Archives for July 2009

Gene and I planned to visit here a few years ago and spend the weekend on Sanibel Island.  Well there was the small matter of a hurricane named Charley.  When we found out where the I-CAN meeting was going to be this year, we included an extra day in our plan so that we could hopefully accomplish this visit.  I am so glad we did.

A visit to the Edison & Ford Winter Estates is truly special.    These two men are icons of American business.  Some interesting facts:

• Ford worked for Edison before he began manufacturing automobiles.
• Edison searched the world for plants to bring to the estates.
• Edison, Ford and Harvey Firestone sought out plants that contained latex for the manufacture of rubber.
• The Banyan Tree shown in the picture above, is now over an acre in diameter, and it is understood to be the second largest in the world.

If you have the chance you should take a 1/2 day and visit.  You might want to choose a bit cooler weather, but come early in the day.  The crowds get heavier as the day goes on, even in the hot weather.  This is one those destinations I seek out in traveling “The Glamour of the Road”.  Enjoy our pictures.

SmugMug Photos

Technorati Tags: travel,Edison,Ford,Sanibel Island,Banyan Tree,Glamour of the Road,destinations

This morning I really didn’t feel like getting on an airplane and traveling for 4 hours.  Also, I had not received an upgrade to 1st class by the time I arrived at the airport.  I just wasn’t a very happy camper.

I did receive the 1st class upgrade just before boarding.  My day brightened immediately.  What I didn’t know how much more my day would be mean by receiving this upgrade.  I went and stood by the poll close to the Priority Boarding area.  The ticket agent pre-boarded a lady in a wheel chair and a spry, elderly gentlemen with a white tipped cane for the visually impaired.

Each year I am required to do 20 hours of classroom time to maintain my CIC designation.  For my non-insurance friends this is an insurance designation titled Certificated Insurance Counselor.  Once you have the designation, there are number of different types of curriculum available in different places around the US.   My first challenge is year is what I want to take and then where I want to go.

Several years ago we had the opportunity to visit Annapolis on a cold Sunday afternoon for lunch and a few shops.  I saw a class I was interested in and low and behold it was in Annapolis on a week I had available.  So it was meant to be.

My words for Annapolis are charming, historical and beautiful.  There are row houses, with almost each one a designated historical building.  Numerous great old buildings with wonderful architecture.  The Maryland State House is located here.  It is the oldest State House in the nation in continuous use.  It was also undergoing some renovation, but as you can see from the photos it is a grand old building.

Let’s talk about the food.  All of this area is famous for the blue crabs.  Oh my goodness.  I remembered these from my first visit and other visits to the Baltimore area and couldn’t wait.  Well there were blue crabs as lunch the day we went to the Navel Academy and several other occasions that week for crab cakes.  I am so glad we had the opportunity to spend some time in this wonderful area of our country.  Another good event in our travels on The Glamour of the Road.