Yachting with the Zukermans - Aventura, FL

What do you get when you mix family and friends? The Zukerman's! We had a great time with Haim, Batia, Barak and Hollie in Aventura hanging on the boat and listening to Haim tell us about all the horses he had in the engine room! We dined at Joe's Stone Crab and Paul, Barak and Hollie enjoyed their crab legs!
 

Channu-kah in Flori-dah!

We celebrated Channukah with the Fleites at the Commodore house.
Raquel recieved a princess CD player which also holds jewelry and Joey loved his Lego Star Wars set. Joey made Paul a snow globe with a picture inside and wrote a personal message on the back. Unfortunately Paul had to pour the water out at the airport since they saw the water in the snow globe as a threat....funny. We have the snow globe sitting in our living room and we get to think of Joey every day.

Hesston, KS eau de Wintertime

There is love abound when Paul travels to Hesston, Kansas in the middle of a snow storm. Do you see all the love in this photo? From the ice on the walkway, to the snow on top of the luggage...

Germany and Switzerland

A short plane ride and I'm greeted at the airport by a smashing young man named Paul Weintraub. As we zip out of the Munich airport via the Mercedes wagon, we are off on a speedy ride to Marktoberdorff, Germany. Paul loves the changing speed and Germans ability to follow the rules. All who wish to pass get into the left lane and then back into the right. Wish Americas were so well trained with road rules.

 

Paul hesitates not to point out the many Fendt tractors that surround us. Germans do not have the American luxury of having a pick up truck, so instead they haul their goods via tractors with trailers on the back. I even noticed a woman well into her 60s climbing out of one of these monsters.

 

We attempted to tour Neischweinsteincastle, but missed the last tour, as Edie was just late in awakening from a nap. We dined that evening at the local Italian spot in Marktoberdorff and strolled through the streets.

Friday morning we departed for Zurich and checked into Zurich's Marriott, ah the Marriott.

This is a view from our hotel room on the 34th floor. The river in the video is not the Rhine - it's a tributary from Lake Zurich. We crossed it many times over the weekend, while trekking through the busy train station and in search of REAL Swiss chocolate ice cream @ Muvenpick.

Lake Zurich is just behind us in this photo. And we would come to find out that Muvenpick was right by the crane.

Paul wanted to show me where the Schaffhausen office was located in Switzerland, next to the Rhine Falls. On the way back, I took a video of some of the homes in the villages. The homes were right on the street with two garages, one for a car and the other for a tractor. 

Below is a map of parts of Switerland we visited this weekend. Zurich was about 2.5 hrs from Paul's plant in Marktoberdorff. It was a pretty ride and we both commented how much it reminded us of San Francisco. There were many vineyard on the hills and EVERYTHING was so green. They must be doing something right in Switzerland to have green grass in December in 30 degree weather!

From downtown Zurich to the airport is just about 15-20 minutes. Winterthur, a suberb of Zurich on the way to Schaffhausen is 20 mins from downtown Zurich. Both Winterthru and Zurich have massive train stations, as Winterthur is a transitioning Industrial area with 100,000 ppl. The metropolis has 1.5 Million people. A little smaller than Atlanta, but both cities are very dense. Paul and I strolled through Winterthru to get something to eat and I was shocked by how many people, old and young were out walking the pedestrian areas on a chilly 40 degree afternoon on Saturday. I must say that I didn't get a chance to snap a photo of the babies, but they were SO cute - their strollers were transformed into a a stroller with a pea pod in it - all the kidlets had sleeping bags imbedded in their strollers to keep them toasty warm. It's not my photo, but I've never seen anything like it - so I had to find one online. The little peas looked too cute in their pods.

Coral Castle here we come!

We got there a little late for the last tour, but we did get to hear about Edward Leedskalnin from Lativia whose heart was broken and he built thie Coral Castle for his love.

It was Jillian, Paul and Jesse's first time there. It's amazing how much smaller it seems to me now. Harley took us there when I was 12 or so and I remember Ashley pushing the 9 ton gate in circles - she was 3. I must say, this visit was a little different. We were all still amazed with the structure. This photo was taken in the child abuse corner. Jesse must have been behaving badly again.

You know, it was much larger when I was there the first time...

Turkey Day! Yeah!

Paul and I traveled to Jupiter for Thanksgiving this year - and Paul was promptly put to work. Doesn't the apron just suit him? Michele, Josue, Joey and Raquel and Victoria, Jeremy and Isabella were there to feast with us.

Corn Maze - Haunted this time

It's been an annual tradition for 3 years now to go to the Corn Maze in Dahlonega with Sean and Kelly. We have the maze down to a science. Sean and Paul navigate and Kelly and I try to stay warm as we think about the funnel cake, hot cocoa and marshmallows awaiting us. The night was quite chilly, but we started running thru the maze to warm ourselves up.

Do see that Sean's trying to plant a smooch on Paul? I love my crazy brother!

http://www.uncleshucks.com/

I honor of the presidential election this year, it was an elephant and donkey. Those open areas were kinda tricky!

Netherland or Netherworld?

I always want to say Neverland, but I think that's Michael Jackson's ranch in California.
There was a guy on his knees with metal so that when he slid on the asphalt sparks came up. And the girl from The Ring was there crawling around with her long hair. We had a great time screaming at Halloween this year and laughed our butts off at each other.http://www.fearworld.com/
I think next time Paul and I should volunteer to make people scream. It was all about the reaction.

Jillian and Jesse's Wedding - Coral Gables

We started the day pretty early in Jillian’s suite, make-up, hair, the works.  Jillian’s Mom, Rita and sister Kristen are all ready to get the show on! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Jess Boxer, Sophia and I making sure everything’s in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wedding was at the Mayfair Hotel and Spa in Coral Gables, just a 2 second walk from where Jillian and Jesse live.

Here is the bride and groom dancing the night away.

Michele and Josue cleaned up nice for the night. We caught them later twisting and shouting on the floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Weintraub’s looking good…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being in Florida, the hotel was an open courtyard, a lil warm still mid October, but the greens were lush and beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul and I had a smashing time at Jillian and Jesse's wedding. I know there are many photos that I want to post, but I'll keep it short and sweet. I love this one with Phil and Janice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jillian forewarned us that she was going to “trash” her wedding dress the next morning. None of us knew what she had in mind. But boy, do these make some great photos!

Jillian's Bachlorette Party

The Mayfair Hotel pool turns into a night club at night and you have to make sure you take the right elevator to get there. We danced a bit before going back to the honeymoon suite to watch Jillian enjoy her lollipop.

Adam's 35th

We celebrated Adam's 35th Birthday with him, Sherry and Ike at Lobster Bar. What a delicious dinner and pleasurable company!

Connie Photos

Connie has been taking some great shots of the fam - check these out!

Little Sadie in Sean's arm - too cute! She's even smiling!!!

She's dancing, must take after Aunt Edie!

Ashley imagined this one...with her hands in a heart on her belly. Don't know who took it..but it's cute!

Paul's 30th - Cumberland Island

I kidnapped Paul and whisked him away to Savannah for dinner October 9th. Il Pasticio was our first stop for dinner and Giovanni, the 1st generation Italian from Montreal was a polite server - even brought us Tiramisi with a candle for Paul's birthday!

Another 2 hour drive to St. Marys where we checked into our little green tree house at Emma's Bed and Breakfast. The mattress, with no room on either side was in the loft. It was quite cozy and boy, did we sleep well! We ate well too! Jimmy made us French Toast with Strawberries our 1st day and pumped up our bicycles so that we could tour the town.

Paul and I really enjoyed the ecokayak tour in Grand Cayman last year that I thought another kayak trip would be enjoyable. Miss Naive me, did not quite inquire as to the length of the trip nor what our events were on the island once we got there. Being the youngest in the crew of 6, we muscled through and completed the 6.2 mile kayak each way with a 6 mile trek from Plum Orchard to the beach for lunch. Without the bugs, the trip would have been phenomenal, but with the bugs - it was memorable. Paul and I are still itching two days later.

The hike across the island, at it's thickest point, was truly educational. From wetlands to dunes, from beach to pine forest - it was as if we had visited 4 different geographical areas. We even came across Indian relics! Free roaming horses and armadillos galore!

History of Cumberland Island, Georgia

Archeologists believe Indians used Cumberland as a hunting and fishing ground as far back as 4,000 years ago. When the Spanish arrived in 1566, they named the island San Pedro and constructed a garrison and mission at the southern end named San Pedro de Mocama, which remained in operation from 1587 to 1660. Another Spanish mission on Cumberland was Puturiba, which operated from 1595-1597. An additional mission was relocated from the North Newport River to the northern end of Cumberland from 1670-1684 named San Phelipe.

The Indians they met called the island Missoe, their word for sassafras. This name didn't last long after English Gen. James Oglethorpe arrived at the Georgia coast. Turning the custom upside down, the island was named by an Indian for an Englishman. Toonahowi, the young nephew of Chief Tomochichi who visited England with Oglethorpe, suggested the island be named for William Augustus, the 13-year old Duke of Cumberland. Here Oglethorpe also established a hunting lodge he called Dungeness.

Development of the island started in earnest after the American Revolution. Plantation owners cut and sold live oak and pine timber; grew corn, cotton, rice, and indigo on the rich soils; and raised cattle, hogs, and horses that ranged freely across the island. Perhaps the largest and most productive plantation in the region was Stafford Plantation, an 8,000-acre tract that remains in private hands today.

One of the most famous estates on the Georgia coast was Dungeness, owned by Revolutionary War hero Gen. Nathaniel Greene, who commanded the Southern Department of the war. While he owned Mulberry Grove Plantation near Savannah, he also planned to build a huge mansion on Cumberland Island near the site of Oglethorpe's Dungeness hunting lodge. He died in 1786 before he was able to complete his plans. His wife, Catherine, remarried 10 years later to Phineas Miller, and they followed through on Greene's designs, building a huge, four-story tabby mansion on top of an Indian shell mound. The mansion, with 6-foot thick walls at the base, featured four chimneys and 16 fireplaces, and was surround by 12 acres of gardens. Dungeness was the scene of many special social galas where statesmen and military leaders enjoyed the Millers' hospitality. When the island was briefly occupied during the War of 1812, the British used Dungeness as their headquarters.

In 1818, Gen. "Lighthorse" Harry Lee, Revolutionary War hero and old friend of Nathaniel Greene, came ashore at Cumberland Island. He was in failing health and was returning from the West Indies when he asked to be taken to his old friend's estate of Dungeness. After a month of illness, he died on March 25 and was buried on the island. His son, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, had a tombstone placed over the grave and visited his father's final resting place several times. In 1913, Harry Lee was moved to Lexington, Virginia, to lie beside his famous son, but the gravestone was left on Cumberland Island.

From 1820 to 1838, a lighthouse operated on the southern end of Cumberland. The year a new one was established on Little Cumberland, the lighthouse on Big Cumberland was moved to Amelia Island, where it stands today.

The plantation economy was dealt a deathblow with the Civil War, and Dungeness deteriorated and the family moved away. Slaves were rounded up by the Union Army and moved to Amelia Island, but some returned to Halfmoon Bluff on the northern end in an area known as The Settlement. Freed slaves may have been the cause of the fire of 1866 that destroyed the historic mansion, and another legend tells the story of Cumberland plantation owner Robert Stafford burning the quarters of his former slaves after they refused to work for him after gaining their freedom.

The island remained abandoned until the 1880s, when Pittsburgh millionaire Thomas Carnegie, brother of Andrew, acquired the Dungeness property for use as a winter retreat. On the foundations of the Greene-Miller-Shaw Dungeness, the Carnegies built an even grander mansion in 1884. The third Dungeness, at its peak, was a 59-room turreted Scottish castle, with a pool house, squash court, and golf course, and 40 other buildings that accommodated a staff of 200. Thomas died around the time the mansion was finished, but his widow, Lucy, and their nine children continued to develop Cumberland. Lucy purchased 90 percent of the island and she and her heirs built Cumberland's most famous buildings, including Greyfield, Stafford, and Plum Orchard. Dungeness remained occupied off and on until 1959, when it tragically burned. Greyfield is a private inn and Plum Orchard, an 1898 Georgian-revival mansion, is administered by the National Park Service.

As the island passed down to successive generations of Carnegies, the heirs were confronted with what to do with their isolated property. In 1955, the National Park Service identified Cumberland Island and Cape Cod as the two most significant natural areas on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. This increased awareness of the island, but little action was taken. In 1969, Hilton Head developer Charles Fraser, who wanted to create a similar development on Cumberland Island, purchased one-fifth of the island. When he started to bulldoze a 5,000-foot airport runway on the northern end, alarms were set off in the environmental community, which knew it was now or never to save the island. The Georgia Conservancy played a historic role in helping to push through a bill introduced by Congressmen Bill Stuckey and Bo Ginn that established Cumberland Island as a national seashore, signed by President Nixon in 1972. Most of the Carnegie heirs decided the island should remain a wilderness and worked toward that goal by selling to the federal government. The Mellon Foundation donated $7.5 million to buy up property on the island, including Fraser's tract, which then was deeded to the federal government, and most of the island became part of the park system.

A new burst of publicity occurred for Cumberland Island when John F. Kennedy Jr. married Carolyn Bessette at the First African Baptist Church on the northern end of the island in September 1996. (Information taken from Sherpa Guides)