Bucket List #1 - North America

I was inspired by KaiWen’s post. Instead of a bunch of activities my Bucket List is all about places I would like to go to. There will be a post for each continent because unlike Kaiwen, I just can’t cut it down to 20 or less destinations. Assuming I won $300 million tomorrow these are the places on my itinerary.

Appalachian Trail, Eastern US As far as I know it’s the longest hiking trail in the world that stretches 2,181 miles from Maine to Georgia. There’s even an extension that goes up through Canada to the ocean. It’s seen as the “Triple Crown” of hiking trails and whoever completes it in its entirety gains bragging rights for the rest of eternity.


Biscayne Bay, Florida Part of the Biscayne National Park, it’s home to Bottlenose Dolphins, Manatees, and one of the largest Coral Reefs in the world. 95% of the park is water and common activities include sport fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving, camping, and boat tours. Stuff I’m all about.


New York City, New York One of the world’s great mega-cities, NYC is almost a country unto itself with a life unlike anywhere else. Every culture in the world is present and makes its own distinctive mark on the city. Truly a melting pot!


Boston, Massachusetts Boston is a classic northern city known for its theatre and visual arts and boasts several of America’s top art colleges. I really like the look of the city, especially during the fall when all the leaves turn orange and red. I think it really complements the colonial architecture.


Cape Cod, Massachusetts Originally used as a landmark for colonists, Cape Cod has become a booming summer town with some of the best beaches on the east coast and a popular destination for sports fishermen. The beach culture is awesome.


Old Quebec, Canada Formally the center of French power in the New World, Old Quebec is the oldest neighborhood of Quebec City and I believe is the only walled city left in North America.


Baffin Island, Canada It’s the 5th largest island in the world and has a population of 11,000. Polar Bears, Arctic Foxes, Arctic Wolves, seals and many other animals call the island home. Amazingly, BASE jumping has become the favorite pastime of the local people.


Bay of Fundy, Canada The bay has the most extreme tides on the planet, averaging 17 meters. The shoreline is a national park dominated by a lush Acadian forest.


Badlands, South Dakota A wasteland of eroded rocks and dry riverbeds, the badlands have been home to Native Americans, homesteaders and deadly snakes. It’s also full of dinosaur fossils.


Everglades, Florida This is one of the fastest disappearing habitats in the world and I’d like to see it one last time before it’s too late. If you can get used to the heat, mosquitoes and plethora of incredibly dangerous creatures you just might enjoy yourself. =D


Great Plains, Midwest US I’ve always wanted to go somewhere that you couldn’t see anything but flat ground for as far as the eye could see. I think I’ve found it. Just watch out for the buffalo herds.


Hawaii Hawaii is the top dream vacation for most Americans for a good reason. It’s freakin’ awesome. I’d go to the beach, take a volcano tour, go jungle hiking, all that jazz.


Kodiak Island, Alaska While it’s mostly known for being home to the largest land predator on Earth the island is also recognized as having rich biodiversity. The majority of the island is covered in trees and mountains while the coast is settled by fishermen.


Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philly was the capital of the Revolution back in the day and is a cultural center of the US. The city is home to many arts academies, universities and museums. Gotta love that colonial feel to the city.


San Antonio, Texas As most Americans know, Texans have A LOT of pride for their country and their state. The Texan culture is unique I think, so much so that they might as well just be another country. I’ve heard nothing but good things about San Antonio.


Sierra Nevada, California I got a thing for mountains. These mountains have some of the best ski resorts in the world and are prime hiking territory if you think you’re up to the challenge.


Victoria, Canada I really like the look of this city. Something about it just grabs my attention. It’s a small city with country charm. If that makes sense. It’s located on Vancouver Island which is crawling with Sasquatches.

That's it for North America. Was there something that you think should have made the list? Let me know what you think. I'll update soon with Central and South America.

If I were president

As I sit here and drink my wine that I’m sure somebody spit in, I can’t help but think about how the world would be different if I were president. And heads up, I’m a little drunk right now. There’s no doubt in my mind that there would be several assassination attempt on me and I would have to go through several impeachment proceedings. I know this. But I would be able to get through it all by replacing the secret service bodyguards with genetically engineered super soldiers capable of catching a speeding bullet in their teeth. Yes. That’s right. Their teeth. I cannot stress enough how awesome that would be. Now that my personal safety is taken care of I could move on to national concerns. Seeing as how I won’t be legally able to run for president until the 2030’s it’s a safe bet to say that China will be the world’s dominant economic and military power. NATO will probably have expanded to counter the inevitable Russia-China alliance, and the EU will have grown. These are drunken visions of the future, mind you. The main things I would do in my one term:

-Form the North American Union (US+Canada+Mexico+whoever else) at any cost. Or we could call it the Empire so I could be crowned right then and there. Emperor sounds so much better than president. To counter the economic shift to the east, the West must become more efficient and innovative, something it has always excelled at. The combined resources and industries of North America could crush any other part of the world. No joke.

-Legalize gay marriage and marijuana. Seriously. We have bigger things to worry about so let’s just get it out of the way.

-Colonize the moon. Yes. You read correctly. I don’t mean a lunar base or anything lame like that. I mean a whole freakin’ city. And then we claim the moon in its entirety for the US. No one else can have any. I’m serious. Well, maybe the UK can have a little piece. And maybe Japan if they stop bitching about the base on Okinawa.
UN: You can’t do that America!
US: Oh? Well it looks like I just did! FACE! And if you got something to say about it then how about I stop giving you money?

-Withdraw from the UN. The UN is a worthless organization. It receives hundreds of billions of dollars a year and barely has anything to show for it. I say withdraw and form a new organization. Preferably of strong, secular, democratic countries to police the world. An organization that allows Libya, Pakistan, and China on its Human Rights Commission is a joke.

-Send my super soldiers to hunt down and kill terrorists. No prisoners, no mercy. People who walk into a place of worship and blow themselves up, killing dozens of people at a time are not human beings. They are animals and deserve to die like animals. Enough said.

-Lay the verbal smack down on governments I don’t like. Cuba, Venezuela, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, China, North Korea, Vietnam and I’m sure there are plenty others.

-Deny aid to people who messed with us. Sorry North Korea. Looks like you guys are going to starve over the winter. Sorry Iran. That looked like a bad earthquake but your pleas for help are interrupting my chillin’ time.

-Heavily invest in alternative fuels. I want flying cars by the 3rd year of my presidency.

-Become supreme master of the world. It’s been tried a thousand times and failed every time. Here’s my plan so far.
-Declare my intention to unite humanity under my banner.
-?????????
-WORLD DOMINATION




The plan looks pretty good so far. I just have a few kinks to work out and we’ll be all set. Any suggestions? After world domination I will lead the human race into a future of technology and expansion into space. Sounds good, right? Vote for me!

Things to do, people to see

A lot of Americans are fascinated by other countries. Everyone always talks about going to Paris or Berlin or Rome and yes, those are very nice places with a lot of history to them but Americans, and people in general, tend to overlook the special places in there own backyard. I'm from a small town called Beaufort, SC on the east coast of the states that also happens to be one of the oldest settlements in the New World at 400+ years old. And I went to college in Savannah, GA, a nearby city that was just as old. Despite the country's young age (which foreigners always seem to hold over America's heads for some reason) a lot of history has happened here, especially in the south east. French and Indian War, the Revolution, Civil War, Civil Rights Movement. I'm also a big fan of the colonial architecture. Even if most of the houses are rumored to be haunted. One of my favorite stories is about the notorious and bloodthirsty pirate, Blackbeard.


So what if he didn't finish grade school (truth), he still captured more ships and killed more people than you ever could. This guy blockaded one of the most important port cities in the Americas, held the population hostage, made off with a mountain of ransom money and THEN got a royal pardon! If that story doesn't get you some booty then nothing will.

Aside from the usual pirate stories and haunted house tours there are cathedrals and churches, synagogues and citadels, forts and plantations. Personally, I'm a military history nerd so I love checking out the fortress museums. But it's not all about old stuff either. There are at least two art museums in Savannah. One is for modern art and the other is mostly for neo-classic stuff from the late 1800's so there's something for everyone. Check it out if you're in the area!