Antigua, Guatemala

Yesterday we were in the port of Que_____ in Guatemala. The port itself
is for the most part a commercial/industrial area so we took a bus to
the city of Antigua. This was about a one hour and a half drive but the
drive there was pleasant. We had been to Antigua in a previous Panama
Canal cruise but we went there anyhow. We visited the two large
churches and also meandered through the narrow streets and the plazas.
On the way to Antigua there is a volcano that is somewhat active. As we
passed from the top of the volcano we could see either small clouds or
steam/smoke from the crater. Hard to tell which it was.
Today we had a Mariner reception for cruisers who had 100s of days on
Holland American cruise ships. We talked to a couple from Wyoming who
are on their seventh World Cruises. The World Cruises usually last 110
to 120 days in length. One of these days we'll take one of those suckers!
Just before sitting down to write this post there was an announcement
from the bridge that a large school of dolphins were along side the
ship. I ran to the outside deck to take some pictures but by the time I
got there they were nowhere to be seen. Maybe next time!
Tonight is New Year's Eve so festivities aboard the ship. Should be fun.

Puerto Chiapas

Today we are in the port of Chiapas and it is another beautiful day in
Mexico. This morning we stayed on the ship and in the afternoon we took
a bus to an archaeological site at Izapa. The tour guide for this
outing is also an attorney so if any of our family needs a fall-back
profession they can start tour guiding. (ATTENTION - Julie and Bill!)
The archaeological site is not that large but there are others in the
same general area. The site is believed to be a part of the Olmec
civilization and before the Aztecs and Mayas.
After the archaeological site we traveled to the city of Tapachula, a
city of over 250,000 people. There we visited the archaeological museum
which holds a number of steles, pottery, etc. some of which from Izapa.
In Tapachula we also visited the Church of St. Augustine, the Culture
Center and the City Hall. I could not ask why the city hall was so
quiet and then realized that this was a holiday week. Even though it is
December, it seems like Summer.
We missed Bingo and will probably miss it tomorrow. As a result, we
have to make up for that in the Casino. (Yeah, lots of luck!) Because
we are not leaving the port until 7.00 PM the Casino will not open until
then. We'll just go to one of the bars and wait for the Casino to open!

Huatulco, Mexico

Today we are in Huatulco, Mexico and the weather is beautiful - the Sun
is shining and the temperature is in the 80s. This is another Mexican
town that its main industry is tourism. The m/s Amsterdam is not the
only ship in port as a Amazura ship is tied up right next to us. In
fact, when my notebook attempted to connect to a wifi port it chose to
try to connect to the Amazura wifi system as it was a stronger system
than that of the Amsterdam. Of course, I don't have an account on the
Amazura ship so I could connect to it but do nothing else.
Earlier Nancy and I walked off the ship to the small town and looked
around but not for long. Back on the ship was much pleasanter was
reading and relaxing. Right now we are heading up for an ice cream cone
and I'll finish this there.
Well, we finished the ice cream and we are just looking down on the
boats in the bay. As I noted it is very warm and up here by the pool it
seems like it is the 90s. Maybe not but it is very warm. Bingo starts
in about an hour - the high point of the day. Let's see what happens today!

On the Way to Huatulco

Today is a leisurely day at sea as we cruise toward the town of Huatalco
on the Mexican coast. Although yesterday was warm but overcast, today
was in the 80s and sunny. A very nice day to sit on deck and read so I
did. Rather than eat lunch in the dining room or the buffet on the Lido
Deck we ate in the Pinnacle Grill. The Pinnacle is very elegant and the
food is excellent even for lunch. We have also made a reservation for
dinner there one night during the week.
Tonight will be another Casino, dinner and then the show. It is
difficult to determine how long we will stay at the show as the
entertainer is a singer. Some we stay for the entire show and at other
times we sneak out early. We shall see.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Today we are in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, a typical tourist town on the
west coast of Mexico. We took a walk from the ship into town and walked
quite a way up the main road. We were going to walk to the old town and
realized it was about 5 miles. Five miles is not bad but it would also
require another five miles to get back.
Just finished Bingo and again no winners among the Eagans. In fact, we
have not won anything yet - no Bingo, nothing in the Casino. Maybe
tonight we will be lucky in the Casino. Even if we do not win anything,
it should be a nice evening. The entertainment is a woman comedian.
Give me a comedian, magician or juggler any time. I do not care for
the singers and dancers.

Christmas Day

Today - Christmas Day - the ms Amsterdam is on its way to Puerto
Vallarta, Mexico which we will reach tomorrow morning about 8.00 AM.
Santa Claus visited the Amsterdam at 10.00AM for all the kiddies (young
and old).
We made an unscheduled stop at Cabo San Lucas as one of the crew was in
infirmary and needed to go to a hospital. Yesterday the doctor
determined that the facilities on the ship were insufficient for the
patient so the Captain looked for a a place to make an evacuation.
Helicopters both military and civilian were not available so over night
they ship headed for Cabo and took the crew member via a tender ashore
to meet an ambulance to a hospital. From there we took off again to
continue south for our next port.
Today more Casino and Bingo to see if we can pay for this cruise! (Lots
of luck!) Oh, also this morning we booked our next cruise. We are
scheduled to take the ms Prinsendam on a 21 day transatlantic cruise
from Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam, Netherlands in May. That should be
fun as we can flu or train from Amsterdam to Florence, Italy to meet
Julie, Bill, Will and Alexa for a bit.

Christmas Eve at Sea

This morning we are sailing south along the Mexican Coast and it
certainly doesn't seem at all like Christmas Eve. The ship is decorated
for Christmas, the Atrium has decorated Christmas trees and some of the
waiters and stewards are wearing Santa Claus hats but it doesn't seem
like Christmas when you look out the window and see nothing but water.
This afternoon we are going to a wine tasting session. After that it is
bingo - the main reason we cruise! Dinner tonight is listed as "Formal
Optional" and I don't have the faintest idea what that means. I am
assume that some folks will be wearing tuxedos and others Dockers and
Izod shirt. I will opt for the latter because tomorrow is a Formal
night (no option).

Aboard the ms Amsterdam

We are now on board the ms Amsterdam for our two week cruise through the
Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale. Because this is a holiday cruise, the
ship is full and all cabins are occupied. We have a problem with mold
in the bathroom (the 'head' for you sailors) so the cabin steward gave
it a thorough cleaning. Let's hope that that takes care of the
problem. Otherwise we are screwed as there are no other cabins.
It is 6.15 PM [the colon key on the keyboard is dead, hence the period
in the time rather than a colon] and after a shower we will head for a
Martini before dinner. We have requested fixed late seating at 8.00 PM
and a fixed table rather than the "as you please" dining. That
requires that you call every day and make a reservation or just go to
the dining room and wait in line. I don't like to wait in line for
anything!
That's it for now.

It's Cruise Day!

After four days with our daughter Colleen and her family and four days with our daughter Laura and her family, today our Panama Canal cruise starts from Long Beach.  Right now it is 7 AM here in Oak Park and it is about 45 degrees.  I must point out that this is California.  You know, warm, balmy weather.  What the hell happened! I hope that as we cruise south along Mexico and Central America it is warmer.

Even though it has been cold in both Eureka and Oak Park, we still had a great time.

In Oak Park, California

Since Saturday evening we have been visiting our daughter Laura and her family in Oak Park, CA.  Yesterday evening we attended a performance of Nutcracker Suite ballet which starred our granddaughters, Maris (Raggedy Ann) and Lily (a mouse).  Below is Maris as we head off to the Performing Arts Center.

 

Unfortunately, it is a bit cool here (hell no, it's cold) and here's to hoping that it warms up.

At the Beach (Samoa Peninsula)

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Originally uploaded by pjeagan2001

After breakfast at the Samoa Cookhouse, we went to the beach for pictures. These were for Colleen's Christmas pictures to send out. This picture I thought was great.

Eureka, CA

After all day yesterday in airplanes, we are in Eureka with Colleen, Robb and the twins.  The little ones are really getting big and on the move all the time.  At first they were a little bit (well, maybe more than a little bit) leery of Grandpa and Nana but that will eventually get over that.  I have found that tweaking and honking noses goes a long way to get to small kids.  We'll see.  Here is a picture of the darlings with their Santa Claus hats that Nana brought along.

On the Road

Tomorrow we will fly to Los Angeles and then north to Eureka were we will spend four days with Colleen and her family.  This will be the first chance to see the twins since they were in Florida last spring.  Then we will fly back to Los Angeles and spend four days with Laura and her family and on the 23rd we will start a cruise on the ms Amsterdam to get back home.  We are taking this cruise through the Panama Canal because we only had enough frequent-flyer points to fly First Class one way to California.  Therefore we had to cruise back!  We will add details on the trip and cruise here as we progress.

A Rochester Landmark

The railroad station above, located on West Main Street just west of Broad Street, was the passenger station for the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad (BR & P). This railroad came into existence in 1885 when the Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad was split into the Pittsburgh & State Line Railroad Company and the BR & P.  The BR & P was purchased by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1932 and I can recall seeing the B&O sign on the building when I lived in Rochester.  The building is no longer a railroad station but is even more famous as it had ever been.  Today it is the home of internationally famous (well, maybe not internationally) Nick Tahou's and the equally famous garbage plate. Quite a place!

King Ferry, NY

Above a screen capture from a Google Maps view of the rectory of Our Lady of the Lake Church in King Ferry, NY.  I'm sure that my sisters and cousins will recognize this from summer visits to our Uncle Joe - Rev. Joseph T. Maloney when he was the pastor there.  Behind the trees on the left is the church and behind the church is the cemetery.  Before looking at the photo, my memory had a picture of a much bigger house.  I guess it wasn't that big.  Too bad there is not a side view from the right so we could see the pump on the side porch.  I guess there was running water in the house but drinking water came from the well via the pump.  Does that make sense?  It was a long time ago.

As far as I know there is no longer a priest in King Ferry.  Like a number of churches in the Diocese of Rochester they have combined with other churches with one priest.  In the case of King Ferry the priest is located in Auburn at the end of the lake.

Rochester Telephone Book for 1910

The Monroe County Public Library has an ongoing project to digitize local books for the area.  This is a part of its Local History work.  Among the newest books to be digitized are the Bell Telephone Directory for 1910 and 1912 and on page 68 of the 1910 version we find my great-grandmother:

Eagan, Patrick Mrs., Res. 108 Atkinson . . . . . . Main 690

She is also found in the 1912 version on page 70 at the same address and the same number.  I suspect that numbers that have a number followed by a letter were party line.  Those without a letter were single lines.  I remember that our number on Flint Street was Genesee 5577-M.

St. Patrick's Cemetery

In October I posted an account of Cemeteries in Rochester, NY.  In that post I noted that a number of siblings of my paternal grandfather were originally buried in the cemetery associated with St. Patrick's Church and later reburied in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.  Recently I came across a portion of a plat for the Pinnacle Hill area that shows St. Patrick's Cemetery.  Note that the city line goes through the cemetery.  In addition, note the location of St. Boniface Cemetery at the corner of Highland Parkway and Clinton Ave, South.

My Christmas Present

Here is my Christmas present from my lovely wife.  This is for our travels and will be inaugurating it on our California/Panama Canal trip starting two weeks from today.  You will note that the operating system is Windows XP but it will be changed to Linux (the Ubuntu version).

Thanksgiving in Scottsdale

Nancy and I spent six days over Thanksgiving in Scottsdale, AZ with three of our daughters and their families.  Here is a video of some of what we did.  The best part is the beginning with my grandson, Will, doing some of the driving.