Note: From 6/9/22 through 6/22/22, you can get a free 386-page PDF of Exploring Michigan’s Sunset Coasts. Go to author Julie Royce’s website at www.jkroyce.wordpress.com. Click the button on the sidebar and provide your email. Your email will be deleted once the book is sent. If you like the book, tell your friends and suggest they get the free PDF or buy the book on Amazon. Better yet, if you like it, write a review on Amazon. Let’s promote Michigan! 

Where in North America can you celebrate five centuries of history? From now until June 2022, Puerto Rico is celebrating the 500th anniversary of the founding of Old San Juan. Established by the Spaniards in 1521, Old San Juan has the distinction of being “the oldest continuously inhabited post-European contact city under United States territory and the second oldest in the entire Western Hemisphere.”

 A few weeks before embarking on our first pandemic cruise, I researched our tour options. Even though COVID levels were under control in St. Kitts, San Juan, and St. Thomas, we did not feel comfortable sitting on a cruise ship tour bus or being part of a large group. Unlike many other passengers who felt safest aboard the ship, we wanted to explore St. Kitt’s historic sites, only reachable by car or bus. 

It is rare that my husband and I return to a House of Worship in a foreign destination for a second visit. After selecting a cruise itinerary with a stop in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, we immediately placed The Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas on our must-see list. Decades before digital images were in vogue, our young family trekked up the steep road to Synagogue Hill to visit this well-known synagogue with a sand floor, where we took a handful of pictures and then quickly departed with our four active sons. 

When planning our recent anniversary getaway to Kauai, Hawaii, I did not spend time researching historical sites. With less than a week at this romantic destination, our emphasis was on outdoor adventures and food. At this point in our lives, we are extremely grateful for the time we spend together. Ira was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable brain cancer, approximately a year ago.

As we drove on the long driveway, bounded by deep mounds of snow, leading into Colorado’s Vista Verde Ranch, I admired the pristine beauty of the dude ranch’s spectacular location, approximately 25 miles north of Steamboat Springs. I simultaneously began to wonder about the original settlers who were compelled to reside in this remote wilderness which is now surrounded mostly by the Routt National Forest.