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Christmas Memories from Margie Mangione

I have lots of fond memories of celebrating Christmas at our home. I am the oldest with 5 younger brothers. It certainly was very noisy!

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My kids – Marla (20 months) and Jimmy (7 years)  – placing baby Jesus into the manger, 1977

We started making Christmas cookies weeks ahead – oatmeal raisin, and sugar cookies. My mom would let us decorate the sugar cookies with red and green sugar and we always made a total mess on the table! I let my kids do the same and now my grandkids. Our manger was put up on the first Sunday of Advent along with our Advent Wreath which was lit every night during dinner with the knowledge that Christmas would be here soon once all of the candles were lit. My mom would leave baby Jesus out of the manger until Christmas morning. I still have my mom’s Advent Wreath and manger and carried on these traditions with my kids. I also still light a candle each night at dinner during the Advent season. Because we are Sicilians we also celebrated the Feast of Santa Lucia or Saint Lucy on December 13th. We would not eat anything made with wheat, but would eat whole wheat berries that my mom cooked for hours with water, bay leaves, salt, and sometimes chickpeas. I still make the wheat berries using my mom’s recipe.
(See below!)

My father loved his family and the holidays. He would wait until Christmas Eve to get our tree – the tree lot was at the top of our street and trees were 75 cents on Christmas Eve – and we never saw our tree until Christmas morning. Santa put it up and decorated it and it was always beautiful! Christmas Eve, my brothers and I would sit on the couch and sing Christmas songs. We could not wait to see our tree and the gifts.

Christmas morning we would line up on the stairs and peek down at the tree! Then, we were marched out to mass at St. Anthony’s Church on Olden Avenue in Trenton through the back door of the house so we could not see any of the Christmas decorations until after mass. My mother always made us say “Happy Birthday!” to baby Jesus before opening gifts and I always made my kids put baby Jesus in our manger before they opened their presents. Thank goodness for my godmother, Aunt Mary, who did not have children of her own at the that time and helped Santa put gifts under the tree. My favorite gift was an inexpensive camera.

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Christmas 1975

When we got older we would help decorate the tree and get in trouble if our tinsel wasn’t perfectly placed on each branch to look like an icicle. My brothers would tease my mom and not do it her way. I still have one “War Ball” left, made by my mom during WWII. Decorations were hard to come by back then and she made them with clear glass balls, glue, and glitter. I will always treasure it.

Josephine’s Wheat Berries

Clean one pound of wheat berries, removing any stones.

Put them in a large pot – 6-8 quarts – and rinse several times, pouring off water and being careful not to lose any wheat berries. Fill the pot with water to about 3 inches above the wheat. Add: 3 bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon of salt (or salt to taste), and 2-3 teaspoons of sugar. After the pot comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for three hours, stirring once in a while.

 

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Happy holidays to all of you and many blessings for a Happy New Year,
Margie Mangione, Travel Advisor

 

Your First Starr –TOUR– Experience

If you’ve never booked a packaged motorcoach trip with us and want to know a little more about what to expect, this blog post is for you! If you have booked and traveled with us and have wondered why we do some of the things we do, this blog post is for you, too!

Your personal, one-on-one experience with our professional staff starts with a phone call.

Our Travel Advisors have a combined 95 years of experience. They can answer all of your questions and help plan your perfect vacation.

What can you expect from your Travel Advisor?

Your Travel Advisor will be very friendly and courteous and will ask you questions to help you find the trip that is best suited for you. Sometimes you may have a specific trip in mind and sometimes you may ask for advice or suggestions on trips to take. Our Travel Advisors can steer you in the right direction by getting to know you better.

You’ve found the perfect vacation, and you’ve made your reservation. Now what?

Your Travel Advisor will mail or email you a reservation confirmation along with any additional information you may have requested about the trip. Your confirmation will note your final payment due date, your departure location and your seat assignment.

When you travel with Starr, it’s important to bring a valid government issued photo I.D. such as a driver’s license (for domestic travel) or valid passport (for international travel, including trips to Canada). Passport applications can take several weeks to process, so we recommend you apply for one as soon as you book your trip. If you are leaving the United States or going on a cruise, a passport is required. Likewise, some destinations require a valid government issued photo I.D. For example, casinos require them if you want to get the slot play they offer in their casino package, and many of our government and military sites like Parris Island, West Point, and the US Naval Academy also require them.

Your trip is almost here! How do you pack and prepare?

Ok, you are almost ready to take your trip but first there are a few additional items I want to share with you. This is good information for you as well as the other people traveling with you.

Arrive at your departure location least 15-30 minutes prior to your departure time. This allows you buffer time for traffic and whatever else might come your way. (We just had a passenger miss her bus because a penny truck overturned, spilling pennies all over the highway, causing major traffic! Some things you can not foresee.) Remember to make sure you have your ID and boarding pass with you.

If you are traveling on a multi-day trip, you are allowed to bring one suitcase per person and one carry-on item (like a handbag or messenger bag-not the airline size carry-on!). You should pack medications and any other necessities in your carry-on bag. Your suitcase will be stored under the bus and then taken by the hotel to be delivered to you room. Sometimes, it takes a little while for the hotel to get everyone’s luggage sorted, so it’s best to have any immediate need items with you. Remember, there is a limited amount of space for carry-on items so please use a small bag. The overhead compartment on the bus is not as spacious as those on an airplane.

You are welcome to bring along snacks and soft drinks. The driver will provide bags for your trash as we like to keep the bus clean. Consider bringing a travel pillow, throw blanket or comfy shoes to make the ride more cozy. Think about dressing in layers so you can find the right temperature balance between your comfort zone and the conditions on the bus.

You’re enjoying your vacation!

Please be considerate of other passengers on the bus. Do not wear strong perfume or cologne. Please restrain from talking on the phone and using personal electronics without a headset. We pack a lot of fun into each trip so please adhere to the schedule set by your Tour Director.

Your Tour Director and Driver are very knowledgeable about Starr, your bus and your destination. They love to share their knowledge. Many of our Drivers and Tour Directors have been with Starr for a long time. We encourage you to interact with them to enhance your experience.

You’re home after a great trip with fond memories and ready to go again!

Starr will provide a Confidential Survey for you to fill out upon completion of your trip. These surveys are reviewed by several people in our office and we take your words very seriously. Take the time to fill it out! We learn from customer feedback and use these comments to continually improve. We want to hear from you!

Occasionally, our Tour Directors and travelers will send us photos from the tour. We often post these photos on our Facebook, so connect with us and check our page often for special announcements, trip photos, and more fun stuff! We enjoy seeing you while on tour so we invite you to post to our page as well.

Now that you have traveled with Starr, you will receive our catalogs in your mailbox. We enjoy highlighting our tours and giving you new destinations to get excited about, so be sure to take a look at them. Once you find a tour you’d like to book, or if you have any questions, give us a call! Your Travel Advisor looks forward to hearing from you!

Happy and safe travels!
Randi Charen, Starr Travel Advisor

Revisiting Places Later In Life

Photo by Dawn Nachbaur
NYC Skyline taken from the food court on Ellis Island. I recommend their panninis!

My husband and I recently had the opportunity to revisit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty this spring. We had both been there before; once on a field trip in the first grade and again in 2002 when our daughter was about nine years old.

Each visit has been a completely different experience. We went to the same elementary school, but he was a few grades older than me. Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty was our school’s standard field trip along with the Rockettes in Radio City Music Hall, even back then, believe it or not! As children we were fascinated by special treats that interrupted our daily routine.
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