A Special Invitation

We would like you to be our guest for the historic maiden voyage of the Titanic. We have found ourselves with an extra ticket and felt you might enjoy crossing the Atlantic Ocean on this unsinkable palace to arrive in New York. We set sail from Southampton, England on 10 April, 1912 at 12:00 pm.

No I have not lost my mind, but I have had the privilege to see for myself parts of the Titanic recovered from her watery grave. It becomes intensely real when you are able to see the porthole that cracked under the water pressure, the cherub recovered from the grand staircase. The painstaking efforts used to recover bits and pieces of this "unsinkable" ship have paid off. The sinking of this memorable ship may have been 96 years ago, but those who passed through the exhibit showed a reverence and solemnity as if the tragedy had occured last week. One room in the exhibit held the words of the survivors upon their arrival in New York and as we read their words uttered almost a century ago we heard sniffles and saw the tears of those around us.

My men preparing to board Titanic

My encounter with the Titanic was totally unexpected. We had been given free tickets to see the Baltimore Orioles several years ago so we decided to make a day of it in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. The Harbor is right down the road from Camden Yards Baseball Stadium, so we parked our car at the harbor and started to explore. Imagine our surprise and joy to find the Titanic Exhibit had just opened at the Baltimore Science Museum. We had fun exploring the museum but then had to check out the exhibit. The admission was a bit pricey, but after seeing the exhibit we felt it was well worth it.

I have been fascinated with the Titanic since watching the 1953 movie with Barbara Stanwyck. It had me in tears everytime with the unrealistic hope that this time the tragedy would be averted (hope springs eternal).

So starting tomorrow I will be sharing some of the recipes that were served on the Titanic and first-hand words from Titanic survivors. I will also share my piece of the Titanic. There is only one item brought up from the depths that is allowed to be sold—the coal. And I have a piece of it.