare so I guess it is understandable. The good news is that our pilot offered to hold our camera for a photo from afar and photos where available for purchase from the skywalk itself.

Upon entering the building we headed to the Skywalk where we lockered the rest of our belongings, past through the metal detector, donned our disposable booties, and finally walked out above the canyon. It is truly an amazing experience but not scary at all. Despite the extreme height of the walk there is no reference point for anything familiar so the perception of depth is almost impossible. We did get photos taken when we were on the walk and our photographer said that during the winter they collected a trash bin of snow and dumped it over the edge. It took a full ten seconds to hit the bottom and when it did it looked like a dot and sounded like a shotgun blast.

Leaving the walk we took some of our own photos overlooking the eagle formation in the canyon across the way and soon boarded the bus to our next stop – Guano Point. Here we had lunch sitting at a table outside where maybe thirty feet away was a drop to the bottom of the canyon. Being on an Indian Reservation there are no safety fences or such and the view is 100% available to be taken in. It was truly a one in a life time experience sitting down to eat with that kind of view.

Guano Point

After lunch we walked out to the edge of Guano Point where our pilot became our personal tour guide cluing us in on some great photo spots, telling us interesting facts he knew about the area, and probably most importantly –showing us the best ways to climb on the rocks. He told us the story of the car wreck (that dark brown dot at the bottom of the ‘V’ shaped out crop of rock you see in the middle of the photo above) you can see at the bottom of the canyon at one point – how it was part of a film shoot and of course I forget what the name of the movie was – and various other points of interest. The tour in general was spectacular, however, the way the pilot seemed to go out of his way to always keep track of us (which must be a huge challenge in itself given both the enormity of the areas and the other people visiting from various tours and self guided trips) and to guide us to special areas we simply would not have experienced just wondering on our own made the whole experience over the top.

The bus took us back to the airport and soon our pilot collected all eight people that were on the tour together and we were off. With an early start it was a tiring day already and though it was sad to leave the amazing sights we saw we were ready for our flight back. I would definitely use the tour service again and perhaps next time take advantage of seeing a different part of the Grand Canyon.

Fourth Detour: Food

If you are in the Scottsdale or Phoenix areas look up my reviews on Yelp to see some great places to try. The surprise of Scottsdale was the Pinnacle Grill. Of all the places we tried this will be the most missed and a certain return whenever back in the area. For Phoenix, yes, I did have The Big Unit at Alice Cooperstown!

The Big Unit

Growing up in the Tri-State Region area I certainly knew what a cheesesteak was. My mother was probably the first to serve me one and in my older years I made more than a few of my own with, dare I say, Steak-umms. The thoughts of those years make me cringe at present day as my diet has changed drastically. I believe I eat a lot better than I did in my earlier days and always strive for constant improvement in at least understanding how to treat my body better. For the most part my allergies (not including quinine) are gone and I rarely, if ever, get a cold anymore.

So, where does the great cheesesteak smackdown fit into all of this? Zig-zagging was brought to Tony’s life by Sage Robbins and as I went through my master cleanse a couple of months ago I enjoyed watching the Travel Channel making my own wish list of zigs. (or are they zags?) The first road trip was an adventure to where the cheesesteak began – Philadelphia. No, I am certainly not craving the taste from all of those years ago, but I am fascinated with what has become a piece of American history. The bottom line is if you are going to take in the early part of American history while you visit Philadelphia, do take the less than 1.5 mile detour away from the Liberty Bell to see where the cheesesteak phenomenon took root.

Liberty Bell

The story seems to be that Pat and Harry Olivieri invented the cheesesteak and sold it at their hotdog stand in the south Philadelphia Italian Market. Due to the success the of the public’s response Pat decided to open up a store called Pat’s King of Steaks dedicated to the sandwich in 1930 on the same site it is today at 1237 East Passyunk Avenue.

When you come to visit Pat’s you will probably see quite a crowd surrounding the place but do not let this deter your resolve to buy a cheesesteak from the source!

Pat's King of Steaks

The lines move very quickly as the 80 years of experience seem to have certainly paid off at least in the form of efficiency. When you are close to the ordering window you will have a set of instructions you can follow to help keep things moving fast.

How to Order a Steak

Of course just when you have finished all of your practicing, and have your money ready, you then get confused when you see the array of options to choose from. No worries, as the panic passes quickly – just let your hunger choose for you and sit back and enjoy the experience.

Pat's King of Steak Menu

In what seems to be an instant after you place your order and tender your money you will then have your little piece of American history in hand. If you so desire you can move onto to the next window to order something to drink or some fries to go ‘wit’ your steak. Otherwise, find a seat or eat it standing and be sure to take it all in while it is still warm.

A Cheesestake from Pat's King of Steaks

Okay, enough of the original! For this to be a smackdown there needs to be competition, and competition there is only a street crossing away. Looking from Pat’s front step you can see the following:

Geno's Steaks

Geno’s Steaks was founded a staggering 36 years after Pat’s in 1966. The output is generally the same with the following exceptions: Pat chops his steak before it is put on the bun whereas Gino’s are layered pieces of steak and in either case they are similar in thickness. Pat also seems to have a much larger menu of options for how you can build out your desire whereas Gino seems to stick to the core values of what makes a cheesestake a cheesestake.

Beyond the food at Geno’s there are some interesting other facts about the establishment. First, at least when we were there the police seemed to prefer eating there. Yes, it could be the fact that the founder, Joe Vento, is a supporter of the family of murdered police officer Daniel Faulkner, or it could be the food. I made no attempt at polling the officers there but one thing is for sure: Gino’s has a vocal opinion on America and is proud to display it boldly.

Proud to be an American

In fact they went as far as to post a sign near the ordering counter that reads, “This is America, when ordering ‘speak english’.” It seems it has sparked controversy as some people call it discrimination. I find this amazing for if I where in the Netherlands would it be discrimination if they asked me to speak Dutch when ordering? I do not think so. To me the sign does not mean you are not welcome. To me it means, for goodness sake, try to communicate in the language people are using behind the counter! No matter the course of your beliefs on the subjects it has all come together quite well to make Gino’s have quite a name for ‘steaking’ ground right across from Pat’s.

So, the battle took place. Going in, I knew one chopped its meat, the other one did not, and one of them was the originator of the meal. I did not know which was which up front, and we tried Gino’s first. It was strange to have the cheesesteak taste in my mouth after a pause of probably 25 years but I must say it was quite good indeed. Looking at the sandwich I saw that Gino’s was the one that did not chop its steak and moving onto Pat’s I thought it would be a slam dunk that they would be better.

To our surprise (that is the both of us that were in the smackdown together agreed without a doubt) we found Gino’s a much better experience overall. That is not only was the food better, but from ordering to the way the cheesesteaks were handed to us (wrapped as opposed to in the middle of an open paper) Gino’s wins hands down. No contest. Game over.

Later, when we did the research, I was also surprised to learn Pat’s was the original and came into being 36 years before Gino’s. The bottom line is if you are ever in the area my recommendation would be to try both. You need to try Pat’s simply because that is where the history started. From there try Gino’s to decide your personal favorite. Although the sign is on Pat’s building you certainly will not make a ‘misteak’ at either place.

Don't Eat a Misteak