Category Archives: reviews

Red Star Line Museum

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Emigration to America

A couple of years ago while visiting friends in Belgium we drove a short distance from Brussels to the nearby port city of Antwerp.

Antwerp is Belgium’s second largest city. It’s situated along the Schedt River which empties into the North Sea which is turn connects to the Atlantic Ocean.
One of the world’s biggest ports, Antwerp handles more cargo than any other port in Europe except nearby Rotterdam. Seeing the inviting waterfront surrounding us, we took a very pleasant sightseeing boat ride on the Sheldt.
After our sightseeing excursion, we explored the streets of Antwerp and stumbled upon the Red Star Line Museum.

The Red Star Line was a shipping company that operated between Antwerp and the eastern seaboard of the USA and Canada. Throughout Europe they advertised their routes and from 1873 to 1934 – sixty years – Antwerp was a center for emigration from the continent. Emigrants from Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, France, Italy and other countries traveled to Antwerp to board the ships bound for North America.
More than two million Europeans were passengers on the Red Star Line steamships from Antwerp to America’s large metropolitan centers – New York, Philadelphia, Boston. Paintings and displays in the museum depict the many travelers in Antwerp’s streets preparing for the long and challenging journey across the ocean to a destination that promised them a new, brighter future.
On display are curated personal belongings – clothing, suitcases, diaries, photographs, jewelry, toys – that punctuate the stories of individuals and families who decided to leave their homeland hoping for a better life.

For me, the Red Star Line Museum highlighted the overwhelming struggle that millions of individuals experienced reaching for a better future by having to brave the unknowns of emigrating to America.

If you’re interested in learning more, here’s the link to the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp.

Code Talkers Museum

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A Restaurant is Also A Memorial

Northern Arizona is part of the Navajo Nation.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit and photograph the immensely scenic Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. This iconic area is located on the Arizona-Utah so we stay overnight in the nearby town of Kayenta. Next door to the hotel is a Burger King restaurant where we can catch breakfast before going to the park.

But this Burger King is unlike any other that we’ve been to. Inside is an extensive display – a mini-museum if you will – of the Code Talkers. The Code Talkers were U.S. servicemen recruited from among the Native Americans (mostly Navajo) during World War II. Some 500 of these Navajo speakers used their language skills to code and transmit secret messages among the various military units. Dozens of volunteers were from the Kayenta area.

I’ve visited this Burger King multiple times over the years and each time the display has been enlarged and enhanced.

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It’s believed that our enemies were never able to decode any of the Code Talker messages.

The Burger King in Kayenta is a great place to stop to learn about these brave men who served and fought during World War II and the Korean War.

 
 
 

Sony A6000

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I’ve been a proponent of Sony’s NEX mirrorless cameras since they first appeared three years ago. The reason is simple. The NEX series produce images comparable in quality to conventional DSLRs, accept interchangeable lenses yet are very compact. They are substantially smaller and lighter than DSLRs.

Sony’s newest model is the A6000. Although Sony has dropped the NEX moniker, the A6000 retains the same compact footprint as the earlier NEX6 and NEX7 models.

A few days before our recent extended vacation, an A6000 arrived in the mail. I used it heavily on our extended family vacation. Instead of writing a wordy review, I put together a “photo review” that demonstrates the versatility of the A6000. If you’re on the hunt for a feature packed, technically advanced and affordable camera, you should look at the A6000.

You’ll find this quick and dirty “review” on my blog over at Stay Focused. Please click here to go to my online magazine.

Written by: Arnie Lee