On our final week on the road, we were back to St. Petersburg to see Joan’s friend, Barrie. What a great place to watch the waterfowl swimming in the canal and coming into her yard, looking for handouts. There were three storks hanging out on the front lawn. When they eat, their beaks make a clacking sound, and they love hot dogs! It is interesting that they will eat bread, but it is a difficult food item for their beaks. It seems if they manage to get the bread down, fine; it not, they do seem to lose interest fast. And, while they are ugly up close and personal, they are beautiful in flight. Just wondering where the old tale came from that says they deliver babies!
Barrie is a docent at the Florida Holocaust Museum, which is one of the largest in the country. We spent a few hours there with her, looking at the exhibits. Included in the first floor exhibit is an actual railroad boxcar that was used to transport Jewish people to the camps. Very cruelly, the Nazis crowded more than a 100 people into these cars where 10 to 15 would seem crowded to us. And, all this without sanitation measures!
In Florida, all school children must study the Holocaust, and the museum has trunks of materials that they send to the schools for the teachers to use before touring the museum. The trunks contain literature, videos, curriculum guides and posters that are age appropriate for students from first grade to twelfth grade. One group of children from Virginia made a colorful quilt with their thoughts about the exhibit that toured their area.
One of the exhibits, "Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow" compares the Nazi propaganda with the Jim Crow laws that existed in the United States. The exhibit encourages thought and discussion of the consequences of bullying. Survivors of the Holocaust speak to groups, and we were pleased to be able to sit in and listen to a gentleman tell the story of his family. The greatest impression to James is the wonderful will we all possess when we are challenged.
On Wednesday, while we were traveling to the gym, we noticed a sign for a Friday night dance at the Bradenton Women’s Club. We called for tickets and planned to attend the dance after exercising on Friday. This took a little planning as we had to figure in time for changing into our dance clothes and having dinner. We dressed at the gym after exercising, and ate at a little Greek restaurant across the street. Then we headed for the dance.
Just before we got there, we could see flashing lights and that traffic was being diverted. Traveling narrow side streets in the dark, not knowing where we were going, we followed the traffic and ended up at the parking lot for the dance! We had been worried that the detour would bypass the hall. We were told that a house fire was the cause of the traffic congestion.
We never know when we go to a new dance venue what we will find for music and dancers. This was a very nice group of people, and a 13-piece dance band. Our tablemates were "snowbirds" from Quebec, and we had some interesting conversations between dances. They with their Canadian accents, and we with our Yankee accents — how wonderful!
The next morning, we said good-bye to Barrie, and headed across Florida to visit Joan’s cousin, Bruce. On Sunday morning, we went to an open-air vegetable and flea market. The vegetables looked fresh and colorful and imagine — fresh strawberries in January for $2 a pint!
When we travel, and stop at rest areas, truck stops, or Wal-Mart for the night, mornings are always a little confusing at first. When we wake up, the inside of the van is certainly familiar, but then we have to stop and think about where we are: What state we are in? Where we are parked?
At one Welcome Center and rest area in Mississippi, we saw a training model of the Lunar Landing Module. This was located near Stennis Space Center. Some states make a great effort to welcome travelers and show interesting exhibits of their area and culture.
Another difficult moment comes when one of us asks, "What day is this?" While we are traveling, we frequently lose a day just because they days seem to be no different from each other. Joan tries to write a journal entry for every day, with the day of the week and date just to keep track. James, also preoccupied with his driving duties, always asks what day it is and what time it is.
In previous blogs, James has talked about his safe driving habits. This week James would like to comment on others.
When he puts the cruise control at the speed limit, invariably we are the slowest vehicle on the highway. The state troopers cannot stop all the speeding, and it seems the roads are too often marked with crosses — most probably drivers and perhaps their passengers were killed. How sad! Life is too precious to waste for a lead foot.
The other concern is drivers distraction with cell phones. Many states like Connecticut have laws against the use of cell phones when driving; yet, drivers all across the country ignore the safety and logic of this type of law designed to protect drivers from themselves. Perhaps their lunacy is reflected in one of the many crosses around the country.
Safe driving is not a guarantee for safety; but it is a safe bet!
We traveled south to Florida, west across the country to California, and east back to Florida again, and north back to Connecticut. We went through small towns and big cities. Met old friends, relatives, and made new friends. The mileage for this years’ journey is 9,237 miles (plus or minus a few) and are looking forward to a new adventure — -possibly the northern states during the summer months. Who knows?
We are ending this third tour of our great country. It has been an honor to know that many of the readers of this blog were right there beside us in our van as miles, days and weeks and states passed by. It is our fondest hope you will share our love of this country and get out and see it.
James and Joan, the American Vagabonds
Barrie is a docent at the Florida Holocaust Museum, which is one of the largest in the country. We spent a few hours there with her, looking at the exhibits. Included in the first floor exhibit is an actual railroad boxcar that was used to transport Jewish people to the camps. Very cruelly, the Nazis crowded more than a 100 people into these cars where 10 to 15 would seem crowded to us. And, all this without sanitation measures!
In Florida, all school children must study the Holocaust, and the museum has trunks of materials that they send to the schools for the teachers to use before touring the museum. The trunks contain literature, videos, curriculum guides and posters that are age appropriate for students from first grade to twelfth grade. One group of children from Virginia made a colorful quilt with their thoughts about the exhibit that toured their area.
One of the exhibits, "Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow" compares the Nazi propaganda with the Jim Crow laws that existed in the United States. The exhibit encourages thought and discussion of the consequences of bullying. Survivors of the Holocaust speak to groups, and we were pleased to be able to sit in and listen to a gentleman tell the story of his family. The greatest impression to James is the wonderful will we all possess when we are challenged.
On Wednesday, while we were traveling to the gym, we noticed a sign for a Friday night dance at the Bradenton Women’s Club. We called for tickets and planned to attend the dance after exercising on Friday. This took a little planning as we had to figure in time for changing into our dance clothes and having dinner. We dressed at the gym after exercising, and ate at a little Greek restaurant across the street. Then we headed for the dance.
Just before we got there, we could see flashing lights and that traffic was being diverted. Traveling narrow side streets in the dark, not knowing where we were going, we followed the traffic and ended up at the parking lot for the dance! We had been worried that the detour would bypass the hall. We were told that a house fire was the cause of the traffic congestion.
We never know when we go to a new dance venue what we will find for music and dancers. This was a very nice group of people, and a 13-piece dance band. Our tablemates were "snowbirds" from Quebec, and we had some interesting conversations between dances. They with their Canadian accents, and we with our Yankee accents — how wonderful!
The next morning, we said good-bye to Barrie, and headed across Florida to visit Joan’s cousin, Bruce. On Sunday morning, we went to an open-air vegetable and flea market. The vegetables looked fresh and colorful and imagine — fresh strawberries in January for $2 a pint!
When we travel, and stop at rest areas, truck stops, or Wal-Mart for the night, mornings are always a little confusing at first. When we wake up, the inside of the van is certainly familiar, but then we have to stop and think about where we are: What state we are in? Where we are parked?
At one Welcome Center and rest area in Mississippi, we saw a training model of the Lunar Landing Module. This was located near Stennis Space Center. Some states make a great effort to welcome travelers and show interesting exhibits of their area and culture.
Another difficult moment comes when one of us asks, "What day is this?" While we are traveling, we frequently lose a day just because they days seem to be no different from each other. Joan tries to write a journal entry for every day, with the day of the week and date just to keep track. James, also preoccupied with his driving duties, always asks what day it is and what time it is.
In previous blogs, James has talked about his safe driving habits. This week James would like to comment on others.
When he puts the cruise control at the speed limit, invariably we are the slowest vehicle on the highway. The state troopers cannot stop all the speeding, and it seems the roads are too often marked with crosses — most probably drivers and perhaps their passengers were killed. How sad! Life is too precious to waste for a lead foot.
The other concern is drivers distraction with cell phones. Many states like Connecticut have laws against the use of cell phones when driving; yet, drivers all across the country ignore the safety and logic of this type of law designed to protect drivers from themselves. Perhaps their lunacy is reflected in one of the many crosses around the country.
Safe driving is not a guarantee for safety; but it is a safe bet!
We traveled south to Florida, west across the country to California, and east back to Florida again, and north back to Connecticut. We went through small towns and big cities. Met old friends, relatives, and made new friends. The mileage for this years’ journey is 9,237 miles (plus or minus a few) and are looking forward to a new adventure — -possibly the northern states during the summer months. Who knows?
We are ending this third tour of our great country. It has been an honor to know that many of the readers of this blog were right there beside us in our van as miles, days and weeks and states passed by. It is our fondest hope you will share our love of this country and get out and see it.
James and Joan, the American Vagabonds
This concludes the American Vagabonds' trip cross country to California and back. James and Joan will return - hopefully soon- with another collection of adventures. Thanks for joining me and reading their blog. Visit www.registercitizen.com and click on our library of bloggers for politics, travel, food and many other topics!
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