A week in Orlando

We spent last week in Orlando since we had an RCI Timeshare exchange that was going to run out. We were lucky enough to find a resort that had a 2 bedroom unit available. That being the case, we invited our friends in Tampa, Jim and Donna Henry to join us. They arrived several days after we did but we got plenty of time to visit, sight see, shop and dine together.

Carol and I found an Elks Lodge in Orlando that was quite active so we went there for dinner on 2 evenings before Jim and Donna arrived. The Lodge had music for dancing both evenings. The Saturday evening was very nice since they had a ballroom dance group attending and we got to see a lot of really good dancing. One couple did a Tango demonstration which was quite professional.

We also went there with Jim and Donna one evening for dinner and entertainment. The members put on a variety show which was very good. They have some excellent talent in the lodge. Here we are at the Lodge.

Later in the week the four of us visited the Catholic Basilica in Orlando. It is know as Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine.A very beautiful church and more modern than I expected. Here we all are at the shrine.

The most exciting event of the week was on Wednesday when I realized I had left my credit card at the Olive Garden restaurant the on Monday!! As soon as I realized it we drove to there and they had the card in the safe waiting for me ..... along with a whole stack of other cards according to the manager!!

All in all it was a good week and visiting with Jim and Donna made it all that more enjoyable.

Trafford visit

Our last stop before heading  home was Trafford, where I was raised. Rey and Bibi Peduzzi were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and we did not want to miss it. I have known Rey for over 70 years!!

We normally park the motor home at the school lot but we decided to park at the Norwin Elks near Harrison City since they had power and water for us. My sister was going to be staying with us and since the generator was not starting easily I did not want to have any problems when we needed air conditioning.

It was really nice being there since we had a bar and restaurant right at our back door. I am sure we will use this camping spot in the future.

The other main reason for me stop in the Trafford area is to go to DaLallos Italian Store. We got over $50.00 of various food items. The main item I like is their sandwich size pepperoni. Their hot an mild Italian sausage is second to none. So we are now stocked up on Italian foods for a while.

The anniversary party was followed by a picnic the next day. I got to visit with a number of folks that I grew up with and of course got to visit with my sister a lot. It was a great week overall.

Sorry but I only took videos of the party so there are no pictures to post here.

Gettysburg, PA

Our next stop was Gettysburg and we toured the battlefields by getting an audio CD that allowed us to drive around from site to site at our leisure. I found Little Round Top one of the more interesting points of the battle. In the background of this picture you can see the Devil's Den where some of the toughest fighting swayed back and forth.

This is the view from the Devil's Den looking up to Little Round Top. Just imagine trying to make an attack up that hill in all of that open space.

Carol and I did get to sit with Abe for a while but he was not very talkative.

Since Abe would not talk to us we went to visit Ike's farm which is close by. Sorry, no pictures of it but we did find it to be a very nice visit.

Washington DC

We went from NYC to Washington DC and got a two day bus tour of the city. Even though we stopped by the White House we did not get an invitation to go in.

We did tour the interior of the Capitol and even saw some of a session of the House of Representatives. I don't know who was speaking but there was no one there to listen to him except those 25 or so in the gallery with us. Our government sure does operate strangely!

At Arlington Cemetery we did see the tomb of the unknown soldier and Kennedy's grave site. We found it interesting that not all the tombstones are like these shown below. These are the standard grave markers but prior to about 15 years ago it was permissible to use other than the standard marker. There were plenty of markers other than those you expect to see.

One of my classmates is buried in Arlington and I found out where he was buried and our last day in DC we drove to Arlington and located his grave site. As you can see, his marker is not the standard style. I did get surprised when we found his grave that his wife had also passed away 2 years ago.

More of NYC

Since we had been up the Empire Sate Building in the past, this trip we went to the Top of the Rock. From there we could see the Empire State Building as well as a great view of the city. It was a little hazy but we still had a great view.

Carol loves lions, being a Leo, and this is one we found at the FAO Swartz toy store.

In the Financial District they have a large bull for those aggressive investors. It is one of the most popular places to have your picture taken and we did not want to miss that opportunity.

Ellis Island

Since my grandparents on both sides of my family came to the USA through Ellis Island I wanted to visit it. I thought I might be able to get more information there than I could on-line but it was not so. We did enjoy the tour of the area and the presentations of the trials that the immagrants went through to get to the USA.

The ferry that got us to Ellis Island also went to the Statue of Liberty but we did not visit there. We had done that years before on our honeymoon and with our kids some years later.

New York City

After leaving Shinglehouse PA we headed to NYC and went into an RV campground in Jersey City, the closest RV campground to NYC. Our first day was spent on a bus tour and we got to go over the major parts of the city. Here we are in Central Park. The 40 foot tour bus had only Carol and I and one other person on the tour so we go very personalized attention

One of the stops on the tours was Rockefeller Center and here is Carol overlooking the ice skating rink which is a restaurant during the summer. Later in the week we came back here to see the Today Show in the morning.

The tour ended in the Ground Zero area and we could see that the new tower is over half way up to it's final height.


I am a big fan of Pastrami sandwiches and we got to have lunch at Katz's Deli on Houston Street in the lower East Side. What a fantastic sandwich!! We only got one and Carol could not even finish her half and I struggled to finish it for her.

After lunch we walked around Little Italy and Chinatown.