Tulip Time Part Two

I love flowers!

It seems like whenever we go on the spring trip with the Better Red Than Dead Red Hatters we see beautiful flowers. My birthday and Mother's day is in the spring but no one ever gives me flowers....a gift certificate to a green house would be perfect (hint, hint to my family who doesn't read my blog LOL)

Well, I digress......

We saw  gorgeous azalea bushes many times in front of homes. I live on the 'cold' side of Lake Michigan and Holland is on the 'warm' side so their flowers are ahead of ours.

The day we toured the city it was raining...hence the raindrops on the bus windows.

I see a wee bit of sunshine on these unusual tulips. I have never seen tulips with striated leaves like this.

The step on guide we had for the bus tour of the city. She explained her costume....there's a reason for everything she is wearing.

In the historic, residential part of the city the boulevards are lined with tulips and every house has a row of tulips planted next to the street, called tulip lanes. The city plants over 6 million tulips. I could live there!

We also ate lunch, watched a show, and toured the senior center. 'Big deal' you say. NOT!

This city is wealthier than my little city.

The senior center is in an old school, that is very evident when you walk upstairs.

This is the dining room/stage area.

Our group.

 Some of the volunteers at the Senior center.

Often girls will dress up like boys for the dances. There aren't enough boys to go around, I guess.

 The last act of the senior show was a tribute to the armed services. It was awesome, the whole show was. In back you see the choir, they also had an excellent male quartet and a young female singer from LA. I had to ask how they got her there. She's the granddaughter of one of the quartet members. The costumes were wonderful and the singing was great. It was not what I'd call a normal senior center program. 

Can you see the old school in this photo of the upstairs hallway?

There's a big art room, a large dance room, home ec with kitchen (of course), study hall, computer room, and more I am sure I forgot. They have lots of classes, clubs, and exercise activities. Annual membership is $50 but....they have bigger packages that include all of the classes/activities for about $450. A local hospital contracts with them to perform therapy and exercise classes. They have a nice pool for lap swimming and a big hot tub too. 

Here's a photo of their huge wood shop, can you believe it???

Here's the outdoor courtyard, pretty, huh?

One of the dances some of the children performed at the Dutch Marketplaats we stopped at.

 We saw 3 great shows when we were there:

New Odyssey - 3 guys 30 instruments (yes, they play all 30 instruments) 

They were very fun and entertaining. I spied people dancing in the back....was I one of them???

Magician Jay Mattoili.

He was pretty darn good, and funny. One of his tricks was quite transparent but we loved him anyway.

That sums up our 3 day trip to Holland MI, As usual we had a great time with no lack of food!!!

The first night there I was too tired (up at 3:35AM) so I didn't join the others for games. On our second night I exercised in the pool with Carolee (I knew she'd make me), then we hit the hot tub, and joined the other women for a dice game. It's quick, easy, and fun. I like playing games.

No trips planned for the near future, but I do have lots to catch up on.