Harold Miller, 1919-2005
Posted on July 20, 2005 at 11:36 PM EST
I am sad to report that my grandfather, Harold Miller, passed away at 6:45 this evening in his bed at the VA hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He turned 86 last month and had been suffering from numerous problems such as cancer and kidney trouble during the past few years. I saw him twice while I was in Maryland over the 4th of July and am glad that I got to see him before things took a turn for the worse. My parents visited him the past three days because the doctors said they thought he didn’t have much longer to live, especially since he hadn’t eaten anything since Friday. He died 25 minutes after they arrived at the hospital and said their final words, which seemed as though he was holding out for them to get there before passing away.
He will certainly be missed and I will always hold fond memories of him in my heart, especially when we used to go fishing in the Chesapeake Bay and eat at his favorite restaurant, Sip & Bite, in Fells Point. In one way it’s a blessing that he is no longer suffering yet at the same time it hurts to think that I will never see him again. We will be honoring his wishes by scattering his ashes at sea in a couple of weeks.
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Tagged with family, personal, sad
Panama City Beach
Posted on May 16, 2005 at 11:52 AM EST
Last week my wife and I visited my in-laws who live in Birmingham, Alabama. We drove down to Panama City Beach, FL for a few days and stayed at the Summerhouse which was right on the beach. We couldn’t have asked for better weather - it was nice and sunny and the temperatures were in the low-80s.
We spent most of our time hanging out at the beach and pool. One day, we drove up to Seaside, a small beach town comprised of Victorian-style, pastel-colored cottages with white picket fences. This town was the set in the movie, The Truman Show, which starred Jim Carrey. I couldn’t believe how high the houses were on the market for, especially since many of them are second homes. The lowest-price that I saw was around $1,700,000 and the highest was around $6,300,000. I snapped a few photos while we were walking around and they can be viewed in the photographs section.
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Tagged with beach, family, florida, travel, vacation
Viva Las Vegas!
Posted on March 29, 2005 at 10:52 PM EST
I returned home yesterday from a five-day trip to Las Vegas. I met up with my sister and parents in Charlotte, NC then we all got on a plane to Vegas.
We arrived around 10 AM and immediately drove down to the Hoover Dam after picking up our rental car. The dam contains enough concrete to build a 16 foot wide highway from San Francisco to New York City and is one of America’s Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders. It would have been nice to be able to go inside the dam, but unfortunately, they no longer give tours because of 9/11. After we got back to Vegas we went to the lunch buffet at the Bellagio. For only $17.95 they had just about anything you could possibly want to eat and everything I had was superb.
The next day we took a two-hour helicopter tour. We flew over the Hoover Dam then went through the western rim of the Grand Canyon and landed on the floor of the canyon. We also saw some extinct volcanoes, the road that was used at the end of Thelma & Louise (when they drove off the cliff), a couple of old gold mines, then we flew over the Las Vegas strip before landing. It was my first time in a helicopter and was definitely a real highlight of the trip.
Later that day my sister and I went to the top of the Stratosphere and rode the Big Shot which is the highest roller coaster in the world and also the XScream which is the third highest thrill ride in the world. The tower is 1,149 feet high and is the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.
After it got dark we went to Fremont Street to watch the VIVA Vision light and sound show. It is a $17 million creation and is the biggest big screen on the planet. This is a must-see if you’re ever in Vegas, although it’s in a rough section of town.
We had dinner at the Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas which was one of my favorite breweries to ever eat at. It’s an authentic replica of the Hofbräuhaus in Munich, Germany that was built in 1589 by King William V. A German band was playing who sang nothing but German songs and they would pause every now and then so everyone in the restaurant (including them) could tip their beers. All of their beer is imported from the location in Münich. I ordered a liter of Münchner Kindl Weiss beer along with Ofenfrischer Leberkäs which is a Bavarian grilled sausage loaf and is served with potato salad. The brewery had great beer and food, and a very entertaining atmosphere and was a lot different than a typical American microbrewery. I’m just disappointed that it isn’t close to where I live.
Friday, we drove out to Death Valley, CA which was roughly a two and a half-hour drive from Vegas. Death Valley is the largest National Park in the United States outside Alaska and covers over 3 million acres. It also once held the highest temperature (132°F) in the world in 1913 and it also has the lowest point (-282 feet below sea level) in the Western Hemisphere. Due to a high amount of rain over the past few months the wildflower bloom was unusually high this year. Many locals have said it is one of the best in modern history. The rain also caused extensive damage on many of the park’s roads so we were unable to go to places like Titus Canyon, Artist’s Palette, and Zabriskie Point. We did manage to see Badwater Basin, Devil’s Golf Course, Mushroom Rock, Salt Creek, Devil’s Corn Field, the Sand Dunes, and Rhyolite Ghost Town. It was a lot of driving for one day and it would have been nice to have another day to see some of the other attractions throughout the park.
The last day there we drove around Vegas most of the day and walked around the strip. We walked through the Venetian and New York, New York then went back to the Bellagio for their buffet. After lunch we returned to the hotel so we could pack our things up because we had to leave at 3:30 AM for our early flight home. We then went back to the strip so we could see the city at night and watched the volcano show at the Mirage.
I was really surprised at just how large Vegas is as it was a lot larger than I had imagined it would be. I took over 400 photos while I was there and will post them to the site as soon as I can get around to it.
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Tagged with family, travel, vegas
Merry Christmas!
Posted on December 25, 2004 at 11:35 AM EST
Merry Christmas to everyone! My wife and I are staying home for Christmas this year which is nice because it’s the first time I haven’t had to travel over the holidays in 10 years. We’re going to steam some oysters and enjoy a few beers later this afternoon. Tomorrow, my in-laws will be here and will be staying with us for a few days.
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I'm Home!
Posted on August 29, 2004 at 11:42 PM EST
Yesterday evening I returned home from my trip to Washington State. I had a wonderful time and enjoyed spending time with my parents and sister who I only get to see a few times per year. The forecast called for rain every day we were there, but we got lucky and it only rained on two of the days.
We left Baltimore around 5:30 PM EST on Friday and arrived in Seattle at 1:00 AM EST. After a short night’s rest, we drove down to Mount St. Helens. I was amazed to see that even though the volcano had erupted over 24 years ago, it looked as though it happened just a few months ago. On the way up to the lava dome, we drove up many mountains that had nothing but trees (around two - three feet in diameter) which had been knocked over or snapped in half as a result of the 450 MPH blast. In many areas there was very little vegetation growing and the ground was extremely barren.
After visiting Mount St. Helens, we went to Mount Rainier, which is the highest mountain in the United States and is 14,410 feet in elevation. We drove up to Paradise, which is the highest point that you can drive to and is roughly 5,400 feet in elevation. Along the way we passed many waterfalls that cascade over lava flows, including one that was 168 feet high.
The following day we drove up to Port Townsend, a Victorian Seaport on the Olympic Peninsula, and went to Fort Worden. The fort was established in 1902 and served as the first line of defense to guard Puget Sound cities and the naval shipyard at Bremerton. It was also the fort that was used in the movie An Officer and a Gentleman which starred Richard Gere and Debra Winger. The navy closed down the fort in 1965 since coastal artillery forts were no longer necessary.
Later that day we went to Hurricane Ridge, which is located in the Olympic National Park, just south of Port Angeles. We parked at the Visitor Center then walked to the end of the mile long trail at the top of the mountain. Here we saw an incredible view of Port Angeles with the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the background.
The next day we took a ferry across the Strait of Juan de Fuca over to Victoria, Canada, the capital of British Columbia. After getting off the ferry, we got on a double-decker bus that took us to Butchart Gardens. The gardens were 16 miles from where our ferry docked so our driver gave us a guided tour of the city. The bus had been used in England in the 1970’s and to make the tour even better, our driver was originally from Nottingham, England so he had a strong British accent. After visiting the Butchart Gardens, we went to Crystal Gardens which had a large variety of tropical animals and plants.
The day after we got back from Victoria, we drove out to Rialto Beach, which is located on the Pacific Ocean and is one of the most popular beaches on the Olympic Peninsula. I thought the sea stacks (steep pillars of rock with trees) that were out in the ocean were interesting since I’m used to seeing nothing but flat land and sandy beaches here along the Carolina coast. We then drove down to the Hoh Rain Forest, which averages around 150 inches of rain per year and is the only temperate rain forest in the United States. It was pouring down rain when we got there, which was quite appropriate for a rain forest. We ended up taking the Hall of Mosses trail which just under a mile long. It was neat to see all of the moss that was on the trees. Many of the trees were close to 1,000 year old Sitka spruce trees and were over 200 feet high and 12 feet in diameter.
We spent the last full day of our trip in Seattle. After getting off the ferry from Bremerton, we went to the Redhook Brewing Company in Woodinville, which is about 20 miles east of Seattle. I was really excited about visiting the brewery since they make one of my favorite beers that I regularly drink, Redhook India Pale Ale. This was the largest microbrewery that I had ever visited. It was modern, beautiful, and located in a nice rural area. My Dad and I went on the hour long tour of the brewery and we tried all of their beers and saw where the beer is mixed, brewed, and bottled. After we left the brewery, we went to Pike Place Market. The variety of fish and vegetables was out of this world. Just about all of the vegetables and fruit that I saw were perfect. There were many vendors selling flowers for around $4 which would have easily been around $25 back home. We walked around the Waterfront for a while then headed to Pyramid Alehouse which is located next to where the Mariners and Seahawks play. This is another beer that I frequently drink and when I looked at their beer menu, I was surprised to see so many different beers that I thought I would like since many of them are not available where I live. I usually see three or four different beers that I like at a microbrewery, but I saw nine that I liked at Pyramid so it was tough to pick which ones to order. Their Apricot Ale, which is one that I drink a lot at home tasted much better on draft and had a much stronger apricot taste than it does when it’s from a bottle.
I ended up taking 270 digital photos and 2 rolls of film. It was cloudy the entire time we were in Washington, but we were fortunate to have sunny skies in Victoria, Canada. Because of the gray skies, it wasn’t ideal for taking pictures on most of the trip. I still have to go through the photos and resize, retouch, and crop the images, but I will post them to the site within the next few days.
One thing that I am really going to miss is Alaskan Amber, my new favorite microbrew. It’s available on tap at just about all of the restaurants or bars in Northwest Washington and I ordered whenever it was available. I could always have it shipped to me, but unfortunately their bottled beer doesn’t taste anywhere near as good as when it’s from a tap.
My favorite part of the trip was definitely Mount St. Helens. It was surreal to see the devastation of a natural phenomenon that was equivalent to 1500 atomic bombs going off simultaneously.
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