"Come see the world with me" Dabs's Profile

I had never really given much thought to Panama besides the US invasion in 1989 and the overthrow of General Noriega, certainly it wasn't somewhere that people travel to. But then a work colleague said that he had just returned and he really enjoyed it. David wanted to go to St. Kitts and swim between St. Kitts and Nevis but when that didn't work out, Panama was next in line. We stayed in Panama City but spent most of our time taking daytrips out to see the Panama Canal, out to the jungle to see the Embera Indians and a day on Captain Carl's houseboat.

Most recent pages and when they were completed:
Panama City (April 2012), Isla de Roatan, Cozumel update, Fort Lauderdale, Belize, Grand Cayman (January 2012), Moret-sur-Loing, Melun, Windsor UK update, Paris update, Versailles update (Nov 2011), Chantilly, Fontainebleau, Amiens (October 2011), Brugge, Le Port-Marly (September 2011)

Where have we been in 2012 and where are we off to next?

January 6-14, 2012-cruise from Ft. Lauderdale with stops in Roatan, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize City
March 28-April 1, 2012-Panama City to celebrate David's birthday
May-June 2012-Flying into Toulouse and out of Marseille, hoping to see Andorra, Carcassonne, Arles, Avignon, Nimes, Aix en Provence to name a few
August 2012-maybe Seattle's VT meeting
August 2012-Norway cruise?

Stingray City Grand Cayman January 2012

For the third year in a row, we've started the year off with a 7 day cruise in the Caribbean on Princess, this year sailing from Ft. Lauderdale and stopping in Grand Cayman, Belize City, Roatan and Cozumel. I really enjoyed the stop in Grand Cayman, we were the only boat docked so it wasn't overly crowded and we got to snorkel with stingrays. The other ports were OK but this set of ports was my least favorite of the three we've done recently.

Playa Pelican

Since 2003, Playa del Carmen has become our go to spot for a long weekend in December, this was our 7th trip to PDC (2007 we went to Aruba, 2010 I had to go to LA), and our 10th trip to the Yucatan Peninsula. It's quick and easy to get to from Chicago, it's warm, the people are friendly, we feel safe there and the food is great. The Riu Tequila was more expensive than the Riu Playacar and the Riu Playacar is on the beach so that seemed to be a no brainer. We spent a lot of time on the beach and took one day trip with Edventures after my friend Ed (kaspian), who happened to be at the same resort at the same time, recommended it.

Brugges by moonlight

The Paris meeting that almost wasn't was dreamt up ages ago and just when it looked to be cancelled a couple of brave souls stepped up and took the reins creating a casual yet somehow extremely well organized meeting. I wasn't able to participate in all of the activities that were organized but I did enjoy a lovely picnic at the Champ de Mars near the Eiffel Tower and an evening at the pub.

Prior to arriving in Paris we spent a week driving through Belgium and France, starting in Ostend, Brugges for 2 nights, Lille for the Grand Braderie, Chantilly, Chartres, Fontainebleau, Vaux le Vicomte and several other delightful stops in the Ile de France.

My niece and a guy in a furry hat

I'm always excited to introduce people to my two of my favorite European cities so when I offered to take my niece to Europe for her graduation and she picked London and Paris, I was thrilled. And relieved as I know both cities well enough where I don't have to spend hours pouring over guidebooks and websites. We spent most of the trip in London with daytrips to Windsor and Greenwich, took the Eurostar to Paris for a couple of days and then back home.

Lori, Hansi and Kat

Some of the people I've met on VT have become some of my closest friends in "real" life, I've been blessed to find Kat (keida84) who's become one of my best travel buddies, we've tackled Toronto and Chicago in 2005, London, Spain, California, Orlando and Chicago in 2006, Los Angeles twice, Maui, Windsor and Chicago in 2007 and London again in January 2008!

I'm also blessed to have met the dynamic duo from Windsor, Hansi (waalewiener) and Lori (LoriPori), who spread joy and sunshine at every VT meeting I've been to with them, Toronto, London, Marbella, Baltimore, Portsmouth and more personal visits to both of our hometowns.

Very attractive Babushka "ladies", Ethan & Hansi

Pierogi Fest
When I'm not busy trying to persuade people to visit Chicago, I'm trying to persuade people to come to Pierogi Fest in Whiting, IN held the last full weekend in July. Every year the Babushka Ladies march in the polka parade on Friday and have some kind of merchandise, whether it be a calendar, Christmas cards, refrigerator magnets and a rootbeer label. Who knows what we'll have in store for you in 2011!!! Oprah even endorses it (and she gets presidents elected!!!), listed as one of the 7 best food festivals in the US, now if I could just use that to get tickets to one of those shows where she gives away free swag....

Since 2003, various VTers have come to the Fest and in 2005 I had my first VT parade participant, sambarnett donned a delightful floral housedress and marched with me in the parade as a babushka lady, in 2006, Hansi (Waalewiener) and Ethan (coair19) were the two loveliest babushka ladies in the history of the Fest. But I think Hansi, decked out in a lovely red lace dress, may have been enjoying himself just a little too much! For some more pics, see my travelogue on my Whiting, IN page, Hansi's Whiting page and Lori's Hammond page.

Smith Museum of Stained Glass-Navy Pier

I joined VT to take advantage of local folks giving help with local stuff, who knows a city better than the locals? So I started amassing my now huge Chicago page, which is updated regularly, to share information about this marvelous city that I have lived in and around since I was 8 and found as I was developing it, I was actually learning a few things! And best of all, I've made virtual friends along the way some who have become real friends, many of which have visited me in Chicago! So if you are coming to Chicago, drop me a line, I'm always happy to answer questions about Chicago or play tour guide to folks from out of town.

OK I confess....
I actually live in Hammond, Indiana, just minutes from the Chicago border. But tell people you live in Indiana and they automatically think you live in a cornfield and spend your mornings feeding the chickens and milking the cows (just ask fellow VTer rmdw)! That assumption couldn't be further from the truth, NW Indiana is surrounded by industry and development is pushing further and further south.