Uncle Bill's 90th Birthday

On Saturday March 12th Lillian's Uncle Bill celebrated his 90th birthday. Bill is a WWII veteran who served in Europe at the Battle of the Bulge, which was where he unfortunately was captured. He spend two years in a POW camp not far from where his father was born in Germany. He retired from IBM and lives in the same house built by Levitt in East Meadow that he bought shortly after the war. He is one of the few original owners, living there for about 60 years.

Their two sons and daughter got together and arranged a really nice birthday party for their father. Larry and David were the cooks, Larry's wife Janelle along with their sister Pam provided the necessary support. Larry is a professional cook, so the food was simply terrific. We were joined by our daughter and her husband and were real happy to have been there, we hadn't seen Uncle Bill and Aunt Betty and their kids in many years. In addition, Lillian's brother Marty along with his wife and daughter from Long Island were also there. Furthermore, we got to see many of the relatives on Aunt Betty's side. Yes, it was a full house but a wonderful event that brought out many memories from days gone by. And, on top of all this, the weather was great, sunny in the high 50s. The long trip up to Long Island from Sun City was well worth it. Below are some pictures from the event.

At left, below, Uncle Bill is showing Lisa some old pictures while at right he's cutting his birthday cake.
At bottom left, Lillian and her brother Martin. At right is family portrait, Janelle and Larry, Pam, David and Denise; sitting, Uncle Bill and Aunt Betty.










Here are some additional pictures, sorry but I can't name all of them, but at bottom right are our cooks Larry and David.

Florida RV Trip Jan 2011

We left Sun City, Sunday January 9 for Fort De Soto state park













just outside of St. Petersburg, FL where we spent one week. The park is beautiful with lush tropical vegetation and fully equipped sites. Weather was a problem: high winds, rain, cold.















We did enjoy some very spectacular sunsets. Despite the weather, we did manage to do some cycling. At one point the wind was 18 mph and blowing us at a very brisk pace; coming back, we had all we could do to make headway. At another, we almost were blown off our bikes when the wind was to our side.

We did visit the new Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, which had just opened on Monday, 1/11/11. Since Dali was fascinated with numerology, this particular date with all ones was used. I asked why not 11/11/11 and was told it was too far away.



































The building is on a must see list. It's built to withstand category 5 hurricanes. The exhibit areas are on the 3d floor and are in two separate galleries, open and joined in the middle. In the event of a hurricane, doors automatically shut to completely seal them. The first two floors include the restaurant and gift shop as well as an auditorium and offices. Both a stairs and an elevator take visitors to the gallery area. The glass you see is several inches thick; no two panes are identical. Below are our gift shop purchases: at left are wine glasses, right is 500 piece picture puzzle of one of Dali's paintings Hallucinogenic Toreador (1969-1970). As you can see, we've got a ways to go to finish the puzzle. This was one of the pictures our tour guide explained to us in detail. By the way, we did finish it.


















At left is a scene from the St. Petersburg pier, the museum is in the background, somewhat hard to see.





In addition, the largest RV show in the country was in progress in Tampa; we went there but weren't that impressed with it, maybe because the weather was awfully cold and blustery and many of the exhibits were outside. The ones indoors were unheated and large open garage doors let the cold in. For dinner, we had delicious Florida stone crabs a number of times near the park. In that area we discovered a great German restaurant, eating swine hockse and drinking authentic German beer. We went back again to try some German pancakes for lunch. Delicious.

On Sunday the 16th we traveled to Kissimmee and stayed at the KOA. We had a premium site which included table and chairs, swing, and a fire pit. We enjoyed the fire on those cold nights, sipping on wine.










Again, the weather was cold, although for the most part it was sunny. The following Monday was heavy rain. Since our Honda's service light had gone on while at Fort De Soto, we decided to get it serviced at Coggins Honda in Orlando. That was a fascinating experience in really great customer service. Their customer lounge was large: WIFI, large screen HDTV playing the latest DVDs, coffee & sweets, and a free massage. This is what every dealership should have. Before you knew it, the Honda was ready.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday were spent at Disney World; two days at Epcot, one each at Magic and Animal kingdoms. Lots of good dining at Epcot: Marrakesh, Germany.































I think this was the only time when I just wore a t-shirt. The other days were just too cold.











At Disney World we visited Epcot. Spent two day there. Got to try a segway . At their Innovation attraction, I visited the Raytheon "Sun of all Thrills" ride. This was simply fascinating; you got to design your own thrill ride, test it out, then ride it via a super simulation based upon your design. This URL takes you to my bobsled run design: Northern Twister
The design is made on a table computer. You have a number of parameters to adjust: speed, height, loops and curves. If the speed is too slow or too fast, the ride's hills, curves and loops cannot be negotiated and the system tells you which parameter needs to be changed. An animated test ride with a dummy is then made and if it goes well, you get a card containing the ride's parameters and then on to the simulation where you get to ride your design. You're enclosed in a chair which is on the end of a robot much like those used to build cars. A front panel is lowered enclosing you while you face the screen. The robot moves you in synch with the ride video: up, down, side ways, feeling the physical effects of the thrill ride. Man! This is great stuff. Being afraid of turning upside down, my design was conservative.





We enjoyed a nice Moroccan meal, couscous, lamb, and Moroccan wine, at the Marrakesh restaurant which included a belly dancer.





The Baskins were also in Orlando at the same time. We met them at Epcot and had an enjoyable diner at the German restaurant. I was the only one who had a stein of that wonderful German beer.















In the Animal Kingdom, we saw a performance from the Lion King and went on a safari, seeing lions, elephants, flamingos, and other typical African and Asian animals.









And, of course, we visited the Magic Kingdom.






















In addition to Disney World we also saw the shows at Medieval Times and Capone's. The week there went fast, we had tickets to Sea World but didn't have time to go there. They are still good until the end of the year.

Hilton Head Concours d'Elegance - Nov 2010

We attended the 2010 Concours on Hilton Head Island on November 7, just after attending my cousin Bill's retirement ceremony. This is the ninth one held on HHI; we attended all of them! Each year they have an honored marque; this year it was Chevrolet. There were, however many other cars and classes including brass pre-1916, pre WW2 Chevrolets, classic coupes, American performance, sports cars, etc. Some of the more interesting included a 1954 Kaiser Fraser Darrin, a 1940 Bantam Hollywood micro car, a 1910 Stevens-Duryea X, and a 1963 Studebaker Avanti. Below, in no particular order, are some of the cars which caught my eye.
Below left is a 1963 Corvair rampside which provides a ramp to the bed of the pickup.



















Below is a 1957 BMW Isetta which along with the guy pictured was Lill's favorite. Below right is the '54 Darrin.




























Below at left we were part of a tour led by the "Chasing Classic Cars" host Wayne Carini, a great show on "speed" if you haven't watched it. At right is Lill looking into a '68 Corvair UltraVan;














Here at left is the winner of the preservation class, the 1910 Stevens-Duryea X. These are preserved rather than restored. At right is a rare 1972 BMW 2002 tii, another winner in the preservation class.


















Below left is one of my favorites, the '40 Bantam Hollywood, which unfortunately did not win in the micro car category. On the right is a real classis, '34 DeDoto airflow.

Bill Schmitz's Retirement Ceremony

On Saturday, Nov 6, 2010 Lill and I attended my cousin's retirement ceremony at the Redbank Club, Joint Base Charleston, followed by a party at his home in Somerville hosted by his lovely wife Debra and delightful daughter Emma, shown at left. His mother, my cousin Jeanette, was also there.



CDR Schmitz was the Commanding Officer at NOSC Charleston, SC. He earned a BS in physics at Tulane University and attended the Surface Warfare Officer School Division officer course. He served on the USS Osprey, the USS Whidbey Island, USS Robin, and the USS Kingfisher, as well as shore assignments in Lubbock, TX, New Orleans, and finally Charleston. While in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, he served as Officer in Charge of the East Bank complex, supporting 2000 Joint Task Force Katrina personnel. His decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (3), Navy Commendation Medal (2), the Navy Achievement Medal (2) and the Army Achievement Medal. Bill is a passionate private plane pilot.



Lillian and I are very proud of his distinguished service to our country and wish him well in his civilian career with Booz-Allen.

Below are some pictures of the formal Navy ceremony where Bill both retires and is replaced by CDR Dennis Rieke.







Bill, along with Debra and Emma, as he goes on shore for the "last time".




The change of command cake was great, Bill is quite skilled at cutting cake under Emma's supervision.

















It looks as if the Navy taught Bill well in the art of cutting cake. The cake represents all the medals Bill accumulated during his 22 year career. It depicts the wood presentation box seen to the left of the cake, containing the flag flown over NOSC and his medals. Again, great tasting cake, expertly cut, but this time under Debra's supervision. For me, the highlight was the keg of Blue Moon beer, appropriately served with a slice of orange.