Visiting with relatives in Maryland

Several different things to do this trip. Last but not least we visited with my aunt and uncle in rural Maryland. They have a lovely old house on the historic register that I have heard about for decades. It was good to see them and eat Maryland blue crab cakes!

They took us down to the Calvert Maritme Museum and we went inside the Drum Point Light. The museum was a suprise. The local Calvert cliffs are a renouned area for fossils and the interpretation and displays were very well done. The weather is better and we were able to visit Sandy Point Shoal Lighthouse. Fun time.

Washington DC and Rebuilding Together Conference

What a great city. We spent Wednesday at the Smithsonian visiting the Native American building and just part of the natural history building. It rained all day and every day since, but we are not outside much with the metro just a block away from our hotel in Alexandria.

The Rebuilding Together conference was Thursday-Saturday and it has been invaluable. So many sessions and we wanted to go to all of them. Between the two of us, we did cover many. I concentrated on board, compliance and administration matters while Don took on practical and building related classes. If we can implement just a fraction of what we learned we will have a stronger affiliate.

The wilds of Virginia and Maryland

We left the Baltimore area for Chancelorsville Virginia. How remote can Virginia be? Well, actually, pretty remote. Lots of horse farms and lovely 2 lane rural roads. Lots of deer on the road to. I thought is was bad on the peninsula. From the evidence we saw, I wouldn't want to drive far at night here. No internet or cell service where we are staying, but it is a great lodge with two bedrooms, kitchen and a fireplace on a lake. Nice drive down visiting two lighthouses.

The next day we drove to the bay and visited Piney Point light and museum; and Lookout Point which was open for the last weekend of the season. We were able to see Point No Point in the distance from here.

Then it was on to Drum Point and Cove point. The gates were closed at Cove Pt, but they really should clean the keypad because Don could tell which buttons were used and scared me half to death when the gate started to open. I was too much of a scardy cat/anal to enter the grounds. Lovely drive through the Maryland and Virginia countrysides.

Monticello was the next destination. This plantation was on the top of a large hill and was very impractical for farming. There were terraced fields, but it was not suprizing that Jefferson died in debt if he was trying to farm a mountain side and build and then spend years extensively remodeling his home. We learned Jefferson was not the inventor we had thought, but he was an avid user of technology. The weather has been grand so far. Today it was 82.

We are staying in the middle of Civil War battlegrounds. On Monday we visited some of the sites. Although abolition of slavery was a just cause, and there was interesting history, the glorification of war and battle strategy was a bit much for us.

All day Tuesday was spent at the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport. Wonderful exhibit! We had a tour of the WWII section by a docent that flew in WWII. He must have been 90, and walked like a snail, but had great information and made all the planes in that section (German, Japanese and US) come alive.

We will be staying in Alexandria until Sunday. Great room with full kitchen, living, dining and bedroom. I feel like a queen here and we are a block from the metro stop.

Lighthouse Heaven

We flew into Baltimore yesterday on a very interesting flight. About 1/2 hr into the flight, a man collapsed in the aisle next to Don. The young man at the window seat next to me jumps up and wants to get out - in a hurry! We are quickly unhooking headsets, belts, books, drinks, etc. but the steward won't get out of the way so Don can get out. Finally, the steward moves when he realizes the passenger next to me is a doctor. All is well, the man was seriously dehydrated and passed out from low blood pressure. The doc had him drink 1/2 gallon of sugar water and apple juice. After 45 minutes, Don moved to the man's seat and the doc and the man moved next to me. He was able to walk off the plane. Needless to say, we didn't sleep much on that flight. But, if I ever need an allergist/internist from Vancouver, I know who I'll check out!

Today we visited downtown Baltimore, took walks in the countryside visiting six lighthouses and one light ship; and saw the last of lovely fall colors.

The Baltimore Aquarium has a wonderful pedestrian dock and waterfront area with numerous ships on display as well as the Chesapeake Lightship and Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse.

Lazaretto Point is now a cement manufacturing plant that is considered a non-public and secure facility. We thought the road was public, but no. We were able to snap a couple of quick photos before security escorted us off the premises.

We walked about a mile out to Turkey Point light through meadows, forest and along cliffs overlooking the bay.

It was almost sunset when we got to North Point State Park and walked out to see the CraigHill Range lights. The rear range light was very unusual with a square stone pillar, skeleton legs and a lovely lantern room. Check out the Bald Eagle on the rock below the tower. The front range is a great spark plug with and outhouse hanging over the rail. Cute but not environmentally sound.

Visiting Kauai October 2009

Ah the islands! Relaxing and beautiful. We arrived to warmer than normal weather and lots of humidity. Because of the weather, we weren't able to hike as far as we had planned, but we had some nice ones.

We saw many Nene Geese which are endangered and chickens were all over.

We had one bedroom condo unit between Kapaa and Wailua with full kitchen. This is the view from the balcony and one of the grounds.

Kiluhea Lighthouse is scheduled for a restoration. It is stained with rust and in bad shape so no pictures this time. We visited three others also.

Waimea Canyon was gorgeous. We got to the top and looked out over the Napali Coast in time to see a beautiful rainbow. We were able to duck the rain for most of the day.

After Waimea Canyon, we stopped at Island Tacos for the best meal we had the whole trip. Sitting out on a picnic table in the sunshine, Don had Kahlua pork and I had fabulous Wasabi Seared Ahi tuna tacos. Yum. Before that settled, we found JoJo's Shaved ice. It was supposed to have the best shaved ice on the island. Since we weren't coming back to that side of the island again, we just had to stop. Reports were true, true, true. Double yum.

I particulary enjoyed sunrises. We were indeed "up with the chickens" and they were crowing!! It was very peaceful and an amazing amount of people walked out to watch the sun rise. I even got Don up one morning.

Of course, my favorite past-time in Hawaii is still snorkeling. Kauai has a great website where you can see the wave report every morning. Using this, I had a great time safely snorkeling at Poipu, Tunnels Beach, Anini Beach and Lydgate park and avoiding the 8-12 ft surf at other locations. I was lucky to be able to snorkel on both north shore and south shore since October is a transition month. The bad part was since there are storms on each shore every week or so, the water was cloudy everywhere. But the moray eel could be easily seen. :-)

Cruise to Europe Conclusion

Arrived home safely after two days of travel. I am not going to make a scrap book of the trip, so I am enhancing verbiage and adding pictures to the blogs. It was a whirlwind tour, so this is helping me remember what we did and where! We want to return to see some places in depth. but are glad our first Europe experience was a "sampler".

Oslo, Norway

Lots to see in this wonderful city. This was our second time here and we stayed in the waterfront area. The opera house was a marvel of modern design. We visited the Resistance Museum, which was enlightening. My history lessons addressed WWII, but not the role of the resistance in any detail. The Norwegian resistance efforts were awesome.

We enjoyed walking in the sunshine through an old castle/fortress. I am so ready for summer after this wet and cold spring.

Sailing out through the fiords was wonderful. We sat on the stern in the sunshine with a bottle of champagne and a quiet dinner alfresco.

With all the islands, there are many lighthouses to see. We weren't able to identify the lights at the time, but since we came home, Don has identified most of the lights. They were manned to this day, well used and had charming cottages and docks. Most of the islands in the fiords of Scandanavia have summer houses accessible by boat.

The empty chairs on the street are in honor of the Norwegian Jews that did not return after WWII.

Arhaus, Denmark

Sunday is not just another day in most of Europe. Most shops are closed. Old churches that you can tour on other days are busy with services. We walked to the Botanical Gardens, visited a windmill and sat in the sun, listening to birds, admiring the roses and recharging our personal batteries. I must be ready to go home. I took very few photos today. Architecture held no excitement and neither did steak and lobster for dinner.

We watched the pilot boat get the harbor pilot off the ship ahead of us and then retreive our pilot during a glorious sunset.

If there is one problem with cruising, it would be the perceived loss of space/time. We go to bed at night and the next morning we are in another town. Although this allows us to see many places effortlessly, since we have no perception of travel, it is hard to remember where we are and where we have been. But, when weighed against not having to pack and waste days getting from here to there, I'll keep writing a journal or blog to help me remember! :-)

Warnemunde/Rostock Germany

Finally summer may be coming and only three stops left. Even the locals are complaining about the cold, wet spring. We keep washing the only warm clothes we brought, but today we could wear shorts comfortably.

We took a boat into Rostock and walked the town. Interesting brick shoes on the walk outside a shoe store. School must be out since there were plenty of kids everywhere.

We were charmed by the wall of bells above an open air resturant on the pedestrian plaza. They played lovely music at regular intervals that we enjoyed as we passed this intersection several times.
The old town is protected by eleven huge gates and four remain. Different architecture here with half-timbered houses and not as much gothic/renaissance influence. Great modern uses of cobblestones and pavers. I will miss the cobblestones (old and new) and intricate pavers of Europe.

When we returned to Warnemunde, we walked out through a quaint quay-side area to the three lighthouses which signal the entrance to Rostock/Warnemunde harbors. From the top of the lighthouse we could see the beach with lines of beach chairs, umbrellas and people. You would have thought it was Florida!! We miss hearing from friends and family.

Stockholm

This is our second stop and third day here. We were at a different dock, so we saw different things and didn’t have far to travel. Lovely buildings all along the water. Nothing new, just the stately, historic design that is common in the cities we have visited.

We were able to visit two lightships.

One had an underwater bell.

The Vasa Museum was amazing. It was the best single subject museum we have ever seen. The Vasa was a Swedish ship that was to be the jewel of the shipping fleet. It sank on the initial sail. After being on the bottom of the bay for 333 years, it was recovered. The many displays are comprehensive and far reaching. The bones of 25 people were recovered and their life histories are detailed from clothes worn, location found, birth defects, evidence of breaks and malnutrition; and mineral content of teeth and bones. There is one skull showing how facial reconstruction is done using the skull bones. The build up of clay muscles and skin and the markers used was fascinating. The busts of all 25 people are seen dressed in period costume. The recovery effort is detailed as well as the continuing efforts to preserve the ship.

I had to pose with one of the wooden statues. She looks like she is singing and needed a partner.

The carvings from the inside of the ship were recovered and are extensive and restored in wonderful detail. There is a great interactive computer simulation you can use to redesign/reload the ship to make it more stable. Don’s ship sank. I got a citation from the King on my redesign although he encouraged me to include more cannons. Fun stuff.

Helsinki, Finland

We are now headed west, so are recovering the hours of sleep we lost as we traveled east. Yeh. We were up early and wandered the city. It was a respite after the crush of the last few days. I was able to sit in a beautiful Russian Orthodox church and listened to the music in a hushed and relaxed atmosphere and appreciate the grandeur of the place. The icons were gorgeous.

We walked the harbor, the market square, parliament square with wonderful statues and visited a lightship. The rail and bus stations were grand and the oldest house in town is a museum we were able to visit. There are beautiful long park blocks, squares and churches. Things here are almost as expensive as Oslo and Stockholm. We got turned around a bit and were approached twice by helpful souls who directed us. Most people in the Scandanavian countries know at least three languages and are highly educated.

Lots of bikes again with wonderful bike lanes and a great public transportation system. This is a typical stoop. Lots of carved granite or brick and lovely porches or statues. The cobblestone walks were lovely. You can feel history as you walk through town but the people are genuine.