With Thanksgiving only two days away I thought you might find this little bit of our history appropriate. Being a lover of history has been a source of pleasure for me for many years. I love reading about anything historical especially everything I could find on the United States and how it was created. We’re coming up on one of my most favorite holidays, Thanksgiving. In my mind it was the only holiday that we had that meant something real to me. People giving thanks for the things in their life that needed to be appreciated and shared with friends and family. To show appreciation for the many good things and good people that have impacted our lives in the last year and before.
I sometimes think how many of our holidays have changed in the eyes of the citizenry. Christmas went from being a religious celebration of the birth of Christ and turned into an insanely greedy holiday about gifts and presents. Thanksgiving always meant much more to me than any holiday for all of the best reasons. Time with family and friends that was hard to come by most of the year. When Thanksgiving came everyone showed up regardless of any interruptions from outside influences like work and business. It was quality time for me and mine which was sorely lacking most of the year. It was time to eat grandma’s special gravy of which she never gave anyone that recipe. It was the goal of all of the younger generations to somehow convince her to give that up but the old girl took it to her grave except for a few hints she gave me. I make a one helluva gravy but it’s still not as good as hers.
These days Thanksgiving is just a prelude to shopping. I’d like to meet the guy that came up with the Black Friday nonsense and beat him senseless. I hate to say this but there might be one plus coming out of this pandemic and that is the hope that Thanksgiving will return to what it was in years past. Most of the younger generations now know little or nothing about the history of how Thanksgiving became Thanksgiving and all of the people that suffered and died to make the first one happen. I’m finishing this post with three letters written by a young lady named Lizzy to her aunt Constance. The first letter was written during the crossing from England to Plymouth on the Mayflower, the second is about her arrival and the setup of the colony, and the third is concerning the first Thanksgiving celebration with the local Indians. Put yourself in her place as you read these letters and show or read them to your children or grandchildren. It’ll give all of you a better understanding and perspective on what it actually means to be thankful for something. I hope you enjoy them.
LETTER #1
Dearest Aunt Constance,
You wondered what life in a ship would be like. I can now tell you, I would trade my bed for yours in the beat of a heart! I sleep on a damp bed in a tiny cabin with mother and father. We are all packed in like so much cargo below deck. We do not know many of the other passengers, yet we live nearly on top of each other. Few of us have ever been aboard a ship, and there is much seasickness. The stench is most awful! I welcome the times when we are allowed to go on deck to empty our chamber pots and breathe the fresh air.
When the weather is fair, the days are much the same. We pray as we rise in the morning and before and after we take our meals. For food we commonly have pease or bean pottage, cheese and ship’s biscuit. For drink, we have beer. We have some water but they say it will soon go bad.
Did I tell you that I have a friend? Her name is Mary and I am so grateful for her. Mary and I play games, tell riddles, sing or just speak to each other. It is often too dark to even read. There are few other lasses on the ship since most families left their daughters behind until our town is built. The sailors will sometimes allow us on deck, but they are a hard lot and frighten me somewhat. Master Goodman brought his two dogs—a mastiff and a spaniel—and we chase them as they chase the mousers that chase the rats. Have I made mention of the rats? They are almost as great in size as the mousers!
May the Lord help us when the weather is not fair. Father told me that sailors usually seek safe harbor in the autumn and now I know why. The storms are fearsome! They roll and toss our poor ship which creaks and moans as though it will break apart. My arms and legs are bruised from being thrown about and having things fall on me. In one storm, a young man was thrown into the sea, but by God’s good will he caught hold of a line that was dragging in the water and was saved. Just a fortnight ago came the worst storm yet. Aunt Constance, I thought we would all surely drown and become food for the fishes. The ship’s upper works were leaking and of a sudden there was a great snap! Master Carver told us that one of the ship’s main beams had cracked. Many of the crew wanted to turn back, but after much consultation, t’was decided that we would continue . The carpenters and sailors mended the beam and caulked the leaks.
Thus we put our faith in God and we press on. I do not think that I can stand such a fright again. I pray that we reach the New World soon.
Your loving niece,
Lizzy
LETTER #2
Dearest Aunt Constance,
I was so grateful to arrive in the New World, but I am now beginning to wish that we had never left home. I know that father had a hard life in England because he was punished for following his conscience and worshipping in the Separatist Church, but I wonder if it could have been as hard as this.
We arrived here just as winter did. It is bitter cold and snow is almost always upon the ground, but God has blessed us with a place to start our new town. There is a fair brook running under a high hill that Father says will offer us protection from our enemies. The men have begun building houses on land, but we must remain on the ship until they are nearer to being finished. I never thought I would still be aboard the ship for so long after we arrived! I suppose it is safer on the ship. I know not what to think of the naturals of this place that are called Indians. The first time some of our men encountered them, there was a fight though by God’s blessing no one was injured. We are on our guard now.
Master Goodman—the one with the dogs—has become quite ill. He was out cutting thatch with Peter Brown when his dogs chased a great deer deep into the forest. They chased after them and were soon lost, and had to pass the night in the wilderness. When they found their way back the next afternoon, Master Goodman had to have his shoes cut off his feet as they were so swollen with the cold. Many of our party have already died, among them Mary’s mother and father. I cannot think how lost I would be in this strange and frightful place without mother and father. I pray that they will not succumb to scurvy and other diseases. I mean not to be so grim, but I fear that things could get far worse. We are near to scraping the bottoms of the barrels of rice, peas, and biscuit, and the men have had little fortune in hunting. I am worried, though I know that with God’s help we will survive this dark winter.
Your loving niece,
Lizzy
LETTER #3
Dearest Aunt Constance,
Pray forgive me for being so long between letters. After the great sickness it seemed that there was little good to write about. By the time spring arrived, nearly half of our number had died. Twas truly a mournful time. Since then we have continued to build houses and have planted our gardens and many acres of our English corns. In time, I think we may come to prosper here. We have even begun to grow a curious corn that we call Indian corn or turkey wheat.
How we learned to grow this Indian corn was most unexpected. Last spring a tall Indian walked into our town, causing great alarm. To our great astonishment, he spoke in our tongue, saying “Welcome Englishmen.” He told us that his name was Samoset and that he had learned English from fishermen to the north of here. Samoset returned the next day with Tisquantum, whose English was as fine as yours and mine. Tisquantum told us how his people used to live where we now live, but that a few years before we arrived a plague had come and wiped out the town. He has been a great blessing to us, showing us how to grow Indian corn in mounds. He even told us to put herring in the ground to make the corn grow better. It works as well as using manure and our harvest was quite fine. Tisquantum also showed us how to fish and the best places to hunt. I fear that we would not have survived here were it not for the help of Tisquantum and others.
To celebrate our first harvest our Governor, Master Bradford, called for a celebration. Four men went hunting wild fowl and brought back enough geese, ducks and other birds to last nearly a week! We ate, played at games, and the men practiced shooting their muskets. The Indians came amongst us as well, among them their greatest King Massasoit and more than 90 men! I was most frightened at first, but they stayed for three days and we entertained and feasted them. And they went out and brought us five deer. While they were here I even saw some of their children! One boy, father says he thinks that his name is Po-met-a-comet, threw a ball to me. Of course he could not speak English and I could not speak the Indian tongue.
And now we have a new ship in the harbor! It is wonderful that we have new folk to settle here, but I fear that our harvest, which seemed plentiful enough, will not be enough for all of us and the newcomers. Father says that we will fill this ship full of timber and furs to send back to England. Perhaps on the next ship they will send over cows!
Dearest Aunt Constance, I truly hope that you will come to join us in New Plimoth. I pray that soon we will be a thriving town.
Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away I was required to work eight hours a day, 40 hours a week, with insurance companies. Truthfully it wasn’t much fun and after talking to literally hundreds of insurance company employees, they agreed. I was forced to read hundreds of accident reports and then pass them on to the insurance carriers. Some information contained in those reports was incredible to say the least. The following list of quotations is taken from actual submitted insurance claims concerning automobile accidents. You can read them, take your time, and try to figure out exactly what they mean. Here we go . . .
“I told the police that I was not injured, but on removing my hat I found that I had a fractured skull.”
“Coming home I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don’t have. The other car collided with mine without giving me warning of its intention.”
“I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and headed over the embankment.”
“I thought my window was down, but I found it was up when I put my head through it.”
“The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve several times before I hit him.”
“I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way.”
“In an attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole.”
“As I approached the intersection a sign appeared in a place where no stop sign had ever appeared before. I was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident.”
“The pedestrian had no idea which direction to run. So I ran over him.”
“I saw a slow moving, sad faced old gentleman as he bounced off the roof of my car.”
“The telephone pole was approaching. I was attempting to swerve out of the way when I struck the front end.”
“I was thrown from my car as it left the road. I was later found in a ditch by some stray cows.”
“An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car, and vanished.”
“The accident was caused by me waving to the man I hit last week.”
“I had been shopping for a plant all day and was on my way home. As I reached an intersection a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision, and I did not see the other car.”
I give thanks everyday that I know longer have to deal with this nonsense. The only thing worse than dealing with insurance companies is dealing with their customers.
As I read through the current event postings from across the Internet I surprisingly still see a lot of handwringing concerning airport screenings, TSA inappropriateness, and general all-around unhappiness with the process. I’ve flown my fair share over the years but I’ve never flown a great deal since 9/11 occurred. Members of my family have and I’m familiar with most of the screening processes that are being used now. And even though a great many terrorist threats have been eliminated or stopped by their screening, there remains a certain percentage of the population (ACLU) constantly complaining about screenings, profiling, racial bias, inappropriate searching, and anything else that comes to mind. I admit there’ve been some ridiculous reports of activities by TSA but overall they’re done a pretty good job as far as I can see. The following list is a short test for any of my readers out there who are the people that think TSA oversteps. Take this little test to help you understand why profiling is a legitimate tool and should be used as such. Then read the additional entries below the test and see how you feel then.
Do you remember?
1. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by: a. Olga Korbitt b. Sitting Bull c. Arnold Schwartzeneger d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
2. In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was taken over by: a. Lost Norwegians b. Elvis c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
3. During the 1980’s a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by: a. John Dillinger b. The King of Sweden c. The Boy Scouts d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
4. In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by: a. A pizza delivery boy b. Pee Wee Herman c. Geraldo Rivera d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
5. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by: a. The Smurfs b. Davy Jones c. The Little Mermaid d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
STILL BATTING 1000 ?
6. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a U.S. Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by: a. Captain Kid b. Charles Lindberg c. Mother Teresa d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
7. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by: a. Scooby Doo b. The Tooth Fairy c. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
8. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by! : a. Richard Simmons b. Grandma Moses c. Michael Jordan d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
9. In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by: a. Mr. Rogers b. Hillary, to distract attention from Wild Bill’s women problems c. The World Wrestling Federation d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
10. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted to a crash by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by: a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd b. The Supreme Court of Florida c. Mr. Bean d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
11. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against: a. Enron b. The Lutheran Church c. The NF! L d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
12. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by: a. Bonny and Clyde b. Captain Kangaroo c. Billy Graham d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
Nope, I really don’t see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you? Let me continue on . . .
22 December 2001 – Shoe bomber: An al-Qaeda operative, Richard Reid, attempted but failed to detonate a bomb concealed in his shoes while on board a plane from Paris to Miami.
5 November 2009 – Fort Hood shooting: US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan who serving as a Psychiatrist at Fort Hood, Texas opened fire on fellow service members resulting in 13 deaths and 29 wounded.
25 December 2009 – Underwear bomber: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 but failed.
1 May 2010 – Time Square bomber: Faisal Shahzad ingnited a bomb in his vehicle parked in Times Square but the explosive device failed to detonate.
15 April 2013 – Boston Marathon bombing: Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev planted two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The explosion killed three and injured over 180 people.
12 June 2016 – Orlando nightclub shooting: an American-born citizen of Afghan descent entered Pulse, a gay night club, and began shooting resulting in 49 deaths and 53 injured.
31 October 2017 – NYC truck attack: Sayfullo Saipov, who was inspired by ISIS used a rented Home Depot flatbed pickup truck to drive down a bike path killing eight and injurying 11.
6 December 2019 – Naval Air Station Pensacola shooting: Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, an aviation student from Saudi Arabia, opened fire at the Naval Air Station Pensacola. The attack directed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula resulted in the death of three US Navy sailors and wounded eight.
(Sarcasm On) So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on killing us, TSA officers will no longer be allowed to profile certain people. They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, Secret Service agents who are members of the President’s security detail, and anyone else except for Muslim males between the ages 17 and 40. (Sarcasm off)
This will be the last of the New Orleans postings. It’s been a lot of fun reviewing the pictures and writing about all of our little adventures. As you can tell I really love the place and plan on returning as often as possible in the future. Todays post will be nothing more than a few random pictures of the French Quarter that I failed to use this week. You must remember that between my better-half and I we took more than a thousand photographs in our six day visit.
A balcony used by the bead throwers.
Artists displaying their wares in Jackson Square.
Everyone needs a little Voodoo in their life.
St. Mark’s Cathedral
How about a little truth in advertising.
And some Day of the Dead skeletons.
And finally a stop at Café Du Monde for cafe’ au lait and beignets. Absolutely delicious!
So ends my reminiscences of a truly wonderful vacation. I should mention that on my last night in the Quarter I made my way to a local tattoo parlor and purchased one as a memento of our trip. I was going to post a picture of it but my better-half thought that might be a little to much information. Just let it be said that I brought some permanent New Orleans voodoo home with me.
I hope any of you who would love to visit there get the opportunity to do so.
Our vacation began to wind down a little as we entered our fourth day in NO. We decided to spend the final day and a half just roaming around the French Quarter and shopping, people watching, drinking, and eating. It was a dirty job but someone had to do it.
My first suggestion to my better-half was a required visit to a NO must-see, Pat O’Brien’s Bar. During my first visit to NO many many years ago I was taken first to Bourbon Street and then directly to Pat O’Brien’s Bar. I loved the place so much I couldn’t wait to introduce it to my better-half.
It’s a nondescript hole-in-the-wall or so you think at first glance. You walk through the entry way into a dark tunnel with a barroom on either side. That leads directly into the terrace filled with tropical plants and tables for patrons.
Directly in the middle is a fountain that is somewhat famous. During the day it doesn’t look like much but at night it’s on fire.
It was difficult trying to capture the rising flames in a photo. This was my best attempt.
We took a seat in the bar and ordered dinner. Since O’Brien’s is the actual home of the famous Hurricane cocktail we ordered two. They were huge as was expected and strong enough to give you a glow after drinking only one.
My entrée was something I’d been waiting for for years. This is something the locals call “crawfish etouffee” and believe me it was the best I’ve ever had. It was hot and spicy and effing delicious.
It was a fun night spent people watching and just enjoying the atmosphere of the French Quarter. Vibrant, crowded, and as much fun as any person could handle. We retired to our hotel and the secluded pool to cool down a little before bed. Another terrific day in the Big Easy.
Our fourth day in NO took us to one of the most interesting places I’ve ever been. I’ve always been a big fan of graveyards but this one was the ultimate. It’s called St. Louis #1, the oldest cemetery in the city. Some residents have been there since the late 1700’s. The temperature was 95 degrees but once we got inside the cemetery it rose to just over 100 degrees.
Since all bodies are buried above ground in NO the cemetery is just concrete walkways and white tombs. The heat actually accelerates the decomposition which is important I suppose. The cemetery isn’t open to the public any longer but I’m sure the Catholic Church is getting their taste from all of the tour groups visiting every day.
To add to the solemnness of the visit we happened upon what has become a common occurrence these days. A Hollywood celebrity showing up to spend 60,000 dollars to build an eight foot tall white pyramid right in the middle of all this history. Who else would it be but that way-out-there celebrity . . Nicolas Cage. Only one word comes to mind and that is A-Hole.
I think I lost five pounds of water weight in the hour and a half we spent roaming around the place. Our tour guide was an encyclopedia of history of New Orleans and the people resting in that cemetery. It was a highlight of our trip.
The vacation continues with Pat O’Brien’s Bar scheduled for dinner and drinks tonight. We both need a dip in the hotel pool and a few cold ones to rehydrate before visiting there. I’ll cover O’Brien’s in the next post.
Our third day in NO was a special day for me because for most of my life I’ve wanted to ride an airboat through these Louisiana swamps. We boarded a bus in the French Quarter which took us across the Mississippi River southeast into the bayous. Our destination was a bayou named Barataria where the pirate John Lafitte and his men helped Stonewall Jackson defeat the British at the battle of New Orleans. A beautiful place filled with as much history as you could ever want.
These boats are just as fast as you can imagine. It’s like flying on water.
We left the dock and proceeded into the bayou and the beauty of the place was breathtaking. I could have spent an entire week just riding around taking pictures. The guide took us to a rather cool cemetery where the brother of Jean Lafitte is buried. As you can see all bodies are buried above ground here in Louisiana.
This is the ultimate spooky graveyard.
I was especially interested in getting some wildlife pictures and I no sooner had that thought and BAM . . . we found a few gators. They were almost as curious about us as we were about them. This guy came to visit after we pulled ashore to get a better look at him.
Doesn’t he have the cutest smile?
We played around with them for a few minutes then it was back into some isolated logging channels where we ran into a couple of turtles sunning themselves on a log.
I hated for this day to come to an end but I was able to take some truly wonderful photos. This last photo is the one that will remind me of this trip for as long as I live.
Day two began with a walk through the French Quarter to the Toulouse Docks where the steamboat Natchez was moored. My better-half has always wanted to ride the Mississippi River in an old steamship and we made that happen. We signed up for a three hour river cruise (hopefully better than Gilligan’s) that would take up south on the river through the busy port of NO. It was a brunch cruise and we had a great meal sitting on the main deck with a fantastic view of NO and the river.. It had been fully restored and was just like you would expect it to be minus the gambling tables and card cheats.
One of the m0ost interesting sights was the massive amount of damage caused by Katrina. There were huge section of docks and buildings that had been totally destroyed in the storm and had yet to be repaired or replaced.
On the upper deck we checked out the gift shop and of course the bar. Their specialty drink was the Jazz Punch which was delicious and wickedly alcoholic. I wanted to have a second one but wasn’t sure I could off the boat without injury. The views were incredible.
We made a U-turn an hour later and proceeded back north to NO which was a sight to behold from the middle of the river.
Another great day of relaxation to help us prepare for day three of the vacation. Day three was on the top of my wish list and it meant an airboat and trip into the bayou’s.
The first day in NO was coming to an end and we decided to just hit the streets and roam around to get a better feel for things. It was just getting dark and we were both starving. That airline food really is a joke. We stumbled on a place on the north end of the French Quarter called Coops. It’s one of those places with a questionable first impression and it was filled with mostly local residents some of which were way out there. Of course we immediately went in to sample some good old Cajun food and we weren’t sorry.
My rule #1 for eating in NO. Go local!
I ordered my usual ice cold Chardonnay while my better-half discovered a new love. She ordered a Big Easy IPA that’s brewed locally. She fell in love with the brew which meant I would have a few more of them on my credit card in the coming days. . . AND I DID! She ordered some sort of shrimp dish while I stepped outside the box once again. I dined on rabbit and alligator sausage jambalaya. I hate to say this about the rabbit but if cooked properly it tastes just like chicken. No eye rolling please. We were finally cooled down by the air conditioning and decided to continue our walking tour. Temps were still in the low nineties at dusk.
We stopped at a number of small shops when we saw something interesting and to use their air conditioning. I’d already sweat through my clothes and would do so many more times during our stay.
NO is known as an artist colony and one of the reasons I love this place so much. We saw murals and sculptures just about everywhere we went. Here are two samples from our first night.
We spent a lot of time looking at art work displayed in galleries and also on the street in Jackson Square. Some of it was really good, some just OK, and others that were unbelievably bad. To each their own I guess. We continued our walk into Jackson Square where the line of horse drawn carriages were waiting for customers.
We were at the end of a very long day and headed back to our hotel for the night. That little pool in the courtyard I posted about earlier was the best thing that happened to us the entire day. Off with the clothes, into the swim suits, and into all of that lovely cool water. We chatted with some new friends from Germany at the pool, finished our drinks and went off to bed. Our room felt like a refrigerator and thank god for that.
Well, my better-half and I arrived home last night after spending 6 glorious days in the party capitol of the USA . . . New Orleans. If I disregard our god awful experiences with Jet Blue then we had a great time. It’s been a number of years since I visited NOLA but I was thrilled to see that it was the same old exciting place that I remembered. The evidence of Katrina’s visit eleven years ago has been all but erased.
I grabbed this shot from their website because mine was blurry as hell.
I booked our hotel in an off-the-beaten-path location located in the old creole section of NO on Burgundy Street, 2 blocks north of Bourbon Street. The St. Pierre hotel was once the NO Jazz Museum but has since been converted into an hotel.
It consists of a group of 150 year old creole homes joined together with small intimate courtyards and swimming pools hidden from street view. If you ever visit there you need to know this is not the Hilton or Weston style of hotel. This is an old building with 150 years of character and an 1850’s atmosphere. We loved going native for a few days and would do it again in a heartbeat.
This pool was 30 feet from our room. This is the view looking down from the balcony.
The weather was typical NO. It was 90 plus degrees all week with never less than 80% humidity. It was feel-like temperature of over 100 degrees. Even though the heat was brutal that pool made it bearable. We visited it twice a day to cool off and have a drink and meet people from all over the world who were also staying there. Just fabulous.
Another view of the courtyard from our balcony.
This posting is just the start of our trip. I’ll probably continue posting on our other activities for the next week or so. There was a lot to see and maybe I can give you a little taste of how it felt to be there.
IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE WEEK BUT WE’RE GLAD TO BE HOME.
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