Orlando

The annual MARS conference, hosted by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is a cross-domain event aimed at sharing ideas across the rapidly growing fields of Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics, and Space. Hands-on learning and emerging technology demonstrations form the majority of the invitation-only event, with opportunities for attendees to meet and learn from each other. MARS…

Washington, DC

We’d both been to Washington D.C. before, but had never spent much time the National Mall area. So when a business trip brought James to Rockville, Maryland we opted to spend the previous weekend in the capital. In a busy couple of days, we attended a Capitals NHL game, visited the National Air and Space…

Lotusland

Santa Barbara’s spectacular botanical garden Ganna Walska Lotusland was the former estate of Polish opera singer Ganna Walska and is considered one of the top ten botanical gardens in the world. The 37-acre (15 ha) garden contains over 3,500 different plants from around the world, many quite rare. Similar species are grouped together to form…

Israel

Tel Aviv’s historic Old Jaffa neighborhood was founded more than 4,000 years ago, and is one of the oldest port cities in the world. Over the centuries a virtual Who’s Who of civilizations and leaders have conquered and ruled the city, ideally perched on the Mediterranean Sea, including the Egyptians, Alexander the Great, the Greeks,…

The Spy Museum in Washington, DC – Part 4

continued… In 1945, WWII ended and then-President Truman dissolved the OSS. But with the Cold War brewing, people convinced Truman they needed to peacetime intelligence agency to prevent another Pearl Harbor from happening. To try to garner public support, they … Continue reading

Fall Updates

“As leaves cover the forest floor in a carpet of vibrant rusts, orange and gold, Autumn proves that sometimes death, too, can be a beautiful thing.” – Nikita Gill

Our fall has been busy and it’s hard to believe how fast this year has flown by. There are so many things to keep us busy in this area and we love it. Pennsylvania and New York seem to love fall and there are fall pumpkin stands and festivals everywhere. Here’s a look at some of the things that kept us busy this fall. 
I decided to break this blog post into categories instead of by date. Our biggest activity in the fall is saying goodbye to The Pearl and getting her ready for the winter. So here are pictures of our last days in Ithaca. They were filled with great sunsets and beautiful temperatures.
We never get tired of watching these balloons
or the full moon.
Our favorite place to eat or just have dessert is The Boatyard Grill.
The gulls are moving in and are happy the boats are leaving.
Stan leaving Ithaca…the end of another great year on the lake.
Our last view from The Pearl…one in the evening the other our last morning on the boat.

Goodbye…we’ll see you in the spring.

We’ve stayed busy all year with family activities and they are the ones we enjoy the most. Going places with the kids and having them come play at the house makes life awesome.
What would fall be without football games?

Campfires and s’mores are even better in the fall.

The kids came over one weekend to enjoy the Woolly Worm Winter Weather Prognostication and Fall Festival. We had fun taking part in family activities, looking through craft booths, listening to music and having lunch in the park.

One afternoon we rode our bikes to Mifflinburg to enjoy their October Fest.

Our yard is beginning to look like fall.

We’re enjoying all the fall squashes…this is butternut squash soup with fresh basil, parmesan cheese and pumpkin seeds on top.
Stan made these poblano rellenos and they were delicious. 
We usually eat at the Boathouse Grill on our last night at the marina, but they were closed so we celebrated the end of the season by going to Elizabeth’s in Lewisburg. It’s a beautiful little restaurant but not as good as the Boatyard.
I had the bistro carbonara pasta and Stan had the fall tasting menu which included chick pea salad, lemon baked trout and cheese cake. We shared the salad and dessert.

Fall Updates

“As leaves cover the forest floor in a carpet of vibrant rusts, orange and gold, Autumn proves that sometimes death, too, can be a beautiful thing.” – Nikita Gill

Our fall has been busy and it’s hard to believe how fast this year has flown by. There are so many things to keep us busy in this area and we love it. Pennsylvania and New York seem to love fall and there are fall pumpkin stands and festivals everywhere. Here’s a look at some of the things that kept us busy this fall. 

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

The Spy Museum in Washington, DC – Part 3

continued… We can’t remember what the purpose of this machine was… since it was in the exfiltration section, we think it may have been a machine used to help train spies on escaping capture. There was a small theater playing … Continue reading

Granville Island

We’ve spent many nights at Granville Island in Vancouver over the years, all of them in our first boat on the public dock managed by the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires. The little-known gem was right below Bridges restaurant, where we enjoyed many meals, and steps from the excellent public market. Moored at Granville Island in…

The Spy Museum in Washington, DC – Part 2

continued… There was a room on cryptography. Since Eric was a cryptographer, he was especially interested in this one. There was a display about various encryption tools that date back thousands of years — and were commonly used until relatively … Continue reading