Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • Ferry Wahkiakum

    Crossing the Columbia River between Cathlamet, Washington and Westport, Oregon (July 2012) It used to be difficult to cross the broad Columbia River between Washington and Oregon, especially as one moved closer to its terminus at the Pacific Ocean coastline. Even today with the Astoria-Megler Bridge near the mouth and the Lewis and Clark Bridge…

  • Belle Chasse Ferry

    Belle Chasse, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana (April 2010) I’ve been to the New Orleans area on numerous occasions but somehow the Belle Chasse Ferry in Plaquemines Parish had eluded me. Finally I made a special effort, traversing the Crescent City Connection bridge towards the West Bank, and drove down through the suburbia of Gretna before arriving…

  • Dry Tortugas Ferry

    Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida (April 2009) I’d wanted to travel to the Dry Tortugas for as long as I can remember, from the first time I noted a blue dotted line protruding westward from Key West on a Florida map. This marked a ferry route to Dry Tortugas National Park (map), perhaps the most…

  • Canal Street / Algiers Ferry

    New Orleans, Louisiana (April 2008) This video records our Mississippi River traverse from the base of Canal Street in New Orleans across to Algiers Point in April 2008 (map). This presents scenic views of the waterfront on both sides of the river from multiple perspectives. I tried to do the same thing on an earlier…

  • Cassville Car Ferry

    Crossing the Mississippi River between Wisconsin & Iowa (June 2009) The Cassville Car Ferry (map) crosses the Mississippi River between Cassville, Wisconsin and Turkey River, Iowa. Bridges across the Upper Mississippi are scarce. The river is wide and in these rural areas making it difficult to justify the cost of construction and maintenance of bridge…

  • Dorena – Hickman Ferry

    Between Dorena, Missouri and Hickman, Kentucky (April 2014) No direct roadway crosses the Mississippi River between the states of Kentucky and Missouri. In fact the river lacks a single bridge crossing for a distance of nearly 85 miles (140 kilometres) from Cairo, Illinois to the Interstate 155 bridge west of Dyersburg, Tennessee. The Dorena-Hickman Ferry…

  • Ferry to Beaver Island, Michigan

    Charlevoix to Beaver Island Ferry Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000) There are two ways to get to Beaver Island (map), by air or by boat. We took the ferry from Charlevoix at the northwest corner of Michigan’s lower peninsula (map). Regular service was provided by the Beaver Island Boat Company although the schedule varied…

  • Aircraft Carrier, Part 8 (Other Spaces and Places)

    I certainly enjoyed my all-too-brief time on the USS John C. Stennis and hopefully I can get another opportunity to do it again someday.  However, all things must end so I’ll tie-up a few remaining threads so we can move on to further adventures. Museum A museum on an aircraft carrier?  Sure, why not.  Behind…

  • Aircraft Carrier, Part 7 (Always Working)

    The USS John C. Stennis had only been out to sea for a couple of days when we visited.  Morale remained high with the crew so early into their voyage, with absolute professionalism in whatever jobs they performed.  We watched everyday activities as they took place, the many parts that worked together keeping a warship…

  • Aircraft Carrier, Part 6 (Feeding Time)

    Jets roared from the deck of the USS John C. Stennis around the clock, the most visible sign of its power.  However, the ship needed thousands of people to keep this one vital function going and they all needed to be fed around the clock.  The massive effort to procure, load, store, cook and clean…

Latest Comments

  1. That was its original range before people spread it all around. Now it’s in lots of different places, including Oklahoma.

  2. I think that range needs to be expanded greatly. I’m in the Oklahoma City area and those are fairly prevalent…

  3. The law in the 1800s when most of the countries was being broke down into smaller one stated that you…

  5. Hi Mr. Howder — Just going from memory, I recall that your “rule” for counting a nation/state/county is “if I’m…