The Baltic Sea and more, May 2025: Part 2

 We decided to visit the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (given city rights in 1234) but not the neighboring island of Rügen, a popular tourist destination. The "new" bridge connecting the two is undergoing massive renovation, with long backups as everyone is forced onto the "old" two lane bridge.

Along the way we saw storks! It is hard to tell, but that is a stork nest on the chimney top. We also saw several flying. 

We also saw this. Graffii about the "local" football team is very common. 

We arrived in Stralsund and the major impression is of roadworks. Everywhere. We did manage to find the parking garage we were seeking, but it was definitely not easy.

We also learned something which proved true later as well. Just because a parking garage is named for an attraction, does not mean that it is actually near the attraction. Unless you consider a 10-minute walk near.

Our goal was the Ozeaneum (Ocean Musem), located in a lovely modern bulding on the waterfront. 

These may look like bird skeletons, but they are actually from whales!

They also have an aquarium.

We ate lunch at the museum cafe, and then admired the old buildings as we strolled back to the garage.

This was on the grounds of a pottery, made using shards. Love the eye!

We made our way back with difficulty out of the Old Town and Norbert decided we would, indeed, visit Rügen. Fortunately the traffic was very light and we had no back up.

It is a very large island! We avoided the beachy-resorty areas and headed to the Jasmund National Park, which feature the island's white chalk cliffs. There is a skywalk at one called the Königsstuhl (King's Chair). 

A lovely experience!

The afternoon traffic jam was apparently starting by the time we left, but fortunately for us it was backed up in the other direction. And I do mean backed up, quite a long way!

We topped off the day with a dinner of sandwiches from Aldi, which were quite good!

The Baltic Sea and more, May 2025

 On a Saturday in May, Norbert and I took off on a road trip to the former East Germany. His radio hobby group was having its annual get-together near Berlin, and we decided to combine it with visits to the Baltic Sea, which neither of us had ever visited, and the Meckleburgische Seenplatte (lake district), which we had long thought about visiting.

It was 7 hours or so to the sea, so we decided to cut the trip in half. Our firat night was at an Autobahn hotel just south of Hamburg. It was adequate, had everything one needed, even if it was an experience we probably won't repeat if it can be avoided,

The next day we continued on to the northeast. As we approached Wismar, with signs of its historic Old Town, we decided to take a look. We bumbled our way right to the town square, and easily found a parking place (Sunday morning made that easy.) 

History lesson: Wismar is a Hanseatic city, a major trading center of the Hanseatic League in the 14th and 15th centuries.

This building may look like a ruin, but it isn't. It was, however, built in 1380. It is called the "Alte Schwede" (Old Swede), in reference to the 17th and 18th centuries, when Wismar belonged to Sweden. There is now a restaurant in the building, bearing that name. 

Onward,

We soon arrive in our destination of Graal-Müritz, directly on the Baltic. It took us several tries to find out hotel, and frankly we never did figure out the direct way to get around in the town.

We stayed at the Hotel & Restaurant Kähler, which I can highly recommend. Great location, adequate parking, very nice room, and a great restaurant, Dinner and breakfasts there were wonderful,

It was right on a street which led not only to the beach but also directly to the pier, or "Seebrücke". The road is of course lined with shops, cafes, restaurants, hotels, and apartments. An easy walk and fun stuff to look at, like this giant waffle. 

One cones finally to the pier. 

Norbert walked all the way out to the end, but my knees did not think I should do the same. I was happy to sit and look around, 

Dinner in the hotel restaurant: fresh white asparagus with Hollendaise. Soooo good!

Leukermeer, February 2025

We decided to take a quick family getaway in February, when Lucas had vacation from work. We didn't want to go too far, as one never knows how the weather will be, and I would have to come back to our home area for a doctor's appointment. We limited out search to somewhere within an hour from home.

We settled on Leukermeer Resort, in the Netherlands. It is a large vacation park set on the banks of the Leukermeer, a lovely lake. Much of it is planned for camping (trailers, not tents) but there are also a number of houses, maihly on the waterfront -- which is what we love.

We took what they call a "villa", which was actually like a rowhouse (townhouse) on two levels, with more housing attached. We had a corner unit. I had specifically sought out one of these villas as they were literally waterfront. Here the entraance:

And here the view from inside!

Nicely furnished, had everything one needs.,

There was a half-bath on the main floor. Upstairs were two bedrooms, each with a bathroom, including walk-in showers. 

I could have spent my whole time looking out at the water and birds and nature. 

The sunrises were stunning, and I fell in love with this tree.

It was truly a family vacation -- couldn't leave Anton home, now could we?

Jumbo is a major supermarket chain in the Netherlands, and I bought a shopping bag.

A few minutes' walk from our house was this bridge, which crosses over to a protected nature area.

Our deck. Unfortunately the February weather was not conducive to deck-sitting.

You can rent one of these houseboats to stay on!

A good time was had by all.

East-West North Carolina, November 2023: All good thingsmust end

 After the great family visit, we left on a Saturday morning and headed east. First, though, we dipped into South Carolina and strolled through a not-very-interesting outlet mall, where we ate lunch. From there it was back to North Carolina and the obligatory stop at the State Visitors Center. 

From there it was on to our motel in Gastonia -- Motel 8, cheap, conveniently located, and adequate (no more than that). They did have a nice greeting committee in the parking lot, though.

Dinner that night was at another old favorite: Cracker Barrel. Unfortunately they have "updated" and "modernized" their menu, meaning we struggled to find something appealing. Another one to cross of the list.

Looking around the gift shop is always interesting, though.

The next day was our final day there. There's always a problem of "how do we kill time between checking out at 10 and then not flying until late afternoon?"  Well, that was easy this time. A quick look at the map showed us that five minutes away was Rankin Lake Park, a city park.

We were delighted! And once again the weather was perfect, We spent an hour or two there, with me mainly sitting in the sun and enjoying the lovely nature, while Norbert chose to walk around the lake. A beautiful way to tank energy before our long journey home. 

From there we headed to the outlet mall near the airport for lunch, made our way at last to the airport via back roads, and then flew home.

A wonderful vacation, with family time at the start and end, a variety of landscapes, and the beautiful natural wonders of North Carolina, my second home state.