Owl of Vulcan

Thanks to Rob for another great card from Vulcan, Canada, showing

one of my favourites, an owl and the special Spock postmark from Vulcan ^_^

Sent: 13 May 2016   Received: 6 June 2016   Travelled: 24 days

Vulcan, Canada

Vulcan is a town in the prairies of southern Alberta, Canada, within Vulcan County. It is located on Highway 23, midway between the cities of Calgary and Lethbridge. The population of the town was 1,836 in 2011.

Vulcan was named by a surveyor for the Canadian Pacific Railway after the Roman God of Fire – Vulcan. Originally, all the streets of Vulcan were named after gods and goddesses of the classical world such as Juno, Mars, and Jupiter. The community was incorporated as a village on December 23, 1912 and then as a town on June 15, 1921. In July 1927, a major tornado destroyed many homes and the new curling rink in the town. That tornado was made famous when a photograph of it approaching Vulcan was used for the "tornado" article in Encyclopædia Britannica.

The town's name has brought some attention that has helped it become a tourist attraction. In the Star Trek television and feature film series it is the name of the homeworld of Spock and his fellow Vulcans.

Capitalizing on this coincidence, the town has built a Star Trek–themed tourist station (the Tourism and Trek Station), which provides tourist information, displays Star Trek memorabilia, provides unique photo opportunities, and allows visitors to participate in The Vulcan Space Adventure virtual reality game. Nearby, a replica of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek V has been mounted on a pedestal which includes writing from Trek alien languages like Klingon. The town has also created space-themed murals and signs, and hosts an annual community-wide Star Trek convention known as "Spock Days". This convention attracts hundreds of Star Trek fans from around the world. In 2013, the TrekCetera Star Trek museum opened in Vulcan. A plaque commemorates a Star Trek postage stamp issued by Canada Post in 2016, which was unveiled in Vulcan and which features Spock.

Source: Wikipedia

Yippee! A card from Vulcan! Thanks very much to Rob and Anaik who made

a special trip to Vulcan for the Commemorative Star Trek issue and the

amazing Spock Vulcan Postmark!! 

Sent: 5 May 2016    Received: 25 May 2016  Travelled:  20 days

Black Canyon

The Black Canyon of the Colorado is the canyon on the Colorado River where Hoover Dam was built. The canyon is located on the Colorado River at the state line between Nevada and Arizona. The western wall of the gorge is in the El Dorado Mountains, and the eastern wall is in the Black Mountains of Arizona. The canyon formed about 15 million years ago during the Miocene Basin and Range uplift. Black Canyon gets its name from the black volcanic rocks that are found throughout the area.
Source: Wikipedia

Thanks to Carol via swap-bot for this great card from Colorado :)

Sent: 8 October   Received: 2 November 2015   Travelled: 25 days

Worksop, England

Worksop is the largest town in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England, on the River Ryton at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. It is about 31 km east-south-east of the City of Sheffield and its population is estimated to be 44,970. It is also twinned with the German town Garbsen. Worksop is attracting an increasing quantity of commuters to the local area because of its close proximity of Nottingham, Lincoln and Sheffield.

Worksop is known as the "Gateway to the Dukeries", because of the now four obsolete ducal principle sites of which were closely located next to each other, south of the town. These four ducal locations were; Clumber House, Thoresby Hall, Welbeck Abbey and Worksop Manor.

Thank you Rachel for sharing a piece of your lovely hometown!

(which I'll file under Places with Funny names :P)

Sent:16 Oct   Received: 26 Oct 2015   Travelled: 9 days

Morchard Bishop

Morchard Bishop is a village and civil parish in Mid Devon in the English county of Devon. It has a population of 975, and contains a primary school, two churches, and a playing field with tennis court. Notable past residents include Ernest Bevin.

Morchard Bishop is twinned with a village in Normandy. It also has a garage,a post office and a pub called The London Inn, a surgery, a blacksmith and its own woodland. It is a peaceful village set in beautiful scenery about 13 km from the market town of Crediton. It is a vibrant community with lots going on: the village pantomime, an allotment association, a Ukelele band and football teams

Source:Wikipedia

Hehehe thanks to Christine for this Blacksmith Forge from Morchard Bishop

(which is a rather funny name for a village but then it's just me :D )

Sent: 15 August 2015   Received: 21 Sept 2015   Travelled: 37 days

Mars' Cheese Castle

Mario Ventura, Sr., opened Mars Cheese Castle in 1947. The shop's name was inspired by its owner's, as the name Mario comes from the Roman god Mars; the "Castle" part of the name was inspired by a castle in Italy owned by Ventura's mother.

Mars Cheese Castle has attracted a number of celebrity visitors. Rock band Weezer held a record signing at the store in 2001, and Al Hirt, Al McGuire, John F. Kennedy, and Johnny Cash have all visited the store.U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden also stopped at the store while campaigning for the 2012 presidential election.

Haha a modern castle and one with a funny name!

Thanks to urbexarchaeology from swap-bot for this cool card!

Sent: 6 July 2015   Received: 24 July 2015   Travelled: 18 days

Moss, Norway

Moss is a coastal town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Moss. The city of Moss was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. The rural municipality of Jeløy was merged with the city on 1 July 1943.
Its administrative district covers areas east of the town, such as the island of Dillingøy in the lake Vansjø. Parts of the town are located on the peninsula of Jeløy. Moss city has 30,723 inhabitants (2012).
The Old Norse form of the name was Mors. It may be derived from an old root mer- which means to "divide" or "split".

What a surprising card that came to my mailbox, I didn't pay attention to the name

of the city in the card until I researched it, so it is another great addition to my

Funny Name places. Thank you very much Marie for this special postcard of Moss :D

Sent: 13 April 2015   Received: 11 May 2015   Travelled: 28 days

Cocoa Beach

Thanks to Jenny for this busy scene! (swap-bot)

Sent: 7 February 2015   Received: 26 February 2015   Travelled: 19 days

North Pole, Alaska

The name "North Pole" is often applied to the entire area covered by its zip code, 99705. This area stretches between Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base, and between the Chena River and the Tanana River, including subdivisions off of Badger Road, a loop road connecting the eastern edge of Fairbanks city limits with North Pole city limits, and in the nearby census-designated place of Moose Creek. Despite the name, the city is about 1,700 miles (2,700 km) south of Earth's geographic North Pole.

The city is a summertime attraction for tourists visiting nearby Fairbanks and, due to its location on the Richardson Highway, those traveling to and from the Alaska Highway and Valdez. North Pole is home to two oil refineries, the town's major industry aside from tourism.

Haha thanks so much to Cecilia for this dear card from the North Pole, she understands 

my penchant for collecting cards from places with interesting names :)

Mumbles,Wales

Mumbles or The Mumbles (Welsh: Y Mwmbwls) is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay.

Mumbles has been noted for its unusual place name.The headland is thought by some to have been named by French sailors, after the shape of the two anthropomorphic islands which comprise the headland. Another possible source of the name is from the word Mamucium which is thought to derive from the Celtic language meaning breast-shaped hill. Its lighthouse was built during the 1790s and was converted to solar powered operation in 1995.The nearby pier was opened in 1898 at the terminus of the Mumbles Railway, which in its time was one of the oldest passenger railways in the world. The railway closed in 1960.These days the name 'Mumbles' is given to a district covering the electoral wards of Oystermouth, Newton, West Cross and Mayals

Thanks to Fjara for this postcard from Wales!

Sent: 30 January 2015   Received: 23 February 2015   Travelled: 24 days

Curepipe, Mauritius

The town's name, Curepipe, is said to be originated from the French curer sa pipe, which translates to "cleaning the pipe". There are several theories by historians as to the naming of the city. Some historians believe that the name was given as travelers and soldiers from the 19th century, traveled from Port Louis and Grand Port (now Mahébourg) to refill their pipes in Curepipe. Other historians believe that the name was given after a late landowner during the 18th century.

Sent by Angela 11 November 2014   Received: 25 November 2014   Travelled: 14 days

Whiteface Mountain

Whiteface Mountain is the fifth-highest mountain in New York, and one of the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. Set apart from most of the other High Peaks, the summit offers a 360-degree view of the Adirondacks and clear-day glimpses of Vermont and even Canada, where the skyscrapers of Montreal, 130 km away, can be seen on a very clear day. Located in the town of Wilmington, about 21 km from Lake Placid, the mountain's east slope is home to a major ski area which hosted the alpine skiing competition of the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Direct swap - thanks to Tamara for this lovely postcard with a distinctive name for

my Funny Named Places :D

Sent: 29 January 2015   Received: 10 February 2015   Travelled: 12 days

Pinnacle mountain

Pinnacle Mountain State Park is located just over a mile from the northwest edge of Little Rock, AR, in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains. The primary natural feature of the 2,000 acre park is Pinnacle Mountain with an elevation 308 m. It rises over 230 m above the nearby Arkansas River, which sits at about 76 m above mean sea level.

Thanks to Terry for this lovely surprise thank you card! I think I'll file this card under "funny name places" or "word names" but come to think of it a lot of places are names from words that ascribed to a particular place.

Sent: 13 January 2014   Received: 26 January 2015   Travelled: 13 days

The Cat Windmill

How does one look at a card?

I pick up my mail, I see the stamp, ok Netherlands

Then I flip to the front, windmill

Then I go back to check sender, ooh a friend

Then I read the message.

I scan it, then run around the house feeding my cats and dogs

Then I  come back to blog about it.

So now I read Zaanse Schans on the back of the card, hmm maybe that leads to something

interesting, Zaanse Schans has eight windmills all with their own names! So of course I have to 

find out which windmill this is

hahahaha

De kat, The Cat. I love surprises like this, if I'm not a crazy cat person already

now I am, cats always find a way into my life :3 Thanks Tony!

Sent: December 2014   Received: 12 January 2015

Sunset crater Volcano

Sunset Crater is a volcanic cinder cone located north of Flagstaff in U.S. State of Arizona. The crater is within the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.

Sunset Crater is the youngest in a string of volcanoes (the San Francisco volcanic field) that is related to the nearby San Francisco Peaks.

The crater is the namesake for the Sunset Crater Beardtongue (Penstemon clutei). Since it erupted about 1,000 years ago, scientists can't really count it as extinct. It's most likely dormant.

Damage from hikers forced the National Park Service to close a trail leading to the crater, but a short trail at the base remains.

The hiking trail below the summit skirts the substantial Bonito Lava Flow. This hardened lava is black and appears fresh as it has devastated the forest in its path. The lava flow also created an ice cave or tube that is now closed to the public after a partial collapse.

Thank you Cecilia for this volcano with a special name!

Sent: 13 December 2014   Received: 5 January 2015   Travelled: 23 days

Smuggler's Cove, British Virgin Islands

I think this is my favourite Caribbean card, after "Hell" from Grand Cayman!

Who doesn't like a card with the name Smuggler's Cove. 

Thank you Tom for this great addition to my Caribbean collection and also the 

Hummingbirds :D 

154th country

Sent: 20 November 2014   Received: 30 December 2014   Travelled: 40 days

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Quaint West Indinan gingerbread shops decorate Roadtown, Tortola.

Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a total population of 23,908, with 9400 residents in Road Town.

Local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named the island Tortola, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove" in Spanish. In fact, Columbus named the island as Santa Ana. Dutch colonists called it Ter Tholen, after a coastal island that is part of the Netherlands. When the British took over, the name evolved to Tortola.

The stamps on the bottom show the island profiles of Jost Van Dyke and Anegada.

Stamp on top is the January issue from 2014 stamp of the Antillean Crested Hummingbird.

Thank you Tom for the beautiful stamps and colourful postcard from Roadtown!

I love this view of the multicoloured stores, perhaps I should start collecting 

colourful stores or houses :D

Getting a kick out of the name of this town :p

Sent: 20 November 2014   Received: 30 December 2014   Travelled: 40 days

Pigeon Point, Antigua

Excerpt: This long and tranquil white-sand beach is popular with cruise

ship passengers.It is great for swimming and is lined with trees to provide

welcome shelter from the tropical sun.

Whoa a beautiful butterfly stamp series from the 1985 issue: 

The Zebra, Giant Brimstone, Jamaican Mestra, The Cracker and The Mimic and in the

top corner a Mesquite tree stamp. Thank you Tom for this card with a funny

name place! Here's a cheeky thought, I wonder if sunbathers ever get bombed by the pigeons?

Sent: 20 November 2014   Received: 26 December 2014   Travelled: 36 days

Bakewell, Derbyshire

 

The Old Original Pudding Shop

The ancient market town of Bakewell is home of the

famous Bakewell Pudding which has been made here

since at least the 1800s. Legend has it that it originates

from the Rutland Arms Hotel. A strawberry tar was

ordered by a guest, but instead f stirring the egg mixture

into the pastry,the inexperienced cook poured it over the

strawberry jam thus creating a pudding.

Week 20: 52 Weeks Postcard Project

Thanks for the delicious view of Bakewell :D

My first card showing a shop window of a bakery, I love eating

baked goods - Pastries,cakes cookies ^_^

Sent: 14 May 2014    Received: 27 May 2014   Travelled: 13 days

Bird-in-Hand, PA

 

Enjoying the sights at the launch of the Amish Country Hot

Air Balloon Fest in the heart of Amish Country.

 

Thank you Irma for this Funny name place from Pennsylvania!

Didn't think that the Amish would be balloonists!

Sent: 1 May 2014   Received: 15 May 2014   Travelled: 14 days