Never Miss An Update

Mary Anne and I  finally made it out to southern California where we got together with our friends of 45 plus years: Anne Marie and Rich Rynda (from New Jersey)  who now live in California and Ethel Thau, who still lives in New Jersey. Anne Marie and Rich have a daughter who lives in Baltimore and Ethel has a sister in Virginia, so we manage to get together periodically—but always on the East coast. 

This time we all went out to the West coast to visit Anne Marie and Rich who moved to California maybe 10 years ago. While we were there Rich and Anne Marie not only put us up, they took us all over the place—and Rich got stuck with the driving honors. 

Among other things, we visited the J Paul Getty Museum. It really has to be seen to be believed. The grounds are huge; the architecture is magnificent; the gardens are exquisite; the photography exhibit is astonishing,  and the paintings include many of the classics. 

We also visited to canals in Venice Beach and then went to the boardwalk where we saw some skateboarders, and later had dinner in Manhattan Beach. The last place on our agenda was the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. That trip included a walk through of Air Force One. 

It’s easy to forget how tumultuous those times were, given the current situation. But there was the attempted assassinations of President Reagan and Pope John Paul; the Russians shot down the Korean Airliner in 1982;  we lost a lot of marines in Beirut, we bombed Libya; interest rates got as high as 20%, and Reagan gave his famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate where he implored Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall”. 

All in all we had a great time, and a walk through history. Thanks again to Anne Marie & Rich. 

JFB

Toward the end of our river cruise, we went ashore on an excursion with a tour group in Vicksburg, Mississippi. During the Civil War, Vicksburg was hotly contested because of its immense strategic value. During the war, the city was subjected to a 47-day siege by Ulysses S Grant. The siege ultimately proved to be successful. As a result, the North was able to control the Mississippi River; cut off the South from its trading partners and split the Confederacy in two.

The cost of the campaign was immense, especially for the South, which put up fierce resistance to the North. In the end, there were about 37,000 casualties, about 86% of which were Southern.

There were both land and sea battles using iron clad vessels. One, the North’s USS Cairo, was sunk by an electronically detonated mine—the first armored warship to meet such a fate. It took only 12 minutes to sink to the bottom in 6 fathoms of water.

General Pemberton of the Confederacy finally surrendered to General Grant on July 4th 1863. President Lincoln referred to the Union victory as the key to the war.

The Siege of Vicksburg and the subsequent battle are today commemorated at Vicksburg National Military Park, which we visited on our tour. The people of the town of Vicksburg, both soldiers and civilians, suffered immensely from disease, starvation and death. Perhaps that is why the city of Vicksburg did not celebrate July 4th —Independence Day—for 81 years after its surrender.

JFB

We took a short trip down to the Tampa-St.Pete area on the Gulf Coast to celebrate my sister’s wedding. The weather in February was perfect. St. Petersburg is a vibrant town with impressive parks, restaurants and spaces for art. 

We stayed at the Don Cesar, a first rate hotel, and met some friends who live nearby for dinner.

We also headed out to visit Fort De Soto Park in Tierra Verde. It’s the largest park within Pinellas County. It is made up of 5 interconnected islands and encompasses 1,136 acres. It has 7 miles of waterfront that includes 3 miles of sandy beaches; there are campsites, a museum, a ferry service, food concessions, birdwatching, swimming, nature trails—you name it. And if you don’t have a car, you can just Uber over and back. 

 

 

JFB