Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life For Me!

We were up bright and early this morning and drove over to Fort Wilderness, our normal home away from home. We parked in the visitors' lot and boarded an internal bus that took us to the visitor center, where we walked to the Trail's End Restaurant for a hearty breakfast, including Mickey waffles-Mel's favorite.

We even had our favorite waiter, Ken, serve us. He has just celebrated his 28th year of service with Disney, 19 at Fort Wilderness. When he started, there were only 1 park, 3 hotels and Fort Wilderness. He had to be a teenager when he started because he doesn't age or Disney is that good that he is stress free.

Speaking of working at Disney, that is a thought that has passed us by. Yesterday, I had planned for us to go to the Casting Center that is Human Resources in other worlds. After lunch, Mel and I discussed this opportunity long and hard. Mel, on his own, reached his conclusion that we can't afford to work at Disney, that it was time for him to go home, buckle down and get back to work. How he could reach that conclusion without information is beyond me. My only comment was "I want to hear no complaining about how much you hate the winter, commuting, or the state of Illinois, in general." He grumbled something under his breath. It may not have been kind. But we went off and had a wonderful day at MGM. I include this in the blog so there is a record of this conversation for future reference. Don't you hate people who do that?
With breakfast out of the way, we walked to the boat dock and took the commuter boat to the Magic Kingdom. Above is a photo of one of the best loved pirates of the ride.

The current theme of the Magic Kingdom is "Pirates of the Carribean." The ride has been updated to include Captain Jack Sparrow. I managed to capture his visages as added to the ride. It is amazing what they can do with Animatronics these days. You'll need to enlarge these photos to see Captain Jack's expressions. Our grandsons were so into the movie, the ride and all things Jack Sparrow. It was a great way for grandpa and grandsons to bond. Even Mom Michelle got into the spirit by buying a t-shirt that says, "The beatings will continue until morale improves." During their visit, the pirate code was invoked-Anyone dragging behind will be left behind. This code was mainly applied to me, until little Daniel piped up, "You better not leave Grandma behind or she's going to beat you." Now, I have never beat anyone, but then Daniel had it right. I am so happy that someone is willing to stick up for Grandma.

We visited Adventureland, Frontierland, the Hall of Presidents and Haunted Mansion. Then, we headed for Fantasyland, my favorite. We fast-passed Peter Pan, then did Philharmagic twice. We decided to head back at 4 p.m. as we had been in the park for 5 hours. That seems to be our limit. We hit 5 hours and we are shot. But we never hurry away. We meandered in and out of stores, admiring art work and sculptures. Fascinating stuff! We found new places in the kingdom that are tucked away here and there. Always so much to see. Finally, we boarded the boat and returned to Fort Wilderness and caught a bus back to the parking lot.

From Fort Wilderness, we decided to go to Downtown Disney to see a movie. By the time we arrived, it was too late to see any of the movies that we wanted to see. So, we decided to have dinner at Planet Hollywood. We have never eaten there before. Very high energy but the food was great. By the time that we were finished, we still had another hour to go before movies would start. So, we packed it in for the night. Sometimes it is nice to have a little down time.

Monkey Business

Fortunately we survived the "Big One, Ernesto." So, it was business as ususal today at Disney World. We slept in big time this morning. I think that we were both exhausted from our park tours with Ryan and Daniel. You know how little guys are. They never run out of energy. Mel and I do not do the parks the way casual visitors do, so putting in long days and evenings kind of wore us out.

Once we were up and running, we went to Perkins for lunch. That was a bad choice on our part. We don't know what it is about Perkins but it is easy to do a two hour lunch there, but you are not smiling when you do. There were 3 tables at 1:oo p.m. and it took forever to have our meals served. We dared not to complain because who knows what the consequences would be. I wanted banana cream pie but dared not ask for it or we would still be there. While we ate, a huge rain storm blew through with the palm trees bending in the wind. By the time that we finished, it was over.

When we reached MGM Studios, it was bright, shiny and humid. The park was pretty empty. Mel allowed me to "window shop" through the stores-not his favorite activities. We walked right onto "Tower of Terror" and then fast-passed "Rock and Roller Coaster" and stopped for drinks while waiting for "Beauty and the Beast" to start. I just love that show and Mel is so good about sitting through it every time we come to the park.

We got out of "Beauty and the Beast" in time to catch the "Stars and Motor Cars" parade to which they have added "Lightening McQueen and Mater" from Cars. From the parade, we headed to "The Voyage of the Little Mermaid" and hit it just as they were letting people into the theater-no wait.

Next, we went to "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream," a tribute to Disney's life. We spent a good hour in the museum, including a 15 minutes movie about him. While there are other men, who have solved medical and technological problems improving our world, Walt Disney certainly enhanced the spirit of man, feeding our souls and imagination. Bravo, Walt!

We finished our day at MGM by wandering through more shops. We decided that it would be a great idea to go to Giordano's for pizza and was it yummy! Because I am sooooo spoiled, Mel had the balloon lady make me the adorable monkey in the palm tree that is pictured above.

Waiting For Ernesto

At the insistence of the Blogmeister, I am continuing our blog. After a whirlwind visit home in late July and now a repeat visit to Disney World with Michelle, Doug, Ryan and Daniel, I am making comment on the current conditions in Florida. Since we have arrived it has consistently been in the 90's, humid and has rained everyday-at least for a little while.

All we can say is that the press and public services are plumb crazy and making the population nutso, too. Yes, I know that the hurricane season was terrible last year, however, the news coverage and precautions incurred by emergency services virtually shut down the state.

Even our children succumbed to the hysteria and re-scheduled their flight out from tonight to last night. Given that they were leaving today anyway, their decision was wise, however, for those of us left behind by choice, we just shook our heads over the hype.

When we awoke to the 8:00 a.m. news that the weather service was standing down from their original predictions, we couldn't believe it. The Orlando airport was shut down, Disney's Airport service was down and the Orlando schools were closed. People were lined up for gas and store shelves empty. Good grief!

So, we turned on the Disney Channel and hunkered down to watch Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, such a great movie. Then, we showered up and headed out to the "House of Blues" for lunch at Downtown Disney. From there, we decided to wait out the 2:00 p.m. Tropical Storm Ernesto by seeing Invincible, a wonderful movie about the Philadelphia Eagles' Vince Papale and Dick Vermeil. While it was overcast, it was hardly dangerouse outside. So, we decided to take in another movie, World Trade Center, with Nicholas Cage and Michael Pena, a tribute to September 11, 2001. Both movies are highly recommended, but take lots of Kleenex to the 2nd one. I cried through the whole thing because real footage was interspersed with the movie and it took me right back to that horrific day.

Then, we returned to our room to wait out the 8:00 p.m. onslaught from Ernesto. Nothing! There were kids swimming in the pool in the drizzle.

Of course, we are happy that the weather was relatively calm, but why did they have to scare the bejeebers out of everyone.

According to the weather reports, it will remain in the 90's, be humid and will rain everyday-at least for a little while. Imagine that. Everything is normal for Florida, except for the reporters and politicians.

In and Around Portland

We have moved on from Salem and the State of Massachusetts. There was so much to do there and we loved our stay.

Now, we are in Portland, Maine, which has its own kind of beauty. We have been lying low because it has been so hot and humid, but we decided that we have to get out there or we will miss so much. We have been assured that this weather is unseasonable for the area and the locals, too, are having trouble dealing with it.

Above is a photo of the Maine coast line. Isn't it beautiful? Just a few yards to the left of this photo is the site of a major ship sinking, the Annie C. Maguire on Christmas Eve in 1886. You can see from the water crashing on the rocks why the waters here are so treacherous.

We took the Portland trolley tour as we like to do. Portland is the largest city in Maine, with a population of 64,000 people and 230,000 in the metro area. It is a very classy looking city for the Eastern Coast. Most of its building and even the streets and sidewalks are made of brick, stone or ballast from old sailing ships. In 1866, Portland experienced a fire that destroyed the city. In the rebuilding of the city, the townspeople wisely decided to build with more durable materials. So, there are wonderful Victorian-style buildings throughout Portland.

Above is a statue of a Maine lobsterman. Lobster fishing is a major economic driver in Maine and the statue honors those men, and now women, who risk their lives to bring in lobster for our plates. In honor of this fact, I had to have a Maine lobster. The only problem was that they brought the whole lobster, tentacles and all on the plate. As a Midwesterner, the only lobster I have had is in the form of the tails. Mel just laughed as I manuevered the lobster in all its glory around my plate. The waitress had no mercy for me and left me floundering with the little guy. I felt like I was back in biology class dissecting whatever they made me dissect. Yuck! A farm girl I am not. Then, there was this green stuff, the liver, which is supposed to be a delicacy. I was just disgusted. I hid these most unsavory parts under my napkin so that I could enjoy the part of the lobster that I was used to. For now, I am off lobster, until I get back to Chicago, where it is served in a civilized manner. Oh yes, there is something called the Lazy Man's Lobster, where the lobster meat has already been dressed from the shell. They charge about double for that service, so I guess I will eat beef from here on in.

Maine is the mecca for lighthouses with more than 60 dotting the coast of Maine. Given the jagged nature of the coastline, it isn't any wonder that this would be true. Above is a photo of Portland's Head Light, the oldest, built in 1791, and one of the most photographed lighthouses on the East Coast. This is the location, where Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned his famous poem, The Lighthouse.

Because I have always associated Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with Cambridge, MA, I was surprised to find out that he had been born here in Portland and spent his first 30 years here. Granted his popularity didn't peak until the 1850's, but his poetry surely was informed by his early years here in Portland. Even Mel is familiar with Longfellow since the poet was part of the literary landscape of our childhoods.

Witches and Writers

Friendship Sailing Ship in Port at Salem, MA

My favorite witch, Samantha, has a place of honor in Salem.
The oldest candy store in America.

The House of the Seven Gables that served as the setting for Hawthorne's novel of the same name.

Tonight's blog will be short because it is so late. Today was our last day in Salem. We lunched on the Salem Wharf and had a table overlooking the Friendship sailing ship.

Then, we moved onto the Witches Dungeon, where actresses put on a short skit using dialogue for the transcripts of the Salem witch trials. Afterwards, they led us through a replica of the dungeons that held those accused of being witches, which turned out to be a dark, dank basement with cells and statues and occasionally, one would move (being one of the actresses) and our fellow tourists would scream in terror. Okay, it was hokey but the skit was good.

From there, we went to the Salem Witch Museum, which was even hokier than the dungeons. The only saving grace was that they did tell the story of the how all of the hysteria came about. It seems some teenage girls, being bored, started telling tales as pranks, but the results were the deaths of 20 people. After we heard the genesis of the tale, we pondered what the adults could have been thinking. The girls should have been spanked for their pranks. About 10 years after the hangings, one of the girls confessed that it was all a hoax. None of the girls were punished and the townspeople got mad at the recantor for bringing the whole mess up again. Yikes!

Then, we set out for the oldest candy store in America. I thought it would be fun to see what it looked like after our witch hunt. It was a very tiny store, but they still make candy on the premises, actually using some of the old candy molds. The molds seem to be made of cast iron, which never wears out, I guess.

Close by, was the House of Seven Gables that Hawthorne used as the setting from one of his most popular books.

After we finished touring, we returned to the RV to pick up our laundry. It has been so hot here, except for today, that I wanted to get everything clean before the next leg of our adventure. Last week, we had seen a very nice laundromat near the grocery store, so we went there tonight. Once the laundry was done, we did our food shopping and stop at a nearby Walgreens for supplies.

When we returned to the RV, our neighbors, Mike and Joanne, were sitting out as the evening on the water was absolutely gorgeous. We decided to join them to watch the sunset. One thing led to another and before we knew it it was 1o:00 p.m. We still had to make our bed and store our clothes away.

I wanted to mention that there was no blog last night much to my dismay. We had had such a lovely day that I wrote for two hours. As I was ready to publish, the computer hiccuped and I lost all the work for the evening. I will try to restore it in a few days but it will be hard to recreate my enthusiasm for a second try. Plus, we will me on our way to new adventures.

The Perfect Storm

I am sending out two blogs today because there was a subtext to our day. Because we had a lot to accomplish today, we woke early. We had noticed that RV sites had opened up right at the water's edge. We wanted to get to the office early to extend our stay an extra day and to move to the water. While Mel moved the RV to our new space, the park ranger asked how we were getting into Boston. I said that we'd be taking the ferry. He said it was a good choice because last night around 11 p.m., a 12 ton section of ceiling in one of the Big Dig tunnels collapsed killing a woman. This was shocking, sobering news because we used the tunnels to move from Plymouth to Salem. The local news has been carrying the story non-stop. Heads will roll, according tothe Governor.

Above is a photo of the Salem Ferry. Between showering, dressing and moving our base camp, we still made it to the ferry landing with ample time to spare for the 10 a.m. ferry run. Our cruise was uneventful.

Above is a photo of our RV parked at the water's edge.
Around 1:30 p.m., we were at the Old North Church in Boston's North End neighborhood. It was overcast, but we decided that we would move onto the U. S. Constitution. By the time that we arrived there, the clouds were gathering, so we decided to board the vessel before the rain started. By the time that we left the museum associated with the ship, it had started to drizzle. Mel decided that we would have time to make it back to the pier to catch the 3:00 p.m. ferry. Fortunately, by the time that we made it to the street from the Constitution port, Mel was able to hail a cab. It was 2:45 p.m. The cabbie assured us that we would be at the pier in 6 minutes. Of course, it was drizzling a bit and one of the major streets had a traffic accident on it. The cabbie took advantage of the traffic tie-up by gracefully and carefully driving through red lights. "They're not going anywhere." It took a little longer that the six minutes but we arrived at the pier at 2:58 p.m. as we watched the ferry pulling into port. We sprinted down the pier, waving to the dock hand that we were running as fast as we could.

Safely aboard inside the ferry, we felt snug and smug. As we cruised, the storm clouds really darkened and then I saw lightening flash on the northside of Logan airport. Oh! Oh! But the ferry was very stable on the waves. Then, the captain announced that everyone out in the open should come inside as strong storms with lightening were predicted. But we sailed on, though overcast, we had no real negative weather.

About midway to Salem, the captain announced that tornado funnels had been sighted in Salem and that it was hailing. Because of those conditions, we would stay at sea because we were safer there than on shore. That sounded reasonable, especially since we weren't experiencing adverse weather.

Above is a photo of the lighthouse that stands about 200 yards from our new site. It is not a working lighthouse or we would be blinded by the light.

Finally, the captain announced that there was a clearing in Salem and that we would be docking. However, because of the wind, he had difficulty docking the ferry and the rain started up again. We could see passengers waiting to board being whipped by wind and rain. We had no rain gear with us but were unconcerned as we were minutes from returning to the the RV. As we deboarded, it started raining heavier with thunder and lightening.

We had to traverse about 100 yards over aluminum gangplanks and as we stepped off onto rock and sand, Mel said, "It's good to be off metal in a lightening storm." I started to laugh because it was what I had been thinking the whole time we were trying to reach land. We made a mad dash to the Jeep, but got drenched anyway.

As we drove out of the parking lot, we saw two fellow travelers from ferry walking across the lot in the downpour. Mel drove over to them to offer a ride. As they gratefully jumped into the car, the sky just opened up, dumping loads of rain from the sky, a real nor'easter. Our passengers were hotel workers at the Hawthorne Inn, so we ended up driving back into town to deliver them safely to their destination. It was raining so hard that Mel could barely see to drive. Sheila and Rudy gave him good directions and eventually we arrived at the hotel. Then, we had to make our way back to Winter Island Park. Once there, we had to sit in the car waiting for the rain to subside.

Finally, we were able to get into the RV. I quickly discarded my wet clothes and slipped on my fluffy robe. I went into the bathroom to dry my hair. When I emerge, Mel said that he was about to abandon the RV as tornado-type wind gusts had hit the RV head on. I thought, "Great! I could just see the headlines, 'An unidentified naked woman was found floating in Massachusetts Bay.' " Mind you, I neither heard nor felt any disruption as I had the hair dryer going. Mel could have left and I would never had known. After the storm, to prove to me how bad it was, Mel pointed to the satellite dish. Fortunately, the wind had pushed it four or five feet until it lodged under a picnic table. Had it not been for the picnic table, we would have lost the dish. Needless to say, we did lose our signal.

When it was safe to go outside, we emerged to meet our new neighbors, Mike and Joanne, who said that they, also, thought about abandoning their RV. I seemed to have been the only one not aware of the impending danger. Then, Mel had to reposition the satellite so we could get video.

The photo above is of the damage to our neighbors' site. See the ratty tablecloth. Joanne said that it was brand new and she had just put it out this morning. Yes, that is how bad the wind was. She said that the hail was the size of large marbles. Fortunately, neither the RV nor the Jeep were damaged in the storm. "Wow!"

On The Freedom Trail

It was back to Boston for a 2nd day of touring. Yesterday was so hot and muggy that we weren't able to take in all the sites that we had planned. The ferry had made it so easy to access Boston that we decided to take it again. While we were cruising, we talked over lunch plans. Thinking I would please Mel, I had researched a good Italian restaurant in the North End neighborhood, known for its Italian restaurants. But Mel had other ideas. From the trolley yesterday, he had spotted a waterfront restaurant not far from the pier. So I agreed to his plan.

The name of the restaurant was Joe's. It was right on the water next to Columbus Park. We took the table closest to the water to take advantage of the gorgeous Boston skyline and the yachts in the harbor. The food and view were A+.

To our advantage, the restaurant was only three blocks from Paul Revere's house. The house is shown in the photo above. Paul Revere is the true Boston patriot, somewhat akin to Ben Franklin in Philadelphia. He was not a man of letters as many of our forefathers were, but he was a man of action and very productive. He fathered 16 children with 2 wives. His first wife died after giving birth to their 8th child. Within 6 months, Paul was remarried and went on to have another 8 children with his 2nd wife. Only 11 of his children survived to adulthood, so the house was never occupied by all 16 children at one time.

As we emerged into the garden, a gentlemen, dressed in garb of the time period, peeked over the fence and said, "Ah, I see that you, too, are waiting to be reimbursed by Revere. That happens a lot in this neighborhood with that rapscallion." We burst out laughing and by the time that we reached the gate, he'd disappeared. Had we not been together to see and hear him, we would have thought we were hallucinating. We love that stuff. We never did catch up with the guy.

There is a red brick line to follow on the Freedom Trail. If you follow, it will take you to places of note in Boston. From Revere's house, we found Paul Revere's statue in the Paul Revere Mall near the Old North Church, also known as Christ Church. "Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere"...H. W. Longfellow.

Here is the best photo that I could get of Old North Church of "One, if by land, and two, if by sea" fame. The story goes that Paul Revere had recruited the sexton of the church to light the lanterns. Robert Newman, the sexton, had secretly let himself into the church on the night of April 18, 1775 to hang the lanterns as the rebels or patriots had requested. He hung two lanterns, warning that the British were crossing by boat the Charles River. Once the deed was done, he let himself out of a rear window of the church. All this was undetected, until the British commander, who attended the church, figured out that it had to be Newman, since he was the only person with a key to the church. Newman was arrested, but because there were no witnesses nor evidence, he was set free.

The photo above is of the USS Constitution, or Old Ironsides. The ship is moored in Charleston Naval Yard and is still a commissioned Navy warship. The ship was built in Boston, but has been around the world. Its sides are made from 21 inch thick oak planks and it hull is reinforced with copper plate made by Paul Revere. It was named by George Washington, commissioned in 1790, carried 450 men and did service in the War of 1812. It fought in 42 battles and was never defeated. Nowadays, women serve on the ship.

This tour completed our trip to Boston, another great city with lots of history.

Two If By Sea...

We were up bright and early this morning so that we could take the new ferry service from Salem to Boston. The service just began June 24th so not too many people know about it yet. It was a great way to see the Massachusetts coast line and such an easy way into Boston. Who needs the headaches of driving and parking? The ferry docks right at the Boston Aquarium and we were steps away from Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market. Above is a photo of the Boston Skyline. Mel kept saying, "This is just beautiful"--the Old Man and the Sea!
Above is a photo of Faneuil Hall, built in 1742 and expanded in 1806, known as the "Cradle of Liberty." It was built as both a town meeting hall and a public market. A number of revolutionaries in the 1770's and abolitionists in the 1850's delivered important speeches here. It was from this place that the patriots of Boston debated the taxation questions of the day, which helped to launch the Revolutionary War. The second story of the building serves still as a gathering place to discuss issues. John F. Kennedy announced his run for the Presidency here and it can be rented for rallies and debates today.

After the talk on the Hall, we went to Durgin Park Restaurant in the North Market Hall for a tasty lunch of Boston Baked Beans and Yankee Pot Roast, which was as good as Pilot Pete's. Durgin Park has been around since Revolutionary times, but the current restaurant is only 130 years old.

Then, we took the Gray Line Trolley Tour from hell with a Goth-styled driver/narrator, who drove erractically, forgetting to tell us about the sights and sounds of the city. It was two hours of terror-Salem isn't that scary. Once we got to our original starting point, we deboarded and reboarded onto another trolley so we could tour Beacon Hill. This driver/narrator was so good that we felt much better about the tour line. We will be reporting Ms. Scary.

At Beacon Hill, we were able to see the Boston Commons, where the colonists used to bring their cows to graze and the Boston Public Gardens, where the person-powered Swan Boats and the Make Way For Ducklings statues are located. Beacon Hill is the place to live in Boston as it overlooks the Boston Commons. The condos there sell for $4 million plus and the buildings, clearly beloved, are old and decrepit. We assume that the interiors are fabulous. The photo above is of the Massachusetts State House that is across from the Boston Commons.

Here is a photo of the statue of Sam Adams, patriot and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Adams statue stands in front of Fanenuil Hall because in 1772, Adams suggested that Massachusetts join the other colonies in organizing a Committee of Correspondence in order to share information about British oppression and rebel reactions. While this is the Sam Adams that the beer is named after, it was his father, who was the brewer.