Search Results for: Caribbean

Sailing the Caribbean on Windstar

Wind StarIt seems my travel this year has been heavy on places starting with “C.” Soon I’ll add Caribbean Cruise on one of the Windstar sailing vessels.

The “C” places have included Costa Rica, Cuba, Charleston, Coatesville, Chicago, and Chasing Abraham Lincoln (a road tour of Lincoln sites in Illinois). The upcoming Caribbean cruise will take me to Curacao (and all the ABC islands) with touches in Colombia and Colon (Panama). Yes, more “C”s.

This will be my fourth Windstar cruise, and by coincidence my fourth ship of their six-ship fleet. My first trip with them was on their flagship Wind Surf, a five-mast sailing vessel carrying just over 300 passengers. The smaller – more intimate and more luxurious – experience was far more appealing than the big hotel ships stuffed with 2000-4000 passengers. Wind Surf took us to several islands between St. Maarten and St. Lucia. The upcoming cruise is on the company’s namesake ship, Wind Star, a four-mast sailing ship about half the size (148 passengers). Both ships (and the Wind Star‘s sister ship, the Wind Spirit) have a signature “sail away” song they broadcast on the outside speakers as they hoist the full sails to everyone’s delight, both on deck and on shore.

In between the two sailing cruises we traveled on two of their three yachts without sails, Star Breeze and Star Legend. These took us to the Baltic Sea and the Philippines, the latter including dinner with the captain. All three of their sail-less yachts are in the process of being enlarged, upping their capacity from 212 to 312 guests. We thoroughly enjoyed the larger cabins and yacht club and look forward to trying out the new Star Pride in the future. Eventually the plan is to cruise on all six of Windstar’s ships.

As my science traveling adventures continue I realize there are so many more places yet to see (and surprisingly, not all begin with the letter “C”). My travel list seems to get longer rather than shorter, but I’m working on it. I might even write a book about my travels some day.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

The Year in a Traveler’s Life – 2023

Samarkand, UzbekistanAnother year has passed at the speed of travel, which if my time sense is correct is somewhere between the speed of sound and the speed of light. I’m always shocked to reach December only to wonder what happened to the first eleven months of the year. At least this year, travel-wise, was back to some sense of normality. To quote my old TV psycho-complement, Monk, “Here’s what happened.”

In what seems to have become a trend, my travel year started slowly. January through March are always intensely busy, both with catching up on everything I didn’t finish the previous year and with Abraham Lincoln-related events. This year I was especially busy giving presentations, doing radio and podcast interviews, and fielding questions from reporters related to my book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius. More on that in my annual writing post coming soon. The bottom line is that I didn’t travel much in the first quarter.

All that changed in April as the proverbial (not literal) dam burst. Of the thirty days in April, I was home for only six of them. Early in the month I took a road trip up through New England to investigate many of the stops Lincoln made on his two visits to the region. He had given a dozen lectures in Massachusetts in 1848 between sessions of his single term as a U.S. Congressman, mostly stumping for the Whig nominee for president, Zachary Taylor (Spoiler: Taylor won). Lincoln returned in February of 1860 immediately after his Cooper Union speech in New York City. While originally planned solely to visit his son Robert doing time at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire (after failing his Harvard entrance exams), the success of Cooper Union led to high demand for him to speak in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. I visited many of the sites and conducted research for a future project. I also stopped at Hildene – Robert Lincoln’s home in Vermont – and got a VIP tour, then stopped in Peekskill, NY to keynote an annual meeting and pick up an award.

After two days home, which included a webinar one day and hosting a Lincoln Group dinner meeting the next, I was on a plane to Lisbon, Portugal. We had a few days there before boarding a Windstar luxury yacht to Gibraltar, Morocco, many cities in Spain, Barcelona, and a day trip to Andorra. I wrote a bit more about that trip here. It was May 6th before we got home. June was a busy work month, but it was on the road again for the week of July 4th back to New England for family visits and stops at Chesterwood (the studio of Daniel Chester French, sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial Lincoln), The Mount (the writer Edith Wharton’s home), and the Norman Rockwell Museum (to see his portrait of Lincoln, of course).

September had me back on a plane to “The Stans,” more specifically Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. I met up with a group of people traveling under the Eurocircle moniker, whose leader I had first met a decade ago when my book, Tesla, first came out. This was my fourth trip with her and was happy to see another four people I had met last year on the Tanzania trip. There were eleven of us total who jumped around three major cities in Uzbekistan before spending shorter times in the other three countries. It was an eye-opening experience, as was the single day I had in Istanbul on the way there. [Hint: Turkish Airlines offers free tours if you’re on certain flights with long layovers]

November included the annual Lincoln Forum symposium in Gettysburg, PA, a 3-day collection of a record 350 Lincoln attendees to listen to a collection of some of the greatest Lincoln scholars in the country. Last year (i.e., 2022) I picked up the Wendy Allen Award for the Lincoln Group of DC and gave a presentation on my Fire of Genius book, so this year was slightly less hectic. That said, I did spend time chatting up key leaders of other Lincoln organizations about plans for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. I joined a group of colleagues on the first day out at the Gettysburg National Cemetery examining the camera angles from all the extant photos of the event, including pinpointing the actual location of where Lincoln spoke. That night was headlined by Steve Inskeep of NPR fame. The middle night gave us a concert by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, whose music you would recognize from the Ken Burns mini-series on the Civil War. The final night featured a great rendition of the Gettysburg Address by actor Graham Sibley and a conversation with the incomparable Pulitzer Prize-winning Doris Kearns Goodwin (Team of Rivals and many others). Two days after returning from Gettysburg, it was on the road again to New England for the third time in 2023, this time for a more relaxed Thanksgiving with family.

Which gets us to December. I do have one more short trip, a few days in Pennsylvania with family, but otherwise the year is done for traveling.

But 2024 is only ten days away. And I have plenty of plans.

Two big trips have already been booked. March will find us on Windstar again, this time on a small sailing ship (140 passengers) in the Caribbean. We’ll start in Panama and spend some time in Colombia before dropping in on the ABC islands, Grenada, the Grenadines, and ending in Barbados. July will find us in Botswana (birding), Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls), and South Africa (Cape Town). After not having been to Africa ever until 2021, this will make the third year in a row seeing a new country (or three) on that continent. The earlier trip to Colombia will be the first time in South America since the amazing Argentina trip of 2014. South America and Antarctica are in future plans starting in 2025.

Of course, there will be “shorter” trips closer to home. I plan another road trip to New England, likely in April, in addition to at least two, and likely three, other trips to various places there in 2023. There will be the Lincoln Forum in November, possibly an upstate New York road trip, a visit to NYC for both work and pleasure, and shorter visits (if I haven’t run out of days in the year) to Richmond and West Virginia. There may be more, or slightly less as circumstances warrant, but it promises to be a very busy travel year.

I’ll have my annual Year in the Writer’s Life post up shortly after Christmas.

Photo: David J. Kent, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Reflections on a Decade of Writing

David J Kent at the Lincoln MemorialI double-checked my calendar as I started to write this because the idea of it being a decade into my second career seemed scarcely credible. But yes, ten years have passed since I left my thirty-plus year career in science to pursue a life of writing. It has truly been an amazing experience, and as I said in my first anniversary reflections, it’s still the best decision I ever made.

Not that it has gone exactly as planned. I originally referred to this website and reflections posts as Science Traveler in anticipation of my focus being on traveling and science. I envisioned visiting far off places and writing from a scientific perspective. Those things have certainly remained a part of my life (especially the travel), but I found myself becoming more and more immersed in my second passion – the study of Abraham Lincoln. That shift is reflected in, well, these reflections. After five anniversaries of Reflections of a Science Traveler, I skipped the intervening years and this tenth anniversary reflections is more about my decade of writing. So, what has happened in ten years? Let’s dive in.

The Writing: The book that started it all was about the eccentric electrical engineer and namesake of the electric car company, Nikola Tesla. I had fallen into the topic of Tesla after attending a writer’s conference and participating in what can best be described as speed dating for agents. The book was a huge success, garnering eight printings, translations into four languages, and six figure sales. Released in the summer of 2013, it was also the impetus for me to resign from my scientific consulting job a few months later. I had been thinking about the change for some time, but holding my first book in my hands gave me the confidence to, as the Nike commercials say, Just Do It! So, I did. I then published two e-books over the next two years. The first to expand on one component of Tesla’s life I thought was largely ignored (renewable energy); the second to show the astonishing number of connections between Tesla and Abraham Lincoln. The following year (2016) my book on Thomas Edison came out, sort of a counterpoint to Tesla. And then in 2017 my general biography of Abraham Lincoln was released, which like the other two from Fall River Press was packed with photos, graphics, drawings, and cartoons to capture the eye. That Lincoln book received several award nominations and was named “Best Lincoln Biography for Young People” by Tom Peet and David Keck in their 2021 compendium of Lincoln books.

Following Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, I decided to switch gears again and focus on the book I had always wanted to write. I had proposed a rudimentary concept for the book back in that 2012 speed dating conference, but it saw significant development while I was writing the other books, and a lot more research. By 2020 (aka, the year of the COVID) I was ready to formally propose it to my agent, who placed it with Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Lincoln: The Fire of Genius came out in 2022 and has received significant critical praise and many book award nominations. I’m immensely proud of this book and so happy I was finally able to get it out into the publishing world.

In addition to the books, I wrote a ton of shorter pieces, most of it unpaid. While I did receive payment for some book reviews, most of my reviews have been gratis, including those for the Lincoln Group of DC newsletter, the Lincoln Herald professional journal, and the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project website. Then there are several blogs, including my own author website (the one you’re reading now), my “personal side of writing” I call Hot White Snow, some now defunct blogs (no time for them), and the Lincolnian.org website, for which I’ve written nearly half of the 360 blog items published to date. I also squeeze in some random writing to practice my skills and submit to writing contests.

The Traveling: A large factor in the decision to leave my old job was to give me more time to travel. I’ve certainly done that, although the COVID pandemic truncated the decade by about two years. I had been to Asia and Europe prior to my three-year secondment there from 2008-2011, plus a lot more of Europe while there. Since then, I’ve expanded my travels, both around the United States and six of the seven continents. In 2014 I spent three weeks on a road trip through Argentine Patagonia. In 2016 I did both the Caribbean and the Balkans, including a visit to the Royal Palace to meet the Prince and Princess of Serbia. I went to South Korea and China in the spring of 2017, then to Australia and New Zealand that fall. The year 2018 took me to into the Baltic Sea in June, then the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore in December. 2019 was a “C” year, with separate trips to Cuba and Costa Rica, as well as Chicago and Charleston. COVID wiped out 2020 and 2021 was largely empty of travel, although I managed a November off-season retreat to eastern Long Island. Back to real travel started up in 2022 with trips to Iceland and Tanzania (my first time in Africa). I went back to Africa earlier this year, hitting Morocco as well as Portugal, Spain, and even tiny Andorra. Soon I’ll be seeing some Turkey and some “Stans” (more on those in later posts). Overall, my travels have taken me to 67 countries and territories (according to a tracking app called Been) and 42 states (somehow, I’ve missed the middle of the country).

The Reading: Another goal in my new career was to find more time for reading. My job and studies required so much technical reading and writing that I had largely given up reading anything for pleasure. Now I read 75-100+ books a year. Most of that is still nonfiction, but I read a lot more fiction than in the past. The fiction ranges from classics to the hot new releases, with the choice often defined by what shows up in the local mini-libraries. Nonfiction has a lot of science, history, psychology, civil rights, and, of course, a lot of Abraham Lincoln. Which gets me to…

The Lincoln Groups: The same month I took the plunge, and the train to New York, to test the writing conference waters, I joined the Lincoln Group of DC. The group had been around since 1935 but I hadn’t heard of it until I returned from Brussels seeking to explore my other interests. It wasn’t long before I was on the board, then a vice president (the group has three), and for the last 2.5 years, the president. I also ended up on the board of the Abraham Lincoln Institute and I’m now their treasurer. I’m on the board of advisors for the Lincoln Forum, a book reviewer for the Lincoln Herald, and active in the Abraham Lincoln Association and other Lincoln organizations. Over the years I’ve won several awards and recognitions related to Lincoln work, most recently the Wendy Allen Award from the Lincoln Forum as president of the Lincoln Group of DC and the Lincoln Legacy Award from the Lincoln Society of Peekskill. I also was the primary organizer for the big 2022 centennial celebration for the Lincoln Memorial, coordinating with the National Park Service and other groups, plus serving as Master of Ceremonies for the two-hour program on the Memorial steps in the shadow of where Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech.

I’m sure there is more. You can also look at the previous five reflections for more insights: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018. Or just click here and scroll down to see them all at once.

It’s been a busy, and satisfying, decade. So, what’s the plan for the next ten years? Well, keeping in mind that my “plans” are fluid, changing not quite willy nilly depending on conditions and opportunities, here’s at least an outline of future goals.

Retire: I have no idea what retirement means, so presumably I’ll know it when I see it. That said, I do anticipate some changes.

Future Writing: Perhaps my biggest problem is my inability to focus (which ironically is a subject for a potential future book). I currently have three or four books I’m actively trying to finish, plus I’m working on a proposal for another to have my agent shop around to publishers. Since I can’t seem to focus on one at a time, they all creep along at a snail’s pace and seem never to be completed. My “book ideas” list has reached 51 books, some of which are in progress while others are almost certainly never going to get beyond the brilliant idea stage. To date, all my published books have been biographies. I want that to shift into more creative writing, which will include memoir, travel, history, mixes of memoir/travel/history, and yes, even fiction. These genres scare me. The biographies (which I won’t abandon completely; I have ideas for several) feel like an extension of the scientific writing I did in my past life. Indeed, my first two biographies were of famous scientists. Narrative nonfiction and the various genres of pure fiction are something I’m going to have to work at. And yet, my life has been a series of tangents, the adaptation necessary to remain employed in the uncertain world of regulation-driven consulting. I’ve managed to be successful now in two broad careers, and it feels like a good time to go off on one of those tangents while remaining in the writing sphere.

Future Travel: I’ve been to six of the seven continents, so the obvious step is to get to Antarctica. That’s definitely on my “must” list, as are the Galapagos, Machu Picchu, the pyramids, and a few other places that I’ve somehow managed not to see yet. The goal is to do the must-see places within the next five years. In the short term, I’m scheduled for those previously mentioned “Stans” and have tentative plans for the Caribbean next spring. I also have tentative plans for southern Africa for about a year from now. I also expect to do a series of domestic road trips in the next year or two. Beyond that will depend on some personal factors out of my control. If all the more proximal plans come to fruition, that will mean by the end of next year I will have visited 80 or so countries and territories (territories include places like Bermuda that officially count as a British Island Territory). Maybe I’ll hit 100 someday. On the other hand, there are places I wouldn’t mind going back to and I’ve already tentatively planned on a road trip through the UK, Scotland, and Ireland. And we’ll always have Paris (yeah, cheesy, I know, but I couldn’t resist using the line after having been in Casablanca earlier this year).

Future Reading: This is the easy one. I’ll likely continue to read 75-100 books a year. I’ve broadened my selection considerably over the last decade and expect to continue to do that in the next. As long as it exists, you can always find me on Goodreads as I track my progress. And yes, I do take book suggestions.

Future Lincoln Groups: Here is where the near future might bring the most adjustment. I’ve been in some form of management with the Lincoln Group of DC for virtually all of this decade. I was Vice President of Education and Outreach for not one but two non-consecutive two-year terms, Vice President of Programs for two years, and I’m in my final year in a three-year stint as President. But as onerous as that sounds, I’ve also acted in a kind of shadow capacity for other positions during that time. Interestingly, when I looked back on my first anniversary reflections, I noticed that I was in the final year of the presidential cycle for CPRC (it was my second time as president for this scientific organization, ten years apart) and just beginning my first year officially as vice president on the Lincoln Group board. A decade hence and it’s time for me to recalibrate again. I’ve already informed the board that I will step down at the next election in May 2024, but since I’m still obsessed with Lincoln, I won’t be gone – I’ll serve as Immediate Past-President for whoever takes over the position. Dropping the presidency will give me more time to write for the website and newsletter, plus taken on a much-needed role as historian-at-large as I wade into the Lincoln Group file drawers to collate a history of the group. I’m also thinking of starting a Lincoln podcast. We also have a grant application in the works for a big (big) program, so stay tuned.

Then there are the other groups. My term as treasurer and executive board member of the Abraham Lincoln Institute runs until 2025, although I’m likely to continue indefinitely. My term on the Lincoln Forum Board of Advisors is somewhat open-ended but may be turned over to the incoming Lincoln Group president. I’ll remain active in all Lincoln Groups for the foreseeable future. As my interests evolve, I’m likely to get involved with non-Lincoln groups as well, although I’ll have to be careful not to end up as president (somehow that has happened five times before).

What else? I mentioned above that I’m not sure what “retirement” means, but I’m thinking it starts with offloading some responsibilities so I can focus more on things I enjoy. For ten years I’ve been talking about rekindling my interest in photography, so I consider that being part of it. I also want to travel as much as I can manage. Then there are more entertainment events. More relaxing time instead of hyperventilating myself through the day. More creative writing. Whatever. I’ll know it when I see it, right? All that said, I doubt I’ll ever actually retire, just allow myself to follow those tangents-of-the-moment opportunities when they arrive. I suspect no one will even know when that time comes. I probably won’t know it myself.

On to another decade in the writer’s life.

[Photo Credit: Henry Ballone photo of David J. Kent emceeing the Lincoln Memorial Centennial, May 2022]

Fire of Genius

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Cruising Lisbon to Barcelona, and Everywhere in Between

A few days ago, I returned from a two-and-a-half-week Windstar cruise-plus trip around the Mediterranean. We started in Lisbon and ended in Barcelona, but made several stops along the way, including Gibraltar, and Morocco. Here are the places we stopped. It was an amazing experience.

Windstar cruise Lisbon to Barcelona

This is our fourth Windstar trip. Previously we sailed in the Caribbean, yachted in the Baltic Sea, and motored from Hong Kong to Singapore via the Philippines, Borneo, and Brunei. We were supposed to be on another trip in the Caribbean to northern South America in December 2019 but it was canceled at the last minute due to mechanical difficulties. Then COVID hit and nothing happened for a while. Last year we were booked for a trip starting and ending in Istanbul that bounced around the Black Sea, including Odessa, Ukraine. Needless to say, the cruise line canceled that trip as soon as Russia invaded Ukraine. We ended up in Iceland instead, then a trip to Tanazania near the end of 2022. This was our first Windstar since late 2018 and it was wonderful. The ships carry only about 300 passengers, so unlike the big multi-thousand hotel ships, Windstar gives you the chance to get to know the other passengers and crew.

Looking at the map above you can see there are a lot of markers inland. Obviously, we didn’t sail the ship to Marrakesh, but in retrospect it turned out that we took excursions to other cities at each stop other than Gibraltar. That expanded the cultural immersion immensely.

We arrived in Lisbon, Portugal early on Thursday. The cruise didn’t board until Saturday afternoon so we played tourist in the city, hitting all the hot spots like the castle, the Belem tower, the Monument to the Discoveries, and wandering the neighborhoods. On Friday we took the train out to Sintra. Not only was it the only rainy day during the entire trip, it was a day of deluge. It rained so hard it soaked through my otherwise trusty umbrella and created its own rain on me. Still, it was worth the trip. I had been in Lisbon and Sintra about 15 years ago but hadn’t planned ahead so didn’t even see much other than the famed Oceanario.

The first stop on the ship was Gibraltar and a tour around the “Rock” and its famous apes and St. Michael’s Cave. Then we were off to Casablanca, Morocco. I had always wanted to visit because of the Humphrey Bogart movie, but was told by others that the trip out to Marrakesh was a better use of time. So onto a 12-hour excursion to the city made famous (at least to me) by the Crosby, Stills, and Nash song, “Marrakesh Express.” Long day but worth it.

Then it was back to bounce around Spain. Porting at Cadiz overnight, we spent one day roaming the city and another day going out to Jerez, where we toured a vineyard, wine cellar, and best of all, got to taste two kinds of sherry and a brandy. [Yes, we bought some to take home] Malaga was another overnighter so we walked Picasso’s birth city one day and on the other day took a trip out to Cordoba, home of a huge mosque that was turned into a church (the mosque had been built on a previous church; such back and forth happened a lot as the Muslim Moors and Christians took turns invading each other’s space). Our stop in Cartagena gave us an opportunity to go out to Murcia, heavy in preparations for one of the seemingly ubiquitous music festivals, and still had plenty of time to wander the city of Cartagena itself.

The Windstar cruise ended in Barcelona, Spain. Again, I had been there about 15 years ago but only for a day. This time I was determined to get into the Sagrada Familia (which has grown a lot in 15 years), the Picasso Museum, and spend some time in the Catalonian city of Gaudi. In keeping with the trend of maximizing the opportunities, we took a 3+ hour bus ride from Barcelona to the tiny country of Andorra, deep in the Pyrenees mountains nestled on the border between Spain and France. I’ll write more later, but one thing I noticed is that is that English seemed to disappear as we got into the Catalonia region of Spain. Barcelonians and the greater Catalonians are feverishly protective of their Catalan heritage, going so far as to declare their independence from Spain (which neither Spain nor any other country I’m aware of has conceded to). This was especially true in Andorra where I had to struggle through my rudimentary Spanish and French just to order lunch (the waitress laughed when I asked for an English menu).

Two and half weeks later we’re back in the USA, having visited five countries, thirteen cities, one aquarium, and two or three thousand photo opportunities. It will take a while to sort through the photos, but I’ll be back to flesh out the highlights of key stops.

[Map created by Ru Sun, who in addition to being such a great travel companion, had to survive my temporary insanity in the tower of the Sagrada Familia.]

 

Fire of Genius

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

The Year in Science Traveling -2021

Lincoln at GettysburgLast year I started off my annual science traveling post with “Well, this shouldn’t take long.” Despite expectations, I could have started my 2021 post with: “Ditto.”

My year in traveling looks like my previous year’s “goals” list; just change the date and carry over everything to this year. Now I’ll be carrying most of it over to 2022. As with everyone else, I’ve grown exhausted by the continuing battle with COVID, in part due to its evolving variants, and in part due to the irresponsible choices of many to remain unvaccinated. And as with everyone else, it has crimped my traveling schedule. Luckily, I was too busy to travel in the first half of 2021, which I’ll talk more about in my annual “A Year in the Writing Life” that will come out next week.

I again planned to do a series of “Chasing Abraham Lincoln” road trips. Some were local (Richmond, Gettysburg, Washington DC), while others were a bit farther afield (Illinois, upstate New York, New England, California). All are now transferred to my 2022 plans. As usual, my goal was to get to five new countries this year. The reality is that the last trip I took out of the country was to Cuba in May 2019. Things started looking up in July when my brother proposed a two-week catamaran trip around the British Virgin Islands for November. Circumstances soon changed and that trip was cancelled. The idea of sailing around Spain and Portugal in November was put on the table, then removed literally the next day as both countries were added to the State Department’s “Do Not Travel” list due to COVID. Okay, let’s do the Caribbean instead. Same problem. All of this was after foregoing a trip to the Galapagos because we thought we would be tied up at that time.

Around the time things were getting the most depressing, I saw that a writing acquaintance was doing a self-imposed “writer’s retreat” on Long Island. It was a lightbulb moment, and before long the plan became a mini vacation on Long Island on the way to New England for a Thanksgiving visit with my family. The trip was delightful. We had no trouble getting accommodations because it was off-season, although several restaurants on the coast were closed for the same reason. But we did get to see my 60th aquarium and visit some cool museums at the Vanderbilt estate, plus hiked the beautiful fall woodlands at Sands Point. Then there was the wine tasting at Lieb Cellars vineyard. All-in-all, a wonderful trip. As was the chance to see my family for the second time in a year, a treat given the continuing restrictions.

Looking back, it seems my entire traveling year was crammed into November. Prior to leaving for Long Island, I attended my one and only in-person conference in two years. The Lincoln Forum had gone virtual in 2020, but they were intent on holding an in-person event in 2021. All attendees were required to be fully vaccinated – and prove it – in order to be present. Everyone was required to wear masks for all lectures and meetings, although removal was okay (by necessity) during meals. Around 300 people enjoyed a mostly normal Forum, exchanging ideas and learning about ideas. I was elected to the Board of Advisors. I’m happy to say that a grand total of zero reports of COVID cases arose from the meeting. Luckily for us, the omicron variant didn’t show up until just after our conference. It was nice to be back with people.

There was one additional in-person event in 2021. The Lincoln Group of DC, of which I am now president, had a tour of a local battlefield in September. We car-pooled and masked to limit exposure, with the rest of the tour being completely outside. Again, we managed to do it with no reported cases before or after.

So, what’s the plan for 2022?

Largely, the 2022 plan is “see 2021 plan.” The uncertainly of the omicron surge in cases has already sunk several plans for the spring, but I’m hoping/praying/pleading that travel is back on the table. In fact, we’ve already booked a Windstar cruise for late September/October that begins and ends in Istanbul and bounces around the Black Sea. We’re hoping to book another major travel destination in the early spring or early summer, but the options are still open for that one. September will be a busy month, in part because of the Windstar trip but also because my new book is scheduled for release on September 1. I’m likely to go to New England at least three times, the July 4th and Thanksgiving holidays and on my “Chasing Abraham Lincoln – New England” tour. I expect to be doing some road trips to accommodate a speaking tour for the book. I’ll also be checking off as many of the “local” road trips I’ve been carrying for two years.

A quick note on the “Year in Science Traveling” title. This website was originally called “Science Traveler” to reflect my intent to delve into the science of worldwide traveling. That was the plan when I left my last science job in 2013, the same year my first book came out (on Nikola Tesla, followed a few years later by Thomas Edison). I continue to travel and have plans for more science travel-related content, but regular readers will notice that I’ve renamed the website with my author name to reflect my divergent interests. Abraham Lincoln had always been my side-gig, but it’s clear to anyone reading this that Lincoln is now my main job and science traveling is the side-gig. I’m planning to revamp the website in early 2022 to make it more modern and functional. Stay tuned.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

[Photo credit: David J. Kent, 2021, Detail of “Return Visit” sculpture]

Lincoln, a Flatboat, New Orleans, and Discovering America

Lincoln flatboatSoon after moving to Illinois, Lincoln made his second flatboat trip to New Orleans. A local entrepreneur and schemer named Denton Offutt approached Lincoln’s relative John Hanks about manning such a journey. Hanks then recruited Lincoln and brother-in-law John Johnston, all of whom now lived in a wooded area west of Decatur near the banks of the Sangamon River. Because of the previous “winter of deep snow,” melting snowpack made the roads impassable by the first of March 1831, forcing the three men to purchase a canoe and paddle down the Sangamon River as far as Springfield, where they expected to find a fully loaded flatboat. Offutt, however, had somehow forgotten to arrange for it.

Frustrated by the delay but eager to continue, Lincoln, Hanks, and Johnston were joined by a local carpenter, Charles Cabanis, and John Roll. While they largely followed the standard design, there were some differences. Because this trip was to include livestock—live hogs in addition to wet and dry goods—the men constructed small corrals and troughs in the boat. They also added a wooden mast and sail to help them maneuver when the wind was gentle enough to push the boat, but not wreck it. After about six weeks of construction, they shoved the 18 feet wide by 80 feet long boat into the Sangamon River just below Sangamotown. They floated the Sangamon River as it wound northwest until meeting the Illinois River near Beardstown, which then turned south until its confluence with the mighty Mississippi River north of Alton for their final thousand miles on the waters to New Orleans. Along the way they would pass St. Louis (where John Hanks turned back because his wife was due to give birth), Memphis, Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge, giving Lincoln a glimpse at cities that would become important strategic points in the later Civil War.

As he moved down the river, Lincoln discovered how the Mississippi had become the central artery of commerce in the Midwest, allowing farmers from western New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to move their produce to New Orleans. It was here Lincoln discovered the existence of a cosmopolitan, multiethnic, society doing trade with the Caribbean and South America, as well as across the central American isthmus and up to west coast, plus Europe and Africa. Lincoln’s world enlarged immeasurably. No longer subsistence farming and small towns as far as you could walk or ride on horseback, life on the river showed Lincoln a glimpse of upper society. There were wealthy sugar plantation owners who purchased or traded for pork and potatoes. There were poverty-stricken families, both black and white, desperate to barter whatever little they had for whatever little they could get. The river was an economic engine as well as transportation, but he recognized the benefits were unequal in distribution. It made Lincoln think about his own situation, his limited formal schooling and opportunities, and how he might better his condition.

Upon arrival in the Crescent City, he and his companions had to compete for space at the piers with hundreds of other flatboats, two to three deep along the docks for over a mile at the landing site above the city. After crawling over other boats, the men bartered and sold whatever remained of their wares, plus anything acquired along the way. Eventually they would sell the boat itself, sometimes whole to a wealthy buyer, but often piecemeal, taking it apart board by board to sell as lumber or fuel. Overall, they could net a return of about a quarter of the construction cost. On each occasion the crews lingered in New Orleans for as long as they could afford before setting out for home.

[Adapted from my forthcoming book]

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His newest Lincoln book is scheduled for release in February 2022. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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The Year in Science Traveling – 2019

Capuchin monkey, Costa RicaIf I could briefly describe 2019 with respect to the year in science traveling it would be – Started with a “C.”  Mostly this was in a good way, but unfortunately it also includes cancellation. While I still had a great traveling year, it didn’t go quite the way I expected.

As with 2018, 2019 got off to a slow start. The first two weeks of January shuffled in with a commitment to jury duty, which didn’t actually result in me sitting on a jury, but nevertheless blocked out that period of time from doing anything else. I made up for it by going to Costa Rica the end of the month for nine days, a fun trip that gave me plenty to write about. February and March once again kept me local with Lincoln-related events, including participation in the annual ALI Symposium at Ford’s Theatre.

In April I merged my Lincoln and travel with another “C” location – Charleston, South Carolina. There I saw Fort Sumter, the harbor fort where a bombardment by Confederate cannons marked the official start of the Civil War. I also visited the Hunley, a Confederate submarine that was lost immediately after sinking a Union ship and only recently recovered and is being restored. Then there was the die-hard Confederate.

May started with a visit to the U.S. Capitol Building where the Lincoln Group of DC helped officially dedicate the “Lincoln Room” where Abraham Lincoln used to hang out between sessions during his one term as a U.S. Congressman. The end of May took me to another “C” – Cuba. Such a fascinating country with limited opportunities for Americans to visit, especially since four days after our return the current administration applied even more stringent roadblocks.

Camaguey, Cuba

June started a rather trying few months. Mid-month I headed out for my Chasing Abraham Lincoln, Part 3 road trip (another “C”). After stops in Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana I made my way into Illinois for a week of exploring Lincoln sites. One highlight of the trip was to join the Looking for Lincoln crew for their LEAD: Spirit of Lincoln Youth Academy. The LEAD group has given my book to all the participants (40 students and 8 mentors) for the last two years and this year they asked me to speak to them directly about leadership. The trip went well, including a foray into Wisconsin, but ended abruptly. I found out my father had gone into the hospital; ten days later he passed away. I spent the end of June and early July on a road trip up to Massachusetts for his funeral. Three months later my uncle, who had been a pillar of strength for the family at my Dad’s passing, had suddenly passed away himself, a victim of the rare disease, EEE.

Dad in DC 2014

July and August were light on travel, in part because of local commitments and the need to do more writing. September took us to Chicago (there’s that “C” again) for several Lincoln-related activities and the chance to see the musical Hamilton. October and November were light until mid-month when I attended the annual Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, PA.

Then there was an unexpected “C.” We had booked a Caribbean Cruise on Windstar many months in advance and were looking forward to two weeks in such places as Curacao, Colombia, and Colon, Panama, in addition to other Caribbean islands. But those “C”s were enough it seems; literally one week before our departure I received an email saying the ship had major engine trouble and would be forced out of service – the trip was Cancelled. We were not amused. So instead of being warm and toasty sipping tropical drinks on the deck of a sailing ship in the Caribbean, we drove to Massachusetts and huddled over hot cocoa for a chilly Thanksgiving with my mother and other family. It was great to join my Mom for her first Thanksgiving since my Dad’s passing, but it wasn’t even a “C” location. There were plenty of other “C”s, including a trip to Coatesville (PA), some Civil War stops, and Ru’s multiple trips to China.

Overall, 2019 was much less than I had anticipated but still reasonably busy with science traveling. The 2020 travel prospects are the most uncertain we’ve had in years. As of now there is absolutely nothing booked and only some general plans for what we want to do. With some key decisions up in the air, we’ll have to wait a few weeks more before deciding where to go, or even if we can go, or if alternative plans are necessary to go. While I admit that sounds rather cryptic, I’m hedging because there is a great deal of uncertainly extant, plus I don’t want to jinx things that are in the works. You’ll have to check back later for something more concrete. I promise to post a further update when I can.

Until then, happy traveling.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

How to Land in St. Maarten

Since I’m supposed to be flying to St. Maarten today, this is a good time to show how to land there. It’s quite an experience. Princess Julianna International Airport serves the Caribbean island officially split between the Dutch side (Sint Maarten) and the French side (Saint Martin). It’s often called the most interesting airport landing in the world.

Back in 2016 we took a fantastic Caribbean cruise on Windstar cruise lines, beginning and ending at the port in Philipsburg, St. Maarten. In between, the Wind Surf, our 5-mast sailing ship, took us to Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, St. Kitts, and St. Barths. It was an amazing trip. You can read previous posts by clicking here and scrolling down.

Upon our return to St. Maarten we decided to visit Maho Beach before heading to the airport for our flight home. Maho is a beautiful small beach whose sun and sand (and beachside bar) is second in famousness to its location at the foot of the major runway of the island’s airport. Often, sunbathers are outnumbered by budding photographers vying to take selfies as the commercial planes land over their shoulder. Like, right over your shoulder. People have occasionally been struck by landing gear, although admittedly only when stupid enough to stand on someone else’s shoulders to get a bit higher. But the fact is the planes come in low.

Equally dumb are the people who intentionally line up against the fence so they can say they got blown down by the blast of jets taking off a mere few dozen yards away. [Hint: The Danger sign is there for a purpose, as the families of those killed by jet-propelled stones can attest.] We took the incoming photos and videos from the beach but were wise enough to stand to the side to watch jets take off.

All of this reminiscing is somewhat bittersweet as, alas, we won’t be flying back into St. Maarten today after all. The new Windstar cruise we have been waiting months to enjoy was cancelled at the last moment due to engine trouble (given that this also is a sailing vessel, the irony is not lost on us that a mechanical problem killed the trip). This one was to take us from St. Maarten to the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao), plus Cartagena (Colombia) and Panama. We’ll reschedule and likely do this trip at a future date, but this week we’ll instead be “enjoying” colder climes.

So far our science traveling schedule is open ended for 2020 pending some important professional decisions, but we have plenty of “big trip” options in mind. Stay tuned.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

 

The Exhaustingly Exhilarating Lincoln Forum

I have just returned from the annual Abraham Lincoln Forum in historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The 3-day conference of non-stop meetings, presentations, and hallway socializing is somehow both exhausting and exhilarating. I came away with a great deal more knowledge, a renewed impetus for research, and a “to-do” list the length of my arm.

The schedule was shown in my pre-forum post, and the presenters didn’t disappoint. We heard about how the North felt they were an army of deliverance, how soldiers and Lincoln dealt with the constant reminder of death, and the intriguing story and legacy of how the first battle of the ironclad ships changed naval warfare. During the final day breakout sessions I participated in discussions on the Civil War Navy led by Craig Symonds and Anna Holloway. I even picked up a tip or two to discuss in my new book. I also had keynote speaker Sidney Blumenthal sign my copy of his book, my review of which will appear in the next Civil War Times magazine.

But the Forum is more than just scholarship, though there certainly is no shortage of that. It’s a chance for colleagues to compare notes, researchers to begin new collaborations, and friends to catch up since last meeting (which for many is, in fact, the last meeting of the Forum a year before). I found myself having deep discussions with some of the record number of fellow Lincoln Group of DC members in attendance (hence the long to-do list for follow up). With other DC-area colleagues I plotted future collaborations. I talked with photographer David Wiegers about future Lincoln statues to visit (and bought a calendar of statues in foreign countries). I even got to listen to a little blues guitar and harmonica by the inestimable Joe Fornieri.

One surprise happened during the first session. As we took a short break I notice that Michael Hardy was sitting in the row behind me. Mike runs the Facebook page “Liking and Learning About Lincoln,” which not only has shown incredible growth in the past year, under his guidance has continued to raise the amount members donate to the Lincoln Forum scholarship programs. Mike proceeds to tell me that he thinks about me every day, which I admit sounded a little weird until he reminded me of a conversation we had last year. I mentioned that I hadn’t written my Lincoln book for the deep scholars like Harold Holzer; I had written it to reach the public that might not pick up a scholarly tome. Mike took this to heart and uses that principle in deciding what to post on his page – the goal is to expand the knowledge among the populace. I wholeheartedly agree, and am humbled to do my small part in that regard.

One other surprise deserves mention. This past year the Forum arranged to have a sculpted bust of Lincoln donated to the town of Lincoln, Argentina. I have an personal affinity for Argentina, having spent some time there visiting a close friend a few years ago. Thanks to the Forum, that sculptor (and the original clay model upon which the bronze was cast) was on hand to explain his art while actually working on a new Lincoln bust while we spoke. As can be seen by the photos, sculptor Frank Porcu is amazingly talented and I thank him for taking the time to talk with me.

I have already put the Forum on my calendar for next year (yes, I have a 2020 calendar hanging on my wall quickly filling up). In the interim I plan to finish my next Lincoln book, give a few talks of my own, and continue traveling. On this last point I found my only disappointment of the last few days – an unexpected email informed me that my lower Caribbean cruise due to start in one week had been cancelled (ironically for a sailing vessel, because of necessary repairs to a propulsion engine). While not nearly as exciting or warm, I have plenty to do at home, including reading several new Abraham Lincoln books in competition for the Abraham Lincoln Institute annual book award to be given next March.

Time to get busy.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

Traveling the Sugar and Slave Trades of St. Kitts

St. Kitts sugar factorySt. Kitts is the larger of two islands that make up the nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Nevis is most famous for being the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton, the musical about whom I recently saw in Chicago. While St. Kitts is now a tourist mecca, the island is best known for its dominant position in the colonial sugar trade. Lesser known is that St. Kitts also was a major hub in the slave trade.

A few years ago I visited St. Kitts along with a few other Caribbean islands. Remnants of the past sugar industry stand mostly as ruins on the island landscape. Abandoned, but not that long ago – St. Kitts clung to sugar until recently, the last sugar factory closing only in 2005.

Today you can take a scenic railway around the island. With views of Nevis towering to southeast and Mount Liamuiga rising in the interior, the railway crawls the perimeter in search of sugar plantations. Sugar cane was the main source of sugar on the islands, and some remains for visitors to appreciate. Periodically the remains of cinderblock processing buildings and chimneys stick up out of the recovering natural vegetation. The railway itself is a remnant of the industry. Individual sugar cane growers would harvest the crop and do some initial processing, then wait for the train to stop on its daily circling of the island, stopping at each grower to pick up raw materials. Eventually the train would drop off the crops at the central factory the grew up in the early 20th century. It was this factory that finally closed its doors in 2005, turning over the island’s economy almost entirely to tourism.

A trio of local singers serenades us with old spirituals as a covey of school children in green-shirted uniforms keep pace with the train. The sugar ruins and spirituals remind us that St. Kitts was once a key cog in the slave trade triangulating between Europe, Africa, and America. Great Britain was the biggest purveyor of slave trading at that time. Bringing weapons and gunpowder from England to Africa, ships would cram as many kidnapped Africans as they could in the bowels of the ship, selling or trading the survivors for sugar and rum in Caribbean and South America, then bringing those commodities up to the slaveholding colonies – and then states – before heading back to England to start the process again. It was in St. Kitts that, supposedly but not fully confirmed, Thomas Jefferson’s ancestors got there start in the new world, and from here they became slaveowners that continued through Jefferson’s life.

Slavery was abolished in all the British Empire, including St. Kitts, on August 1, 1834. St. Kitts now celebrates August 1st as Emancipation Day, a public holiday.

As I soon head back to the Caribbean I remember my time on St. Kitts and its connection between sugar science and slavery. On this trip I’ll be seeing other islands that were focal points in the slave trade, hoping to learn more about the business that enslaved human beings for the profit of a few. More to come.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!