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Dream Trip to the Netherlands

52 years of dreaming about seeing the tulips!

I'd heard of the gardens in the Netherlands most of my life: the colors, the amazing variety of flowers. I dreamed of being there!

Then I chose a seasonal, spring-dependent career and devoted many years to that beautiful business. Supporting my clients and my staff (that had become used to eating regularly) required time, toil, worry, and stress!  But how rewarding to know that Christensen’s had (indirectly) planted thousands upon thousands of perennials, shrubs and trees over the span of my work-life.

Then came the day I decided to exit Christensen’s. To this day, I struggle to say "retired". But, the nursery was well established, the staff very competent and experienced. It was time.

Retirement allows my wife, Penny, and I to thoroughly enjoy traveling. It was finally time to live my dream and travel to Amsterdam in April of this year. We chose a river cruise with day trips to different sights. One of our first visits was to Floralia Brussels. It is a spring flower show at a private estate, Castle of Groot-Bijgaarden, which opens during tulip time for visitors.  It features 14 hectares of daffodils, tulips and other minor bulbs planted in beds or in naturalized settings. There are one million bulbs planted annually with 500 different varieties.  We were stunned by the beauty of the estate and the dazzling colors.

The highlight of the trip was the Keukenhof Gardens!  We arrived by bus and the first thing we saw from the bus was the fields of production tulips, hyacinths, and minor bulbs planted in mass. Think acers of one color of tulips in full bloom! Reds! Yellows! Blue hyacinths! There had to be 150 acres of color!  Fantastic!

Keukenhof is a park like setting covering 70 acres. Walking paths lead you through bed after bed of color. There are ponds reflecting brilliant color. It is truly a horticultural park where they plant 7 million bulbs annually. There are over 800 varieties of bulbs! I was impressed with a display of blue grape hyacinths planted as a meandering stream of color. It was stunning! 

You've got to go and fill your eyes!

Tim Joy

America’s Birthday Trivia

My degree is in American history. I was particularly fascinated by the Civil War era as well as how immigrants/emigrants shaped the country.

However, learning lesser known historical facts is always fun for me, no matter the era. Admittedly, my recall abilities aren't very strong. So I'm not necessarily an asset on trivia night. But I love the learning!

As America celebrates its 250th birthday, I thought it would be fun to test your knowledge. Answers are below my byline.

No cheating!!

  1. 1

    True or False. Michigan was a state at the time of the Revolutionary War.

  2. 2
    The land that would become Michigan was part of what Canadian territory at the time of the Revolutionary War?
  3. 3
    Who was on the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence?
  4. 4
    What occurred on July 2, 1776?
  5. 5
    True or False. The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776.
  6. 6
    How many delegates to the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence?
  7. 7
    Did George Washington sign the Declaration of Independence?
  8. 8
    What came first? The start of the American Revolutionary War or the Declaration of Independence?
  9. 9
    What was the final battle of the Revolutionary War?
  10. 10
    What year was the Treaty of Paris signed, ending the American Revolutionary War?
  11. 11
    What European country provided supplies, ammunition and funds to the Continental Army?
  12. 12
    What infection did General Washington inoculate the Continental Army against?
  13. 13
    What was the daily whiskey ration for the Continental soldiers?
  14. 14
    An early copy of the Declaration of Independence was found in a flea market picture frame in 1989. How much was it sold for?

Sources

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-the-declaration-of-independence

https://www.annapolis.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Little-Known-Facts-about-the-Declaration-of-Independence-copy1.pdf

https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/three-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-american-revolution/

https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/ten-facts-about-the-revolutionary-war

https://www.americanrevolution.org/fun-facts/

https://azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/American-Revolution-Trivia-Questions.pdf

Answers

  1. 1

    False

  2. 2
    Quebec
  3. 3
    Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston
  4. 4
    The Second Continental Congress officially declared independence from Great Britain. While the Declaration had been written, delegates debated edits for two more days, adopting it on July 4th.?
  5. 5
    False. It wasn’t fully signed until August 2, 1776.
  6. 6
    56
  7. 7
    No. He was away commanding the Continental Army. Neither did other founding fathers such as Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson.
  8. 8
    The exchange of gunfire at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts (“the shot heard round the world”) on April 19, 1775 is considered the beginning of the American Revolution, more than a year before the Declaration.
  9. 9
    Battle at Yorktown
  10. 10
    1783
  11. 11
    France. Spain and the Netherlands later joined the war efforts.
  12. 12
    Smallpox. The death by smallpox dropped from 17% to 1%.
  13. 13
    2.5 shots, about 4 ounces
  14. 14
    $8.1 million