{"id":108,"date":"2020-08-02T16:19:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T16:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/?p=108"},"modified":"2020-11-10T17:23:23","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T17:23:23","slug":"travel-to-an-embargoed-gem-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/travel-to-an-embargoed-gem-cuba\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel to an Embargoed Gem\u2013Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

I am a travel designer, some would say\u00a0custom travel\u00a0agent<\/a>, but really travel architect best describes the job that I have been doing for 24 or 25 years now, I forget. \u00a0I design, plan, mold, and craft trips that are focused on\u00a0special interests<\/a>,\u00a0memorable accommodations<\/a>,\u00a0and off-the-beaten-track\u00a0destinations<\/a>. \u00a0Naturally, Cuba<\/a>\u00a0has been on my mind for some time. \u00a0Here is my story, and here is why Cuba has moved to the top of my list.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The ship pulled away from Cuba\u00a0in 1951;\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0aboard were my mother, brother Chuck, newborn brother David, my Dad and his fellow navy sailors\u2013we were bound for our new home, Norfolk Virginia.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Memories of Cuba are few and scattered, but vivid.\u00a0 At first we lived in a quonset hut (looks like half of a tin can) later we moved to and played among, the construction of new housing.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I still remember the smell of paint and plaster and climbing over lumber, darting in and out of the almost finished rooms.\u00a0 Lizards were everywhere and would dash along the inside and outside of the window screens.\u00a0 On Sundays, my mother would pack a lunch, her three children, Dad, and the dog into our car, I can\u2019t recall what we drove, but likely it is among the other vintage automobiles that Cuba is so famous for.\u00a0 Anyway, we would drive, I don\u2019t know how long or how far, but in the end, we would be at the sea; a rocky shoreline, where iguanas would sun on huge boulders.\u00a0 Dad and I, and our dog Penny would wade into the water and find the most outrageous sea shells\u2013some I still have today.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember much more than that\u2013oh yes\u2026my brother David was born in Cuba\u2013June 1950.\u00a0 In those days children were not allowed in the maternity ward, but Dad took Chuck and me to see Mom.\u00a0 We stood on one side of the green painted glass door peering through the scratched off paint, and could see Mom waiving from her bed\u2013halfway down the ward.\u00a0 I guess that is all I remember at age 5.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I grew up, married, raised a family and, as I was on the edge o the 60s movement, was passively rebellious.\u00a0 Never really a part of hippy-dom, but on the fringe\u2013enjoying doing things differently, not following the rules\u2013nothing that would ever get me into trouble, but things like going the wrong way down a one-way street.\u00a0 Like driving to the communist border of Poland (just getting close enough to see the armed guards)\u00a0 I like traveling to countries where others dared not go\u2013an adventurous travel, that\u2019s me. \u00a0Cuba has long been on my list, but just out of reach.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Now Cuba is soon to be open to the American public and there is a sense of urgency for me. \u00a0Why haven\u2019t I gone before? \u00a0This is a momentous time and I want to be a part of it.\u00a0 Cuba, our embargoed gem, is soon to be overrun with American tourists. \u00a0I long to\u00a0experience Old Havana before this island is freshened up and a New Cuba emerges.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a travel designer, some would say\u00a0custom travel\u00a0agent, but really travel architect best describes the job that I have been doing for 24 or 25 years now, I forget. \u00a0I design, plan, mold, and craft trips that are focused on\u00a0special interests,\u00a0memorable accommodations,\u00a0and off-the-beaten-track\u00a0destinations. \u00a0Naturally, Cuba\u00a0has been on my mind for some time. \u00a0Here is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":763,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions\/763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}