Beth's Blogs

The next day was complete sunshine and much warmer, so we ditched the planned trip to Philadelphia in favor of spending the day at Longwood Gardens. Mary Jo and Spot had not been there before and were happy with that choice.

Below are excerpts from the Longwood Garden home page:

In July 1906, 36-year-old Pierre du Pont purchased the farm primarily to preserve the trees. But as we know now, he didn’t stop there. Much of what guests see today – the majesty and magic that is Longwood Gardens – was shaped by the remarkable vision and versatility of Pierre du Pont, one of our nation’s most extraordinary citizens.

Ten years after purchasing Longwood, Pierre du Pont was just getting warmed up. By 1916 he was contemplating grand indoor facilities “designed to exploit the sentiments and ideas associated with plants and flowers in a large way.”

By the mid-1930s, Longwood had grown from the original 202 acres to 926 acres due to Pierre’s purchase of 25 contiguous properties over the years. In addition to horticulture, agriculture had always been important at Longwood, which started out, after all, as a farm.

In 1913, the government had enacted personal income tax. In response, Pierre incorporated Longwood in 1914. He always tried to stay one step ahead of the IRS to keep his farm and gardens in the best possible tax situation, and in 1937 the Longwood Foundation was created to handle his charitable giving. Finally, in 1946, the government gave approval for the Foundation to operate Longwood Gardens as a public garden with tax-exempt status “for the sole use of the public for purposes of exhibition, instruction, education and enjoyment.”

One of the highlights of Pierre’s final years was the 150^th anniversary of the du Pont’s arrival in the United States, held at Longwood Gardens in 1950 with 632 family members from around the world in attendance. In 1954, just three days after being awarded the Cravate de Commandeur of the French Legion of Honor, Pierre died from a ruptured aorta. He was 84 years old.

Now on to the pictures:

Near the end of our visit Mary Jo got a wheelchair and a man to push it so she could get a rest. I think this is the day Anne said she had 16,000 steps!

It had been a long day — again — so we opted to go to Jessop’s Tavern in New Castle to bring home pot roast and meatloaf and warm them up after a little rest and a cocktail for me! New Castle had some big time charm and interesting little streets.

We absolutely LOVED this, our last day. It was wonderful!!!!!

Beth

Anne and I drove to Middletown, DE — the town in which my longtime friends Mary Jo and Spot (aka Ron) now live. They are in a charming one-story new house, built to look old. All of their antique, distinctive and not modern furniture look wonderful in there.

It was great to see them. I have been friends with Mary Jo for almost forty years and was in their wedding when we were both about age 40.

The next morning they picked us up to go see Winterthur, a magnificent house, garden and grounds, where they are members. It was beautiful! The grounds were heavily planted but in a natural sort of way.

The land upon which Winterthur was built was purchased by Pierre du Pont de Nemours shortly after he moved from France to the Brandywine Valley in 1800. In 1837 his daughter Evelina and her husband Jacques Antoine Bidermann purchased 450 acres from her father’s estate and built a 12-room Greek Revival house and named it Winterthur in honor of Antoine’s ancesteral home in Switzerland. Over the years they developed flower, fruit and vegetable gardens. The house was eventually increased considerably in size while remaining in the extended family. It was opened to the public in 1951; the du Ponts moved to a smaller house nearby which is now the Museum Store.

Take a look….

We stopped at Big Fish Grill in Wilmington on the way home — great fried fish!

A wonderful day!

Beth

I flew to Washington, D.C. to attend my 60th High School Reunion at Geogetown Visitation Preparatory School for Girls. It was also the 225th anniversary of the school — founded in 1799, adjacent to Georgetown University.

On our first night my sister Anne and I met classmate Terry Cummins and husband John for dinner at Chang Chang, a Chinese restaurant in D.C. She had to miss the reunion due to a family wedding.

This was Anne’s first trip to DC since she was three so the next day was sightseeing. We saw the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Capitol.

We were staying at the Geogetown Inn and across the street was the oldest tavern in D.C., Martin’s Tavern. We were seated in the booth where John Kennedy proposed to Jackie — kinda cool!

Anne wanted to see the zoo and the day was beautiful so we did that after lunch. Then, we had liked the tavern so much that we went back for dinner.

The next morning we visited the Supreme Court and attended a wonderful lecture about the Court. We were not allowed to take pictures in the courtroom, but could take some standing outside beyond the entry looking in.

I introduced Anne to Indian food with a trip to Rafika, the top Indian restaurant in D.C. The food was wonderful and the decor beautirul.

I showed Anne the house in which I lived and Blessed Sacrament Church and School that I had attended.

Then my reunion began; here are some pictures from that.

And sent from DeeDee…..

The reunion was so much fun and it was so wonderful to see all these women!

Beth

After disembarking from our ship and meeting Mr. Ohara –our driver for the next four days, we headed to the Odawara Art Foundation.  What a beautiful place and Odawara’s art was quite interesting.  John posed in front of “Endless Ocean”, a work that John Bon Jovi featured on the cover of an album.  Also, the cherry blossoms were gorgeous!

We stopped for lunch at a Japanese quick stop and had fun ordering.

Our next stop was at the Okada Museum of Art.  The outside was pretty amazing with a gigantic gold leaf mural on the wall and with a gallery outside of it with a foot bath for each seat.

Inside were a collection of armor, kimona, paintings and more – all wonderful to see.  However, no photographs were allowed so nothing for you.

We headed to our fabulous resort. It was only five rooms — each one with an onsen (think very, very hot tub of constantly flowing mineral water) and a sauna, all with views of Mt. Fuji. The staff did everything they could to make you more comfortable and happy. Here are some pictures.

Rather than getting a rollaway in our living room, we had the daybed made up for sleep — not sacrificing any of our space. And then we experienced how they treat their guests at dinner!!

And I was able to order a bottle of wine, but since I was the only one drinking, it could be used over the entire stay.

In the morning…

On the second day in Hakone, we went to the Hakone Open Air Museum.  This might have been my most favorite stop of the entire trip – it was absolutely fabulous!!!  Enjoy it all…..

Then a quick lunch at a gyoza stop.

By the way, we loved our guide for the first two days in Hakone. I can’t remember her name to tell you.

In the afternoon on the second day in Hakone, we went to the ropeway (gondola) to ascend the mountain for the views of Mt. Fuji and to enjoy the steam escaping the hillside. And to see the black eggs.

Both John and Kathryn posed in front of the black egg statue. You can put a raw egg in front of the steam coming from the sides of the volcano and it will cook and turn black. If you eat the egg it will add seven years to your life. We all took a pass!

Then back down another side to the lake.

Later in the afternoon, we took a pirate ship tour of Lake Ashi, a crater lake created by a volcanic eruption from Mt. Fuji in 857. Pretty views and warm inside!

Once on the stop on the other side of the lake, we met Mr. Ohara and stopped briefly at the shrine gates where couples were lined up to be photographed standing under the gates.

Our first stop on the next day was at a small lake surrounded by cherry blossom trees.  It was so pretty; we had to take lots of pictures.

We moved on to a world heritage site close to Mt. Fuji.

John had to go shopping before we left, He bought the t-shirt on the left.

We went back to our marvelous room where John and Kathryn went to the onsen before we left for dinner — Kathryn and John at dinner in the leisure wear that was in our suite.

On our last day, on the way to the airport, we went to see the giant Buddha in Kamakura, cast in 1252 – a major tourist attraction!  Kathryn and John even went inside it. On the way to Kamakura, the fog was so thick that you could not see far ahead.

It was truly inspiring to see the Buddhists bowing, lighting incense and praying before him. 

We next went into Hase Kanon Temple.

For some strange reason we couldn’t get out of the parking lot.  Mr. Ohara had to flag down an attendant who came and fixed the machine so we could leave.

We had one final meal at Din Tai Fung before arriving at Haneda airport for our flight back home. 

Just as interesting side note, we arrived home on a Thursday, exhausted from a very, very long day of travel.  Already at our house were my sister Anne and niece Heather.  The next day brought my brother Lyndon and wife Nancy – who left two days later to view the eclipse with another niece.  Then came daughter Melissa, husband Karl and granddaughter Kathryn, my helper in Japan.  Then grandson Michael and girlfriend Crystin. In other words, while it was a lot of fun, it was a zoo!

By the way, my foot is almost healed! Getting a pedicure this afternoon. Thanks for joining me and sorry for being so slow getting this out!

Beth

Well, no time for blogging on the trip….or when I got home. My sister and niece were there when I got home; my brother and wife arrived the next day — then left two days later, but daughter Melissa and husband Karl and oldest grandchild Kathryn all arrived Sunday night for the eclipse on Monday (which was spectacular from our home).

Anyway, my foot kept me from going on excursions the next two days. So Kathryn and John went to Kochi and saw the castle.

The next day John and Kathryn went to Beppu where there were many natural hot springs.

It’s orange/red from the soil or rock of the area.

The following day was at sea and then we arrived in Seoul, Korea. The most important temple there is Jogyesa Temple, built in 1395. It was beautiful! Many Asian visitors dress in their historic formal dress….fun to behold!

We went to another nearby temple but I have forgotten the name. It was colorful!

The next day was another sea day as we traveled to Shanghai, China. We had been there before but LOVE that city. First thing was a city tour which was fine since we had not taken one before. You will notice that I like flowers and really appreciate how much they use flowers! By the way, it was really cold and also windy. We walked along the Bund, looking at the buildings from Old Shanghai.

Below is a view across the river to the Pudong area of Shanghai, formerly a meadow, and developed in the last 20 years or so as the space-age business and financial center of Shanghai.

And then we went to Chinatown.

And into the Yu Garden — beautiful!!!

We took a picture of the cutest little boy flirting with me.

We took a picture of Kathryn on the crooked bridge.

We headed to a library known as the “White House” in the French Concession that could only be entered from the front steps; they went in and I waited in the cold!

We headed back toward the ship and saw some nice after dark views.

And the nice views of Pudong from the ship and back to the Bund on the other side.

Our favorite waiter, Sherwin. He wishes his last name were Williams, he said!

Our last stop on the cruise was in Kagoshima, Japan. It is mostly known for its access to Sakurajima. Sakurajima is a stratovolcano formed from layers of lava and ash.  It is still an active volcano and about 60,000 people live on the island where it is located. We were told by our guide that the people of Kagoshima only do their laundry on days when the wind is blowing the other way from the volcano; otherwise their clothes would be covered in ash before they dried! We had to take a ferry to get there.

And we saw a couple getting wedding pictures taken.

One fact about Japan we learned along the way from lectures on the cruise is that Japan is composed of four major islands, has a land area approximately the size of California, and has a population of 122 million people; however, because of numerous high mountain ranges only approximately 30% of the country is plateau and habitable. This results in incredible density in Tokyo and other metropolitan areas.

A c ouple more meals, Easter along with the Easter display with a big bowl of jelly beans, and disembarkation ended our cruise.

We were then picked up at the cruise terminal to begin our next adventure-three days in Hakone, Japan for more cherry blossoms, Mount Fuji and other interesting sites.

See you then,

Beth

On March 18th we boarded our ship and got settled in our suites. We did have dinner reservations at Pacific Rim, their Asian Fusion restaurant. It was very good.

On the next morning we arrived in Nagoya. We chose to go to the headquarters of Toyota. At first, Toyoda manufactured looms for spinning fabric.

The company passed to the inventor’s son.

Below are pictures of early trucks and cars.

Followed by a display of various robots and Toyota’s. automated assembly line. A number of interesting and ingenuous inventions.

John found an interesting little girl visiting the exhibit with her mother.

Afterwards, Kathryn introduced John to vending machines found everywhere throughout the country with both hot and cold drinks of every variety imaginable. John opted for a can of hot dark coffee.

Above is a pick up your pet’s poop sign that amused us.

And then that evening the weather got bad; it was VERY windy and the waves were over 9 feet. The captain announced that it was too rough to dock in Osaka so we stayed at sea the whole next day — all excursions to Osaka were canceled. We had been to Osaka on a cruise some huge number of years ago, but we didn’t see it then, opting to take a bullet train to Kyoto instead 🙂

I know, the waves don’t look too bad in this picture, but the waves did hit the windows when we were having breakfast the next day. We attended a lecture that morning about Japan. The lecturer was a former US diplomat stationed throughout Asia and was very interesting and informative.

The lecture was followed by a nice dinner at the French specialty restaurant, Chartreuse. We were not underfed.

We did dock the following morning on the coast 2 hours away from Kyoto. It was truly bitter cold and very windy! But we were off to the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto. It is spectacularly beautiful. The gold areas have been redone with 24 karat gold — they are so shiny now.

When we got back in the bus it began snowing — amazing after all this sunshine. It didn’t stick — too warm — lower 40’s.

By now I had developed an infection in my foot -very red and puffy around the stitches- oh, yippee! No pictures this time. The ship’s doctor didn’t want me to go to Kyoto at all, but I was determined to see the Golden Pavilion. However, I stayed in the bus after that with foot up on the seat-except for a traditional Japanese Bento box lunch. John had mainly rice and soy sauce. Kathryn and I had little more.

John and Kathryn then explored the Nijo castle.

First cherry blossoms of the trip. The season is 10-14 days and varies slightly based on the temperature. It is far and away the busiest and pretty time of the year.

Between no internet while at sea and limited internet and free time while docked, blogging has been as very slow process! So I will pick this back up after Kyoto.

Beth

Hello All,

We decided to visit Japan — largely by cruise. John was afraid he would starve if he had to eat Japanese food while in Japan. So, after a plane to San Francisco and then one to Tokyo, we arrived for a three day pre-cruise visit to Tokyo.

It is surprisingly cold in Japan and the cherry blossoms are delayed due to the unusual cold. We visited to Tokyo National Museum and the Asakusa Sensoji Temple on the first day. The museum was established in 1872 and was full of interesting things:

Afterward we moved on to the Asakusa Sensoji Temple. To reach it we had to walk down a block or so long path with shops on either side of the street. It was a weekend and a holiday so it was jammed with people!

There was a performer on the street. We loved his monkey!

We went back to the ship, had lunch, then went to the room. A little later I tried to leave the room and had a freakish accident — my scooter drive handle became wedged into the door jam with my front wheel spinning rapidly. My right foot was stuck under the spinning wheel; the metal rim of the tire slashed through my shoe and slashed the top of my foot just above the toes. The cut is about three inches long then turns and goes down between my toes.

WARNING-the picture below is not for the squeamish-it is way too graphic. Unless you have a strong stomach-please fast forward through it. The ambulance came and at the hospital, 17 — yes, 17 — stitches!!!

The next day we visited the headquarters of Fuji Television with its great observation deck.

We took pictures of the skyline from there.

Next was John’s favorite stop, Uniqlo, to which Campbell introduced John years ago in New York City. However, this was the mother store-12 stories in the Ginza area of downtown Tokyo. John had a fine time-five t-shirts and a new jacket.

The Tokyo Tower….and the only cherry blossoms we had seen…..and a quick visit to Din Tai Fung- a Chinese fast food restaurant with soup dumplings and other goodies which we discovered years ago on a trip to China. There are actually a few outlets on the West coast of the United States.

That night after dinner we had tickets to TeamLab Planets. It was a fun place that Campbell had recommended to us. Different images and/or movies all around us as we went from room to room.

On our day of embarkation, we first visited the Meiji Shrine, dedicated to the Emperor Meiji, the father of modern Japan.

The we drove to see the outside of the Imperial Palace seeing some fun things along with way.

A quadruple right-don’t see that everywhere.

Downtown Tokyo office building sculpture and then on to the cruise ship — but that’s for a later blog.

Beth

We were going to snorkel in Bonaire — that and scuba are what this island is known for! But my arm changed the plan. So we chose a glass bottom boat to see beneath the surface of the water. 

Bonaire has the smallest population of the ABC Islands– only 24,000. There are no buildings over four stories; it is a lovely island and has a small adjacent island called Klein Bonaire which is uninhabited and protected from development. We motored over to there and drifted along the coral shoreline.

John on the left.

Sea Slug

Interesting tubal coral.

Always a day for boat laundry!

Great name, then a rum cocktail….

Once ashore, we walked around the shops. I bought a beautiful piece of art glass but failed to photograph it…..so I’ll see it when we get home — we had it shipped!

I loved the colors of the town!

The next day was another sea day on our way to Martinique. We slept late, had a fancy breakfast and John and I had our free massages (payment for having to change rooms). And a big plus — I was able to just have a bandage put on my arm — no wrap in gauze wrap! Much more comfortable even though still no water. Oh well, who comes to the Caribbean and doesn’t get wet???

Next day we landed in Martinique, but we had to anchor and use a shuttle to the port.

After our arrival we were directed down to the house below to set up a taxi, we took to Habitation Clement where rum is made…..but there is also a wonderful sculpture garden and museum.

Chihuly above

And then into their museum.

A lot of the art below is representative of the slave trade.

Back to the ship and dinner.

And then we arrived in Barbados, the only stop on our cruise that we had been to before. We had talked about renting a car, driving around, etc., but we were so worn out sightseeing that we just lazed around the pool doing nothing. First of all, a glimpse of our packed taxi.

Then our first look out from the lobby when we arrived!

The waitress at the Asian restaurant loved John!

Our room’s opening onto the pool area:

And our final dinner at Nishi; we splurged and went out to eat. By the way, David Taxi is phenomenal; he arrives right on time, every time. His phone number in case you are in Bridgetown, Barbados is ‭1 (246) 245-1724‬; he does taxi service, touring, shopping. Nishi was also very good Asian Fusion food.

We had a great trip!  The next day was a LONG trip home to Austin. When we got to the house it was raining and John tried to open the door with our garage keypad and it didn’t work. Our driver and I were standing there watching John try it and try it. There had been days of severe freeze while we were gone. Finally, John took out the battery and then plugged it back in…..and voila! the garage door opened. We walked in our door at 2:00 a.m. the next morning which was 4:00 a.m. body time. It was worth it!

Beth

Our next stop was in Colon, Panama. From there we took a tour to see Panama City and our first stop was along a part of the Panama Canal. We were not in an area where there were locks; we had been through the canal years ago, but we did enjoy seeing it from the land and watching a ship go through it.

We learned from our guide on the bus that a second canal was built along side the first from 2007 to 2016 at a cost of $5.7 billion dollars funded by a consortium of 5 nations including the United States. As you may be aware, passage through the canal requires a reservation, a huge fee and often a wait of several days to a week with a reservation.

We moved on and saw some ruins of the original city which was built in 1519. There was glare on the bus window so the picture isn’t great.

It’s everywhere; it’s everywhere!

We drove through the city and we snapped pix along the way. My favorite building is called the Twister.

The building below was designed by Frank Gehry. If seen from the sky it looks like a toucan.

We stopped at the seawall to snap some pictures and then the next stop was for lunch at Bucanero’s and it was surprisingly good.

 

Our last stop was on the edge of the Colonial City which was where the cathedral Santa Maria de la Antigua is located. There were way too many steps for me to negotiate, so John and Tomi went to see it. Looks very beautiful!

We passed a couple of sights on the way.

And back to cocktail hour and sunset!

And then a return visit to the French restaurant. They have a fois gras appetizer that is a thin layer on the plate of fois gras circled by very thin slices of artichoke. Tomi and I love this and order it every time we go there — so far three times!

The next day was another sea day as we traveled back toward the east to Curacao. That day was only memorable because we just messed around on the ship while we waited for the Cowboy game….so excited! And we were able to watch it in the Astern Lounge with a gigantic tv screen. John and Bryan got there at 5:00 p.m. for a 5:30 start (Atlantic time). First row was already taken with some rabid Green Bay fans in front of us. Unfortunately, I got to watch them high five WAY too many times. What a brutally disappointing game!!!!! It was a painful three hours. We left for dinner with about five minutes left and the Cowboys scored two touchdowns — probably the best minutes of the game!

It’s hard to tell size but the screen is at the back of a big stage.

And then we arrived in Curacao. Our excursion was canceled so we just explored the city on our own. There is not a lot to say, but there was shopping galore, street art, sculptures and a small shower in the morning (during which we escaped into a gelateria). Below are views from our suite.

And then the lovers’ locks that we had seen in Paris-the so-called Punda Hearts.

The bridge above is another picture of the Queen Emma Bridge, also known as the “swinging old lady”- it swings horizontally and resides parallel to the dock when a ship needs to pass.

The bridge below is the Queen Juliana Bridge – a four-lane road arch bridge crossing the St. Anna Bay in Willemstad, the capital of Curacao (reaching a height of 56.4 m (185 ft.) It is the highest bridge in the entire Caribbean. The length of the bridge is 500 m (1,400 ft.). Amazingly, it was built 50 years ago.

And then we were back on board the ship!

And dinner, John deciding to photograph his carpaccio….

The excursion that was canceled was to visit the Cathedral of Thorns in the evening. I am enclosing a link to it to show you how spectacular it is and how disappointed we were not to see it! https://www.codaworx.com/projects/the-cathedral-of-thorns-curacao/  It would have been a wonderful experience!!!

We enjoyed these three days (except for the football game); hope you have too!

Beth

We had arranged for a private car for Cartagena to take the four of us to see the sights. The tour company showed up with a 20 passenger bus. We loved it, spread out all over and enjoyed the commentary of our guide Carlos. Plus, every time we back into the bus it was frigid — yay! It was 90 degrees out.

We started our day with a climb up to the top of the mountain to the Convento de la Papa. It was built in the 17th century by Augustinian monks. And it has the best views of the city.

We next stopped in front of the Castillo de San Felipe, built in the 1600’s and it is the greatest and strongest fortress built by a Spanish colony.

Our next stop was in Getsemani, the very colorful and hip part of the walled city. It was filled with street art and colorful houses. We loved it and you are going to get to see a whole lot of street art!

There was another church whose name has escaped me.

We next went to the Iglesia y Convento San Pedro de Claver. The convent was founded in his honor, a Jesuit priest who spent his life ministering the enslaved people brought over from Africa.

We were all very hot and exhausted after all that. We met later for drinks and dinner.

We were also in Cartagena the next day, but our ventures only took us as far as the dock — there was a zoo and aviary which we visited. First of all, I finally got around to taking pictures of our suite. And, first, in the hall.

Then we went to the aviary and zoo. Behold the giant anteater.

And back to the ship and outside bar!

As I was getting dressed for dinner I noticed that it was hot in the room; I looked and the temp was set on 20.5 and it was 24.5 — way too hot! I called for service. My call was returned a few minutes later and was told that it would take too long to repair and we needed to change rooms. Poor John! He packed up everything except clothes while I was eating king crab legs and waiting for him. To the credit of the butlers and John, we were moved to another room after an hour or so. However, we were going to need our passports the next day — I had no idea where they were! So John now went through every suitcase, 3 big and 2 roll-aboards. In that process I also noticed my large purse was missing and also nowhere to be found. Now, understand that we had already gone through the room we left, opening every drawer, etc. Our butler had done the same thing before we did. 

After a LOT of chaos and stress, around 10:00 pm, John went to the old room with the butler found my large purse with passports inside in a small corner cabinet and returned to our new room relieved. Thank God! John was afraid we would be staying in the islands!!

All is well and we have moved on…..with all our documentation (now in the room safe)!

Beth