We took a Western Caribbean Cruise in January of 2009 on the Ruby Princess. It was the inaugural year for this ship. We left from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale; our ports of call included Ocho Rios in Jamaica, George Town in Grand Cayman, Cozumel in Mexico and the Princess Cays in the Bahamas. These are pictures of the Ruby Princess, some of its public spaces and a sunset. Our first stop was Ocho Rios, a city on the northern…
We were able to visit several monuments and memorials during our time in Washington DC. The first memorial below is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It lies on two acres and actually consists of three different monuments. The “Wall” is certainly the most famous and can be seen in the first two pictures below. There are 140 panels made of black granite. Additional panels were purchased in case a panel is damaged and needs to be replaced (two were damaged during…
The National Cathedral in Washington DC is an Episcopalian cathedral. While it is commonly known as the National Cathedral, its actual name is the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The idea of a national church dates back to 1792 but it wasn’t until 1893 that Congress approved incorporation papers, authorizing a cathedral and institutions of higher learning in the District of Columbia. The charter was signed by President Benjamin Harrison. The Cathedral’s website indicates that the church does…
The pictures below are of the Library of Congress. Its history dates back to 1800 when Congress authorized the expenditure of $5,000 for books that could be used by Congress for reference purposes. Initially the library was located in the Capitol building, but during the War of 1812, British troops set fire to the Capitol and the library was lost. President Thomas Jefferson, at that time retired from office, offered his personal library as a replacement. Congress authorized almost $24,000…
This blog will feature the United States Capitol, the building where the House of Representatives and the Senate do their work. Both are part of the legislative branch of the government, responsible for enacting legislation. We arranged for a tour of the Capitol building through our Congressman. In 1792, a competition was held for the design of the U.S. Capitol, however none of the submitted plans were selected. Dr. William Thornton asked to present plans even though the competition was…
We went to a wedding in Virginia and on our way, stopped in Mount Vernon to see the family home of George Washington. His estate was along the Potomac River. The house has 21 rooms and was built by his father. There were several outbuildings including slave quarters, barns and a blacksmith shop. He had gardens that provided fruits and vegetables. We couldn’t take pictures inside his home, but these are pictures taken from outside. While President Washington could have…
We went to Palm Springs, California to attend a wedding in 2010, and while there, we took a day trip to Joshua Tree National Park. It was a four-hour tour that was “off road” and also included Big Morongo Canyon. Joshua Tree National Park is almost 800,000 acres and includes parts of both the Mohave and Colorado Deserts. It was originally named as a national monument in 1936 and then a national park in 1994. It was named Joshua Tree…
In 2013, we spent a day at the Tall Ships Festival at Navy Pier in Chicago. These events are sponsored by Tall Ships America and occur annually. This year (2019) there will be a number of events in both the United States and Canada at Great Lakes ports. You can find a schedule and more information at https://www.tallshipschallenge.com. We had a beautiful day and spent the morning walking along Navy Pier viewing the ships from the dock and also boarding…
After leaving Estonia, we sailed to Gdynia, Poland. It was from here we left with others from our cruise ship to visit Malbork Castle which was the focus of my last post. In this entry, I am going to tell you about the time we spent in Gdansk which is about twelve miles from the port city of Gdynia. Gdansk is a major seaport of Poland and has a very busy harbor. After World War II, Poland was part of…
Our next port of call was Gdansk, Poland, where we would be able to spend most of the day. In this post, I will focus on Malbork Castle, which was a highlight of our shore excursion. Malbork Castle was established as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The UNESCO website has interesting information about the castle, some of which I will quote here. First, here is a very concise history of the castle: This spectacular fortress bears witness to…