Happy Birthday to The Kid

We celebrate a birthday at our house for a week. Often the celebration includes some sort of trip or a series of outings, often a chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and always some laughs. This week is a birthday week for us.

So far our week has included our annual trip to Amish country for a checkers set. I have an agreement with the Kid that when he can beat his mom at checkers, he’ll be ready to leave home. That agreement can contain a lot of symbolism if you know the rules of checkers. People generally react to the idea of this simple pleasure that it is an easy way for The Kid to stay at home forever, or they’ll say “what if he never beats you”. (Those folks do not understand the true nature of a homeschooler or The Kid!) Our outings in this week of celebration in addition to Amish country include a trip to the Cincinnati Flower show , a golf outing to maybe beat Grandpa this year, a trip to Montgomery Inn for world famous ribs. There will also be Birthday cupcakes from Grandma, hamburgers on the grill and of course, a game of checkers.

Visit our archives to read about a year of our adventures!

Celtic Music, Bockwurst and a Pint of Guinness®

Quite often travel can involve not leaving your own backyard. You can tour the world in your mind through the study of music. Music study doesn’t need to involve the Symphony or Opera, it can involve World Music too. World Music is one of the best ways I know to travel when travel isn’t an option....

Recently I had 2 tickets to see a popular musical group that has been around for 40 years and always sells out when they come to our town. The Chieftains have had 19 grammy nominations and have won six grammys and have collaborated with Jackson Brown, Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones, Sting, Sinead O’Connor, Emyylou Harris, Ricky Scaggs, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Earl Scruggs and others I am sure I have missed. Paddy Moloney and The Chieftains were nominated for the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Folk Album- Live From Dublin - A Tribute to Derek BellThe thing about this group is that they always surprise you and you don’t need to travel far to see them, especially if they come to your town.

Though The Chieftains still invite you to enjoy the finest Celtic music around, they also invite your mind to venture into listening to sounds and songs from other places in the world. In concert with The Chieftains was The Cottars, a group from Nova Scotia also incredible musicians and capable of some pretty interesting music.

The sounds you hear when you listen World Music inspire you to recall imagery from your own travels. If you are unable to conjour up the imagery yourself, enjoy the poetry of the stories that come with the music. This particular form of World Music has drawn many cultures and age groups together. The Vice Mayor of our town, Jim Tarbell, was on hand to make that observation and to present the key to the town to Paddy Maloney of The Chieftains.

And speaking of our Vice Mayor, as luck of the Irish would have it, I was able to tie the whole evening together for "The Kid". Earlier for dinner we went to Arnold's Bar & Grill, Cincinnati's oldest tavern, was owned by Jim Tarbell from 1976 to 1999. (Owner Ronda Androski bought Arnold’s from Jim Tarbell in 1999 [history].) So that appearance by the Vice Mayor was really perfect for me as I was able to string that Cincinnati history together with the culture of the food we ate.

At Arnold’s we ordered 2 Bockwurst Plates, a pint of Guinness® and a soda. Even though we were going to listen to Celtic Music, but being in a German town and having dinner at Arnold’s the oldest Bar and Grill in town, we naturally ecountered the Springtime tradition of a Bock Festival. Bock is a style of lager beer which originated in Germany. It is traditionally brewed in the fall, at the end of the growing season, when barley and hops are at their peak. It is "lagered" all winter and enjoyed in the spring at the beginning of the new brewing season. Bocks can be pale (helles) or dark (dunkles) and there are double (doppel) bocks which are extra strong. Even though I do appreciate a good Bock, I definately prefer Guinness®, it’s a better dark beer and just the ticket for the evening! Typically eaten with bockbeer is Bockwurst is a german kind of sausages. Bockwurst is one of the most favourite sausages eaten in Germany, but tonight we ate it with Guinness® and Soda in honor of the Celtic culture we were about to absorb.

Our study of Music and the culture of the world continues! We’re thinking about Southern Europe next!

The Travelin' Homeschooler Takes a Break

I have an acquaintance who scuba dives. To hear him describe the activity and characters that live beneath the sea is true poetry.

After our trip to the Everglades, we went to Captiva and then on to Key West, a grueling schedule as I am sure you can imagine. Once that leg of our journey was completed, I traveled to see my friend in Grand Cayman. Everyone should travel to the Cayman Islands!

You don’t go to Grand Cayman to see the architecture, the landscape or the tourist attractions. In fact, hurricane Ivan destroyed much of this beautiful Caribbean Island. Grand Cayman, just like much of the British West Indies in the Caribbean, has remarkably recovered from this natural disaster and the original beauty of the island is still apparant and is as vibrant as ever. There is new building going on all over the place, and many of the places that were damaged have been restored. It was difficult for me to imagine what Ivan did. There is a very moving book called “Paradise Interrupted“ by artist and photographer Courtney Platt that illustrates the devastating effects this hurricane had on Grand Cayman in September, 2004. A good book to choose for visual learning about Mother Nature's power.

You go to Grand Cayman to explore a world that most people forget exists on our planet. That world is the one that only Neptune himself and those crazy people who don scuba gear and jump out of boats into the dark and mysterious sea below know. I am not a diver, but the folks I spent 4 days with were as fanatical about diving as I am about travel. Yes, the Travelin' Homeschooler enjoyed 2 days reading on the beach while these crazy folks explored places called “Babylon”, “Snapper Hole” and “The Maze”. According to my host who has been diving for many years, the best place to go diving in the Caymans is in the East End out of a place called “Ocean Frontiers“ Situated in a pretty cool resort area called "Compass Point Dive Resort" . Compass Point is a place for divers, comfortable, beautiful, right on the beach, in view of the reef. Away from the busy Seven Mile Beach and the tourists there, Compass Point and the folks at Ocean Frontiers will take care of the travelers in our homeschooling community. This place is truly a place to learn; where, if you are brave - you can learn about reef life by diving, by snorkeling or by simply swimming off the beach at Compass Point. My friend took me snorkeling each day I was there and it was truly a memory I will have forever. The first day the reef revealed amazing residents. [You can check out photos of some of the colorful reef residents at the photo gallery at the Ocean Frontiers website.] The second day the reef residents were out entertaining the divers and I got to take in the beauty of the colors of the coral. There were so many colors that you wouldn't ever imagine existed under the water. It was the most beautiful natural wonder I have ever seen - so far!

Grand Cayman is also a place where there is some pretty good food if you are so inclined to indulge in local cuisine. Portofinos, a favorite of my host, offered pretty incredible Italian food and a decent wine list. The Lighthouse Restaurant at Breakers in Grand Cayman also offered a pretty amazing menu. They even had grappa on the menu! One place I wanted to visit and hope to go the next time is Vivine's Kitchen, a place for local cuisine, is located only 500 yards East of Ocean Frontiers at Compass Point.

For more dive information contact [Ocean Frontiers]. For information about staying on the beach near the reef contact[Compass Point Dive Resort].