The HAL Zuiderdam can hold 1,916 passengers and 842 crew. Our captain was Frank Van der Hoeven, the hotel director was Glenn Cowley, our Cruise director was Karlijn Verpalen, and when Karlijn had to leave for a family emergency, Glen Michaels the Entertainment Director took over. Our inside cabin was 7132 and our cabin stewards were Johan and Matt. We had dinner at table 23 in the Dining Room 3rd deck. Our servers were Apri and Desri. Day 1: Embarkation - Saturday, November 23, 2024 Click here for pictures while we were on the ship We left our FL house at 9:30 and made it to the port by 10 ..read more

 Good morning! I hope you enjoy the view that I had this morning!  Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog (http://successfulteaching.net) by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com ..read more

The design for the 1923 8c Radiator & Propeller stamp (#C4) was based on a photograph of the radiator and propeller of a De Haviland plane. The stamp was issued on August 15, 1923, at the American Philatelic Society annual convention in Washington DC. The history of airmail dates back to the early 20th century when aviation was still in its infancy. The first official airmail route in the United States was established on May 15, 1918, running between Washington, D.C., and New York City. This pioneering route marked a significant shift in how mail was delivered, as it allowed for much fas ..read more

A few weeks ago, we decided we wanted to ride the trains to Miami since we had nothing planned. We found out that an all-day pass on Tri-Rail only costs $2.50 for seniors on the weekend. Of course, you have to buy this on a weekday to get the discount. If you buy an all-day pass at the station kiosk on the weekend (ticket offices are closed), you have to pay the regular $5. We arrived at the Boynton Beach TriRail station at 7:52 and the southbound train arrived at 8:45 am. It runs every hour on the :45 minute mark. At 10:01, we got off the Tri-Rail at the Metro Transfer Station. We found a ..read more

Today we went to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge to walk around the boardwalk. The weather was nice and there wasn’t a lot of people there when we arrived at 9 am. We saw that they offered a free tram tour but it was filled up so we just planned on doing the walk. When we got back to the visitor center, we were told that we were welcome to join the tour if the last 3 people didn’t show up. When they didn’t arrive, we took the tour. The tour guide, Don, was fabulous. Even though we have been there several times, I always learn something new! He was very knowledgeable and you could tel ..read more

Today was the Aunt Het Festival in Fountain Inn, SC. It was supposed to happen last week but it was postponed until this week due to Hurricane Helene. Debbie came over to our house around 9:15 am and we walked to the festival. It started out cool but eventually, it warmed up. We stopped at several tables that were giving away bags and I could put my jacket in it. We also saw a vendor selling aprons and I was looking for a garden apron. We found a $10 one that was made of denim and perfect for what I was looking for. I also ran into Amy Burns who was playing a fiddle with a band. I hadn’t seen ..read more

Since hurricane Helene hit on September 27, we have been cutting trees. It has been an enlightening experience. It seems as if the more we do, we aren’t so exhausted and sore. The first couple of days, we were pretty tired and used muscles we weren’t used to using. We cut a lot of the stuff we could off of our pecan tree and the Leyland cypress in our yard. Then on that Saturday Dyanna and Earl came with the pickup truck and helped us haul it to the street. On Sunday we hooked up the garden cart to the lawn mower and moved some more stuff to the street. We went to Dyanna’s house on Wednesday a ..read more

The 22¢ Badger stamp (Scott # 2312) from 1987 was part of a special collection of U.S. stamps featuring different animals. This stamp was released on June 13, 1987, as part of a sheet with 50 different animals. The stamps were made to celebrate the wide variety of wildlife in America. Each animal on the stamps was chosen to show the different kinds of animals that live in North America. The artist, Chuck Ripper, drew the animals using a pencil and he also included plants that are common in the places where these animals live. National Badger Day is a special day celebrated on October 6th eac ..read more

On September 27, Hurricane Helene arrived with a bang! It was my birthday and I was anticipating a fun day. Instead, I woke up to high winds and heavy rains. At 6 am, we lost power. As I sat in my sunroom in the dark, except for a candle, I heard the wind whipping around outside. I heard what sounded like ladders flying around, which I found out later were my neighbor's gutters that had fallen and were sliding on their porch hitting the railings. At daybreak, our oak tree in the front yard by the driveway fell across the street blocking both lanes. If it had happened a little earlier in comp ..read more

Click here for pictures. After breakfast, we headed towards Burnsville Along the way, we saw a sign for an antique store called Sparkling Clean Antiques. It was an interesting place and we had a nice chat with the owners. When we arrived in Burnsville, we parked and walked to Hammond’s Antiques. Then I found the yarn store called Yummi Yarns. I bought a skein of sock yarn and the owner tossed in a free skein of Bamboo Pop. We stopped at Ingles for lunch on the way back to the lodge. Since we got back early, we watched the Clemson football game. Around 4 pm, I joined the group and knit unt ..read more