Back from Sarasota and Siesta Key!

Wow! I had a great vacation in Florida and got a great time and read an entire huge novel!! I'm so happy and feeling rested and excited about the rest of the year! If you ever want to go to a gorgeous beach that has nearly perfect weather year-round, I highly recommend Siesta Key, Florida and the Siesta Key Suites! Check it out!

Chantdoc cooling off in the mountains

Wow! I thought I had already posted about my trip to Lake Junaluska, but guess I didnt. It's been over three weeks since I met my mother and two oldest daughters at Lake Junaluska, a beautiful United Methodist retreat center in the mountains of Western North Carolina. It's in the Smoky Mountains and is a very popular vacation area of the South.

Anyway, my parents built a summer home there in the summer of 1956 and I've been every summer since then! My three daughters also went there every summer growing up so it's a real family tradition! Here are just a few of our pictures from that week-end!

If you're interested in renting the place in the Fall or Spring, or Summer, let me know! It is very reasonable!

Summer of 1961

I've always loved to go to the beach! Probably because I knew that for sure, my family would be going to the mountains and to me it just wasn't as special, even though we had our own summer home in the mountains of Western North Carolina. I think what sealed the deal for me was when my parents took all five of us kids plus my grandmother to the Bahamas in the summer of 1961. We were there for 3 weeks and I was an early teen, just feeling the surge of teen emotions for boyfriends and getting away from parents.

After that, I always associated the beach, palm trees, sunburn and tropical flowers with fun, love and excitement! Here are a few of the pictures from that summer of 1961! The first picture is our family on the cruise ship "Emerald Sease." We left out of Miami and arrived in Nassau the next morning. I'll never forget the sight of Bahamian boys swimming out to the ship and diving for coins that we would throw out into the ocean!

Chantdoc goes to Washington, D.C.

I'm in the middle of a very exciting adventure in Washington, D.C. The official reason is to do research at the Library of Congress on Wanda Landowska and the Revival of the Harpsichord. Wanda was the topic of my Ph.D. dissertation back in 1990 and at that time I was aware that a lot more material existed on this topic.

In 2004, Landowska's lifelong companion died and finally in 2008, 110 boxes of archival materials about Wanda arrived at the Library of Congress. Today I was there for 8 hours and only got through two of them! Tomorrow I'll go back and hope to get through at least two more. If there is something in particular you'd like for me to take a peek at, please let me know ASAP.

The pictures are from some tourist activites I did yesterday with my daughter and son-in-law. You'll recognize the Lincoln Memorial in the background.

Travel around the world with music, "Stand By Me"

One of the great parts of my job---speading word of the healing power of music--- is that people send me awesome videos all the time! Recently this one was sent to me and I have watched it over and over!

I hope that YOU'LL enjoy it and leave me a comment on it! It brings tears to my eyes every time i watch it!

We made it to Dublin...and Rock of Cashel!

This past week-end we had a wonderful Irish adventure! We flew from Paris Beauvais airport to Dublin, Ireland and beyond. This picture is of Allison and Liz outside of Christ Church in Dublin where we went to a beautiful Evensong service on Saturday, the day we arrived.

The next day we rented a car and set out to see Cashel, where the Cash family alledgedly started! We were amazed to see a huge castle on a mammoth rock, rising into the sky there. We met many friendly and helpful townsfolk but there don't seem to be many Cashes there today? However they treated us as family and that was nice! We were a little nervous about driving on the other side of the highway, but brave little Liz was willing to give it a try and Allison navigated. I sat in the back seat, enjoying the scenery. There are truly loads of sheep, emerald green grasses, and tulips, daffodils, and tiny daisies everywhere!

Sorry about the picture I can't rotate for now. Will fix that when I get back home!

Have you been to Dublin?

My children and I are looking for tips on travel in Ireland. Have you been there? Did you rent a car and try driving on the left side? We will be traveling from Dublin to Cashel on the week-end and are considering renting a car but don't know how dangerous or scary it might be for 3 American women who are ingrained with driving on the right side.

Comments and suggestions welcomed!

Thanks,

Alice