Lighthouse Lesson #4: Point Betsie Lighthouse in Frankfurt, Michigan

Point Bestie Lighthouse, Photo by Krenda

Take a trip to Frankfurt, Michigan and go north to Point Betsie Lighthous.  Point Betsie Lighthouse was originally named Pointe Aux Bec Scies, meaning point point of sawbill ducks, by French explorers. The lighthouse provided safety to the ships coming from the southern entrance to the Manitou Passage.

The combination of the beautiful hipped-roofed lighthouse and location with amazing views (Lake Michigan, Sleeping Bear, and Manitou Islands), it's no wonder it is one of the most photographed lighthouses.  It sits upon a dune, placing it 52 feet above lake level.  Locals recognize the site too.  It's rated as #1 lighthouse according to a Michigan resident survey (10,000 voters) about things they love about Northern Michigan.  All ages will appreciate the surrounding beautiful nature and nearby beach.

The site has had multiple buildings for many years.  Even with the light and sound of the fog horn warning ships getting close to the shore, a life-saving station was deemed necessary.  It opened in 1877 to rescue shipwrecked victims.  The lighthouse has been operating since 1858 and changing throughout time. It was later painted white to increase visibility during the day.  To house two families, the house was enlarged in 1895 and the hip roof replaced the gambrel design.  The fog signal building was rebuilt in 1912 and moved from locomotive whistles to chime whistles.  Electric bulb installed in 1921.  It was one of the last lighthouses in Michigan to be automated.  The fourth-fresnel lens once removed in 1996 was returned.  The Friends of Point Betsie Lighthouse led the restorations and recognized for their achievements with The Governor's Award for Historic Preservation.  It's recognized as the oldest standing structure in Benzie County and also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  Coast Guard now operates using an automated light. 

You can take a tour for only $5 and that includes the climb up the 34-step tower.  You'll see the Boathouse Museum and Fog Signal Building.  Note that you must be at least 3 1/2 feet to climb the tower.  When you make purchases at the gift shop, you also help support the lighthouse.  The lighthouse needs high financial support.  With climate change, the lake has record high water levels that erode the shoreline.   The Shoreline Protection System (SPS) installed in 1869 and reconstructed in 1944 needs updates to keep protecting the lighthouse.  You can donate directly to the capital campaign.

 

Global Thinking in the USA #3: Chicago Botanic Garden's Japanese Garden

Chicago Botanic Garden, Photo by Krenda

Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois (Chicago suburb) is a great place for kids to learn about horticulture.  Look on their website for special events.  I've been to the garden multiple times, but I most enjoyed a Girl Scout event that included dividing houseplants and planting the new plant to help earn a badge.  At the end of the event, we had a private tour of the garden including the Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden and greenhouses.  The Chicago Botanic Garden is huge with over 27 gardens within 385 acres.  It's no wonder over 1 million people visit annually.  With approximately 50,000 members, it's the largest membership of any U.S. public garden.  Considering the size and diversity, I'll focus on how kids can learn about horticulture and the Japanese culture in the same place.

To get the lay of the land, the Japanese garden has 17 acres and includes three islands:  1) Seifuto (Island of Clear, Pure Breezes), 2) Keiunto (Island of the Auspicious Cloud), and 3) Horaijima (Island of Everlasting Happiness).  The first two island has public accessibility.  You most likely won't have a guide, so I suggest downloading the garden app, so you and your kids can learn the meanings of the sites.  I've taken a short snapshot of the descriptions provided on the website for you:

Stop 1:  The Ken - viewing point where all three islands can be seen at one spot

Stop 2:  The "Waterfall" - plants create nature scene (boxwoods = stones, cotoneaster flowing downhill = flowing water)

Stop 3:  Kasugastone Lantern - name from Kasuga Shrine where there are nearly 1,000 lanterns

Stop 4: Japanese Garden Bridge - link between this world + paradise with an arch representing the difficulty of the path

Stop 5:  Keiunto - most formal of the gardens

Stop 6:  Dry Landscape Garden - smooth gravel represents calm matter, raked rippled patterns represent waves breaking on a shore; peek into the garden from the house

Stop 7:  Arbor - house adapted from a building at Kodai-jiya Koyota temple, built in Japan and assembled in Chicago

Stop 8:  Crouching Basin - tradition to wash hands and rinse mouth before entering teahouse

Stop 9:  Zig Zag Bridge - legend tells story that people can avoid evil spirits by crossing a zigzag bridge because evil spirits believed to move only in a straight line

Stop 10:  Seifuto - stone lantern and grouping of boulders; rocks are thought to be the bones of the earth

Stop 11:  Boat Landing Stones - 2 large granite slabs for an ornamental boat landing

Stop 12:  Dry Garden and Arbor House - smaller dry garden than on Keiunto; notice the water basin and lantern

Stop 13:  Willow - uneven pathway of stones to make you step more deliberate; notice the pruned willow

Stop 14:  Pine Tres - symbols of long life in Japanese culture

Stop 15:  Shoin House:  Recreated garden retreat of an Edo-period feudal lord built in Japan

Stop 16:  Water basin at the Shoin House

Stop 17:  Snow-Viewing Lantern - yukimi lantern built with sturdy legs and broad umbrella, enabling it to bear the snow

Stop 18:  Puryear Point - bridge views and sculptures

The Forest Preserve District of Cook County owns the garden and the Chicago Horticultural Society manages the garden.  There's an agreement for free admission (beyond the $25-$30 parking fee per day) until 2022, so visit now.

State Park #6: Old Town San Diego State Historic Park

Step back in time to the 1820s to 1870s when you take your family to the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.  You'll stroll among many firsts including the first brick building built in San Diego and San Diego's first public school.  The entrance has no fee, but bring your purse for the shopping.

Old Town San Diego, Photo by Krenda

In 1769, Father Junipero Serra built the first of 21 missions, next to the Presido, a Spanish fort on a hill overlooking the San Diego River.  A community formed when Spanish Soldiers began building residences below the hill in the 1820s.  Old Town California's first settlement.  Now you can visit up to 32 historic sites including chapels, newspaper office, hotel, schoolhouse, courthouse, stable museum, and houses at the park.  If you time your visit to Wednesday or Saturday, you will likely see staff in period costumes st
rolling around the grounds.  Perhaps you'll see a blacksmith or woodworker.

Besides history, you'll find plenty of entertainment including shops and restaurants.  With over 100 shops, you'll find two main shopping areas: 1) Bazaar del Mundo or "Marketplace of the World" with clothing, jewelry, and pottery.  Besides the touristy clothing, I found decorative, bright flowers for our home.  Keep walking to shopping area number 2) Fiesta de Reyes with 19 specialty shops.  My friend found a new favorite tea.  Just look for the water fountain and arch for the entrance.  Kids may enjoy make your own candles at Toby's Candle and Soap shop.

The walking made us hungry for Mexican food.  There's more than one Mexican restaurant and we chose Cafe Coyote.  The women making hand made tortillas enticed us into the hacienda-style hideaway up to the second floor patio.  Later I learned that customers voted it the best Mexican restaurant in San Diego 15 years in a row. 

After lunch, we had more energy to visit the Whaley House Museum which includes a fee.  While I didn't see any ghosts, it's considered the number one most haunted house in the United States according to the Travel Channel's America's Most Haunted.  The house was constructed in 1856 on a former gallow's site where a thief was hung five years prior.  It doesn't take long to look at the 13 room house, but we ended the tour listening to a super enthusiastic guide who made the fee worthwhile.

If we had more time, I would have visited Presidio Park located above Old Town.  It includes the Junipero Serra museum and would have continued the history lesson.

If I could choose a specific time, I would visit during Cinco de Mayo for their three day event including music, wrestling, and Ballet Folklorico dancers.

Mom Blooper #2: St. Patrick's Day in Chicago

St. Patrick's Day began as a public holiday in Ireland in 1903.  It celebrates Patrick, a missionary and bishop who converted Irish citizens to Christians.  The shamrock, a three-leaved plant, was used to explain the Holy Trinity (unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  March 17th marked his date of death.  Christians of the Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, and Lutheran Church especially recognized the date.  Many countries now celebrate St. Patrick's Day and people enjoy wearing green and shamrocks.

Chicago is often cited as ranking within the Top 10 of St. Patrick's celebrations in the world with four locations prior: 1) Dublin, Ireland, 2) British Virgin Islands, 3) New York, and 4) Boston.  Chicago's famous tradition is using eco-friendly vegetable dye to make the river turn a vibrant emerald green.  The color lasts five hours, so citizens and tourists line the river and later walk to the parade.  The parade is also recognized because it is one of the largest St. Patrick's Day parades.  

With downtown Chicago only an hour away, it sounds like a terrific family event.  I knew parking could prove difficult considering the expected 400,000 spectators.  It made sense to take the train downtown.  There begins the Mom Blooper.  If I had conducted a bit more research, I would have also seen the event descriptions as "raucous pub crawls to lively parades, jovial crowds."

I might have noticed the Wikipedia description of the U.S. celebration as including "copious consumption of alcohol".  

The minute we boarded the train, I knew we had an adventure on our hands.  Most of the other passengers were drunk teenagers, drinking hidden alcohol in water bottles.  Each stop picked up more loud drunk teenagers.  We needed a restroom on the walk to the river.  The women's restroom with an overflowed toilet, I had to referee a bunch of teenage boys and explain that both the girls and the boys could take their turns using the one boys bathroom stall.  The kids still found the river amazing.  The kids still liked the costumes and balloons.  We followed the crowd to the parade route.  We walked slowly and carefully through the thick, dense crowd; we thought we'd lose a kid.  If the train was full of drunk teens in the morning, I could only imagine the ride home.  I was right.  The conductor raised his voice and tried to get some control.  On the upside the journey provided a teaching moment, "see what happens when teenagers drink too much." 

World of Difference #1: Feed My Starving Children Volunteer Opportunity

Looking for a way to teach your child about hunger and take action at the same time?  Look for volunteer opportunities at a Food Bank, mobile food program, or a local program such as Feed My Starving Children.

According to the Food Aid Foundation, poor nutrition causes 45% of deaths in children under five years old.
- 795 million people or one in nine people do not have enough food for a healthy life
- 12.9% of the developing countries population is undernourished
- Asia has the most hungry people
- Sub-Sahara Africa has the highest prevalence (percentage of population); 25% is undernourished.

Sign-up online to reserve a volunteer spot.  You can go as an individual volunteer or organize a group.  Our kids have volunteered multiple times through Scouting and school events.  After you sign-in at a Feed My Starving Children location, the organization shares statistics and stories with all the volunteers.

The organization also talks about the nutrition.  Feed My Starving Children collaborated with Cargill food scientists and General Mills and Pillsbury employees to create the vitamin and mineral fortified rice meal name Manna Pack.  Depending upon your shift, you will make one of three Manna Packs: 1) Manna Pack Rice, 2) Manna Pack Potato-D, or 3) Manna Pack Potato-W.  Manna Pack Potato-D uses fortified potato and soy meal for rehydration, helping those who suffer from diarrhea.

You don't need to travel outside the United States to help the hungry around the world.  Feed My Starving Children ships food to 70 countries and focuses on delivering to the developing countries.

After the introductions, the leader asks for volunteers to help in the warehouse and providing supplies to stations.  Everyone suits up in a hair net and washes hands.  Volunteers split up into "cells" surrounding two funnels.  Two or three people scoop the ingredients.  Two volunteers place bags under funnels.  Two volunteers weigh the package.  A volunteer seals the bag.  When enough packages are filled to fill a box, the entire cell gets to shout out a celebratory cheer, signaling a warehouse volunteer to pick up the box.  The entire process feels simple and seamless.  It's so well organized that the organization allows volunteers as young as five years old.

Volunteers switch positions.  Volunteers can get competitive with other groups on how many boxes they've packed.  Music pumps over the speaker.  A two hour shift ends before you'd guess.  Everyone helps in the clean up which includes putting supplies away and sweeping.  Feed My Starving Children began by Richard Prodfit after his mission trip in Honduras.  The session ends with a prayer over the food.  You don't need to be religious to volunteer.  You don't need to join the prayer session.

After the prayer, the leader reveals the number of boxes the group packed.  Before and after testimonials of how the food has helped a child transition from undernourished and underweight to thriving is shared with before and after photos.  Volunteers can help further by making purchases at their shop.  In 2018, 1.2 million volunteers packed 333 million meals.

Locations:  Aurora, IL, Libertyville, IL, Schaumburg, IL, Chanhassen, MN, Coon Rapids, MN, Eagan, MN, Mesa, AZ, Richardson, TX,

Art Lesson #10: The Getty Museum - Los Angeles, California

The Getty, Photo by Krenda

When you combine stunning art, architecture, and gardens, the beauty amazes the senses.  I recommend you visit The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California.  Patricia Schultz, author of travel book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, also recommends the site.  She describes the museum as a "futuristic shrine to the art of the past" and describes the buildings "the hilltop citadel is a work of art itself, done in gleaming off-white travertine marble and glass.

You could spend the day just exploring outdoors because of the multiple gardens and beautiful views of the Santa Gabriel mountains, Pacific Ocean, and Los Angeles city.  Everything has a grand scale.  The Central Garden uses 134,000 square-feet to house over 500 varieties of plants.  My photograph shows the Cactus Garden which has quite the view.  Also walk through two sculpture gardens - Lower Terrace Sculpture Garden and The Fran and Ray Stark Sculpture Terrace.

 The buildings within the $1.3 billion Center have such striking, modern lines and curves.  The building itself is art.  From a distance you can tell it has grand scale.  When you take the tram up the hill and immerse yourself in the campus, it is even more impressive.  Architect Richard Meier designed the campus to encompass nature and culture, using 16,000 tons of travertine stone from Tivoli, Italy.  He designed the rooms to let natural light show off the paintings.  You can see it from my photo.  Sunshine outdoors and bright, light rooms make you feel sunny.

Exploring inside could take many visits including four pavilions:

1) North Pavilion - paintings up to 1600, Medieval and Renaissance, sculptures

2) East Pavilion - 17th century Baroque art, including Dutch, French, Flemish, and Spanish

3) South Pavilion - decorative arts and furnished rooms

4) West Pavilion - sculpture and Italian decorative arts and Center for photographs

If you feel pressed for time, don't miss the famous Vincent Van Gogh painting "Irises".  I stayed until the last minute, also providing time to watch the sunset over the city and the campus to light up in the night sky.

Free admission, but you need to consider parking and whether you need to purchase food.  If I visited again, I'd take advantage of their parking special - one fee ($20) for both Getty Center and Getty Villa when visited same day (except Mon. or Tue.) and confirmed at information desk.  I'd begin at the Villa to admire ancient world art, drive to a restaurant for lunch, and drive the 20-45 minutes to Getty Center.   Besides saving on the parking, the timing could save me from expensive museum meals.  Other Getty Center parking deals include $15 after 3PM or $10 after 6PM on Saturday.

Language & Theater: Blue Men Communicate Without Words

You can find different percentages on how much communication is verbal vs. non verbal.  Consider the 55/38/7 rule of personal communication:  55% of communication as body language, 38% tone of voice, and 7% actual words spoken.  Consider the 60/40 rule:  60% communication as facial and 40% vocal.  Either way, we know that we tell stories through movement, not just words.  We watch facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, and touch.  That explains why artists can create an entire show without spoken words and have a great hit.

We took our kids to the Blue Man show at the Briar Street Theater in Chicago.  They didn't know the show's history, so they didn't know it was an award winning show which began in New York City in 1987.  They feared mom was just taking them to another show.  They loved the show!  Who couldn't love a show that integrates Cap'n Crunch, marshmallows, and Jell-O with humor and expression.

The Blue Men show has three blue men as the stars.  They have talent as percussionists and mimes.  They use non-traditional instruments like plastic pipes to create music.  They comment on contemporary life, science, and technology without using a word.

Clearly the audience had repeat customers.  They knew how to interact with the show before it even began.  Enthusiastic theater attendees wore ponchos in the front rows, anticipating splattered liquids like paint.  Audience members can get pulled out of their seats to participate in a painting skit or dinner serving Twinkies.  After the show, the Blue Men appear in the front entrance for photos.

The blue men represent outsiders to the rest of the world with surprised reactions to modern world items.  Yet the Blue Men have become part of the world beyond New York, performing in 15 countries.  They performed twice at the Latin Grammy awards.  If you want to see a show, look for performances in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York City, and Orlando.