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Showing posts with label Manhattan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manhattan. Show all posts

Monday, July 19, 2021

Arnold and Newlin: Europe 1969

In September 1969, the Nevises embark on a year's stay in Europe. Passports had to be renewed or ordered. Arnie and Newlin rented out their house to two sisters from Alaska wanting to check out Florida for retirement. (They did not like it and left before the year was up; Arnie had to rent to another family to complete the year.) 

Arnie sold both family cars and purchased a new Volvo. There was a deal whereby he bought the car in the U.S., picked it up from the factory in Sweden, used it for a year, and returned it to the factory for shipping to the U.S. Arnie would not then pay the import tax on a new car because it was by then a used car as it went through U.S. Customs. 

Departing Gainesville, we drove a rental car to the Jacksonville airport and flew to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to stay over night. Arnie had a job interview at the University of North Carolina. (His position in the Neurology Department at the University of Florida had become unpleasant due to a bad relationship with a colleague, so he was looking around for alternative employment. The department at Chapel Hill had a lot of infighting, so Arnie did not pursue it any further.)

From North Carolina we flew to New York City and took a taxi to a hotel by Pennsylvania Station (I think it might have been the New Yorker Hotel on Eighth Avenue). Arnie had to return to the airport to collect several steamer trunks along with our suitcases we brought with us on the planes and deliver them to the pier for lading on the ship. In his absence Newlin took the boys for a walk around the block but found that neighborhood of Manhattan very seedy and grimy, so we promptly returned to the hotel for the evening. 

Newlin's passport photos

Arnie's passport photos

As thin as Arnie was (155 pounds at 5'10") and physically active, he suffered from hypertension and took medication to control it. He consulted a specialist before the year in Sweden.


The next morning we boarded the S.S. United States, the largest and fastest passenger ship ever built in the United States. It was super exciting to sail by the Statue of Liberty through New York Harbor and then start exploring what the ship had ot offer. There was a movie theater and indoor saltwater swimming pool and gym. Allan and Joel tried shuffleboard on deck but it was too windy and cold. 



Here we are at Pier 86 excited for our five day Atlantic crossing:

left to right: Andrew, Allan, Newlin, Aric, and Joel

Dining was a special occasion; Andrew, Allan, Joel, Arnie, Newlin, and Eric in the cabin class dining room

This photo shows our muster drill. Joel is holding his arm that way due to a recent surgery. (While the family was packing for this trip, the sliding glass doors between the family and enclosed porch were closed and Joel, running and jumping, crashed into one, shattering it and severing his left hand ulna nerve. The cast was remove shortly before our departure from Florida and Arnie has to exercise Joel's hand and fingers daily. It was painful and Joel always shed tears. The rest family was not allowed to be present after one session when everyone was crying and Eric begged Arnie to stop hurting Joel. Joel continue physical therapy in Sweden throughout that year but with professional physiotherapists.)

Muster drill on the S. S. United States: Allan, Arnie, Andrew, and Joel, September 1969

Here is a photo of Pier 86 I snapped one night in August 2013. Since 1982 Pier 86 has hosted the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum as well as the renovated USS Intrepid. 

August 11, 2013, photo by Joel A. Nevis y Flores
Pier 86 with "United States Lines", August 2013

In 1969 the United States Line suddenly discontinued sailings on the S.S. United States on account of declining sales; the age of ocean liner travel was over. We sailed on the second to last round trip voyage that ship would make as a passenger ship. We returned to the U.S. in 1970 by airplane.

Disembarking in Le Havre, we took a train to Paris. We visited the Eiffel Tower at night. Then we flew first to Denmark and from there to Gothenburg to pick up the new Volvo. From Gothenburg we drove to Uppsala and moved into a rented furnished four-bedroom apartment overlooking the Fyrisån River. 

The family was amused on our first day in Uppsala, breakfasting in a hotel restaurant, because Newlin ordered tea, and emphasized "tea, tea"; the waitress understood immediately and brought her a bottle of beer. Apparently it sounded like Newlin was trying to say "tee tee" (or T-T in Swedish), the nickname of a brand of beer called Tre Torn (three towers). Newlin was never partial to the flavor of beer, but she valiantly sipped her T-T during breakfast. And she never made that mistake again.


next post  Arnold and Newlin: Sweden 1970

previous post  Arnold and Newlin: 1969

first post in Flashbacks  How the Nevis family came to California

first post in Arnold's Story  July 1943

first post in blog  Leonard's Story: May 29, 1943

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Bill and Hazel Nevis in Europe: October 1957 NYC departure

Bill and Hazel set sail on a tour of Europe on the SS Constitution (on their "Sunlane cruise" from New York City to Naples via the Azores, Lisbon and Spain, attracting high-end clientele), departing New York Harbor in October 1957. It is the same ship featured in the 1957 movie An Affair to Remember starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr and in a few episodes of the sitcom I Love Lucy from early 1956.

Bill and Hazel on the SS Constitution, October 5, 1957

1957 slide by William E. Nevis
view of New Jersey from the SS Constitution, October 5, 1957

1957 slide by William E. Nevis
view of the Empire State Building and Manhattan from the SS Constitution, October 5, 1957

1957 slide by William E. Nevis
departure of the SS Constitution from Manhattan, October 5, 1957

next post  Bill and Hazel Nevis in Europe: October 1957 Azores

previous post  Leonard's Story:  September 1957

first post in Flashbacks  How the Nevis family came to California

first post in Arnold's Story  July 1943

first post in blog  Leonard's Story: May 29, 1943