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Elderhostel Notebook #47 June 1999
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Elderhostel Notebook provides a place for elderhostlers to share
information about Elderhosteling and other learning experiences
related to travel.
It has a world wide web site at
http://members.aol.com/EHnotebook
It has a world wide web site indexing programs reviewed at
http://members.aol.com/EHindex
It is an independent project, appreciative of but not associated
with Elderhostel Inc. which has a web site at http://www.elderhostel.org
To subscribe to the e-mail edition send an e-mail to
EHnotebook@aol.com or Olsonjam@uwec.edu
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Contents
From the Editors Notebook
Elderhostel News and Reviews
Canterbury Elderhostel in Oviedo, FL
Gettysburg Service Elderhostel
San Francisco Arts Humanities Deluxe Program
South Dakota Regional Traveling Studies
Rome, The Eternal City
University of Texas/Brownsville/South Padre Island Center
Texas A M, Kingsville February 21-26
Grand Canyon Odyssey-Yavapai college
Personals
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Editor's Notebook
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This issue has emptied out my reserve folder and it is open and
waiting for your latest reports of programs you have attended
this summer.
For those of you who have mail programs with the ability to
exclude mail from all but selected addresses please note that the
newsletters are sometimes mailed from olsonjam@uwec.edu and
sometimes from EHnotebook@aol.com, depending on which service is
working best at the time so you need to set your mailer to accept
mail from both addresses or the mail will bounce resulting in
your removal from my mailing list.
If you wish to shield your internet address from public view,
please let me know when you send in your reports and I will not
include the e-mail address in your report.
More and more of you are setting up your own web pages where you
describe programs you have taken. I have included links to some
of these in the Notebook web site in the Photo Page or the
Virtual Elderhostel section.
Many elderhostelers are at the age now where they are veterans of
one or another of the world conflicts and sometimes may take an
elderhostel to visit an area related to their service years in
some way.
It would be interesting if some of you would include in your
reports from time to time a brief explanation of why it is you
chose a particular program in terms of some special meaning it
has to you and events in your life (whether service related or
not).
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Elderhostel News and Reviews
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Canterbury Elderhostel in Oviedo, FL
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 09:58:37 -0400
"Carl Anderson" carlandy@palmnet.net
Would like to commend the staff and instructors at the subject
Elderhostel attended May 16-21, 1999. The facilities were
marvelous. The Canterbury Retreat Center is a Episcopal run
conference center snuggled in a nest of trees overlooking a small
lake. The food although not excellent, was adequate and
plentiful.
The courses were on "Memory and Aging", "Humor" and "The Master
Pieces". The first two were excellent while the third was (in my
opinion) mediocre. A tour was provided mid week to the Rollins
College Chapel and to the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American
Art in Winter Park, Florida. Both of which were extremely
fascinating and enjoyable. The schedule of activities was full
with activities starting before breakfast with morning worship
and ending ein the evenings about 9PM. Every weekday evening was
a planned event with an Ice Cream Social, a Movie, Opera
Highlights (video) and a graduation dinner on Thursday. The
program ended after lunch on Friday.
Carl Anderson
____________
Gettysburg Service Elderhostel
BonDurant bonduran@uiuc.edu
This program was excellent. The program was run by the YWCA of
Gettysburg and Adams County, and Deb Williams was our
enthusiastic coordinator. Our location for four of the five days
was the Rose Farm which was involved in the second day of battle
at Gettysburg. The farm had an 800 foot picket fence (1600
pickets). There were 29 participants, and our job was to replace
some of the support posts and pickets, scrape the paint off of
the fence and then paint it. On our last day, we cut the wood for
12 picnic tables and completely assembled 6 of them.
Our tour guide was Tim Smith, and he was marvelous. On three
separate days he spent one hour going over a day of the battle.
After the class, we would board a bus and go to the battle site.
He made it very easy to understand what was happening on each day
of the battle. The extra curricular activities were also very
enjoyable, fun, and informative.
Our accommodations at the Days Inn were very nice, and the staff
made every effort to accommodate requests. They had a continental
breakfast for us each morning that was good. Our lunch and
dinners have been better but were passable. We highly recommend
this elderhostel.
Marcia and Ed
_____________
San Francisco Arts Humanities Deluxe Program
#05703-0509-1
HOLYAL@aol.com
When we arrived we were informed that one of the elevators was
not working. Consequently much waiting to get to your room and to
class. More over the other elevator was not operating very well
because quite a few of us were trapped in it more than one time.
Several people were extremely upset because of it. Frankly the
program should have been postponed until the elevators were
updated. Also, the hotel is on a corner inhabited by street
people and a number of the participants were accosted by them.
Food: Breakfast was acceptable. Lunches were marginal except the
one at the Culinary institute which was outstanding. At one
lunch you had to walk up four flights of stairs which was an
unacceptable challenge for some. Also, after two of the lunches
you were left to find your way back to the hotel on your own.
Another unacceptable challenge for seniors. Dinners were
unacceptable. The spaghetti the first evening was without taste
and the sauce watery. Another evening the Flank steak was not
palatable and was not eaten by several persons.
Instruction. The lectures of "Americans in Paris" was well
presented and the Professor was well prepared. The lectures on
cuisine was "winged" by the professor. The preview on the play
"The first picture show" was acceptable.
Our night at theater was a disaster. We were seated in the
balcony in seats not suited for children. Even the petite ladies
were cramped. I had to leave as my leg went to sleep. A the
price we were charged for this Elderhostel we should have had
comfortable seats in the orchestra. After reading the reviews
the next day I concluded that I didn't miss anything.
Our coordinator was very nice and did a fine job. Unfortunately
she didn't have much to work with. It was billed as a Deluxe
program and in my opinion it was far from it.
Al Davies
PS We are planning to take the 33 night program to New Zealand
and Australia. If any one would like to pass on any information
on this program we would appreciate it. Particularly info that
would help us enjoy it more. Send info the holyal@aol.com
________
South Dakota Regional Traveling Studies
bookharttw@juno.com
We attended an outstanding elderhostel--South Dakota Regional
Traveling Studies--during the week of May 15, 1999. When we
enrolled, Boston advised us that the program had been modified
basically to include more travel and less course work. This
suited us fine, but we never guessed how much travel that would
entail. We spent ten hours each day, for five days, on the road
via a first class bus covering 1,000 miles that included every
point of interest within about a hundred mile radius of Rapid
City. Each site was very interesting, and the entire trip
wonderful.
We stayed at the beautiful Palmer Gulch Lodge, a truly first
class resort, and only five miles from Mt. Rushmore. In addition
to our daytime and night program visits, we passed it at least a
dozen or more times. The Crazy Horse Monument was just as
impressive, especially since we learned so much about the man,
his life, and the reasons he was chosen to represent the Indian
Nations.
Other places visited were Mammoth Site, a National Natural
Landmark, the Journey Museum in Rapid City, Bear Country, Custer
State Park with its 1,200 buffalo, Wind Cave National Park,
Buffalo Jump, Fort Robinson, the Black Hills Mining Mus- eum,
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Wounded Knee, the Badlands, along
with several other sites. A paragraph could easily be written
about each.
Our coordinator, Marilyn Hovland, was a marvel. The fact that she
knew all of these great places is remarkable, but to arrange to
visit them in a timely, well- organized way was almost
unbelieveable. Also, Donovan Sprague, a professor of Indian
Studies, accompanied us each day, giving us detailed explanations
of Indian history, lore, and culture.
This was our 60th elderhostel and certainly ranks among the best.
My wife and I highly recommened it.
Written by Ed Woy/submitted by bookhartce@juno.com
editors note- When someone who has a 68 elderhostel experience
qualification rates one as outstanding it must be a good one.
_________
Rome, The Eternal City
Trinity College
April 18 - May 1 1999
harting@dcn.davis.ca.us - Carol and Don Harting
We couldn't have picked a better place for our first
International Elderhostel. Our site was excellent - Hotel Casa
Kolbe, a remodeled abbey, sits at the base of the Palatine Hill,
close to many of the Roman ruins; Colosseum, Forum, Capitoline
Hill, and the Circus Maximus; within walking distance of the
Pantheon, Campo de Fiori, Piazza Navona and so many more
churches, museums, and places of interest. This is a walking
Elderhostel. It requires a great amount of walking - up stairs,
up hills, on much uneven pavement, mostly cobblestones.
Accommodations were good, with comfortable beds. Quiet rooms
overlooked a beautiful courtyard garden. All meals were served at
the Hotel. Breakfast was yogurt, cereal, hard rolls with butter,
cheese and jam, and juice and coffee. Lunch, the biggest meal of
the day, and dinner included lots of pasta, soup, veal, chicken
and fish and fruit with wine always available.
The courses and instructors were outstanding: Renaissance,
Baroque, Roman Art - Opera, Literary Rome and Women in the
Renaissance - Contemporary Italian Society and Politics. All of
these subjects were taught by professionals and were quite
enjoyable. Each course was followed by a morning or afternoon
walk to see what we had just learned about. The most enjoyable
being the talk "Behind the Scenes at the Vatican Museums" given
by Walter Persegati who served as the Secretary General and
Treasurer of the Vatican Monuments, Museums and Are Galleries for
19 years.
About 75% of our time was spent outside. The weather in April was
pleasant and sunny but we did have some rain. Be prepared for
both. There were several free afternoons to explore on our own.
We were given many ideas of how to fill that free time. My
husband and I on our free day decided to take a private Tour to
Assisi. This Tour Company also offered day trips to Pompeii, Isle
of Capri, Florence etc. , for a nominal charge, booked through
Hotel Casa Kolbe.
Bus trips out of Rome took us to Tivoli to visit Hadrian's Villa
and Villa D'Este and to Ostia Antica. Several evening excursions
were included, usually by city bus, to Piazza Navona, Trevi
Fountain, Spanish Steps and a special evening concert at a
church.
Our Co-ordinators were multilingual as was the Hotel management.
They made us feel very comfortable and gave us excellent
assistance.
Our two weeks ended with a visit to the Borghese Gallery and an
"Arrivederci Roma" dinner at a fine restaurant. A fitting ending
for our wonderful visit to Rome.
_____
University of Texas/Brownsville/South Padre Island Center
February 14-19 SantaFe812@aol.com
This Elderhostel was held at the Holiday Inn Sunspree on the
beach at South Padre Island. The hotel rooms were very nice and
the beach was only a few steps away. But we had to skip a class
to get to the beach. It was a filled week. The food was very
good, well prepared and attractive.
The history class was taught by a college professor who was a
story teller. He sat in a chair in front of us in his cowboy
boots and spun stories about the history of Mexico and south
Texas that were spellbinding. His classes were really a treat.
For me, this was the best class of the month. Informative and
fun.
The computer class was mainly for beginners but those with more
experience could increase their knowledge of getting on the
internet. Some students had trouble getting access to the
internet so played computer games.
The Conversational Spanish class was fun and some of us learned
some very basic survival skills.
We made one field trip to Matamoros, Mexico where we had lunch,
attended a Folkloric Ballet (which had not been on the original
agenda) and had a little time to shop.
The beaches are great for collecting small shells but are full of
tar that has to be removed from your shoes. We were told that it
was natural to the area and had nothing to do with the oil
drilling.
The coordinators were good. They shared with us from their own
Brownsville perspective regarding Texas/Mexico relations.
I would rank this as a very good Elderhostel. My main complaint
is that we were too busy, had too many classes. It would have
been nice to have some more time to spend on the beach.
_____________
Texas A M, Kingsville February 21-26
SantaFe812@aol.com
We stayed at a small motel which was adequate. Breakfast was
served either as a continental breakfast at the motel or at a
pancake house across the highway. Most of us went to the pancake
house. They had good coffee and food. Lunch and dinner were
served buffet style at the college cafeteria. The food was
surprisingly good and more than adequate.
The Spanish teacher was a charming lady but taught at a level
that was higher than most students were able to comprehend. She
had some excellent work sheets and the first day went well and
was fun. For us beginners, it was downhill after that.
The Pre-Columbian Cultures class was very interesting. The
instructor was new to the program and approached the class from a
very intellectual framework. He put a whole college semester into
5 hours of classes for us. Good handouts. Our instructor was
enthusiastic and serious about seeing that we learned as much as
possible about Pre-Columbian culture. His class was the month's
highlight for Bob.
The King Ranch portion of the week was the main attraction for
coming to Kingsville. We had a tour of the King Ranch and spent a
part of each day at the King Ranch Museum. We had lectures there
that were interesting but became repetitive. The curator
presented the lectures and knew her subject well. They also had
great coffee breaks. Their home made muffins were delicious. The
tour of the ranch was interesting.
This Elderhostel was OK. The coordinator was nice and worked hard
to make it good.
We'll be glad to answer questions about any of these weeks.
Bob and Georgia Honeyfield
__________
Grand Canyon Odyssey-Yavapai college
"An Incredible Journey" April, l999
BAHamm@webtv.net (Billie A. Hamm)
This is a 7 day EH that starts at Marble Canyon, Az. and ends at
Peach Springs, Az. ( at mile marker 116 on old route 66-10 miles
E of peach springs)--this program was difficult to get to if you
were not driving. We picked up a car in Las Vegas and drove to
St. George, UT and stayed sat. nite-then on Sun. we drove through
Zion park via Page, Az. to Marble Canyon (35 mi from Page)--about
a 200 mi drive. All good roads. At end of trip, we were only 150
mi. from Vegas so good excuse to spend one night there after
program ended. we stayed in a travel lodge right off strip for
$30. Only 3 blocks from airport also.
Freak snow storm and cold weather made our coordinator (George)
late and some of the EH people were stuck in Flagstaff because
roads were closed and did not get there untill next day. We had
clear crisp days while in Marble Canyon. ( I think this would be
better done later in april when all weather fronts are gone and
spring is present)
Lodging: Only one place to stay-Marble Canyon Lodge. Was OK--had
TV but no phones. Mattresses could have been better but all in
all OK accodomations. We spent 4 nites there.
Food: Good--restaurant on property run by Native Americans. Had
large buffet breakfast with hot items and also cereal, juice ,
fresh fruit etc. Lunch was sandwich bar and Indian tacos . They
packed us brown bag lunches other two days. sandwich, chips,
cookies, fruit etc. and drink. Dinner-no choices but what we had
was well prepared and adequite.
1st day had lectures in am by Joanna Joseph. She took us on field
trip in afternoom to Lees Ferry. after supper, Shawnn Farry spoke
on california conors.
2nd.day-left at 9 am to visit Glen Canyon Dam (Lake Powell) and
then to bottom of dam to start our Colorado river float trip from
there to Lees Ferry. (17 miles) All the rapids trips down
Colorado start at Lees Ferry. We did not have rapids on our trip.
We ate our sack lunches on river. Stopped along way and looked at
pictographs left by indians on walls of canyons. That evening
George talked to us about what Thur. would involve. (This was our
travel day to Peach Springs via south rim of Grand Canyon)
3rd day: This day involved all lectures- am and pm. Charlotte
Beyal (a Navajo indian) was the speaker. We skipped out and went
to Page to see museum and Antelope Slot Canyons. Unfotunately,
too windy for tours that day so just did museum.
4th day: Left at 8 am in caravan to Peach Springs and Grand
Canyon. Stopped at several view points along way and spent what
time we wanted at south rim. Had a sack lunch , but opted to eat
at resturant instead. Arrived at Grand Canyon Caverns Inn arouond
6 pm. ( Our home for the next 3 nites.) It is in the middle of
desert at mile marker 116-Rt. 66)
Lodging: Looked like it had been up graded recently. No tvs or
radio reception there. phones in rooms. clean and beds better
than 1st location.
Food: Not as good as 1st location, but plentyful. Breakfast: hot,
cereals, lots of fresh fruit etc. Lunch: sandwichs and sack
lunches Dinner: Nice salad bar and cafeteria style hot things.
5th day: George lectured in am on natural history of area and had
a field trip in afternoon. It was so cold and windy that some of
us opted for Cave tour instead. Nice cave. competly dry. It's one
of tourist attractions in state. Mike Young, a geoglist that was
taking us on tomorrows trip to bottom of canyon, lectured after
dinner.
6th day: Highlight of trip. We motored to bottom of canyon down
Diamond Creek road to the river. It was cool when we left but
very quickly started shedding our layers of clothing as we went
deeper into canyon. About a mile from river , those of us who
wanted to, hiked rest of way down. wading in creek as it
cris-crossed back and forth across road. The river was full of
rapids here and very beautiful. That night Mike and Karen Landis,
ranchers and authenic "cowboys" talked to us about their life.
7th day: Headed for Las vegas after breakfast.
Comments: No free time on trip. Busy both day and night. but
considering we were more or less isolated from civilization, it
was nice they provided things to do, Quite a bit of walking
involved over uneven grounds. mostly level tho.
I you have any more questions concerning this trip, please e mail
me.
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Personals
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From: "Benjamin B Lewis" benbertlewis@ria.net
Subject: 6/8 John C. Campbell Folk School
HI - Maybe the flip side of the early pay policy is that now we
can pay the whole thing with a credit card. I guess that helps
some.
I enjoyed the folks and the class at the John C Campbell Folk
School in North Carolina. A very large percent of the students
there had returned for more than one time, which says a lot for
the classes. The only problems were what I already expected: hard
to get single housing and the mixing of ages within the housing
and everything else. They didn't even have elderhostelers
identified as such on the name tags. What I didn't expect, I was
housed in a single room, but in a two bedroom house with a
feminist female and a twenty-year-old, very scared girl in the
second room. Of course, that meant sharing a bath. In trying to
put the girl at ease, my comments were taken the wrong way and I
succeeded only in frightening her even more. This
misunderstanding led to me being called into the "principle's"
office!
When I realized how tired I was getting and learned I wouldn't
even have a single room the second week, I decided to come home.
If I was younger, I would open a ten or twelve unit motel in the
little town, so elderhostelers could enjoy learning the crafts a
little easier. I did suggest they at least house elderhostelers
together. It would seem more logical to me. (An older couple
would have been quite comfortable sharing the little house, I
would guess.)
North Carolina was beautiful. We got a light ice storm the second
night I was there which frosted everything like a Christmas card.
When I got to my brother's in Highlands, there was some snow. But
I had to come home to my 6000' plus Colorado home to find 75
degree weather!
________________
-
From: "Galen R. Frysinger" Galenfry@excel.net
Just came across your notebook efforts. I have attended 25
Elderhostels, and for each one have prepared a web page of photos
taken on that program.They are referenced at
http://galen.u-max.com/elderhtl.htm
You may wish to create a link to my photos.I am scheduled to
attend four programs yet this year, and will send to you a
report, as well as preparing my own web page for each of these.
Best wishes, Galen R. FrysingerSheboygan, Wisconsin,
http://galen.u-max.com/
editors note- A link to Galens pictures is in the Photo page of
the notebook web site.
_________
from: loumar@webtv.net (Louis Esack)
I just want to thank you for the Notebooks. We enjoy reading
about places we might want to see and places we would not like to
see. We have attended 16 EHS in the US and three overseas. China,
Russia, and one two week stay in London only.
Some are better than others, but we have not been really
disappointed as long as you go with an open mind.
We are thinking about going to Hawaii and would like any info on
the schools and when is the best time to go.
Marcy
______________
From: Donhelfer@aol.com
My wife and I are interested in attending Elderhostels in Arizona
and New Mexico. We notice an abundance of Grand Canyon sites.
Does anyone have any recommendations on which ones are best and
worst? How about the Nogales Elderhostel?
Don Myrle Helfer
donhelfer@aol.com
_______
From: PMuller141@aol.com
A few of us are considering program #52695 at San Diego State
University on page 32 of the Fall 1999 catalog and would like to
get the experience of other Elderhostelers.
Any ideas? Many thanks.