Tag Archives: Travel Series

The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 7

13 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Thursday, November 12.

Reblog

Since we hadn’t reached Bamberg yet – scheduled to arrive about 1:00 p.m. – and it was another sailing morning, we slept in, getting to breakfast at 8:00 a.m.  Before we finished, Richard, Judy, and Lucy arrived.  They got their breakfast, and we visited until 9:30.a.m.  We went through several locks, which was fun to experience. 

Carl West, Program Director for the Gefjon, gave detailed information about the tours in Vienna, Budapest and other cities, which Fred attended, followed by lunch in the lounge.

At 1:30 we left the ship on a bus transfer to the city of Bamberg.

We went on a walking tour of Bamberg, seeing many beautiful and unusual types of architecture and statuary.

We saw beautiful churches and buildings, including St. Michael’s Abbey for the training of the clergy.

We even saw a “Green Goose” pub!

It always seemed funny to us to see English words in a German town.  We even found a Kätie Wohlfahrt Christmas store in town!  We walked through a garden, with a few flowers still in bloom.

According to the info sheet from the ship: “One of the few cities in Germany not destroyed by World War 2 bombing, Bamberg is the largest Old Town to retain its medieval structures…Along with its Gothic, baroque and Romanesque architecture, the city was laid out according to medieval planning rules as a cross with churches at the four cardinal points.”

Ever since we lived in Germany, I have been fascinated with the hotel/store/restaurant signs.  Back in the days when the “common” folk were more or less illiterate, the signs were posted so everyone would know just what the establishment was.  If it was a bakery, there was a pretzel within the sign.

The butcher could have an animal within the sign.  The drug store or apothecary usually had a mortar and pestle within the sign.

You get the picture.  But the signs were usually quite ornate and beautiful.  I looked for them above each store and took as many pictures of them as I could.

While in Bamburg, we stopped in a Karstadt department store (comparable to our Dillards, and one of our favorite places to shop when we lived in Germany) to purchase some socks.  I walked up to a saleslady and said, “Entschuldigen (excuse me).”  She smiled at me, and then I said, “Ich habe nur ein bischen Deutch. (I have only a little German)  Haben sie….?” and pulled up my pant leg to show her my knee socks.  She immediately took me to where the women’s socks were.  I thanked her profusely.  They were lovely, soft socks, and I enjoyed wearing them.

Here is a picture of a plaque with a date.

Our guide asked if we understood the date.  It looks to be 1867 – but we are told that’s not correct.  The “8″ is not complete – and therefore is actually a “4″ or half of the “8.”  So the correct date would be 1467.  Interesting. 

We were all to meet at Neptune’s statue, to get back on the bus for the return trip to the Gefjon. While waiting to get to the bus, I was “baptized” by bird droppings while sitting under a tree.

We had dinner in the ship’s restaurant again, and to bed by 10:00 p.m. 

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 6

29 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

Wednesday, we arrived in Wűrzburg, Germany.

We were up early, showered and dressed.  At 7:30 a.m. we went to breakfast in the restaurant.  Richard, Judy, and Lucy joined us just about the time we had finished our meal.  We stayed and talked with them for a while. Judy and I compared piano stories, such as when I was playing for Margaret Nikol (concert violinist; see my post on October 7, 2012) and my sheet music began to fall.  I had to stop playing and place both hands on the music to make it stay up.  Margaret was on a long note, and just continued to play.  When she was ready to move on, I was ready, as well.  When I apologized later, she told me that no one noticed.  And she was right!  Even Fred, who had heard me practice so many times, didn’t notice.  Judy said that happened to her, except that the piece of music fell to the floor and she just looked down at it and kept playing!

We had some time before our first excursion, so I transferred the pictures of Miltenberg from our camera to the flash drive I had brought with us.  And it’s a good thing I did – we took a LOT more pictures!

At 9:45a.m. we boarded a tour bus for the 75 minute ride to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

While on the bus, the guide told us about part of Rothenburg’s history.  Rothenburg has always been one of our favorite German cities.  It is a medieval walled town, and there is a 1.5 mile walkway at the top of the wall that encircles the town, that is still walkable.  According to the info sheet: “The wall connects five medieval gates, complete with guard towers that date from the 13th to 16th centuries.”  Fascinating!

When we arrived in the town center, there was an impromptu brass concert going on, with the players all dressed in German outfits.  They were quite good, and we enjoyed their music.

At 12:00 all of those on the Viking tour that had taken the Rothenburg excursion, met for lunch at the Gasthof Glocke.

It was a neat old eatery, and they were open just for us. 

Unfortunately, they only had one menu:  bratwurst, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.  I know it was easier for them to only serve one menu for that many people, but we were really looking forward to schnitzel.  Fortunately, since Fred doesn’t touch sauerkraut, he was able to get his without the sauerkraut.  It was still a good meal.  We sat at a table for four, kind of in a booth.  We didn’t get the names of our table mates.  

After lunch, we were on our own to explore Rothenburg.  We found a shop we had seen on the tour, and purchased a Christmas table runner.  We found Käthe Wohlfahrt’s Christmas shop – a favorite place to shop for Christmas ornaments. We purchased three Christmas brass ornaments for Christmas gifts. 

We walked around and found “the door” that we had been looking for (please see my post on December 13, 2015 titled “The Door”)

~~~~~~~~~~Part 6 – To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 5

22 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

After sailing all night, we have moved onto the Main River (pronounced mine).  Today was a sailing morning so we slept in.  We got up, showered, dressed and went to breakfast.  We were joined by Richard, Judy and Lucy, better knowing as Lucy B.

We went through one lock during breakfast.  We had gone through many locks overnight.  It is a fascinating procedure to watch…and sometimes a bit nerve-wracking!!  The ship is designed so that, when we go under a low bridge, all the chairs on the top deck are flattened, the sunscreen is collapsed, and the “bridge” is banished to its hiding place, so that everything up top is “flat.”

At 10:00 there was a glass blowing demonstration in the Lounge.  The glass blower did the traditional demonstration in the Chilhuly style.  He makes his products like Pyrex. According to the info sheet: “(he) creates an exquisite work of art from industrial glass in this captivating demonstration.”  He displayed his wares, and they were fascinating.  He had oil and vinegar bottles that I would have loved to get for myself and our girls, but we had to think about shipment, and so didn’t.  He had jewelry – earrings and such.  Really beautiful artwork.  Below are a few examples of Chilhuly glass works.

(Credit to:  By Patche99z – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5328589)

After lunch in the restaurant,  we began the walking tour of Miltenberg, “The Pearl of the Main River.”

It is a neat old town.  Fred and I thought we had been there before, when we lived in Germany, but we didn’t recognize anything we saw.  Here are some good pictures of the town that we took.

They even have directions to the loo! 

We had a good guide.  (NOTE: all the guides that Viking uses are locals, and they really know their stuff about the towns we visited.  We were impressed)  There is a red sandstone that is used locally as well as sent all over the world, as it is quite desirable.  We walked and walked the town.  Quite unique.

Courtesy Wikipedia 

We were back on board the ship after a bus ride from the foot of the Red Stone Bridge.  The ship had traveled farther up the river, and we caught up with it and re-boarded. 

We had dinner in the ship’s restaurant, and our table mates were Velma and Jeff from Australia

and two others, whose names we didn’t get.  Velma suggested a way that she designated her pictures:  She would take a photo of the daily information sheet that is given to each cabin, with the date visible, and any photos following that photo belonged to that day.  I thought it was a good way to keep track of the photos I was taking, and began doing what she suggested.  It seemed to work out quite well.  I was impressed with her suggestion, and told her so with my thanks.

We were really tired and so to bed early.  Our old age is showing!

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 4

15 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

After the excursion to the Marksburg Castle, we were scheduled for a cruise up the Middle Rhein River (from Koblenz to Mainz), and to see all the castles along the way.  Unfortunately, the area had been having a drought for some time, and the river was low. 

Let me explain about the ship we were on.  It is a “long” ship (443 feet), only two passenger levels, since it must pass through some “locks” along the way.

A larger, deeper, ocean-sailing ship wouldn’t be able to navigate those locks.  Therefore, because the river was so low, we were unable to traverse the Middle Rhein River on the Gefjon.  All the passengers (185) – and a few of the crew – were transferred to another ship for the Rhein River cruise.  While our luggage and most of the crew stayed with the Gefjon, they were forced to dump of all the fresh water they had on board (over 100,000 gallons).  In spite of all that, there were spots along the way where there was only 12″ of water below the ship!  So I guess it was a good thing we were off!  Didn’t want to get grounded!

So, instead of seeing the castles from our ship, we all were transferred to the Konigsbacher – a tourist/sight-seeing boat – for the remainder of the day.

 We played “cat and mouse” with the Gefjon all the way to Bingen – we would be in front for a while, then the Gefjon would be in front.  Fun to watch, with the crew waving at us as we passed each other. 

 We did see some castles (we counted 31) while we sailed, and Carl West described them to us.  However, as it was beginning to get too dark to see any other castles, Carl announced that it would be another 90 minutes before we could board the Gefjon again!  Many groans!!  I looked at Fred and vehemently said – “where’s my Kindle???!!!”  Unfortunately, it was locked up in the safe in our room.  It was a rather boring 90 minutes, for sure.  Billie (our concierge)  and the boat’s crew brought out cake and tea for us – charged to Viking, which was nice.

There was a flag flying on the Konigsbacher and I wondered what it represented.  When I asked the crew, they said it represents their home town.

We finally stopped at Bingen, and both the Gefjon and the Konigsbacher were lashed together, so there were only a few steps to get across to get to the Gefjon.

We were finally able to get to supper at 7:30 p.m.  Our table mates were Nancy and Jim from Arizona (they formerly lived in Metro West in Orlando), and Rachael and her mother, Carol, from Sacramento, California.  Rachael earned her law degree from UNM (the University of New Mexico).

Bed by 10:00 p.m. and we were very tired!

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 4

8 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Re-blog

I’ve not mentioned that, before each meal, Fred and I would “excuse” ourselves from the rest of the table, to say our blessing.  This morning, at the breakfast table, as we were beginning to excuse ourselves, the other gentleman at the table leaned toward me, arm and hand outstretched across the empty chair between us, and said, “Looks like you are about to thank the Lord.”  When I agreed, we all took hands and prayed.  After prayer, I told him that he sounded like a preacher.  He grinned and said, “well…….”

They turned out to be Richard and Judy, with their widowed friend, Lucy (Richard called her “Lucy B”).  They are from Fort Worth, Texas, and he is the Worship Leader for the 8:00 a.m. service at the North Richland Hills Baptist Church.  He also directs the Senior Adult Choir there.  So while he is not a preacher, he is in the Christian ministry.

Richard and Judy flank Lucy 

We found several points in common:  His wife’s name is Judy – I am Judy.  She is a pianist – I am a pianist (of sorts).  I asked her one time:  If you are eating a piece of cake, what is your favorite part, the cake or the icing?  Her response?  THE ICING!  I gave an air fist pump and a whoop of joy – because that’s MY favorite part of a piece of cake, as well!  WOW….are we twins?

We struck up an instant friendship.   Judy is the pianist for the service at their church (he affectionately calls her “Sister Judy” – i.e. “play us something in the key of G, Sister Judy”).   He would address me occasionally as “Judy2.”

Just a note here to say that the first four years Fred and I were married were spent in Fort Worth, while Fred attended and graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  We are quite familiar with Fort Worth.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Rotunda 

While Lucy was up getting her food, we talked about Fort Worth and seminary.  He mentioned that Lucy was a Baylor University graduate, and I told him about my Dad being one of the three students at Baylor in the very first graduating class in the School of Music in 1924.

When Lucy returned, he informed her that my Dad was a Baylor grad.  She blinked and looked at me.  Our conversation took off from there.  She is a die-hard Baylorite!

There is also another connection between Richard and us – he was the Minister of Music  for the First Baptist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico – my original home church – in the 1970’s!   We began comparing notes on people we both had known while there.  Absolutely amazing!


Original building, First Baptist Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico 

Following breakfast, I wasn’t feeling very well, so I stayed in the stateroom, while Fred went on an excursion (walking tour) to the Marksburg Castle.  He came back saying that it had been a VERY difficult walk/climb, and I would not have been able to manage all the steps and the climb.  I was glad I had stayed home!  But he took lots of pictures, and said it was a delightful castle to explore.  I’m glad he was able to make the jaunt by himself.

~~~~~~~~~~Part 4 to be continued~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime Part 2 Reblog

4 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

The first real day of our cruise started with breakfast.  There is a “buffet” breakfast in the restaurant, with a chef making omelets – made to order. 

Our ship, the Gefjon (gef’- ee – on) is named after a Norwegian goddess.   Interesting. 

Our first excursion took us to Kinderdijk (kinder-dike), Holland (the Netherlands). 

This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We saw a building with three huge Archimedes screws.  

From the original 150 windmills in the area, only 28 are left, and Kinderdijk has the largest collection of working windmills in that small area – 19 in all. 

We saw the windmills – went into one – and saw the polders the windmills gather water from.  The windmills are used to pump water from the polders using internal or external scoops into reservoirs on two levels.   We were amazed at the size of the mills, and sails that are placed on the blades – it is all mechanical.  We were also amazed to see that the caretakers actually lived within the windmill.  Small spaces, and usually when the father died, the son took over.

The one we went in was old – made entirely from bricks.  The newer ones looked like they were made from “shingles.”  Most of these windmills date from 1738 through 1740.

The ship supplied us with “receivers” and ear pieces that we plugged into the receivers that hung from lanyards around our necks.  Each tour guide had a “channel” that we tuned into.  That way they could talk normally and we couldn’t hear what the other guides were saying (different channel).  It was a very convenient way to do the tours.  We had them with us at all times on our excursions.  The ship also supplied us each with bottled water on each excursion.

Back on board, we began our sail to Cologne, Germany.  Still being rather tired, we both took a nap, until it was time for the mandatory safety drill – including wearing our life jackets.  We have to get over that jet lag!

We had a light lunch in the Aquavit Lounge.  Usually set up as a buffet on the Terrace – much quicker and as good as in the restaurant.

After lunch we checked on our e-mail.  Fred got one of the hostesses to set up our phones to receive e-mail. 

We took in a Dutch teatime in the Aquavit Lounge.  They served lots of goodies, and flavorful, interesting hot tea.

Nearing dinnertime, there was a “Toast to Our Guests” by Captain Marcel Stephan and Hotel Manager Harald Halswanter in the Aquavit Lounge. 

It was a welcome time for the guests of the ship.  That room was used for many things, including the daily briefing about the next day’s excursions by Program Director, Carl West.  Carl followed the tours on each excursion, taking pictures.  Each evening, those pictures would scroll through the two monitors set up in the lounge.  It was fun to find pictures of yourselves on those monitors.

Dinner in the restaurant.  Everyone at the table had the Chateaubriand, and it was  wonderful! 

Our table mates were Steve and Jane from Colorado, and Lola and Judy from Minnesota.  Jane had recently had back surgery, and while in physical therapy, fell onto her back and re-injured herself.  She was moving rather gingerly and always used a cane when she walked.

Another long, busy day, and the bed felt really good!!

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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My Brightline Train Trip-Part 4

13 Mar

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

New Years Day (1/1/2024 Continued)

After we had boarded the train and found our seats, we discovered that the Brightline train is being used by a lot of people as a commuter train for the stations between Miami and West Palm Beach.  There was a large passenger exchange at our station, as well as at the Boca Raton and West Palm Beach stations.

Photo Credit: https://www.istockphoto.com/people-waiting-for-train/

By the time we got to the Melbourne area, the sun was setting, and it was hard to see outside with the reflection of the lights in the train car.  I did notice, however, that the train whistle was not sounding as often heading north in the dark as the one did heading south in the daylight.  That seemed a little scary to me, when I thought of the many vehicles that have been hit by these trains since they started traveling this route at these higher speeds.

Photo Credit: https://www.fox35orlando.com/brightline/crash

The speed was slower heading north (Average 76 mph) thru the more congested areas, and we were able to see a few things we recognized.  We were able to see the big Cocoa water tower, and the SR-528 overpass as we turned west and passed under the highway.  Once the train was on the straight-away, parallelling SR-528, the train’s speed increased to about 125 mph (not much to see along this stretch) and before we knew it, we were pulling into the Orlando Airport Terminal “C” Brightline Station and the end of our New Year’s Day train trip.

Photo Credit: https://www.rail-tech.com/brightlines-orlando-station/  

Billy walked me to the Wally Park shuttle pickup area where we said our goodbyes.  I called for a shuttle pickup and Billy found his car and headed home.  It wasn’t long before the Wally Park shuttle pulled up.  The shuttle driver had other passengers to pick up at the different airlines, so it took almost 20-minutes for him to deliver me to my car at the Wally Park parking area.  I had forgotten to write down my parking “Row” and parking “Slot” so it took him a while to find the right “Row” and “Slot” and my car (How could I have forgotten to do that?).

Photo Credit: https://www.google.com/search=Wally/Park/Shuttle

Once we found my car, it was a familiar route home to Titusville via south on SR-436 and east on SR-528 approximately 35 miles.  This route runs right along a portion of the same Brightline Train track we had just been on.  By the time I arrived home, DiVoran had prepared a great “Welcome Home” supper for me and had it waiting.  She and that home-cooked supper were a welcome site after this long day with Billy to Fort Lauderdale and return on the Brightline High-Speed train.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

That brings to a close the adventures of “My Brightline Train Trip” with my son, Billy, on New Year’s Day of 2024.  I would have to say that this was a very interesting once–in-a-lifetime experience that I enjoyed sharing with my son, and am looking forward to doing it again (with Billy) once Brightline has finished the Orlando to Tampa leg of their system.  In the meantime, I think I will continue to do my trips to the south Florida area by car (Road Trips).  Thanks for joining me for this short one-day Brightline train trip.  It’s been fun!  See you next time.

Image Credit: https://www.dreamstime.com/illustration/goodbye/

—–The End—–

ill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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My Brightline Train Trip-Part 3

6 Mar

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

New Years Day (1/1/2024 Continued)

Our next RideCircuit driver, for the ride back to the Brightline Station,  regaled us with the history and stories of the areas of Fort Lauderdale as we passed thru them, such as what was presently going on in the neighborhood where he lived.

Photo Credit: https://observernewspaperonline.com/2021/11/01/brightline-offers-door-to-door-transportation/

As we passed an old church building, he pointed at it and informed us that it had originally been built in 1921 as the St. Anthony’s Catholic church.  When that parish moved to a larger building in 1949, they sold the building to the Lutheran Evangelical Church and the building’s facade was moved to its present location.  The building was registered as a “Historic Landmark” by the city fathers, and sat vacant for many years.  In 2017 the building was sold to a local developer and the “Holly Blue” Restaurant & Lounge project was begun.  The restoration was finally finished in 2023, and that’s what I call a unique building transformation story.

Photo Credit: https://fortlauderdalecra.com/theabbey/FortLauderdale/neighborhood/

At one point a bunch of young kids on bicycles came riding at us, acting as if they were going to crash into us.  I grabbed the back of the seat in front of me when our driver didn’t slow down, and the cyclists peeled off around our shuttle vehicle, laughing and shouting at us.  When I asked him what that was all about, he told us about the gangs of young kids on bicycles that were stopping and terrorizing motorists in certain areas of Fort Lauderdale, causing the local law enforcement folks a lot of headaches.  He said several cyclists had deliberately run into cars, and then sued the motorists for damages (No money had been awarded to the cyclists that he knew of).

Photo Credit: https://wsvn.com/news/video-shows-dangerous-behavior-involving-bicyclists-cars-in-fort-lauderdale/

Our RideCircuit shuttle driver dropped us off right in front of the Brightline Station.  Billy and I had purchased coach tickets for our return trip, so we didn’t have access to the 1stCClass Lounge at this station.  However, we did inspect the lounge and found that it wasn’t as plush as the one in Orlando, but was still quit comfortable.

Photo Credit: https://www.roadtripsforfamilies.com/fort-lauderdale/

At first, we heard an announcement that our 3:25 train was going to be a few minutes late, but then heard the call that the train was arriving pretty much on-time.  We proceeded to the track-side waiting area, with the other passengers, and watched the train pull into the station.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

We had purchased a coach tickets for our return trip to compare 1st class seating, comfort, and amenities with that of coach.  Of course, the price was half that of 1stclass seating and that had something to do with our choice of return tickets also

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

As we boarded the coach car for our return trip, we found our reserved seats (side-by-side with no table) and discovered that coach seating was a little more crowded than 1stclass, and not as roomy as first class seating (No tables between some seats, so less legroom).

Photo Credit: https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/brightline-

The train left the Fort Lauderdale station within a minute or two of our original 3:25 departure time and we were surprised to see that the car we were in was full.  Once we left the Fort Lauderdale station, Billy accessed the “Speed” and “Google Maps” apps on his iPhone so we could keep track of our progress and speed for the return trip.

Photo Credit: https://apps.apple.com/speedometer-speed-tracker

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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And Yet Another Cruise-Part 5

25 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Our stateroom was typical of most of the Disney ships…perhaps just a smidgen larger than the older ships.  But it has all the amenities that the other ships has.  Over the bed was a print of a scene from the movie Frozen.

Over the sleeper-sofa is a print from Frozen as well – Anna and Elsa.

There is always a TV in the room – and always with our stateroom number (6664) and our name on it.

We could watch TV movies, see where the ship is headed, the weather, the activities onboard, etc.  A wealth of information at our fingertips. 

The remainder of the room is much like all others – desk with built-in shelves and drawers, along with a small refrigerator. 

 Also the closet…two sides separated by shelves with a safe.

And the two separate “bathrooms” that we enjoy so much.  One side with the tub/shower (this one had a glass door rather than a shower curtain!  Yay) along with a sink, mirror, and glass shelves.

Separated by a wall is the other room – with the toilet, a sink, mirror, and glass shelves.

So easy for us both to get ready for the day with our own mirror and sink.  One of the greatest aspects of Disney ships!

We had a room with a veranda, but the weather was cool/windy enough that we didn’t have opportunity to take advantage of the veranda.  Shucks!

There are three main dining rooms/restaurants on each ship – excluding Palo and Remy, the high-end eateries that cost above the cost of the cruise.  One interesting thing about the Disney restaurants – the servers “follow” those eating at their assigned tables from restaurant-to-restaurant each night.  So you get to know your servers, and they get to know you and your eating habits.  For instance, we had been assigned table number 119.  We sat at table 119 in whatever restaurant we were assigned each night.  We also had the same table mates at each restaurant.

Our first night, we were assigned to eat at Arendelle, table 119.   Here is our table number in brass.

There is some of the “decorations” on that brass, that goes along with Frozen.  It is the same as that flower embroidered on the napkin.

 And here is the sign for Arendelle.

I think we sat “in the round” surrounding an elevated stage, for when we were eating, the performers were above us, and we were seated around the stage.  Interesting.

The second night we were at a more “formal” restaurant – Roy Disney 1923.  I neglected to get a picture of the sign for the restaurant, but here is a dinner plate and salt and pepper shakers with 1923 on them. 

 I tried to get a picture of our table number (119), but the lamp was not lit, so it’s difficult to see it.

Our third night was at World of Marvel restaurant. 

 Here is Fred holding up our table number. 

Since neither Fred nor I have seen any of the Marvel movies, this “interactive” restaurant was a bit of a disappointment to us.  Not the food nor the table mates nor the servers.  But there really wasn’t much “interactive” going on – not like Animator’s Palate on the older ships.  However, toward the end of the meal, Spiderman made his appearance – and the children loved it!  He would go to the table where there were children and strike a pose with the children so their parents could take a picture.  Cute.

The food is always good on a Disney ship…that’s something you can count on, and we always enjoy our meals.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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My Brightline Train Trip-Part 1

21 Feb

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

New Years Day (1/1/2024)

This day started early for me as I needed to drive to Orlando, Florida to meet my son, Billy, for our first ever Brightline High-Speed train ride.  After a quick breakfast, I made the 35-mile trip from my home in Titusville to Orlando on SR-528 and found the Wally Park off-site parking (As I mentioned in the Prolog, I chose the Wally Park off-site parking because the Brightline Station parking directions at the airport Terminal “C” seemed a little confusing, and I didn’t want to deal with the potential of being late for our 8:50 Brightline departure).

Photo Credit: https://m.facebook.com/WallyPark

It only took the Wally Park Customer Shuttle about ten minutes, after picking me up, to take me directly to the Brightline Station entrance located in Terminal ‘C’ at the Orlando International Airport.  That included two stops at airlines to pick up other passengers.

Photo Credit: https://www.google.com/search=Wally/Park/Shuttle

I took the escalator to the 3rd floor where I met my son, Billy, at the Brightline Station ticket area.  We used our e-tickets to enter the 1st class lounge to wait for them to call our 8:50 train.  I was surprised at how comfortable and spacious the lounge was.

Photo Credit: https://touringplans.com/brightline-train-to-orlando/

We were able to avail ourselves of an assortment of self-serve complimentary breakfast items such as scrambled eggs, sausage, home-fried potatoes, cheese cubes, and sliced ham.  Coffee, soft drinks, and bottled water were also available.

Photo Credit: https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/brightline-train-review/

I was impressed with the eco-utensils provided to us to eat with at the 1st Class Lounge, and later on the train.  Even though everything provided to eat with was recyceable, the wooden cutlery was so different from the plastic utensils I am use to receiving at most fast food places (and even at some restaurants) now days.  It was a unique experience.

Phot Credit: Bill Lites

When our 8:50 am train to Fort Lauderdale and Miami was called, we took our bottled water from the lounge, and proceeded thru the entry turnstiles (with our QR Code), down the stairs to the train on Track One, and entered the 1st- class car.  We found our reserved seats on the single seat side with a table between the seats.

Photo Credit: https://thepointsguy.com/news/brightline/

Billy got busy setting up his Speed Tracker App in his iPhone so we could track the speed of the train on our journey.  The train was only lightly loaded with passengers, and I was amazed at how smooth the train ride was from the Orlando Airport (Terminal ‘C’), east along SR-528 to Brevard County where the track turned south toward Miami.

Photo Credit: https://apps.apple.com/speedometer-speed-tracker

Billy said the highest speed he recorded along this straight stretch of track was 125 mph!  Billy also loaded the Google Maps app in his iPhone so we could track our progress as well as the train’s speed.  As the train slowed down for the turn south, we began looking for familiar sights along the train route adjacent to US-1.

Photo Credit: https://www.pinterest.com/cocoa-florida-water-tower/

We saw the big Cocoa water tower, and Rockledge Square.  Then somewhere along this southern portion of the route, we must have moved onto a short piece of the FEC track, because the train began to rock and roll enough to make a few people sick.  That was the only short stretch of rough track that I remember during the entire trip.

Photo Credit: https://www.istockphoto.com/motion-sickness/

Luckily, this didn’t last long, and we were back on a smooth ride.  Then we passed over the Eua Galle River, Crane Creek (Melbourne), Turkey Creek (Palm Bay), St. Sebastian River (Sebastian) bridges, and thru the small towns of Wabasso, Winter Beach, and Gifford.  Then we passed thru Vero Beach, Jensen Beach, skirted the St. Lucy River inlet, thru Port Salerno, and Fort Pierce, before arriving at our first stop at West Palm Beach.  As the train was slowing, there was an announcement telling passengers who were getting off at this station to gather their belongings and prepare to exit the train, as“This stop would only be for a few moments.”

Photo Credit: https://www.theledger.com/brightline/

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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