Long long ago when Karen was in early elementary school, her Dad would read aloud to hear at bedtime. Sometimes they were historical novels aimed at young readers. One of the books was about Sacajawea, Bird Woman. Today we visited the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Park where she lived as a young woman married to Toussaint Charbonneau before Lewis & Clark hired him (them) as guide and interpreters. The contour of the land at the actual site of the village still shows depressions at the sites where the earth lodges once stood. The park service has built a replica of a Hidatsa earth lodge. It’s easy to envision an extended family living in this comfortable space. We particularly enjoyed discussions with the rangers Jeff and Dave giving us a broad overview of the trading patterns among the Native American nations including how the Knife River got its name and specifics about Hidatsa and Mandan society and about Sakakawea and Charbonneau.
Aboard the Norwegian Jewel we’ve made stops in Cozumel, Mexico and Georgetown, Grand Cayman to explore beyond our previous experiences here. Soon we’ll be making our way to ports we’ve not yet explored in the Southern Caribbean.
What a treat to pause for a BBQ lunch with the locals at Pearl Country Store and Barbecue on US-441 in Micanopy, Florida. It’s a taste of the Florida we remeber from our youth.
By deliberate choice we were in Medina for all the winter holiday festivities from Candlelight Walk in the days before Thanksgiving through A Christmas Carol and A Celtic Christmas as well as an Alex Bevan Concert and a historic house tour all the way through Medina’s 31st Ice Festival but perhaps the highlight was the town hosting hundreds of folks whose homes and lives were devasted by Hurricane Helene at the A Promise of Christmas Event the middle of January. It’s an honor to be a part of this amazing community!
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