MyVacationPlaces.com is proud to release another ”Guess this Vacation Place” picture contest.  All you have to do is be the first eligible person to guess the name of this vacation place according to the rules of this contest and we will send you $10 by Paypal (or you can designate a charity that can accept electronic payments via PayPal). 

Rules:

Must identify the specific geographic place and place name this feature is generally called……this is not a trick question, but we want to rule out guesses like “It is a lake located in Africa”, or “Somewhere in Northern California”.

First correct answer which is posted in the forum located at http://www.MyVacationPlaces.com or as a response comment to the MyVacationPlaces.com Blog at  http://blog.MyVacationPlaces.com by a user identified, wins.  Contest is solely judged by the webmaster at MyVacationPlaces.com.   If a correct answer is given, but the winning person does not provide information (like an email address) to make payment, then the $10 will be paid to a charity of MyVacationPlaces.com choosing.

At the sole discretion of the webmaster, we may occassionally drop hints on the blog and/or the forum, assisting users to narrow their focus on the correct answer, so stop back on this thread often. 

We really want to give this money away, so please give us your guess, and the first correct answer wins.

Other Rules:  family & friends of MyVacationPlaces.com are NOT eligible to win, not even if you buy the webmaster a beer.

Recently had a very nice stay at very nice Chalet located near Murphy North Carolina with Paula and Greg Lawrence.  It also happens to be at one of the listings here at htttp://www.MyVacationPlaces.com , specifically the  “Vacation in the Smokies” ad  “Beary Cozy Chalet”.   A friend and I stayed there for a few days and we would both highly recommend both the particular property, and the area,  as a real nice place to stay, if you are looking for a vacation place in western North Carolina……..and Paula and Greg were great hosts!!.   

We rented their place over the Labor Day weekend, and found it to be a great place to stay if you are looking for a place with:

Very nicely furnished, and very clean

Spectacular Mountain Views from the decks (which surround the chalet on three sides) and thru the very large picture windows.  The bedroom up in the loft also has a great view of the mountains.

Very relaxing, we also saw some great wildlife around the area, including several deer.

There are several very scenic rural roads around the area to take side trips, which we enjoyed too.

Here is a link to their ad, here on MyVacationPlaces.com, which has more details on how to rent, and other details.
http://myvacationplaces.com/Listings/in … ?a=2&b=112

I would highly recommend it.  The Chalet was very fully equipped and nicely furnished and the kitchen was also fully equipped - they even had a great Keurig Single cup Coffeemaker with lots of great coffee flavors to try (I happen to have one at home and really like it).   And the price was very reasonable for such a great place to stay.

Here are a couple of pictures we took while visiting:

Here is a doe and her fawn we saw, on the road just below the house

Side View   vvv

The Christmas of 2006 (as well as two previous years) were spent in the Cape Canaveral area of Florda.  Would highly recommend it, especially if you are in to outdoor activities like fishing, hiking, or biking.   In particular, the Canaveral National Seashore is a great place to see many miles of seashore which is not “wall-to-wall” condos or houses like so much of the US Atlantic coastline.  Within the seashore there are various access points to the beach.   If you are a surf fisher, or surfer, or just like beach combing, you should check it out.  While there, I noticed a lot of people bird watching and taking wildlife photos of all the waterfowl and other bird life (and many animals too!!).  Personally, I am into Saltwater Fly Fishing, and there is plenty of that too, in particular I like the nearby Mosquitto Lagoon, which has many miles of wadable flats, with a wide variety of fish.  If you have children, Orlando is only a little more than an hour away, as well as the Kennedy Space Center is very near.

Closest places for lodging are: Titusville, Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, and New Smyrna Beach.

By the way, the Caneveral National Seashore does charge an entrance fee, either daily or annual passes (Well worth it in my opinion if you are a frequent visitor as I am). Details on their web site: http://www.nps.gov/cana/

Dan   http://WWW.MyVacationPlaces.com 

Some other Pics

note: Guess what that “log” in the water - to the left of the dock?

I thought I knew a fair amount about history and geography, but I came across something that surprised me today.  France actually still has some colonial possessions, located just off the coast of North America, namely some islands which are commonly called “Saint-Pierre & Miquelon”, which are located just south of the Canadian Province of Newfoundland.  And you can drive there from the US or Canada, by first driving to Fortune, Newfoundland, and then taking the ferry to the islands.  In fact, here is the driving instructions on their website:From the United States of America Drive to Nova Scotia from Maine via New Brunwick. Drive to North Sydney, Cape Breton island, Take ferry to Argentia or Port aux Basques. Drive Interstate 95 North to the Canadian border, Trans Canada 2 East in New Brunswick to Nova Scotia. Drive to North Sydney, Cape Breton island, Take ferry to Argentia or Port aux Basques.   Where is it?

Some interesting facts about Saint-Pierre & Miquelon:

• James Cook was the first to map the island of Saint-Pierre during the summer of 1763
• If you go there, make sure you have your Passport, as you are entering French territory.
• There are more than 600 shipwrecks off the coasts of the area.

• You can fly there from several different Canadian cities.
• Saint-Pierre and Miquelon is in its own time zone with respect to the rest of North America (UTC-3) which is the same as some parts of Brazil
• The Euro is the official currency (although I saw that US or Canadian dollars are commonly accepted unofficially).
• About 6000 people live there, mostly of French, Basque, or Acadian ancestry.
• The only time the Guillotine was ever used in North America was in Saint-Pierre on the 24th of August 1889.
• During US Prohibition, the islands enjoyed a lot of prosperity due to participation in smuggling of alcohol to the US.
• During WWII, the islands were for a time controlled by the Vichy French goverment which meant that indirectly at least, by the Nazi Goverment (DeGaulle’s Free French forces did “liberate” the island in 1941 in a bloodless invasion).

To Find out more:Wikipedia Entry for Saint-Pierre & Miquelon