an artistic journey

First some background information; last August, my friends, Monica and Leslie, and I took a class with Tim Holtz. At that time he told us of a scrapbook cruise being held in May of 08 for which he was the sole instructor. We were hooked and signed up. The cruise was for May 10 to 18 and it was to travel Alaska's Inside Passage. Our first destination was Seattle. We lucked out, the weather was perfect when we arrived. We were able to walk around the city, see the Tower and ride the Monorail without any of Seattle's reputed rain. Sunday morning we had some time before we were to board the boat so we went to Pike's Market. What a beautiful open air market. It was brimming with flowers for Mothers' Day. We walked up and down the market listening to the various vendors hawking their goods. It was a fun morning. At noon, we packed up our belongings and headed to the ship. The boarding process was very well organized. There were over 2,000 guests on board and 1,100 crew. Our group, those taking Tim's classes, amounted to approximately 200. We were a small part of the larger picture. Once we boarded we were sent to the pool deck to enjoy drink and food. The sun was out so we found some lounge chairs and snagged a waiter, KB. We were having a fabulous time and we hadn't even set sail yet. Once we departed there was a lifeboat drill and then we were off to a reception for the scrapbookers where we met up with Tim, Mario and the rest of the group. Then off to dinner and I finished the day with some time on the exercise bike. The gym overlooked the ocean. What a way to work out! Sleeping was very restful, we had an outside cabin with a balcony. We kept the window opened at night and the ocean sounds were very soothing.

Day Two: Rough seas. Barf bags were placed on the window sills around the decks. Reminded me of our honeymoon. We got up late, ordered room service and watched TV. We were at sea all day and had a 2.5 hour class with Tim. During class the seas were especially rough and some people had to leave the class. We made a sweet book with lots of fun products. We got lots of products too. I felt like I was on Oprah's Christmas show. Near the end of class there was one huge lurch of the ship and then all was quiet. The seas were no longer rough. A waiter tried to explain that the ship had been trying to get in to some kind of lane. The lane was smooth, everything else rough. I don't really understand.

Day Three: Mid afternoon we arrived in Juneau. Rain has stopped but it is cloudy and chilly. Leslie and I signed up for a photo class. Our first stop was Treadwell across the river from Juneau, It is the sight of a defunct coal stamping plant that ran full time at the turn of the century, 19th to 20th century that is. It was said that the stampers went 24/7 except for July 4th and Christmas Day. On those days it was so quiet townspeople had a hard time sleeping. From here we stopped at a point that allowed us to see Juneau. We did see some eagles sitting on top of street lights. Very reminiscent of the pigeons in Rhode Island. Eagles are scavengers and like to hang out where food is plentiful, for example, the town dump. This city is only accessible from sea and air. There is a highway that is 40 miles long but it doesn't go anywhere. Juneau is the largest city, in the US, by area, over 3000 square miles! We then headed for the Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier is magnificent but you can see .
the affects of climate change. The glacier is receding at a rate of 500-600 feet a year. In the early 1900's it receded at a rate of less than 25 feet a year. We spent time walking around the park. The light wasn't that great for taking pictures but it was still an interesting trip. Before we went back to the ship Leslie and I stopped at a local watering hole, The Red Dog Saloon and had Alaskan beer and Reindeer Kielbasa. Once on board we were treated to a wonderful sunset.

Day Four: The boat sailed all night and when we awoke we were is Skagway. The sky was ominous but the rain stayed away. That is until we decided to venture into town. Leslie went on a train trip, Monica stayed in the room and I roamed around town. Skagway was a town that was formed to be the starting point for gold diggers to get to the Klondike gold fields in the Yukon. When tourists are not in town Skagway has a population of less than 900 people. It is said that Skagway means "Place where only stupid white men would live." It is always windy, rainy and cold. The forest service had a nice building that showed a filmstrip of the gold rush. Very interesting. Canada required that the miners have a years provisions before they came into the Yukon. To carry that many supplies they would take what they could carry to the top of a hill, return to the bottom and get more stuff and keep repeating the process until all their supplies were at the top of the hill. Then the process would begin all over again. It took, on average , three months to travel 25 miles. Many horses died on this trip. So many the trail was called Dead Horse Trail. It was still raining when I got back to the ship. I sat in the dining room and read my book. The waitress came over and pointed out the sea lions playing in the harbor to me. They were funny looking. To date I've seen 4 sea lions and 2 eagles and lots of seagulls.

Day Five: Today we are headed to Glacier National Park. The park rangers came on board around 5am and gave us little fact tidbits every so often over the intercom. The rain had let up but it was still overcast. Leslie and I ate breakfast overlooking the water. At around 9:30 we went on deck to see the first of many glaciers. The blue sky peeked through and then the clouds started to drift away. It was very cold and windy on deck so we got some
loaded hot chocolate. The ship hung out at the glacier for about 40 minutes, it was getting cold so we decided to go back to our room and get warmer clothes. Wouldn't you know it, we missed a chunk of glacier cleaving off into the water. Monica saw it, she had come up on deck looking for us. The ship then headed for Johns Hopkins Inlet to see more glaciers but the Inlet was clogged with ice and we couldn't go up the inlet. With the clouds gone it turned into a beautiful morning. We stayed outside most of the day. We had another class with Tim and ate dinner at a Japanese restaurant where they cooked at a table in front of us. Fun to watch and the food was delicious.

Day Six: We awoke in Ketchikan to cloudy skies and cold temperatures. Leslie signed up for a boat ride so Monica and I decided to walk into town. Monica was looking for an old Alaskan license plate. She stopped a mail carrier, Wayne, who gave us a tip on where we might find one. The tip didn't pan out but we saw an old car that led us to Daryl and Daryl. What characters. Monica still didn't get her license plate but we got a great story to tell. Daryl 1 was willing to sell Monica the plate off his car for $30. That's not quite what she wanted. The other Daryl was three sheets to the wind and did lots of talking. We then continued on our way and went into a very nice store. The woman behind the counter was very helpful. She said there was a nice Totem Park a couple of miles up the road and a great Espresso Bar on the way there. We began the walk and saw the Espresso Bar. It was a tiny building in the parking lot of a truck parking lot with a large sign that said Espresso. We didn't stop but walked the 2 miles to the Totem Park. The sky cleared up the temperature warmed. By the time we got to the Totem park we were carrying most of our clothes. Once we got to the Totem Park we went into the gift shop to inquire about a cab. The guy said that a free bus would be along any minute. The name on the bus was "The Bus." We took the bus back to town and stopped at a museum that was part of a library. It appeared that the items were donated by the same family since all the stories and tidbits were about one family. Including a plaque that stated that so and so died last year. No indication of what year that was. There were also lots of pictures of ships that were grounded. Still don't know what that was about. After the library we headed back to the ship. It was time for another class with Tim. This time alcohol inks on clear plastic made into a book. Interesting. Jim West, with Scrapmap then told us that we were headed to the true inside passage where the land would be within spitting distance of the boat. Well, we stayed outside until dark and the land kept getting further and further away. We did see lots of whales snoozing off the bow of the ship. Some even flipped their tails in the air.

Day Seven: What a beautiful day. We sat on the deck and read and drank. Very relaxing. We had our last class with Tim. We embellished a picture frame with memento's of Alaska. After class we had a cocktail party with people from our group. Tim gave away bunches of stuff. I won a complete set of color wash inks. I have no idea how to use them. But I will learn. After the party the ship landed in our last port, Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, on Vancouver Island. We were only there for a couple of hours but it was worth it.

Day Eight: We woke up in Seattle. Every part of the trip went as planned, the boat, the ports and the plane. Paul was at the airport when we arrived. It was good to see him. I had a great time, what a wonderful trip.

paper chase in the park

What a great day in the park. The day started out to be a little questionable. The call was for rain and chilly temperatures. Wrong on both counts. It was a beautiful Sunday morning. Lara and I were invited to the event by Sarah and Janie to join them on this walk/trot/canter in the park. It was a fund-raiser to benefit Sebastian Riding Associates, Inc., a therapeutic riding program for children and adults with disabilities. We had a great time.

I'm Back!

Tax season is finally over and Paul and I are back from The Big Easy. I am ready to get my blog up and running.

What a great way to get over the stresses of tax season. A trip to New Orleans with the man in my life. We had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect. Paul and I arrived in NOLA Monday morning, we had a delightful Cajun whisk us away in his taxi to our hotel, The Quarter House on Rue Chartres in the French Quarter. This hotel is a group of old buildings where rooms were made so as not to disturb the original building. There is a beautiful courtyard in the middle of the building. The rooms vary in size. Our room was under an eve and was very cozy with high and sloping ceilings. There is a little cubby for the window with a window seat. A perfect place to curl up and read. We met another couple and their room had 14 foot ceilings. As I said, each room was different. The bed was an elegant four poster. The bathroom had a beautiful stained glass in the window.

Once we got settle we left the hotel and started walking. We had no idea where to begin but hey we were on vacation. I think the last time we went on a true vacation was four years ago when we went to Hilton Head with Jeff and Nancy. We had a map of the French Quarter and a book "Very New Orleans" we had picked up at the new $3.99 bookstore in WC and headed out the door. Our hotel was on Chartes between Canal and Iberville, we headed toward the river. When we got to the river there was a big parking lot,a big road and trolley tracks. The map indicated that the main part of the FQ was to our left. Off we went. We were then on Tujaque's Street. I never heard anyone say that name out loud so I have no idea how it is pronounced. We started seeing more stores and souvenirs shops. We were getting closer. Then it opened up to Jackson Square. What a beautiful park in the heart of the French Quarter. Kitty Corner to the park is Cafe du Monde, the oldest coffee house in New Orleans known for their coffee and beignets. We took a seat and were served two helpings of beignets a wonderful fried dough drenched in powdered sugar. Yumm and messy. From du mond we continued walking to the French Market. It was Monday and we find that a lot of stores and restaurants are closed on Monday and Tuesday, I guess to recover from the weekend. The French Market is a flea market with lots of chatchke NOLA souvenirs. We then walked up to Decatur street and to an open air restaurant with Jazz musicians and the Muffuletta a signature sandwich made on a large round loaf of bread with warmed cold cuts and olive spread. I tried a New Orleans Lemonade. Yumm. We then walked into a tourist bureau. AKA tour guide hawker. We signed up for a 3 hour tour of the French Quarter, Garden District and the 9th Ward. Our guide was very talkative. He told us lots of trivia and gossip. Who knows how much is true but we got to see a lot of streets and houses. We also went to a grave yard aka "Cities of the Dead." They are raised tombs and act as a natural crematorium. A body placed in one of these tombs is ashes at the end of the year. The bus tour continued to the 9th Ward of New Orleans. This area is 8 feet below sea level and is kept dry by levee's built during the mid 20th century. The levee's were breached by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Much of the area has not recovered from the storm. In the midst of the Ninth Ward is City Park. A beautiful park with gigantic Oak trees and the Louisiana State Museum. During the flood, the Museum was surrounded by National Guardsmen and protected from looters. The museum is raised and there was little damage from the flood. While we were there they had an exhibit by George Rodrigue who is famous for prints of his dog. His dog reminds me of Toohey. The Oak trees branches grow out to the side and eventually go back to the ground. These Oaks are all over New Orleans. The bus driver made many stops to drop people off so just just hopped off and continued to explore. We got off at Harrah's Casino and walked to the Mississippi. Here there was a park along the river. In the river were Coast Guard boats with automatic guns. Did I mention that President Bush along with the president of Mexico were in town? Every time we stopped to look at the scenery the boat stopped and a gun was pointed at us. We were encouraged to move on. Along the river was an Aquarium and more bars. Most bars had frozen drinks. These drinks were pre-made in what I can only describe as slushy machines. In every bar there were at least 10 of these machines where you could see what color your drink was, brown for mudslide, neon orange for a Hurricane, etc. I was able to sample a few and then decided on the mudslide. It tasted like an Arby's Jamocha Shake. We continued walking along the river until we got to Canal Street then we went back to our room. We relaxed a bit and then went out to dinner at Bacco, one of the many Brennan Family restaurants. Their specialty was Italian Creole, highly recommended by the bus driver. It was good. I ordered a very spicy dish with Crawfish. A New Orleans Specialty. After dinner we walked up to Bourbon Street. At night this street is closed to traffic. It is filled with strip clubs and fine dining. We walked in search of coffee. Surprising, coffee was not easy to find. Not a Starbucks on any corner. We finally found a sandwich shop that was able to brew us a cup. We then walked back to the hotel. That was the end of day one.

Day Two

We headed out of the French Quarter to the Central Business District and Warehouse District. Our guide book indicated that the WWII Museum was the place to go. We had trouble getting across Poydras Street. As I said before, the President was in town and many streets were blocked off. We finally got to Magazine Street and were able to head out across the Business District. We saw one glass store which we walked into, it had some interesting glass sculptures. We then continued to walk and finally stopped for coffee near were we thought the WWII Museum was. It turned out the coffee house was inside the museum. The museum began as a D-Day Museum but then they added a whole section of the war in the Pacific and are expanding the museum to include the entire war. It was recommended that we sit for the filmstrips before we tour the museum. The filmstrip of the war in the Pacific was very good. The other movie was centered around D-Day. The museum itself was well laid out and had lots to look at, read and watch. However, as with it seems all places in New Orleans, the thermostat was set at 50 degrees. I froze. I had a sweater but that wasn't enough, I also brought the wrong shoes. After the museum we looked at our handy guide book and it appeared that we wee right next to the Garden District. So we walked. I believe it was 15 blocks later we finally came upon a street listed in the guide book as on the edge of the Garden District. If we kept going the guide book indicated there were many book stores, art galleries and restaurants. Well we discovered that the map was not to scale and many places were no longer around. Between each street listed in the guide book there were 10 blocks with not much on them. Did I mention I had sandals on? And the area is known for it's bad sidewalks. I was not a happy camper. We finally found a Greek restaurant that served beer. The food, drink and atmosphere was enough to put me in better spirits. I was saved. I could learn a lesson from Paul who was in a good mood the entire trip. We ate and continued our trek for an ice cream shop listed in the book. We found it, 20 blocks later in a run down section of town and it looked like it had been closed for 10 years. We then walked up Jefferson Street to get to St Charles Street and the trolley. I loved that trolley. We passed the New Orleans Sacred Heart School as well as all those beautiful homes and gardens the bus driver had taken us by the day before. Did I mention that loved that trolley, it had a lot of history in that trolley car. After we got back to Canal Street we went back to our room and crashed. Paul had work to do and I was tired and my feet/legs etc were sore.

Day Three

We worked up an appetite the day before and decided to use that calorie deficit at Brennans. Known for their brunch, Banana's Foster and Crepes Fitzgerald. It was a very classy joint and the food was delish.
My stomach hurt at the end. To begin with I had a baked apple with cream next I had poached eggs over spinach and artichoke bottoms all covered with hollandaise sauce to finish I had Banana's Foster complete with the flames. Paul began with Strawberries and Creame, Poached eggs over breaded trout cutlets and spinach covered of course with hollandaise and to finish he had the Crepes Fitzgerald. I forgot to mention the Mimosa and bottomless coffee. We thanked our wonderful wait staff and waddled out. I wanted to go back to the room and explode but we continued on. From there we walked to the US Mint and learned about Napoleon. It was an interesting exhibit. While Napoleon never visited Louisiana he was instrumental in the purchase of Louisiana by the United States. We then walked down Bourbon Street and stopped at the Acme Market for some oysters. Yumm. They only serve Louisiana oysters and we had them charbroiled (to die for) and plain and then went back to the hotel. As we were walking through the court yard employees were setting up a bar. It turns out the hotel has a cocktail party on Wednesday's. We decided to hang around for free food and wine/beer. Here we met Peter and Molly from Florida. They are a nice retired couple who visit New Orleans frequently. They had time shares which they gave to their children and had recently met up with their son and his wife in New Orleans. We enjoyed talking with them and when it started to rain they invited us back to their room. They then invited us out to dinner at Beebe's. On the drive there we got to see the tent city. This is where people who are still displaced by the storm live. Beebe's was named for the singer. She and her son started the restaurant/jazz club on the shore of Lake Ponchartrain. The food was delicious and they offered smaller plates at reduced prices. So a salad and a small plate were a perfect sized meal. We enjoyed our time with Molly and Peter. On the way home they showed us some places that they thought we would enjoy. We drove by Preservation Hall that had jazz musicians every Thursday night but suggested we get there early because seating was limited.

Day Four

To begin our day we bought an all day trolley pass that gave us unlimited rides on the Trolley and buses. We then took the Trolley to the end of the line for breakfast at Camellia Grill it has a plantation facade hiding a 1950's diner inside. Only counters and stools, no tables. Another decadent meal. Peter said to try the burger which I did plus a mocha ice, a chocolate ice cream drink with crushed ice. Paul had a ham and cheese omelet which covered the plate. It was fascinating to watch the people work. They moved quickly which made me eat quickly. I'm sure that was with their plan. We then walked down St. Charles Street until we could get to a street that would take us back to Magazine Street. Along Magazine Street is the Audubon Park which houses the Audubon Zoo, beautiful walking trails, trees and grass meadows. I finally stopped and bought a pair of sneakers. Relief. I was ready to throw out those sandals. We continued along Magazine to Nashville Ave back to St Charles Street. Except for one section we walked the entire 11 miles of Magazine street. No wonder by hips are sore. We then hopped on the trolley and saw Sacred Heart again. What a pretty school. We took the Trolley back to Canal Street and this is where my memory gets fuzzy. I believe we walked back into the French Quarter and checked out the Central Grocery which is known for their Muffulata's We got a drink to go and walked along Decatur Street. We went to Jackson Square and watch the street performers. We walked up and down streets all around the French Quarter. We jumped on a trolley and took it along the river front and saw a movie being filmed. We then took the trolley up Canal street to the art museum which was closed by the time we got there. We walked around City Park and took the trolley back to the French Quarter. For dinner we ate at another Brennan's restaurant, The Red Fish. Probably our most disappointing. It was my choice. I had not tried the red fish and it was another New Orleans favorite. Kind of bland and the oysters we had for an appetizer were deep fried and almost tasteless. I was ready to go home. We had had four days of exercise and food and saw a wonderful city with wonderful people. But we still had one more morning. On Friday we packed and got ready to leave. After we stored our luggage we walked to Mother's. Another restaurant known for it's Debris (DAY-bree)roast beef pieces that fall into the gravy while baking and "dark ham" with a crisp carmelized crust. We waited in line and placed our order. It was very good but I was tired of eating by that point. We then took one last walk down Bourbon street and said our good-byes to a city that gave us a perfect vacation. Thank you New Orleans!