historic pools
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Ever swim in a castle? Probably not if you live in the USA, which has 10.7 million pools but only two “castles” with fully operational indoor swimming facilities. Channeling my inner C3PO, your odds of swimming in an American castle are approximately 5.35 million to one. To quote Han Solo: Never tell me the odds. …
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“Look! There it is,” My husband exclaimed as we continued our hike from his conference at the Marriott Marquis. Two flags extended from the elegant Italian Renaissance edifice, with its white columns, dark brick, and Beaux Arts details. My heart leaped, a combination of exertion, excitement, and nerves. I adjusted my bag, straightened my dress,…
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Crossing all our fingers and toes, on our way south from Ontario, we pulled our packed van up to the Stony Brook State Park entrance on a warm summer Sunday. Hopefully, our second attempt to leap into the park’s river-fed Depression-era swimming pool would end in a splash. Two weeks beforehand, our first attempt (while…
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September 8-9, 1954: Your arms churn through the frigid, black depths of Lake Ontario like a propeller, strong, efficient, and devoid of sensation. Your legs… you haven’t felt them for hours…You lift your head and search your surroundings … Where is everyone?… Ahead, a lone light appears, dimly illuminating your boat’s hull… There’s Coach Ryder……
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“Everybody get in the pool!” That’s what my favorite shirt says. My husband gave it to me for my birthday pool party a couple years ago. I’m mentioning it here because that’s the atmosphere at the Venetian Pool in Coral Gables, Florida. During our 2023 trip to “The City Beautiful,” we experienced first-hand the energetic…
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The picture seduced me. What looked like a Spanish castle rose from a grove of lush tropical greenery. A massive pool stretched across the foreground, beckoning me to plunge into its vibrant blue water. “Is this heaven?” I wondered. No, it’s Florida. Specifically, it’s the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, “The City Beautiful.” In the…
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“Ladies and gentlemen, as we begin our descent into Cincinnati, make sure your seats and tray tables are in their full upright position, and fasten your seat belts. I breathed a sigh of relief at the flight attendant’s instruction. Almost there. Our flight from Richmond to Philly had begun in snow, ice, and wind, and…
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“Free towels!” Twinkling brown eyes revealed delight in a small victory for this long-time loyal member of the venerable New Orleans Athletic Club. More than thirty years ago, they were and still are his reward, along with massages, for continuing his membership through two years of renovations and upgrades that reflect changed social norms and…
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Next stop: Cincinnati! Not for a Reds game, although they had a homestand against the Tigers so the Queen City ran red with fans. But we weren’t there for baseball, although we’d thoroughly enjoyed The Great American Ballpark three years ago, when the home team won against the Pirates and my husband gobbled five hotdogs. …
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Toeing the water of my home pool in Williamsburg, Virginia, I grumbled that today’s swim would be hot as a nuclear reactor. Well, maybe not quite 10 times hotter than the sun, which according to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is what occurs in a fusion reactor. Still, the 94F water I was about to…
swim history girl 