AndrewHL

I'm always on the lookout for local historical sites. While driving in western Fairfax County, I spotted one I had not visited previously, the Frying Pan Meeting House. The former Baptist church dates to 1791. People have asked me about the term "meeting house." In colonial Virginia, the Church of England was the established church. Only it could have "churches". Eventually, Dissenters, as they were known in those days, were permitted to hold worship services, but not in churches. So, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Quakers met for their worship in "meeting houses." The term remained popular among many congregations after American Independence. Frying Pan Meeting House was built by a Baptist congregation between 1786 and 1791. Elder Richard Major organized a Baptist congregation at nearby Bull Run in 1775. They petitioned prominent Virginia landowner Robert Carter III, ... read more

Carnival Pride sailed up Stephens Passage and reached Holkham Bay, the entrance to Tracy Arm, fjord at noon. The ship continued up the fjord until Sawyer Island, where the fjord divides into North and South fjords. Susan and I had booked a small boat tour that took us up Tracy Arm, providing us with an up-close view of the fjord and its natural features. Then, it continued right up to the face of Sawyer Glacier, where the ship could not navigate. On board, naturalist Mariann described the geology and natural features of the fjord and Sawyer Glacier as we made our way along the waterway. Tracy Arm Fjord is similar to the fjords of Norway or Iceland, except for the complete absence of pine forests in Iceland. During the tour, we saw numerous waterfalls, some small ... read more

Wednesday was a “Fun Day at Sea.“ It was foggy or overcast the entire day as we sailed up the coast of British Columbia and then entered Alaskan waters late in the evening. The ship’s foghorn sounded, and there was little to be seen off to starboard. Given that this was a sea day, there were many activities to attend on board. A Port Shopping presentation and a Skagway port presentation were given by the shopping host. But, most interesting was the “North to Alaska” presentation given by resident naturalist Louise Riofrio. She discussed what we would see in terms of whales, fjords, and glaciers. She also discussed the Alaska indigenous peoples. New theories about their origin hold that they did not come by a land bridge from Siberia but arrived from Asia by watercraft. Further, ... read more

Breakfast Monday morning was at the hotel's Andalucia Restaurant. The decor and ambiance here reminded me very much of the restaurant at the Hotel Tivoli in Lisbon. We set out in mid-morning for the Seattle Center Park, the location of the Space Needle. The park had been developed as the grounds for the 1962 World's Fair. (I was at that fair, see my 1962 Seattle blog.) Naturally, we took the Seattle Monorail to Seattle Center. The park's grounds are still reminiscent of a World's Fair or Disney's Epcot. Several pavilions built for the World's Fair have been repurposed into museums or other spaces. We secured timed tickets to go up the Space Needle. Tickets go fast, so arriving at Seattle Center early in the morning is advisable. Our tickets would not be valid until Noon, so ... read more

Monarch Empress remained docked overnight in Amsterdam. Morning sightseeing began at 9:00 a.m. Neils, the local guide, narrated a brief coach tour around Amsterdam. Susan and I recognized many landmarks from our 2014 visit to Amsterdam: the Rijksmuseum, Concertgebouw, Vondelpark, and the RAI Amsterdam exhibition complex. New sights appeared: a residential area of fine houses, the former German Synagogue, now the Jewish Museum, and the seventeenth-century Munttoren. Then we made a stop at the Die Riekermolen. I did not know Amsterdam had a windmill! (It has more than one, actually.) This one was built in 1636 on the city's outskirts at that time. It is a pumping mill intended to pump water from the polder into the Amstel River. It is still occasionally used for this function. Now it was time for the Amsterdam canal tour. ... read more