12/21 to 01/03 Visiting Chuck and Family

    12/21 to 01/03

West Palm Beach, FL

Welcome back. Here's hoping you've had enjoyable experiences during these past holiday seasons. And now, life goes on. With this blog, I'm happy to share the highlights of my stay with son, Chuck and family in West Palm Beach. The food, activities and attractions were abundant and memorable. As usual, check out the RED highlighted links for more information. Enjoy the ride.

Fortunately, there's a spot for Winnie along side the house for my stay. With an adapter, I'm able to access power to keep me cool and the frig running.

A snug fit but it works out nicely. With access through the gate behind Winnie, I'm within walking distance to everything.

Merry Christmas to all. 

My first evening there, I joined the gang and visited the Flagler Museum for "Christmas at Whitehall." 

This is Henry Morrison Flagler's home built for his ailing wife, Mary, the third of three. Flagler was a key figure in the development of Florida. The link above gives his biography and accomplishments.

Each year during the winter holiday season, Whitehall's first floor is transformed into a Christmas wonderland with historically accurate greenery, trimmings, and ribbons. 

Visitors are greeted by talented Carolers at the front door.

Whitehall, Henry Flagler's Gilded Age estate in Palm Beach, was "proclaimed as more wonderful than any palace in Europe, grander and more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world." If you're interested you can take a 7-minute tour by clicking this LINK HERE.

The focal point is a 16-foot-tall Christmas Tree in the Grand Hall, adorned with colored electric "fairy" lights and traditional Gilded Age-style ornaments. 

Ed, our tour guide was most knowledge and like a lot of the tour guides I've encountered in my travels, went into great detail immersing tour participants into an incredible era most of us know very little of. 

The Art Gallery is one of 75 rooms spread across 100,00 square feet. Rather than show all 35+ photos I took along the tour here, I've created a page for the interested to explore HERE.

After the tour, visitors were treated to either Southern Vanilla Cream, Mulled Cider or Egg Nog and an assortment of cookies.

ACR, Mary, Chuck and Sara; but where's Silvia?

Mary, Silvia, Chuck, ACR

Christmas Eve, we attended Mass at St. Ann's Church.

As part of the Nativity Pageant, the first grade shepherds await their cue to participate when teacher, Maureen McClure read the classic biblical story of the birth of Our Lord and Savior. In the background, note to soon-to-be-baby Jesus in the arms of his mother, Mrs. Perez. 

When first grader "Mary" was seated, (live) baby Jesus was placed in her lap for the duration (10-minutes) of the story with not a peep. Most mothers in the congregation, I'm sure, watched nervously noting the distance from "Mary's" lap to the marble floor. It all ended well which could have been the second miracle of the season.

After Mass, our Christmas dinner was followed by the annual construction of a Gingerbread House.

Stuffing

Herb roasted potatoes

Roasted cauliflower

Homemade cranberry sauce

Spanakopita 

And last, but not least, Aunt Judy's gift, from Rastelli's. A boneless carving ham from the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. 

Hardwood smoked and topped with a sweet and tangy honey glaze. Thank you, Aunt Judy.

Thank you, Chuck, Silvia and Aaron for yet another treat.

Merry Christmas

Gingerbread House

Making the "icing"/"cement' with an egg white and icing sugar.

Master craftsmen at work  providing laughter as we realized there's room for growth in artistic technique.

Clearly, creativity took a personal day

Then there's the food:

A Saturday evening, our gang from West Palm traveled south to Deerfield Beach to join cousin Norma and her gang at Luigi di Roma which you may remember from my last visit while staying in Delray Beach.

L. to R. David, Cheri, Aaron, Silvia, Chuck, Mia, Scott, Charlie, Kori, Carlo, Norma, Mary

Tonight's special: Lobster ravioli with a lobster cream sauce.

From Lynora's Kitchen, an afternoon's lunch on the patio.

On another afternoon, back from shopping, a stop at Dontees Diner. Yes, onion rings were shared.

Of course, we had to have one of Chuck's outstanding pizzas.

New Years Eve Dinner:

Grandson, Aaron was in charge of preparing the steaks for the New Years Eve dinner. They were done to perfection, an outstanding job. Thank you, Aaron.

How appropriate to enjoy a Silvia Cabernet with Silvia.

Yup, I ate Brussels sprouts.

A picture perfect meal. Happy New Year.

We took a short trip to downtown West Palm Beach to see the New Years Eve Light Show featuring "the sand castle in West Palm Beach. It is actually a sand sculpture known as Sandi, a 700-ton sand tree that stands 35 feet tall. It is a popular attraction during the holiday season as part of the Holiday in Paradise event. Sandi is located on the Great Lawn in Downtown West Palm Beach and is illuminated nightly, creating a mesmerizing display for visitors. The sculpture is part of the Sandi Land event, which includes various activities such as story time with Sandi and pop-up musical entertainment. The event usually starts around December 5th and continues throughout the holiday season."

And to end my stay, our last Christmas gift from Chuck and Silvia, included a concert. West Palm Beach's 29th year Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.  As photos and filming are strictly prohibited, you can catch a glimpse of the event HERE. 

The concert hall with a touch of Art Deco, was beautiful, spacious and a reminder of the opulence and culture that is synonymous with West Palm Beach.

Officially opened in 1992, the hall seats 2,195. The "Hall of Donors" of $50,000 and up reads like a local telephone directory.

Hungarian born Gregory Vajda, conducted the The Strauss Symphony of America. 

Brian Cheney from New York City was tonight's tenor.

Sera Gösch, soprano from Vienna.

Beginning with Rossini's Overture to William Tell and concluding with Strauss's Tik-Tak Polka from Die Fledermaus and Auld Lang Syne, conductor Vajda, maintained a brisk paced presentation of arias, duets, waltzes and polkas performed by three amazing, in-synch dance couples from Budapest.  It was an impressive event. Thank you, Silvia and Chuck for the treat.

For those readers outside my local circle of family and friends, I had the honor of being interviewed by my "home town" newspaper, the Peekskill Herald. As part of their "Where Are They Now" series, journalist, Wendy Healy and I held a 45-minute phone interview which was published December 26th. You can READ IT HERE. A more accurate depiction of mapping my travels as seen in a previous blog is shown below.

The beauty of RV life is that you can chase your dreams, follow the sunset, or greet the dawn, all while carrying your comforts with you." - Unknown

To travel across this beautiful land in an RV is to understand how blessed we are to call America home." - Anonymous

"There's something magical about waking up to a new view every day, all from the comfort of your own space." - Anonymous