National Doughnut Day

National Doughnut Day is celebrated in the U.S. on the first Friday of June each year. It was started by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor their members who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I. Many national chains and independent shops in Las Vegas are offering specials today, including free doughnuts with or without purchase.

Postcard US-2317873 to Russia shows a Voodoo Doll doughnut, one of those raised yeast doughnuts filled with raspberry jelly topped with chocolate frosting and a pretzel stake, from Voodoo Doughnut which is an independent doughnut shop based in Portland, Oregon. It is known for its unusual specialty doughnuts, eclectic decor, cash-only payment and pink boxes featuring the company logo and illustrations of voodoo priests. Interestingly, Voodoo Doughnut also offers legal wedding services, with doughnuts and coffee included for the reception. I visited Voodoo Doughnut's original location at 22 SW 3rd Avenue during my Jetblue AYCJ trip to Portland, OR in 2010.

World Book Day

World Book Day is an annual event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing and copyright on April 23 every year. It was celebrated for the first time on April 23, 1995.

Postcard US-1828687 to Germany shows people reading books at a park in Portland, Oregon.

Free Cone Day

It is Free Cone Day by Ben & Jerry's from 12 pm to 8 p.m. With the temperature in Las Vegas reaches around 90°F this afternoon first time in the year, it is the right time to enjoy some ice cream.

Ben & Jerry's is a Burlington, Vermont based ice cream company, founded in 1978. According to their mission statements, the company promotes progressive values by making commitment to incorporating wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practices that respect the Earth and the Environment; operating the company under a sustainable financial growth; and initiating innovative ways to improve the quality of life locally, nationally and internationally.

Since their first anniversary back in 1979,  Ben & Jerry's have presented Free Cone Day as a token for customer appreciation every year on April 8.

Outgoing postcard US-2722693 to Hong Kong shows a photo taken at Ben & Jerry's main factory in Waterbury, Vermont on October 4, 2010 during the AYCJ trip on JetBlue. 

Spicy & Bold

I received this Starbucks advertising card from a friend today. The card shows a colorful new look for the Starbucks Anniversary Blend: Spicy & Bold.  What unique about this blend is that it contains aged coffee beans from Indonesia.

According to their online store, "Long, long ago, coffee traveling from Indonesia to Europe was exposed to fluctuating temperatures in the wooden hulls of sailing ships. The unroasted beans took on intriguing flavors, much like the rare Aged Sumatra in this blend. Carefully aged for three to five years, these beans' cedary spice notes and full body combine beautifully with other Asia / Pacific coffees - a celebration of the passage of time."

The Original Starbucks Store at Pike Place Market

The first Starbucks store operated at 2000 Western Avenue in Seattle from 1971–1976. This store was later moved to 1912 Pike Place Market. I visited the Pike Place Market location around this time in 2010 during my Seattle stop of the JetBlue AYCJ trip. The store had retained its original feel through the hardwoods, furniture, lighting and store front.

You can read more about the Starbucks® Anniversary Blend online. StarbucksMelody blog also had a post Anniversary Blend 2013: A Colorful New Look!

Pink Elephant Car Wash

I was in Seattle, Washington today three years ago in my last lag of JetBlue AYCJ trip. I had featured a postcard of Space Needle, the landmark of the city before. However, the most photographed attraction in Seattle goes to the rotating pink Elephant Car Wash sign, as shown on the postcard US-2283455 to Germany. The business Elepant Super Car Wash started in 1951 with locations in Washington, Arkansas and California. This particular location at the intersection of Battery Street and Denny Way opened in 1956. There is a nice photo that shows both the Space Needle and the pink Elephant Car Wash sign in the Most Photographed Attraction in Seattle blog. Gabriel Campanario also has a cool sketch of the sign.

The Alachua

JetBlue's AYCJ trip took me back to my Alma mater, University of Florida, on October 2, 2010. I flew in to Orlando (MCO) and rented a car driving up to Gainesville, Florida where I met some old friends and professors. Postcard US-1919616 to Finland shows the Marston Science Library on the right, where I spent many hours on campus, and the Computer Sciences and Engineering (CSE) building on the right. The bright-yellow sculpture "The Alachua." by artist John Raymond Henry was to highlight the relationship between the school and the host county Alachua. However, the $104,000 artwork was dubbed "French Fries From Hell" upon its debut in the late 1980s. Today, the controversy subsided and people simply referred it as the French Fries.

International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon

Postcard US-1830375 to Taiwan shows a variety of roses in the International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon which I visited on September 29, 2010 during my JetBlue AYCJ trip. There are over 7,000 rose plants of approximately 550 varieties in this 18,200 square meter or 4.5 acre garden, where you can see downtown Portland and Mount Hood in a distance.It was mostly cloudy with light rains in the morning I visited so I couldn't see Mount Hood. Nonetheless, the view of roses was not disappointing even it was near the end of their April through October blossom season.

The garden was established in 1917 to serve as a safe haven for hybrid roses grown in Europe during World War I. Today new roses are continually sent to the garden from around the world for testing of their colors, fragrance, disease resistance and other attributes. It is the oldest continuously operating public rose test garden in the United States. It exemplifies Portland's nickname of the "City of Roses" and the volunteering efforts from Portland citizens who contribute about 500 hours every year in tending the garden.

It was also listed in the Ten Things to Do in Portland by the Time magazine.

Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon

Postcard US-2436381 traveling to Germany shows the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon. The garden is influenced by many of the famous classical gardens in Suzhou, China, and features covered walkways (廊), pavillions(閣) and bridges (橋) according to the Chinese Fengshui design.

I visited this walled Chinese garden enclosing a full city block, roughly (4,000 square meters or 40,000 square feet), in the the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood on September 28, 2010 as part of my JetBlue AYCJ trip. It was listed as one of the Ten Things to Do in Portland, Oregon by the Time magazine.

Highland Light, Cape Cod

Postcard US-1829598 to Canada shows the Highland Light, the oldest and tallest lighthouse on Cape Cod, on the Cape Cod National Seashore in North Truro, Massachusetts. The photo was from my JetBlue AYCJ trip on September 24, 2010. 

The first primary lighthouse at this site was established in 1797. However, the latest lighthouse was moved 140 m or 450 ft to the west, away from the beach, to the present location in 1996, as it was in danger of falling off the cliff due to beach erosion. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

The Tower at University of Texas, Austin

This postcard shows the main building at the center of the University of Texas at Austin campus in Downtown Austin, Texas on September 16, 2010. I was traveling from Dallas, Texas to Las Vegas, Nevada that day on my Jetblue All-You-Can-Jet (AYCJ) pass. However, since JetBlue did not have flights to or from Dallas, I took a bus to Austin in the morning for an afternoon flight to Long Beach, California, then onto Las Vegas. I had a few hours around noon, so I took a quick tour at University of Texas at Austin, and had lunch in a Thai restaurant near the campus.

The Main Building is known as "The Tower" since it has a 94 m or 307 ft tall clock tower, designed by architect Paul Philippe Cret and completed in 1937. It is the most recognizable landmark of the University and the city Austin. 

In a massacre on August 1, 1966, architectural engineering student Charles Joseph Whitman, opened fire from the observation deck of the tower of the Main Building, killing 16 Austin residents and wounding many more. He was shot to death by police at the end of 96-minute stand-off.

The Largest Thermometer in the World

Baker, CA, 2010

The largest thermometer in the World is located in Baker, California, USA. It is actually an electric display rather than a tall thermometer since it does take the temperature by itself. It was built in 1991 to commemorate the record 134°Fahrenheit or 57°C temperature in the nearby Death Valley on July 10, 1913. It is 134 feet or 40.8 m tall and is capable of displaying a maximum temperature of 134°F. Both mentionings of "134" are a reference to the record temperature.

The photo on the postcard US-2293209 to China was taken on October 10, 2010 during my last lag of the JetBlue's second "All-You-Can-Jet" (AYCJ) program. I was driving from Portland, Oregon via Baker, California to Las Vegas, Nevada with a one-dollar-per-day one-way rental car deal.

Space Needle and Maple Leafs

Jetblue's AYCJ pass took me to Seattle, Washington on October 7, 2010. Postcard US-1812081 to Germany shows the Space Needle, a landmark of city, over the maple leafs during my visit. The observation tower was built for the 1962 The Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World's Fair) in 1962. The tower is 184 m or 605 ft tall, with an observation deck at 160 m or 520 ft and a a rotating restaurant  SkyCity at 150 m or 500 ft. In comparison, the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas is 350.2 m or 1,149 ft. 

From the top of the Needle, the panoramic view reveals the downtown Seattle, the Olympic Mountains, the Cascade Mountains, and Mount Rainier, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands. The Space Needle was designated as a historic landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Board of the City of Seattle on April 19, 1999. 

French Quarter, New Orleans

Postcard US-1677731 to Finland shows a typical art gallery at French Quarter, New Orleans, LA. The French Quarter, also known as the Vieux Carré ("Old Square" in French) and the oldest neighborhood in New Orleans, was the center of the city when New Orleans was founded in 1718. Although it is called the "French" Quarter, most of the existing buildings were built under Spanish rule with Spanish colonial styles. The French Quarter is a National Historic Landmark that has numerous individual historic buildings.

The photo was from a stop at New Orleans two years ago on September 5, 2010 prior to my All-You-Can-Jet (AYCJ) trip by JetBlue. I flew in from Las Vegas one way on Southwest, and left for Portland, Maine via JFK next on a Jetblue AYCJ pass.