We would like to wish all of our family and friends a Joyous Christmas.
It is Christmas Eve Day and I am sitting in “Adventure” and getting her ready for the new year and all of our plans. Tam has gone home to be with our family and I miss her very much.
She returns on January 2nd and we will be leaving for Washington DC for a couple of weeks.
I am sorry I have not been posting but will get back to it again. A lot has happened and plans are on the move again..
A week ago we left Washington DC for Hershey PA. It was a sightseeing trip to include Civil War Battlefields, Hershey’s Chocolate World, and several Wine and Beer tasting experiences. We stayed at a Bluegreen Resort in Hershey PA. As it was only a two hour trip from Dale & Brandy’s home in Laural, MD we could do some sightseeing along the way.
We left on Tuesday April 28th and included a stop at Antietam Battlefield.
On Wed we went to Gettysburg.
Thursday we visited the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, PA.
Friday Dale and Brandy flew up to meet us and stayed until Sunday when we all left.
Friday after meeting Dale and Brandy we went to Troeg’s Brewery. A microbrewery located right next to the Bluegreen resort. How convenient!! Followed by time in the resort pool.
Saturday was life in heaven, Chocolate Heaven that is, at Hershey’s Chocolate world. After which we drove to a couple of wine tasting vineyards.
Sunday we all flew up to Williamsport, PA together, and had lunch. Then they flew us back to Harrisburg and we drove back to Maryland and they flew back. It was informative and very enjoyable.
Follow us over the next few blogs and we will show you the history, the chocolate, and some reflections from Hershey, PA.
We have left Daytona Beach, by car, for a trip for graduations and to visit our family and our friends.
We left Daytona Beach on Thursday April 23rd initially headed for Washington DC on the first leg of the journey. We stopped at Myrtle Beach SC for the night of the 23rd then continued on to Washington DC on Friday morning.
We arrived at about 8PM Friday at Brandy and Dale’s house in Laurel MD just outside Washington DC. It is great visiting with them here. Many of you may recall that we stopped here as we sailed south in “Adventure”. It is great getting back together with them and we will be staying here for a few days then going up to Hershey PA were they will be flying to to spend time with us before we all return to their home in Laurel, MD.
Saturday we spent time running errands in the morning then on Saturday night we all went to our nephew and his family Matt, Sheila, and Griffin, in Arlington, VA. When we arrived at their home our nephew Joshua was there to greet us.
After our arrival we got to test out our fist bumping and high five’s abilities with Griffin, who is 19 months old. the and we had a tour of their new home and had an opportunity to try several different types of beers. Then they prepared an awesome roast beef dinner with potatoes. Because we have no oven in “Adventure” we don’t have much opportunity for a meal that requires baking. Sheila topped it off with a wonderful Cream Pie. Something we don’t do for just the two of us it topped off the meal wonderfully.
That was fun and interesting. Some great family time. Thank you for the invite Matt, Sheila and Griffin.
Today we are concluding our series on the works of Paul Baliker. We have shown you his wood carvings, today we are ending with bronze works we seen in his studio. This is another blog that will probably not have a lot of talking in, but more of the works speaking for themselves. So, get a beverage, sit down & relax for a bit. Enjoy.
Woman meditating in the garden. Outside the studio
Little boy fishing.
When you first walk into the studio, there is a room off to the right. In this room is all kinds of different bronze works. The name on the different pieces was Joan Baliker. We asked Paul who Joan was. He replied, that’s my mom. With out a doubt incredible talent runs in the family. Here are more works by his mother.
A self portrait maybe?
Dolphin & swimmer
Girl with her dog
Mother Theresa
Woman blowing a horn
Woman & Child
Mother giving baby a bath
Mahatma Gandhi
The Dalai Lama
Turtle
Baby
Lion’s head
Fish
The gambler
Golfers
The Explorer
These are a couple more that Paul had in his studio that caught our eye.
“IT WAS THIS BIG!!’
We found this in his work shop, in progress.
We hope you have enjoyed the Paul Baliker series as much as we have had sharing it with you. If you would ever happen to be in Paul’s area, we would highly recommend a stop to check out his works for yourself. I know we will go back again another day in the future.
As we continue inside of the studio of Paul Baliker, the amazement and incredible works great you as you walk through the door. When you first walk in it almost takes your breath away. Inside his studio, Paul has more fabulous wood sculptures but he also has paintings and bronze works as well. Although you may n0t see everything inside his studio today, by the time we complete the Paul Baliker series, we will have shown you everything we have seen. There is just so much to see, we could simply not do it justice with showing you bits & pieces.
A table with whales. A whale tail coming out of the table top
Osprey with a fish
How many birds can you name?
There is a pelican, great blue heron, cormorant, & an egret. Did you notice me in the picture? How Paul takes just a piece of drift wood and finds all of this beauty in it.
Fish under glass, table
Fish chair
Fish chair
How does he do that??!!
Dolphins and a turtle
Tarpon
Mermaids
He was working on this piece. Evolution?
Not many words today. Baliker’s works leave a person almost speechless. Steve & I asked Paul, how do you know what to make? Paul kind of laughed and shook his head and said, after doing this for 35 years, I just see it in the wood. All we can say is, it is truly incredible!!
If you are interested in checking out his studio on line, here is his info:
Saturday afternoon Steve & I set off to find Paul Baliker’s studio. We found it! What a trip. On the blog yesterday we posted the first sculpture, it had all kinds of different sea life finds in it. It reminded us of one of those hidden pictures that you had to find different creatures inside the picture. We are staying out side, looking at a few of Paul Baliker’s works.
It seems the wood was already shaped into a body and all it needed was a face.
Mother earth? Mother nature? Tree spirit?
Eagle
Eagle
The great heron
The great heron
Sailfish
Wind dancers
s
We hope you have enjoyed the Baliker works out side of his studio. We still have a lot more to show you, stay with us!!
We introduced you to Paul Baliker a couple of blogs ago. We were so interested and excited by what we saw that on Saturday we traveled to Paul Balikers Studio on the Palm Coast, 40 miles north of Daytona Beach.
We will start with his business card, for anyone interested in more information. The web site is http://www.paulbaliker.com phone 386-446-0069.
His works run the range of single simple woodcarvings, (for those in Minnesota it does not incorporate bears chainsawed out of trees), to many intricate designs with many elements carved into a large single piece of work. From wood carvings to bronze pieces.
We took many pictures and feel we need to do several blogs to truly do his work justice, so this will be one of multiple blogs on his works.
Starting at the entrance the size and scope of several of his works capture such imagination and creativity that we will begin by focusing on them today.
This piece greets everyone outside his gate. Not only does he have the carving but he incorporates it into God’s creation and blends them together.
In this one he starts with the tree trunk and includes the roots. How many carvings can you see incorporated into the sculptures. We will give you several photo’s to look at.
Now take your time and look closely. A hint Some are on the back of the sculpture. We have several more defining photo’s next. We thought of adding the others tomorrow but we will give you all the photo’s we have of this sculpture today.
see the fish?
Angle fish, seal, & squid
seal head & squid
fish, octopus tentacles & penguin
fish, turtle & sting ray
fish & octopus
fish, dolphin & octopus. the “tear” on the octopus is a tiny fish.
fish & penguin
fish & octopus
humpback whale & seal
Dolphin & fish
fish
Fish, turtle, & sting ray
Fish & octopus
Dolphin & fish
fish
shark
Fish,otter, penguin, & Tammy
This is just one of his sculptures outside before you enter his studio. We will continue tomorrow. Come along with us for another scavenger hunt.
Every morning around 11:00 a group of paddle boarders come paddling by our boat. We have taken pictures of them as different groups go by. Most students in the group are concentrating on the water & their board as well they should, but some will see the back of our boat, seeing we are from Minnesota and ask questions. How long did it take to get here? Which way did you travel? We quickly answer their questions as they paddle by. The other day as Eric the instructor and a group were going by, I thought we should check out that place, that would be a great blog. Sooo, we did!
Eric (without the life jacket on) the instructor, with a class
Eric with a young student
Different size & styles of boards they have available. Looking at them, I thought they’re too pretty to put in the water.
Thursday afternoon Steve & I went to Three Brothers Boards. On our way, we saw their truck with another group out.
Inside the store are gorgeous boards and everything you would need for your paddle board needs.
Different size & styles of boards they have available. Looking at them, I thought they’re too pretty to put in the water.
We talked to Eric. He said these are the size of the board that you start out on. Eric said, anyone over 6yrs. and up can take classes. The Three Brothers have quite a few different kinds of classes. They offer Dolphin & Manatee Adventure Tours, Three Brothers SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) Nature Tour and Three Brothers SUP Paddle Fit Tour and Class. (that’s an exercise class on a board on the water! I have a hard enough time in a gym!) There is also a skill limit to all classes, from beginner to advanced. Eric said a person can also serf with these boards.
Paddle Boarding looks fun and something maybe sometime we will try. To take a class the boards are provided and the cost is $50.00. If you are wondering, the boards at the store run about $1,249.00-$1,799.00. If you are interested in checking them out you can at http://www.threebrothersboards.com
As we walked down Beach Street about 2-3 blocks from the marina there is an art gallery that has wood carving in the front windows. They are so cool! It’s amazing how the artist can take a chunk of wood and make something incredible out of it. His name is Baliker. We found out that he has a studio/gallery in Flagler Beach. We made a trip to his studio one Sunday afternoon, but being too late in the afternoon it was closing as we arrived. So we will have to have another field trip another weekend.
Elephant~ Art Gallery on Beach St
Dolphin~Art Gallery on Beach Street
Fish~Art Gallery on Beach Street
Pelican~Volusia County Public Library
On our first trip to the local library about 4 blocks from us, we walked in and saw this Pelican also carved by Baliker.
One Saturday Morning we went to breakfast with our friends Matt & Rita. Walked into the restaurant and all around us was wonderful works by Baliker.
Steve & I will take you along when we take our field trip. Until then we will keep looking for the wood carvings of Baliker!
I would like to introduce you to the Anne out of Mystic CT She was built in 1884 in Smithtown, Long Island and was first built as an Oyster Boat to serve in Long Island Sound.
She pulled and docked down the dock from us for about 3 days. The owners son Captain Geoffrey Jones brought her into Halifax Marina.
He is out of Mystic CT.
This is Captain Geoffrey in the wheelhouse of Anne.
Some of the old photo’s from the wheelhouse.
Anne’s Wheelhouse.
Some photo’s down below in the cabin
.
Anne’s dinghy
What a beautiful old boat Geoff has restored.
Sailing an "Adventure" 