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EH Notebook #112 Dec 2, 2002
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Welcome to EH Notebook, the e-zine where e-friends who have
attended Elderhostel programs can compare notes.
There is an independent but cooperatively maintained index to old
issues at http://members.aol.com/ehindex
To subscribe to the e-mail publication and/or to submit reviews of
programs taken send an e-mail to the editor, Bob McAllester, at
EHnotebook$A$earthlink.net
Please keep all correspondence in simple e-mail text format.
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From the Editor's Notebook
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Ever since I started producing the EH Notebook, there has been a
persistent problem. Some of the copies get lost on their way to
the subscriber. Starting with this issue, I am using the "PSS
Bulk Mailer" instead of "Outlook Express" to do the mailing. Now,
you will each be sent your individual copy addressed directly to
your e-mail address instead of being included in a list of BCC
addresses. I think that this will be much more reliable. I thank
HGlucks for suggesting this bulk mailer to me.
There are two Chincoteague reviews in this issue. One is a
traditional program and the other is a short program. I think the
two reviews compliment each other. Earlier in the year, I recall
including a service program. These Chincoteague programs seem to
be very popular.
Grace and I will be at another Elderhostel the week of Dec 8.
We'll be gone again for a few days at Christmas. So I may not
answer your mail as quickly as usual. I don't know if the next
issue will come out before or after the New Year.
Bob McAllester
EHnotebook$A$earthlink.net
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Comments and Queries
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Intergenerational trip to France
Has anyone taken the Alpine Adventure: People and Nature in France
#3773? We are interested in going next summer in combination with
a wedding and would like to take our 16-year old grandson with us
on this Elderhostel first. Any information on this?
Carolraulston$A$aol.com
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I am looking for anyone who has attended an instrumental classical
Performance Elderhostel for recommendations.
Pat Laurie
patricialaurie$A$juno.com
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Just returned home from our second Elderhostel at Peabody
Conservatory in Baltimore. Excellent programs, with Shermer,
Liotti, and Woodfield teaching sessions on the history of the met,
Puccini, and Bel Canto Opera.
Peabody's construction is proceeding ahead of schedule, and should
be done by the end of next year. Meanwhile, programs are
continuing just fine. The only difference is that you need to go
out of the building on the street side, instead of the courtyard,
to get to the cafeteria and some of the performances.
Very good news: they now have an excellent workout room, with
bikes, treadmills, and weight machine. There is also free computer
access in the library so you can pick up your email.
Contact me if you would like complete information.
Aloha,
Roz Cole
Rcole50$A$aol.com
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Chaco Canyon program
We would like any information about this program in NM. We
wondered if anyone has taken a larger motorhome to this location.
Robert Laundroche
laundroche$A$msn.com
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Program Reviews
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N O T I C E
To use an e-mail address, substitute
the "at symbol" for the 3 characters $A$.
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Smith Mt. Lake 4-H Ed Center, Virginia
Harambe Oaks Ranch, Texas
Mo Ranch Conference Center, Texas
Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
Chincoteague Oyster and Maritime Museum, Virginia
Marine Science Consortium at Chincoteague, Virginia
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Virginia
Smith Mt. Lake 4-H Ed Center
Oct.20-25, 2002
This was our 3rd Elderhostel vacation and once again we thoroughly
enjoyed it. Our location was about 35 miles east of Roanoke in the
middle of the beautiful Appalachian Mountains, which is a nice
change when you live in flat Florida. There were 34 in our group.
Some were WWII vets and Art enjoyed reminiscing with them as
several had been in the U.S.Air Force. One man had been the Marine
pilot for 3 presidents! The majority of the group came from
further north with a few from Virginia. We were the only ones from
Florida. Like little kids on a hike, we wore nametags on a string
around our necks noting what state we came from. Nametags are very
helpful for those 'senior' moments!
Our accommodations were private room and bath and meals were
buffet style, usually quite good. Everyone is 'always' on time for
that event! The tables accommodated 6 people and everyone changed
tables at most meals so we all got to know each other. A few
couples were old friends from different states who meet at the
Elderhostels to catch up on their lives. Some couples had been to
many Elderhostels over the years, even as far away as Alaska.
The 4-H Educational Conference Center stays occupied most of the
year with different conferences, wedding receptions, etc. They
cease most activities in November. This area provides absolute
silence most of the time. You don't hear trucks or cars but now
and then an airplane may fly over.
The majority of our time was spent listening to lectures, as it
was a very 'learning' experience. There were 3 different subjects,
which included "Trails Across America" (my favorite); "The
California Gold Rush" and "Law in our Lives". These were given by
excellent speaker's well versed in their subjects. Most included
short films.
The couple who spoke on Trails Across America" had taken their RV
across the country and collaborated as a team (since 1988) to
gather material. They have written 4 books on the subject, one of
which was the "Appalachian Trail" which starts in Maine and ends
in Georgia for a distance of 2,l00 miles. When we were in Georgia
years ago we had done a small portion of the trail and again this
time in Virginia. We are definitely not the hikers we once were!
Other trails our lectures covered were "The Trail of Tears" and
"The Oregon Trail", "The Lewis Clark Trail" and "The Santa Fe
Trail". I learned much about trails in a short time!
Another lecturer had his own law firm in N.Y. and his subject was
"Law of our Lives". He is now specializing on what they call
"Elder Law" which covers living wills, trusts, Medicare, power of
attorney and taxes that all need to be seriously considered in our
'senior' years. A lot was over MY head but Art gained a great deal
from it and made lots of notes.
The third speaker was a geologist who had worked for the Atomic
Energy Commission. Although a gifted speaker and extremely
knowledgeable, most of it held little interest for me.
Each day there would be two hours of 'free time' when nothing was
scheduled and on one such day we joined another couple to drive
about 30 miles to The National D-Day Memorial. This is in the
small town of Bedford, VA. This memorial was dedicated on June 6,
2001. It is a magnificent structure surrounded by lovely gardens
on 3 levels. The centerpiece of this 88-acre site is the massive
"Overlord" arch, rising 44'6" in height, made of black marble and
granite. "Overlord" was the code name for the Normandy landing.
There are 'life sized' sculptures depicting the landing in a pool
of water, which simulated explosions in the water. One such
sculpture was a soldier pulling his fried from the water and
another was a dead soldier on the shore. "Overlord" was the
largest air, land and sea operation undertaken before, or since
June 6, 1944. The landing included over 5,000 ships, 10,000
airplanes and 150,000 servicemen.
Bedford, Va. was selected as the site for the D-Day Memorial
because this small, rural community of only 3,200 lost 19 of its
men in the Normandy landing.... the greatest single sacrifice of
any of our nation's communities. (Art took part in this event
flying in at 2000 feet because of heavy clouds.)
On another free time we all piled into a bus and drove two hours
up the Blue Ridge Parkway to 2000 ft. The summit of this mountain
rose to 4000 ft. The foliage was breathtaking. We had arrived at
almost the peak season of the color change and it improved the
higher we went. As we drove further up the mountain the colors
became more vivid. It was a bit overcast that day but didn't rain.
The bus stopped at the Park Ranger's Station where a Park Ranger
joined us. He was not only full of information, but was also a
'stand-up comedian'! Lots of questions from the passengers were
answered.
We actually did take a short hike of about half a mile on a very
steep and rough trail to the summit. Going down was just as
difficult and we were happy to see the bus waiting for us with
cold drinks and snacks. We were more than ready to sit down!
While on this short hike we met a 'real trail' hiker. He was a
nice young man, hiking alone (not wise) and had been on the
Appalachian Trail since July! He planned to be home for Christmas
but still had a very long way to go before he reached the end of
the trail in Georgia. He was from Kentucky and said at the next
town some warmer clothes would be waiting for him. He would phone
his parents every few days and stop at a motel for a bath and
'real' food. He didn't have a bit of fat on him and said he was
ALWAYS hungry. We were all wearing long pants and coats and he was
in shorts!
I have left to the last the Smith Mountain Lake itself and I would
have enjoyed a lecture on that rather than the geologist. Smith
Mountain Lake is not a 'natural' lake, which was a shock to us. A
mammoth dam located on the Roanoke River in Virginia was completed
in 1966 at a cost of over $66 million. A year or so later (not
sure of exact date) the dam was opened and flooded a huge valley
to create the lake.
This lake is 260 feet deep in some areas and 40 miles long with a
shoreline of 500 miles! The shoreline has hundreds of small inlets
and bays and the lake twists and turns, hence the 500 miles of
shoreline. Half of the larger area is in Bedford County and half
in Franklin County. There are now several parks, wildlife areas,
boat landings and yacht clubs. The fishing is very good and on
the dock we saw a fellow take a 15 lb fish from his boat.
Vicky Newett
newettaw$A$lcia.com
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Texas
Harambe Oaks Ranch
November 3-8, 2002
This was our 23rd EH and ranks right up at the top. The theme was
"Traveling Through Texas IV" (they do three others with different
itineraries), and our hosts, Judy Rinker and Phyllis Bigby, were
also the coordinators, tour drivers, and cooks. They were truly
pros at everything concerning our comfort and enjoyment;; this was
their 240th Elderhostel!
We started with a tour of the facilities at 4:00 p.m. Sunday
afternoon and it was almost non-stop from then till Friday
afternoon. There were four classes of perhaps 11/2 hours each on
Texas wildflowers, birds and geology, local history, and Celtic
music in Texas, all excellent. Evening activities consisted of
the opening "get acquainted" night and closing "talent night",
both while gathered around a big fireplace.
Monday night Judy taught us games of dice, cards and dominoes
which I can't wait to teach my grandchildren. On Election Night
we were served dinner in our hosts' beautiful private home while
we watched election returns on a bog screen. We sang patriotic
songs accompanied by Phyllis "playing" a player piano Wednesday
night, and the highlight was the last night's Country-Western hoe-
down with five cowboys joining us for hors d'ouevres and dinner
beforehand. Table decorations were changed daily to correspond to
the evening's theme.
We were driven in comfortable vans to Austin (Texas State
Cemetery, State Capitol Building, and Bob Bulloch Museum and an
IMAX film and Texas history film); Seguin (tour of historic town
and home of Janice Woods Windle, author of best seller "True
Women", hosted by author's brother and mother) and Gonzales, where
we were given a driving tour of the town's 80 nineteenth century
homes built on cattle and cotton money; and San Antonio, for the
Alamo, wonderful buffet lunch at the Menger Hotel (oldest
continuous hotel west of the Mississippi), and a boat ride through
the Riverwalk. Docents had been arranged for many of the stops,
and these were all-day trips from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 or later.
Food was home-cooked and delicious, served buffet style, with
great salads, up to four vegetables at a meal, and wonderful
desserts. Judy taught us lovely graces, which we sang before or
after each meal. We were asked to make up our beds when we
arrived and to clean and vacuum the dining area after each meal,
which took five minutes. Rooms were in a lodge complete with
social room, laundry facilities, and refrigerator; our classroom
was on the second floor.
Harambe Ranch does intergenerational EH's, and would be a great
place to spend a week with your grandchildren. The coordinators
are both former college professors of recreation, and know how to
keep a group comfortably busy and happpily entertained. There is
no livestock (lots of wild deer) but a large pool and observatory.
We learned a lot, laughed and sang a lot, saw a lot of Texas, and
received great value for our money.
Don Marty Scearce
scearcedg$A$kconline.com
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Texas
MO RANCH Conference Center/Texas Hill Country
Oct 27-Nov 1, 2002
My husband and I spent five days in the Texas Hill Country at this
conference center, and we would rank it near the bottom of the 23
we have attended. The classes were excellent: Texas History,
Western Humor, and Celtic Roots of Texas Music. The teachers were
all very knowledgeable in their fields, and well prepared.
But the overall program left much to be desired. Class sessions
were up to 2 1/2 hours long with a short break, and all we did all
day and evening was sit in a classroom. There were no field trips
planned and we were miles from anywhere. Our coordinator walked
through at breakfast, said "How's it going?" and disappeared until
the next morning. A volunteer couple introduced speakers and
stayed overnight near us, while the E/H coordinator went to her
home 40 miles away.
Registration was interesting as we were given the key to a room
already occupied, whose residents screamed when my husband
entered. The key cards were programmed to expire two days early
and had to be redone. Worst of all, our sister-in-law died while
we were en route to Texas, and the front desk never gave us the
message.
We had an hour's free time after breakfast, an hour for lunch, and
from 2 1/4 to four hours of free time in the afternoon. One
evening was to be cards or board games, unorganized, and almost no
one stayed. Another night they showed "The Alamo" with John
Wayne, which everyone had seen several times. We had a get-
acquainted night and a talent night, and the fifth evening a
country-western singer entertained us.
The food was very good, served buffet with a nice salad bar and
fresh fruit. But everything was lukewarm, and a group of 150
church youth from Baton Rouge in the same dining room made
conversation extremely difficult.
The terrain was challenging for some participants due to the
hills, and the dining room requires climbing either six steps or
eighteen steps to enter. Several of our group drove to all meals.
We're glad we went because of the wonderful Elderhostelers we met
(always a high point of any EH) and the fine teachers. Perhaps a
different program would help break up the monotony of just sitting
in the same classroom all day and evening.
Marty Scearce
scearcedg$A$kconline.com
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Illinois
Art Institute of Chicago
Nov. 10-16, 2002
This excellent Elderhostel program in downtown Chicago deserves a
full review though repeating the brief information found in #76.
In this our 19th my wife Lee and I were participating in an
Elderhostel sponsored by the Art Institute which has been an on
going program since 1992 with 20 per year. That's quite a few
Elderhostels! There were 44 enrolled which is the limit though the
sponsors would go ahead with only a handful if EH in Boston would
allow it. That it is well run goes without saying. Participants
are residents at the stately Chicago Athletic Association just
across Michigan Avenue from the museum. This is where a light
breakfast and delicious dinner are served in an elegant dining
room overlooking Lake Michigan (dinner jackets required for
dinner). Lunches are in the museum school's deli. The rooms are
comfortable although a few complained of street noise.
Each day we began with a Tai Chi class led by two well-liked
experts. Then came a brisk walk over to the museum for several
gallery lectures and tours each day. The Art Institute is
renowned for its collection of Impressionist paintings, but
certainly has a creditable collection of art from other periods.
We chose this EH because of the opening of a special exhibit on
"Medici, Michelangelo, and the Art of the Late Renaissance." Also
there was a Juan Munoz exhibit...but with boring extra lecture.
I'm sure we all learned a great deal about the paintings,
sculptures, drawings, etc. Overheard was a conversation between an
engineer and an accountant chuckling about their enjoyment of art.
Actually, these two along with others in the group were the usual
well-traveled and informed Elderhostelers. It is always a delight
to share a week with such folks. In addition to the program
itself, we enjoyed extras such as a performance of the Chicago
Symphony and noonday concert at the Cultural Center, both close by
on Michigan Ave. Also we walked over to State Street for a film
at the Gene Siskel Film Center and went with the group on an
architectural tour in the Loop. Many in the group went by bus on
Friday night to a wonderful production at Steppenwolf Theater.
Arriving a day early on the Sunday beforehand we worshiped at
Chicago Temple (First Methodist). Some of us were familiar with
Chicago but did enjoy staying right on Michigan Avenue for the
week with stores decorated for Christmas and coffee shops and
bookstores close at hand.
We drove our car and parked elsewhere at a niece's house because
parking is quite expensive. Of course, you can arrive by train or
airplane, as most did.
Glad to answer questions. Also, I have a schedule of Art
Institute EH dates for next year.
Bill Longman
Springfield, MO
wlongman$A$yahoo.com
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Virginia
Chincoteague Oyster and Maritime Museum
Chincoteague/Assoteague Islands EH
Nov 17-22, 2002
This EH program's advertised features are lighthouses, pirate
legends, and Chincoteague Ponies. But the week's program also
includes islands history, oyster cultivation, hunting, fishing,
seafood processing, Eastern Shore geology, carving duck decoys and
showcase waterbirds, and island wildlife (ponies, 300 species of
waterbirds, horseshoe crabs, Delmarva fox squirrel, deer, sika,
opossums and other refuge dwellers).
Chincoteague (Shink-A-Teeg) is a small populated barrier island
shielding VA's "Delmarva peninsula" mainland from Atlantic's tides
and weather. In turn, Chincoteague Island is shielded by
Assoteague, a much longer unpopulated barrier island managed by US
Fish Wildlife Service as a wildlife refuge...free admission for
EH groups and those individuals of us with Golden Passports.
EH meals are buffet-style at Steamers, a seafood restaurant next
door to Mariners motel. Focus is seafood (tuna steak, shrimp, baby
shrimp in pasta, kingcrab legs, Maryland crabcakes). There's also
fried chicken and pre-requested special-needs items. Seafood ranks
second only to the ponies in popularity for past EHers (ongoing
menu prices being $21-$29). Also, at his intro lecture our
program director brought cooked crabs and raw oysters...my virgin
chew and swallow of this tasty gem.
Mariner motel is centrally located on Chincoteague near shops,
bank, drugstore. All tours and events are 5 minutes away, so
there's time for many scheduled events and free-times during the
week. In free times, one can choose to visit NASA's nearby museum,
tour the refuge at our own speed, shop, walk around the island's
small town and beaches, or just relax at the motel.
Bus field trips are to Chincoteague's Oyster and Maritime Museum
(this EH program's sponsor), a waterfowl museum, a drive around
Chincoteague Island, a tour behind public access roads in the
refuge, a working lighthouse (EHers' allowed to climb its 199
steps for a fantastic view), and a leisurely group walk along
Assoteague's pristine oceanside beach.
On-tour and conference room lectures include oyster cultivation,
seafood processing, lighthouse history, islands history, pirate
legends, Eastern Shore geology, refuge maintenance and goals,
refuge's waterbirds (permanent migratory), horseshoe crabs
(history, biology, medicinal uses), decoy and showcase waterbird
carving, and daily wild-pony TLC by the Volunteer Fire Dept.
Each lecturer brings credientials to attest to their area of
expertise. I.E., the decoy carver is rated among USA's top-15. The
ponies lecturer is a Chincoteague volunteer fireman in its "pony
brigade." The horseshoe crab lecturer's day job is running a
business that extracts raw blood from crabs for processing into a
product that detects contaminations in serum and other medicines
that must be sterile. The 3 other program lecturers are similarly
well-qualified. Also, each lecturer never fails to bring along to
us a spirit of fun.
The past EHers main attraction here has been the ponies,
especially their July roundup and forced swim from Assoteague
across a channel to Chincoteague where surplus yearlings are
auctioned to a loving new home. The island can support only 150
ponies, and has no predators to thin the herd.
November ends the tourist season on Chincoteague. But it was a
good time to visit here for me. THe island was uncrowded...just
our EH group and the 3000 permanent residents (8000 in summer
months, and up to 50,000 during "pony penning" week in July). Our
Nov week's lectures and videos covered the island's annual July
pony run well enough, IMHO.
What makes this EH really swing is its incomparable program
coordinator, Captain Barry Frishman. Besides organizing the EH's
many events and lecturers, he instills his hang-loose have-fun
spirit into most of us EHers...right from the get-go! So this is a
fun, informative week for EHers. Thanks, Captain!
Assisting the Captain is Loraine Faith, who also runs Oyster and
Maritime Museum (this EH program's sponsor). She "sweeps" any/all
table-cleaning details. Assisting her most evenings is her still
working husband Fred; and the Captain's wife (he married well, a
local girl) Missy also helps as needed. It's a great-fun, well-
run, well backed-up EH program. I recommend it highly.
Jim Fleming
Falls Church, VA.
JimFleming1$A$compuserve.com
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Short Program, Virginia
Marine Science Consortium at Chincoteague
The Wild Ponies, Culture and History of Virginia's Eastern Shore
Nov. 10 - 13.
Although I have been on five wonderful Elderhostels, this was my
husband's first (he just retired). This was a short program,
three nights. Chincoteague is about a four hour drive from our
home so I thought this would be a perfect introduction to
Elderhostels for my husband. It was really delightful.
We were housed in an older motel. It was very clean. Next door
was a restaurant and this is where we had all our meals. The food
was fine except I was a little disappointed that we didn't have
more seafood. The tour of the barrier island was especially
interesting to me as the fall migration of waterfowl was taking
place. We were taken on a road not open to the general public and
we saw bald eagles, thousands of snow geese, herons, egrets,
ducks, etc. and of course the wild ponies. A nice gentlemen who
knew everything about birdlife accompanied us. In the evening he
lectured and showed slides.
The next day a young lady with the U. S. Fish Wildlife Service
showed slides and talked about what her service does in this area.
She was so energetic, loved her work, great speaker. That
afternoon we took a boat trip on an oyster barge where Marine
Science Consortium employees showed us how water is tested. A net
was dragged and the contents were brought on board and identified.
They also talked about NOAA and NASA. Both agencies have stations
here (Wallops Island). NOAA tracks weather satellites. The
information they gather is then distributed around the country
where it is interpreted. In the evening a gentleman talked about
Native Americans from this area and exhibited artifacts he has
found. The last morning a volunteer fireman who has participated
in the roundup of Chincoteague ponies for years talked about his
experience. For our last meal we did have crab cakes. There was
a waiting list for this program, so if you are interested, sign up
quickly. Incidentally, my husband enjoyed his first Elderhostel
program!
bbduling$A$aol