Category Archives: Travel

Sailing Ships in San Diego

Star of India is the world’s oldest active sailing ship. She began her life on the stocks at Ramsey Shipyard in the Isle of Man in 1863. Iron ships were experiments of sorts then, with most vessels still being built of wood. Within five months of laying her keel, the ship was launched into her element. She bore the name Euterpe, after the Greek muse of music and poetry.

The ship now known as HMS Surprise began life in 1970 as a replica of the 18th century Royal Navy frigate Rose. During the next 30 years Rose sailed thousands of miles as an attraction vessel and sail training ship prior to her conversion to HMS Surprise. For the academy award winning film, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the filmmakers made a painstaking effort to recreate a 24 gun frigate specific to Great Britain’s Nelson era Royal Navy. The result is a replica vessel unmatched in its authenticity and attention to detail.

Surprise found a new home at the Maritime Museum of San Diego in 2004. A popular shore side attraction, the ship now joins our collection of ships along with the Star of India and Californian.

I saw these beautiful ships on our last morning in San Diego while walking along Harbor Drive.

Hope your February is going well. Life has been good and challenging amongst our family and friends. Joy and Sorrow going hand in hand. This week I’m trying to memorize this part of scripture from Job.

Job 19:25-27

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

25 I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

Night and Day…

  When the golden day is done,
Through the closing portal,
Child and garden, Flower and sun,
Vanish all things mortal.

As the blinding shadows fall
As the rays diminish,
Under evening’s cloak they all
Roll away and vanish.

Garden darkened, daisy shut,
Child in bed, they slumber–
Glow-worm in the hallway rut,
Mice among the lumber.

In the darkness houses shine,
Parents move the candles;
Till on all the night divine
Turns the bedroom handles.

Till at last the day begins
In the east a-breaking,
In the hedges and the whins
Sleeping birds a-waking.

In the darkness shapes of things,
Houses, trees and hedges,
Clearer grow; and sparrow’s wings
Beat on window ledges.

These shall wake the yawning maid;
She the door shall open–
Finding dew on garden glade
And the morning broken.

There my garden grows again
Green and rosy painted,
As at eve behind the pane
From my eyes it fainted.

Just as it was shut away,
Toy-like, in the even,
Here I see it glow with day
Under glowing heaven.

Every path and every plot,
Every blush of roses,
Every blue forget-me-not
Where the dew reposes,

“Up!” they cry, “the day is come
On the smiling valleys:
We have beat the morning drum;
Playmate, join your allies!”

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Joining in on Mosaic Monday with Mary at Little Red House.

City Scapes taken in San Diego, California. The Sunrise photo is taken at my house in the Seattle area.

Are You Serious…

…about going green…really?

Have you noticed lately when you go to a motel/hotel that there is always a note that explains that the hotel is concerned about conservation and being green and would like you to use your towels etc. for more than one use? When we were in San Diego they even gave us a $5.00 credit to be used at the hotel restaurants and Starbucks in the hotel. I was happy to get the $5.00 coupon but I wasn’t thrilled with our bathroom…can you see why?

Not one towel rack in the bathroom. Where do they want me to hang my wet towel that they are giving me a $5.00 credit for? How will my wet towel dry nicely before my shower the next morning?  Do I have to come up with my own towel rack?

For this great invention, I think they should give me a $10.00 credit!

Today is Saturday. I’m headed out on a walk in our great dry sunny weather we are having! Yippee! Dear has a lot of plans that involve hauling and moving stuff. Wish me luck on my body holding up!

We Arrived in San Diego…

…the same evening this beauty arrived on it’s maiden voyage!

SAN DIEGO – A colossal yacht was seen cruising in San Diego Bay Wednesday evening.

The 330-foot mega-yacht Attessa 4 stopped by San Diego during its maiden voyage.

The owner, industrialist Dennis Washington, had the boat custom built to his exact specifications. Washington’s net worth is about $4 billion, according to Forbes, and the Attessa 4 has everything a discerning billionaire might want.

The ship boasts a helicopter, a speed boat, pool, hot tub, movie theater, a fully operating day spa and much more.

Forbes estimated the price tag for the nautical masterpiece at $250 million. Large as it is, the Atessa 4 doesn’t make the list of the world’s top 10 mega-yachts, all of which are more than 400 feet long.

Here’s some interesting information about the owner of the yacht.

The fun little side note to us arriving the same time the Atessa 4 arrived is knowing that a friend of ours worked on this Yacht while it was docked in British Columbia. We listened with interest on his account of his time on this yacht and it was fun to put two and two together to realize that this was the very same yacht we heard about a year before…

I was so happy to have an “off” day on Wednesday. Life is really full around here. Just the chance to hang around in my robe as long as I want in the morning is a nice respite for me. What do you like to do on your “off” days?

Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas!

Did you know that there is a Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas? While we were touring the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier in San Diego we kept seeing Santa look a likes. Of course I had to take some photos and we found out there was a Santa Reunion just down the street.

Here’s what the website of the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas had to say about their event.

“Here it is! The tradition is alive and well in San Diego this coming January 26, 27, 28 and 29 2012 as the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas host the Santa Reunion XVIII / San Diego 2012! ”

Now you know…

I’m linking up with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday with my real bearded Santa mosaic!

I’ll be away from my computer all day tomorrow as I’m traveling to Canada to celebrate a milestone birthday for 2 dear friends.  I’ll be in a bathing suit for part of the time and I hope no photos of me in all my glory make it onto the world wide web…time will tell. I’ll catch up on visiting later in the week. Blessings!

Birds of a Feather…

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to photograph sea birds.

I was so happy to see this Pelican.

This Heron was fun to see, too. A Blue Heron in a spot I don’t usually see them.

These were not the birds I was excited to see. But there they were all in a line begging to be photographed. They were some of the fattest pigeons I’ve seen in a while.

We are home safe and sound. It’s always good to come home. We enjoyed being in the bright sunshine for a few days but “there’s no place like home”.

She Walks…

…she meets and eats! A beautiful full day in San Diego.

After Dear left for his meetings of the day I got my walking shoes on and headed out to the Harbor. I walked east first and then I turned around and walked west. I thought of you Sara! More walk photos to follow.

Later in the morning Tim and Letty picked me up at the hotel and we met my sister Vera at The Mission Soma for brunch.

Willow! The rosemary potatoes were really good and we all enjoyed our breakfast choices at your favorite breakfast spot in San Diego!

I’m totally skipping our experience on the Midway for now and going straight to finally meeting up with Dear for a few hours before his next business obligations.

It was good to be together with some of my family and get caught up on what’s going on in our lives.

See that drink…it did have a flashing light in it. It was the signature drink at the Lighthouse Restaurant. After the Lighthouse we had some dinner and shared a dessert at Island Prime C Level restaurant.

A Different View…

Tomorrow I’ll be out in the daylight. I’m hoping for an early morning walk along the harbor. It’s been so long since I’ve been on a proper walk. Sara is inspiring me with all her walks. I have no excuses since I’m in San Diego with the sun shining. Tomorrow I’m meeting some family members at one of Willow’s favorite breakfast spots here in San Diego. I’ll share photos after the fact.

Flying South With the Birds…

Hoping to see and hear the sights and sounds that come with the Pacific Ocean. That shouldn’t be a problem since we are staying here. My sister Lana flies so much with Alaska Airlines that they let her nominate someone to get automatic MVP status. Bless her heart, she nominated me. When I went to check in I had been upgraded to First Class! Woohoo.  It has already been such a blessing to have this status in having 2 free bag allowance especially for Katie and my trip to North Carolina when we had 7 bags to check. Katie’s military dependent status gives her 5 free bags, but I digress, back to San Diego.  The weather reports say that it will be sunny and 70ish.

On Thursday my brother and his wife are driving down to San Diego to meet us for the day and dinner. Dear has obligations of course with his company but he’ll also get free hours here and there and is free for sure for dinner on Thursday.

Time will tell what you will see from me and our trip. Now I better get packing…

Fort Macon, North Carolina

We all really enjoyed this sign. Finally a site with some common sense signage…

We are approaching the main entrance to the citadel.

This is called the sally port. It is the primary entrance to Fort Macon. The three sets of original doors date from 1843-44.

This is the inner court known as the parade ground. On either side of the parade are vaulted rooms known as casemates.

The upper area is called the Covertway. This is where the original cannon emplacements stood. This is also the best place to view the surrounding area.

The danger of naval attack along the North Carolina coast seems remote now but during the 18th and 19th centuries the region around Beaufort was extremely vulnerable to attack. Blackbeard and other pirates passed through Beaufort Inlet at will and successive wars with Spain, France and Great Britain during the Colonial Period provided a constant threat of coastal raids by enemy warships.

This area is the ditch and moat. This sunken area was deeper and could be turned into a moat by flooding it with sea water from a nearby canal. The moat posed an obstacle to an enemy assault.

Fort Macon was designed by Brig. Gen. Simon Bernard and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It was named after North Carolina’s eminent statesman of the period, Nathaniel Macon.

And now back to Christmas preparations…

I managed to get down a few boxes from the attic and finally have our wreath on our front door. Are you sitting down? I don’t know how to explain it except for it being a God thing, our Christmas cards are in the mail. My roots were all fixed up by my great hairdresser today and I even got a last minute doctor appointment to check some nasty moles on my head that the hairdresser was concerned about. All is well, sigh of relief. I truly hope all is well with all of you, too! Blessings.