TRAVEL SHRINE - SEINE RIVER TRIP 2015

Today I erected my Travel Shrine for our upcoming trip to France. It's a river boat cruise down the Seine - something we have never done before!  This is the probably the shortest "turn-around time" I've done yet between trips and Shrines. I feel a tad guilty for not savoring our time in Pensacola longer, but, it's Spring Break and the Alban-Struebing of Champlin, MN are ready to go!  We're taking Norm's daughter, Becky, her husband Phil, and our granddaughter, Hannah on this trip.We all expect it will be epic!

As always, my shrine should represent my journey – actual and metaphorical. It should show what I wish and expect for the trip.  It should show how eager I am to go. It should also show my fears and hesitations. Its core purpose is to help me see and understand all the issues that surround this journey. As I just wrote this I remembered that I probably should add something to the shrine about my knee and it's limitations -  something to send good ju-ju along the journey so I can keep up with the others. It's a riverboat cruise, but everyday we'll be getting off to explore and that means and a whole lot of walking,walking, and walking!

We've been promised WIFI on the boat, but since it's such a short trip only 8 days) I don't think I;ll be blogging much until we return. I hope you will follow along on FACEBOOK though!

Living the Moments & Making Memories,

Nancy & Norm

Bringing down the Pensacola Travel Shrine

I'm way behind on my blogging. You'll notice the dates of the last few entries and know I've been playing catch. With a bit of sadness I tear down the Travel shrine today for our time spent in Pensacola this winter. I usually like to leave my shrines up for a month  and spend more time reliving the moments in my mind's eye, when I return from an adventure. However, we've another adventure coming up just next week, so down it comes!

It is good to journey to an end, but in the end, it's the journey that really matters.

Living the moments!

Nancy

This Week is Your Birthday!

In keeping with our family tradition we celebrated Norms' birthday for a week or more.  We started when Mary arrived and continued all the way home to Iowa.  Norm's biggest surprise was not the key Lime Pie as big as his head, or even the Smoked Pork chops that Mary brought from Iowa. No, his biggest surprise was the set of five tandem kites.  Although there wasn't enough wind the times we took them out to sail all five, he did manage to soar three of them and had a blast.

Living the moments....

Key Lime Pie as Big as Your Head!

Mary came for a short visit just before Norm's birthday. We introduced her to kite flying, treated her to some good southern seafood and a libation or two, visited Fort Pickens  and ate Key Lime Pie as big as her head!

Ling the moments!

What to Do When It's Cold Outside?

Mid-February our weather turned colder and picnic days on the beach were no longer an option. We spent a few of the colder days exploring some of the interesting museums of Pensacola. Historic Pensacola Village consists of twenty-seven properties in the Pensacola National Register Historic District. Eleven of these properties are interpreted facilities that are open to the public. The T.T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum, originally the 1908 City Hall building, is a virtual treasure trove of historic artifacts, Americana, and West Florida history. The T.T. Wentworth, Jr. Museum houses three floors of permanent and traveling exhibits. That was probably our favorite of all the historic buildings and museums we visited.

Mardi Gras, also called Fat Tuesdays, to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after the Epiphany or King's Day and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday." reflecting the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season.

We decided we’d take in the local Mardi Gras parade. When we asked at the visitor’s center how early we needed to come downtown to be able to park. We were assured 3 hours early was more than enough. NOT!  We ended up having to hoof it over a mile which ordinarily would not be a big deal, however, that is farther than I have been walking, in one stretch, since my knee surgery.  Wasn’t sure I’d make it, but I  did. Yay!  Norm retrieved the car afterward though and picked me up. What a gentleman. J

It was one wild-n-crazy afternoon celebrating with the island folks of Santa Rosa and catching strings of beads flung at the crowd.  Notice in the pictures how close the people were to the parade!  It was, as I said….one wild-n-crazy afternoon…..And, we caught quite a few beads!

Living the moment

Norm & Nancy

The National Naval Aviation Museum

What a surprise! I knew about aircraft carriers, but thought that was something the Air Force was in charge of. I didn’t realize that the Navy had their own airplanes, or aviators either for that matter, so I you can imagine how I was blown away by the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola -  the world’s largest Naval Aviation museum and one of the most-visited museums in the state of Florida.

 Naval Aviation’s rich history is on display and we saw more than 150 beautifully restored aircraft representing Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Aviation. Well, I say we saw that many because that is how many the brochure says they have and we saw them all – give or take a few. It is an amazing show of aviation throughout history.

These historic and one-of-a-kind aircraft are displayed both inside the Museum’s nearly 350,000 square feet of exhibit space and outside on its 37-acre grounds. Norm was especially delighted when he saw a model of the kind of ship he served on, The USS Estes and even more excited when he saw a mortar exactly like the one’s he, and other Pipe Fitter/Sheet Metal workers, turned into flashlights for a lighting display when some dignitaries came aboard in Singapore. Way cool!

We’ve spent two full days , so far, touring the museum and will probably go back one more time to catch the little parts we missed. If you’re ever in the Pensacola area this museum is a “must see.”

Living the dream!

Norm & Nancy