Marder Home Page Blog

Chaim's Elizabethan Collar

2009-07-11T17:28:00.007-04:00

Chaim on a mat sporting his Elizabethan Collar

Another photo of our poor suffering pet

A close-up of Patty holding Chaim with his Elizabethan Collar on.

Our dear puppy, Chaim, is now 6 months old. It was time to get him neutered. He also had a small hernia that needed repair and we wanted to have a miro-chip inserted so that if he ever ran off, his identity would be obvious and unquestioned. Chaim had his surgery this past Thursday (July 9) and came through without problems. We brought him home yesterday, Friday, July 10th. His only problem is that he must wear this Elizabethan Collar that they make for dogs and cats to keep them from chewing on the sutures. He must wear the collar for 8-10 days making life a little more complicated for him. The good news is that he is running around like nothing has happened. It is truly amazing how quickly pets like Chaim bounce back. All he really needed was a little extra TLC. Of course Patty and I are happy to provide it for him.

Avastin working for me and others

2009-05-08T18:50:00.000-04:00

We just returned from Chicago after our visit with my oncologist, Dr. Nicholas and getting a new MRI scan and an Avastin treatment.

Although I hate getting the MRIs (45 minutes in a small confined area with a loud pulsing noise in the background, I realize that it is necessary to see how and if my tumor is spreading. I had the MRI taken late Thursday (5/7) afternoon. This morning we met with Dr. Nicholas. First of all he pointed out to us that Avastin had just been approved by the FDA for some recurrent GBM disease. See article here after reading this email.
http://www.webmd.com/cancer/brain-cancer/news/20090506/fda-oks-avastin-for-glioblastoma
Dr. Nicholas read my MRI from yesterday and put the scan up on the computer for all of us to see. He pointed out that there was a great improvement in the scan compared to the last one I had. He said that there was a definite decrease in tumor "activity" with less swelling and spreading than had been evident before. I guess you could say that there was some shrinkage. Clearly the Avastin is working for me. Patty & I were very encouraged after today's visit.

Thanks again go to Sarah and Thomas for watching Chaim for us during our 2 day trip to Chicago. We go back for another Avastin treatment on May 22nd.

Musical Video from Sarah & Thomas' wedding

2009-04-21T10:43:00.001-04:00

This musical slide show was created by our photographer, Darci and I put it on YouTube here:

Avastin is doing its thing

2009-04-14T14:49:00.003-04:00

The Marders at their Passover Seder

We just returned from Chicago from my bi-weekly Avastin infusion. I also met with my oncologist, Dr. Nicholas who did a neurological evaluation of my brain function. The good news is that the Avastin has had a very positive effect for me. It appears that my brain swelling has decreased as judged by an increase in my peripheral vision and overall affect. Dr. Nicholas was extremely positive in his evaluation of how he thinks that the Avastin is helping me. Also, the infusion this week went well and was speeded up to last only 30 minutes in total. I experienced no side effects at all during or after the infusion.

To see a slide show of all of our Passover photos, click HERE

Photos from Passover 2009 at the Marders

2009-04-14T14:16:00.003-04:00

Thomas, David, Phil, Patty, Chaim, Sarah and Nathan.
To see a slide show of all our Passover 2009 photos click HERE

A Cavapoo puppy named Chai'm

2009-02-17T13:58:00.003-05:00

On Monday, February 16th, Patty & I drove to Martinville, Indiana to get a look at the Cavapoo puppies for sale by the breeder. We fell in love with the male puppy shown below and put a deposit down on its purchase. We will pick him up sometime in mid-march when he is old enough. These dogs are definitely hugable creatures.

Sarah's wedding photos in a slide show

2008-12-13T09:10:00.010-05:00

Here are the rest of the photos that we have from Sarah's wedding in Jamaica from November 22, 2008. I've put them together in a FLASH slide show (need Adobe Flash installed and allow permission when prompted from the task bar). It might help to maximize your browser window. When the window opens you can either click "play the slideshow" or manually arrow through the photos.

Click on this link to get to the photos: http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/Bananalbums/Sarah_and_thomas/index.html

The Banana Boat Song from BeetleJuice:

Shake, Shake, Shake Senora from BeetleJuice

"Matilda, She take me money and run Venezuela"

Sarah & Thomas' Stories

2008-12-08T08:47:00.004-05:00

Here are 3 musical slide shows that I created from photos of Sarah & Thomas. The embedded frames link to YouTube video shows. I hope you enjoy them.
- Phil

Sarah's Story: Part 1 is below:

Sarah's Story: Part 2 is below:

Thomas' Story: is below:

More photos from Jamaica (DAY 2)

2008-11-21T10:35:00.006-05:00

Patty, Phil, David, Nathan at Couples SA

A look at the beach here.

More photos from Jamaica (DAY 2)

Wednesday in Negril, Jamaica

2008-11-20T11:17:00.005-05:00

Sarah & Thomas at our Thai dinner at Couples on Wed, Nov 19.

Patty, David Bill Spurlock and I all arrived at the Coupless Swept Away (SA)resort in Negril Jamaica on Wednesday, November 19th. It was a brutal travel day getting here with w 3:30 am WAKE-UP.

Here are some of our first photos from this beautiful resort:
Patty on the veranda of our suite at Couples Swept Away (SA)

Sarah & David relaxing at our first dinner at Couples SA

Sarah's Wedding Shower

2008-11-10T18:15:00.007-05:00

On Saturday, November 1st, Elaine Sandy & Sally Seidenstein threw a wedding shower for Sarah Marder in honor of her upcoming wedding to Thomas Spurlock. These photos show some of the fun that everyone had at this marvelous event.

Sarah & Thomas Engagement Photos

2008-10-24T16:02:00.006-04:00

Part of the lead-up to Sarah & Thomas' wedding in Jamaica was a session with their photographer, Darci in Indianapolis. Below are some copies of the photos taken during that session, last week.

more photos can be seen on Darci's own blog here:

http://bodellphotography.blogspot.com/2008/10/thomas-sarah-engaged.html

Happy Birthday Sarah !!

2008-10-18T17:46:00.006-04:00

We celebrated Sarah's birthday on October 16 by having a dinner with Phil, Patty, Thomas and Sarah at Ocean World. We all had the famous Ocean World "Box Dinner". We all thoroughly enjoyed the dinner and even Thomas had enought to eat.

On Friday, Sarah and Thomas had their engagement photo session with Darci. This photo was taken by Darci in the honor of Sarah's birthday.

Even though their wedding is only about one month away, they still seem cool, calm and collected.

Redrams Tour Oahu

2008-09-29T10:04:00.001-04:00

The Redram tour of Oahu
May 2008
Now on YouTube !!

Cat Shampoo!!

2008-09-09T19:33:00.002-04:00

Watch how Thomas & Sarah give their kitty, Aviva, a bath in this very cute double feature:

Part One: The Wet-Down and Soap-Up

Part Two: The Towel-Down and Blow-Dry

Phil's Favorite Folk (Music): Steve Goodman

2008-09-05T17:13:00.021-04:00

Steve Goodman. Every heard of him? Probably not. He's not the folk singer that's at the tip of your tongue. But, I really enjoy his music. He's probably most famous for the song he wrote entitled: "City of New Orleans". It's become an American standard that was first made famous by Arlo Guthrie and then by Willie Nelson. Goodman was born just three months after me in July of 1948 and his life ended much too quickly when he died at the age of 36 after a long, long bout with leukemia. In fact, most of his best work was created and performed after he contracted the disease illustrating to the world how not to feel sorry and morose about yourself.

No, his work won't go down with the great folk masters of Dylan and Woody Guthrie. Goodman provided a great mix of whimsy (The Vegetable Song, I'm My Own Grandpa), humor (Lincoln Park Pirates) and emotionally touching ballads (The Dutchman, My Old Man). He was also a great guitar-picking musician. Finally, you should know that he was a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan. Below is a little taste of some of his music. I hope you enjoy it.

"I'm My Own Grandpa"

Hear some of my other favorite Steve Goodman songs here:
http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/music/Weekly_music/artists/Goodman/goodman.htm

Other links about Steve Goodman:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Goodman
http://www.stevegoodman.net/
http://www.folkblues.com/goodman/about_steve.htm

Lucas Oil Stadium Open House

2008-08-17T21:07:00.011-04:00

Late this afternoon, I drove downtown to get my first inside glimpse of the Indianapolis Colts' new playing field: Lucas Oil Stadium. This new $700M creation is a showplace for the Colts and really, all of Indiana. It should be, since mucho taxpayer dollars went into its construction. Obviously, the Colts have parlayed their recent successes into convincing Indianapolis residents to build this 8th wonder of the world. While not the biggest stadium (seating for 63,000) in the NFL, it may be the fanciest. It has both a retractable roof and front window which opens up to the Indianapolis downtown skyline.

I met up with David Abbott, my seat-mate for Colts' games in his tailgating parking lot near the NK Hurst Co. and we hoofed over to the stadium together for our look-see. At 3 PM, we took the brand new escalators up to our 5th level seating along the goal line on the visitors side of the field. We were both quite impressed with the view that we were afforded from our new location. We are in row 2 of our seating area, assuring us a clear view of the field at all times. We sat in our new seats and then heard the first announcement that the stadium roof would open at 4 PM. Unfortunately, there must have been some kind of glitch because the roof didn't really open until about 4:30 PM. We watched as the front window parted and then finally the roof opened fully. Wind poured in which caused the banners to wave while sun drenched down on those at the far northeast end. Luckily for us, we will never be sitting in those sun-drenched seats as this may be quite hot for September games.

Finally, we walked around the concourse of the stadium noting the wide walkways, multiple restrooms, and concession stands. The theme around the concourse is both Colt's football and racing with many exhibits touting the Lucas Oil name.

View of Lucas Oil Stadium from the south

Front concourse lobby area of the stadium

Large open stadium foyer near the front (open) window

Phil smiling with the roof and front window wide open

YouTube Slide & Video Show with music

Marders go to the Fair

2008-08-13T23:08:00.010-04:00

I think that most of you had already heard about my injury after the spill from my motorcycle. All-in-all, I was pretty lucky coming out of it with a separated shoulder and scraped up knee. Probably the biggest downer for me has been the lack of golf. So, in place of it, I decided that I'd do some activities that have gone by the wayside for lack of available time. That's what the extra trip to Colt's Camp was about. The next activity on the list would be a visit to the Indiana State Fair. It's really been a long, long time since I attended. I think that the last time Patty attended was when our kids were quite young (and I didn't go then). Thinking back, (for me) it probably was before our kids were born and the young version of Cliff Rohde came a visiting Indiana. I'm thinking that was about 33 years ago. So, it has been a long time.......

We've had just a beautiful month of August in Indiana. We've had very little rain and temperatures have been in the low 80's. You can't beat that for this time of year. So, the weather was good and the time was available so "why not go?".

We left the house around 9:30 AM and entered the fairgrounds on the northeast entrance and parked. School was already back in session around here so the crowds were way down from earlier in the week. We began by taking the tram (pulled by a bio-diesel tractor) around the grounds, passing the grandstand and "Main Street", going through the newly constructed covered bridge and getting off at the "Celebration Park" corner. Here, we entered the 4-H Exhibit Hall. We really enjoyed seeing the exhibits that the kids put together here. Lots of 3x2 posters, original artwork, crafts, and the like. It was heartening to know that there are still lots of kids around who make the time and effort to put these projects together. They were really fun to look at. From there, we saw the Butterfly Park and lumberjack exhibit, heading back toward Main Street. On the way, we went into the Ag/Hort building and took a gander at the many fine vegetables, plants, and flowers on display. We stopped for some lunch at a booth on Main Street before continuing.

After lunch, it was time to see the farm animal exhibits. What a gas! First, we entered the cattle barn where dairy cows were relaxing contently and/or being milked. We slipped through the building and entered the storied Pepsi Coliseum. Here, youngsters paraded their cattle past judges with a critical eye while folks like us, up in the seats, watched. Leaving the cattle barn, we next entered the Sheep Barn. Immediately, we noted some sheep-shearing going on while most of the barn was empty. We walked toward the rear and spotted some lambs needing a little attention. Patty scratched one lamb's head giving both some scratcher and scratchee some enjoyment (followed by extensive hand washing by the scratcher). Next stop along the trail was the hog barn. Lot's of smelly, noisy pigs to see along with the one called the "World's Largest Boar". As expected, the newborn pigs stole the show. We ended our farm animal tour in the Poultry Barn. What a cacophony of noise in this place with chickens, ducks, geese and rabbits filling our senses with sounds and smells.

By now, it was nearly 3 PM. We stopped to see the WISH-TV weather show in the "Our Land Pavilion". We made the big loop back to the car, bought some junk food (caramel corn), and briefly observed the "cross cut saw" demonstration (where the Governor's wife and State Fair Queen participated) in the Pioneer Village area.

All-in-all, we had a fine time seeing Indiana's finest, yearly exhibit.

(L)This year's theme at the Fair (R) Patty, attending to a lamb's scritch-scratching

(L) Rooster in the Poultry Building (R) view of the fair's midway

Pigs & Roosters put on a show at the fair.
Jim Nabors "Back Home Again" for background music.

Musical Slide Show of all our State Fair Photos.
Background music: "On the Banks of the Wabash"

See the same photos in higher resolution with annotations here:
http://www.philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/State_Fair_2008/index.html

Back to Colts Camp

2008-08-12T20:07:00.001-04:00

I headed back to Terre Haute today for another look-see of the Indianapolis Colts training camp. This time (for obvious reasons) I drove a car there. I took I70 and got there by 8:20 AM. I was surprised to see that the practice was moved from the Rose-Hulman Stadium (Cook Stadium)to the adjacent practice fields. That turned out to be a much cozier venue for observing practice. For here, you get much closer to the players as they go through their drills. The practice lasted much longer that the one I went to in July. It was way more intense. There were offense, defense and special teams squads all practicing separately followed by team-versus-team drills. It was a lot more fun to watch and photograph. A couple of things seemed quite interesting. First off, Marlin Jackson (cornerback) has definitely arrived as a team leader. He was quite a stud out there. I was also surprised to see backup quarterback, Jared Lorenzen (13) practicing as a long snapper (Justin Snow's position). It made me think that they are trying there best to find a place for him on the team.

Cornerback, Marlin Jackson (28) talks with Tim Jennings (23) on the sideline

Backup quarterback, Jared Lorenzen (13) practices being a long-snapper after practice

See more photos from this practice here:
http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/Colts/Colts_Camp_2008_2/index.html

Some movie clips from the Aug 12, 2008 practice

Double Dare you to guess who that is?

2008-08-12T16:25:00.005-04:00

Check this newspaper clipping out from 1987. Do you recognize any familiar faces in the crowd?

BTW: Here's Marc Summer today:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/marc_summers

Motorcycle trip to Colt's Camp

2008-08-01T09:23:00.007-04:00

July 31, 2008
Motorcycle trip to Colt's training camp

What a fine way to spend a Thursday at the end of July! Today, at 7:30 in the morning I packed my Honda Shadow and drove west for about 80 miles along the old National Road, US 40. I passed by the small town of Stilesville, Putnamville, Reelsville, and Brazil before arriving just east of Terre Haute, Indiana at The Rose-Hulman Institute for a look at the Indianapolis Colt's football training camp. This was, by far, the longest trip I've taken on my motorcycle. Old US 40 is a beautiful road west of Indianapolis. It's four lanes wide with very little vehicle traffic. The ride through rolling hills was just beautiful. I arrived at the camp ~ 9:45 AM and entered the stadium area where ~ 400 other fans watched the practice. What surprised me most was how intimately involved (head coach) Tony Dungy, was. He called all the plays and watched the team's execution intently. The practice was over by 10:30 AM. I watched the players walk off the field (some greeting their families) while autograph seekers waited patiently for a chance of getting a player or coach's signature. Those who waited were not disappointed. After the practice, I strolled through the grounds and booths and then got back on my motorcycle for the ride home. I stopped at a McDonald's in the quaint town of Brazil, Indiana before coming home the rest of the way. Total trip: 160 miles and quite an experience......

Phil in the stands of Rose-Hulman at Indianapolis Colt's training camp

Coach Dungy directs the plays on the practice field

Coach Dungy signs some autographs after practice

For more photos: click on this link:
http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/Colts_Camp_Album/index.html

Marders in 1982

2008-07-28T17:05:00.003-04:00

Thanks go to Kelly & Chris Rohde for emailing us this great photo. The photo was taken during the summer of 1982 during a vacation we took going east from Indiana. We stopped in Youngstown, OH and visited Kelly & Chris Rohde family. My, how we've grown up.

Road Trip to NY: full slide show

2008-07-17T09:58:00.003-04:00

Maximize your browser window and see the full story and all the slides here:
http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/NY_2008/BananAlbum_6_NYC/index.html

New York Road Trip: Day 9

2008-07-06T20:33:00.000-04:00

Niskayuna "Jenny"

Allison & Gracie at Lock #7

Patty & Cliff at the canal

Cliff, Jenny, Chris, Ethan & Patty at the locks

Ethan gives us his famous smile

Cliff, Allison, et al, at the canal

Wade and Maggie joined us for dinner

New York Road Trip: Day 9
Niskayuna, Erie Canal Locks, Maggie & Wade

Our last day in Niskayuna with Cliff, Allison and their gang. We took a little ride with them to see Lock #7 of the famous Erie Canal that is nearby their home. We walked up and down the structure and finally, after some time, four boats congregated at the low end and the locks went into action. The high side of the lock appeared to be about 25 feet higher than the low end. We watched the operator go into his little house and start the process for the water to empty out. This didn't take long and was quite exciting to observe. The boats then entered the lock area, low end gates closed, and it was filled with water from the high end. Following our adventure to the locks, we went back to Cliff and Allison's for an afternoon watching Wimbledon. At about 4 PM, the Rohde's cousin Maggie came to visit with her husband Wade. We all had a great time catching up on news and old stories with them. We finished the evening by enjoying a delicious (and famous) Rohde flank steak dinner. Tomorrow, we start the long drive home......

New York Road Trip: Day 8

2008-07-05T21:23:00.010-04:00

Patty, Kelly, Chris, outside Joshua's Restaurant in Woodstock

Kelly & Patty stroll in Woodstock

Retro band performs in Woodstock's town square

Some things never change in Woodstock

Patty purchase a tie-dyed shirt in Woodstock

Ethan Rohde gets a laugh out of Patty's jokes

Cliff & Allison Rohde listen to a conversation on their screened porch over dessert

Gracie & Ethan Rohde play in the park

Ethan pushes Noah Rohde on the park swing

New York Road Trip: Day 8

Woodstock, Rohde family in Niskayuna NY

We left New Jersey late morning on Saturday, July 5th and drove north to New York. Along the way, we stopped for lunch at the town called Woodstock, NY. Most everyone knows that Woodstock is famous for it's concert in 1969. This concert set the tone for an entire generation (ours) and goes down in history. Unfortunately for us, we never made it to that rainy event. We really didn't know what to expect in Woodstock. We were very pleasantly surprised by this now trendy, artsy, village that had wonderful shops and restaurants. We had lunch at "Joshua's" and it was a good one. Patty had the best falafel since Israel and the rest of us enjoyed ours as well. We strolled the streets, listened to a retro band play some Neil Young music, purchased a few items and then headed north for another hour and arrived at Allison & Cliff Rohde's house in Niskayuna, NY. We visited with them and their children, Ethan, Noah, and Gracie as well as with their Aunt Val Schultz. After a rib dinner, we went for a walk in their nearby park.

New York Road Trip: Day 7

2008-07-04T22:13:00.011-04:00

The Maywood NJ July 4th Parade

Harry & Maureen's daughter Lynn Marie with grandson Hayden & Patty

Harry & Maureen's other daughters, Laura & Kerri

Jimmy Panos with his daughter and grandson

Video clip summary of the 2008 Maywood July 4th Parade

Bob Mohn with Kelly Rohde at the Peerless Fire Company in Maywood

Harry Hillenius with his dad at the firehouse after the July 4th Parade

Patty, Aunt Marian, Cousin Maureen, and Kelly Rohde

Kelly & Chris Rohde on Pt. Pleasant Beach

New York Road Trip: Day 7
Maywood July 4th Parade, visit to Aunt Marian, visit to Ppint Pleasant Beach

We woke up early and drove north for the 9 AM start of the annual Maywood July 4th Parade. This is a special event for those who have lived in Maywood, NJ, like myself. We first met up with Maureen Hillenius and family and then walked down to sit with Jimmy Panos and family on the curb to watch this half hour extravaganza of Americana. The parade was filled with marching bands, local kids, various wheeled vehicles and past elected officials from the town. As usual (for me) it was a complete BLAST! After the parade, we went down to Peerless Fire Department for their annual give-away of hot dogs and beer. We also enjoyed conversation with more friends while there. In the afternoon, we drove to Tom's River NJ and met with Kelly & Patty's Aunt Marian and cousin Maureen for about an hour. After our visit, we made the quick drive to Point Pleasant beach and let Kelly, Chris and Patty walk the beach for a little while. We ended the day by driving back up to our hotel and then to Lotus Cafe Chinese Restaurant for a great meal in Hackensack.

New York Road Trip: Day 6

2008-07-03T23:00:00.009-04:00

New York Road Trip: Day 6
American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Hayden Planetarium, dinner at the Cornella Street Cafe, Greenwich Village, musical play (A Catered Affair)

Phil & Patty in the Museum of Natural History Lobby

A look at the Rose Center at the American Museum of Natural History

A chameleon in the "Lizards & Snakes, ALIVE" special exhibit

Patty in the main lobby of the Museum

Kelly & Phil in front of the Ahnighito meteorite

Dinner at the Cornella Street Cafe in Greenwich Village

The Arch in Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village

New York Road Trip: Day 6

American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Hayden Planatarium, dinner at the Cornella Street Cafe, Greenwich Village, musical play (A Catered Affair)

We got a slightly earlier start today as it was going to be the busiest yet for us. We took the blue line subway up to The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) on Central Park West at 81st St. We all purchased the "combo" ticket which gave us entry to four special exhibits along with the normal museum halls. There was lots of new stuff at the AMNH since Patty & I had last visited more than 10 years ago. An entire new building was put up around a brand new planetarium theater that's now called "The Rose Center". The star show was by far the best any of us had ever seen. It was all about "collisions" of heavenly bodies. We also watched an IMAX movie in another theater that was about large dinosaur sea "monsters". Following this, we also saw two special exhibits on "Lizards and Snakes, ALIVE" and another one on horses. We ended our visit to the museum by seeing exhibits on African Mammals, Dinosaurs, meteorites and gems (Star of India Sapphire). At 4:45 PM we left the museum and traveled by subway to Greenwich Village where we ate dinner at The Cornella Street Cafe (it was a fine meal). We then strolled through this famous section of NYC setting our sites on Washington Square Park. A final subway ride up to Times Square allowed us an on-time arrival at the musical play, "A Catered Affair". The show was not as good as we had hoped but, c'est la vie. Final note: Chris' pedometer registered us walking 8 full miles today. Yikes!

New York Road Trip: Day 5

2008-07-02T22:30:00.003-04:00

Patty & Chris outside the Carnegie Deli

Phil & Patty near the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park

Attending the "Jersey Boys" Broadway musical

The Prometheus sculpture at Rockefeller Center

Inside St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue

Pizza dinner at Angelo's in Maywood, NJ

New York Road Trip: Day 5
Carnegie Deli, Central Park, The Jersey Boys musical, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Pizza at Angelo's

We had another adventure packed day today. We bused into the city by 11:30 AM and went straight to the Carnegie Deli for a sumptuous, deli lunch of corned beef and pastrami. Follow lunch, we hoofed around the famous Central Park for an hour and a half where we enjoyed the weather and sites like Bethesda Fountain and Strawberry Fields, the tribute, quiet area developed for John Lennon's memory. After our stroll in the park we took the subway back down to Broadway and saw the Jersey Boys musical that was all about the rise of The Four Seasons quartet from the 1960's. The matinee let out at 4:30 PM and we walked over to Rockefeller Center and took in this famous landmark along with nearby St. Patrick's cathedral. We finished out day with a drive up to Maywood and enjoyed a pizza dinner in one of Phil's favorite old haunts. According to Chris' pedometer, we walked another 5 miles today....

New York Road Trip: Day 4

2008-07-01T21:35:00.003-04:00

Phil & Patty at the entry of the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art

Chris & Kelly Rohde near European sculpture

Chris near a Jeff Koon's sculpture in MMA's Roof Garden

Phil & Patty in the Egyptian art exhibit

Chris, Kelly & Patty in Chinatown, NY

Patty outside Lunella's Restaurant in Little Italy

New York Road Trip: Day 4
Visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chinatown, Little Italy

We traveled back into the city today on the bus, just like yesterday. The only difference was that we had to take a subway ride with a transfer between trains to reach the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) on 82nd Street and Central Park West. First off, we found this to be the LARGEST museum that any of us have ever visited. It is simply enormous in size and scope. We visited several galleries including: Egyptian Art, European sculpture and paintings, and Islamic art. We also went up to the top of the MMA to visit the roof-top gardens where there was a unique exhibit of brightly colored modern sculptures by Jeff Koons. We were told that a new exhibit just opened of paintings by J.M.W. Turner that we also saw. We ended our day at the MMA with a visit to the American Wing. Following our day-long visit to the MMA, we took the #6 subway to lower Manhattan to visit the Canal Street area. Here, we strolled through NY's famous Chinatown and then crossed Canal Street and walked up and down Mulberry St through Little Italy. We ended our day with a dinner at Lunella's that we thoroughly enjoyed. Chris wore a pedometer and we noted that we walked more than 5 miles today.

New York Road Trip: Day 3

2008-06-30T22:30:00.004-04:00

Kelly & Chris Rohde on 42nd St NYC
Phil & Patty at the Statue of Liberty
Patty & Phil on Ellis Island with lower Manhatten in background
(L-R) Bob, Maureen, Jimmy, Ellen, Kelly, Patty, Harry, Phil at The Crow's Nest

New York Road Trip: Day 3
We took the NJ Transit bus into the Port Authority Building and then the Seventh Ave #1 subway downtown to South Ferry and after a 1.5 hr wait, took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We spent a couple of hours at Ellis Island seeing the main hall, wall of names, museum photos and also a 30 minute film about the way immigrants traveled to America and entered here at this historical point. It was quite a moving presentation and day for us. We left Ellis island and returned to our hotel at 3:30 PM via subway and bus. At 6 PM we met our dear old friends for dinner at The Crow's Nest restaurant followed by dessert at Harry & Maureen's in Maywood. Attending were Bob & Ellen Mohn, Harry & Maureen Hillenius, Jimmy Panos, Kelly & Chris Rohde and Phil & Patty Marder. It was a great day for us.

New York Road Trip: Day 2

2008-06-30T08:25:00.002-04:00

Today, we drove across the great state of Pennsylvania. We really took our time and stopped to stretch and get a drink every couple of hours. Out of the clear blue, we decided to stop for lunch in Watsontown, PA. Everything in this town of 2,000 is named after Watson, so he (or she) was really loved here. We had sandwiches at the Watson Inn and then strolled down to the Susquehanna River bank for a look and a photo. We then drove another 3 hours through the Delaware Water Gap and stopped for more photos at a scenic overlook and at the famous Satin Dolls (Bada Bing) nightclub used during the filming of the Sopranos. We arrived at our hotel by 6:30 PM and had dinner across the street at "Charley Brown's) restaurant.

New York Road Trip: Day 1

2008-06-28T18:39:00.009-04:00

New York Road Trip: Day 1

Visit to Mill Creek Park

Today was the first day of the "road trip" for the Marders and Rohdes to New York City. Phil & Patty drove from Indianapolis to Youngstown OH on Friday (6/27/08) and spent all day Saturday visiting with Kelly & Chris Rohde at their home before setting out on their trip to New Jersey and New York. After a leisurely morning of catching- up, the four of us went to Mill Creek Park in Youngstown. Chris & Kelly took us through the beautiful formal gardens of Mill Creek where we took these photos.

Phil's New Motorcycle

2008-06-22T08:39:00.005-04:00

Purchased in Indianapolis June 2008 , Phil finally moved up with the big boys and got himself a real motorcycle. This candy dark red beauty is the "Aero" model of the popular Honda Shadow. For more information, visit:
http://philmarder.info/shadow

Phil & Patty Marder Anniversary

2008-06-17T18:19:00.006-04:00

Phil Marder weds Patty Rohde
June 20, 1970
Ohio State University Faculty Club
Columbus, Ohio

The Rest of our Hawaii Photos

2008-05-27T18:43:00.004-04:00

Now, if you hadn't seen enough yet (of our Hawaii trip), then take a look at the following page to see the rest of our photos:

http://www.philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/Oahu_2008/Marders_in_Oahu.htm

Oahu Musical Slide Show

2008-05-23T12:43:00.007-04:00

Marders in Oahu
Oahu Musical Slide Show
(Adobe Flash Player required)
Turn on your speakers and maximize your browser window then click below:
http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/Oahu_2008/OMSS/index.html

Marders in Oahu: Day 10

2008-05-13T16:18:00.003-04:00

Marders in Oahu: Day 10
Pearl Harbor and dinner with the cousins

This was our last full day in Hawaii. We make the long flight back to Indy tomorrow. We decided to spend our last day here viewing an important place in US history: Pearl Harbor. We made the half hour drive to Pearl Harbor and parked in a very crowed lot. Seems that most of the tourists here make this visit. Although it's still an active US military installation, there are several areas here that tourists can visit. We decided to concentrate on two areas: the USS Arizona Memorial and the great battleship, Missouri. For the Arizona, we had to wait a good 1.5 hours before viewing the historical film about the attack by the Japanese on December 7th, 1941. Following viewing this excellent account, we boarded a small boat and made the short sail to visit the USS Arizona Memorial. The memorial itself is built directly over the sunken hull of the Arizona where 1177 crewman met sudden death on that fateful morning. It's still a grim reminder seeing that hull underwater beneath us on how horrible war can be. From the memorial, we could see our next spot to visit, the USS Missouri. After taking the boat back to shore, we boarded a bus for a short ride to Ford Island where we enjoyed a 1 hr personalized tour by our guide, Ron. Interestingly, Ron is a transplanted Hoosier who served in the military in Hawaii and just decided to stay here for the past 30 or so years. Ron described to us the enormity of this last active battleship for the US Navy. He showed us the 16 inch guns and explained their fire power and range of 23 miles. He told us how it became the favorite ship of President Truman, how it served during the Korean and first Persian Gulf war and perhaps most importantly, how it served as the site for the formal surrender of the Japanese at the end or WWII. We spent most of the day in Pearl Harbor and then drove back to Waikiki. We enjoyed our last visit and dinner with Alyssa and Nathan at Ryan's Grill. Joining us for this special night was our niece, Stephanie Rohde who was also visiting Oahu at this time.

That's it for our blog of Hawaii. I'll be posting more photos of our trip when we get back to "the mainland".

Plaque marks the spot of Pearl Harbor

Phil at Pearl Harbor

Approaching the USS Arizona Memorial by boat

Patty viewing the sunken hull underneath the memorial

Marble wall of memorial at the far end

USS Missouri seen from Arizona Memorial

16 inch guns of the USS Missouri

Plaque marks the spot of the Japanese surrender

final dinner with Nate, Alyssa & Stephanie

Marders in Oahu: Day 9

2008-05-12T23:15:00.006-04:00

Marders in Oahu: Day 9
Patty enjoys Mother's Day

If Patty could chose her favorite Mother's Day of all time, this would have to have ranked up there with the best. Today, along with Nathan and Phil, Patty went on a boat trip in order to snorkel with dolphins and sea turtles. The three of them set out on the Wild Side Specialty Tours "Best of the West" trip. This special trip was highly recommended by Alyssa who had accompanied her brother on the same tour in February. Unfortunately for Alyssa, she got sea sick during her trip which led to a not very pleasant experience for her. Fortunately (this time ), the three of us did not have any motion sickness problems. We headed out from Waianae Boat Harbor at 8:30, Sunday morning on a 34 foot catamaran cruiser. Our first stop was on the north-western-most point of Oahu where we spotted some Spinner dolphins. We all jumped in the water with our snorkel equipment and swam as close as 48" from them. These beautiful creatures were swimming in small and large packs that allowed us multiple up-close encounters. For Patty, the biggest thrill was seeing a mother and baby dolphin swimming together. Now that's a real Mother's Day! From there, we headed south a bit until we approached a special submerged rock off Makaha Beach. Again, we jumped off the back of the boat and this time, we were greeted by huge, Green Hawaiian sea turtles. It seems that they hang out around this big rock so that small fish will eat the algae off their shells. We got quite show here as well. One time, I turned around (under water) to find Patty, and there, within a foot of me was a big sea turtle looking at me directly in my face! This cared the pajabers out of me. We stayed with the turtles for more than a half an hour before getting back in the boat and having a sandwich. This trip was worth the premium as there were only 6 participants escorted by the 2 crew. After our snorkel trip, we went back to Waikiki and spent some time on a nearby, Kapiolani Beach. Alyssa met up with us there and brought "Layla" a dog that they were watching for a friend. We topped the day off with a dinner at Roy's Restaurant. This is Alyssa's special favorite and suggested it for us. Alyssa & Nate presented Patty with some presents and we all had a wonderful dinner together.

Patty & Phil depart for the Wild Side dolphin & turtle trip

Nathan chillin' with a Pepsi on way to see the sea creatures

Phil thinking about whats ahead on Oahu's west shore

Patty relaxing on beach in Waikiki with Nate, Alyssa & Layla

Nate takes Layla for a shower at the beach

Patty showing the picture and lei she received from Nate & Alyssa on Mother's Day

Phil's dinner at Roy's (salmon, ahi, butterfish)

Nate & Alyssa at Roy's Restaurant

Marders in Oahu: Day 8

2008-05-11T23:06:00.006-04:00

Marders in Oahu: Day 8
Nathan & Patty go ocean kayaking

Today was a day for mother and son to spend some quality time together. Since Phil & Patty have had such bad luck anytime that they've tried to canoe or kayak together, Nathan took over and spent the morning with his mom showing her the ropes of ocean kayaking. Nate picked up Patty at our hotel and together (with Alyssa as photo-journalist) went to Kailua Beach park and rented ocean kayaks for a few hours. After their initial try-out, Nathan led their journey out, away from the beach to visit "Flat Island", a nature preserve for birds. Once arrived on the island, they walked around and saw several birds that even Patty wasn't sure about. What a great time they had together today! They then brought back the kayak and met Phil at Hawaii Kai golf course. They handed Nathan off to Phil for one final round of golf and Alyssa went back to Waikiki to spend the rest of the afternoon with Patty doing some light shopping and visiting the aquarium on Waikiki.

Nathan gives some light instruction

Wave "hi" to the photo journalist

Here they come, paddling in unison

Nate and Patty row into shore

Great day of ocean kayaking

Patty & Aly getting matching cell phone charms

a look at the fish at the acquarium

Marders in Hawaii: Day 7

2008-05-10T15:02:00.004-04:00

Marders in Hawaii Day 7
Visiting Diamond Head & Hanauma Bay

Perhaps the most famous geography in all of Hawaii is the Diamond Head crater. Hawaii, itself was formed through volcanic eruptions followed by erosion. This crater was said to have been created after a single eruption 300,000 years ago. Diamond Head is now considered both a state monument and a National Natural Landmark. You can see Diamond Head from the beaches of Waikiki. Today was our day to move out of our rented apartment and check into a hotel on Waikiki beach. This is the real "touristy" section of the island. That's OK for us as we wanted to experience this as well. We made the short drive down through the Pali Highway and drove into the very urban area of Waikiki at around 11 AM. We were cordially greeted by the Hotel Renew's staff, checked into our room and then set out to see a couple of sites on this end of the island. We first stopped for lunch at the Diamond Head grill and had some teriyaki sandwiches at this walk-up location. Then, we made the short drive to the crater, parked our car, and started the hike up the crater wall. It's actually not an easy hike. It was a hot (as it usually is here) and steep climb up to the 761 foot summit. Along the way were rocky trails, steep staircases, beautiful lookouts, and tunnels. When we finally reached the summit, the view to the east and west (Waikiki) was outstanding. After a brief stop, we hiked back down, completing this 1 hour journey in the parking lot where we met up with Alyssa. Alyssa led us by car to our second point of interest for this day, Hanauma Bay. Not just your run of the mill snorkel spot, Hanauma Bay is both a nature preserve and a marine life conservation district. It's another one of those volcanic crater formations that this time runs right into the ocean. It forms this beautifully protected bay where lots of coral and fish coexist in a natural habitat. As first time visitors, Patty & I had to view an educational video about Hanauma Bay. We then changed into our swim suits and did a little snorkeling in the park. Once we got used to what we were doing, we saw roughly 8 different kinds of tropical fish in the water. We left Hanauma Bay, went back to our hotel and showered before sharing very good dinner with Alyssa and Nate at the Hee Hing Chinese Restaurant.
View of Diamond Head from below

Diamond Head Grill

Patty at the park entry

Look up at the people climbing the crater

Phil at one of the scenic overlooks

Patty at the summit overlooking Waikiki

Entering Hanauma Bay

A view of the cove and beach from above

Another view of this beautiful spot

Marders in Hawaii Day 6

2008-05-09T13:47:00.003-04:00

Marders in Hawaii Day 6
Nathan & Phil's golf tour continues......

Today, Nathan and Phil traveled to the northern part of Oahu to play golf at the famous Turtle Bay Resort. Although it's only about 30 miles north, it still takes an hour to drive there due to the winding, coastal road route that must be taken. We arrived at about 11 AM and had a fish (Ahi tuna) lunch on the patio of the club house overlooking the practice green. There are two 18 hole layouts at Turtle Bay: the Fazio and the Palmer courses. We played the easier of the two (Fazio). A PGA tour event is played every year on the Palmer course. This was a more relaxing, enjoyable day of golf than the previous at Ko'olau. Wide fairways and aprons allowed us to approach each hole from multiple angles. Phil even had a birdie on hole number nine. The toughest part of playing on this course was dealing with the howling trade winds that knock down all of your shots. Oh yes, the greens were the fastest that we'd yet experienced on this island.

Welcome to Turtle Bay Golf Resort

Tee box on hole #7

Used the camera self-timer here

Phil birdied this hole

Nathan holds flag on hole #11

Two holes play along the ocean on each course

Marders in Oahu: Day 5

2008-05-07T21:26:00.004-04:00

Today was another golf day. This time Phil played golf with Nathan and used Nathan's suggestion to play Ko'olau Golf Course. This course is advertised as "The world's most challenging golf course". It did not disappoint. Built on the side of the Ko'olau mountains and in the midst of a rain forest/jungle, the course played long and narrow. They suggest bringing as many balls as your handicap and to top it off, it was "cart path only" meaning lots of walking on steep grades. The views were breathtaking and the golf was indeed challenging. Add a little light rain and you have one difficult round of golf. We actually had a great time playing and were one of the few people playing today at this course.

Marders in Oahu: Day 4

2008-05-07T02:08:00.008-04:00

Marders in Oahu: Day 4
Touring Oahu's Northern coast.

Nate & Alyssa suggested that we tour the north coast of Oahu. We followed their suggestions and visited several nice spots along the way. We headed northeast out of Lanikai and traveled through Kaneohe to our first stop, Kualoa beach park. Here we were able to see the famous "Chinaman's Hat" island just off the coast. Patty also spotted a small crab in the tidal pool that we got a photo of. We continue to head north and briefly stopped at the Polynesian Cultural center. But just like Wally World, it was closed. So, we pushed on our auto tour and continued to head northwest now. So far, all we saw here was actually on the so-called windward coast. Now as we turned northwest, we entered the area called the North Shore. Here the climate is a little different. It's a little drier and hotter up here. We passed through Turtle Bay and kept driving west now. We stopped for lunch (using Nate & Alyssa's suggestion) at the shrimp trucks in Haleiwa. Yum, yum delicious. At these places you get a plateful of garlic-steamed shrimp and some white rice. After chow-ing down, we headed back east and stopped at another of their suggestions: the beach at Jocko point. Just as predicted, here we saw several Hawaiian green sea turtles basking on the beach. They were magnificent! We also spotted some surfers enjoying the best surfing spot in Oahu (North Shore). Our next stop was just down the road at Waimea Falls park. Here we saw beautiful botanical garden and a water fall. We also enjoyed some of the Hawaiian shaved ice treats. We got back in the car and headed back south, making a counter-clockwise loop home. Our last stop was at the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We didn't have time to see their attractions (train ride or labyrinth) but did manage to purchase some souvenir snack foods (macadamia nuts and pineapple treats).

Patty at "Chinaman's Hat" Kualoa beach park

Small crab found in tidal pool in Kualoa beach park

Shrimp truck lunch eaten near Haleiwa

Giant Hawaiian green sea turtle near Jocko's beach

Phil posing near Waimea Falls

Bird of Paradise (flower) in Waimea park botanical gardens

Enter the Dole Pineapple Plantation souvenir store

Phil & Patty in Oahu: Day 3

2008-05-06T03:49:00.000-04:00

Phil & Patty in Oahu: Day 3

Today was kind of a simple day. Patty went to Lanikai beach for relaxation and Phil went by himself to play Ted Makalena golf course (municipal) near Pearl Harbor. This golf course was quite austere with now elevation changes and small, slow greens. It is located just adjacent to Pearl Harbor so old naval ships are visible from many part of the course. After these activities, we met up with Nathan and Alyssa for a Japanese dinner at Noboru Japanese restaurant. See some photos below to share in the fun.

Playing Ted Makalena golf course. Note warships in the background

Nathan enjoying super-size Japanese combination dinner

Patty grimaces at Phil's chop stick dexterity issues

Alyssa & Nathan share some green tea ice cream with beans

Phil & Patty in Oahu: Day 2 (1)

2008-05-05T03:19:00.000-04:00

We basically spent our entire second day in Oahu with Nathan and Alyssa. First, we drove over to their apartment to see their place and then we went together to visit the Byodo-In (Buddhist) temple and grounds. This was both beautiful and very interesting. lot's of good photo opportunities as well. After the temple visit, we had lunch at a local deli and then proceeded to drive around the southeast corner of the island to visit Makapu'u beach, the Hawaii Kai coastal area, driving through Honolulu, and ending up in the government area to see the former royal palace and statue of King Kamehameha. We ended our tour downtown with a visit to Lilih's Bakery for some of their famous chocolate cream puffs they call "coco puffs".

Phil & Patty at the Byodo-In Temple
Inside the temple
Lovely flowers on the temple grounds
Nathan contemplating the temple

Phil & Patty in Oahu: Day 2(2)

2008-05-05T03:15:00.001-04:00

Doves on the temple grounds
another photo of Byodo-In Temple
a black swan on the temple grounds
Patty & Phil on Makapu'u beach

Phil & Patty in Oahu: Day 2 (3)

2008-05-05T03:14:00.002-04:00

Nate & Alyssa on Makapu'u beach
Scenic overlook near Hawaii-Kai
Phil & Patty near the King Kamehameha statue
Enjoying Coco Puffs at Lilih's bakery

Marders in Oahu: Day 1(1)

2008-05-03T03:19:00.000-04:00

Patty & Phil flew into Honolulu to visit Nathan and Alyssa. For the first week we will be staying in a rental apartment near Lanikai beach. This beach is about 15 min from Nate's place. It's a decent little place with a fully equipt kitchen, small living area and one bedroom. Really, not too bad at all. On the first full day, we took a walk on Lanikai beach and then met up with Nathan and Alyssa. In the afternoon, Phil, Nathan and Patty played a round of golf on Olomana golf course. There, they saw some interesting wild life including Brazilian cardinals and mongooses.
Phil on Lanikai Beach

Patty walks the surf on Lanikai beach

Local craftsman weaves a hat at local fair
Nathan drives golf cart at Olomana golf course

Marders in Oahu: Day 1 (2)

2008-05-03T03:13:00.003-04:00

Phil & Nathan on Olomana Golf Course
Brazilian cardinals are everywhere here
Patty practice swing at Olomana GC
We see a mongoose on the golf course

Marders in Greece: Day 11 Athens (final chapter)

2008-04-21T17:53:00.004-04:00

Phil & Patty at the Parthenon (Acropolis) in Athens, Greece

Marders in Greece:
Day 11 Athens

(Final Chapter)

We woke up this morning for our last full day in Greece. We decided that the best way to spend it would be a city tour of Athens. Unfortunately, our tour company, Friendly Planet, did not provide this for us. Can you imagine a visit to Greece without a tour of Athens? We couldn't either so we signed up at the hotel desk for a commercial tour with ten others from our group. We got on a tour bus and set off for a morning of visiting some of the important spots in this city of 5 million Greeks. Our first stop was at a stadium that was built in 1896, for the first modern Olympic Games. The is known as Panathinaiko Stadium. It's a gorgeous stadium (and the only one in the world) made entirely out of marble. It holds up to 80,000 people on its 50 marble steps. As you may remember, Athens hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics and this stadium was used for the archery competition. It was not used for the opening and closing ceremonies of those games as a new, modern stadium had been built (that we did not visit). After viewing this stadium, we re-boarded our coach and headed to our next stop, the ancient Temple of Zeus. Construction of it began in the 6th Century, BC. Not too much of it is left except for the columns. Even so, it still provided a good photo opportunity as it is colossal in stature. From here, we could also see the famous Acropolis as well as Hadrian's Arch. The tour bus then took us around the central city and pointed out to us various sites including the parliament building and the beautiful National Gardens (city park). We exited our tour bus at its final stop, the Acropolis. The magnificent venue of ancient buildings is a site to behold. Located high on a hill, we climbed many rock stairs to get to the site. At the top, or Acropolis, we listened to our guide describe how the main building, known as the Parthenon (aka, Temple of Athena), was built with an unusual design during the 5th century BC. She also described its decline from earthquake and war accidents. It's currently undergoing reconstruction as evidenced by the scaffolding. Some major items from the Parthenon have either been destroyed (the larger than life statue of the goddess Athena) or moved elsewhere (the British Museum in London). As we stood on top of the Acropolis hill, we were afforded a beautiful view of the city of Athens (albeit smoggy) as well as the surrounding mountains in the area. After viewing the Acropolis, we continued our tour of Athens by joining two other couples for a wonder lunch in the "Plaka" shopping district. We ended the day by taking a short walk through the National Gardens and observing the changing of the guard at the parliament building.This concludes my BLOG of our trip and tour of Greece. It was both beautiful and highly educational for us. We would highly recommend visiting Greece to any and all of our friends and relatives. Thanks for taking the time to read these descriptions and view our photos.

See Slideshow for this section by clicking HERE
see movie of changing of the guard: HERE

Marders in Greece: Day 10 Meteora

2008-04-19T11:32:00.005-04:00

Patty & Phil at St. Stephen's Monastery in Meteroa

Marders in Greece:
Day 10 Meteora

We visited two monasteries during our visit to Meteora. The word Meteora means literally 'hovering in the air'. The monasteries are built on natural rock pillars in central Greece. The rocks are composed of a mixture of sandstone and conglomerate. They were formed about 60 million years ago when a series of earth movements pushed the seabed upwards, creating a high plateau and causing many fault lines to appear in the thick layer of sandstone. Continuous weathering by water, wind and extremes of temperature turned them into huge rock pillars, marked by horizontal lines. First, we drove to the summit of one of these rock peaks and visited the monastery of St. Stephen's. These monasteries were built in the 16th century AD. This Greek small orthodox center stood at the peak of one of these hills. All the women in our group had to put on temporary skirts over their slacks before being allowed into the monastery and church. Our guide described to us the paintings and religious icons along with the history of this period for the Greeks. Interestingly, there are no sculptures in these Greek Orthodox churches but rather are adorned with these paintings or "icons". We learned during our visit that the icons each tell a religious story and were meant to be educational for those early followers who could not read or write. They are quite beautiful and abundant in these little churches. The view from the top of the monastery to the town of Kalambaka was outstanding. We also visited another monastery, that was called "Varlaam". This one was built on a different rock hill and was quite a bit larger than the one at St. Stephans. Also, there were many more steps to climb in order to reach the entrance. We again entered and as before, the women in our group had to put on temporary skirts. The most interesting part of Varlaam was the fact that there was no direct way up to this monastery from the base of the hill. Today, we crossed a bridge at the apex in order to enter. In olden times, visitors were put in nets and raised or lowered to a "receiving dock" at the monastery. Could you imagine what that must have been like? No photos were permitted inside either of these monasteries. After visiting the monasteries, we rode in our motor coach a little way and visiting a craft shop that created these icon replicas for souvenirs. From there it was a seven hour ride back to Athens to stay for two more nights in Greece. Along the way, our guide pointed out the area where the famous battle of Thermopylae was fought between the Greeks and Persians (480 BC) as well as that of Marathon. Interesting, Marathon is exactly 26 miles from Athens, thus creating the namesake for this type of long distance foot race.

See Slideshow for this section by clicking HERE

Marders in Greece: Day 9 Delphi

2008-04-17T16:44:00.004-04:00

View of Delphi Theater & Temple from above

Marders in Greece: Day 9

Delphi

We left our hotel in Delphi and went straight to the historical site known as Delphi. Very unlike the geography at Olympia, this site is built into the side of a mountain. As legend goes, the god Zeus released two eagles and had them fly around the world. He then assumed where they met was to be considered the center of the earth. That very spot was right here in Delphi. They thought of this place as the "navel" of the world. As our guide Helen was describing this to us on this site, Patty commented, "then we must be the lint" sending our group into laughter. Luckily, our guide did not get offended by the joke, as she did have a very good sense of humor. Anyway our guide led us up the side of the mountain describing the ruins of this beautiful site. By the 6th Century BC this site held many stone buildings including a Greek theater, stadium, and a large temple, dedicated to Apollo. Here's where the story gets interesting. The history shows that in the basement of the temple was a middle-aged woman who spoke in many unconnected words and riddles. People from all over Greece would come to this place to learn the meaning of their lives and perhaps what the future held for them. This woman was called The Oracle of Delphi. Each visitor would then be granted an audience with her and through the help of an interpreter, (who would translate these unconnected words) would receive the information that they were looking for. The trick was (as it is today by palmists, tea leaf readers, etc.) that the information was given in very broad terms that could be interpreted in many different ways. So the person who received the Oracle's information (and some time it was royalty!) had to decipher the actual meaning for themselves. This became one of the very important places in all of Greece and thus was claimed later by the Romans (who erected their own statues) and later destroyed by the Christians and Moslems as pagan relicts. We hiked through the ruins and were struck by the magnificent beauty of the locale. It seemed like you could see the whole world from this very spot. After our tour of the grounds, we went into the associated museum and viewed a few of the recovered sculptures that were discovered during the archeological digging of this site. The sculptures were again astounding in their beauty and detail. Following our visit to Delphi, we got back into our motor coach and drove northwest through a rugged mountain pass to our next destination, Meteora. It was about a 4 hour drive through the mountains and plush agricultural plains before we arrived in Meteora and the nearby town called Kalambaka. The striking geography of Meteora was in our view as straight-up hills of rock in the center of a former river flood plain. We learned that this geography was probably due to earthquakes and erosion. We rode our motor coach to check into our hotel, have some dinner, and spend the night.

See slideshow for this section by clicking HERE

Marders in Greece: Day 8 - Olympia

2008-04-16T19:00:00.010-04:00

Phil at the track & field stadium of the "original" Olympic games

Marders in Greece: Day 8

Olympia

We woke up this Saturday morning to sunshine and mild temperatures. What a welcome change from the dreary, cool weather of yesterday! After enjoying our breakfast and packing up the motor coach, we took a short trip to the historical center of Olympia, home of the ancient Olympic games. This was the weather that we had hoped for our entire trip. It was cool and sunny. The red buds were in bloom and the wild flowers were filling the grounds of the archeological site with color. Our guide, Helen took us into the museum where she gave us a very nice escorted tour through the highlights of the museum. She described how this Olympia was erected by the Greeks in 776 BC as a tribute to Zeus. It was the local leadership's view to start these games as a friendly competition between the city states of ancient Greece. In the museum we saw artifacts unearthed from this site including pottery and sculptures from the very oldest and most primitive to those from hundred of years later showing very fine and beautifully detailed art that we learned was often copied by the Romans and then by the Italians like Michelangelo during the renaissance. Incredibly, they permitted photography albeit without flash. After visiting the museum, Helen escorted us on a tour of the grounds. Here we saw the ruins of all the surrounding structures including that which housed a giant statue of Zeus once considered one of the 7 Wonders of the ancient world. The highlight of the walking tour, of course, was seeing the original track and field where the ancient Olympic games took place during those times. To this day, the Olympic flame is lit here every 4 years and carried by foot to the site of the new games. Last week, when we were on our Greek island cruise, the flame ceremony took place on this very spot and began its journey to Beijing, China. After visiting this site, we had lunch and made a 5 hour drive northeast to our next hotel in Delphi. During this drive, we crossed the Corinth bay (at Patras)) on a new suspension bridge and saw some breathtaking scenery, including more snow-capped peaks. I never thought that we would see such mountains during our visit to Greece. We arrived at our destination in Delphi around 5 PM. Delphi is a high mountain village and historical site. We strolled through this small town that reminded us of a mountain sky resort in Colorado.

See slideshow for this section by clicking HERE

Marders in Greece: Day 7: Corinth, Epidaurus, Mycenae

2008-04-14T16:28:00.008-04:00

Patty at the Epidaurus Amphitheater

Marders in Greece: Day 7

Corinth, Epidaurus, Mycenae

We disembarked from our ship and joined our new guide, Helen for our 4 day, "Classical Greece Extension" tour. This was a motor coach tour of some famous geography from the classical Greek period. The biggest problem we were to face today was the weather: cool and wet. When we booked this trip, we never felt like we would be enduring wet weather. Greece you see, has an arid climate. But here we were on Day 7 and it was the third day that we were having some heavy rain. Oh well.... We drove for about an hour out of our cruise port near Athens sort of west-northwest. Our guide (Helen) was a pleasant, older woman who had been guiding for over 30 years on trips just like this one. She also informed us that our bus driver was one of the best. That was good to know as we experienced a very rainy day driving on narrow, hilly roads. Our first stop was near the town of Corinth. Here we saw a canal that was built to connect the east and west shores of the Greek shipping lanes. Although Greece was in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, on the west of Greece lies the Adriatic Sea and Italy and on the east, the Aegean Sea and Turkey. So this canal was an important improvement for the shipping industry. The canal is way too narrow for big cruise ships but it serves its main purpose well. It also serves to completely divide the most southern portion of mainland Greece from the north. This lower section is called Peloponnesia. Somewhere in your memory, you may recall the Peloponnesian War from school. Well, here's where the land of Peloponnesia is. It was named after the mythical king from Greek mythology, Pelops. This area was also home to the Myceneans, the second oldest culture from ancient Greece (the Minoans were oldest) dating back to 2000 BC. Our next stop on our tour was at Epidaurus. Epidaurus was an ancient medical center of the Myceneans dating back to this period of 1600 BC. It was supposedly the birthplace of Asclepius, son of Apollo and god of healing. We got out of the bus and hoofed (in the rain) to its most famous landmark, an outdoor amphitheater that could hold a 14,000 person audience and had perfect acoustics. They still hold classical Greek tragedies and comedies in this theater. We also visited the museum on this site where we saw beautiful sculptures most notably of Asclepius, with his famous snake in hand. We re-boarded the bus and drove for another hour until we were in the heart of ancient Mycenae. During this journey, our guide recounted the well known history of the war between the Mycenaens and the army of Troy. While still raining hard, we visited an excavation (from the Bronze Age) of the Mycenaens, viewing their lion-gated sculpture at the entrance and tombs built for their royalty dating back to 1300 BC. After this, we drove the rest our journey across the mountainous terrain of Peloponnesia, viewing the burnt out forests (from last summer's great fires in Greece) until our arrival on the west coast in Olympia where we de-boarded for our overnight stay at a very nice hotel.

See slideshow for this section by clicking HERE

Marders in Greece: Maps of our travels

2008-04-11T09:58:00.007-04:00

I've told you about the places that we visited during the first half of our trip to Greece. They were all seen during our 4 day cruise of the Aegean Sea. Before I tell you about our land tour, let me show you where these places are on a map:Map of our 4 day Greek Island cruise

Map our our land tour.

In the next posts, I tell you more about the places in mainland Greece that we visited during our tour of some areas made famous during the times of Classical Greek culture that occurred more than 2,000 years ago.

Marders in Greece: Day 6 Crete & Santorini

2008-04-08T18:21:00.008-04:00

Patty & Phil in Santorini

Marders in Greece: Day 6 Crete & Santorini

Our ship docked in Crete in the port city of Heraklion (named after Hercules). Crete is the southern most island of Greece and is quite close northern Africa. We boarded a motor coach for our morning tour of the ancient city ruins of Knossos. More than 4,000 years ago a new people arrived on this island who were most likely from northern Africa. These people are now called the Minoans. While the artifacts of these ruins were first discovered in 1878, it wasn't until 1900 when the British man, Arthur Evans excavated this ancient palace. The legend of the leader of this area, King Minos however proceeded the excavation. Minos, a son of Zeus and Europa, was thought to be a wise and peaceful king. The Minoans were not "Greek" in the present sense as they had dark complexions and arrived here long before the Macedonians. The first palace on this site dates back to 1900 BC and a second place was built on the earthquake-made ruins lasted until around 1350 BC. We strolled through the ruins as our guide described what we were seeing. The palace was built using many short, winding hallways that lead to the mythological story of a labyrinth. From recovered frescos, it was discovered that the Minoans had a sport of jumping over live bulls' horns. From these two tales arose the mythological creature, the minotaur which was thought to be half bull and half man. It was believed that the bull lived within the labyrinth and ate human flesh. Archeologists learned from studying these ruins that the Minoans were an advanced civilization. They had a complete plumbing and sewage system built within this palace (we saw the pipes!). We continued to stroll through the ruins and observed that it was built on the side of a large hill. Off in the distance we observed high mountains with large amounts of snow still showing on their peaks. After about and hour, we re-boarded our motor coach and headed back to our ship after a very brief stop in downtown Heraklion. The ship pulled away from the dock at noon for a four hour sail to our finale port of call, Santorini. At around 4 PM, our ship arrived near the island of Santorini. This island was the most extraordinary geography that we visited so far. The island of Santorini partially imploded in 1450 BC when a huge volcano erupted. The result of this is shear cliff landscapes that defy description. We left the cruise ship via tenders and then proceeded to take a cable lift to the top cliffs of the island. Others chose to use donkeys. Views from the top were awe inspiring making this the most famous of all the Greek Islands. We strolled the island and Patty purchased a print from a local artist. We stopped and had a refreshment at a roof top restaurant that gave us a view of the volcanic hill on the island of Santorini before returning to our ship via tender.

To see the photos from this section click: HERE

Marders in Greece: Day 5 Rhodes & Lindos

2008-04-07T16:22:00.006-04:00

Phil & Patty in Lindos (Rhodes)

Day 5: Rhodes & Lindos

We arrived a little later than planed in Rhodes due to high seas delaying our departure from Turkey. We left the ship by dock at 8:30 AM and proceeded to our tour bus to meet our guide for the morning, Daphne. Daphne was an excellent guide whose command of English and knowledge of the area was outstanding. We learned that Rhodes was an island in the Aegean Sea, 48 miles long by 19 miles wide. It's been inhabited continuously since the 5th century, BC Rhodes is probably best known as the home of the "Colossus of Rhodes" once one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This statue was over 100 ft. tall and stood on a 35 foot base. Built around 300 BC, it collapsed less than 100 years later. Still, nearly everyone has heard of this. The main city in Rhodes also shares the same name. There is a modern city of Rhodes and a well preserved old city dating back to the Medieval times. We drove through Rhodes city to travel to our first stop, a pottery factory and shop where we observed the craftsmen and Patty purchased a small handmade vase. We left the shop and traveled the rest of the way to a small town called Lindos. This 35 mile drive was well worth it as we visited a beautiful site of an ancient acropolis. We learned from Daphne that the word acropolis was derived from the Greek word "acrop" meaning extreme and "polis" meaning town or city. So the word acropolis means the most extreme or highest point in the city. The scenery around Lindos was breathtakingly beautiful. It is an extremely rocky area with high rocky cliffs running down to the sea. At the highest point lies the acropolis thought to be built originally around 600 BC. We climbed by foot to the peak on a slippery stone walk and stairs. It wasn't an easy climb but nowhere near as difficult as our 2006 climb up the front slope of Masada in Israel. At the top lies the ruins of the ancient temple of Athena where we had a spectacular view of the sea and enclosed St. Paul's Bay. We climbed back down the path/stairs in a light rain shower making our footing particularly difficult. We re-boarded our tour bus and drove back to the old walled city of Rhodes where our guide escorted us on a walking tour of this quaint and beautiful still living town. Then, it was back to the ship for lunch and a rest. After our rest we went back out for a stroll through the old city of Rhodes. We saw a Jewish synagogue and stopped for a liquid refreshment before heading back to our ship.

To see the photos from this section click: HERE

Marders in Greece: Day 4 Kusadasi Turkey (Ephesus)

2008-04-06T15:46:00.008-04:00

Phil at Celsus' Temple in Ephesus

Patty in Kusadasi (Turkey)

Day 4: Kusadasi Turkey (Ephesus)

We docked in Kusadasi (port city in southern Turkey) at 6 AM in the morning and at 7:15 am we met our guide for our excursion to the ancient ruins of the city called Ephesus. There was something very exotic about entering Turkey. I've always heard good things about Turkey but who knows? The weather was another issue. It was windy and quite cloudy. We got off our ship and boarded a motor coach with our local guide. We were headed for the ancient city of Ephesus which was about 10 miles from our dock. Our guide was pleasant young women from Turkey. Turks have an unusual, exotic look about them. They are not Arab or Greek looking at all. They are fair complexioned and quite attractive people. Their spoken language and written alphabet is also quite unique. We learned that in ancient times, the sea was much higher meaning that the shore line was miles inland than at present. Ephesus was an ancient city (first inhabited in 6000 BC) and was a major city for the ancient world. What we saw was much of the ruins of the Greeks and Roman civilization. This excavation was much like that of Bet She'an in Israel. The highlights of our walk through Ephesus was seeing the carving of the goddess Nike, including the derivation of the "swish", the ruins of a huge library built by Celsus, and an amphitheater that held over 20,000 people. The latter indicated that this city was once home to >200,000 people. At the end of our tour of Ephesus, it started to get windy and rainy. This unpleasantness made us hurry back to the motor coach for our ride back to the ship at 11:00 AM. T he last stop before boarding was a visit to a carpet making shop. The staff spent a good 20 minutes showing us carpets and telling us about their craftsmanship. It was much like we experienced in Cairo last year. We didn't purchase a thing. When we got back on our ship, we were informed that due to the poor weather, our departure from Kusadasi was being delayed until 6:30 PM and the ensuing trip to the island of Patmos had been cancelled. So after lunch, Patty & I walked back into Kusadasi city and strolled leisurely through town. This was a lot of fun. We chatted with the shop owners, watched the school children walking home, and had a liquid refreshment. We decided that the Turks were very friendly and happy people. We then headed back again to our ship and prepared for this evening's entertainment, Greek dancing, singing and bouzouki playing.

See photos for this section by clicking HERE

Also, see video of Greek dancing on the ship HERE

Marders in Greece: Days 1,2,3 Arrival & Mykonos

2008-04-05T18:02:00.004-04:00

Windmills in Mykonos A decorative plate from Mykonos

Days 1,2,3: Arrival and cruise to Mykonos

We drove from Fort Myers to catch our flight out of Miami Int. Airport. About halfway across "Alligator Alley" it started pouring rain. It rained very hard, making the drive quite difficult. We parked the car in a long term lot and waited for our departure in the Miami Int. Airport at 8:55 PM aboard Swiss Airlines. It took about 8 hours to reach our intermediary connection in Zurich. From there it was another 2 hour flight to Athens airport. We collected our luggage at 4:30 PM local time on Sunday, met our guide, and bussed to our hotel in Athens, The Athens Imperial Hotel. While not first class by any means, it as very comfortable and had a large bathroom (unusual for Europe). After checking in, we had a brief meeting with the tour staff and then had dinner across the street in a small restaurant they call here a "Taverna". Then it was to bed for a fitful, jet-lagged sleep at our hotel. We woke up at 5:30 AM in order to pack and have a quick breakfast. We boarded our motor coach for a short ride from our hotel to the port city called Piraeus. Piraeus really just seems like a sprawling suburb of Athens. We didn't get to tour Athens at this time although you could see that it was built on the side of a small mountain. Strangely, on these two days it was somewhat hazy which our guide said was due to sand blowing north out of Africa. We exited our bus and entered the cruise ship terminal. Our ship, the "Aquamarine" is a fairly old vessel probably dating back to the early 1970s. The cabin was comfortable yet we really did miss some of the niceties we were used to from Celebrity and Princess. We sailed out of Piraeus at 11 AM. We enjoyed our buffet lunch and then proceeded back to our cabin to try to catch up on our much needed rest from the trans oceanic flight to Greece. At 5:15 PM, our ship approached the island of Mykonos. Due to wind, we had to take tenders in to shore. We strolled through the narrow, white painted streets of this small port town. All the buildings are white-washed and are built on a hill. We saw the famous windmills and watched the sun go down in the west. Patty purchased a hand-painted plate for a souvenir and we stopped and had some fried zucchini appetizer. At 8:30 PM we head back to our ship via the tender.

See Slideshow for this section by clicking HERE

Rendezvous in St. Pete

2008-03-02T19:39:00.005-05:00

Sarah and Thomas came down to Florida this weeked for the expressed purpose of having us meet Thomas' folks. So, on Saturday morning Patty, Phil, Thomas and Sarah made the 130 mile journey to St. Petersburg for introductions to Thomas' mother (Diane) and step Dad, Lewis. We spent the day with them and also met Thomas' sister Brittney and her friend, Derek. Sarah & Thomas spent the evening in St. Pete and were driven back to Fort Myers Sunday by Louis and Diane. We all spent Sunday (March 2) afternoon here in Fort Myers chatting and enjoying a hamburger cookout. See more photos here:
http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/Meet%20the%20Gibsons/march_2008/index.html

Patty's newly decorated FLA Kitchen

2008-03-02T19:35:00.001-05:00

Patty decided that our kitchen in Fort Myers needed a little sprucing up. So, she did a real decorating job on it. First off, she put up new wall paper above the counters that looks just like tile. Most people can't tell that it isn't tile. Next she painted a full wall with a bright blue paint. It certainly is an eye catcher. Finally, she mounted her batik art work (purchased recently in St. Kitts) with new frames and put them on the bright blue wall. Do you like the effects? If so, email Patty at mrs.redram@gmail.com

Kelly Rohde's 60th Birthday

2008-02-09T16:07:00.000-05:00

On Friday, February 8th, we joined Kelly & Chris Rohde and Tom & Sue Henderson for a
special celebration. It was Patty's big brother Kelly's 60th birthday and we all went out to
a wonderful restaurant at the lower end of Cape Coral called "Rumrunners". A special day
deserved a special meal and we all had one. Happy birthday Kelly, from all of us!

Southern Caribbean Cruise Full Slide Set

2008-02-06T11:48:00.000-05:00

Just in case you wanted to see more photos from our January cruise to the Southern Caribbean, I've posted them all now. You can see them by opening the following link:

http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/Caribb_2008_web_album/index.html

Southern Caribbean Cruise: Port #5: St. Maarten (Orient Beach)

2008-01-26T12:38:00.000-05:00

Southern Caribbean Cruise: Port #5: St. Maarten (Orient Beach)
Our formal excursion for the afternoon was to the French side for the purpose of swimming at Orient Beach. After a 20 minute bus ride we saw the beach from the road. The beach is actually on the Atlantic Ocean making for some impressive wave action (rather than the calm, Caribbean side). Being on the French side, we were warned that we might see some limited nudity on the beach. We loved our swim in the sandy bottom ocean and then strolled down the beach area. In fact, the warning given us turned out to be true as we noticed several women sunning and swimming sans top. Patty did not allow me to take photos during this period. Photos: entry to the Orient Beach area, Patty enjoying the sandy beach, Patty coming out after a swim in the ocean, and Patty & Phil posing for a photo on the beach.

Southern Caribbean Cruise: Port #5: St. Maarten (Philipsburg)

2008-01-26T12:33:00.000-05:00

Southern Caribbean Cruise: Port #5: St. Maarten (Philipsburg)
We arrived on Friday to visit our final port city in St. Maarten. St. Maarten is on the northeast end of the Caribbean, somewhat close to St. Thomas. Although a very small island (37 square miles) it has an interesting, hilly topography. The island itself is divided in ownership/tradition by two countries. The south is run by the Dutch and the north by the French. No formal border crossing exits and no passports are required to move between sectors. Our port city was Philipsburg, in the Dutch sector. In the morning, we left the ship right off the dock and took a water taxi to the town center. We walked and shopped for about an hour before returning to the ship. Photos: Welcome to St. Maarten, Patty near the water taxi, Phil in shopping area of Philipsburg, photo of Orient Beach area from the road above.

Southern Caribbean Cruise: Port #4 St. Lucia (ocean mammal safari)

2008-01-24T13:11:00.000-05:00

Southern Caribbean Cruise: Port #4 St. Lucia (ocean mammal safari)
We docked in Castries, St. Lucia on Thursday morning at 8 AM. St. Lucia is pronounced: Loo-Shah. Just north of Barbados, this island has a much different feel. There are lots of hills and even a volcanic mountain. We like this island much more than Barbados. After a quick breakfast, we boarded a 25 ft boat to take a 45 min ride to the southwest of Castries in our quest to see either/or dolphins and whales. We almost gave up until we spotted a couple of small Pilot whales just off the island. Then, lots of them came into sight. They swam and around and under our boat. Later, we saw dolphins jumping in the ship’s wake. Our final stop before returning was the beautiful bay called Marigot where Oprah and Mick Jagger each had homes at one time. Photos: Patty on the boat dock in Castries, Phill aboard our whale watching vessel, two Pilot whales we saw right beside the boat, and a quiet place in Marigot Bay.

Southern Caribbean Cruise: Port #3 Barbados (Snorkeling in the Caribbean)

2008-01-23T19:59:00.000-05:00

Southern Caribbean Cruise: Port #3 Barbados (Snorkeling in the Caribbean)

In the afternoon we went on an excursion that included a boat ride with snorkeling. We saw lots of tropical fish and also a very large sea turtle. We also spent an hour or so swimming. We were reminded that Tiger Woods got married last year in Barbados. It’s a busier place than St. Kitts and not quite as hilly. Still, it is another tropical paradise. Photos: Spotting a catermaran while boating to our snorkeling spot, Phil & Patty on the same beach in Barbados.

Southern Caribbean Cruise: Port #3 Barbados (Downtown Bridgetown)

2008-01-23T13:04:00.000-05:00

Southern Caribbean Cruise: Port #3 Barbados (Downtown Bridgetown)
We arrived in the port of Bridgetown, Barbados on Wednesday morning at 8 AM. The weather was partly cloudy with scattered short rain showers and temperatures in the low 80s. All-in-all, it was a very nice day. In the morning, we took a taxi into downtown Bridgetown to see a few of the sites. Photos: Parliament building, downtown canal with Phil, a replica of the Tower Bridge in London, Independence Square.

2nd Port: St. Kitts

2008-01-22T13:21:00.000-05:00

Beautiful St. Kitts, our second port. Photos: Phil leaving the ship in St. Kitts, St. Kitts shoreline
heading toward the Romney Manor Estate, Romney Manor botanical gardens (2 photos).

Start of the Cruise - St. Thomas

2008-01-22T13:14:00.000-05:00

First photos: Patty meditating as we leave Ft. Lauderdale, St. Thomas port, Patty on the lifeboat
deck, sunset in St. Thomas. It was disappointing that our excursion was cancelled due to
the rain

Notables that he has known

2008-01-01T20:51:00.000-05:00

See the notables that he has known:

http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/dick_rohde/dick_rohde.htm

Visit to FLA East Coast on Dec 25

2007-12-27T16:09:00.000-05:00

Phil & Patty visited Florida's southeast coast on December 25th. During the afternoon, they
visited the Bergman's for a great lunch and a mini-family reunion. During the evening, they
capped off the day with a visit to the Nadler's (formally of Indianapolis) for an Indy reunion
dinner hosted by Ellen & Harry Nadler. Photos above: (1) Ellen & Tamar (2) Patty & Elaine
Sandy (3) Phil with his Aunt Carrie (4) Phyllis Bergman. See a few more photos by going
to the following link on the Marder Home Page:
http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/Boca_2007/boca_index_2007.htm

Phil's Retirement Receptions

2007-12-16T22:26:00.000-05:00

Phil enjoyed two receptions recognizing his retirement from Eli Lilly & Co. after 34 years of service.
The first reception was held at the company on Wednesday afternoon (12/12) and the second was
held at the Milano Inn restaurant. At the latter, he enjoyed being "roasted" by friends and also shared
with them a musical slide show he made that briefly reviewed some experience, friends, and leaders
of the company. Above you can see three of the slides that were taken. If you want to see the
rest, tune into the Marder Home Page link here:
http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/Retirement_receptions/index.htm

Hanukkah Party at the Marders 2007

2007-12-11T19:29:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, Dec. 8th the Marders hosted a latke party at our home in Indianapolis.Once
again, Patty outdid herself making the most wonderful potato pancakes in existence.
In the photos above you can see us near the menorah and some of Patty's creations on
the "eats"table. Below, you can see Sarah and Thomas enjoying some Jewish soul food and
also,Sally and Jeff Seidenstein enjoying themselves.

2007-12-10T16:42:00.000-05:00

Some more photos from the Hanukkah party. Above left: Elaine Sandy & Patty, Randi &
Rachel Gelbert, Larry Gelbert, and Florence (Sally's mother).

Phil Marder is Retiring from Lilly !

2007-12-02T10:25:00.000-05:00

Phil has anounced his retirement from Eli Lilly & Co. After
34 years of service, Phil will be celebrating at receptions on
Dec 12 & 13th in Indianapolis. Phil's last day at Lilly will
be December 18th.

Thanksgiving in Atlanta 2007

2007-11-25T12:40:00.000-05:00

This year, Patty and I traveled to Atlanta to spend Thanksgiving with our son David. We
arrived on Wednesday evening and stayed until Saturday afternoon. We were invited to
share a Thanksgiving meal with David's friend Tanya, her sister Layla, their mother Carol,
and other friends and relatives. In photos above see us at Thankgiving dinner, at the Colts-
Falcons game on Thursday evening, in David's apartment where Patty cooked breakfast on
Thursday morning, and having a pizza lunch on Friday before going to the Georgia Aquarium
To see more photos go to the Marder Home Page link **HERE**

Colts vs Falcons on Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T12:21:00.000-05:00

David was a real sport by getting us tickets to view the Colts vs Falcons game. We sat up
in the upper deck end zone where we got to see much of the action. The game started bad
for the Colts but later, they really picked it up to eventually beat the Falcons by a score of
31-13. To see more photos, go to the Marder Home Page link *** HERE ***.

Visit to the Georgia Aquarium

2007-11-25T12:20:00.000-05:00

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, David took us to the Georgia Aquarium in downtown
Atlanta. Patty & I have been to other aquariums around the country (Coney Island,
Baltimore, Maui) so we were quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of this one. We
would have to say that this one was clearly the best and helped reinforced the idea that
"size matters". The species here were magnificent. Photos above: the souvenir tee shirt
that Patty purchased, large whale shark, jelly fish, large see turtle. To see more photos, go to the Marder Home Page by clicking *** HERE ***
MOVIES taken at the Aquarium:

Mickey & Lauren's Wedding

2007-11-12T17:26:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, we went to Dallas, Texas to attend the wedding of Mickey Seidenstein
to his bride, Lauren Schackman. We've known Mickey and his family since he was just a
little guy, so this was a very special affair for us. We arrived on Friday afternoon (Nov 9) and
were happy to say that we also attended the rehearsal dinner sponsored by the Seidenstein's. On Saturday, we attended the ceremony and reception at the Marriott Legacy in Plano Tx.
Photos: Mickey and Lauren, Sally & Jeff Seidenstein, Elaine & Bob Sandy, Patty & Phil.

Mickey & Lauren Wedding (cont.)

2007-11-12T17:10:00.000-05:00

Patty and Florence (Sally's Mom), Sally & daughte Amy, The Sandy family, Mickey and
Sally dance at the reception.

The Texas Book Depository

2007-11-12T17:00:00.000-05:00

During our trip to Dallas for Mickey & Lauren's wedding we did a little sightseeing in
downtown Dallas. Here we visited the famous place where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the
shots that assassinated John Kennedy. They've made this place into a mini-museum very
nicely. Here, you can not only see the spots but also revisit JFK's rise to political power and
learn about his presidential agenda and his famous visit to Dallas on November 22, 1963. For some of us, it's a day that we will remember as vividly as September 11, 2001. Photos: museum entrance, poster of Jack Kennedy, the famous grassy knoll, photo of the sixth floor of the book depository (now the museum).
Learn more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_School_Book_Depository

Ft. Myers Golf Trip 2007

2007-10-24T08:37:00.000-04:00

This week eight guys went to Fort Myers Florida for golf. Included in the group (see photo below) was Jas Gidda, Todd Gillespie, myself, Larry Mattler, Rich Moulton, Larry Shingleton, Jeff Cramer, and Fred Rohde. We played Miromar, Royal Tee, Pelican Preserve, Stoneybrook, and Westminster golf courses. Most of the days we played 36 holes. Thanks goes to Fred Rohde for taking the photos below and my dear wife Patty, who made chili for the everyone on Saturday night.

Ft. Myers Golf Trip 2007

2007-10-24T08:34:00.000-04:00

Estes Park Colorado I

2007-10-08T20:48:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, Patty and I were in Denver, Colorado to attend the Bar Mitzvah of my cousin Harvey's grandson, Harris. On the way to the celebration, we made a side trip to Estes Park. It's about 70 miles from the flat plains of Denver and resides in the beginning of front range of the Rocky Mountains. Years ago, (about 32 or so) Patty I camped in Rocky Moutain National Park. Estes Park is the gateway town for the east entrance to this bit of paradise. This past weekend, we made the drive through Boulder and entered the town. To our surpise, we noted a large elk strolling through Lake Estes. We immediately pulled our rented SUV into the area and observed not only the elk in the lake but also an entire herd lazily relaxing in this mini-park. What beautiful animals they are! We spent about and hour in town and after we saw the elk, we enjoyed a wonderful moutain trout dinner in a quaint establishement in town. After dinner we drove back to Denver and had a great time attending Harris' Bar Mitvah. (Photos below: (1) the large elk wading in Lake Estes, (2 & 3) the herd relaxing in the shade

Estes Park II

2007-10-08T20:25:00.000-04:00

Estes Park III

2007-10-08T20:24:00.000-04:00

Break the Fast I

2007-09-23T17:56:00.000-04:00

This year (as in many of the past 20 or so), we broke the Yom Kippur fast at the home of
Elaine and Bob Sandy. There was quite a crowd present with the Sandy's son, Steven along with
Sarah Marder and her beau, Thomas. Jeff & Sally Seidenstein were there along with their
daughter Amy. Amy brought up a couple of friends from college (Indiana Univ). Plus,
Sally's mother (Florence) and brother Len (wife Randi) and their twin little girs. Let me not
forget the newcommers from Chicago, the Sachs'. We had the typical, wonderful Jewish
soul food of herring, other smoked fish, lox, bagels, Sally's noodle kugel, and Patty's stewed
vegetable dish, ratatouille. Special this year was the celebration of Elaine's birthday. A good
time was had by all !!

Break the Fast II

2007-09-23T17:52:00.000-04:00

Break the Fast III

2007-09-23T17:50:00.000-04:00

Marders in NYC

2007-09-11T09:09:00.000-04:00

Patty in the NYC theater district

Phil in Times Square

Dinner at Sardi's on Saturday

At Bethesda Fountain in Central Park on Sunday

(L-R) Bob Mohn, Harry Hillenius, and Phil

Over the weekend of September 8th, we visited New York City. This semi-regular trek was for the overt purpose of seeing a couple of Broadway shows but as in the past, we did a little sight-seeing and visiting of friends. We once again stayed in the Meadowlands area of New Jersey which is just ten minutes from the heart of NYC. Arriving in the afternoon on Saturday, we boarded the NJ transit "320" bus and headed for the Port Authority building which is on 42nd Street and 8th Ave. This is just a couple of blocks from Times Square and the New York theater district. We ate an early (5:30 PM) dinner at the famous Sardi's restaurant and then strolled through Times Square and the NY theater district. Busy, busy, busy with tourists and show go-ers. We saw a new musical on Saturday called "Spring Awakening". This show sounds a little strange but because it won several Tony awards this year, we were looking forward to it. It's a "coming of age" musical set in the late 1890's in Germany. Understandably a weird premise but the cast and company pulled it off beautifully. After the show, we hoofed to the PA building and caught our bus back to the hotel. On Sunday, we slept in and then munched on some prized cheese danish pastries for breakfast. At about 11 AM, we jumped on the bus and went back into The City. Immediately, we walked uptown to the famous Carnegie Deli to split one of their famous over-stuffed sandwiches. In NY eateries like this, you share tables with strangers due to the cramped conditions of these places. Actually the other two couples had Ohio connections that we chatted about. We left the Carnegie and hoofed around Central Park on this lovely Sunday afternoon. Here we saw horse-drawn "hansom" cabs, softball games in the park, and the very lovely Bethesda Lake and fountain. We then walked quickly back to the Minskoff Theater to see our second show: The Lion King. This show was a feast for the eyes. Costumes and scenerey were fantastic! We loved the show! After the show we took our bus back to NJ and met up with our good friends, Bob/Ellen Mohn and Harry/Maureen Hillenius for a dinner at The Crow's Nest. This was a wonderful weekend for us in one of our favorite places to visit: NYC.
Want to see more photos? Just go to this link:
http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/NYC_Sept_07/index.html

Opening night for the Colts

2007-09-07T09:04:00.000-04:00

Phil enjoying a beer at pre-game tailgate ................David Abbott at the tailgate fire engine

Lucas Oil Stadium under construction .................................Fans file in before the big game

Colts get introduced to the crowd..................................Colts unfurl their Super Bowl banner

Phil attended the Indianapolis Colt's opening gala at the RCA Dome on Thursday night. The atomosphere was electric, reminding him a lot like last the Super Bowl in Miami last February. The game did not disappoint either. Peyton Manning showed his classic form but what suprised most folks was the intensity of the Colt's defense. What a night for Indy!!

Slide show from Connor Lax' Bar Mitzvah

2007-09-04T20:12:00.000-04:00

To see all the slides here in detail click here:

http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/Connor_2007/index.html

Connor Lax' Bar Mitzvah

2007-09-03T08:30:00.000-04:00

Ron, Connor & Matt Lax at the temple
Patty with Alice and Robert Lax
Phil with his aunt Carrie
The three cousins, Carey, Philip & Robert

Golfing at The Farms

2007-08-16T16:40:00.001-04:00

On Aug 12th I enjoyed the pleasure of golfing with Bob Balderas and Brad Nawa at a golf course near San Diego called The Farms. Beautiful, yes, but also tough as nails.

Ed's 50th Birthday Bash

2007-08-07T19:47:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine from Indianapolis, Ed Angleton, celebrated his birthday last Saturday (Aug 4) with a party his wife Jenny set up. Lot's of people showed up for a casual treat in the backyard of his house located in an older downtown neighborhood. A good time was had by all.

Phil & Patty visit Niskayuna

2007-07-31T11:55:00.000-04:00

Over this past weekend of July 27-29th, we visited Cliff, Allison, Ethan, and Gracie Rohde in Niskayuna (near Albany) NY. We had a great time. We went swimming, took a walk along the Hudson, and attended a horse race at the famous Saratoga Race Course. You can see all our photos here: http://philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/niskayuna/index.html

Sarah & Thomas announce their engagement

2007-07-31T11:49:00.001-04:00

Our daughter Sarah gave us some great news this weekend (July 28th): She is officially engaged to marry Thomas Spurlock. The tentative date for their wedding will be sometime during the autumn of 2008. Patty and I are extremely happy for them. Look for more news about this later on.

Phil in the Bay Area (July 15-22)

2007-07-30T19:52:00.000-04:00

Phil was in the SF Bay area from July 17th to the 23rd on an instrument training. During his trip, he met up with his cousin Camille for dinner in San Jose and for a couple of days with his friend, Scott Simon in Davis, California.