It’s off to Boston on the 22nd where we will stay with the Dan’s fraternity brother Mike Gero and his wonderful wife Malli. Dinner on the 23rd with Sari Abuljabain and then lunch with Zack Pinnick on the 24th where Dan’s daughter Kristi will join us.
On the 24th we will be with the Prigmore clan in Rhode Island before heading off to New Jersey with Kristi. On the 27th it’s into NYC for some window shopping and a night at the theatre.
Back to Coconut Grove on the 28th to wrap up the years travels.
Click on the map for the daily details of this trip
Our friends the Geros invited us to join a group of about 20 for a ‘humanitarian’ trip to Cuba for a week.
Columbus is quoted as saying about the island “more beautiful than any I have ever seen”; many think this is Cuba’s first exaggeration. More than 50 years after the revolution, Cuba is an excellent example of what happens when we try to freeze time. Havana is simply falling apart save for a heroic effort by the City Historian Eusebio Leal Spengler to restore Old Havana, a UNESCO heritage site.
We arrived within a few months of Fidel having declared the “Cuban model doesn’t even work for us anymore” and announcing 500,000 government employees were to be fired. The total population is 11 million with government employing 85% of workforce. Concurrently, 192 new positions were opened up for ‘self employment’. After a week of travels and discussions, we conclude this could mean nothing or everything….the country has raised several generations who have been denied incentives, it could be hustle or continued siesta.
The current economy is bifurcated by those with access to the convertible peso (CUC’s)..about 20% of the workforce and those without access. All government employees are paid in pesos that are only good for the vary basics, to get anything else like soap or toothpaste one needs CUC’s…the black market conversion is 24:1. Those with access to the CUC work in hospitality, sports and the arts. For an success artist with access to foreign markets, it’s a good life…free to travel, choice of housing, new car, etc. For doctors and teachers, it’s a disaster as they get paid in non-covertible pesos.
The tips for our guide and driver were equal to many months salary for a teacher. The inevitable draw of a better life will likely convert the best teachers into tour guides and soon leave their school system looking like ours. Enough editorial comment.
Tours of Havana, nice art galleries, student dance programs, dinning in paladors (restaurants in private homes) and looking at the great 1950’s cars. This was interrupted by a bus ride about 1/3 of the way down the island to Trinidad on the Caribbean side of the island where we stayed at an ‘all inclusive’ resort built for the european trade. While the country side is pretty, it has nothing on Puerto Rico where they speak the same language but have toilet paper.
We agreed that Cuba should get another look in 5-10 years, just to see how it plays out.
Thanksgiving was our first HOLIDAY together…the typical question is: “your family or mine?” Turns out there are no locked in programs for the holidays, so let’s see how it falls. Marcia’s birthday is on the 18th where we will be nowhere special….her earlier request was to be somewhere where she would need a passport. How about a few days in Bermuda over Thanksgiving….off we go with golf clubs in tow. Dan’s memories of Bermuda are mostly 35 years old, but it seams little of significance has really changed. Gracious, well educated people. Wonderful architecture and colors. Very special place. Golf at Port Royal, a tour of Pembroke Hall which Dan developed while at Fidelity in the 1970’s, a walk thru Hamilton, ferry ride to Dockyards, golf at Belmont Hills, bus ride to St. George….the island is only 22 miles long. A short but wonderful stay.
Leaving Charleston, our next stop was Beaufort, SC….a very cute town with fine old homes and new waterfront park. Our walk to the grocery store drew the usual comments about ‘are you lost?’
From there is was on to Savannah where the Westin Hotel became home for a couple of days. Long walks around town where Marcia was really at home having lived here for four years. We had a nice dinner with Jim and Brandon, Jim being an old friend of Marcia’s. The Westin golf course was closed so we ended up a Savannah Quarters…overpriced and underwhelmed. Picking up the pace, we headed “outside” on the ocean instead of staying in the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW), and covered a hundred miles that day.
Our friends the Ulrich’s had to leave St Simon before we arrived, so it was on to Jekyll Island…got to love this place. Golfers paradise with four courses on this little island, we played Indian Lakes after riding bikes through the old town that is on the National Historic Register. This seems to be the year to see the various homes of the the Gilded Age Industrialists for us! Fernandina Beach was the next stop for an overnight, then on to St Augustine to see some more of the Kisielnicki family. A game of golf at Royal St Augustine with brother Eddie, dinner with Thelma and sister Carol and her husband Don.
An overnight at Titusville, then another hundred mile day going outside thru the Cape Canaveral lock to the inlet, then back in a Ft Pierce. The next morning it was back to the ICW to the St. Lucie River and up the river to visit the Rapps. Marcia get her first par hole in a round of golf with Bob and Tancy. On to Ft Lauderdale for our last overnight, Coconut Grove in the morning.
We put over 400 hours (about 3,000 miles) on the boat this summer, lots of great people and places.
While Dan was making arrangements to have True South shipped from Tennessee to North Carolina, he called Anchors Away Marina near Topsail Beach. On the phone, before Dab starts to describe his needs, he introduces himself with “I am sure you don’t know me this is Dan Prigmore from FL”, the response is the “the infamous G. Daniel Prigmore?” As luck would have it on the other end of the phone is Dennis Hollishead, ex of Hull, MA where Dan had a summer home for many year.
Dennis and his crew at Anchors Away boat yard got the boat ready from its transport from Knoxville and arranged to dock it at Topsail Beach Marina until our arrival.
We spent a nice week with some of the Kisielnicki clan, Thelma and three of her sons: Steve and Ann, Tim and Kelly, and Eddie. We also had a wonderful time with Tim and Kelly’s daughter Claire who learned to dive from the boat.
On Halloween we headed back to Wilmington, NC to pick up True South and start a slow trip south to Miami. Our first day took us from Topsail beach to Southport, a quaint New England look town at edge of Cape Fear and Frying Pan Shoals. Cool night in the 40’s with a few days of stiff winds ahead as we head into SC.
At Dock Holiday’s in Myrtle beach we get to Walmart for some warm clothes and chance to watch the election returns, then on to Georgetown, 3rd oldest city in SC. Here we find bookstores, cafes and bakeries vs. Walmart and CVS. On down thru the Cedar swamps in fog and rain and into Charleston where the sun breaks thru on the 5th, but cold nights ahead.
We enjoyed Charleston enough that we decided to stay for a couple of days walking the streets, wandering thru galleries, checking out the Aquarium and enjoying several restaurants. Even did a little thinking about this as a city one could call home!!
Click on the map to see the details of True West’s fall trip
Our last leg for the fall takes us through the Smokey Mountains back to Knoxville where we ended our summer of boating on the Rivers.
This time our base is Deep Creek State Park in NC. From there we took the Smart up to Clingmans Dome and also played some golf on an Indian owned course in the mountains call Sequoyah Golf Course….game was delayed due to frost in the AM.
We could not resist one more train ride, this one on the Smokey Mountain Railroad. Not the thrill of Tibet or the cog railway on Mt. Washington, but still good fun.
True West is now tucked away for the winter in Knoxville and awaits next springs adventure.
Click on the map to see the details of the True West fall trip
We continue south and establish our next base camp at Fairystone State Park. Again we use the Smart for side trips to a couple of rounds of golf and exploring. With a visit to Mt. Mitchell, 6,684 ft, we have now visited the most northern, Mt Washington and most southern peaks east of the Mississippi…looking forward to the Rockies.
We continue down the Blue Ridge Parkway thru the Shenandoah Mountains to Asheville where we will spend a few days exploring the richness of this area.
Grove Park Inn, the Biltmore Estate, art galleries, fine restaurants and a lovely setting. Having visited both Jefferson’s estate at Monticello and Vanderbuilt’s Biltmore Estate on this trip, we were stuck with the similarities between these two men and their dreams to create sustaining monuments. Both Jefferson and Vanderbuilt grew up with inherited wealth, were very highly educated and had world class libraries, both multi-lingual, and both self trained in design and construction. The technologies employed, the self sustaining nature of the estates with massive employment or enslavement and the ultimate financial failure of both. It would make an interesting book.
Click on the map to see the details of True West fall trip.
Returning from China, we spent a few days with some of Marcia’s family in Topsail Beach, NC, then flew up to Boston to pick up the GMC for the trip south.
Its not common to have a lobster boat meet you at the airport and then have boiled lobsters on the way to Hull, but the Mahoneys are uncommon friends. After a night in Hull, it was off to RI to visit Dan’s brother and two of his nephews and families. From there we headed over to Newport, RI for a couple of day visiting the Mansions and the Old Round Tower for 1421 fans. 1421 refers to Gavin Menzies book that declares that on March 8, 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China to “proceed all the way to the ends of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas.” and one branch of this fleet ended up in Rhode Island.
Then it was on to visit Kristi in NJ, from there a Smart side trip to NYC with a visit to the Cloisters, a broadway show and Sunday morning at St John the Devine for the blessing of the animals…even Lola.
On to VA with first stop at Gettysburg, the Bluemont Vinyards to see Jennifer and Joe Shailor. A stop at the Kisielnicki family home on 44th Avenue…yikes 11 kids and one bathroom! A visit to the homestead gave Dan a much better appreciation of Marcia’s sense of personal space. A stop at the Vince, Patsy and Megan Trovatos in Easton, Md , then on to see Marcia’s brother Tom and a round of golf. Across the Chesapeake Bay in both directions, then up to see Dan’s classmate Dick Rounds with golf at Indian Creek
We thought we were going to have to pry Kristi out of Hong Kong. While only 7 million people, this is the most densely populated place on earth. It also has the worlds most developed public transportation system, it is used by 90% of the populations…double decker trolleys!!
Strictly tourists here, we took the bus tour with side trips up to the Peak by cable car, up the escalators (cover about 20 blocks up the mountain), ferry to Kowloon, and out to Resolute Bay where we almost got in a swim before the weather turned.
Wrapping up the trip, we all reflected on what we had seen and heard and what it meant for both the Chinese and Americans.
Our first observation is that Americans should not be mislead by the media snippets that seem to constantly project the idea that the China model is about to fail. In two decades, this model has lifted a record number, say 400 million people, out of poverty. It is a model that can coherently address issues such as alternative energy, urban planning, economic development, religious and ethnic tolerance, etc. The mass of people are moving forward and not held under some kind of intolerable yoke.
The second observation is that for at least another decade China will be absorbing raw materials at a growing pace. Cement, steel, you name it. They will do what they need to do to assure future supplies of these materials. We, as Americans, do not have some inalienable right to cheap energy or raw materials….we are going to have to pay the market rate.
The third observation is that at least some parts of China are no longer a developing country. These areas are as first world as it gets and will be competitive in education, research, development, manufacturing, distribution and marketing as any western companies we know today. The Chinese have built more miles of infrastructure such as roads, railroads, subways, runways, tunnels, bridges, power lines, dams, water lines, sewer plants and more square feet of real estate: industrial, office, residential, retail, educational, health care in the last decade that the rest of the world combined. They are or shortly will be the largest consumer market in the world. They will soon be setting the standards for all the goods produced.
The fourth observation is that while we argue about Tea Parties, teaching evolution in the schools, and the reality of climate change; as a country we fall further behind the rest of the world in many aspects we hold dear. Further, more and more of the world is looking with reasoned skepticism as to our claims of superiority on many fronts. While as a people we are loved and respected around most of the world, as a nation we have become a debtor with diminishing respect around the world.
Marcia continues to ponder the question….which are more important to the future of the society ….. the individual rights that Americans so cherish or the collective thinking that is so deeply ingrained in Chinese culture in order for the society to survive?
In closing, I would urge each of you who care about these issues to read ‘When China Rules the World’ by Martin Jacques.
Wuhan (sister city is Pittsburg) and Guangzhou (Canton) two of the industrial capitals of China and offers little to the tourist; however, Dan really wanted to get a feel for the industrial heartland. Additionally, these two cities are connected by the fastest passenger train in the world…top speed 217 mph, average 196 mph.
Wuhan as dirty, crowded and bustling with activity. Much to our surprise, I charming guide Vivi took us to a new Museum that featured the artifacts from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. This tomb dates from 433 BC and was discovered in 1977 during excavations for a new factory. Wuhan is also home of the East Lake, the largest urban lake in China covering over 12 square miles. While a decade behind the first tier cities, Wuhan will be transformed in the next decade.
The four hour train ride took us through miles of country side and many third tier cities, over 900 miles at close to 200 miles/hr. This train is equal to the best in Europe and Japan and makes American trains a joke. The Gov. of California was visiting to see he if could buy one…and borrow the money.
Guangzhou was the first Chinese city to open up to western style capitalism in the early 80’s. It does not have much else to recommend it these days. A sprawling city of 15 plus million, it has a long way to go to catch up with Beijing and Shanghai. Off to the ferry to Hong Kong.
