Calypso! Carnival! Regattas! On St. Maarten

Written by Kriss Hammond


Continued from page 1

The carnival theme was: "We Potpourri of Splendor and Fun."

The carnival season celebrates Netherland's Queen Beatrix' birthday, culminating on April 30. It takes a couple of more days to wind down fromrepparttar month long party, so they toss in a holiday for rest, andrepparttar 133689 carnival spills into May, withrepparttar 133690 Last Lap Jump Up and presentation of prizes and burning ofrepparttar 133691 straw King Momo onrepparttar 133692 final day. Carnival is a historical festival "Jump Up," a sea of unification with no borders or generation gaps, banging throughrepparttar 133693 island for over 30 years. The Queen wasn't present, and I doubt anyone really cared if she was having a birthday—it was just an excuse to "ParTee." Everyone was here forrepparttar 133694 music!

Whenrepparttar 133695 bands played, I knew why they called it a "Jump Up."

The Rolling Tones

The headline marquee one evening wasrepparttar 133696 Caribbean group that was restarted in 1994 by well-known businessman Adolphus Richardson, an original member ofrepparttar 133697 band's first generation, formed in 1964, with him as trumpeter and singer. The senior group dispersed in 1992 and reformed in 1994. Their 1999 Barbados produced album, "A Six for ah Nine," is their best yet. The band blends a mix of soca, reggae and calypso, as a united group of professional musicians. The band's musical journey landed it two USA-based 1997 Sunshine Award nominations for "Soca Man,"—forrepparttar 133698 promotion of calypso and steel band music. The Rolling Tones CDs are very difficult to find, and are quite collector items, so it is probably best to rip your own in an MP3 file.

To read this entire feature FREE with photos cut and paste this link: http://jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/globe02/Carib02/maarten/Carnival/Calypso.html

Kriss Hammond, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com



Kriss Hammond, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Leave Your email next to the logo for FREE e travel newsletter.


Riding For The Brand in Yellowstone Country – Montana Bunkhouses

Written by Rob LaGrone


Continued from page 1

Let's Bale Hay

Most ranches in this area have switched fromrepparttar older rectangular hay bales torepparttar 133688 large cylindrical ones (what, didn't you know that?), butrepparttar 133689 rectangular ones make great pews. We sat on bales besiderepparttar 133690 creek and sang "Amazing Grace" as several of our hosts played guitars and violins. Rancher Terry Terland conductedrepparttar 133691 informal service and compared Christ's protection of his flock of believers torepparttar 133692 dedication of today's ranchers. He also read a passage from Jack Terry's "The Great Trail Ride" describingrepparttar 133693 courage and loyalty of American cowboys, who often risked their own lives to protect their bosses' livestock. "They rode forrepparttar 133694 brand," Terry said.

Did I mentionrepparttar 133695 ranch stays are a hands-on experience? After church we got a closer look atrepparttar 133696 hay-baling operation. Guest Miki, from Tokyo, Japan, droverepparttar 133697 tractor under Matt's tutelage: she gathered up several rows of mown hay withrepparttar 133698 towed baler and then releasedrepparttar 133699 cylindrical bale behindrepparttar 133700 tractor. Comparing her creation to sushi, we called it a "Miki roll."

With that, it was time for lunch.

The historic Grand Hotel was built in 1890 inrepparttar 133701 nearby town of Big Timber. Before enjoying a delicious lunch inrepparttar 133702 dining room, we looked at some wonderful black-and-white photographs by local artist Barbara Van Cleve. Atrepparttar 133703 Crazy Mountain Museum, lifelong resident Betty Jarrett gave us a sense ofrepparttar 133704 area's family history. How many places have sixth- and seventh-generation ranches and businesses? The museum featured lots of old photos, many showing ancestors ofrepparttar 133705 folks we were meeting on our visit. Rancher Leo Cremer showed me his great-grandfather's ornate saddle from his days as a rodeo producer. "I feel like a newcomer, since I'm only fourth generation," Leo grinned.

Is it okay to yell "Play!" in a crowded firehouse? Inrepparttar 133706 nearby town of Livingston, we saw an old-fashioned Vaudeville performance atrepparttar 133707 Firehouse 5 Playhouse. Re-established here in 1990, it featured eight enthusiastic singers, many of them local kids fromrepparttar 133708 university in Bozeman. Their musical skits ranged from moderately serious (four ladies harmonizing "Don't Fence Me In") to hilariously absurd (an English dungeon scene with really bad Cockney accents). This theater survives inrepparttar 133709 rural area because so many people, from Bozeman to Billings, knowrepparttar 133710 performers personally.

To read this entire feature FREE with photos cut and paste this link: http://jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/cabinweb/yellowstone/yellowstone.html

Rob LaGrone, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com



Rob LaGrone, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Leave your email next to the logo for FREE e travel newsletter.


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