I'm baaaaack! We visit WMUR Studios and a heads up my feature on travel insurance in tomorrow's Concord Monitor!

It's been two whole months since I've posted--yikes! Bud and I have been deep into landscaping, and have the blisters and sore muscles to prove it!  But that's done, along with very last phase of the pool re-hab--new steps.

Now we can relax!

Some fun stuff has been happening, though. This year's Dinner with Animals for the Concord-Merrimack County SPCA featured a live auction for the first time ever. We raised just shy of $50,000--so heartwarming!  One of the items donated was a New Hampshire Weather Package. WMUR's weatherman, Kevin Skarupa, volunteered to visit a classroom or organization of the winner's choice and do a NH weather presentation and also to give a personal tour of the WMUR studios and have the winner watch an entire live newscast right in the studio.

Son Jon's fiance, Tonya Coplan, was the winning bidder.  Wahoo!

In mid-June, Kevin came and spoke to grandson little Jon's class at Strong Foundations Charter School here in Concord.  He was such a hit that the kids lined up for autographs!

Just yesterday, Bud and I, Tonya and Jon and little Jon all went down to the Channel 9 Studios and got a really comprehensive tour of the studios and newsrooms.  We got to see it all, from the rooms of computers and equipment to the newsroom and even the broadcast studios.

Here we all are standing in back of the news anchors' desk.



And here's little Jon sitting in for one of the anchors...maybe a future broadcast news guy?

We got to sit in the comfy chairs in the "interview" section of the studio and watch Sean MacDonald do the news ( a lot about the capture of Whitey Bulger) and watch Kevin move from his desk to the anchor desk to the blue-screen weather wall--all the while apologizing for the rain we've been having. Jon and Tonya and little Jon had fun!

Afterwards, we went to nearby 900 Degrees Pizza for a fantastic lunch.  An interesting and fun day--AND the abused and neglected animals served by the Concord SPCA will benefit too.

For those who follow Travel Talk, my column with the Concord Monitor, I have written about shopping for the best airfare, picking the best destination and traveling solo over the past few weeks.

Tomorrow's Monitor will feature a piece I did on travel insurance--what to buy and how to buy it. If you have a trip coming up, it should a help!



A year later--Mississippi's Gulf Coast!

Bud and I watched the news recently about the rebound of the Gulf Coast from the BP oil spill. We spent the whole month of February in Gulfport--our second and longest visit since the spill. You can log on to the blog Travels with Chase (or if you're already here look to the archives to the left) and read through February posts to learn more about what it was like and what to do when you're there.

The bottom line in the news seemed to be that the beaches, waters and wildlife are coming back much, much faster than was anticipated--though they're finding many dead baby dolphins and the oil is still present in the Louisiana marshes, among other issues.


Nonetheless, we pulled into Gulfport January 30 and the very next morning we were on the beach in shorts.  It was glorious!

This is Maggie being happy--long before Mariah the cat came to share her world two weeks ago.



Here's a video clip of Maggie and Bud on the beach. (If you're getting this post via email and can't see the video, just click here to get to the blog itself)? How does the beach look to you? Other than a slight bit of mid-winter seaweed at the water's edge, it's pristine!

 

In the month we were there, we could see the progress made since Katrina. Houses are being rebuilt in classic Gulfcoast style and iconic historical sites like Jefferson Davis' home, Beauvoir (which had essentially been demolished by Katrina) are open for visitors.



Fishing piers have been rebuilt and this shot shows the creative approach to the trunks of the many live oaks that were killed by Katrina. Instead of being cut down and removed, the trunks and branches along Beach Boulevard were turned into sculpture depicting local wildlife. This is part of the Katrina Sculpture Garden in Biloxi.

A few feet inland, on the other side of Beach Boulvard, or Route 90, the oaks are making a comeback. To us northerners, this is classic, classic southern landscape.

We are already planning our return.

And by the way...if you haven't caught up with my column Travel Talk, for the Concord Monitor, here's a link to last Sunday's about gas prices and April 10th's about staying safe when a piece falls off your plane.

We go to Foxwoods and Maggie gets a sister!

Sunday April 10 was the annual Foxwoods Casino fundraising bus trip sponsored by the Concord-Merrimack County SPCA. Just like last year, the bus was sold out and everyone had a great time--and some people even won! The result--we raised even more money than last year for the animals. Wahoo!

And speaking of the SPCA, Maggie now has a sister of sorts. Today we adopted Mariah, a 13 year old senior cat who has been at the SPCA waiting for a forever home since December.  Her challenge is that she only has three legs. But I can say that it doesn't stop her from wanting to play and batting around her new catnip toy!

I got Mariah settled on the daybed in the den, where she can hang out with Maggie (who has always considered the daybed her private domain) while I work.  At first, Maggie was confused and a bit forlorn. She seemed to want to say "Excuuuse me!  What is this...another animal?  How depressing!"

But after a few minutes she lifted her head and decided she just might make friends.

You'll notice that Mariah is totally unconcerned that a dog is sharing her bed.

It's been 2 1/2 hours now, and Maggie has moved to floor in front of Mariah...she won't leave her side.  We're hoping this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship!





Life after Faux Retirement...snow in Bow, back to work and blog updates and upgrades!

Forgive me...no posts in over a week.  Why? Well, we arrived home from St. Maarten March 26 (great flights on USAirways--not even a minor hiccup and no holes opened up in the fuselage) and the old "if you're going to play you have to pay" kicked right in. Stacks of mail, unpacking, piles of laundry--reporting back to work.

We were just about organized when the April Fool's Day snow storm hit. We didn't get the foot they predicted, just 5" or so. Maggie was not amused--the snow flattened the Tina Turner "do" she got at the All Dogs Gym and Inn Grooming Salon on Tuesday.

I suspect she is thinking back to the wonderful beaches in Gulfport, Mississippi where she could run in the sun and sand...

instead of getting her bell-bottoms all clumped up with snow.

Faux retirement was great--a real learning experience (and we didn't kill each other!), but we're happy to be home with family and friends. Bud is loving being back doing dentistry at Generations Dental. He missed everyone at the office and all his patients. We both missed all 8 grandkids!

And I am back writing my regular column for the Concord Monitor.  My April 3 column is about what the US government can and will do for you if you get caught in an earthquake, tsunami--or something man-made like riots or invasions. To read it click here.

Over the next few months I am going to be refocusing my blog a bit and integrating it with columns and features for the Monitor and other outlets. Some of the threads I'll be blogging about:

• places to go and things to do in New England (dog-friendly and not)
• how to decide where to go next (read along as we figure out our next destination)
• comments and opinions on travel news as it happens (do you have a Southwest flight coming up--are you nervous about the plane falling apart midair?)
• a glimpse into Maggie's world (she's back in training classes at All Dogs Gym as of last night!)
• anything else that occurs to me, travel-wise!

I'll always have direct links to my current Monitor articles in my blog text--and just click on the link to the left (Travel Talk) for a complete archive going back to 2005. At the end of all my current articles, there will be a reference/link back here to the blog.

In the process, I hope to become a much more sophisticated blogger, adding Facebook and Twitter other social media as well as many more features and links on my blog--all while keeping it personal and remaining committed to my newspaper. I'm starting by adding a new gadget (to the left above "About Me") that sends you an email when I have a new post. This is replacing the older subscription gadget, which I understand doesn't always notify followers when there's new material. Just type in your email to subscribe--and let me know how it goes.

I'm now working on a feature for the Monitor that explains how to set up your own travel blog--look for it an upcoming Sunday Travel section.

St. Maarten "Rich and Famous" as seen from the Celine!

The other night Bud got chatting at a Caribbean Stud table and heard about a sunset cruise in Simpson Bay Lagoon (translate--very smooth sailing, no risk of waves and seasickness). Turns out the 40' catamaran, the Celine, does a once-around the lagoon once a week.

We booked! The Celine is docked right behind Skipjacks Restaurant in Simpson Bay. Their Happy Hour margarita's kept us busy until a brief downpour passed and we could get underway.  Skipjacks looks to be a great place to have Caribbean Rock Lobster--look at the size of these guys in the tank!

There were just six of us on board, so we all got primo seats.

The idea of the cruise was check out some of the megayachts and homes of the rich and famous (or not so famous).  Right away we spied the Huntress, pictured below.  She is 180' yacht that you (or maybe someone you know) can charter by the week.  Price? $275,000/week! Don't get your hopes up right away, though--she is booked pretty much through the end of the year. Next week she's going over to St. Bart's and then on to the Bahamas.  From there she'll run up to Savannah and then over to the Western Mediterranean. She stays in Turkey and Greece through the fall, then comes home to St. Maarten. If you want to check out her staterooms, salon and such click here. You'll be impressed.

Captain Neil Roebert, who built the Celine in South Africa and sailed it over, was full of facts and stories about Hurricanes Luis and Lenny and their aftermath.

A few piles of wrecked boats are still in the lagoon.

The megayacht Limitless was out to sea, so we missed her. She is owned by Les Wexner, founder of The Limited, which now includes a ton of brands that we all know, including Victoria's Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch. Limitless is 315' (the largest yacht owned by a private American citizen at the time it was built). Wexner had to pay big bucks ($1m or more) to widen the drawbridge that spans the entrance to the lagoon.

You can see what a tight fit it is on this YouTube video of the Limitless making the transit.

Limitless transits into Simpson Bay Lagoon.

and now...back to the beach for our last afternoon in St. Maarten, and the last full day of our 3-month "Faux Retirement".  We haven't done bodily harm to each other--great news!

Sunset Bar & Grill...watching the "heavies" (747's from Europe) land--complete with Bud's video!

It has become tradition for us to spend one afternoon each trip at The Sunset Beach Bar & Grill. The bar sits on the left-hand side of a smallish but very pretty beach right at the end of the runway at Princess Juliana Airport (SXM) on the Dutch side of St. Maarten.

It's an amazing sight because the planes, from teeny WinAir commuters from the neighboring islands to the KLM 747 from Amsterdam, all land directly over the beach.  And I do mean directly.  The Travel Channel did a segment last fall on the 10 scariest airport approaches for pilots in world (click here for images and text of all airports). Only Honduras and Nepal ranked scarier--read the piece!  But do forgive their fact-checker.  they misspell St. Maarten as St. Maartin.  The Dutch side is actually spelled Sint Maarten and the French side Saint Martin. They also call SXM Queen Juliana Airport--it's Princess.

But the point is well-taken. Here is KLM flight 785 landing at 1:15 on Tuesday.  Notice Bud to the right taking video.

And here is the video!

The smaller guys get fewer notice.  Sometimes they come in low like this DHL plane, but other times they are way high--they don't use a lot of runway like the 747's, so can cruise on down towards the terminal before they actually have to set down.

They have reinforced the barrier to keep people from playing in the jetwash.  It doesn't stop them, though.  And the signs seem to be a "must-do" photo op.

In all, a fun afternoon!

A view from high above Divi Little Bay Resort and we get an update on the Cul-de-Sac shooter!

In all the 16 years we've been owners at Divi, we have never driven the road that goes up the steep hill to the west.  We've watched the sun set behind the hill a gazillion times and used our binoculars to scope out the houses up there--and we have always had a car.  We just never tried it--until yesterday!

The views are out of this world and really give you a perspective of island geography. This shot shows the narrow peninsula Divi sits on, the cruise ship area, and then St. Barts Island in the distance.

This shot shows the condition of the road...not as bad as Montengro and Croatia, but not exactly a super highway with guard rails and such.

At one point we pass by another fort.  This looks so much like the battlements in Old San Juan that I have to believe it was built during the Spanish period back in the mid-1600's. The guns add a lot of atmosphere!

The whole drive only takes a few minutes (a lot more if you stop for pix every few feet!).

Back down on the Divi beach at the end of the day, we watch the P & O cruise ship you see in the photos above head out for her next port.

We also saw a news item about the shooting we witnessed in Cul-de-Sac.  They arrested the shooter--a 20 year old.  The victim is not doing well, though. Click here  for the story in the Daily Herald. Apparently they have had to place the victim in a coma--very severe injuries being shot at such close range.

Divi Little Bay Wedding...elegant!

The photographer at this afternoon's wedding had great light...rich blues and greens and long shadows.   It was easy to get shots of the photo shoot, right in front of our unit.

After a few minutes, the bride hitched up her skirts and they were off. The smile on he face is for the groom, just out of the frame behind the wedding planners.

Fort Amsterdam and Divi Little Bay Beach Resort

 Bud and I have been admiring Dot's enthusiasm for taking morning walks up the hill through Divi to the recently restored/refurbished Fort Amsterdam Historical Park. She found all kinds of trails and this morning we asked her to take us on a tour.  After all, in 16 years of Divi ownership, we had never gone beyond the fort itself.  Shame on us!

As we entered the park area, Dot took a sharp right, past the the Brown Pelican Nesting Area and entered a trail that soon turned into a steep, overgrown paved road--a surprise!

At the bottom of the road, we came to a rocky beach piled with serious rubble. The remains of a large dock were half in and half out of the water. apparently this area was used as a supply route either to the fort when it was a signal/communications station (through 1985) or perhaps to Divi. In any case, it's been rendered useless by hurricanes---no doubt 1995's Luis had something to do with it.

The shore might be disused, but the water was busy this morning. Here you see diving concessions, a sailing excursion heading into Little Bay, a military landing craft on manuevers, and in the distance the island of Saba and the Rotterdam, still on patrol in the region.

Aside from the walls of the fort (first built in 1631 by the Dutch, then conquered by the Spanish, then back to the Dutch in 1648), there are a few buildings...the most dramatic of which is the Signal Station, just below the crown of the hill. It was used as a military and then civilian communications post through 1985.

Sloping fields run below the fort on all sides. Well-worn paths run throughout.  Here Dot is leading us east towards Great Bay.  You can see the cruise ship at Philipsburg's new cruise port.

This path ends in an overlook--the chairs are often occupied by people who are just enjoying the view--but historical markers are ever-present in case you want to delve into local history.

Around the corner, the path ended abruptly at the top of a cliff, but still provided a good view of Philipsburg and Great Bay.

You can also turn about and head west around the point.  The paths stick fairly close to the edge of the cliffs, so you have to be careful.

And you're right on the edge of the Brown Pelican's nesting area (protected May-November). They are the national bird and are always fun to watch.

Turning west, you can see over the tops of some of the Divi timeshare buildings to Little Bay. The low building is the end of the Divi Resort (foremerly hotel rooms, now timeshare unit) and the higher, scallop-roofed building is Belair Beach Resort--more timeshares, and with a very loyal following. We've met several owners.

As you come down out of the fort and head back through Divi, you can take a left and stop at the Infinity Pool with it's new hot tub.  Divi has been making great strides recently to improve the resort's amenities.

 Down on the main Beach at Divi, you can now rent everything from kayaks to ski-doos and Hobie Cats.

The beach has always been one of our favorites...plain and simple.

Shooter still at large, but we go back to the French side to make perfume anyway!

Earlier in the week we had all signed up for a class in perfume making at Tijon in Grand Case--yes, over on the French side not that far from where the shooting was.

At Tijon (part perfumerie, part classroom/lab, part upscale boutique selling island-made items) all was calm and owners Cyndi and John Berglund were ready for us.

John started out with a very lively and informative lecture on the history of perfumes and how they are designed and made.  He talked a lot about aromatic oils (natural and synthetic),how they combine to produce pleasant and lasting scents and how our olfactory sense works. He threw in very cool facts like our sense of smell is the only sense fully developed at birth, and that perfumes don't last as long on blondes as they do on brunettes.

Tijon has a 300-oil "organ" with distillations of everything from coconut to wysteria (one of my favorites).

The idea was that we would learm a bit about the types of "notes" or depth of scent/oil. Base, middle and top "notes" or scents each play a different role in making a perfume last, have distinctive character and complexity.

We each got a lab station, a workbook, beakers and pipettes for mixing oils and trays for selecting and transporting oils from the organ.

 We could use the pre-mixed recipes, classified as citrus, earthy, oriental, floral and so on. We could also work from scratch or ask John to look up our own favorite commercial perfume recipes and pick some of those scents.  That was my choice--I have loved Fragonard's Soliel since we first visited their factory in the south of France in the late 1990's. I needed jasmine, orange, lily and wysteria for starters.


The champagne flutes you see are used for a toast to our successful completion of the class (you can also choose one as a souvenier--Bud and I now have a matching pair).

How professional do we look?  See how neat our work stations are?

This is after we've been working an hour or so!

We each ended up with our own scents (John and Cyndi keep the recipe in case you'd like to re-order), named (I called mine "Breeze" after the Caribbean breezes--light, a bit floral, a bit citrus)), bottled and labeled. You also get a gift basket of product samples as well as a bottle of one of the perfumes they have developed.

As much as the guys fussed about "being dragged" to Tijon, they got into it and each came away with very manly and nice colognes.

We decided NOT to go to Cul de Sac for lunch and headed instead for this open-air restaurant above Orient Beach (way, way above the nude beach).

How's this for a view of St. Bart's, Galeon Baie and the Bayside Riding Club--where Bud and I rode horseback on the beach for my article in the USAirways Inflight Magazine.

As a side note on the shooting, the newspaper account said the shooter had not been caught yet (we did see a number of gendarmes doing what seemed to be checking license plates today). It also said the victim was 30 years old.

John and Cyndi told us the "coconut telegraph"  (local rumor mill) had the shooting as a 8-month pregnant woman who was shot trying to avoid a robbery, with no word on whether her baby had been saved. How far from the truth can you get???

Too funny!