Robert Smalls Memorial in Beaufort, South Carolina

The Historic Tabernacle Baptist Church in Beaufort, South Carolina has a small a historic graveyard to the right of the church as you face it, in a picturesque courtyard.  The church was formed by Black Members when the area was evacuated in 1861 due to Federal Occupation.

A Memorial to Robert Smalls is present as you enter the courtyard and graveyard.  A quote by Robert Smalls reads, "My Race needs no special defense.  For the past history of them in this country proves them to be the equal of any people any where.  All they need is an equal chance in the battle of Life.  Dated Nov 1, 1895.

Hannah Jones was a maid at a hotel in Charleston when Robert met her.  He was born into slavery on April 5th 1839 in a slave cabin behind the main house (located at 511 Prince St) of Henry McKee.  Henry McKee owned his mother Lydia Polite.  It is presumed Henry fathered Robert, some records list him as a mulatto, though pictures show him to be quite black.  Robert owned by Henry  and was leased out to businesses in Charleston when only 12.  It is during that occasion that he met Hannah.  As a slave he spent a good deal of time in Charleston harbor and had many jobs.  He worked on the docs and learned to make sails among other jobs.  Ultimately, he became a pilot; though being Black wasn't given that title..that is the work he did.  He became quite good at it and used those skills to free himself and Hannah and their children and others.  He was on The CSS Planter, a Confederate ship when the 3 White Captains and Pilots decided to spend their evening on shore.  On May 13th, 1862, he commandeered the ship and sailed it safely past 5 Confederate Forts.  On board were 4 large artillery pieces and along with an important coding book.  He was able to use the correct codes in order to appear to be a Confederate and thus wasn't questioned as he sailed to freedom and turned the ship, it's code book, and artillery over to Union Forces.

Though I didn't read any accounts of a 2nd marriage, it seems his 2nd wife, Annie is also buried in the quaint historic church graveyard there in Beautfort.

After the Civil War, Robert Smalls returned to Beaufort and purchased the house at 511 Prince Street from his previous Master, Henry McKee.  His Mother, Lydia lived her remaining days with him there as well.  Robert was a successful business man, and was elected to The South Carolina State Legislature, and United States House of Representatives.    It is because of him, that Blacks were admitted to fight on the side of the Union forces.  He was also instrumental in the formation of the first free and compulsory public school system in the country.

After the compromise of 1877 when Federal forces were withdrawn from the area, he was convicted of accepting a $5,000 bribe by Southern Whites in one of the many efforts to reduce power and respect of Blacks in the South, but was pardoned in a deal which also permitted charges of voter fraud by Democrats to be dropped.

What a remarkable man.  I encourage you to take the time to visit this historic church and graveyard.

**Carol Kilgore, I've been unable to visit and leave comments on your blog because of google+.  You may not be aware of your settings, but it seems things have changed and now ONLY people who join google+ can blog with you.  I know there's a fix, as others have done it.  An hopeful you'll see this post and leave a comment.  Happy to put you back on my blog log, since we enjoyed visiting back and forth during the a-z challenge.  AND perhaps someone who is google+ will see this and let you know how to fix it**

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(C6, RT6)

Barefoot in Aruba

Take off your shoes and feel the beautiful sand under your feet as you dine at the waters edge.

Sorry for grainy picture, our waiter from The Netherlands was having a hard time getting a good photo.  This was very dark, I lighten as much as I could to try and show you the setting.  The name of the restaurant is actually "Barefoot".  It's located on Palm Beech near the airport in Aruba.  There are tables in the sand at the waters edge.  Behind us you see a bit of deck area for those who don't wish to be right in the sand, and beyond is an inside area with floors to walk around; but where the tables are you can still take off your shoes and enjoy the sand.  Perhaps on a really hot night people like one of the indoor areas with fans better.

Truly an elegant night out.  Yes the couple you see, just got married and she is wearing her wedding dress with her toes in the sand.  Though they were "next" to us, you can see no one is crowded in, there's lots of room between the tables.  It's very private really, you don't hear others conversations.  A definite go to back to location. 

 Our waiter tried several times to get a better picture.  He was very sweet.  See the cute foil left over basket?  Everything about the meal, the service, the ambiance is truly perfect. 

If you can afford one really nice evening out, this is The One! 
This is the only night we didn't walk to and from dinner.  We were staying a The Marriott's Surf Club and could have taken a bus there and taxi back, but it was the one day we had rented a car.  Public transportation is reliable and affordable, but doesn't run late enough for a return trip, thus the taxi back was an option. 
***This is most definitely NOT a family restaurant so please leave the kids home.  It's a place for love to bloom. 

I had some fabulous tenderloin, hubby had some delicious seafood meal.  Sorry, was too long ago to remember what we actually had, plus the menu is every changing.  Just rest assured it was good, and we will be going back.

 *Heads up all who use google+, many of you may not be aware and wonder why folks aren't returning your visits and comments.  Google+ has a setting now that does not allow others to comment, in some cases your blog isn't even visible unless people register with google+.  You are losing people without knowing why, as many of you don't have means of contact.  I've been able to alert several, who did not of the problem and change in settings; some have been able to fix the problem.  If you're one who's fixed the problem, please leave the instructions on the fix so that we can pass along the information to help others.  Please leave it here the comments and or email me directly at sandycrochet at gmail.com*


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Get Your Kicks on Route 66, Missouri

While I don't make a habit of looking down when I walk...look what you can see if you actually look around when walking.  It was raining the day we spent time walking the historic area of Maplewood Missouri, so pictures were a quick snap and move on.  I didn't even take time to read the plaques that day.  But, found several that were very interesting.  The signs says 66 Park in Theater (drive in).  Young folks may have to look that up.  lol  This was locaetd at 9438 Watson Road.  It was built in 1947 by Flexer and after one year taken over by Wehrenberg who operated it til it's closing.

This was located on historic route 66.  I get my kicks on Route 66...something else young folks might need to look up.  We old folk well remember the song and the tv show.  This open air theater advertised "cool breezes" long before air conditioning came about.  There was a playground up front for kids, pony rides, ferris wheels even throughout it's history.    Teens called it the passion pit.  It held 800 cars and had 4 concession stands.  The picture was taken by Chuck1231 and uploaded to Cinema Treasurers(along with 2,551 others). 

Drive In's popularity lessened with more available on tv, with folks going to the movies and having air conditioning.  66 Park in Theater closed after the 1993 season, and was demolished March 19th, 1994.  Though I also found information that said it was razed in 1996.  It made room for a grocery store, National and after that a Schnucks.  Now there's a shopping center there and all that remains is memories of historic route 66, drive in movies are a thing of the past.

Hope you'll take time to listen, Nat King Cole Singing Get your kicks on Route 66

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Reflections of The A-Z April Blog Challenge

WHEW!  This traveling suitcase has been out and about alot this past month.  April's A-Z blog challenged challenged us to write a post everyday, except Sunday during the month in Alphabetically order.  It also challenged us to make at least 5 visits to other blogs daily and to leave comments on said blogs.

• Made the 26 posts
• Made a total of 251 blog visits and comments (an average of 9.6 visits and comments daily)
• Received 136 comments back, for an average of only 54% return, pretty disappointing, had expected more then that.  136 total divided by 26 days (though we didn't write on Sunday's people did visits on Sundays, so the number of days is perhaps skewed a bit) averages 5.2 visits back daily.  
• I did gain some followers, though how many I don't now, as I forgot to notice what my numbers where before hand
• When I signed up Traveling Suitcase for the challenge I was #1888, very close to the bottom, as I signed it up with less then a day left.  I ended up at #1581, a jump of 307 spots on the linky.  That shows you how many folks either dropped out, or were removed from the linky for various reasons.

All in all, I don't know if it was worth it.  It takes alot of time to write, visit, read, and comment; and clearly I put much more into it then lots of folks.  I don't know how representative my results are compared to others.  But it seemed daily I hit one after another of folks who signed up with very one sided ideas in mind.  There comments were closed, so they wanted the visits, but had no intention of returning the blog traffic.  They weren't really blogging, or participating; but still wanted the blog traffic.

However, I did enjoy most of my visits and have increased my blog log for my future visits.  I've added everyone who visited here more then once to my list and hope the back and forth continues.

Will I do this again next year?  Jury's still out on that, only time will tell.


I think there are things that might improve the challenge if it comes round again next year.

• I think a mandatory deleting captcha vs a strong suggestion is in order.
• I think requiring all sign ups to be the actual blog url vs google + profile, circles profile etc, where you have to click multiple times to even find the blog registered
• No blogs that require signing in or joining something, like the Disgus blogs that want you to join Disgus or sign in with your facebook or twitter profile
• No one with comments turned off should be permitted
• Requiring the logo and or A-Z post D etc to be very visible, like the first line of every post, vs scrolling around the blog to see if the badge is even there when you're not sure if they are really participating
• A separate linky for adult content (AC), hit too many that had a disclaimer of adult content in the text of the blog that weren't so marked on the linky.
• Is is possible to have the linky be alphabetized?  So you can more easily see where you left off on the list.  
• Maybe it would be a good idea to have separate linky's for each category?  Though it appeared most didn't choose a category and I enjoyed visiting all categories, just wondered if it would be helpful?  

I think visiting all those who've signed before hand to make certain they are lined up to play fairly and appropriately would save lots of folks time later on, trying to report blogs daily as they waste their time making the rounds.

Thank you to all who visited and took time to post comments:

Christine Rains
Maggie Winter
Linda Ann Nickerson
Annis Cassells
corallevang
A month of Blog
anothercleanslate
Liz
Joe Richardson
Brandy
godhasnoproblems
Jennifer Solo Travel Girl
 Aidl Weoh
Threesia
Kaye Draper
Amanda Dollak
anya Padyam
Talya Tate Boerner
Tami Van Zalez
Beth
Naila Moon
Bonnie Gwyn
DayDreamer
Karen Michelle Nut
C.Kirk
Julie Flanders
Katka Lapelosova
Jo
Carol Kilgore
Rosanna
Betty Taylor
myguiltypleasure
raisingthecurtain
TaMara Sloan
Lucy
Donna Sexton
Megan
Beverly
Pat Hatt
Margaret Spain
Jan
Clarissa Draper
Tronster
Elizabeth Seckman
Jana Grissom
John Wiswell
Katka Lapelosova
Denise Flynn
Colbymarshall
Archana
Lisa
Sylvia Ney
Stephsco

Your visits and comments were appreciated.  Thank you!

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Historic Maplewood's Saratoga's Bowling Lanes in Missouri

St. Louis Missouri is a most unique city with many different sections and very different neighborhoods.  There are in fact, 79 different neighborhoods listed on official records.  One area is Maplewood.  The historic area of Maplewood is fun and interesting place to spend a day.  There many shops, cafe's and area's of interest.  We did not see a shopping mall, but cute, unique and old school shops as well as newly formed shops to visit.

Walking down the main street you see these historic markers for landmarks along the way.  Notice the sidewalk isn't plain ordinary concrete.  Saratoga Lanes is the oldest bowling alley of it's kind west of The Mississippi River.  It's been in existence since 1916.  This small, 8 lane upstairs bowling alley is truly old school.  There are pencils and paper to keep your score, not electronic flashing screens posted on the walls.  It's located at 2725 Sutton Blvd, Maplewood Missouri 63143.  It's often rented out for corporate and birthday parties.  It has been designated a National Registered Historic Place.

You can bring your own food, or have your event catered; as food isn't served...though snacks are available in vending machines.  You do need to purchase beverages there.  It is highly suggested you book your event or your game well in advance, as it's quite popular and books up early.  In addition to bowling you can shoot pool.

Reviews I read indicate it's quite smokey there, but I wonder if that was before St. Louis got up with the rest of country with smoking bans in public spaces.

I'm sorry we didn't go in, and actual see the place; but it was raining and I very quickly took this photo with the thought I'd look at it later, so didn't actually even read it between the rain drops.  There will be other trips though, so may re-visit this site.


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(6 & 4 log)

A Month Long Blog Challenge

The month of April presented with a blog challenge to blog everyday, in alphabetical order.  You could choice a theme or make your post without a theme.  Obviously my posts here were all travel related.  Additionally you were to make at least 5 visits and day to other blogs in the challenge, read their post and leave comments.  Taking Sunday's off you end up with 26 days for 26 letters.  Below is the complete A-Z listing of blogs written for the challenge for this blog.

**Been trying to re-visit everyone on the blog list, it seems some of you have changed your blogs now that the challenge is over?  For some, you can only leave comments if you've joined google+.  That really limits you, you might want to change that.  Made contact with one person who didn't know it had been changed for her by google.  So, Carol Kilgore, hope you see this and are able to change your settings.**

If you missed any, please do pop in and read, and let me know you were here.  Just because the challenge is over; doesn't mean we need to stop our blog visits.

Hope you'll see something below that strikes your fancy.


A=Aruba 
B=Bluffton and Beaufort 
C=Crystal Cove California 
D=Palm Desert California
E=Efficiency's Safe Money When Traveling
F=Fairs
G=Beaufort Natl. Cemetery (Graveyard)
H=Huntington Beach, CA
I=Isla Navidad, Mexico
J=Making the Journey Count
K=What to do With the Kids
L=Loopy Road Leads to Landmark
M=Marriott Time Shares
N=Marriott Newport Coast Villas, CA
O=Ocean Pointe, Palm Beach Shores, Florida
P=Provost Dungeon Charleston SC
Q=Quilts, more then a Blanket
R=Reasons to Take Vacations
S=Sunsets Newport Coast, CA
T=Temple Square, Salt Lake City
U=Ullr in Breckenridge
V=Villa Paraiso Mexico
W=Thornton Winery
X=X Out Your List
Y=Yellowstone National Park
Z=Zion National Park

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Zion National Park

(Z post)
 Zion National Park in Winter.  Bundle up and enjoy a picture tour both from the car and on foot of this beautiful park.  I read an interesting comment on my Q post (Quiet on another blog), that said summer is noisy and winter is quiet, thus the person preferred winter. 

 Does make you feel quiet, and it was during our time in the park.  Not many people there.  Hubby is the one in the red coat in front of you, the other couple my younger brother and his wife.  I blogged about this park previously HERE, if you'd like a bit more commentary.

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Yellowstone National Park

(Y post)
You could probably post daily for a year about something regarding Yellowstone National Park, so I won't pretend to do it justice in one post here.

• The part was established in 1872.  Can you imagine the foresight to establish a park just 7 years after The Civil War?
• It's the very first National Park
• There are parts of Yellowstone in 3 different states: Wyoming, Montana and even Idaho.  The largest area is in Wyoming
• There are 5 entrances: East, North, NorthEast, South, and West.  It's important to know where you want to go in the park to select the correct entrance.  Not all gates are open all year long, and traffic can be so heavy through the park that getting from the wrong entrance to where you want to go difficult and time consuming.
•  The park has 1,000 miles of trails, and 2.2 million acres of land
• Has the worlds, not just the country's but the worlds largest collection of geysers
• It's nearly an intact natural ecosystem
• There's hiking and biking trails, camping, ranger programs, historic buildings
• It has 12 camping grounds and over 2,000 camping sites; not including the back country.  Seven of the 12 areas are managed by a private company, Xantera where reservations can be made, the 5 smaller areas are controlled by the park on a first come basis. 
• Camp sites typical fill as early as 11 am, often requiring you get in que by 7 am for a specific spot.  The key is to be flexible, and plan ahead and always have a plan B.
• Wolves were re-introduced to the park in 1995 and 96, after finding none in 1994.  Currently there are 300 and their descendants.  Without the wolves the balance of predators and the food change were disturbed. 
• In a typical year more people are injured by Bison in the Park, then Bears.  Stay the appropriate distance from ALL wild animals, don't put yourself and your family in danger for the sake of a stupid picture.  When you do something stupid, typically the animal has to be put down.  You're instructed to stay at least 100 yards from bears, 25 from Bison.
• Camping in the back country is free but requires a permit that can be obtained 48 hours ahead in person, there's a fee to reserve ahead of time on line or through the mail.
• The park is larger then the 2 states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

It was quite an experience camping and hiking in Yellowstone.  Old Faithful was disappointing as, it didn't do much when we were there, the thermal areas have a nasty smell like rotten eggs.  In general, though we enjoyed our time there we thought The Tetons were prettier and enjoyed our time there more. (Pictures from a free on line site, not mine.  Old Faithful didn't do anything even close to this when we were there.  You sit around the circle, waiting for it and we saw just a small trickle.  Others in our group said they'd been here several time and never saw it erupt like this.  We understand from the Rangers, they had to clean it  because people used to throw things in it...which is why you now have to sit back from it.

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X Out Your List

(X post)
Ok, this was a tough letter to come up with something appropriate for a travel blog.  First thought of X marks the spot, but then I used that on Flat Stanley's X post, and I used Xenia a city in Ohio for the X post on Oozing Out my Ears....soooooooo here goes.

We always print a grocery shopping list before we leave home.  Through practice, we've learned the best way to save money on a vacation is to eat in, it's also the most relaxed; but shopping in a strange local can be a challenge.....IF you're not organized.  We are very organized.  In fact, we think we have this whole travel thing down to a science.

• Print the list before you leave home
• Have items you always use and always need on the list, so you know meals ahead of time, and purchase items that can be used for several meals at a time
• Always review the list after the trip to see where changes should be made...locations can alter what you need on the list, as well as the time of year you're going.  The weather/time of the year always determines how often we grill out vs fixing dinner on the stove or in the oven
• X out the items as you find them in the grocery, saves time you're not constantly thinking what do I need AND you don't tend to buy extra items, thus you save money
• We X out tonic when we travel in January to Hilton Head, there we tend to drink more Martini's and don't need tonic for a refreshing Gin/Vodka and tonic....the opposite is true when we travel to Florida or Aruba in Spring or Fall

And there you have my X post.

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Thornton Winery

Welcome to Thornton's Winery
(W post)

located at 32575 Rancho California Road, Temecula, CA  92589.  We've been to Temecula several times now and have tried several different Wineries, but I believe Thornton's would be our favorite.  We had a fabulous lunch, and

wine tasting.  There were 3 of us, one got all reds, one a mix white, rose, and 2 reds, and

I had a flight of champagne. 

With your flights you get a description to help you remember which ones you liked.  See my 2 stars.  We ended up ordering a case of Champagne, 6 bottles of each.

Desert was beautiful and delicious.  We shared it, all of us were full.

Walked around the gift shop and this gave me a idea of something I perhaps should try with all my saved corks.  I've got several zip lock bags full of them.  Though it's been a little over a year since I saw this...and well the corks are still in the zip lock bags.  lol

Still needing to do a bit walking to help with being so full, the gift shop wasn't enough.  We toured the grounds, which are quite pretty.

I went through the gate and got Jane, and hubby before they started down the steps.

A good day, a full day.  We headed to San Diego from here to spend a few more days before heading home.

Great place for adults.

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Villa Paraiso, Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico

(V post)
Villa Paraiso Manzanillo, LaPunta, Pennisula de Santiago CP 28860  ManZanilla, Colima, Mexico.  Villa Paraiso translates to House of Paradise.

As you make your entrance into this 12,000 ft. sq. house built into the hillside you are transformed by Nestor the manager and his awesome house staff.

Fun, friendly, professional and very accommodate they really pamper you during your stay.  Though this picture was taken later outback, kitchen and dining room through those doors...we were initially greeted with a tray of Martgueritas, and fresh warm towels to wipe up after the trip from the airport. 

Lunch was served after the house tour concluded and everyone selected their bedrooms, in the Palapa where we virtually lived through out the week.  The bar is to your left, one pool to your right, another pool up and to your right, and another pool further up.

From the main hall way, on the same level as this upper pool, looking down to bar, Palapa and infinite pool.  The edge of this upper pool you see is a waterfall with anther pool just beneath it...the level where you see the orange chairs.

This eating space is on the same level as the orange chairs and one of the pools.

Though we had breakfast and dinner inside at the dining room table, with lunch in the Palapa daily.

Can you see why we lived in the Palapa?  Bar behind us, infinite pool to the left.

Standing just outside the Palapa, you see lounge chairs and lower level pool, the red dot above is the upper level pool; while off on the right you see 4 of the 6 bedrooms.  This is an open air house, though you can close you bedroom door at night and turn on room air, if you feel you need it. (if you click the picture you'll be able to see the red numbers and dot)

Each room was decorated differently.  This blue room on the lower level and had a seating area to the left before the door that lead outside.

Each room had it's on bathroom and outside shower.

To your left was a floor to ceiling custom cabinet with shelving and drawers, in addition to all the space behind the mirrors.

Standing outside the 2 bedroom on the upper level  bedrooms (#1 and; 2 in the other picture) you can see the infinity pool, hammock and bar area.  The space beneath are the other 2 bedrooms.

Even the stair cases were beautiful.  With the house being built into the side of the hill, there's lots of up and down, so you do get some exercises between drinks.  lol

One of the many views.  This is taken outside the upper level bedrooms.

If you're looking for an affordable group vacation, do yourself a favor and contact Nestor, the manager at nestormanzillo@yahoo.com or visit their facebook page. 
Be sure and let them know Sandy sent you.


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ULLR in Breckenridge Colorado

(U post)
Meet ULLR, a Norse God by Richard Jagoda in Beckenridge, Colorado.  One of many outdoor art pieces.

Ullr is thought to be the son of Sif, and the stepson of Thor in Norse Mythology.  Information is a bit sketchy, but it's believed he was a major Prehistoric God, The God of Hunting, Bow, Shield and Ski.  It's prounced Ooh-ler.  Legend has it that he flew the sky on his wooden ski's so fast he made stars as he passed.

This past Janaury, 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of The Ullr Fest in Breckenridge.  The fest started in 1963, to pay homage to and give thanks to, The God of Good Snow.  The fest has grown through the years, but has always been a "party", celebrated by locals.  There's a parade down Main Street, live entertainment, food and drink a plenty, bone fires, Ullympics, and ice sculpting.  He's become known as The God of Winter and Snow.

The festival ran from Jan 6th through January 12th this year and is scheduled for Jan 5th-11th, in 2014. 


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