On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee moved a resolution, before the second Continental Congress, declaring independence for the 13 American colonies. The vote on the motion was delayed allowing delegates to get instructions from their states. On July 2, … Continue reading America 250!
This Morning on Raven Radio Melissa interviewed representatives from the Sitka Cancer Survivors Society. They were promoting a fundraising event that helps raise money for mini grants to Sitkans with Cancer, $1,000 the first year and $500 a year for … Continue reading Two Kinds of Hope
For more than four decades “Art in Bloom” has been a feature of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Each April the institute invites 100 florists, floral artists, funeral directors, people who work in flowers, to interpret works in the permanent … Continue reading Art in Bloom
On our way back from the cruise, we flew from Seattle to Sitka in the dark. On our return from Minnesota, we had full daylight all the way home. Alaska Airlines operate several “Milk Runs” between Seattle and Anchorage. In … Continue reading The Milk Run Home
Beltane, May first, is one of the Celtic cross calendar days. The cross quarter days are halfway between equinox and solstice and mark the beginning of a season. The two major cross calendar holidays are Samhain, October 31, the beginning … Continue reading Beltane with “My Log.”
April 23, 2026: KAXE Turns 50 today. It was one of the happiest and one of the scariest days of my life. We had been working for 5 ½ years for this with no idea how long it would last. … Continue reading It Was 50 Years Ago Today
There are good ships. there are wood ships, There are ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships, And May they always be. Holland America’s Mariner Society appropriated that old Irish toast substituting “dam” for “friend.” And … Continue reading Coda, A Dam Good Voyage.
It started too early in the morning and didn’t really end for two days. I set the alarm for 6 AM after being up watching the last World Stage Company show featuring the team leader Florance and then finished packing. … Continue reading The Journey Home
Just as we were running out of time the pace on the ship picked up. We had six sea days between Nuka Hiva and San Diego. We needed those six days to sort what we wanted to throw and what … Continue reading Frenzied, Fun Filled Finale
I was surprised and delighted when I entered our room after our first dinner on our first night of our first Holland America Grand Voyage in 2015. Sitting on the bed was a cute little animal made from towels and … Continue reading A Delightful Tradition
Holland America has always been a cruise line with great music but they have stepped up their game for this grand voyage. My favorite improvement over recent cruises is the reintroduction of the Zaandam show band. Guest performers are playing … Continue reading Music On Zaandam
Everyone on the cruise is calling it Project Linus, after the Peanuts character who was never without his blanket, but it isn’t. It’s been a tradition on Holland America World Cruises for cruisers to knit or crochet blankets for hospitalized … Continue reading Project Linus by Any Other Name.
Music is the decorative theme of Zandaam. The walls are lined with musical memorabilia, an eclectic Hard Rock Café. Like Hard Rock there are guitars autographed by rock stars like Iggy Pop and Freddy Mercury, and others with illegible signatures. … Continue reading Musical Zaandam
The final sail out of a cruise seems like a forced celebration. We had a great time and now it is over. In the past we have had two or three sea days between the final sail out from San … Continue reading The Final Sail Out
The Taipivai Drive is a tour I’ve wanted to take for 8 years. It is the only tour offered by Holland America Lines on the island of Nuka Hiva in the Marquéses Islands. The tour is organized by residents with … Continue reading Final Port of Call, Nuka Hiva
I’ve written a lot about the ports of call this trip but not nearly as much as I usually do about life at sea on this Grand Holland America voyage. Usually during a cruise, I have more posts than days … Continue reading Virtual Food Trucks
We have one more port and six sea days after that left in this cruise. In other words, a whole seven day cruise ahead of us. Yet today we got our disembarkation letter, we have to select our time to … Continue reading Claiming the Moment, Sailor’s Delight
Unlike the other French Polynesian Islands we visited on this cruise, Fakarava is flat, no mountains, just a long skinny, roughly rectangular island, think of it as a picture frame, 37 miles long and 13 miles wide around a deep … Continue reading Fakarava, The Penultimate Port
Some mornings I wake up with a terrible earworm. Elvis Presley singing “All Shook Up.” When that happens, the only cure is an Elvis sandwich for breakfast. This has happened four times on this cruise so far. It happened Saturday, … Continue reading In Praise of Elvis.
Up until French Polynesia our ship seemed to be traveling in a bubble of sunshine. Everywhere we went we had beautiful weather while the day before and often the day after it rained at our destinations. In New Zealand some … Continue reading Bora Bora with Dylan
I had been looking forward to our stop at Raiatea. The last time I was here was a two day stop. We had originally been scheduled in Raiatea for one day and for a stop at Bora Bora the next. … Continue reading Vanilla and Fish
When I looked out my balcony this morning, anchored in Cook’s Bay Mo’orea, I saw the pointed peak of the mountain and thought, the same thing I thought the first time I was here, “OMG I have dropped into the … Continue reading OMG! It’s Bali Hi. Mo’orea.
On Tuesday we became “sticker people” taking a Holland America tour “Tahiti’s Natural Wonders.” About halfway through I was asking myself “why?” feeling that I had made a mistake booking this. Our first stop was at Venus Point where Captain … Continue reading Tahiti Without COVID
In a way this cruise is relentless. Too much fun. We came off an intensive port schedule in New Zealand with three on board parties in a week. St. Patrick’s Day Tuesday, Costume Party Thursday, and Music Night Sunday, which … Continue reading Too Much Fun?