A Walk and a Smile

Spring and summer tour season has begun! Off to spread a little happiness on a 3-tour adventure. Stop 1= Boston. Let's do this!

❤️

Sometimes, you have those groups where you just click with everyone and they are so much fun! I had one of those groups last year.

So this year, when one of those guests from the UK was going to be in town, she asked if we might meet. I am with a student group, who was in the Smithsonian, so I said I had enough time to run out and get a hug and that was about it.

So I did that. What are the chances that you then run into them AGAIN at another museum?

So great to see you TWICE! Have a blast in DC.

Farewell, my friend!

Sadly, I didn't get to see you in blossom this year. I'm so glad that I got to see you one last time before the executioner's blade is put to your trunk.

Every year, for the last several years, I have marveled that you burst into bud once more, even when so much of you had already been lost to the elements.

Thanks for the memories, the inspiration, and the perseverance--you will be missed!

🥺😢😭

Today I was both honored and humbled that my colleagues awarded me the Rookie of the Year Award.

While I have been leading tours for a while, last year was my 1st full season dedicated to Destination America.

To receive this reward is a great honor and it must be shared with all my incredible colleagues who work behind the scenes at the office and, most especially to my fellow travel directors who helped and supported me throughout.

One of my favorite parts of this career is that we are like family and help one another out whenever we can.

A huge shout out and THANK YOU to all those many individuals (you know who you are) that have encouraged, supported, and assisted me along the way.

This honor belongs to you all.

Had the pleasure of spending the last four days with this AMAZING group of young adults. Thanks Mobridge for making my 1st student tour of the season extra special and super fun. Hope there isn't too much snow back home!

Tucked away in Section 15 are the graves of three axis power soldiers--one German and two Italian. All three were POW's, captured in North Africa during WWII.

There were 19 POW camps in Maryland, and these three individuals were all in camps on the eastern shore. The men were allowed to leave camp to work, mainly on farms. The POW workers are credited with saving Maryland's tomato crop in 1945. Local farmers relied on them to work the fields and bring in the harvest since most able bodied American men were off at war.

They were paid about the equivalent of a US private; Geneva Convention rules required they be paid for any labor. But they were paid in scrip which could only be used in camp.

The Geneva Convention also required that any POW who died while on foreign soil be given a proper burial in the closest National Cemetery. Arlington was the closest one to the camp, which is how they came to be here. In February of this year, the Chief of the German military laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and visited Sgt Hilberath's grave.

The early morning light on these dried seed heads is a lovely send-off from this park and lodge. The lodge and staff here are simply delightful. A wonderful, warm Kenyan welcome for my first time visiting this incredible country. Thanks and and for a great start to this African adventure.

Our next destination awaits later today.

As a child, I often said I wanted to be a Park Ranger when I grew up. During my recent string of tours in the Florida Keys, I reconnected with that dream. I'm officially a Junior Ranger at Dry Tortugas National Park.

While designed for children, it's a great way for adults to learn about the parks too.

Sometimes, as a guide and program leader, you get to do something very special. Today was one of those days.

Two of my guests have a tradition of renewing their wedding vows whenever they visit a new state.

The person they had arranged to do this for them here in Key West was suddenly unavailable. I was honored that they asked me to officiate the ceremony for them. It was a special moment for all involved.

I thought I had found a dead crab in the seaweed until I got close to take the photo, and it jumped up and started moving.

Some of the most interesting patterns come from nature, like this sea fan washed up on Bushy Key.

Wildlife abounds at Dry Tortugas National Park. Watch your step--you never know where you might find its smaller denizens.

After being down for the last several days with a cold, finally made it out of bed and wandered to the mailbox. What a treat to find a lovely thank you note and t-shirt from my last student group of 2023. It was just the pick-me-up I needed after being cooped up for too many days. Thank you Blooming Prairie!

Wreaths In

Today is Wreaths In at cemeteries around the country. Wreaths are placed on the graves of veterans to honor their service.

As I was making sure that all the graves had gotten a wreath I came upon this one. Not often you come across a War of 1812 veteran. I did a Google search to see if I could find anything about him.

What I discovered was that he was born in 1794 in the same town I grew up in as a child. What are the chances?

A Charlie Brown Christmas

The frangipani is going into dormancy and shedding its leaves. So the dying leaves and bare branches just reminded me of the tree in a Charlie Brown Christmas.

And just like that tree, this one is beautiful in its own way.

A Festive Air to a Somber Place

During the Great Depression, hundreds of WWI veterans were put to work building the Overseas Highway. They were housed in ramshackle camps on the coast of the Keys.

It was Labor Day Weekend of 1935, and a storm was approaching. A lack of accurate forecasting and a cascade of poor decisions meant the evacuation order for these camps was not made in a timely manner.

The rescue train arrived, was loaded, and was just pulling away when the storm blew ashore nearby as a category 5 hurricane and the most intense storm ever to hit the US at that time.

An 18-foot storm surge and winds of 200 mph flung the cars from the tracks.

The storm left 485 people in the keys dead--260 of them WWI veterans from the work camps.

To prevent disease, the governor ordered the mass cremation of the victims. Funeral pyres were made, and the victims' bodies were stacked and doused with gasoline or oil and ignited. Beneath this memorial are the ashes of more than 300 of the victims.

Tomorrow is not promised.

In the fountain beneath the bench, the leaves of the crepe myrtle tree formed a beautiful mosaic.

It reminded me of the fragility of life and to live and love each day as if it was your last.

I so love my purple haired, purple wearing friend, , and yet, I'm sensing an intervention may be in order?!?!?! 🤣😘

Meet Babe Ruth

Hemingway was given a 6-toed cat by a ship's captain. That first one was named Snow White.

Today, many of the cats at the home are descendants of Snow White. While not all of them have six toes, they all carry the polydactyl gene, which means their offspring can be born with six toes.

Hemingway named all his cats after famous people, a tradition that continues to this day.

Babe Ruth was soaking up some sun on the bed and reminded me of my cat, Lynx, who passed earlier this year.

Passenger Number One

When it was founded, Pan AM was barred from US domestic routes in exchange for an exclusive on all international routes.

In anticipation of the 1st passenger flight tickets went on sale, with a then unknown departure date, in 1931. John Eck wanted to be passenger Number 1, but was the 2nd person in line--beat out by Will Rogers.

Sadly, Rogers was killed in a plane crash in 1935. John Eck then moved into the coveted Passenger Number One.

Eight years later, in 1939, he boarded the first commercial passenger flight to Europe as Passenger Number One.

A piece of movie history!

Originally built in England for service on the Nile and Lake Albert, the African Queen is an actual vessel.

It became a film legend when it became the vessel that transported Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn in the movie that bears its name.

You can see this historic craft when in Key Largo.

NOT extinct!

For the last 35 years, the atala butterfly was classified as extinct in the everglades. One day earlier this year, a visitor brought a bright red caterpillar into the visitor center and asked what it was.

The Ranger was shocked to see the larval stage of the atala. Even more shocking was that it was found right outside the visitor center.

Today, I got to see many of these amazing creatures flitting around, as well as the bright red caterpillars on their host plant.

AMAZING!

If you've ever been to the visitor center at Arlington National Cemetery, you know there is a figure of a bugler. But did you know that figure was based on a real-life person?

Had the pleasure of meeting MSG Jesse Tubb, who plays in the US Army Concert Band. He was the model for the figure you see in the glass case as you enter the visitor center.

Some days you go to the mailbox and there is a little bit of sunshine and happiness waiting for you.

I grabbed the mail this morning as the coffee was brewing, and amidst all the junk mail was an envelope with an IA return address. My last student group of the summer was from IA?

There are some groups where you find yourself a bit teary-eyed as they pull away, and this had been one of those groups. Receiving this warm, kind, and heartfelt note in my mailbox made it all the more so.

It was an honor to show you around DC. Thanks for the memories Jesup!

The office isn't looking too bad today.

An incredible 5 days with the most amazing people. Thanks for all the fun St. Mark's! Safe travels home!

When your group is from El Paso, you celebrate with them in Cinco de Mayo!

I spent last week with the most wonderful group of people from Minnesota. It was a joy getting to know them and showing them our nation's capital.

Hope the snow back home melts soon West Central!

Humbling!

I was so fortunate to be able to get my group in to hear Martin Luther King, III speak on the 55th anniversary of his father's assassination.

During his address, he shared that, at the age of 10, he was watching TV, and that is how he learned that his father had been killed.

What a terrible way for a child to hear that news.

A first for our nation.

Charles Curtis was the first person of Native American descent to serve in the Senate.

He proudly spoke of his roots and his being a member of the Kaw Nation. The Kaw Nation lived in Oklahoma and parts of Kansas.

He often used this ceremonial chair. The medalion in the center uses a mixture of the Omaha and Osage alphabets to send a message to all who visited his office.

"Go in the best of health, friend. This is our wish."