The Bailiwick of Guernsey is “Separate from but not independent of” the United Kingdom, whatever that means (to quote its feudal lord, Charles.) It consists of Guernsey and several other islands in the English Channel including Herm, Sark and Alderney. … Continue reading Bailiwick of Guernsey
…you’re bringing me down. That is my earworm today because of our almost accidental visit to Winchester. We got off the QM2 at around 10 AM, we had a scheduled flight to Guernsey at 3:30 so I decided we would … Continue reading Winchester Cathedral
It was a remarkably smooth transatlantic crossing, The biggest seas we took were 3 meters, and that only for a short time. The first three days we had sunshine and, riding with the North Atlantic Drift, following seas, as well … Continue reading Crossing Coda
This post is mostly pictures of the QM2. Just a few notes. In the elevator lobbies Cunard has produced several museum style interpretive placards that depict the history of trans-Atlantic crossings. The midship display on our cabin deck dealt with … Continue reading A QM2 Photo Gallery
When I traveled on Furness (A little younger than Liam) and the United States Line (a little older than Liam) with my grandfather I don’t remember much of an organized kid’s program. We could play shuffle board, quoits (you can … Continue reading Crossing With Kids
This is Suzi’s family letter. With her permission I am posting it to give you her take on the voyage. She says she is not posting pics but I have added a few that I took that illustrate the point. … Continue reading Suzi’s Letter
White Star Service on Cunard includes the use of tea bags. My grandfather, an old White Star man, would not have approved. A proper teapot with a strainer is the way he made tea. Sometimes he would use a tea … Continue reading White Star Service
The traditional mariners’ service was clearly Anglican. The alter cloth was the British Red Ensign, the nation’s merchant marine flag with the Union Flag in the upper left corner of a red field. It was billed as a “traditional maritime … Continue reading O God Our Help in Ages Past
(July 21, 2023) I was wrong. Initially I thought Brooklyn was a terrible place to sail from. You don’t go up the Hudson, see midtown, and get the views that an ocean liner is supposed to get. But the view … Continue reading I Sail with a Sprit
I had used UBER before. Once while staying with a friend in Maryland, she used her UBER app to get me to the airport. It seemed a bit apocalyptic when a message popped up on her screen “Jesus is coming … Continue reading Rich Learns about Uber
I suppose we could Keansburg, New Jersey a pre port of Call. On the 20th we went to Brick, New Jersey for a cousins’ reunion at the Tuscany restaurant, the scene of several earlier reunions. The 6 surviving first cousins, … Continue reading A Poor Man’s Asbury Park
The kids arrived in Newark on Wednesday afternoon excited about getting on the ship. But we were not getting on the ship until Friday but there is plenty in Jersey to keep them interested. First off I had to explain … Continue reading Meetup in Jersey.
In Mid-July it costs less to travel to the United Kingdom in an ‘enclosed’ balcony room on the Queen Mary 2 than it does to spend the same number of nights in an Anchorage hotel (Fairfield, Marriott’s low-end brand) and … Continue reading A 21st Century Crossing — QM2
…And a look at today. I’ve always loved Independence Day. It and Christmas are my two favorites. I love the sense of community that both holidays engender. At Christmas it’s community parties, singing, decorations and a feeling of celebration. The … Continue reading Flashback Fourth…
When some folks first hear that Sitka has a farmer’s market they say, “I didn’t know Sitka had any farms.” Don’t expect to see big John Deere Tractors or long rows of soybeans in Sitka, but, historically, Sitka has had … Continue reading A Famers Market in Sitka?
(July 2, 2023, 127 years later.) On an unseasonably cool July 2, 1776, Richard Henry Lee moved a resolution, before the second Continental Congress, declaring independence for the 13 American colonies. To get unanimous agreement Congress made changes during the … Continue reading Almost Independence Day
My music education was largely intellectual. I learned about scales, keys, meter, time signatures, tonics, and modes. It was almost like learning mathematics. I was taught that listening, particularly to classical music, was an exercise in intellect. But that’s not … Continue reading It’s The Emotion
(June 30, 2023) OK, I was feeling a little down. It had been raining most of the day, which is not unusual for Southeast Alaska, it was a Friday night in June and there was no music festival concert. The … Continue reading Surprise!
The first program Raven Radio produced was for the Sitka Fine Arts Camp. We produced it before Raven was even on the air. Suzi, the kids, and I moved to Sitka from Juneau in the fall of 1980 to help … Continue reading Jazz on the Waterfront
(June 19, 2023) “My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.” — Edward Elgar. Suzi and I were hiking … Continue reading Music on the Mountain
Okay, I admit it. I almost missed it. Today started out fairly nice with rain in the forecast for the early afternoon. Suzi and I had Saturday Breakfast at the Nugget. I dropped her off at home and headed out … Continue reading Sitka Pride Post
Of course, we would have loved to finish the 2023 Grand World Voyage and not disembarked in Mauritius for medical reasons. We would have loved, to have visited the African ports, the Spanish and Portuguese Atlantic Islands and cruised Europe. … Continue reading OK, This is Really the Final Cruise Coda.
(June 17, 2023) OK, they are plastic, and they are not the ducks we’ve been picking up off the beach after a container full of them fell off a ship and broke open years ago. They are ducks used in … Continue reading Counting Rubber Duckies.
I must be getting older. It is mid-June, and I am exhausted. May and June have always been the big social season in Sitka with the Music Festival, Art Shares from the Fine Arts Camp, wildlife cruises and all sorts … Continue reading Music in the Mist.