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Re: Amsterdam 14 day Alaskan Explorer Cruise, July 13, 2012

Sis - absolutely true story. My late [paternal] Grandmother lived with us until her death at almost 88 years. She was deathly afraid of heights - would never come to our office, we'd have to warn her if we were about to cross a bridge while driving so she could shut her eyes and bring out her rosary - you get the picture. In 1962 (she was 80), we had driven down to Florida with her and took her to a well-known restaurant in the Fort Lauderdale area, the Mai-Kai. She was fascinated with it - loved the decor, the ambiance, the food and, yes, her Manhattan. I don't know what possessed us, but Mom, Dad and I began telling her (exaggeration, of course) that this was what Hawai'i was like if she ever wanted to visit her other son whom she hadn't seen in 18 years. He remained in Honolulu after WWII. To make a long story short, we worked on her for several months - eased with Manhattans - until we convinced her to fly to San Francisco, then on to Honolulu with us. Airplanes were anathema to her, but she agreed. To the moment we took off from JFK Airport, we would have bet anything she would back down - and we would, of course, had followed her wishes. Mom, Dad and I were sweating out this flight because we had thunderstorms (another of her terrors) all the way from JFK to SFO. My Grandmother wasn't aware of anything! When we got to our hotel in San Francisco, the Mark Hopkins, which was well past midnight NY time, she wanted to go down to the Vienna Coffee House in the hotel that we had told her about. She ate a huge hamburger with gusto! I won't bore you with the whole story, but the entire trip went like a fairy tale. When we returned home about a month later, we overheard my Grandmother speaking on the phone [in Italian] with one of her older sisters. The jist of the conversation, translated - YOU KNOW, MY SISTER, THE ONLY WAY TO TRAVEL IS TO FLY!!! Bless her, she took a number of flights after that before she passed away.

But there may just be something to "Manhattan therapy" and flying!

<blockquote data-quote="ShipMaven" data-source="post: 1509152" data-attributes="member: 343">Re: Amsterdam 14 day Alaskan Explorer Cruise, July 13, 2012&nbsp;Sis - absolutely true story.&nbsp; My late [paternal] Grandmother lived with us until her death at almost 88 years.&nbsp; She was deathly afraid of heights - would never come to our office, we'd have to warn her if we were about to cross a bridge while driving so she could shut her eyes and bring out her rosary - you get the picture.&nbsp; In 1962 (she was 80), we had driven down to Florida with her and took her to a well-known restaurant in the Fort Lauderdale area, the Mai-Kai.&nbsp; She was fascinated with it - loved the decor, the ambiance, the food and, yes, her Manhattan.&nbsp; I don't know what possessed us, but Mom,&nbsp; Dad and I began telling her (exaggeration, of course) that this was what Hawai'i was like if she ever wanted to visit her other son whom she hadn't seen in 18 years.&nbsp; He remained in Honolulu after WWII.&nbsp; To make a long story short, we worked on her for several months - eased with Manhattans - until we convinced her to fly to San Francisco, then on to Honolulu with us.&nbsp; &nbsp; Airplanes were anathema to her, but she agreed.&nbsp; To the moment we took off from JFK Airport, we would have bet anything she would back down - and we would, of course, had followed her wishes.&nbsp; Mom, Dad and I were sweating out this flight because we had thunderstorms (another of her terrors) all the way from JFK to SFO.&nbsp;&nbsp; My Grandmother wasn't aware of anything!&nbsp;&nbsp; When we got to our hotel in San Francisco, the Mark Hopkins,&nbsp; which was well past midnight NY time,&nbsp; she wanted to go down to the Vienna Coffee House in the hotel that we had told her about.&nbsp; She ate a huge hamburger with gusto!&nbsp; I won't bore you with the whole story, but the entire trip went like a fairy tale.&nbsp;&nbsp; When we returned home about a month later, we overheard my Grandmother speaking on the phone [in Italian] with one of her older sisters.&nbsp; The jist of the conversation, translated - YOU KNOW, MY SISTER, THE ONLY WAY TO TRAVEL IS TO FLY!!!&nbsp;&nbsp; Bless her, she took a number of flights after that before she passed away.&nbsp;But there may just be something to &quot;Manhattan therapy&quot; and flying!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ShipMaven, post: 1509152, member: 343"] [b]Re: Amsterdam 14 day Alaskan Explorer Cruise, July 13, 2012[/b] Sis - absolutely true story. My late [paternal] Grandmother lived with us until her death at almost 88 years. She was deathly afraid of heights - would never come to our office, we'd have to warn her if we were about to cross a bridge while driving so she could shut her eyes and bring out her rosary - you get the picture. In 1962 (she was 80), we had driven down to Florida with her and took her to a well-known restaurant in the Fort Lauderdale area, the Mai-Kai. She was fascinated with it - loved the decor, the ambiance, the food and, yes, her Manhattan. I don't know what possessed us, but Mom, Dad and I began telling her (exaggeration, of course) that this was what Hawai'i was like if she ever wanted to visit her other son whom she hadn't seen in 18 years. He remained in Honolulu after WWII. To make a long story short, we worked on her for several months - eased with Manhattans - until we convinced her to fly to San Francisco, then on to Honolulu with us. Airplanes were anathema to her, but she agreed. To the moment we took off from JFK Airport, we would have bet anything she would back down - and we would, of course, had followed her wishes. Mom, Dad and I were sweating out this flight because we had thunderstorms (another of her terrors) all the way from JFK to SFO. My Grandmother wasn't aware of anything! When we got to our hotel in San Francisco, the Mark Hopkins, which was well past midnight NY time, she wanted to go down to the Vienna Coffee House in the hotel that we had told her about. She ate a huge hamburger with gusto! I won't bore you with the whole story, but the entire trip went like a fairy tale. When we returned home about a month later, we overheard my Grandmother speaking on the phone [in Italian] with one of her older sisters. The jist of the conversation, translated - YOU KNOW, MY SISTER, THE [U]ONLY[/U] WAY TO TRAVEL IS TO FLY!!! Bless her, she took a number of flights after that before she passed away. But there may just be something to "Manhattan therapy" and flying! [/QUOTE]