Boyer Clan in The Bahamas

Charlie in front of a Junkanoo entry

After a wonderful week here in The Bahamas, Bryn, Joel & Charlie have returned home to Colorado. During their time, thanks to Erin's generous hospitality & planning, we experienced so many wonders of this lovely island nation.

One of our favorites was Junkanoo--the Bahamian national celebration centered around Christmas & New Years.  

Its origins trace back to colonial times when the only time the enslaved peoples had off were during that time. Highlights include parades both on Boxing Day and New Year's Day, featuring beautifully and flamboyantly dressed dancers and band members and elaborate floats. 

Parades start in the middle of the night--12:00 midnight or so and go on to 11:00 or 12:00 in the morning.  Seems like the entire nation participates. Erin secured us front row balcony seats to see the New Years' Day parade. We all especially loved the music--hard to describe but with a wonderful & lively beat.

Bryn and Charlie at Nirvana

You would expect an island nation to have gorgeous beaches, and The Bahamas doesn't disappoint.  The sands are soft and white and the water is crystalline blue. After Junkanoo, we all got to relax on one of the beaches appropriately called Nirvana.

It was Charlie's first time ever seeing or swimming in the ocean; he showed no fear--we adults would have perhaps preferred just a little dose of fear at times.

The weather this time of year is so delightful--little humidity and temps in the 70's and low 80's--the turquoise blue waters are delightful to view and inviting to enjoy.  Cool but not cold.

Bryn, Joel and Charlie in the beautiful blue ocean

Larry and Charlie in the sun

Boarding the catamaran

After the beach day, Erin planned an even better water adventure for us--a cruise around the islands on a catamaran sailboat.  

Swimming near the anchored boat

Erin invited some friends and work colleagues to introduce us to and to share the experience. 

The boat was incredibly comfortable and graceful and easily accommodated our large party of more than 20.

We swam at a private beach and then snorkeled at a turtle preserve. You could sometimes get within just a few feet of the turtles.

It was a tremendously fun day, filled with new experiences and with the opportunity to meet and to get to know the people Erin knows and works with.

Some of Erin's friends included a British family with two young girls--Amy who is 11 and her sister, Rosie, who is almost 8 and just one day younger than Charlie.  They became fast friends.

You can see that we all had a wonderful day--adults and children.

Atlantis Day with the Brits

Another day took us to Atlantis to enjoy their huge water park and aquarium.

Rosie and Amy and their family, including grandparents, joined us for the day.

Aquarium at Atlantis...simply amazing

Our gang with Jazz, our guide

On a day when Erin had to work and Oma needed recuperative time, the rest of us visited Clifton Heritage National Park to learn a little about Bahamian history.

Preserved home

The park preserves parts of four colonial plantations where you can see some 18th and 19th century ruins, including enslaved peoples' houses and hear about their history.

Slavery was abolished in 1834 but learning about the evils of this system is very important to understanding the Bahamian nation of today. Our tour guide, Jazz, was fantastic.

Charlie found a treasure

That evening, Erin took some of us to one of the more famous resorts on the island, Baha Mar, where we enjoyed some adult beverages and listened to good music. Large & luxurious, it was almost overwhelming in its grandeur and opulence.

A weary traveler

Meanwhile, Oma and Charlie spent a quiet evening at home and an early bedtime... for Bryn, Joel and Charlie, it was back home on the following day.

Oma, Charlie and Teddy

With Bryn, Joel and Charlie gone back to Denver, we will miss them..but will enjoy our extra special time  for one more week with Erin in her lovely home away from home.

Golden Anniversary

Ben and Lauriece 50 years ago

In late August, we traveled to San Antonio, TX to attend the 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration for our good friends, Benigno & Lauriece Aguirre.

We met 49 years ago in New Orleans, and fortunately have been able stay in touch

Their Wedding Day

We weren't there for the wedding...sorry to have missed it, but happy we were able to help them celebrate 50 years together, along with many family and friends.

John, Lois and Martin with us at the Celebration

Together with our friends, John Cunningham and Lois and Martin Simpson.

Carlos and Benny Aguirre

Lauriece & Ben's sons--Carlos and Beny--hosted the party.  It was so great to see them and have the opportunity to spend some time with them.

Adelina and Papa

Full of life 

The star of the party was Adelina, the Aguirre's granddaughter, and Carlos's daughter,

Lauriece and Ben beginning their "First Dance"

The honorees, Lauriece & Ben, beginning their anniversary dance.

Laauriece and BFFs

Lauriece with her best friends whom she has known since they met in First Grade--just a couple of years ago!

On a River Walk tour:  Sue, Martin, John and Lois

After the celebration, we took the opportunity to tour San Antonio and its famous River Walk.  Unfortunately, it was incredibly hot and humid   --98 degrees with matching humidity.

We had a wonderful time with our long time friends from our NOLA days (49 years and counting) whom we call "The LAS-ers: met taking the Latin American Studies program.

We even got them to commit to visit us in San Miguel de Allende in April.  Can hardly wait !!

John & Bonnie Visit Us in Denver

High Tea at The Brown Palace celebrating both couples' Wedding Anniversary

Our November started off with a great visit from John and Bonnie.  We had long since wanted them to visit us here in Denver (now we need to get them to Mexico).

But anyway we are so happy that they traveled all this way to share some time with us.

It was not easy for them--they originally started off for Denver on Tuesday, October 29th, but after a long and frustrating day at BWI, their flight to Denver was cancelled because of an early and unseasonable snow storm here in Colorado.  But ever game, they returned to their motel and waited for the weather to clear...finally getting here late on Wednesday.  We were happy to meet them at DIA and shepherd them back to our apartment.  We love showing people the Train to Plane and how convenient it is to get to and from DIA.

Witches of Halloween (a tradition at The Brown Palace)

On Thursday, we took them to the Byers-Evans House, a 19th century mansion located downtown, a few blocks from us.

We also took them to one of our favorite museums, The Kirkland, that is filled with 20th and 21st century decorative arts and featuring the art of Vance Kirkand. We finished up the day with a formal tea at the Brown Palace; we shared the Dining Room with a number of "witches."

Martha Birney, Sue and Larry

During the weekend, we took a three hour drive to Salida, a 19th century mining town now home to lots of galleries and restaurants.


We were joined by Martha and John Birney.  We had a lot of fun exploring the town and eating at some of those restaurants.

During the evenings we all enjoyed playing Wizard, a new to us card game, and Mexican Train dominoes.

John and Larry manuevering snow street of St, Elmo, CO 

One of the activities we enjoyed most was touring St Elmo, a ghost town, set high in the mountains outside of Salida.

 It was once one of the richest towns in Colorado; today there are no permanent residents. A couple of days before our arrival, a snow storm had covered the town--making driving there and then exploring the town a challenge, but John and Bonnie were really up to the challenge.

One of Monet's famous Water Lily paintings

Upon our return to Denver, we finished the week with a Monet Exhibition at the Denver Art Museum.

A really wonderful exhibit featuring 110 of Monet's paintings and outlining Monet's long career.

The visit was over all too soon; we were so sorry to see John & Bonnie return home & hope they will come back soon--perhaps when the weather is a little bit warmer.  We still want them to  see San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

John, Sue and Bonnie leaving The Denver Art Museum

Summer 2019 with Charlie

Summer in the City

Having spent most of the Spring in San Miguel, we fortunately timed our return back in Denver in time to experience Field Day with Charlie at his school, Edison Elementary.

What a fun day--watching all of that energy and comradery.











His best mate--at least for the First Grade, is Oscar.

They had a great time together and we so enjoyed watching them and cheering them on in the various competitions--like running relays, high jumping, sack racing and skipping rope (a skill still to be mastered by most 7 year boys).

We enjoyed a Red Rocks concert with Bryn & Joel to see Pink Martini--one of our favorite bands--thanks guys for indulging the parents! Great Birthday treat! 

                                                                                                              

One of our favorite places in Denver is the Botanic Gardens--one of the best urban gardens ever!

We like to visit each season, often letting Charlie be our official guide and photographer.

Invariably a treat for all ages and every visit lets us see and experience new sights.

This summer we visited in early June and the irises were beautiful and came in so many varied colors.

A new experience for all of us was attending a Rockies Baseball game.  

It was a balmy summer evening.

The Rockies were in good form, winning the game--there were six home runs between the two teams.

Charlie helped Opa celebrate his 71st birthday, with a beautiful floral arrangement compliments of Erin.



This posing poster is next door to Charlie's favorite restaurant, Maggiano's--he loves their lasagna.



The wading fountain at Union Station is always a big  hit on a hot summer's day; then stopping in for a frappacino.

Hiking along Cherry Creek & the South Platte River brings opportunities for new discoveries.




Our angel posing with some impressive wings.

A public art project has provided a lot of murals along the river, enlivening the retaining wall and giving opportunities to local artists.

Best buds--Oma & Charlie--both enjoying their Blow Pops.

And probably Charlie's favorite activity this summer--wading in the water at Confluence Park (where South Platte River and Cherry Creek merge).

Hope your summer was as much fun as ours.

The Bahamas: A New Adventure for Us

Beautiful Bahamian Water

The Bahamas, a new adventure for us.  Erin, who is still with the US State Department, was recently posted there for a three year assignment. It has only been three months, but she and Diego, her beloved Mexican street rescue cat, love it.

Upon leaving San Miguel de Allende we decided to visit with Erin and Diego for a couple of weeks before returning to Denver.

There is so much to do, mostly involving the sea and sun, but for the first few days we simply relaxed on her screened-in back porch.  Yoga Nidra is a great hammock based, restorative activity.

When we tired of that we put on our bathing suits and walked a few feet to her swimming pool--which she shares with her condo complex neighbors, but we often had it to ourselves.

It was a vacation for us, but Erin had to work much of the time we were there, including a three day trip to another island, Abaco, with the Chief of Mission. (The US currently has no ambassador, so the Chief of Mission leads the delegation there.)  Erin says the trip was fascinating and educational, but a tiring one.  Abaco is very different from the touristic atmosphere of Nassau--much more an agricultural and fishing community.                                                                     

On one of Erin's free days we all boarded a local ferry for a three hour trip to the island of Eleuthera and the town of Harbour Island. There are over 700 islands and cays in the Bahamas, although many are unoccupied and many others have only a small population.

Pink Sand Beach on Harbour Island

Erin and Larry in front of the "Snack Shack"

Harbour Island was one of the earliest settlements in the Bahamas and an active shipping and fishing port, but today it is known for its beautiful pink sand beaches.  

Golf carts greatly outnumber cars and trucks. We enjoyed our short visit to this pretty, quiet island.

Perhaps our favorite outing was an afternoon snorkeling with Captain Basel. Just a few minutes motoring from Nassau harbor, we anchored off a small cay that offered an hour of the best snorkeling we have ever experienced.

That was followed by the opportunity to swim with some sea turtles--early May just happens to be the breeding season and the little cove where we anchored seemed to be a favorite resting spot for a number of green sea turtles--that's one in the picture to the left.

    If you approach them from behind, you can get pretty close, but once they become aware of you they can quickly swim away from you, trailing their resident sucker fish behind them. We were all thrilled with the experience as well as the kindness and gentility of our skipper, Basel.

On our way back to port, we passed by Gilligan's Island--probably not the site for the well-know TV series, but a place often used for music videos and other shows.

Erin has had the good fortune to be posted to a place that she has come to love in just a few short months.  

She is extremely busy but feels she is doing important work...and she gets to live in a place that seems perfectly suited for her--no cold weather and home to a great yoga Ashram.

We so enjoyed our first visit, but we know we will be back for many more!

Leaving Nassau's sun and 84 degrees, we arrived back in Denver, just in time for a late spring snow...but these storms don't last too long.

Today it is 70 degrees and delightful.  So who can complain.  

And we get to be with our Charlie and his Mom, Bryn; that's a great treat for us.