The "If Only I Would Have Had $2.5 Million Back Then" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Beginning to unpack the few items I had packed in anticipation of our trip to St. Martin in about two months.  I have come to the realization that it just isn't going to happen when we had planned it to happen in the spring.  Began to get emails from friends in St. Martin/Sint Maarten telling us about what is happening on the island at present.  Not much different than what it is like in our home town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, except for the fact that the beaches on the French side of the island are closed and we don't have any beaches outside our door.  

Two hats from my collection.

As I began to return items already packed to their proper place in our house, I grabbed a few of my hats I had planned on taking with me this year.  One was a pink cap which had the name of one of the restaurants on the island of St. John known as "Woody's Seafood Saloon" while the other hat was blue and gray with the logo "Skinny Legs - A Pretty OK Place."  Both places were located on the island of St. John with Skinny Legs being found in Coral Bay while Woodys is located in Cruz Bay.  On our first trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands with our friends Jere and Just Sue we went to the island of St. Thomas.  Great place to visit and we totally enjoyed our week long trip.  One day we headed to the nearby town of Red Hook where we drove the car onto the ferry to head across the water to the island of St. John.  That was an experience in itself, but exploring St. John was one of the highlights of our vacation.  We unloaded the car in Cruz Bay and began a self-guided tour of St. John.  Stops at a few different areas to snorkel finally led us to Trunk Bay Beach on the west side of the island.  

Beautiful Trunk Bay Beach on St. John.

The island was discovered in 1493 by Christopher Columbus and why he every left those lucious green hills and pure white beaches is a mystery to me.  Actually, why the four of us ever left is still a mystery to me, also.  The island changed hands quite frequently between the French, Spanish, English and Dutch with the Dutch owning the island rights before they sold it to the United States in 1917 for $2.5 million.  A few decades later, a generous donation of 5,000 acres by conservationist Laurance S. Rockefeller was dedicated to creating a national park on the island in 1956.  The 5,000 acres name was changed to the Virgin Islands National Park and before long some 5,659 underwater acres were added.  Today, the park stretches an extensive 12,000-plus acres and occupies nearly two-thirds of St. John Island, plus a portion of nearby Hassel Island.  While on the island we spent part of our day exploring the park as well as snorkeling in the waters of the park.  After leaving we continued to circle the island and happened past this small bar with a funny name.  

Sue took our photo high above Trunk Bay on St. John.

Just had to make a stop and that is where I got my "Skinny Legs" hat.  We had something to eat and watched the boat life in nearby Coral Bay.  A second trip to St. Thomas with another ferry ride to St. John happened about half a dozen years later.  It was during that trip that we spent more time at Virgin Islands National Park as well as visiting Cruz Bay where we stopped for a drink at "Woody's."  St. John's is more than just beautiful beaches.  You can hike to plantation ruins and learn about life of those who worked the plantations years ago.  You can also visit petroglyphs carved by the Taino Indians.  Two-thirds of the island of St. John is now a National Park, making it a unique destination for visitors from around the world.  If you have ever watched a television show about purchasing land or a home on the island, you will realize just how few homes there are on the island.  And, the small villages, such as the few we visited, are filled with the beautiful people who call the island home.  Wouldn't take much for me to call St. John home.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "To Go...Or Not To Go? That Is The Question" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in my lounge chair reading the morning newspaper when I said to my wife who was sitting nearby, "Listen to this!  The airlines are beginning to issue statements as to how they will handle flight reservations due to the coronavirus.  One of the airlines listed in the article I just read was American.  They already suspended flights to China, South Korea and Italy, but will not charge anyone who needs to change flights or delay travel due to the coronavirus."  Now, that may make it easier for us if we find that our flight to Sint Maarten may be canceled due to Sint Maarten not allowing flights from the United States to land at their airport to try and help prevent the spread of the virus to their country.  We made arrangements about a year ago to return in the spring to our favorite destination in the Caribbean, but have now become concerned about our chances of missing our trip this spring.  Seems that a few other airlines are following the same procedures that American is taking.  But, for Carol and I, the flight is just one part of our problem.  I called our travel agent who helped us plan our flight and asked about the insurance we purchased when we bought our flight tickets.  She checked with the company and told us that the airlines had reported to them that they would transfer flights or allow us to change our reservation to another time without a penalty.  If not, they would cover the cost as part of the policy we purchased.  The final part of our problem is the rental on St. Martin that we made a partial payment on about a year ago.  So, I emailed the travel agent whom we have dealt with for the past 20 years and has helped us change our reservations in the past without any charge.  I explained our problem to her and she in turn told us that it is too early to worry about anything yet.  She is an optimist to say the least.  But, she is also a very caring person and has done so much for us in the past from changing our location when she found the owners of the rental we were scheduled to stay in decided they wanted the couple of weeks we had planned on staying there.  She got us a very nice place with a better location for the same price we had planned to pay for the first location.  Also found my car key fob in the safe of the rental we stayed in last year and mailed it to me free of charge.  You can't ask for a better agent!  But, this coronavirus has us worried, no matter what others may say about it.  Do we really want to visit a location 1,500 miles away that may have a number of infected people?  Are their medical facilities capable of handling a large number of infected residents and visitors?  Would Carol and I, being just visitors to their home, be treated as they would their own residents if we became ill?  Today's paper did say that the this virus, much like many others, does not survive in warm climates and I must admit, the island is warm year round.  Could it not last long on the island had it surfaced at all?  Have you noticed all the question marks I have been using?  We will hate to miss our trip to our favorite location, but should we take the chance the virus creates for us?  We just don't know.  I guess it will be a waiting game and at least we know we will not lose any money because of those who we have worked with for many years. I guess it could be like committing suicide to take the chance not knowing the answers to many of our questions.  So, we will play the waiting game, hoping that all will be well, but knowing the chances of that happening are rather slim.  It was another extraoridary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "It Was So Much Fun Typing The Word 'Cabooses'" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sun was shining brightly as I pulled into the parking lot of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg.  Cold January day, but I had plans for a special visit with a former student.  The lot was empty and after checking my watch, realized I was a bit too early.  Backed the car from between the white lines and headed a quarter-of-a-mile east to a place I had wanted to visit for years...The Red Caboose Motel.  

Sign at entrance to the Red Caboose Motel

I had passed the place over a hundred times and always said to myself that I must stop sometime and take a few photos...so, I guess today is the day.  Headed east from the Museum and in a few minutes pulled into the parking lot.  "Lancaster County's Red Caboose Motel offers a little bit of train history tucked away among the peaceful Amish farms of Strasburg, PA" it says in an online advertisement for the motel and today I am going to see exactly what goes on at the place.  

The Red Caboose Motel lobby. 

It was back in 1969 that Don Denlinger placed a bid of $100 on nineteen 25-ton N-5 cabooses (yes! that's how it's spelled) that were being sold as surplus from the Pennsyl- vania Railroad.  Six months later he was the proud owner of 475 tons of steel railroad cars that followed the rest of the train down the tracks.  The web page for the motel says that "Hard work, sweat, perseverance and prayer paid off and the official grand opening and open house was on Mother's Day 1970."

One of many rows of cabooses.

During summer months I have always noticed many people walking around the grounds of the motel with the myriad of cabooses in the background and wondered if it was something I might want to try.  Grabbed my Nikon and got out of my car for a trip around the grounds.  I had read that tens of thousands of travelers, rail enthusiasts and even locals have stayed at this place since it opened, and hopefully I would be able to snap a few photos of the place today.  

An Open House sign sat outside this caboose.

Four years ago the Prickett family bought the motel from the original owner, Donald Denlinger, and operate it along with the Casey Jones' Restaurant which happens to be two Pennsylvania Railroad P-70 coaches that were built in the 1920's.  The kitchen for the restaurant is a box car that connects the two coaches.  Originally, Don had painted all the cabooses red, but today they vary in color depending upon the railroad line they represent.  

Interior of caboose.  Bed, bathroom and double bunk on
the left with table and chairs and double bunk on right.

The oldest caboose is from 1898.  The grounds sport a few rows of tracks that hold the many cabooses with space between them for patrons to park their cars.  I began to document each caboose until I realized that was just going to be impossible and who would want to look at all those photos anyway.  After about a dozen cars I just enjoyed looking at the cars and the different logos on them until I came to a car that had a sign in front that declared "Open House."  

Another row of motel cabooses.

Walked up the steps and into a motel room that at one time might have visited more states than I had ever seen.  Entered into a very small area that had a double bed on the left with a few chairs and table on the opposite side and a TV on the wall.  I assumed it was the master bedroom and living quarters.  Directly behind the bedroom was a very small bathroom with a mirror outside the bathroom door.  

Outside of the restaurant cars.

The rear of the car had bunk-beds on either side which would hold a total of four people.  Above me were windows that gave light to the room.  A phone and a light or two added necessary evening light to the room.  If you suffer from claustrophobia and have a couple or three very active children, this isn't your dream vacation spot to stay, but for something totally out of the ordinary, you'd love it.  After my photo shoot was over I found my way to the nearby farmers field where I managed to find a few weeds to feed to the resident alpacas.  A few minutes later I was back once again, standing at the front desk at the Railroad Museum waiting to visit with my former student.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Inside one of the dining cars.

Two more rows of cabooses.

A friend greeted me!

The "Wearable Souvenirs" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Putting my t-shirts away after sorting them by island.  I have multiple t-shirts from quite a few islands that Carol and I have visited in the past twenty years, but the majority of them have been purchased on the island known as St. Martin/Sint Maarten.  The St. Martin side of the island is French while the Sint Maarten side is Dutch.  I have half-a-dozen shirts from each side of the island and a few have sayings or themes scene-printed on them.  

The top t-shirt came from "The Last
Mango In Paradise Store." It is slightly
faded since I wear it all the time.

Years ago one of our favorite stores on the Dutch side of the island was on Front Street in Philipsburg.  Place was called "The Last Mango In Paradise" and I bought some of the neatest t-shirts there.  One of my favorite t-shirts had the saying "Live, Love, Laugh, St. Martin" on it.   In front of the store stood a large plastic alligator that my wife posed in front of one time for a photo.  They also had a store at the airport, but then one year they closed their doors.  Another favorite place to buy my t-shirts was at the Marigot market.  Small stand is called Secret Spot and features designs by the owner that were then silk-screened on the island.  

A variety of designs from The Secret Spot t-shirt store.

I have at least half-a-dozen from that stand.  Even posted a story a few years ago about the stand.  Last year during our visit to St. Martin I purchased a t-shirt at a small store in Orient Village that had silk-screened on it: One Love, One Life, One Island, St. Martin FWI (FWI refers to French West Indies).  

Karine's new store at the Hope Estates Shopping Center.

Well, this year we noticed that the store was no longer in Orient Village, having been replaced by a new restaurant.  Then one day while shopping at the Hope Estates Shopping Center we once again found the "One Love" store.  It was much larger, carried more inventory but still had many items with the logo "One Love, One Life, One Island, St. Martin FWI.  As we walked in the store Carol immediately pointed out a pillow case that she just had to have.  It now sits on our sofa in the family room and is drawing many favorable comments.  

My t-shirt and Carol's throw pillow from Karine's store.

The owner of the shop is Karine Doumenjou who came to the island when she was 16 years old and heard the Bob Marley song "One Love" over and over again.  She used that slogan along with "One Life", since we only have one life to live and added "One Island" since she always came back to St. Martin.  Karine had always dreamed of selling clothes and having her own logo is a dream come true.  The new shop allows her to reach out to more tourists since it has a better location that is more visible.  The variety of goods she now has will definitely increase her sales.  Her long term goal is to open a concept store to work with local artists and aim for rather high-quality products.  I'm sure we will visit her store on our next visit and add something new to our collection.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Susquehanna National Heritage Area Officially Designated!" Story

Will this logo be part of the National Heritage area?

It was an ordinary day.  Just opened an email titled "BREAKING: America's Newest National Heritage Area!  As soon as I began to read the email I knew exactly what the article was about.  It was six months ago that I posted a story I titled: "Waiting For History To Catch Up With Reality."  At the time I was hoping that President Donald Trump would sign a bill designating the Susquehanna River area between Lancaster and York Counties a National Heritage Area.  The email read, in part:  Today, March 12, 2019, President Donald Trump signed S.47, the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, a major national conservation bill that includes designation of Lancaster and York Counties as a Susquehanna National Heritage Area.  The bill's passage is great news for our 10+ year effort to bring this national honor to our region and the Susquehanna.  We thank U.S. Senator Bob Casey for supporting this legislation since 2008 and securing an amendment to S.47 to designate the Susquehanna National Heritage Area.  We also thank Congressman Lloyd Smucker for championing the bill in the House of Representatives since 2017.  We very much appreciate the bi-patisan collaboration of Mr. Casey and Mr. Smucker in designating the Susquehanna National Heritage Area - America's 55th National Heritage Area! 

Columbia, PA is the home to Columbia Crossings which
is a museum and adventure area.

So, what will this new title do for Lancaster and York Counties?  It is expected to draw more tourists to the area's historical sites.  Ten million visitors come to this region each year now and bring with them their money.  This new designation will hopefully bring an additional $100 million spent in both counties. The Susquehanna River's role as a corridor of culture and commerce will be one of the big focuses.  I have featured the Susquehanna River and the Susquehanna River valley in quite a few of my stories.  

The view from Chickies Park in Columbia of the
Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge.  

Everything from being part of the American frontier to helping in the develop- ment of canals and transpor- tation to it's role in the Under- ground Railroad and being part of the American Revolution.  Not long ago I took you with me as my son and I, along with his Scouting friends and their dads, traveled down the Susquehanna on a raft we built.  The history of the Susquehanna River Valley is both interesting and entertaining.  Fishing, camping, hiking, boating and biking are a big draw to the river, and now, with national promotion of the area, it will draw more visitors.  

A view of part of Chickies Park in Columbia, PA

Businesses will grow and begin anew and more jobs will open to the local residents.  The Heritage Area will receive $150,000 to get the national heritage area up and running and the amount will grow after a management plan is approved.  The money does require a matching amount from the area, but with more visitors to the area, that shouldn't be a problem.  I read that one organization plans to run a pilot boat tour on the river this coming summer.  The only bad thing about the new designation is the new traffic and perhaps crime it will bring to the area.  I guess the area will have to wait and see how it will benefit from the new labeling before we make any decisions as to whether it was worth the battle to gain the National Heritage Area title.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Are You Ready To Cruise?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Getting ready to go through the Panama Canal on our cruise ship.  Ship is immense and narrowly makes it into the canal.  The majority of the passengers stand with me to observe what we all paid to see.  

Passing through the Panama Canal. The
people in the foreground were standing
on the front of the ship on which I was riding. 

Makes you wonder just how big they can make a ship today.  Well, the ship I was a passenger on back in 2010 was quite impressive, but much more so now after seeing the new replica of the Titanic sitting in front of a ship of similar size as the one I was on almost ten years ago.  It was back in 2012 that Australian billionaire Clive Palmer decided to make a replica of the original Titanic.  Blue Star Line (BSL), the company behind the Titanic II project, will follow the original journey that the original Titanic took from Southampton to New York.  Passengers on Titanic II will also get to circumnavigate the globe in order to create intrigue and mystery at every port it visits.  The new ship, when finished, will be an exact replica of the original which fell to the bottom of the Atlantic during its maiden voyage.  The new model will have a few different changes with a welded hull, modern navigational technology and a few more lifeboats.  The new Titanic will cost approximately $500 million and carry about 3,000 passengers.  But, it seems that the BSL's website had very little activity since 2014 so why should anyone think the new ship will actually be ready soon?  Seems that on September 27, 2018, BSL announced that the ship is back on schedule once again.  The ship was being built in a Chinese shipyard in Nanjing.  

The Titanic sitting in Southampton waiting to set sail.

Then on October 22nd BSL said it will be moving operations to Paris.  They also said that the maiden voyage, whenever it might occur, will be from Dubai to the United States.  It wants to make its maiden voyage a two-week excursion to simulate the original route the 1912 ship took.  After the maiden voyage it will go around the world embarking on other routes.  The new sail date has now been moved to 2022.  That's 110 years after the original Titanic set sail.  Would you want to be on that new ship?  After seeing the size of Titanic II in front of a modern-day cruise ship such as the one I was on when going through the Panama Canal, I think I'll pass on the chance to make history.  I did find a few reasons for the first accident that I'm sure will be corrected in the new edition.  Also found a few interesting facts to go along with the reasons.
  

Representation of the Titanic in front of a modern day cruise ship.

Here are my findings:

1.  There were supposed to be 48 lifeboats in the original design, but because all those lifeboats made the ship look crowded, it was decided to change it to 16 lifeboats and the lifeboat drill for the passengers was cancelled before they sailed.
2. The ship featured watertight dividing walls (bulkheads) which could be operated by a switch in the bridge.  That is why the ship was said to be "practically unsinkable.  There was one big flaw though; the walls didn't reach the ceiling so water could flow from one room into the next.  It wouldn't have sunk if the walls had reached the top.
3. Titanic's sister ship, The Olympic, happened to be docked for repairs and some of her officers were placed on the Titanic, forcing other officers of the Titanic to leave the ship.  One such officer accidentally took the key to the binocular locker leaving them without the binoculars.
4. The iceberg they struck was four times the size of the Titanic.
5. The ship's baker was so drunk on whiskey, but he managed to tread water for two hours.
6. The last survivor of the disaster was Millivina Dean who died in 2009 at the age of 97.
7. The wreck was found in 1985 about 2 miles below the surface of the water with the bow of the ship buried 18 meters into the sea bed.
8. The musicians on board were required to know a book of 352 songs which were played for the first-class guests. 

Carol and I have taken two cruises since I retired in 1999.  We enjoyed both of them, but we enjoy being able to explore a vacation site without having to get back on the ship before dark.  And, we don't have to worry about sea-sickness.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Negroes Are America's Last Pioneers" Story

The Reverend Stanley Imboden

It was an ordinary day.  Wishing Reverend Stanley Imboden a "Happy Birthday" on Facebook.  After writing my birthday greeting I decided to take a look at a few of Stan's posts on his Facebook page.  One of the first posts I observed featured the green cover of "THE NEGRO MOTORIST GREEN-BOOK".  A publication I had never heard of before, but one that I will now never forget after reading his comment as well as a few online articles about the publication which defined "Negro" travel throughout the United States during its history.  As a young child my parents took my brother and I on weekend trips as well as a week-long vacation during the summer months.  Not once did I ever notice, or even think of, Negroes being anywhere near the locations we were visiting.  We took trips to the Chesapeake Bay for fun in the sun; swimming and playing in the sand.  As I grew older I entered elementary school in an up-scale white school district.  It was at this time that I began to notice and associate with Negros.  At age 12 I wanted to to play organized baseball so bad that I talked my father into allowing me to join a team.  He found one in the newspaper that practiced in the south end of the city, which was where most of the Negroes lived.  After my first practice I was part of the team.  There were 15 boys on the team; five of us white and the rest Negroes.  

Cover of the Negro travel guide.

I loved it!  We were coached by two men, one Negro, Mr. Hawkins, and one Caucasian, Mr. Keifer.  My dad volunteered to drive through the south end of the city to pick up boys for every practice and game.  To me, we were all part of a team.  Skin color didn't mean a thing to me.  Today, as I viewed "The Green Book" I learned of an entirely new world that existed in the late 1940s and early 1950s that I never knew existed before.  As I read online I found a book written in 1965 by John A. Williams titled "This Is My Country Too" that said he didn't believe white travelers had any idea of how much nerve and courage it required for a Negro to drive coast to coast in America.  Items needed for travel where nerve, courage, a great deal of luck supplemented by a rifle and shotgun, a road atlas and Travelguide which would list places in America where Negroes could stay without being embarrassed, insulted, harassed or worse.  He noted that black drivers needed to be particularly cautious in Southern states where they were advised to wear a chauffeur's cap or have one visible on the front seat and pretend they were driving a car for a white person. Along the way you would have to endure a stream of "insults of clerks, bellboys, attendants, cops and strangers in passing cars."  "The Green Book" helped the Negro traveler by listing accommodations for black travelers, places that would allow Negroes to eat as well as use the restroom and even places to refuel.  Not once did my dad or mom ever tell me the hardships that those boys on my team faced when they tried to go on vacation as we did after the baseball season ended.  As I grew I went to junior high and high school and never once did I have a Negro in any of my classes.  As a student at Millersville State Teacher's College in Millersville, Pennsylvania I did see a few Negroes on campus, but didn't have any in my classes.  After graduating from college and having more time, I began to coach baseball and went back to the same neighborhood where I played to form a team of young boys.  We, too, were very good.  I totally enjoyed the experience while driving the same streets as my dad did years earlier, picking up the boys to take them to practice and games.  Once again we were a multi-cultural team.  While teaching in the same high school from where I graduated, I began to have Negroes in classes.   I had Negroes as well as Latinos and many other nationalities on my Yearbook Staff.  All of my adult life I have realized the animosity suffered by most minority groups and have tried my best to alleviate that animosity in my classes and extracurricular activities.  But, I am sorry to say, I did not realize the total abuse that Negroes faced just to take a simple vacation with their family in the late 1800s and most of the 1900s.  As I read the post by Rev. Imboden today he told of a good friend of his whom I had the honor to meet years ago.  Rev. Imboden wrote:  "Jim Crow" Southern States and many Northern "Sundown Law" Communities harshly discriminated against African Americans, especially as they sought places to stay during travel. The Green Book previously posted on FB by another person listed the familiar name of our late friend, true gentlemen and Lancaster civic leader, the honorable Nelson Polite who for many years welcomed weary travelers of all colors to his Lancaster home. Nelson is in heaven now and there's no Green Book needed there. For years Nelson and I served on the founding Board of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Fund in Lancaster city. He is dearly remembered.  That book cover will forever remind me of the hardships faced by the Negroes as they attempted to take their young families on summer vacations such as my mom and dad did for years when I was a young child.  I'm positive it still happens, but hopefully not to the extent that is used to happen.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Weekend With Friends" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just returned to Lancaster, PA after spending a weekend in State College, Pennsylvania with our traveling friends Jere and Just Sue.  Jere, Just Sue and I were all high school classmates.  After teaching with Jere for many years at our high school Alma mater, we retired and began to travel together with our wives Just Sue and my wife Carol.  Cruises to the Caribbean and the Panama Canal as well as multiple trips to many other Caribbean islands made life what we had dreamed about all our lives.  We have taken 18 trips together and spent some of our weekends talking about where we might enjoy heading to next.  Two of our favorite past vacation spots, Antigua and Barbados, were discussed as possible return locations.  After we talked, Sue gathered a few notes she had made this past week and began a game we have grown to enjoy during visits, "Where were we when....".  She had spent time going through her vacation scrapbooks and questioned us about past trips by saying, "Where were we when Jere and LDub decided to have banana splits for lunch instead of a sandwich or salad?"  We spent the next hour or more reminiscing about some of the best times of our lives.  When we had exhausted all her notes with fond memories and a few laughs, we gathered around their dining room table for lunch.  

Just Sue, Jere, Carol and LDub after landing in Hawaii
during our very first trip together in 1999.

Our intention for a fun afternoon was to visit nearby Whipple's Dam and bask in the spring sun while enjoying a good book or an afternoon nap, but rain and cold weather spoiled our plans so we took in a movie instead.  After returning back to their home near Penn State University, Carol and Just Sue spent time talking while Jere and I spent some time looking at his HO train yard.  Soon hunger struck once again so we drove to Doan's Bones, a local BBQ favorite of ours, for our evening meal.  More talk about family and good times filled our evening before we hit the sack.  Sunday morning and Just Sue had breakfast ready when we arose.  Clouds still filled the skies, but more conversation about past vacation memories brightened the morning before we had a final lunch, packed our luggage in our car and headed back to Lancaster.  We still haven't made a final decision on a location for our next vacation together, but we still have time before we will contact our long-time travel agent, Karen, and make our reservations.  We feel very lucky to enjoy each other's company and the good times we spend together every year while traveling to exotic locations that we could only dream about while laboring at our jobs and raising our respective families.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "Nassau's Ambassador" Story

Foreword:  My wife Carol and I, along with traveling friends Jere and Just Sue, recently traveled to the Bahamas for a vacation.  We stayed at the Melia Nassau Resort and the young man at check-in was such a remarkable person.  I had a chance to talk to him on quite a few occasions.  This story is about him, but I don't happen to have a photograph of him to share with you.  Twice I sent a request to the resort asking if he could send me a photo of himself.  I'm sure that my requests were never acted upon by the resort, since I did have a few complaints I addressed with them.  Therefore you unfortunately will not get to see a photo of this wonderful young man.  But, getting to know him, through me, will be a treat for you.

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting with my wife on a cramped seat on Bus #10 as it pulled to a stop along Bay Street in the city of Nassau.  The squeaky door opened and up stepped a smartly dressed young man who immediately sat directly across from me in the single seat along the window.  As soon as I saw his face I recognized it, but couldn’t place where I had seen him.  He smiled while looking at me and said, “How’s the new room?”  Oh yes!  He was the fellow who helped me last evening when I needed to be be relocated in a new room at the Melia Resort.  Seems the TV reception in room 214 wasn’t working the entire day and we stopped on our way to supper to ask if someone could check to see what may be the problem.  After our meal we retreated to our room and found we still had no reception.  I headed to the front desk to see if anyone had made a visit to our room.  I was told by a young girl at the desk that she would have someone take a look as soon as they finished with another TV problem.  Wasn’t long before a maintenance man knocked on the door to take a look.  We told him the room next to us was being remodeled and we had heard drilling noises during the day in the wall where the cable was located.  Immediately knew they must have damaged the cable since the room directly above us also had no reception.  Said someone would call us in a few minutes to make arrangements to move us to another room.  Half an hour later I headed back to the front desk to find out when we would be moved.  I was greeted by Durante who asked if he could helped.  I told him my story and he immediately found us a new room.  Not just any room, but one on the top floor of the resort with a fantastic view of the ocean and coastline.  A room that had just recently been upgraded with a huge TV, new carpet and furniture.  Wow!  What a nice treat.  He also made arrangements for someone to come to our room and help us move our luggage and belongings.  Happens to be the same young man now sitting next to me on Bus #10.  I finally had a chance to thank him for the room he had placed us in last evening.  We began a very interesting conversation that gave Carol and I a chance to learn about the life of Durante.  Seems he was headed along with us back to the Melia for a work shift after his day at school.  He happens to be in his third year at the University of the Bahamas with a double major in Biology and History.  He had received a scholarship to go to college based on testing while in high school.  His future educational plans included heading to post-graduate school to study to be a veterinarian.  He had plans to head to either the island of Barbados or to Canada to study.  Carol asked him why not the United States and he said he didn’t think he could do that as long as President Trump was in office, since he didn't feel safe in our country knowing our President was a racist.  Our conversation came to an end when Bus #10 came to a stop across from the Melia and we all exited the bus.  Told him I would stop later to get a photo of him and my reason for the photograph.  Durante was truly a remarkable ambassador for the island of New Providence.  I’m sure his family must be proud of him.  When I taught school years ago I would have loved to have had a class full of students such as Durante.  I enjoyed so much having the time I did talking with him and getting to know a bit about this young man.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Jimmy Returns To St. Barts" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading one of my favorite online sites: www.caribjournal.com.  Caribbean Journal presents stories about a variety of subjects all related to the Caribbean Islands.  

Aerial view of St. Barts.  Click to enlarge.

Recent story told of Jimmy Buffett's return to one of his favorite islands, St. Barts, to perform a free concert to help the island with their recovery struggles related to last summer's Hurricane Irma.  It was back in 2005 that Carol and I took a day trip from Sint Maarten to St. Barts to see how the French island compared with the other Caribbean islands we were lucky enough to have visited beforehand.  St. Barts, also known as St. Barthelemy or St. Barths, is located approximately 160 miles east of Puerto Rico and lies immediately southeast of St. Martin/Sint Maarten and Anguilla; It also lies northeast of Saba and St. Eustatius and north of St. Kitts.  On March 19, 1946 the people of the island became French citizens with full rights.  The island had no electricity until 1961 and many took ferries to surrounding islands for work.  The island's main harbor is U-shaped  and called Gustavia.  On the day we traveled to the island we landed at Gustavia and after showing our U.S. Passports, began our tour of the island.  Took a taxi ride around the rather small island with a stop at Grand Saline Beach for a dip.  We walked from the beach back to the harbor and headed to a small restaurant called Le Select for lunch.  

The harbor at Gustavia.

As we walked into the restaurant we instantly saw the sign that told the story telling that Jimmy Buffett wrote "Cheese- burger in Paradise" while sitting in the restaurant.  Whenever Jimmy visits the islands for pleasure or for a concert, he usually makes a stop at one of his favorites, St. Barts.  He had had a decades-long relationship with the island and some of his most legendary songs were inspired by the island including "One Particular Harbor", "Au Tour de Rocher" and "Cheeseburger in Paradise".  

I took this photo in 2005 at Le Select on St. Barts.

To sit in the restaurant was a thrill knowing I may have been in the exact same chair where he penned the song.  Well, the Caribbean Journal story tells of his return to the island where he will perform the free concert along with local muscian Soley on December 27 on the quai in Gustavia.  Wow, would I love to return one more time to the tiny island to see one of my favorite musicians and performers.  

Jimmy performing at Le Select in the past.

I can just imagine the crowd that will be there to hear Jimmy and his band.  Jimmy is hoping that his concert will bring a large crowd to the island and help boost the struggling economy.  If you care to be part of the crowd your best bet to get there is to fly to Sint Maarten and take Winair or St. Barth Commuter to St. Barth's airport.  You also can take a ferry from Sint Maarten, but it is a rough ride.  You might be lucky enough to fly through San Juan directly to St. Barts, but as you know, they too are struggling and their airport might not be a good choice.  If you do go, think of me sitting at home wishing I could be there in the warm breezes of the harbor with a rum punch in my hand.  Oh Yeah, tell Jimmy I'm thinking of him.  He'd be impressed I'm sure!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - following YouTube video shows Jimmy playing at Le Select on St. Barts.

The "Visual Vacation Memories" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Searching through my photographs that I had taken while in the Bahamas for some of my favorites.  I took about 1,100 photos and had planned to use some to illustrate a few of my stories I had planned.  Others I took to share to show what the resort looked like where we stayed.  The rest were taken on visits to Nassau as well as places where we ate and while at the beach.  I have narrowed the remainder of the photographs and will post them today to give you a sampling of what I consider my favorites.  I picked them because of content, interest and composition.  Hope you enjoy a few of them as much as I enjoyed taking them.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Click on photographs to enlarge.

Colorful setting on Cable Beach

A Bahama Momma once filled this shell.

Circling for food.

The pastel colors caught my attention.

Just looked down and this pavement pattern appeared.

Painting themselves into a corner.

Colors of the Carribean!

What pic show couldn't use a geko? 

For Sale! along the dock in Nassau.

Our bus driver had a change of hats and ties right in front of him.

Cool photo!

Cruise ships at anchor.

Junkanoo dancer strolled through our resort.

Snorkel trip host taking a break on top of the cabin.

From my beach chair.

Small crab as seen by my iPhone macro lens.

Didn't care for the meal, but the dish was interesting.

Make a great car ad.

Christmas courtesy of Just Sue.

Views from the 9th floor were amazing.

Resort lighting was beautiful.

Seemed to never smile.

Caught in a window in Nassau.

So, what model car would this be?

Beverages arriving!

High-class ride.

So as never to forget his wife's phone number!