Danny's Birthday Weekend

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What a weekend sports fans. What a way to celebrate. We started off the weekend with a Lions game in Detroit. A great game, ended with an interception and (Spartan) Drew Stanton's game winning drive. We left Ford field, and went right across the street to the Tigers game. Though the game didn't end with a win, we had quite the expirence. our seats were 9 rows behind home plate. They were so close we were on SportsCenter this morning! You could clearly see us on the highlights of the game! One of the best parts of the seats was the Tiger Den. A great place to get a drink, a few apps, and a great view of the game. We ended up the night at HockeyTown Cafe. What a day. People give Detroit a bad rap; but it is getting better. 5-10 years ago there was no opportunity to spend all day downtown. Spending the day downtown yesterday was not only a possibility, but better than we could have imagined.

The party didn't end on Saturday. Today we went to MeadowBrook for the wine and food festival. Wineries from near and far com into town for sampling, and great deals on bottle of great wine. The great part about these wine festivals is you can do 2-4 hours of a normal wine tasting trip in 1-2 because there is no driving between vineyards. Needless to say, Dan and Annie needed a nap after this trip.

All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better weekend. great weather, great activities, great people to celebrate with. We wish every weekend could be this fun (though our livers don't wish this upon us).

















The birthday Kids.

Duckbutter Draft weekend

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This weekend is the 8th Annual Fantasy Football Draft. This was the most challeging year to coordinate since around half the teams could not make it onsite (stupid wedding season). However, we overcame. This year highlighted a cyber draft board, web cameras, and confrence calling lines. A great addition to the draft.

After the draft we headed to The Himmelspach's "just beacuase party," then ended up the night at Chase's new house.

Great seafood restaurant

In Coasta Mesa (outside LA) is Scotts Seafood. Great place for dinner! LA is a great city (to visit).

Jud and Katie's wedding

Jud and Katie are getting married today! Since the wedding is in Tawas, we rented a lake house. No better way to start a wedding celebration than a day on the watter.

Hobee's Honeymoon Vacation

Written by: Hobee
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Just like the newly-weds, I had a vacation of my own! Boy did I need it. As some of you know, I had quite the exciting wedding. Though I was there for the proposal, I was not invited to the wedding. Not happy about that, Layla and I tried to crash the party. We broke out of the groomsmen house a few times and tried to get on the party bus; but Charlie kept throwing us back in. So after they left we broke out of the house! Our escape was not successful though. Layla got picked up by the Crystal Mountain Police, and I ended up spending the afternoon on the porch of Aunt Donna's cottage. On a positive note, I did make a new friend. This Uncle Chuck guy just might be the 7th person I get along with. I’m becoming quite the social butterfly.

Anyway, after all that excitement I needed a vacation. Annie and Danny gave me just what I needed - a 10 day "cruise" and on the USS "Casa de Alessandro." It was quite the good time. During the day we had excursions to exotic places called "the Polyann trail" and "Tim Horton's." During these excursions we visited with the locals, and tried the local cuisine. While this Tim guy makes a mean dish called a“Tim-bit,” I wouldn't recommend eating at the Polyann trail.

Night time entertainment was fantastic! Some of the best shows included: Partying on the top deck - singing and guitar playing (I'm quite the singer too you know) - and comedy hour with the Spags.

With the excursions and night time entertainment came much R& R time. I got daily love, pets, and attention by my favorite person - Vanessa. And was able to sleep all night on the bed with my Grandparents (something I am not allowed to do at home). My favorite place is on an abandoned pillow. I even got to sleep on John's head a few times!

Last but not least was the food! The USS "Casa De Alessandro" is known for their fine doggy dishes - but this vacation set new records. I didn't eat one kibble of the food Dan packed for me. Chef John gave me daily treats, scraps, and this new kind of dog food called "wet food." It is the best thing I’ve ever tasted. It’s like they took my favorite foods (Goose Poop, crumbs, and crackers) and combined it into a super substance. I ate so much; I might weigh 11 pounds now!

We got back late yesterday afternoon. Dan slept 10 hours last night. Annie 11. I'm going on 19 hours and am still not ready to get off the beanbag.

What a great vacation!

Corfu, Greece

Written by: Dan and Annie
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We arrived to the port of Corfu Greece at 1:00. This allowed us to sleep in; which was much needed since this is our third straight day of tours. We opted out of excursions and instead decided to explore on our own (the tours didn’t seem to offer much). We found the city to be ok, but nothing special. Some basic shopping, trinkets, etc…. It reminded us of the Southern US states.

We stopped for a great lunch at an authentic Greek restaurant called Restaurant Bellissimo. We sat outside and had shrimp saganiki (not the flaming cheese we thought it was, but good none the less); and authentic Gyros (spelled on the menu “Giros”). They were great. All the fixings were served on a plate separate from the accompanied homemade bread – fresh out of the oven.
We finished lunch and a walk around the city for a little shopping. We next headed to the old fort on the edge of the coast. Greece’s western and most northern spot. The Greeks in Corfu haven’t figured out this tour quite yet. There were no signs explaining what we were looking at, the history, or where to go next. Also, many parts of the fort were blocked off, with no explanation of why.
The highlight came after we discovered the portal to the secret beach. It was literally a whole in the wall of a tunnel. It took us outside the back walls of the fort to a staircase to the sea. Once we arrived we found the most beautiful beach along the side of the fort. We spend the rest of our time cooling off in the clear, crisp waters of the Ionian Sea. Our second swim in the Mediterranean Sea this week! Another special excursion we will never forget.

We spent the final day of our trip at sea. We haven’t left our stateroom much today. The day has been spent on our balcony, in bed, or watching movies. We desperately needed a day of rest after three long, hot days of touring Turkey and Greece.
We are sad our honeymoon is over, but we are looking forward to heading home and sharing our pictures and stories with all of you. We also miss Hobee, a lot.
This has been a special trip we will never forget.

Santorini, Greece

Written by: Annie Hoban
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The third cruise port was Santorini, Greece - Home to wine, olive oil and pirates. We took a tour into the village of Pyrogos, where we learned all about the history of pirates on the island, how the pirates battled with rocks and how these rocks are now incorporated in the architecture of all the streets and homes throughout the village. After touring the local homes and people of Pyrogos we went to a beautiful restaurant where we sampled the local food and wine.
Our tour ended in the city of Fira, which sits along the edge of a cliff with a view of caldera of the volcano (still active). We did a little shopping, drank some milkshakes as we looked over the cliffs and then braved the Greek form of transportation to a local winery where we sampled more wine and sat in the clouds overlooking the volcano. It was quite a day!
To end it all, we took a cable car back down the cliffs to ferry back to the cruise ship. While waiting in line for the cable car we met a nice woman, Sue, from Texas. Sue and Dan quickly bonded on the cable when he announced that he’s terrified of cable cars. Dan grabbed Sue’s hand, closed his eyes and held on tight for the whole ride down the cliff. It was a Kodak moment!

Ephesus, Turkey

Written by: Annie Hoban
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It has been an amazing past two days. Our second cruise ship port was in Kusadasi, Turkey and we took our first guided tour of the Ancient ruins of Ephesus. This incredible city was built by the Romans and included remains of fountains, the temple of Hadrianus, the library of Celsus, the gate of Hercules, the temple of Artemis, a very large amphitheater, and much more. It’s truly an indescribable feeling knowing that you are walking the streets that gladiators and chariots roamed.
After the tour of ancient Ephesus we continued to a Turkish rug making shop in the town of Kusadasi where we sampled some Turkish coffee (very tasty) and pastries as we learned how silk worms are used to make the rugs by hand using a special knotting technique. After seeing many rugs that I thought would look great at home, Dan proceeded to walk her out of the store after learning the prices ranged from $300 to $45,000.
Next stop was the Church of St. John the Apostle. We are both very proud of ourselves for finding the church because it was off the beat and path, we took public transportation (quite intimidating in Turkey), and we hiked up yet another large hill to the remains of the Church and we found a mosque (The mosque of Isa Bay) which was constructed in 1375A.D. We both agree that apart from ancient Ephesus, the Church of St. John is one of the most amazing places we have ever seen. The church was built in the 5th century and Turkey must be fairly new to the whole tourism business because nothing was roped off. We were able to walk on every tile and column on the site. We even saw a woman pose for a picture on St. John’s tombstone. This place is quite an amazing part of history.

Leaving Venice, starting our cruise, and our day in Croatia

Written by: Dan
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We finished up Venice with a bang. During the day we went to Murano to tour the glass factories. They have the most elegant artwork. The families who own the factories have a special glass “sauce” that allows them to work with the glass at lower temperatures. This allows them the ability to sculpt and mold the glass into very impressive shapes and colors. We purchased our first piece of artwork! It is hard to explain, we will have to show it to you sometime. The best way to explain it is: It is made of glass, and it is pretty.
We ended our night with a trip to Harry’s bar. It is a famous restaurant on the Grand Canal. It is one of the most fancy (and expensive) places I have ever eaten. It was something we will never forget. After that we turned in early to get ready for our cruise.
The next morning, we woke up late, checked out of our hotel, and took a water taxi to Venice Port. It is quite a site. They drove us right in between the large cruise ships. It was a little too close for comfort at times. Made us feel like quite the small fish.
We arrived to the boat, checked into our room, and explored the ship. For those of you who have been on a cruise, I apologize for this paragraph. It will be an “of course” moment. However, this is our first cruise, and was something quite new for us. First off, our room is excellent. It is small, but has a small living area and balcony. As I type this we are passing by a Greek Island that looks nearly uninhabited. It is most stunning. Many tall cliffs and mountains, and a few white houses on the shoreline. We have taken to setting up the camera on a tri-pod outside so it only takes a moment to catch a spectacular site.
Besides the facilities, the atmosphere is something to get used to. Americans are in the minority on this ship, and English is one of a handful of languages spoken on the ship. It takes forever to make an announcement because they have to repeat the same thing in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, etc… I find this to be so interesting, and humbling. Most people on the ship speak multiple languages; and I don’t even talk English good.
After a great dinner and show we retired to our cabin for a good night’s sleep. Our ship traveled throughout the night to arrive in Dubrovnik, Croatia in the morning. We left the ship in the am for a day exploring the city. Again, I was quite interested and humbled by this experience. Being the naive American, I knew nothing about Croatia - besides I remembered something about a war. We soon found Croatia is making many strides to enter the European union and the tourist marketplace – so they are quite inviting to guests and do a great job to explain Croatia, and Croatian history to everyone (even us naïve Americans). Old town Dubrovnik was elegant and awe inspiring. We took about 600 pictures. We started the day by walking on top of the city walls. This gave a great view of the city, coast, and countryside. After a walking for a few hours we stopped for a nice lunch along the waterline. Fresh shrimp and a seafood Risotto. After lunch our waitress gave us directions to a local beach. Since the temperature is about 85 and sunny, a dip was in order. We swam in the Adriatic Sea for about an hour before drying off and returning to our ship. Croatia is something we will never forget. I would not be surprised if we were back one day. I would expect many other Americans to start to look towards Dubrovnik as a vacation destination in years to come.