The Madness of Airline Fares

Yesterday I was checking on American Airlines flights from Miami to Barcelona, Spain in November for our two week transatlantic cruise to Ft. Lauderdale. I was most interested in the number of flights each day to Barcelona rather than the cost because we will fly on stand-by passes. (It paid to have a flight attendant in the family!)  I knew that there was a difference - sometimes a substantial difference - in the fares between round-trip and one-way trips.  Ready for the difference? A one-way flight from Miami to Barcelona (via JFK) is $2830 per person. A round-trip flight from Miami to Barcelona and return (again via JFK) is $399 per person! Madness!!

Death Certificate for Francis G. Maloney

Another document from the Civil War Widow Pension records for Francis Maloney and Sarah Weed Maloney Hawkins. This is the death certificate from the office of the County Clerk of Jackson  Co., Michigan.

Today's Civil War Pension Records

The first document today is an affidavit made on September 27, 1920 where Sarah Weed Maloney Hawkins describes Francis Maloney's physical characteristics. In addition she states that she has no document containing Francis' signature.

This second affidavit made on July 12, 1912 states that she married Francis Maloney on May 10, 1866 in Leoni Township.MI and the only living person (in 1912) who witnessed the wedding was Albert Helmer. (An affidavit made by Albert Helmer is found here.)

Additional Assorted Civil War Pension Records

This first form is from the Bureau of Pensions containing information pertaining to Francis Maloney's dates in Federal service with the 54th Infantry Regiment, NY National Guard.

This letter from the Bureau of Pensions asking for a tracing of the signature of Francis Maloney. In a later document my great-grandmother states that she has no tracing of his signature.

This last document for today is an affidavit from Albert Helmer of Parma, MI (near Jackson). Albert, probably another cousin of Sarah Weed Maloney Hawkins, states that he was a witness at the wedding of Francis and Sarah.

Civil War Pension Affidavit of John and Belle Helmer

This is an affidavit of John and Belle Helmer, a brother and sister and cousins of Sarah Weed Maloney Hawkins.  Sarah Weed's grandmother (my third great-grandmother), Lena Harter, married Philip Helmer after the death of her first husband.  The affidavit, as a number of others, states that Sarah Weed married Francis Maloney and, following his death, married John Hawkins.

Additional Maloney Civil War Pension Affidavits

Here are additional Civil War Widow Pension records from the National Records. My great-grandfather, Sarah Weed Maloney Hawkins, received a pension based on my great-grandfather, Francis G. Maloney, serving in the Civil War in 1864 when his NY National Guard regiment was mustered into the Union Army. She applied for the pension following the death of her second husband, John Hawkins. This first document from the County Clerk's Office of Jackson County, MI stating that they were not able to locate a record of the marriage of my great-grandparents. Later we shall see affidavits from persons who attended to wedding.

The following is an affidavit from George Johnson of Leoni Township, MI who knew both Sarah Weed and Francis Maloney. He also states that he was acquainted  with Elder Hodgkins who married my great-grandparents.

This last affidavit (the last for today) made by Francis Maloney's sister, Minnie, and one of his brothers, Thomas, states that Francis did not marry anyone other that Sarah Weed and they were never divorced.

Maloney Civil War Pension Affadavits

Some additional records for the Widow's Pension that my great-grandmother received as a result of my great-grandfather, Francis Maloney, serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. In this affidavit, my great-grandmother, Sarah Weed Maloney Hawkins, states that she had no sons or any other relatives that served in World War I.

 

This next is a request from the government that probably precipitated the above affidavit.

In the next affidavit, my great-grandmother states that her second husband, John Hawkins, never served in any branch of the Armed Services.

Another Civil War Pension Record Form

Another of the forms included in the Civil War Widow pension records of my great-grandparents provided to me by the National Archives.

Army Discharge for Capt. Francis G. Maloney

This is the Discharge record for my great-grandfather, Francis Maloney. He was a member of the 54th Infantry Regiment, New York National Guard and commanded Company "I" of the regiment. Later he was promoted to Major and served as the Regimental Major. The 54th Infantry Regiment was mustered into the US Army in July 1864 and was mustered out in November of the same year. The 5th Regiment served as guards at the Prisoner of War camp in Elmira, NY.

Widow's Pension Records for Sarah Weed Maloney Hawkins

Quite a few years ago I requested copies of Civil War Pension records of my great-grandfather, Francis Maloney, from the National Archives. The records are for the pension that my great-grandmother, Sarah Weed Maloney Hawkins, received when her second husband, John Hawkins, died in 1919. The pension was granted in 1920. Here is the cover sheet for the records from the National Archives:

My Favorite Airline

As I have mentioned earlier, when flying especially in Europe I try to find the cheapest flights and this generally turns out to be EasyJet. Next summer we plan to take a two week cruise along the coast of Norway. This cruise both starts and ends in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. After we would like to take a ten day cruise up the Elbe River from Prague, Czech Republic to Berlin. Therefore I wanted to see what flights from Amsterdam to Prague and Berlin to London (we assume passes on American Airlines from Miami to London to get to Europe and back). On Kayak the cheapest flights are on Lufthansa and for two of us it would be about $450.  On EasyJet is is $155. What a deal!

New 'Countries Visited' Map

Here is my new 'Countries Visited' map following recent cruise:

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

President Obama's Announcement - Abbreviated Version

Back Home

Arrived at Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) on Tuesday morning after a wonderful five or so weeks away. Although we visited a number of countries that we have seen before, we added six new countries to our list: Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Now I have to upload our photos to Flickr. That may take a bit.

We come home and find that Donald Trump is in the "news" as a possible candidate as President of the United States. Once more it proves my point that we are a nation of morons!

Funchal, Madeira

Wednesday April 20, 2011 2:10 PM (10:10 AM EDT)

Yesterday we were on the island of Madeira in the city of Funchal. This
port off the northwest coast of Morroco is our last stop before we head
across the Atlantic toward Fort Lauderdale. This is, I believe, our
third visit to Funchal. Most transatlantic cruises stop at least one of
three island groups before hitting the continent, the other two being
the Azores and the Canaries.

This was the first time that we opted not to take the cable car to top
of the island but rather we took the "hop-on hop-off" bus that takes a
couple of hours tour around Funchal and nearby villages. This gives you
a view of the entire area from different spots.

This again was a short visit as some of the others on this cruise.
Because of a storm in the Atlantic, the Captain chose to leave the port
at 3:00 PM and to sail around the bulk of the storm. As it turns out the
storm is not as strong as predicted although today the seas are rough.
We'll make it though! Now for six days of rest and relaxation (plus Bingo).

Spain - Cartagena and Cadiz

Monday April 18, 2011 11:45 AM (5:45 AM EDT)

Today we are in the Atlantic where we will land tomorrow morning at
Funchal on the island of Madeira, a part of Portugal. Yesterday we were
in Cadiz, Spain and on Saturday we were in Cartagena also in Spain. Both
of these ports we have visited on a number of occasions. In both towns
we just walked from the ship and strolled along the streets and watched
people. Yesterday we 'camped' on the steps of Cadiz's Cathedral with our
laptop and checked Nancy's Yahoo mail (193 emails!) and listened the
voicemail messages on Vonage. It takes too long and too expensive to do
those things on board the ship and its WiFi service.
show
Just an update on Friday's post concerning the Roulette tournament.
After the preliminary rounds I moved down from forth place to sixth
place. Still enough to qualify for the finals. After four spins I was
probably third in number of chips left but was lucky on the fifth spin
after betting all of my chips, most on number seven. Even today in the
casino the results of the tournament - "Patrick 1st Place." And the
prize was $175. Not too shabby.

Rome, Italy

Friday April 15, 2011 3:05 PM (9:05 AM EDT)

Yesterday we docked early in the morning at the port at Civitavecchia,
the port city for Rome. It was cold (low fifties) and looked like rain
but later in the day became quite nice. After an early breakfast we took
an bus tour to the site of early Christian catacombs. Although there is
a legend that early Christians hid in the catacombs to avoid capture by
pagan Roman soldiers, such is just that - legend. The catacombs were
burial sites for Christians. The one that we visited was the Catacombe
Domitilla. There are additional ones in the same area south of Rome.
Unfortunately, no photos are allowed in the catacombs.

Following our visit to the catacombs we traveled further south, crossing
the ancient Appian Way, to Castel Gandolfo, the Pope's summer residence.
When I had always read of the Pope staying in Castel Gabdolfo in the
news I always picture it as high on a remote hill, secluded by itself.
As you can see from the enclosed photo, it is at the end of the street
in a small town.

From the Papal residence, we went to what used to be an old farm house
high in the hills. Today it is a restaurant, winery, pizzarea, etc. for
lunch. The location is called Mount of Tow Towers although the two
towers no longer stand. During the second World War the Germans occupied
the area and they used the towers as a look out point. At the time of
the landing at Anzio, the towers were shelled and demolished by the allies.

Today is a day at sea as we sail for Cartegena, Spain. This afternoon is
a roulette tournament and yours truly is currently number four in the
tournament. In 30 minutes, the top six players will contest for the
finals. We'll see.

Naples, Italy

Wednesday April 13, 2011 11:00 AM (5:00 AM EDT)

Yesterday and today we are in Naples, Italy. Yesterday we traveled to
the ruins of Pompeii and today we are sticking close to the ship because
of the weather . . . it is raining. We had planned to take a tour of the
city on the "hop-on hop-off" bus but the rain and the temperature (58
degrees) has put the kabosh on that. In lieu of that we walked over to
the terminal and wandered through its shops and had an espresso.

Yesterday we went to visit the ruins of Pompeii as it had been more than
twenty five years since we had been there. It is still in ruins! I would
have included a photo or two with this post but I am composing this post
in the ship's library and I have yet to copy yesterday's photos from our
cameras to the netbook. (Our cabin is currently being cleaned.) I don't
know the original size of Pompeii but it was quite large and only a
portion of it has been excavated. It is quite an interesting site and
the portion that has been excavated shows a rich port city of almost two
thousand years ago. A large portions of some homes remain and a large
"shed" contains pieces of furniture and utensils are there. Also are
bodies (encased in hardened lava) shown as they were struck down by the
eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

This afternoon at about 5:30 PM we will leave Naples and sail up the
coast about 150 km to Cittevecchia, the port city for Rome where we will
spend the day tomorrow.

Athens, Greece

Monday April 11, 2011 12:10 PM (5:10 AM EDT)

Yesterday we were in Athens, Greece. We arrived at the port of Piraeus
early in the morning and after breakfast we boarded a bus to travel to
Athens itself for a tour. This was our third time in Athens so most
places were familiar to us. The tour consists of a bus tour of the
downtown area and the Plaka area where a number of excavated site are
found. In addition we also climbed up to the Acropolis to see the
Parthenon. Being a Sunday it was very crowded all the way up and down.
The weather was nice although a bit breezy but a very nice way to spend
part of the day.

Today we are on our way to Naples, Italy where we will spend two days
and then on to Civitavecchia, the port city for Rome. This morning we
also booked a cruise for next June that will be two weeks up and down
visiting the fjords of Norway.

Kusadasi, Turkey

Sunday April 10, 2011 4:55 PM (9:55 AM EDT)

Friday and Saturday, the 8th and 9th of April, we were in the port of
Kusadasi in the western part of Turkey on the Aegean Sea. For the first
day we did very little other than a stroll of the seaside portion of
Kusadasi.

On the second day we took a tour sponsored by the American Express
Mariner Club. We motored from the port to Ephesus for a quick look at
this 2,000 year old city a portion of it excavated. We opted not to take
a longer tour to Ephesus as we spent time there twice before on cruises.
From Ephesus we drove a short distance to the small town of Selcuk, the
site of the ruins of the ancient Temple of Artemis. Very little of the
temple still stands although a couple of columns are still there. On the
top of one column is a nest of storks. In fact we noticed quite a few
(maybe a half dozen) nests perched on top of columns and unused chimneys.

Also in Selcuk we visited the Basilica of St. John the Apostle. Based on
an item in the New Testament, locals note that St. John was there and
legend has it that he is buried here. The tomb in the Basilica is
clearly noted but the tomb site is of fairly recent origin.

From Selcuk we drove to the town of Sirince for a wine tasting and then
lunch. All in all a nice day. When the bus returned to the ship we were
dropped at a large carpet shop near to the ship. We and quite a few
others opted not to visit the shop and hoofed it to the ship. Shopping
is not for us.