About Barbara Weibel

Barbara Weibel After years of working 70 hours a week at jobs I detested, I felt like the proverbial "hole in the donut" - solid on the outside, but empty on the inside. Searching for meaning in my life, I abandoned my successful but unsatisfying career and set out on a six-month solo backpacking trip around the world to pursue my true passions of travel, writing, and photography. My blog features stories about the destinations I visit, people I meet, the crazy things...Read more here....
  • Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
  • Angkor Wat Cambodia
    Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia
  • Hill Tribe Chief Northern Thailand
    Hill Tribe Chief, Thailand
  • Machu Picchu Peru
    Machu Picchu, Peru
  • Franz Josef Glacier New Zealand
    Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand
  • Olympic National Park Washington State
    Olympic Peninsula, Washington
  • Damnoen Saduak Floating Market Thailand
    Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, Thailand
  • Maasai Tribe Ngorongoro Tanzania
    Maasai Warriors, Ngorongoro, Tanzania
  • Lion Serengeti National Park Tanzania
    Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
  • Chichen Itza Yucatan Mexico
    Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico
  • Wat Xieng Thong
    Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang, Laos
  • Feast Central India
    Traditional Feast, Central India
  • China Shangahi Skyline Pudong
    Pudong Skyline, Shanghai, China
  • Honeymoon Beach Florida
    Honeymoon Beach, Florida
  • Great Wallof China Jinshanling Beijing
    Great Wall, Jinshanling, China
  • Lake Louise Banff National Park Canada
    Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Canada
  • pura ulun danu temple batur bali
    Lake Temple, Central Bali
  • Galapagos Islands Ecuador
    Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Although I have visited some downright unpleasant places in my travels, the majority of the places I visit are lovely, interesting, and entertaining. However, it is also true that some places “grab” me more than others. I like almost every place I visit, but occasionally I find that I love a particular place. This happened to me recently when I traveled to the northeast U.S. to see the fall colors. I liked New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, but I loved Maine.

Since then, I’ve been wondering why I found Maine so captivating. Of course, the scenery was spectacular. In Acadia National Park I hiked through vibrant red and gold foliage along craggy cliffs that plummeted to azure and turquoise seas below. In town I talked to any number of Mainers who live simply and maintain traditional values. Still, I couldn’t figure it out. Why did Maine feel so different? What was it about Maine that attracted me so?

Soon after returning home to Florida, I received an email from Brian Kliewer, an artist who lives in Camden, Maine. He discovered my blog and wrote to tell me about his latest project:

“I’m doing 100 small paintings in 100 days. All are for sale and you can probably guess the price…”

I was intrigued enough to check out his website, http://kliewerstudio.com. On his ‘About Page,’ Brian explains his philosophy:

“Believability is very important to me in my work, not just in realism, but in the emotional, human connection I often feel toward the subject.”

High Sun, Pemaquid Point, oil on canvas, 10 x 10, available from the Geary Gallery in Darien, Maine for $1,000

High Sun, Pemaquid Point, oil on canvas, 10 x 10, available from the Geary Gallery in Darien, Maine for $1,000

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Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine

Fall foliage at Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine



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For my final day in Maine I chose to wander south on US Rt. 1 along the coast, sampling the various towns from Penobscot Bay to the New Hampshire state line. I started in Camden, which one local resident described as “the jewel in Midcoast Maine’s crown.” It is a lovely village, with the requisite picturesque church steeples, sailboats, and a waterfall that cascades down a rock outcropping in the center of town before emptying into the harbor. Its streets are lined with perfectly manicured shops and brick-laid sidewalks lead to alleys and nooks with more shops and restaurants.

Camden Maine

Lovely little harbor in Camden, Maine

Camden Maine

Downtown Camden, Maine

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Remember the movie Funny Girl? The one starring Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice? Remember the scene where Nicky Arnstein takes her to Maine and introduces her to lobster? And she eats herself stupid?

Since arriving in Maine I’ve had lobster in just about every way it can possibly be prepared. I’ve had lobster bisque, lobster stew, lobster pot pie, and a lobster sandwich. I’ve had lobster atop a Caesar salad. But until last night I hadn’t splurged on a whole lobster. Since I will soon be leaving Maine, I figured it was now or never. My server suggested a 1 1/4 pound lobster, which sounded just fine to me. A few minutes later, she plunked down a giant plate in front of me. On it was an entire lobster – claws, head, body, tail and all.

Now, I’m not a particularly squeamish person, so the antennae and the itsy bitsy feet didn’t really bother me. My problem was Continue reading

My car is headed south now, as I gradually make my way back home to Florida. However I am still traveling in an unstructured manner, so when I came around the long curve of Route 1 leading to Penobscot Bay and spied the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, I just knew I had to stop for a photo. I pulled off Rt. 1 and discovered that there was a visitors center for the bridge. To my surprise, the tallest upright of the bridge houses an observatory in the upper tip of “the needle.” Five dollars bought me the right not only to ride to the top of the tower, but also entry into the adjacent Fort Knox.

Penobscot Narrows Bridge

Penobscot Narrows Bridge

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God was a careless artist when he created Maine. He did not dab with a paintbrush. He did not splash. He poured beauty over the State. Nowhere is this magnificence more evident than in Acadia National Park, which occupies nearly half of Mount Desert Island and a scattering of smaller islands off the coast of northeast Maine.

Acadia National Park Loop Road

Fall colors in Acadia National Park

I could live here for years and still not sample everything that Acadia National Park has to offer, much less see it in its many moods and seasons. As it was, I spent the better part of two days viewing the spectacular fall foliage, which may have been the showiest display in years because of the abundant summer rains. On day one I began by driving the 27-mile loop road in the eastern section of the park, which is the easiest way to see spots like Sand Beach, a turquoise jewel of a cove tucked between two rocky arms that is a favorite of summer beach-goers, and the historic Jordan Pond House, known for their tea and popovers as much for the view from their floor-to-ceiling windows.

Acadia National Park Sand Beach

Sand Beach in Acadia National Park, Maine

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