Category: Travel

Getting Lost in the World of Books

When my pal Marilyn picked me up at the Burbank airport recently, she told me we would be going to the Last Bookstore in downtown L.A.

I was thrilled. It was a journey I’d been longing to take.

I must admit, like Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird , I don’t remember learning to read. I’ve always been a book person, in love with words.

Reading the comics with Daddy

I loved reading the comics, and I’d sneak off to the variety store down the strip mall from my father’s hamburger joint at age 5 or so to read the comic books for free. Later, the pharmacist at the Rexall Pharmacy in Market Town used to warn me by saying “ A penny a minute rent!” before kicking me out of the store.

My sister and I were taken to our magnificent Carnegie library when we were young, and I was in awe as I walked up the steps and through the door of this Temple of Knowledge.

As I walked silently past the stern-faced ladies at the charging desk, I wandered through the nooks and crannies of the building, going up and down stairs, peeking at the homeless men in the reading room, checking out the action in the stacks before landing at my favorite books in the children’s section. I went for the shelf housing the Nancy Drew books. My sister went for the Oz books. I settled in to a corner to do some reading.

It was such a privilege to be in this beautiful building.

When I entered the Last Bookstore, I had a flashback of our Carnegie library. This beautiful building that originally housed a bank was constructed at around the same time. Now, as a bookstore, the wares were displayed by subject. There were comfortable chairs for reading. There was even a section with LPs, CDs and other media.

The fascinating element that made this bookstore different from other “normal” retail establishments was that the books were part of the decor. Not all books are now useable, so these recycled pieces of paper became sculptures to delight and stimulate the patrons.

Here’s a tunnel of Books: not destroyed but repurposed.
Going through the tunnel and out the other end! Brilliant!
A piece of art made from books makes the visitor gasp. How cool is this?!

As all book people do, it’s almost impossible to pass an enticing book without opening it!

It’s the naked truth: being a book person can be fun.

I’m still a book person and haven’t gotten used to the Kindle or other electronic devices. I enjoy the smell of books and I love to hold a book and cuddle it, as its words lull me off to sleep at night.

NEXT STOP: the California desert.

Sitting in the Saint Mary’s College tent

Where is Saint Mary’s and why am in a tent?

No, it’s not the circus, but it IS a circus in many ways. People are coming and going, fighting for space, and some have taken up residence as their home-away-from-home office. Students are offering flashlights, lanterns, food and drink. There is a line outside. People aren’t giving up their seats or charging stations. After all, there’s free WiFi in a land without power.

Saint Mary’s is my local college, a few miles down the road, famous for its basketball team and now a haven for those of us who are victims of the firestorms that have been engulfing our state.

The good news: our houses have not burned.

The bad news: we haven’t had power since Saturday.

I’m writing because this is just an example of the best laid plans don’t always work out as we’d like them to work out.

I’ll be sending out a post shortly – when the lights come back on – about a few days recently spent in Los Angeles and the Palm Springs area. It was a great mini vacation and will give you a glimpse of a wonderful area of California.

I’m also packing to leave on a very big journey soon, which will take me to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, then back to Hawaii. It’s not so easy to pack in the dark but I’m taking advantage of daylight as much as I can. I gathered my socks this morning, and when I get home, I’ll work on other items of clothing.

This year hasn’t been a big travel year for me, since Life interfered with some of my plans. I underwent surgery for a benign tumor and lost twenty pounds over night – instant spa! All is well on that front. I was also caregiver to a dear friend who lost his battle with cancer in the summer. Both events deeply affected any travel plans I might have had.

Now, healthy and hearty, though a little bit sad, I am ready to get back on the road.

Are you ready to join me?

Half Moon Cay: HAL’s Own Private Island

Holland America owns an island in the Bahamas and their ships frequently stop there. It’s a very manicured, polished and pristine spot and its purpose is to make this beauty  accessible to all, including older and handicapped passengers. There are large tenders that take people painlessly from ship to the island and large pathways to lead the way to the various areas.

 I spent a few hours there in the afternoon taking photos and participating in the barbecue lunch.  It sort of reminded me of Disneyland: better than the best, shielding us from the harsh reality of everyday life – in short, a perfect vacation spot. We have to return to the real world soon enough. Escapism can be therapeutic. 

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

One of the advantages of having a cabin with a balcony is watching the action of  the ship. We saw the workers on land dock the ship in the early morning hours without having to get dressed or put on makeup – such luxury!  

We chose to take an excursion to the middle of the island, where, high on a hill, we visited Good Hope Plantation, toured the house and had high tea on the veranda. The drive took an hour and a half and we were able to see the small villages along the way. The views and flowers of the plantation were extraordinary!

We returned to the ship to prepare for dinner and the evening’s entertainment but took a few images of the ship and its surroundings before going back in. I’ll write about life on shipboard in a separate post. 

Grand Cayman

We were supposed to land in Cienfuegos after Havana, but it’s a tricky port in the best of times and the captain has some technical problems so he decided to skip it and go directly to Grand Cayman. The staff busily changed shore excursions and refunds were given to those who’d planned excursions to Cienfuegos. People taking private tours had to cancel their excursions.  Some passengers were furious but most of us realized that we’d rather be safe than run the risk of running aground . It was a disappointment, however, since most of the people booked the cruise  to see Cuba. I wish we’d had two days in Havana. Perhaps some day HAL could run cruises with just one stop for several days – Miami or Ft Lauderdale to Havana and back. Good idea? 

Grand Cayman is a beautiful place with a very high percentage of income –  the richest in the area. The place is a tax free haven, with rich people from around the world hiding their loot. in offshore accounts. 

We took a tour called Land and Sea, which included a semi submarine ride to see the fish, a visit to a turtle farm  and a trip to Hell – and back.   Hell is actually a small area where one can see jagged black deposits, proof that this inland spot was once the ocean front. It was a fun and educational tour. At the end of the tour, we went back to the ship and had a beer and a piece of rum cake we’d purchased on the island. 



This is Hell, or so they say. It’s possible to  see the dark pieces of jagged rock if you look closely. 

Rum cake and beer is an odd combination but somehow it worked back on the ship at the Retreat. 
Then I went to the cabin and fell asleep!  

Havana on our own

Linda and I left the tour along with the others but asked our guide for suggestions.  We wanted to find some street photography possibilities- people and places a bit off the beaten path, the road not yet traveled.

He wrote down a name: callejon de Hamel.  He said to find a taxi driver, negotiate a price, and he would take us there. Linda also wanted to get a statue of Santa Barbara for her sister, who collects religious icons. This saint‘s day was December 4 and this saint is very important  to the Afro-Cuban cultural and religious community, so she was hoping to get one. The crafts market was closed today. Could she get one?  Could we do both at the same time?  He thought we could. He said that 40 CUCs was the going rate to do the trip.  

We waited in the street for awhile, then crossed the street, and eventually noticed a blue and white Bel Air convertible.  Was he free? He was. His name was Michel. Did he speak English? Yes, he did. We were off. We careened through the streets of Havana, seeing the blur of buildings and then he stopped.

This is the Hamel, an art and dance community outreach program! Perfect!

This young lady is playing with a small phone, above; below, our driver Michel poses in one of the rooms of the installation, showcasing the work of one of their artists.

The director and his son gave us a tour of the buildings. 


We found the statues in a modest home near the collective.  Linda chose her statue and we saw more street art. 
    We returned back to the ship, but first had a beer at the Plaza de San Francisco de Assis, as we watched the sun set on a glorious day. 

    Photos and narration of Key West and Havana

    After consulting with a young person at the front desk, I was able to take my photos from my iPhone and put them in my iPad without using the internet. How? Air Drop. I never really knew what Air Drop was all about but now I understand its purpose. Let’s see if I can make it work now. The internet service on the ship only allows me to use one device at a time..

    Enough talk..here are the photos.  Because  I had to share one photo at a time via Air Drop, I’m only taking the best of the best.  This operation is very time- consuming

    Key West:

    The Hemingway House contained his house, gardens and cats who wandered everywhere  throughout the premises.  Several of his typewriters were scattered throughout the rooms, with examples of his written word. The guide gave us a narrative about his life, works, wives, and engaged us with funny stories about his exploits. His wife Pauline built a pool in his absence on the property after she discovered his infidelities, which prompted him to bring in his urinal from the bar he most frequented.  He said that she cost him his last red cent. She took it and put it in the cement at the  pool and later had the urinal made into a fountain and planter.

    And now on to the “little White House”

    The Truman Annex was originally a government base but is now part of the state parks of Florida. The area has charming, immaculately kept bungalows with flowers festooned throughout the streets. The Truman White House is a modest two story home that holds many secrets, even to this day.  We were unable to take pictures of the interior, but the lower level contained the living room, dining room and den and the upstairs contained bedrooms, study and a sun porch that enveloped the upstairs and gave visitors a panoramic view.  It is used to this day by visiting presidents and other important government  dignitaries.

    Havana:

    Thanks to our view off our balcony, we were able to experience sailing in to Havana as the sun rose.

    We visited many places and participated in many activities on our Best of Havana tour.  Our first visit was to a community service center providing help to seniors and those with serious mental and physical issues, such as HIV-AIDS.

    After that we took a driving tour of the city, stopping at the Christopher Columbus cemetery to visit the graves of important events and people. It’s a popular place.  We saw the grave of Hemingway’s favorite bartender and the grave of a woman who died with her child during childbirth.  It’s now a grave where pregnant women come to offer flowers in hopes of a healthy baby.  We saw women come in the red car to give offerings when we were there.

    On our shopping expedition, we watched a man making a cigar in the corner of the factory store while frantic buyers gathered around him in the small room in their quest for the best cigars, rum, and coffee.

    Linda and I decided to look for souvenirs, which we found at a small kiosk near the parking lot for the bus. She negotiated for some trinkets with a handsome young vendor, and then we walked up the hill to see Jesus – the statue of Christ, that is.

    Our last  activity was a walking tour of old Havana, which showcased the beautiful parks and squares.

    We were given free time to soak up the atmosphere and see the locals and visitors in action before heading back to the terminal.

    Our tour was over but our time in Havana wasn’t.  Yes, there’s more. None of this late afternoon adventure was planned, but it turned out perfectly. I’m exhausted so I’ll continue this tomorrow. Here’s a hint of things to come..this photo is also the first one you see on this post, and  there IS a story.

    Sailing, sailing..on the Veendam: Cuba Explorer

    As I predicted to some of my friends, my postings on this trip are dependent on the ship’s internet gods. There is no longer a tech person on board so it took me two days to get online with a little help from one of the staff at the front desk.

    Today is Tuesday December 4 and my former neighbor Linda and I boarded the ship November 30.  Our first  port was Key West, then we had a sea day and yesterday we had a very busy day in Havana. What an experience!

    My photos haven’t yet been transferred via the cloud from my iPhone to the iPad, so I have no visual record as yet. I’ll be brief and explain what we’ve been doing and hope to send photos as the trip continues..they are uploading now.

    Linda and I met at the hotel in Ft Lauderdale, where we both spent the first night at the Pier 66 hotel before getting on the ship.  I came  from San Francisco and she flew from Las Vegas via her home in Utah .

    We boarded the ship the next afternoon.  I’ve sailed on the Veendam before.  I chose my old room, an inside cabin on the main deck, aft, but we ended up with an upgrade for a bargain price we couldn’t turn down,  so we are in one of the Vista suites, room 118, on the ninth floor, veranda deck, close to the aft elevator and stairs, which makes it very convenient.  We climb two floors up to the Lido, the casual dining venue, and descend three floors down to the main dining room, and two flights down to the entertainment venues, music and library.  It’s all good.

    The weather has been wonderful so far though it was quite warm on Key West.  We used the hop on hop off bus for our mode of transport there and did most of the tour via the bus, then hopped off at the next to last stop to visit the Hemingway house.  When we were finished with our tour,  I climbed  up the stairs to the top of the lighthouse across the street while Linda spent more time with Hemingway’s cats, then we made our way down to the center of town.  Unfortunately my map reading skills need improving, and we went a bit out of the way – not good in the heat of the day. I made another stop to tour the Truman little White House, which I found fascinating.

    Now a Florida State monument, Harry spent 174 days here during his presidency recovering from the rigors of his job.  All the furniture was original and showed a more relaxed way of life, with the only entertainment being a radio, piano and record player.  Unfortunately,  we were unable to take pictures inside but I hope to show you the beauty of the Truman Annex when my photos come through,  where people still live today.  It reminds me of some of the “ old fashioned “ military bases, like Hickam AFB, at Pearl Harbor, HI, where my sister and family used to live.

    We awoke to the sunrise as we sailed into Havana and took advantage of our veranda to shoot some early morning  shots.

    Our Havana day was full of activity.  We chose to take the Best of Havana tour and were escorted through immigration, money change  and customs before embarking on our tour.  The HAL staff did a masterful job in getting us all organized and the entire procedure went smoothly. A Visa is required which was given to us at our check in when we were in Florida, and the $75 fee was charged to our room.

    Our guide was Liban, a former professor at the University of Havana, specializing in foreign languages;  his English was excellent and his knowledge  was encyclopedic.  He managed to get us through the ins and outs of the tour with minimal discomfort and hassle.

    We visited a community project in an old Colonial house and had a demonstration of a rap song and dance led by some very sturdy seniors.  It was a great just  walking through the streets and seeing the people .

    I was surprised at the sheer number of beautifully preserved old American cars from the 50s and 60s in fantastic colors.  They were everywhere!

    We also visited the Christopher Columbus cemetery,  visiting some of the most popular graves and learning about the Cuban funeral customs and costs.

    We had a mediocre lunch at a black-and-red-and-pink nightclub venue down the street from the National Hotel.   The upside was that we had entertainment of dancers and musicians.  I enjoyed this show, but being confined in a black room, even with entertainment, in the middle of a beautiful sunny and not-too-warm day was not to my liking. Maybe if the mashed potatoes had not been so cold, I wouldn’t be so grumpy .  This was the only downside of the tour, though.  Everything else was well planned and very interesting.

    After lunch we went to the top of the hill to visit the fort, do a bit of shopping – cigars, rum, coffee and souvenirs – and got up  close and  personal with the statue of Jesus.  The views of the city were a little disappointing because the sun was in the wrong direction. Our last stop was a walking tour of old Havana, where we saw beautiful buildings and squares.

    We started our tour at 9:00 and we were dropped off at the ship terminal at  just after er 4:00 pm.

    We asked our guide for recommendations for street photography and art and he told us to get a taxi to go to the Callejéia de Hamel, in a residential neighborhood a bit off the beaten path..  We lucked out with an English speaking driver named Michel and a blue and white Bel Air convertible to take us.  He picked us up on the street outside the ship terminal. It was pure chance.  He drove at breakneck speed through the streets, and we saw blocks that looked like bombed out Beirut or Aleppo. It was quite amazing. Our guide pointed out, however, that the country has a 99% literacy rate and universal health care, from cradle to grave..even the buried is free – unless you want special flowers. The people we spoke to were universally polite and well-educated.  It was refreshing not to see billboards, though the population seems to be glued to their cell phones.  Internet is not universal but some agencies have websites. Change is inevitable . I’m glad we got there before McDonald’s hasn’t taken over

    The Hamel is another community arts project which involves the people in the neighborhood, specializing in art, music and dance  we were told to ask for Elias, and Linda wanted to get a small statue of St Barbara for her sister.  We were able to take fantastic photos  and also go to a modest house in the neighborhood  to find her statue.  It was a good trip,  and Michel the taxi driver found a new contact. He took the tour of the center with us! We all enjoyed the experience.

    We were taken back to the terminal and finished off the evening with a cold beer at a sidewalk café at the Plaza San Francisco, where the church  that Pope Francis  visted on his last tour is located .

    It was pleasant debriefing, taking in the air and watching the sky turn pink as the sun set.

    We will have two sea days in a row at the end of the trip.  We were supposed to land in Cienfuegos tomorrow but the captain just came on the loud speaker to let us know that we have some complications so we will no longer be landing there. We’ll be in Grand Cayman tomorrow. There are always surprises on ship, so we’re considering all the good things : we get to sleep in and we will have more time to enjoy the ship.  We are fortunate that this didn’t happen in Havana !

    Hope to send pictures soon.  Stay tuned!

     

     

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    Goodbye, Jekyll Island, hello Saint Augustine

    I’ll admit to a bit of sadness at leaving Jekyll Island. It was so peaceful and quiet, and we had the most beautiful weather. It was a perfect respite from the cares and worries of the world. We both loved it.

    We woke up to cloudy skies and a trek down freeway 95 to Saint Augustine. We arrived at mid morning and had a guided visit to the Cathedral Basilica  of Saint Augustine, which is the oldest parish of a permanent European settlement in North America.  It just celebrated its 400th anniversary. We strolled through St George pedestrian street, and had lunch of soup and salad at one of the oldest  restaurants in the city, the Columbia restaurant, founded in 1905 by Cuban refugees. With all the ornate tiles, it looked like a restaurant one would find in Andalusia.   The early Spanish influence can’t be denied.  St. Augustine has been conquered and fought over by rivaling European colonist powers, finally becoming a part of the United States in 1821.

    After our lunch we had a little free time, then boarded a trolley for an overview of the historic district.  We drove by Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth but there’s now an admission price to taste the waters!  We learned about the architecture and how various invaders built and changed the buildings through the years.

    We checked into our hotel mid afternoon then had a fantastic dinner out at  Raintree, a charming restored Victorian house.   The crème brûlée was the best!

    I didn’t send this post last night because the pictures wouldn’t synch up the iPhone to the iPad so  I’ll continue on with what we did today

    We started out the morning with a visit to the Castillo de San Marcos, the ancient fort, and then were dropped off downtown to catch the 10:00 tour of Flagler College.

    The college is named for Henry Morrison Flagler, a Gilded Age industrialist who partnered with John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil. He then dabbled in railroading, putting down tracks down the coast of Florida.   He built the Ponce de Leon hotel in 1888, one of the first of his luxury hotels along the east coast of Florida. This historic landmark now serves as the centerpiece for the college, which started admitting students in 1968.

    There are many remarkable facts about this place: it was the first major poured-in-place concrete building in the United States and it launched the careers of young architects John Carreras and Thomas Hastings, who went on to build the New York Public Library and the House and Senate office buildings adjacent to the Capitol in Washington D.C. It was one of the first electrified buildings in the U.S. – powered even before the White House.  Louis Comfort Tiffany did the interiors, with the largest collection of stained glass windows, including 79 in the dining hall.  There is a complete collection of eleven Tiffany Austrian crystal chandeliers in the Flagler Room.

    After our tour we visited the ATM across the street, then peeked in next door to another Spanish Renaissance building called the Villa Zorayda, originally built in 1883 by Bostonian Franklin W. Smith as a 1/10 reproduction of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.  It has a quirky and eclectic mix of antiques and artifacts including an Egyptian mummy wrapped in a cat rug.  This building was a private home, restaurant and club, speakeasy and casino.  It opened as a museum in 1933 and has recently undergone extensive renovation. Unfortunately, no photos could be taken inside.

    It was only a half block to our next discovery, the Lightner museums, which was originally the Hotel Alcazar, again built by the aforementioned Mr. Flagler, with an extensive entertainment area, including tennis courts, bowling alley and a swimming pool. The pool has been transformed into a wonderful café, which is where we had our lunch

    The museum’s holdings include pieces from the Gilded Age, as well as other collections that Mr. Lightner bought from people who lost their money during the Depression. He had collections in his home town of Chicago but no building in which to house them, until he visited Florida for recuperation after a bout of ill health. The Hotel Alcazar had fallen on hard times and so he was able to convince the city fathers to bring his collection there…and now it has a home. It has been catalogued and organized in three floors.  It’s billed as a collection of 19th century fine and decorative art.

    After museum-hopping much of the day, we returned to the hotel for a bit of rest before heading out to a charming inn for our final dinner with new friends.  After a lovely lunch, I ate sparingly…

     

    ..but I didn’t skip dessert!

    Tomorrow is travel day. Fortunately we don’t have to jump on the shuttle until early afternoon and will be home late in the evening.

    Hope you enjoyed our trip to Charleston, Savannah, Jeckyll Island and Saint Augustine!

    More Jekyll island: touring, shopping, turtles and Gullah too!

    After breakfast, we took an island  tram tour with historical commentary. Not only is there the hotel, but a number of “cabins” owned by the titans of industry, that were built between 1887-1902 .

    We were able to tour the three story home of the Rockefeller family. There were eleven bathrooms in the home, when only 10% of the population had running water. It is still a low key home without any ostantaneous furniture. The season was from January to March. There was no kitchen because all meals were taken in the Jeckyll Island club. The grandkids came and enjoyed playing on the island and spending family time together.

    Our lunch consisted of an ice cream cone from the town’s sweet shop

    After our tour we wandered around the shops and did a little shopping, then walked  over to the turtle rehabilitation center. This is the most popular place in the island and people come from all over the area to learn about the turtles and help in their rehabilitation. We arrived in time for the doctor’s rounds, where a volunteer diagnosed the problems with each of the patients and discuss their treatment. Each patient had a name and was in an individual tank.

    We came home to pack and get ready for our evening  meal.  We were treated to a cooking demonstration on the porch of a low country boil, which consists of shrimp, andouille sausage, red potatoes, onions, green and red peppers and corn on the cob. It was delicious.

    Fhe evening’s entertainment consisted of the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters, a group that, through West African narrative, song and dance, explained the culture of their people. These descendants from the  slaves were isolated on the barrier islands of Georgia, primarily  Sapelo Island, which meant the inhabitants  retained their language and culture longer than most because of their isolation.  Their unique dialect was studied as early as 1933 and was discovered to be complex, comprising about 3,800 words and derived from 31 African languages.  Their folklore and medicinal preparations are still used today. We were given remedies for the common cold and hypertension.  We all found the presentation educational and enlightening. They also bragged a little: they performed for the first inauguration of Barack Obama, have been interviewed by national and international news outlets and articles have been written about hem in periodicals, including the Smithsonian, who had a recent exhibition on their culture.

     

    It was a wonderful way to end the evening.

    Tomorrow: Saint Augustine, Florida, our last stop. Where does time go?