Clifton Lights

I guess the best part of visiting Clifton Mills at Christmas is the lights display. The display was first seen in 1988 using only 100,000 lights and 1,000 Santa Clauses. The display has brown to more than 3,600,000 lights and more than 3,000 Santa Clauses which now takes 12 men all year to install and maintain.



There is an animated miniature village, a replica of the village of Clifton including nearly 1,000 feet of train tracks and more than 100 animated mechanical wonders.



To find out more about Clifton Mills, go to

http://www.cliftonmill.com/

Clifton Village

One of the displays at Clifton Mills is a hand crafted model village of clifton mills which probably has all the buildings of Clifton on display in miniature form. They have ball parks, drive-in movies, churches, gas stations, Churches, etc. From what I could tell, they all must be an almost exact model of the buildings. A lot of the displays are animated--trains, cars, etc. I guess it is a great attraction for all the young children and the old people with young hearts. I know we certainly enjoyed the sights.

Clifton Santa Display

One of the main attractions at Clifton Mills besides the lights is the Santa display. There are over 3600 Santas that have been collected over the years on display. The Santas in the slide show are only a few of the Santas on display. Many are antique/vintage Santas. All are interesting to view and if you really looked at each one, you would probably be there all day. Most are static, but, some are animated and are enjoyable to watch.

Christmas Day

We had a great day Christmas. It was fun watching the girls open their presents. They seemed to enjoy what they received.

Linda cooked a great meal and we had a late lunch/early dinner. As usual, we ate too much and we will probably pay for it after Christmas.

We went to Clifton Mills Christmas night to view the lights. There are over 3.6 million lights in the display and it is rated as the best Christmas Lights display in Ohio. This is the third time we have been and it gets better every year. They have added a musical lights program that is computerized and as the music plays, different parts of the lights are turned on or off. I will post a slide show of some of the lights later.

Sunday Linda took Chris, Suzi and the girls to Dayton Mall to shop and I stayed at home. Today we all went to the Mall at Fairfield Commons. The girls found a few things to buy at each of the malls. I think tomorrow will include a trip to the malls around Cincinnati, Ohio. I may opt out of that trip. Shopping was never high on my list of things to do. I guess that is why Linda always does our shopping.

St Clair State Park Christmas Lights

After many hours of driving Chris, Suzi and the girls finally arrived in Trotwood around 3:00 AM December 24. We had a relatively quiet Christmas Eve, but, decided to go to St Clair State Park--about 40 minute drive--to visit a light display that is put up each year at the park which is located in Eaton, Ohio. We have been in Ohio nearly 15 years and this is the first year that we have gone to visit the display. After the visit, I doubt that it will be the last. The pictures do not do the display justice. I think the snow on the ground confused my automatic light adjustment/focus and they did not come out as good as I had hoped. The pictures that I did take is less than 10% of the light display in the park. You can drive through the whole park without getting out of your car. However, there is a parking area so we did get out to take pictures and visit some of the buildings. There is no fee for entry and they also provide free hot chocolate and cookies. They do accept donations so I left a donation.

We plan on going to Clifton Mills to see the old mill lighting display. It is voted the best Christmas light display in Ohio and the display is absolutely beautiful. We have been there before, but it has been over 5 years. Hopefully, we will get some good pictures to post.

Caribbean Cruise: Tampa Return

Well, the elevator tells us it is Sunday so we must be in Tampa. We went to the Lido restaurant for the last time and had a great breakfast. We scheduled a tour of Tampa which started at 8:30 so we had to get off the boat early. We had Holland America pre-board us for our flight home and check in our luggage so we did not have to get our luggage. We were the first in line to get off and when we got to the customs clearing station, there wasn't a custom officer there. We had to wait for awhile, but, did manage to get cleared and make it to the bus for our Tampa tour. The tour started with a stop at an old hotel that had been sold to the University and converted into offices and class rooms. I think there was also some dormitory space in the building. It was a grand old hotel and still retained the charm of its golden days.

After the visit to the hotel, we went for a windshield tour of Tampa to see the different communities. We stopped in old Tampa where the old tobacco factories used to be located. We toured the old German Club and Spanish Club then walked around old town. It was a great day for sight seeing--warm and not too many tourist out. I guess Sunday mornings is always that way in Tampa. We went to one of the old restaurants and ordered hamburgers. We sat outside and enjoyed the meal. After the meal we toured some more of Tampa and then went to the Airport. We had a few hours to wait for our flight so we got to finish our books before taking off. The flight to Dayton was uneventful and we arrived a little ahead of schedule.

The Park-n-Go driver picked us up at the arrival terminal and we went to get our car. The whole process from airport to in the car and on the road probably took less than 15 minutes. We got home and lite a fire in the stove. Back to reality and the troubles life has in store for us.

We had a great trip, but it was good to get back.

Caribbean Cruise: Saturday At Sea

Another quiet, relaxing day at sea. Nothing to do but read, relax and have a good time. There were some clouds in the sky and a little rain, but, it made for an interesting sunrise. Linda took the sunrise pictures through the window of our room.

Since we had plenty of time, we decided to have a good breakfast at a slow pace and enjoy the food. Claude went through the omelet line and had an omelet with just about everything on it. Linda went through the Continental breakfast line and had her usual muesli, fruit, cheeses, cold cuts, etc. We both topped of breakfast with a sampling of their pastries.

We had our disembarkation briefing and crew farewell around 10:00 AM. After the briefing, we toured the ship until lunch and went to the Lido restaurant. We spent the rest of the day reading and laying on deck watching the waves go by.

The dining room staff put on a special dinner for us and labeled each course as an Act. For each act, they put on a small skit which was very enjoyable. We had the same two crew members serving us each night and by the last night on board ship, you began to develop a good relationship with your servers. Ours were great and they took very good care of us.

Caribbean Cruise: Costa Maya

Our projected time to dock today was 7:00 AM and we arrived on time. We had a continental breakfast before departing the ship. Since we were docked and did not have to tender in, we had to walk to the shopping center to catch our tour bus for the excursion to the Mayan ruins. I had not planned on touring two Mayan ruins on this trip, but, we had to take a tour in Belize as a replacement for the one that was cancelled.

The trip to the Mayan ruins was a good ride. Great weather, no traffic and good company. Our tour guide was the best guide that I have seen. He brought along some artifacts and passed them around for us to watch. He also made up a lot of pictures and charts to show us. You would have thought he was a professor of Mayan history, not a tour guide, by the way he presented the information. He maintained control of the group and we got to see and hear a lot more than we would have. On the way back, they had cold beer for us to drink. Being good hosts, they offered us another beer and being a gracious visitor, I accepted.

We arrived back at the port and we had to go to the jewelry shop to pick up Linda's purchases, then back to the ship.

This was the night of our second formal dinner and we had to put on our dress clothes. Pictures were also taking during dinner by a professional photographer. This picture was better than the others that were taken so we bought one.

After dinner, we went to the Showroom at Sea for their show called an encore presentation. The show was good, but, we left early to get to the piano bar to find a set. Wt Greer was doing the Best of Broadway and there was a large crowd waiting for his performance. After the performance, we went back to our room to rest. Saturday would be a day at sea and we looked forward to another relaxing day at sea sitting on the deck and reading our books.

Caribbean Cruise: Honduras

Another trip to the elevator to see what day it is. If it is Thursday, we must be getting ready to port in Honduras. The port is located at Mahogany Bay on the Island of Roatan. There is a beach area just off the dock which you can walk to from the ship. We had scheduled an excursion and had a little time to kill so we walked to the beach. The first beach shots are the beaches near the port. The last beach pictures were taken at a resort on the Island of Roatan.

The tour we signed up for was called "Far and Away Tour". It was about a 45 minute drive to the resort and it started out being a pleasant drive. Unfortunately, it started to rain so we didn't have good picture taking weather the rest of the day. Part of the way the roads were in pretty good shape--2 lane black top. However, we had to get off the main road and travel about 14 km to the resort. The road was dirt and gravel and mostly 1 lane and no shoulders.

We arrived at the resort and the owners had some local dancers perform for us. She also had a lunch waiting for us which was good. We were supposed to set on the deck to watch the performance, but, it started raining again and we had to move inside. After the performance, we walked to the beach area and then around the end of the Island. Looks like it would be a very good vacation spot if you wanted a quiet relaxing vacation on the beach. The restaurant was very well maintained and the owner and entire staff were very friendly.

We finally returned to the port and we walked around the shopping area and visited some of the shops. We bought some Honduran coffee beans to bring back with us. If the coffee tastes as good as the beans smell, it will be great coffee.


We went back to our rooms to rest and get ready for dinner. After dinner, we went to the Show room at Sea to watch part of a comedian show before going to the Piano Bar to listen to WT Greer. The crowd gets bigger every night and the bar is packed. The crowd is standing 4 deep outside the bar to listen to the performance. WT's performance tonight was songs from the 50's and 60's. As usual, the performance was great.

After the show we went to the Chocolate Extravaganza, a late night treat that they have one of the nights of the cruise. Just about all of the deserts are made from chocolate or have chocolate in them. There were many ice carvings placed throughout the Lido deck. They also had carvings made from watermelons, carrots, etc which were gorgeous .

After partaking of some of the deserts, we wen back to our rooms to get ready for an early arrival in Costa Maya, Mexico and a tour to another Mayan ruin.

Belize Sunset

The tender ride back to the boat was another pleasant ride. We went back to our room to rest and change for dinner. Dinner menus are great. We had steak and lobster one night; steak and prawns; New York strip steak; and a lot of main courses that we had never had before. The appetizers, soups, salads and deserts for each night were well presented and very delicious.

We watched a little of the live show in the Showroom of the sea, then went to the Piano Bar to find us a seat. We got there about 30 minutes early and there was a crowd forming. WT Greer featured the songs of Elton John and once again did a great job. After the show we went to our room to relax and get ready for the next day.

Caribbean Cruise: Belize

The ship was projected to arrive at 8:00 AM. We could not get into port so we had to anchor above 5 miles out and tender into the port. It was a pleasant 15 to 20 minute trip. Once again, we had good weather.

We went to breakfast and had a leisure breakfast. We were given numbers to use to board the tenders and since we had a excursion we reserved through Holland America, we were scheduled to be one of the first groups to board. We arrived at the collection point; got our boarding numbers; and were waiting to be called when they announced that our excursion had been cancelled because the bridge we had to cross to get to sections of the jungle and caves had been damaged beyond use. Of all the excursions available on this cruise, this was the one we liked the most by reading the description of the excursion. It was described as a 45 minute fast boat ride up the river to a dock; walk through the jungle across a swinging bridge; tour of caves; entrance to a protected valley (through the caves) that Mayan Indians used for protection and religious sits; and a ride back to Belize City in a truck through the jungle. All other excursions that we liked were already booked and we were told to try to book a tour on the dock. We were advised to not deal with anyone outside the port area. We did manage to get on a guided tour of Altun Ha, a Mayan Indian archaeological site with a local guide.

Of all the guides we could have gotten, I think we got the worst. He told us to form up at a sign at the beginning of the ruins while he parked his van. Linda and I went to the sign and waited and he did not return. We finally looked at the entrance to one of the buildings which was a long way away from the sign and he was sitting there. I asked him why he did not come to the sign as he had said and he stated that it did not look like there were very many people there so he decided to change locations--unfortunately, he never told anyone. That was probably the best part of the tour. It was down hill from there. We did enjoy the ruins, but not the tour guide or the ride getting there.

We left the ruins and returned to the port. When he picked us up, he was on the docks. When he dropped us off, he let us off in the city. Needless to say, we had vendors, beggars and others trying to take our money. We managed to get through them without too much problem and went back to the ship to rest awhile and get ready for dinner.

Carribbean Cruise: Day at Sea

Tuesday--at least that is what the rug says in the elevator--and no ports today. We will spend the day and the night at sea. We will spend some time on deck reading a book and relaxing. The sun is shining and it is a warm, beautiful day at sea.

We decided to attend a "Shop Til You Drop in the Caribbean" to find the best places to purchase things at our ports of call. The presentation was very informative and we were given a lot of information on the jewelry that was available. On our other cruises, we did not shop for much jewelry and did not buy much. We did buy a jade necklace for Linda from my winnings at the blackjack table. We also bought a lot of small jewelry pieces as Christmas presents. We decided that on this cruise we would shop for Linda some jewelry.

Our day at sea was a very quiet, relaxing day and we managed to put all our problems behind us and just relax. We did do a lot of walking and a lot of eating. We also enjoyed happy hour in the Crow's Nest, the bar on the top passenger deck at the front of the ship. It sure was nice watching the waves as we sailed along. The sun was going down, but, because we had to get ready for dinner, we could not watch the sunset.

This was our first formal dinner so we both had to put on our dress clothes. On the way to the dining room, we had our pictures taken. The pictures did not turn out too well so we did not buy them.

After dinner, we went back to our room and put on casual clothes. We then went to the Showroom at Sea (live theater) for the show of the night which was Bob Mackie's Broadway--another great show.

We left the show and went to the piano bar to listen to WT Greer. His show consisted of songs of Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis. I guess the news must have gotten around that he was a great entertainer because there wasn't a seat left in the Piano Bar. We sat outside the bar and listened. We decided that we would have to get to the Piano Bar early if we wanted a seat.

After the Piano Bar, we went for a late night snack, then to the room. The fresh air, good food and great entertainment had made the day very enjoyable, but, very tiring and tomorrow would be an early day. A good nights sleep--however short--would be a great way to start the new day.

Carribbean Cruise, Day 2, Hemingway House Museum

After a long walk through the streets of Key West, we ended up at Hemingway's house which is now a museum. Every time I hear of Key West, I think of Hemingway. He was one of the best known residents of the town.

We decided to take a guided tour of the house and our guide did a fantastic job of giving us the history of the house as well as Hemingway's life. Hemingway was a collector of antiques from all over the world and the house contains many of them.

After the tour of the house, the guide took us on a tour of the property. The house sits on one of the biggest residential lots in Key West and has lovely gardens. Hemingway was a cat lover and there are cats all over the place--more than 60 cats reside on the property now. They lead a charmed lives and are visited weekly by a vet to ensure they are in good health. When a cat dies, it is buried on the property.


A visit to Key West would not be complete without visiting Sloppy Joes, a bar that Hemingway visited frequently. It is said that many of the characters for his books came from the customers that visited this bar.

This was the one place in Key West that was crowded and we thought we might not find a table. We finally got seated and ordered lunch and with a cold beer. Food was great and everyone in the restaurant were friendly.


We left the bar and went back to the ship which was leaving within the hour. We had time to rest a little, then get ready for dinner. As usual the dinner was great. We went to see a live performance which was great, then to listen to a piano player at the piano bar. He was better than the live show and we decided to listen to his show every night. He played for 2 hours each night.

Carribbean Vacation-Day 2, Scenes of Key West, Florida

One thing about cruising with Holland America, you do not have to worry about remembering what day it is--just take a ride in any elevator and the day will be in the rug. We were scheduled to arrive in Key West around 7:00 AM so we got up and went to breakfast. We went through the continental breakfast line and ate fruits, cheese, cold cuts, muesli and some pastries. All were great.

We then went out on the deck to watch the shore line as we arrived in Key west. The entrance has a great view and the terminal where we docked also was a beautiful setting. We did not schedule a shore excursion for Key West because we wanted to tour on our own. We walked the streets and visited many of the "gotcha" shops. We bought t-shirts and not much else. We did go to the Truman "White House" in Key West which is now a museum we toured the free section, but, decided to not tour the rest of the house. It wasn't a very impressive building and we could not get a good picture of the building.

Although we were late in the season, there were many flowering plants, trees and vines along the streets which made the walk very enjoyable. Key West wasn't what I expected, but, we were there after the tourist season I suppose. There were no crowds and you could get into any restaurant, shop or museum without waiting.

Western Carribbean Cruise

Up early Sunday morning and out to Dayton International Airport. It was a little cool, but, the weather was clear so we should have a good flight. We put our car in the Park-n-Go and they took us to the departure terminal. We walked up to the Air Tran counter--no one in line-- and checked our luggage. Took less than 2 minutes which was a lot faster than the last time. We went through security and again no one was in line so we cleared through security without any problems. Our departure was uneventful and we had favorable winds so we arrived at Tampa International Airport a little ahead of schedule. The first shuttle to our ship wasn't until 11:30 so we had a little wait.

We had a pleasant ride through downtown Tampa and our drive gave us an interesting briefing on Tampa and what we were seeing. We arrived at the terminal and again had very little wait to clear through customs and board the ship. We did have a slight delay because the computers crashed, but, they were brought back on line very quickly. We could not get into our rooms until 1:30 so we decided to go to the Lido deck for lunch. After a nice leisure lunch--great food as usual--we decided to take a tour of the ship. We went to check out our room and it was ready before 1:30 so we went into our room. Only one bag was in our room and we began to think that one had been misplaced. Eventually, it did show up.

We continued our tour of the ship until it was time to go to the dining room for dinner. We had reserved the first sitting for dinner which was at 5:45 PM. We had requested a table for 6, but got placed at a table for 4. We were seated and we waited for awhile to see if another couple came to our table. No one did so we had a nice quiet dinner by ourselves. As it turned out, there was another couple who were supposed to be at our table, but they never showed. We had a table by ourselves for the entire cruise which was nice.

We went to the theater to watch the live show for the nights which was a preview of all the entertainers for the week. We enjoyed the show and, based on what we saw, decided to watch the show each night.

Texas Vacation: Skating

We took the girls skating one afternoon. They did pretty good and enjoyed the afternoon.

Texas Vacation: Texas Girls

The girls really have grown. Pictures of them taken while there.

Texas Vacation: Shopping

Linda took the girls shopping one afternoon. Some pictures of them shopping and the final results.

Texas Vacation: BBQ

We were invited to a BBQ held at the home of our old postman when we were stationed at Sheppard AFB. His daughter is married to Suzie's (our daughter-in-law) brother. We had a great time and Homer filled me in on the neighbors that lived around us.

Texas Vacation: Museum

Museum was small, but interesting. Not much picture taking opportunities.

Texas Vacation: Prairie Dogs

We visited the prairie dog city while in the game reserve. The herd of Texas long horns and buffalo were there also.

Texas Vacation: Holy City

The Holy City is the site of an annual Passion Play.

Texas Vacation: Game Reserve

Pictures taken on the way to Mt Scott and from Mt. Scott which is located in the game reserve.

Texas Vacation: Mountain Park

Pictures as promised. Our day at medicine park.

Outer Banks Day 8

Day 8, Saturday April 17, 2010

We are finally home. We decided to take a different route home. We headed west on I-64 to Winston Salem, North Carolina. We then headed north on I-52 to I-74 and then to I-77. We took I-77 through Virginia into West Virginia. We picked up I-64 near Beckley, West Virginia. We passed Charleston, West Virginia and picked up I-35. We did not stay on the interstate. We traveled local roads that paralleled the interstate as much as possible. The drive was beautiful, but long and we did not get home until around midnight.

We did have one interesting stop. We stopped for gas and to use the bathroom. Linda when in to the store while I gassed up. While putting gas in the car, an ambulance parked in front of the store. I went in to go to the bathroom and was told the front was blocked to remove a patient. I had to go to the truck stop. As we were leaving, we were told that a lady had slipped on the bathroom floor and had hit her head on the sink. She was strapped to a stretcher and was being loaded on the ambulance as we were leaving.

I guess we will sign off for this trip and get to planning our next adventure.

Outer Banks Day 7

Today is a day to take it a little easy and do the usual tourist shopping that we have been ignoring all week. We saw some gotcha shops that looked interesting so we decided to take a look.

We stopped at a jewelry store and bought charm bracelets for the granddaughters with charms from the outer banks. We left there and stopped at a strip mall that had a large store with just about everything in it. We bought t-shirts for us and friends, hats for us and various other items to use as gifts.

We decided to go back to Corolla and visit the Whalehouse Museum. The museum was very interesting and we enjoyed it very much. Unfortunately, we could not take pictures. Since we had already taken pictures of the grounds, we did not take any pictures. Imagine a whole day of vacation without taking a single picture. Un heard of for the Keeling's.

After visiting the museum, we drove back to our quarters to have a snack for supper; pack up and load up the car for an early departure Saturday.

It has been a great vacation and the Outer Banks is a place worth visiting again. However, as Linda says, "It may be great, but, there are too many other places that are just as good that we have not seen". So I guess we will look to some other far corner of the United States for our next vacation.

Outer Banks Day 6

Day 6, Thursday April 15, 2010

Today the weather is much better than yesterday so we decided to cross over the sound and travel the backroads of North Carolina. We traveled through a lot of swamp lands that had very few people living in them. It was miles and miles of saw grass, cypress trees and other trees and vegetation that grows in swampy areas.

We eventually drove through Tyrrell County, North Carolina whose web page states, “Nature's buffer zone, sprawled between the urban mainland and the popular stretch of North Carolina's Outer Banks.” We stopped in a small town of Columbia, North Carolina and toured their museum; walked down their river walk; took a stroll through town and had lunch a a small diner. It was a pretty, quaint town with very friendly people. We only took 3 pictures while there and probably should have taken more.

We left Columbia and made our way to Edenton, North Carolina which is labeled,

“The South's Prettiest Small Town"

Edenton was he first permanent settlement in North Carolina and was originally incorporated in 1715. Edenton at once became the focal point of civilization in the Province, the capital of the Colony and the home of the Royal Governors.
Incorporated in 1715 as ''The Towne on Queen Anne's Creek,'' and later as ''Ye Towne on Mattercommack Creek'' and, still later as ''The Port of Roanoke,'' the spot was named Edenton in 1722 in honor of Governor Charles Eden. Edenton was established in 1728 as the colonial capital of North Carolina, and it soon became the cultural and economic capital as well. Hundreds of ships made the town a regular port of call, offloading food, goods, and slaves and shipping the prolific agricultural products of the region to European ports. The result was a thriving plantation economy that brought life to northeastern North Carolina. It is said that the beautiful historic district may surpass Williamsburg, Virgina because the homes and buildings of Edenton are not reconstructed, but are the restored originals. Over 25 homes and public buildings comprise the North Carolina State Historic Site, and many special events and seasonal tours bring sparkle to the town. The waterfront is a favorite spot for pleasure boaters, and land travelers will find several quiet bed and breakfasts to lure them off the beaten path. The surrounding countryside boasts many plantations that once provided the economic backbone of the area.

Linda and I took a very long walking tour of the town to include the water front was was very surprised by how well the buildings had been preserved. This is a town that is worth another trip. If we make it back this way again I think we would try to stay in one of the bed and breakfasts in the middle of old town.

Outer Banks Day 5

Day 5, Wednesday April 13, 2010

The cold front passed through last night and it is cool and windy today. It is around 50 degrees with wind at 30 - 35 miles per hour. The chill factor is much lower than 50 degrees. We wore our long sleeved hooded sweat shirts, but, we should have worn coats.

Since it was cool, we did not leave until after 10 AM. Our first stop of the day was Jockey State Park, home of the tallest sand dune on the Atlantic Coast. We visited the museum then took a 1.5 mile stroll through the sand dunes. With the wind, it was very uncomfortable. Walking through the sand was very tiring and did warm us up a little. We left the main area and drove to a nature trail for another stroll through the dunes.

We left the dunes and went for Mexican food at a restaurant called La Fogata. There was a restaurant with the same name in San Antonio that was great. I don’t think it was part of a chain, but, we hope a restaurant with the same name would be just as good. The food was great.

After eating, we drove out to the beach to pick up shells. It was still very windy and cool so we decided to drive back to one of the National Parks, Bodie Lighthouse, which we had passed the day before. The light house is under renovation so we could not take any good pictures, but, there was a small museum to visit. We had a long discussion with the individual working at the light house. He had 2 sons in the Navy and one in the Marine Corps. His two sons in the Navy had graduated from the Naval Academy and had spent 3 years together at the Academy.

After visiting the park, we went back towards Kitty Hawk and stopped at an antique mall. They had a lot of neat things, but, nothing that we needed. Another successful shopping day--a lot of looking, but no buying.

After the antique shops, we left the outer banks and went for a wine tasting. They had 15 different wines to taste. Some were very good and some were just passable. We did buy 3 bottles to bring home with us.

All in all a very enjoyable day without rushing around. People were super friendly at each stop and we enjoyed talking to them. Tomorrow is supposed to be a better day. Friday is supposed to be sunny and 80 degrees. Linda wants to go looking for shells so maybe Friday would be a better day.

Outer Banks Day 4

Day 4, Tuesday April 12, 2010

We are up bright and early this morning since we are going to Ocracoke Island which requires a 45 minute ferry ride. We were told that it can take up to 2 hours to get on the ferry. We got on our way a little after 8 AM. Traffic was a little heavier than usual, but not bad. When we took the road to Ocracoke, there was no traffic at all which was nice.

There was a light house at Bodie which is part of the National Parks System that we wanted to see. When we got there, it was surrounded with scaffolding and we could not take any pictures or take a tour of the inside. I did find a picture of the light house and boardwalk and downloaded them. It looked like it would have been a good stop, however we skipped Bodie and continued our trip.

There was a life saving station a little farther down that has been renovated and turned in to a museum. It was the first--and maybe the only one--that was manned by an all black crew. However, it did not open until mid April so we continued our trip.
The next stop was the lighthouse at Cape Hatteras. The park was open, but we could not walk to the top. That was ok with us. The climb at Corolla left our legs pretty sore. We did tour the small museum and walk the beaches. Cape Hatteras light house was moved about 10 years ago because of beach erosion. We visited the original sight which has some of the foundation stones at the old site. The site has now been taken over by the sand.
Insert hatteras slide show


After leaving Cape Hatteras light house we went to the port to board the ferry to Orcacoke Island. We had a very short wait before getting on the ferry. What a perfect day for a ferry ride. It was very warm and sunny. The ferry travels through the sounds and is protected from any rough water. When we arrived at Orcacoke Island, we landed at the end opposite the town. It was 14 miles to the town and there is very few buildings outside the town. We stopped at a place called Howard’s Pub for lunch. It is a well advertised place and probably has over 300 different types of beers. I had the blue fish special and Linda had a crab cake sandwich. Both were great. We also had a draft Yuengling which is brewed in Pennsylvania. I have had the beer before and liked the taste. When we visited friends in Pennsylvania, John and I stopped by the brewery for a tour and a taste. Great friends; fantastic beer; good food. What more can you ask for. We had great food and good beer, but lunched by ourselves. I guess 2 out of 3 are not too bad.

After lunch we drove to the end of the island and visited the National Park Visitor’s center. There is a small museum there. We bought a National Park Passport and we got it stamped. While in Arkansas we visited Pea Ridge Battlefield which is a National Park. We have visited many parks and could not remember all of them--old age I guess. We decided to buy a passport and start stamping it when we visited parks. I guess we should have stopped by the Bodie lighthouse just to stamp our book.

The little town of Ocracoke was interesting and contained many little shops. Most of the places were closed and had signs that April 15 was the opening days. We walked to the lighthouse which is the oldest lighthouse in North Carolina and took a few pictures. On the walk back, we stopped by a small antique shop which had some interesting glassware. Very successful shopping tour for me--saw a lot, but didn’t buy anything.

We walked back to where we parked our car and visited a small museum operated by a Historical Society. It was a restored house that had some period furniture and pictorial displays of events that happened in the local area. After the museum, we took a different road out of town to stop at another antique shop however the shop was closed. I guess it is a seasonal shop.

We left the town and headed back to the ferry. We stopped at a few of the beach entrances and were pleasantly surprised at how good they were. Orcachoke Island is listed as one of the ten best beaches in the world and I can see why. There are miles of clear, sandy beaches with beautiful water. We walked the beaches to look for shells, but, there were not many good shells. Most were broken because of the wave action.



We drove back to the ferry and lucked out again--ferry was there and we got on without waiting too long. We had a pleasant ride back to Cape Hatteras. We stopped at a few of the beaches on the way back to check them out and they were beautiful areas to visit--long empty beaches with plenty of fine sand.

We finally got back to our rooms after 6 PM. I settled in for the day and Linda went to an Ice Cream Social at the Rec Center. Tomorrow is another day and looks like the weather will not be too good for touring. I suppose we will stick close to home; have lunch at a good restaurant; and do some of the inside activities.

Linda is reading some of the activities listed and came across an announcement for a week long bike ride--the 8th Annual Outer Banks Bike Week which is sponsored by three Harley dealers on the outer banks. Tim and Vickie load up the bike and come on down. There were 20,000 bikes last year.

Outer Banks Day 3

Day 3: Monday April 11, 2010

Another beautiful day. We decided to go to Roanoke Island to visit Fort “Raleigh, the lost village, the Elizabethan Gardens, Manteo Heritage Park and walk around the town.

We arrived at Fort Raleigh and Lost Village area which is a National Park and started to walk the paths. We were not told that a lot of construction was going on and most of the area was blocked. It did not take us long to walk through the area. There was nothing to see or take pictures of.


We then went to the Elizabethan Gardens which is not part off the National Park. If you like English gardens with many flowering shrubs and trees, you will love the gardens. It is almost 100% wooden area with beautiful sculptures placed throughout the gardens. The trees were in bloom, but a lot of the flowers were not.




We left the gardens and went into Manteo for lunch. We went to a diner called Big Al’s which was built in the 50’s and looks like it has never been upgraded. It was well maintained and the food was very good. They had a lunch buffet and we decided to take it since we could try a lot of the things they had on their menus.

After lunch went to the Heritage Park which is a museum and park that is dedicated to the early settling of Roanoke Island. They had displays on the early Indians which showed how they lived, canoes, utensils and information on early farming. One of their displays was a camp that showed how the early settlers lived before they built permanent quarters. All were interesting.

A lot of the displays in the museum were interactive so the children who visited could use the items. There was a 45 minute movie about the early Indians that we watched. It was ok, but I would not cut the museum portion short to see the movie.

We drove back into town and took a stroll along the Broadway that goes around the city. There was a light house mounted on top of one of the buildings in the dock area. We also stopped by a marine museum. It was closed so we only got to see what was outside and what we could see through the windows. We then continued our tour of the town. Some of the restaurants and shops were closed. I guess it is too early for them to open. We did find an interesting antique store to visit. Their prices were very reasonable, but we did not find anything that we wanted.


We drove back to Seascape and took a walk up to their club house for a beer. It was a slow day for them and there were only 2 people in the bar. We both had a draft Belgium white beer which was good and reasonably priced. I suppose we will go back for another beer.

We went back to the room and watched a move of Patricia Cornwell’s At Risk. Linda popped popcorn and that was dinner for us. The movie was great .

Outer Banks Day 2

Day 2, Sunday April 10, 2010


What a beautiful day! Although a little cool, the sun is shinning brightly and you can see for miles--sometimes on the coast, it can be a little hazy early in the morning. After a light breakfast we went to the beach near our quarters. The resort is not on the beach but we can walk to the beach or drive to the free parking lot on the beach. We chose to drive and park.


It was a little cool early in the morning so the walk on the beach was invigorating. Since we are here before the tourist season, we had the beach to ourselves and what a view we had. A lot of the tourist shops are not open, but, enough are for us to enjoy a little shopping from time to time.

After a short visit to the beach we went to the Wright Memorial. The memorial is a national park and admission is free to people with a senior pass. I have a pass so it did not cost us anything to go to the museum and park. We have seen a lot of the Wright Brothers sites in Dayton; however, this is our first trip to where the first flight took place. The park is well laid out and has an excellent description of each event of the first flight. It was interesting looking at all the exhibits and monuments. We also sat through a 30 minute presentation on the Wright Brothers.



After we left the park, we went to a little restaurant call Rundown Cafe. We had watched the local TV network and had seen a program on restaurants on the Outer Banks. This one sounded like it would be worth a visit. The food was good and if we lived in the area we would probably go back. We shared a bowl of fish chowder that was very good. I had Baja fish tacos with black beans and rice that must have been cooked with a little curry. Linda had a fish burrito with the same rice. Both were very good... We will be here for a week, but, there are so many good restaurants that I doubt that we will go back.

After lunch we went to a Corolla, NC to visit the old town and a light house built in the 1870’s. They also had a heritage park that we visited. The light house was in excellent shape and Linda and I decided to walk to the top--160 steps of spiraling staircases. The view was great. When we got back to the bottom we decided that maybe we should start exercising more. We walked around the grounds then took a drive through their old town--not much to see and probably not worth the drive.




We visited the heritage park which has the Whalehead Museum, boat house and other buildings. The buildings were built by a gentleman whose wife liked to hunt. No hunting club would let her become a member so he bought the property and build the lodge in 1921. The lodge has over 21,000 square feet of space and really is a great building. Unfortunately, it is closed on Sunday and we were unable to take a tour.

We left the heritage park and went to check out the beaches. They were great. We did discover the northern parts of the Outer Banks have much better houses and the scenery is much better. If we do come back this way, I think we will try to rent one of these units.

We drove back to our quarters and watched the last of the Masters’ golf tournament. We have missed the entire tournament until today.

We took a walk around our complex; visited the recreation room and finally made it back to our quarters. We are still not very hungry after the large lunch so we are having a light snack for dinner. Tomorrow is supposed to be another great day and we are planning on checking out the southern end of the Outer Banks. After doing a little research, we think there is more than enough to keep us busy for a week.

Outer Banks Vacation

I guess it is time to get our thoughts and pictures together about our vacation to the North Carolina Outer Banks in April of this year. The posts may be short since we are doing most of this from memory and our memories are not that good anymore. So here goes.


OUTER BANKS
KITTY HAWK, NORTH CAROLINA VACATION
APRIL 9-16, 2010

Day 1: Saturday April 9, 2010

A long drive was ahead of us so we got up around 5 AM and got ready. The car had been packed the night before so we only had to put a few things in the car. We finally got on the road around 6 AM.

The weather was perfect for driving. It was pretty warm and a bright and sunny day. There was very little traffic until we got about 30 miles out of Norfolk, Virginia. Although it was a little heavier, we were able to maintain the speed limit. We never saw a signal wreck the whole distance--I think a first for us for a trip this long.

The drive through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina was a beautiful drive. The trees had a full coat of leaves and everything was so green. The flowering shrubbery and trees were also in bloom. We saw many trees with pink flowers, some that looked like dogwood covered in white flowers, and miles of tall trees covered with wisteria in full bloom. Linda was a little envious--she has planted some wisteria vines and they still have not bloomed.

Arrived in Kitty Hawk and tried to use Expedia’s directions to get to the time share. The directions were wrong. Linda finally looked at the information we had received and used their directions and we finally got to the time share. This only caused a short delay. Expedia had us turn left about 1 mile from where we should have turned right.

We finally got checked in around 7 PM and went to our quarters. We have a two bedroom, two bath unit. We are in a unit with two time shares and we have the upstairs unit. It has all the comforts of home and is very clean.

Texas vacation

It was time for our annual trip to Texas and then to Arkansas for the Keeling family reunion. This year has been a busy travel year for us and we have not done much at home. A lot of the travel has been to Arkansas for Relay for Life events and family responsibilities, but it still keeps us away from home and doing the things that really need to be done.

Back to our current road trip. We left Trotwood last Thursday with a little threat of rain, however the sun came out and it turned out to be a great day for driving with the exception of road work in Indiana, Illinois and Oklahoma which added about 1.5 to 2 hours to our drive.

We stayed Thursday night and Friday with Don and Nancy Perrin in Mountain Park, Oklahoma. We arrived a little later than usual due to traffic, but, Don and Nancy had the grill going and steaks ready to grill. I don't know how Nancy did it, but the steaks were fantastic--great taste and so tender you could cut them with a fork. We finished the dinner with apple cobbler and ice cream. Yum Yum

Friday we had a down day and just enjoyed the company of the Perrins. Don and Claude went out to one of the farms for a few minutes. Nancy and I went to The Flying Pig, the antique/flea mall where Nancy has a booth. I saw several things I liked but came home without them. Most of the day we just sat around enjoying our visit, sitting on the back porch enjoying the breeze, marveling at the pretty red building and recharging our batteries. Our visit was much too short, but, we needed to get to Burkburnett to visit Chris, Suzi and the girls.

Parker and Jacey have really grown since the last time we visited. They are beautiful young ladies and are a pleasure to be around. It is great visiting then, but it would be better if we were closer and could visit more often.

I took the girls to shop for school clothes one day at the Sikes Mall and Claude tagged along and went to a sports store to buy him some shoes. He then went to a book store in the mall and bought 4 books. He told the clerk that his wife and granddaughters were shopping and he would probably be back to buy more books before they were done. The girls and I had lunch in the mall, visited a few more stores and then returned to Burkburnett.

We took the girls to Medicine Park and the wildlife refuge yesterday and had a great visit. Medicine Park was one of the first places in Oklahoma to be developed as a tourist resort in the early 1900's and was very popular in its day. Unfortunately, like a lot of places, it had a significant decline. However they are trying to renovate many of the older buildings and it is a great place to visit.

The old buildings in the town were mostly made of cobblestone. Many have been restored and a few new ones are being built to resemble the old.

We left Medicine Park and went to the Wichita Wildlife Refuge. We decided we were hungry and went to Meers for a Meers burger. When we got there, Meers restaurant was closed. The sign said closed on Tuesday. The only place to eat was back in Medicine Park so we returned to Medicine Park and had lunch at the Plantation Cafe. The food was great although service was a little slow. Claude and I got to spend some quality time with the girls. The more we spend with them, the more we are amazed at how they have matured and how well adjusted they are. They genuinely enjoy each other and it shows, maybe that's a sign of good parenting.

After a long and leisure lunch we went back to the Wildlife Refuge to visit the Prairie Dog Village and see the buffalo and long horn cattle. The scenery was great and we had a wonderful time.

Today we are taking the girls to Skate Whirl and to shop for school supplies. Tomorrow it is off to Arkansas for the Keeling Family reunion. While there Claude will help work on planning a softball tournament as a fundraiser for Relay for Life. Back home to Ohio on Monday, August 2 for a little over 2 weeks, then back to Arkansas for the softball tournament. Retirement is supposed to be a time to rest and relax, but Claude and I get involved in so many non-profit fundraisers and belong to a few that we have been more busy then when he was teaching full time. Maybe we will slow down, but I don't see that happening soon.

We will post slide shows when we get home and get a chance.

Day 7 & 8: Victoria and Return to Seattle

Day 7: Victoria British Columbia was our last stop of the tour. Arrival time was supposed to be at 7:30 but we were later than that. Departure time was 11:30 and once again we didn’t have very much time to see the sights. This was a night stop and we had decided to do our own touring again so the delay in arrival--other than reducing the amount of time we had in Victoria--did not impact our trip. We took a bus from the port to the city center. We only had a couple hours because the buses stopped running around 10:30. We walked the streets, window gazed, took pictures of the Empress Hotel and city lights. We found a local pub with good food and great beer, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We’d like to go back to the Pacific Coast area and, if we do, I am sure we will take a trip back to Victoria. It was beautiful at night, but, I am sure it looks a lot more beautiful during the day.
We returned to the ship, enjoyed the late snack for the last time, listened to the music and savored the last moments of the cruise before returning to reality.

Day 8: Friday 6:30 AM we arrived back in Seattle. Our flight back to Dayton was around 12:00 noon so by the time we disembarked and got the shuttle back to the airport, we had about 2 hours to go before departure. We needed extra time to clear the security check point as the lines were long.
We enjoyed the cruise, but, we were glad to get back home

Alaska Cruise: Day 6, Ketchikan

Day 6: Arrive in Ketchikan, “Salmon Capital of the World”, at 6:53 am. 55 degrees, rain, overcast. This was our wettest day but Ketchikan is Alaska’s wettest city; on average 13 feet of precipitation falls annually. We did not have much time at this stop, departure was at 12:00 noon. We had made reservations before the cruise to go on a DUCK (amphibious vehicle) tour of the historic town and harbor. Our tour was through the rustic streets of Ketchikan, the new and historic sights, the salmon ladder on Ketchikan creek viewing the spawning grounds and live salmon in season, picturesque Whale Park with its beautiful flowers and antique clock, and Creek Street where we learn of Ketchikan’s colorful past and salty beginnings, (a brothel story). Next we get ready to pick up our feet and our hands in the air (and wander “can this thing really float”) and drive into the scenic harbor of the Tongass Narrows. As we pass the local fishing fleet, we motor down the channel for up close view of Bald Eagles (two adults and two babies) in their natural habitat. We could see them; however, it was raining so much that we could not get any good pictures. We arrived safely back on shore and spent as much time as possible walking around the city. This would be our last stop in Alaska.