Looking Back

It was a very good year, the two thousand and twelfth year after the year of our Lord.

We began sipping cold Bahamian beer and eating conch fritters while watching a parade in beautiful downtown Nassau. A quick cruise from the Holy City in January had brought us there.  I'm not a big fan of cruise ships myself, but the price was right and "what the heck". It was fun, and our waistbands did not expand very much due to the excessive amount of food available on board.

In February we arrived in New Orleans for a look at the Crescent City the day after Mardi Gras ended. The trees were drooping with beads. We met an old friend and his wife there.  Don and I had been shipmates in the Navy during the war in southeast Asia. We met our youngest son and his significant other there as well. It was great fun walking the streets, dining at Cafe duMonde, and enjoying the art on the fence at Jackson Square. We encountered some dazed revelers on Bourbon as we walked to Royal Street to enjoy the street entertainers.  While there we used the city's famous streetcars for transportation. The National WWII Museum caught this history and technology nut's eye. The four days went by quickly with great friends in a charming city.  Then, it was time to fly home on a Delta BOGO ticket.

In April my dear wife had purchased Groupon tickets for lodging on a riverboat in Chattanooga, TN.

Grand entrance to the Delta Queen

Who wouldn't like to spend the night on a haunted riverboat? The trip to Chattanooga itself was quite eventful.  On this road trip our first stop was Augusta, GA, a city made famous by James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, or to some, the Masters Golf Tournament. We were interested in the great art collection in the Morris Museum of Art, which we enjoyed visiting after a lunch of barbecued pig meat. I would have loved to have visited the Confederate gunpowder works but, alas, the only thing left is the smokestack. Then, on to Athens and a visit with our daughter. While there we visited the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Atlanta Shakespeare Company, and the Bear on the Square Mountain Festival in Dahlonega. All these events were great fun, but we had to keep moving to honor our reservations on the Tennessee River.  The Acura's navigation system worked flawlessly, and we were aboard the Delta Queen for dinner.  Our cabin was on the second floor, or as hoteliers would say to sailors, the "02 level", and was quite small.  The last cabin to house a American president is on the deck above.  The Delta Queen is like an aging film star. She's a bit tarnished, has a few wrinkles, and isn't near as agile as she used to be. But, she still has charm and grace. We visited the Civil War battlefield, The Tennessee Aquarium, Ruby Falls, and we rode a train at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.  Our most interesting point of interest, however, was the Station House Restaurant in the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, with the singing wait staff.

Old Sacramento

May was a great month for us, as we ventured to the west to visit relatives.  We landed in San Francisco and picked up our rental Chevy at the airport.  Without a navigation system on the car we were relegated to using our cell phones which worked great. We spent the night in Castro Valley before doing some sight-seeing.  Our first stop was Sacramento,  capital of the state of California, where a part of the city is restored as "Old Sacramento".  Here we dined aboard the Delta King for dinner.  It's the sister, or brother, or sibling ship of the Delta Queen mentioned previously. I enjoyed the California Automobile Museum there.  However, I was not impressed with Gov. Jerry Brown's Plymouth Satellite. But, there were some very interesting automobiles and nostalgic ones like the shoebox Ford in which I learned to drive. We saw more family in Murphys, CA and had a nice dinner there. But the thing I remember most was the Calavaras County Fair at Angels Camp. This is where the jumping frog contests are held annually.  Mark Twain told us all about it. By the way, the record is now over twenty-one feet for a three hop jump. Castle Air Museum near Atwater was our next stop. As an aerophile*, I just couldn't pass it up. It was the first time I'd seen a B-29 Superfortress bomber inhabited by a ghost, but he didn't make an appearance during our visit. Yosemite National Park was great but crowded and the first place we paid over $100 for a room and had to walk downstairs to use a bathroom.  But it was an inn from the mid-nineteenth century. In Santa Barbara we saw more family who joined us from San Diego and enjoyed the Santa Barbara Art Museum. Interestingly enough it was market day, just as it was five years ago when we were there.  From there we traveled on to San Jose where we met more family, and some lovely nieces gave me a birthday cake. After that it was back to Castro Valley and then to Upper Lake to see more family before returning to San Francisco for our flight home.  We made a stop in the wine country to visit another niece and a stop in Alameda for dinner with a friend along the way.

We recuperated a bit through most of the summer until September when I realized a boyhood dream. I've always been a fan of stockcar racing.  And, wouldn't you know it, there was a Groupon coupon for the NASCAR Experience at a reduced price.  The famous Darlington Raceway is about a one hour drive from home, so we were on our way one warm Sunday afternoon. I had never been there but had watched or listened to broadcasts of races from there for over forty years. I went to the drivers' meeting and soon found myself behind the wheel of an 850 horsepower race car.  Needless to say it was the thrill of a lifetime.

Morning on Kauai.

For many years, Claudette and I have had the goal of visiting all fifty of the United States.  We have about seven that we haven't visited.  One of those was Hawaii. So when the opportunity to join a  tour group on a Hawaiian tour presented itself, we jumped (maybe not quite jumped) at the chance. We flew from Charleston to Atlanta and Atlanta to Honolulu.  Our tour guide presented us with necklaces of flowers which they call leis.  Much to my chagrin I did not get kissed by a pretty polynesian girl in a grass skirt. After we got to our hotel and were briefed by our guide some things became very apparent to us.  Hawaii is EXPENSIVE. Although several tours were included in the basic price of the tour package, many attractions were not. We could easily spend as much on additional tours as we had on the basic tour package. It was our first time on an organized tour.  I was surprised that all tour guides expected a tip for their services.  I suppose that the initial fee was to pay for the opportunity to give the guides a tip.  We did enjoy our trip to four of the Hawaiian Islands. Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii are true jewels in the Pacific and an ideal place to spread your wealth. If you're there, walk the crater of a live volcano, drive the Hana highway, drink some Kona coffee, eat loco moco, and o.d. on sunsets and rainbows while listening to the surf sing the siren's song.  But paradise did not last forever, and soon we were home again with Sophie.

We made a quick trip to New Jersey to visit more family, and while there went to New Hope, PA. New Hope is a tourist town on the Delaware River.  If you were a fan of the Sopranos you'll remember that the artist that painted the portrait of Tony's racehorse lived in New Hope.  We left NJ the day before Sandy hit the coast.  Lucky us.

Belly dancer in Istanbul

Sandy did have some influence on our next trip though. We were in New York's JFK the first day it was open after the hurricane on our way to Turkey via Zurich.  Going to Turkey was my idea. I wanted to visit a Moslem country which I felt was  safe.  Turkey met our requirement. Although this was a guided tour, it was dramatically different from our experience in Hawaii. Everyone we met was exceedingly helpful. Vendors appeared very appreciative of your business.  We enjoyed the Grand Bazaar, Topkapi, Istanbul, Ephesus, Troy, Ankara, and Gallipoli.  Our tour covered over 1400 miles, and we saw the ruins of ancient cities, enjoyed extraordinary foods, and saw the manufacture of hand made pottery and hand-knotted rugs. Belly dancers and whirling dervishes thrilled us. Perhaps, the high point of our trip was the hot air balloon ride over the lunar-like landscape of Cappadocia.  Turkey is one of the places we would like to return to.

Upon returning home it was time to prepare for our annual Christmas party.  And we did. We delight in having our friends at our house for Christmas.   Also in December four children appeared.

It was probably our best year ever, made all the more special by seeing all six children in the same year.

* If a person who admires all things English is an anglophile then why can't a person who likes all things aviation be an aerophile?