Visiting the USS Arizona

On board the monument over the sunken USS Arizona. Quite emotional,

and tastefully done.

Lunch at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel

Next stop Hawaii! Enjoying lunch at Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki

Beach, Honolulu, Oahu.

An Evening at the San Diego Summer Pops

Leaving the last outdoor concert of the SD Summer Pops at the

Embarcadero on the Bay in Sept. SD's beautiful skyline.

Flashing Sunset at Cardiff Beach

Pretty flashy sunset, but still no Green  Flash! We were dining at

Ki's that evening.

Blazing sunset at Waikiki Beach

A blazing sunset on Waikiki Beach where we enjoyed a fab beach side

dinner at the grand old Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

Hot Air Balloons over the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Course

After playing a twilight 9 holes, we were visited by some curious hot

air balloons getting a close up look!! Yikes!

Christmas in Rancho Santa Fe

The entire center island in the Village of Rancho Santa Fe is decorated ... so beautiful!

Sunset on Waikiki Beach

A blazing sunset on Waikiki Beach where we enjoyed a fab beach side

dinner at the grand old Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

It Does Rain In Southern California

At 7:20am on 12/12/14 ... I put my empty rain barrel under a low point in our rain gutter. In 15 minutes it had filled & I emptied the 2 smaller containers into my almost-dry 2nd rain barrel. (This is what I use for my house plants all year.)

Question: How do I move this now???   

Think I'll turn an old worn doormat upside down, put ropes on it & drag this to the drying yard. It would spring leaks if we just dragged the barrel.

Where's the Flash?

Still trying to see the illusive Green Flash in Del Mar this fall!

Still looking for that elusive green flash ... not this evening in Cardiff.

"James Hubble" Gate

Another James Hubbel masterpiece gate.

James Hubbel created this masterpiece entry gate for my clients.       It's gorgeous.

Was at Del Mar Beach the other afternoon hoping to catch the 'green flash', but it didn't happen. The beach walk was still beautiful!  We are so lucky to live here!

Gorgeous Full Moon over My Pool!

One of my favorite things is to swim my 1/2 mile in the moonlight! A full moon is great! This IS Paradise!

Beautiful Downtown San Diego at Night

Had the pleasure of being at the closing Summer Pops concert at the Embarcadero. As we were leaving I snapped this shot of our beautiful Downtown! Yup! This IS Paradise!

Buying a Watch in 1880!

 If you were in the market for a watch in 1880, would you know where to get one? You would go to a store, right?

Well, of course you could do that, but if you wanted one that was cheaper and a bit better than most of the store watches, you went to the train station!

Sound a bit funny?  

Well, for about 500 towns across the northern United States, that's where the best watches were found.

Why were the best watches found at the train station?

The railroad company wasn't selling the watches, not at all. The telegraph operator was. 

Most of the time the telegraph operator was located in the railroad station because the telegraph lines followed the railroad tracks from town to town. It was usually the shortest distance and the right-of-ways had already been secured for the rail line. Most of the station agents were also skilled telegraph operators and that was the primary way that they communicated with the railroad. They would know when trains left the previous station and when they were due at their next station. 

And it was the telegraph operator who had the watches.

As a matter of fact, they sold more of them than almost all the stores combined for a period of about 9 years.

This was all arranged by "Richard", who was a telegraph operator himself. He was on duty in the North Redwood, Minnesota train station one day when a load of watches arrived from the East. It was a huge crate of pocket watches. No one ever came to claim them.

So Richard sent a telegram to the manufacturer and asked them what they wanted to do with the watches.
The manufacturer didn't want to pay the freight back, so they wired Richard to see if he could sell them.

So Richard did. 

He sent a wire to every agent in the system asking them if they wanted a cheap, but good, pocket watch. He sold the entire case in less than two days and at a handsome profit. That started it all. 

He ordered more watches from the watch company and encouraged the telegraph operators to set up a display case in the station offering high quality watches for a cheap price to all the travelers. 

It worked! 

It didn't take long for the word to spread and, before long, people other than travelers came to the train station to buy watches. Richard became so busy that he had to hire a professional watch maker to help him with the orders.
That was Alvah. And the rest is history as they say.

The business took off and soon expanded to many other lines of dry goods. Richard and Alvah left the train station and moved their company to Chicago -- and it's still there.

YES, IT'S A LITTLE KNOWN FACT that for a while in the 1880's, the biggest watch retailer in the country was at the train station. 

It all started with a telegraph operator: Richard Sears and his partner Alvah Roebuck!

Bet You Didn't Know That!!!

Now that's History!!!!!

Mission Accomplished!

OK, met my goal ... Here's my lobster salad ... here's the National's porch and there is the ferry to head back to the mainland. (Rain and all!) Mission Accomplished!!

Pulling Into Block Island

Pulling into Block Island. That's the National Hotel where I fully intend to sit and enjoy my lobster salad!

Vehicles unload before passengers from the ferry. Do you see the size of that trailer truck? It has a (heavy) load of gravel!! OMG!

Block Island

 

My last full day on the East Coast and I just had to get to Block Island, RI. I am on the ferry leaving Point Judith, home to many fishing boats, heading to BI.

Gallilea Beach, Point Judith. This beach is probably 3-4 miles long. RI has the most beautiful  beaches. One hour till Block Island!

Moving the Barge

 I was watching this tug move this barge along and thought he was mighty close to our ship. Then he started to turn it, and I realized he was maneuvering it right up to our ship! It was a fuel barge. That tug captain has my full respect ... what an incredibly precise maneuver ... such precision! Most impressive!

My Alma Mater

This might not mean much to you, but I got tears in my eyes ... in the far distance is my alma mater ... UMassBoston. A beautiful campus right on the bay.

Sunrise in Boston!

OK, the first sunrise I saw ... here we are coming in to Boston (that's Bahstahn Hahbah), where I lived a few years.

Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor, Maine. The locals pronounce it Baa Haabah. Needless to say there is lots of funny touristy stuff to buy with Baa Haabah Play on words. And yes, I was one of those tourists who bought the stuff! I still laugh at it. Here we are up in Acadia Nantional Park looking down on our ship. The first rainy weather we had.

Halifax!

Lovely, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Beautiful 2+ mile long boardwalk wiht lots of wonderful restaurants, pubs & shops!

Tide Change

Note in the first shot the boat tied up by the pier. Then about 3 hours later note how high up it sits next to the pier! Didn't realize the tide change till I was looking at these photos later!!

Spring Tulips!

On Prince Edward Island ... Charlottetown's beautiful spring tulips in full bloom across from their cathedral!

Charlottetown

Next port of call: Charlottetown Price Edward Island. Went on a culinary walking tour. Here we are at a pub who served local brew.

Sunset in Canada!

This must be sunset because I never made a sunrise!

Lunch Overlooking the St. Lawrence Seaway

We had lunch at the lovely Hotel Frontenac overlooking the old walled part of the city, the St.Lawrence Seaway and our ship.There were 4 Quebec-ans who sat next to our table.  They were having fun, laughing and talking. Then after a drink, they had a bottle of wine, and the laughter got funnier.  I suggested our waiter tell them that we were quite enjoying their conversation even though we spoke no French. He said to them laughter is much like yawning - it is quite contagious! One woman turned to us and spoke in English. Yes, one fellow was the clown who kept everyone else laughing. We left lunch still laughing!  Who needs translations?! 

Hotel Frontenac

For lunch in Quebec ... took the funicular up to the Hotel Frontenac. Here we are overlooking the magical rooftops of the city and our ship.

Quebec

Next stop, Quebec. Here a talented opera singer giving the crowd a preview of her CD's she was selling.

Good Bye Montreal!

Au revoir, my fair Montreal!

Leaving Montreal

Leaving Montreal ... passing the 1976 Olympic Village which are now condos!

Heading Up the St. Lawrence Seaway

We were sorry to leave such a lovely, friendly city. But we boarded the ship to head up the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Dining in Montreal

"Biking Night in Montreal"

We had many wonderful meals in the city. This was just outside the Boris Bistro on our last night there. While we were dining we noticed many bicycles passing by. This went on for probably 2 hours or more! It seems one night a year Montreal closes a circuit of city streets and everyone (so it appeared) gets on their bikes ... all ages ... and participate. It was so special to see a city so united in a fun citywide event!

Notre Dame Cathedral

Inside the beautiful cathedral of Notre Dame. Quite spectacular!
!

"Montreal ... The Walking City"

Montreal is very much a walking city. Beautiful architecture to gaze at ... such as the Cathedral. 

Beautiful Montreal

A recent visit to beautiful Montreal. Here walking through the old part of the city along charming cobble stone streets!

"Dad-isms"

Since today is Father's Day, I was reminiscing about my Dad who passed about 30 years ago.

 

He was a purebred New Englander, named Josiah Hazard Crooker, which is about as New England a name as you can get!

Dad had a lot of funny sayings - sort of like New England Speak.  Here are just a few:

   (1) Cowabunga - translates to today's OMG!  (corny)

   (2) He loved to mix words up like George Birthington's Wash Day! (definitely corny)

   (3) The one I use all the time now requires a little explanation - when dogs come up to greet each other they always go nose to back end on each other, so Dad's explanation to that was they were simply  "Checking License Plates"!  I love that one!  So descriptive - Checking License Plates! 

What dad-isms does or did your dad say?

Point Judith, Rhode Island

Just leaving Point Judith, RI on the ferry to Block Island, one of my favorite places in the world. These are some of the fishing boats bringing in their catch. One of the popular foods here are clam cakes. Ever had one? They are made like a golf ball size deep fried dough with chopped clams throughout.  Really good!

Last Full Day on East Coast

Just arriving at Block Island, Rhode Island via ferry ... my second boat trip of my vacation! Going to saver lobster salad on the porch of the National Hotel shown here.  Can't wait!