When Charlie and I travel it is always a joy to visit famous churches, basilicas, and cathedrals.

In Paris we attended services in Notre Dame (before it burned) and Saint Sulpice.  We took in a community fair at Sacre Coeur in the Montmartre district.

In Italy we toured Saint Peter’s  in Rome and the Duomos in both Florence and Pisa and attended a service at San Marco in Venice.

London did not let us down with services at both Saint Paul’s and Westminster Abbey.

In NYC we usually take in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and in New Orleans, Saint Louis‘.

I almost forgot about Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavik where we spent a nice morning at the top of tower, at the church service, then having breakfast with the children.

I decided I should do a little research and see if there are any famous or special churches in my own backyard, Baltimore,  that might be worth a visit.  I added this to my list of 101 tasks in 1001 days at number 92.

Since church usually happens on Sunday morning I attended the following churches alone because Charlie is always scheduled to play the organ/piano on Sunday at 2 different churches near our house.

1. Saint Alphonsus National Shrine
2. Baltimore Basilica of the Assumption
3. First and Franklin Presbyterian Church
4. Lovely Lane UMC
5. Mount Vernon Place UMC (closed due to COVID)
6.  Zion Church of the City of Baltimore

The first church I attended was Saint Alphonsus National Shrine, a Gothic Revival Roman Catholic church.

For half an hour before the service started, organ music filled the church. The mass (indeed all masses) was in Latin. However, the gospel reading and homily were in English. In a traditional manner most of the women and girls wore head coverings.

Baltimore Basilica of the Assumption, America’s first cathedral founded in 1806, was my next stop.  The neoclassical-style building is light and airy with a decidedly French influence.

The mass was in English and I followed very easily and especially enjoyed the homily — a Greek word to add to my limited repertoire ὁδός (transliteration hodos).

Later the same day I attended First and Franklin Presbyterian Church which, by the way, is NOT at First and Franklin Streets. The church is a combination of 2 congregations: First Presbyterian Church founded in 1761 (before the American Revolution) and Franklin Street Presbyterian Church founded in 1844.

I enjoyed both the beauty of this Gothic Revival style church and its welcoming spirit.

My final two churches were to be United Methodist:  Lovely Lane and Mount Vernon Place (not to be confused with a church of the same name in Washington DC). Lovely Lane is a very friendly church, many people came over to talk with me.  The pastor’s message of “Peace” was well-received.

Historically Lovely Lane church is significant which might explain why there is no air conditioning.

Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church was to be my final visit.  I arrived with plenty of time to get seated and take in the atmosphere.  Instead the doors remained locked.  I checked the church’s status on my phone and found the service would be a remote Zoom meeting.

I needed one more church to complete my task and I still had many from which to choose. I decided upon Zion (Lutheran) Church of the City of Baltimore (founded in 1755) because it has a weekly service totally in German. They have maintained uninterrupted German services for over 265 years.  I don’t speak or understand German but I was eager for a unique experience.  I was not disappointed — the service was interesting, familiar, and uplifting. (When I travel to other countries the services are also in languages I don’t understand but I enjoy them nonetheless.)

The pastor sat with me a few minutes before the service to welcome me and tell me a little of the history.

One unusual fact is that the small benches in front of each pew are NOT kneelers.  Instead, on cold days when the church had no central heating coals were put in a small pan and wrapped in cloth then put under the small bench.

Parishioners closed the door to the pew and put their feet on the small bench to stay warm.

This was a great experience.  We often don’t explore our home city as carefully as we do when we travel.  I’m planning to seek out more sites in my home state of Maryland and in the nearby region.

Jo

As people were vaccinated from the COVID virus in 2021, travel restrictions were lifted and I began to plan again for international travel.

While we have completed a few items I have also added some new ones to the list.

To that end here is my Bucket List: Items in grey have been on the list for awhile; items in blue have been accomplished.

1. See the pyramids in Egypt –  hoping also to cruise on the Nile and ride a camel.  Planned  for  2023.
   

   I’d like to visit Egypt.

2. Inspire somebody to do something great.  I have a friend who credits me with her impetus to do mission work which I think is great. 
   

   Sug travels to a school in Guatemala at least three times a year.

3. Own my house.
   

   The Glade is our home.

4. Write a book and have it published — I don’t know what the actual subject might be but I think I would write a fictional story about life among the very wealthy.
5. Visit the Louvre in France — I have been to the Louvre and have seen the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo. 
   

   I’ve seen the Mona Lisa.

6. Ride in a hot air balloon.
   

   Our hot air balloon ride was magical.

   We enjoyed this sunrise trip on a glorious day in Maryland.

7. Take a ride in a gondola in Venice.  We visited Venice in September, 2019.
   

   I have taken a gondola ride in Venice, Italy at sunset.

8. Go on a cruise. We cruised from Baltimore Harbor to Bermuda and back on Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas.
   

   I’m always happy on the water.

9. Audition for a movie — I would have to check the local casting calls.  Getting the part is not as important as auditioning.
10. Own a beach house.
    

    The shore house.

    It’s not exactly a beach house but we’re fixing it up and it’s 2 miles from the beach.

11. Invent something — I’m hoping I could invent something that would be useful and bring in some cash.
12. Have a million dollars — working on it.
13. Go whale watching.
14. Buy a stranger a meal.  I’m not sure how to go about it except to just be brave and do it.
15. Do something I know is reckless! I would love suggestions on what reckless thing other people would consider doing.  I’m thinking  of doing something like parasailing or paragliding. Charlie thinks I’m nuts.
16. Fly in a helicopter.
    

    I plan to check a helicopter ride off my bucket list.

    Planned for our September trip to the Big Island.

17. Read the Bible — I read the entire Bible in a year. Very inspirational and enlightening.  I continue to pursue this activity through classes.
18. Save somebody’s life.  Who knows how and when an opportunity might arise.  I pray I’m up to it.
19. Fly 1st class.  Saving my money for an upscale trip.
20. Make and sell a product.
21. See the Southern Cross in person.  We  saw  it  in  Puerto  Rico.
    

    The Southern Cross.

22. Visit Greece.  Scheduled for Fall, 2024.
23. Visit London. We visited London in September, 2018.  It was a wonderful trip. 
    

    Tower Bridge over the Thames River.

24. See the Northern Lights — the Aurora Borealis — from Iceland.  We had a wonderful trip to Iceland in October, 2021.  While we were warned not to expect being able to see the Northern Lights we actually viewed them on 2 separate nights. 
    

    I went to Iceland to see the elusive Aurora Borealis and mark it off my bucket list.

25. Visit New Orleans.  We went in February in a week of perfect weather. 
    

    A golden statue near the French Market of Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans.

26. Learn to Tango.  Charlie and I have enjoyed a 6-week tango class.    Perhaps we’ll dance again in the future.

That’s 26 items from the original list.  I’ve decided to add a few more.

27.   Travel from St Louis, MO to Nashville, TN during the solar eclipse.

This will be our second solar eclipse.

28.  Visit the luminescent bay in Puerto Rico.

We’ve been to San Juan but are planning to visit the island of Vieques.

29.  Dogsledding

30.  Police ride-along

31.  Pony penning in Chincoteague

32.  Mummer Parade in Philadelphia

Still adding to the list.

Jo

In September Charlie and I are planning an anniversary trip to Hawaii —  not Oahu — the Big Island (Hawaii) and Maui.

A few months ago I  reserved accommodations on both islands — a country cottage in Kona on the Big Island and a condo in Kehei on Maui.  I also tentatively reserved vehicles on both islands so we can get around.

More recently I bought plane tickets home from Maui but had not yet purchased tickets to Hawaii.  Finally I was able to secure, on a different airline from our return tickets, reasonably priced tickets to start our visit on the Big Island. So now we have tickets to and from, someplace to stay, and vehicles.

Next on my list is lining up activities for after our arrival as well as transportation between the two islands. I’ve already booked a helicopter tour with Safari Helicopters for the two us to Volcanoes National Park and Waterfalls on Hawaii.

Since we usually like to ride horses wherever we go I’m planning an excursion to the West Maui Mountains to an elevation of approximately 2500 ft. to view waterfalls from a distance, then down to the coastline to ride alongside the Pacific Ocean. (Grand Canyon ride) (Cuba ride) (Iceland ride)

The issue that has me on hold at this time is our plane trip between the 2 islands.  There is one direct flight per day from Hawaii to Maui.  However, Charlie has never been to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor so I’m going to try to make that happen when we make our move.  The flights don’t seem to be a problem but limited tickets to the memorial are available which can only be reserved 8 weeks in advance at recreation.gov and often sellout immediately.  If we can get tickets then I’ll make plane reservations.

Our sunrise trip to Haleakala is also dependent on extremely limited tickets from recreation.gov which I can’t reserve until the middle of July.  I’m going to make every effort to work some internet magic but I’m not worried since Hawaii has lots of beautiful options from which to choose.

That’s all the progress I’ve made thus far.

Planning a Fall Trip

Jo

I hesitated writing this post because I realized I had not taken many worthwhile photos.  Instead I just enjoyed the ride, the sights, and the commentary.

Charlie and I disembarked from the gangway on the first deck of Enchantment of the Seas.  We needed our ship pass, passport, and Bermuda Travel Authorization to leave the ship and enter Bermuda.

At the end of the pier was a trim man in Bermuda shorts holding up my name. We were expecting to be met by Bramwell Tucker. (I had engaged Mr. Tucker by email when my correspondence to Millard Lightbourne received no response.  To my great surprise and delight Tucker was unable to meet us and instead sent his brother-in-law Millard.)

We boarded the rear seat of his immaculate taxi van for a 4 5-hour tour of the island of Bermuda.  The fare was $50 per hour for 4 hours and up to 4 passengers plus tip. Anything over 4 hours was gratis.  (Ship sponsored shore excursions — about $129 per person ($109 to $169) for a  minibus full of people.  Ours was a private tour.)

From the Royal Navy Dockyard where our shipped was docked we passed the Clocktower building which is now a shopping mall.  The 2 towers are 100 feet high, one having a clock that shows real time and the other showing the time of high tide.

We saw the pink sand beaches, the light house, both high end and low end realty, and some endangered species.  From the friendly waves and toots of traffic horns, it seems Millard was not only well-known but also well-liked.

As he drove he shared with us a wealth of knowledge about his beloved island and answered our questions about the population, the Bermuda Triangle, flora, fauna, you name it.   No subject or question was off-limits.

We stopped at Gibbs Hill Lighthouse where we bought our souvenir postcards — cheapest place on the island — and received change in Bermuda dollars.  (Charlie likes to collect a bit of unique foreign money as a souvenir.)

The houses in Bermuda are pastel hues of yellows, pinks, coral, peach, and greens. Blue and other non-traditional colors were not used as an exterior paint color until more recently. Our guide told us that neighbors always paint their houses a different color from the one next door.

We passed by the popular Horseshoe Bay pink beach and stopped instead at Clearwater Beach on the eastern end of the island which has clear, shallow water and a 36-acre public park with restrooms and a playground. Picnic facilities, shade trees, and gentle water make Shelly Bay a good choice for the smallest of surfers, swimmers, and shell seekers.  The sand is not as pink as we might have been expecting but the beaches were lovely.

We also stopped in the small town of St George’s where we were hoping to buy stamps for our postcards except that the post office was closed.  Charlie ended up buying stamps from the only store in town with a license to sell them.  (We mailed them later at the Dockyard by giving them to another vendor since there were no mailboxes.  We received them at home about 4 weeks later.)

Our final stop was at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo where The Wildlife Rehabilitation Program  receives as many as fifty stranded sea turtles each year.
This program has resulted in the recovery and release of many stranded, injured and sick sea turtles. Some are caught accidentally on hook and line, or are injured by large predators such as sharks. Others are injured by speeding boats with propellers that can easily slice through the turtle’s tough shell. Still others find themselves entangled in discarded fishing gear which causes serious injury, if not drowning. Another threat in Bermuda today is ingestion of plastics. We were delighted to see these turtles very close-up.

We returned to the ship just in time for dinner in the dining room.  Our lovely waiters greeted us and served us a beautiful dinner.

• Jumping Through Hoops to Cruise
• Come Sail Away

Jo

After months of renovation the Mormon Temple just outside Washington DC was opened to visitors as it had been when it was first commissioned in 1974. (Construction was started in 1968.)

Charlie, Sug, and I had a parking time of 2:30 on a Friday afternoon which allowed us to enter the temple for a tour.

We were provided with shoe covering booties to protect the light and white carpeting inside the temple.

Once inside we could not take photos however various docents along the tour route were very knowledgeable in pointing out highlights of the building.  Most of the rooms in the temple are windowless.  You can go to the Mormon Temple website to see more photos and information.

Charlie, Sug, and I stopped on the way home at our favorite deli — Parkway Deli on Grubb Road — where I had cheese blintzes, one of my favorite foods that I don’t often have the opportunity to eat.

Jo