Did We Like To Travel?
Yes. From June 1967 to June 1968 we traveled to three of the four corners of the continental United States. When I finished my last Simmons College course in July of 1967, Andy drove from Montclair to Boston to get me so we could visit my parents in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. They were running the Paramount Restaurant (a family restaurant- no liquor) for my great aunt Koula because my great uncle Peter deceased at our wedding June 101h and she was unable to manage the restaurant by herself. I didn't know it at the time of our visit that it would be the last time Andy and I would see great aunt Koula. We stayed for the weekend. I hadn't packed my beach attire so we didn't swim in the ocean. We walked the beach and rode the rides: I liked the Tilt-a-Whirl, and Andy liked the bumper cars. There was no roller coaster in Old Orchard Beach.
In August, on our delayed honeymoon, we flew to Las Vegas, Nevada and to California, where we visited our best man (koumbaro) George Cholaki. Then we flew to San Francisco to complete our 10-day honeymoon (pages 60-63).
During the 1968 school Spring break, we drove down the east coast with Dr. Sandy Termotto and his wife, Carmel. We stayed 5 days in a cabin on the beach rather than in a hotel. We enjoyed one another's company, swimming in the ocean, basking in the sun, and fine dining. Not realizing that the Florida sun rays were stronger than those in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maine, I suffered mild symptoms of sun poisoning. Andy took care of me and the symptoms disappeared the next day. On the return trip, we packed sandwiches to eat in the car so we could drive straight home, just stopping for gas.
We traveled with cousin Pete and Carol Peterson also. It was a sunny day when we traveled to Pea Patch Island, Delaware. We drove to Finns Point, New Jersey, then rode on the ferry to the historic island. Pete, wearing a short-sleeved peach shirt and long black pants, was a history buff who enjoyed historic sites. Carol, wearing a yellow tank top (outerwear similar to a broad-strapped camisole) and yellow and green-checkered long pants, was happy to come: history or no history. Andy, wearing a short-sleeved ecru T-shirt with a tab front and yellow and green vertically striped shorts, brought the video camera. I was wearing a white scarf around my head (ear to ear), a white collared, long-sleeved, light cotton, navy blue short dress (about 4 inches above my knees). It had small vertical pleats in front with thin white trim on the pleats and around the skirt hem. I wore my navy blue shoes and navy blue nylon stockings. (The bugs couldn't get me.)
The small island, having a patch of pea plants growing on it due to a 1700's ship spill, was strategically located in the Delaware River, near the Delaware Bay entrance. In the early 1800's Pea Patch Island had naturally grown large enough so that the State of Delaware constructed a wooden fort there. In 1859 the wooden structure was replaced with brick and concrete. It was this Fort Delaware that cousin Pete was eager to visit. "During the American Civil War, Fort Delaware was used by the Union as a camp for Confederate prisoners, in particular ones captured at the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg." (Source: Wikipedia "Pea Patch Island" - last modified 17 January 2010). Andy and Carol enjoyed basking in the sun and talking while Pete and I explored the damp and dismal rooms and corridors of the fort. Andy called us "history spelunkers." Strictly speaking, spelunkers are cave explorers. In my opinion the soldiers could have been living in a complex of man-made caves, as the cool atmosphere of the fort resembled the same atmosphere of natural caves. My only disappointment was that I didn't see any pea plants on the island.
On a chilly, drizzly day Pete persuaded us to explore Bucks County, Pennsylvania, located just west of Mercer County, New Jersey and north of Philadelphia. He hoped to drive through an historic covered bridge and visit Washington Crossing Historic Park. I remember driving around, seeing a covered bridge, but not reaching the park. Carol remembers stopping at a large flea market where she and Andy stayed in the car while Pete and I enthusiastically “explored" the vendors' goods. We both remember ending our trip in New Hope, "a borough of many restaurants, antique shops, art galleries, and the Bucks County Playhouse. Known as Coryell's Ferry first, a large fire burned down several mills in the area and their reconstruction was considered "new hope" for the area" thus, Coryell's Ferry was renamed New Hope. (Source: Wikipedia "New Hope, Pennsylvania" - last modified on 22 November 2010) We dined in a crowded restaurant overlooking the canal that ran through the town. Andy had us laughing as we were trying to identify the different shelled nuts in a bowl on our table. We recognized the walnuts and almonds. I thought the big ones were Brazil nuts. Pete disagreed. Finally, Andy stated, "They're mixed nuts and so are we."
It was Andy's idea to fly to Las Vegas, Nevada in December of 1971. Carol was quite pregnant with their first child, Anne Martha, who was born on April 25, 1972. We stayed at the Stardust Hotel for one week. One evening we dined at Caesar's Palace. Carol was impressed with the Romanesque fountains. Pete was impressed with the food as were Andy and I when we dined there on our honeymoon in 1967. One afternoon Carol and I went to the hairdressers in the hotel. We had our hair shampooed, set and styled Las Vegas-style. I thought I looked like a Greek goddess. Carol thought our new hairdo's made us look like floozies and remembers Andy had difficulty in recognizing us, thinking we were hookers. In fact, when the four of us were waiting in line for a dinner show starring Wayne Newton and the Fifth Dimension, Andy looked behind himself, saw my back, and asked, "Where's Kathi?" I turned around and smiled. I guessed Andy wasn't looking for a Greek goddess -just me. The show was exhilarating, the room was crowded, the dinner was not memorable, and I spilled a partial bottle of wine on Pete accidentally, while gesturing with my hands. The next time Andy and I came to Las Vegas was many years later at a Kiwanis Convention.
Other than attending Kiwanis and family events, Andy and I drove to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Labor Day weekend, 1971. There we visited an Amish farm where we were amazed at their simple lifestyle: no phones, no cars, no cameras, no electricity, and no tractors. They used horses for transportation and to farm the land, and sheep from which to gather wool. They wore plain and durable clothes and "believed that the taking of photographs where someone is recognizable is forbidden by the Biblical prohibition against making any 'graven image'." (Source: Google search for Lancaster County, PA "The Amish and the Plain People of Lancaster County, PA") Andy did not bring his camera.
Back at the motel, we were sitting around the pool reading, when I heard Greek dance music. I excused myself and found a group of adults dancing the Greek tsamikos in a 16-step pattern instead of the popular, simple .12-step pattern that I knew. This was my first exposure to international folk dancing. As soon as the leader realized I had a Greek heritage, he changed the dance music and taught non-Greek dances, including the Israeli dances, Hineh Ma Tov and Mayim. The remainder of the weekend was uneventful and relaxing -just right before returning to work in New Jersey.