Birdman of Alcatraz

In preparing for our trip to San Francisco and the Monterey Bay area, my brother suggested we watch Birdman of Alcatraz. The 1962 film stars Burt Lancaster and was filmed while the birdman of Alcatraz, Robert Stroud, was still living and imprisoned. He was in prison from 1909 until his death in 1963.

The film tells his amazing story and only about the last third takes place at Alcatraz. Much of the film describes how he became an expert on birds and their diseases, with only a 3rd grade education. I was amazed at Robert Stroud's level of dedication and learning while imprisoned. What an amazing story! And, there is a lot of "nature" woven into the story... you even get to watch a canary hatch! (And, though Alex and I really enjoyed it, I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. It does get violent at times and there are other parts you might want to monitor.)

Great Sites for Planning Vacations

As I'm busy preparing for our upcoming trip to San Francisco, I thought I'd share two sites I use to help in my planning.

 San Diego - January 2009

The first site is TripAdvisor.com. This site is great for finding both hotels and things to do. What I love most about it are the reviews. "Real people" who have really stayed in the hotels or went to the museums, etc, tell you what they think about them. You get to hear their experiences - the good and the bad. Also, the hotels and activities are then ranked in order of popularity. It really helps me to find some of the special things that I wouldn't have found otherwise.

Scotland - July 2009

The other site is Travel for Kids. What I like best about this site are the book lists. It gives you a book list (both picture books and books for other children) related to your destination. Although this site doesn't cover as many places as Trip Advisor, we have got to use it for Ireland, Scotland, San Deigo, Chicago, New York City, and now San Francisco.

We Bought Our Tickets...

...last night to San Francisco!

(free clipart)

Although there are many things we want to see in the area, our number one objective is to see the giant redwoods! We are also looking forward to exploring the tide pools as it was one of our highlights in both San Diego and Scotland.

(more free clipart)

We will be gone about a week and hope to spend time in San Francisco and the surrounding areas. I'm busy researching hotels and all of the places we might go. This is a little more complicated than most trips I plan because we won't be staying in one location the whole time. Usually, we pick a large city and go to a hotel and then visit the sites from there. For this trip, we will probably stay in at least 3 hotels. So, there is a lot more research to be done! But, tripadvisor is a wonderful place to get help! I love reading the reviews of people who have actually stayed at a certain hotel or went on a certain tour. It really helps me to decide if it is something we should consider doing.

I know several of you live in the San Francisco area, so I might be asking for some advice in the weeks to come. And, I'm so excited to be planning another trip! (You do know I love to travel, right?)

Dickens on the Strand

Yesterday afternoon, Alex and I drove south through the snow to Galveston. (We stayed at Hilton Galveston Island Resort which we loved!) And, the snow followed us all the way to the island! This photo was taken this morning (Saturday). What a difference a day makes! Last night (Friday), we went out to dinner at Rainforest Cafe and then to Moody Gardens where we visited the aquarium and saw a 4D production of Polar Express. It was a neat show - complete with wind blowing on us, water splashing us, lights flashing, etc. But, we were shocked that they'd condensed the whole movie into about 15 minutes!!!

We spent the night in a wonderful hotel (we'll definitely use it again!) and had lots of fun. We made hot chocolate and watched the DVD of Polar Express on Alex's small TV she'd brought with her. We really had a wonderful evening! This morning, we headed to Dickens on the Strand.

I've wanted to go for years, but this is the first time we've made it. It is a pretty large festival in the historic Strand district of Galveston. There are lots of people dressed in Victorian costumes - including this WONDERFUL Marley's Ghost! A lot of the people who come to see this event dress in costumes, too. And, everyone is so wonderful about having their photos taken.

Some Beefeaters. Did you see the sign above them... "Welcome to the Nut House?" It is really a place where they are selling nuts, but I thought the photo turned out funny. Alex actually bought nuts there. There is LOTS of food for sell!

Alex posing with some constables.

There are lots of singers, and this was our favorite group. They were singing a very silly song. We LOVE their dresses! There are acts like this on stages and street corners every where you go!

And, here comes Queen Victoria! I was thrilled to see her. Unfortunately, I really didn't get a very good photo. She was surrounded by her entourage of Beefeaters wherever she went. The town cryer (I think that is his title) is in the blue and gold.

Alex is watching her favorite performance here.

This was Alex's favorite performer - Mary Merrie. She did all kinds of juggling and strange things. :-) She had broken her wrist 9 weeks ago - just like Alex! (Alex broke hers 3 weeks ago.) Alex laughed & laughed at one of her skits. She really was entertaining.

Alex had her hair done up in a neat hair thing. I don't even know what to call it. She really wanted it, but it was $35! I just couldn't see spending that much.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus.... shopping! I wonder who they're shopping for!

The last thing we did was watch the Queen's parade. We loved these Victorian bicycles. We also saw a lot of the acts we'd already seen - singers, etc. We had a wonderful time and stayed pretty warm, especially in the sun. It was only in the 40's, but we stopped at WalMart and bought some gloves, scarves, and ear covers. I am so glad we went to Dickens on the Strand and plan on going back next year!

How We Prepared for NYC

I try to prepare for our vacations by reading information about places we might see and visit. I should have posted this a long time ago, but here are some of the resources we used while getting ready for NYC:

• From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg - Alex read this on her own. My mistake was in not reading it, too, so we could have found some of the places mentioned in the Met. I could have even set up a scavenger hunt - there is probably one online.
• You Can't Take a Balloon Into the Metropolitan Museum by Weitzman - We LOVED this book! It is a wordless book and we "read" it several times while taking turns adding the narration.
• the Adventures of Amelia the Pigeon website - We went through the story on this site a few years ago and Alex did this on her own this year. It is a cute story and gives background on places like Central Park & Battery Park.
• You Wouldn't Want to be a Worker on the Statue of Liberty by John Malam - about the Statue of Liberty, of course!
• Johanes Vermeer (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) by Venezia - to prepare us for the special exhibit of Vermeer at the Met.
• Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett - also for the special exhibit.
• The Day That Was Different: September 11, 2001 - When America Was Attacked by Terrorists by Carole Marsh - for the site of the World Trade Center.

I'm busy planning for a trip or two this spring. I'll let you know soon where we're going!

5 Places I Most Want to Visit Outside of the U.S.

Here's the 2nd part of my list - places I most want to visit outside of the U.S.:

1. Rome, Italy
2. pyramids in Egypt
3. London, England
4. Paris, France
5. Australia

5 Places I Most Want to Visit in the US

Kathryn (3rd grade) at Faith Girl posted a list of "Places I Want to Go." I thought this was a wonderful idea! I'm going to make my list in 2 parts: places in the US and places outside of the US. So, here is my top 5 U.S. list:

1. Washington, D.C.
2. Colonial Williamsburg
3. Boston
4. Alaska
5. California - to see giant sequoias

I hope to make a trip to one of them this spring!!!

What would be on your list??? If you post about it, please let me know. (And, it doesn't have to be limited to 5.)