Christmas Fun Facts:

The word Christmas is old English, a contraction of Christ's Mass.

In Greek, X means Christ, so that's where the word Xmas came from.

Christmas became a national U.S. holiday on June 26, 1870.

The first state to recognize the holiday officially was Alabama.

During the Christmas buying season, Visa Cards alone are used an average 5,340 times a minute.

Rudolph was actually created by Montgomery Ward in the late 1930's for a holiday promotion.

Jingle Bells was first written for Thanksgiving, but is now one of the most popular Christmas songs.

Charles Dickens' famous work, "A Christmas Carol", was written in just six weeks.

Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895

Lodges of the Olympic Peninsula: Three Stops Worth Making

With the current state of the economy limiting our spending dollars, people from Washington's Olympic Peninsula are lucky to have local treasures within driving distance. People from all over come to visit the area's wilderness and unspoiled beauty. This past week, I had the chance to travel the Olympic Peninsula when I was invited to review some of its top lodges: The Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, Kalaloch Lodge, and Lake Quinault Lodge.

Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort:

The Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort is an enjoyable stay with lots to do, and a happy, friendly staff that makes you feel at home.
"Sol Duc" is a native American term for sparkling water. Olympic National Park water comes directly and untreated from the hot springs on the property.
According to maintenance manager Ron Dahl, there's a fissure that runs through the Olympic National Park and comes out in three places: up in the Olympic Mountains, at the resort, and under the straight of Juan De Fuca.
What is a hot springs?
Dahl, who has worked at Sol Duc for 38 years, explained that rainwater will fall into a fissure(nobody knows where this fissure is), go down and touch molten rock, and come back up hot, usually at about 120 degrees.
He showed me behind a fenced-off area and opened a large wooden trap door, where, 10 feet below, you could see the bubbling mineral water from the springs.
While staying in one of Sol Ducs cabins, you can relax in one of the pools, eat at the restaurant-which is deceptively simple -- although the food is anything but that, serving specialties such as cedar plank salmon and seafood pasta chowder -- and take a magnificent walk to the Sol Duc falls.
The Sol Duc has closed for the winter season but will reopen in March.

Kalaloch Lodge:

My next stop was the Kalaloch Lodge.
Right off of Highway 101, the wooden lodge sits on a bluff overlooking the Pacific ocean and a giant, windswept beach, a fort - building boy's dream.You can stay in the lodge or choose one of the cabins near the bluff.
In comparison to the other lodges that are very busy, the Kalaloch is a place for solitude, with no towns or cellphone reception for miles around.
But even with the simplicity, at the end of the day you can walk on the beach with seagulls on the water's edge, enjoy the view at the restaurant, and warm up by the cabin's fireplaces.
The Kalaloch is open year - round.

Lake Quinault Lodge:

The last stop was the Lake Quinault Lodge. It was built in the 1920's and gives you the feeling of long ago. The dining room overlooks a large, manicured lawn leading down to the lake, and the lobby is very cozy with sofas surrounding a giant fireplace. There's a warm indoor pool, a game room, a sauna, and trails in every direction. In the evening, you can stand on the beach and witness a beautiful sunset. If you drive past the lodge, you can take a short walk to the largest spruce tree in the world, and drive through the Quinault Valley, past fields and old farmhouses where elk are frequently seen, alongside the Quinault river, and an occasional waterfall.
The lodge's staff has many nice people who seem to love their juob.
From renting a canoe to use in the lake, to hiking in unspoiled wilderness, to reading by the fire, it is a place to make good memories.
The lodge is open year - round.

Maria Muldaur Returns to Her Roots

Maria Muldaur’s successful career as a singer has spanned nearly five decades.

The versatile performer, whose top hit was “Midnight at the Oasis,” was in Port Townsend last month to record her new children’s album, “Down at the Barnyard Dance.” She both sings and produces the album, which features jug band music, one of her favorite kinds of music,and the type that originally inspired her own music career.

Muldaur said that jug band music started back in a time when people would
get together to play music and bring along anything that made sound.

“That could range from a jug to a couple of spoons,” she said on an interview in
the lobby of the Palace Hotel downtown last October after performing at the Upstage with Port Townsend’s own Crowquill Night Owls, who accompany her on her upcoming album.

“My mother would only play classical music for me, but she had a younger sister wholiked what she called “cowboy music,” she said.
The music she would hear was by such artists as Hank Williams and Kitty Wells, and
the tunes grabbed her more than the “seriousness” of classical music. By age 5 she was singing all the songs.

Growing up in Greenwich Village, New York City, Ms. Muldaur was surrounded by
artists and musicians, and was there when both traditional American music -- and Elvis Presley -- were capturing everyone’s interest. People played guitars and fiddles on the city streets and soon she learned a few songs.

When Muldaur was growing up, she didn’t just think about singing -- she sang.
She got friends together to work out harmonies and sang in the school bathroom for the great acoustics. She listened to all kinds of music. Even in college music remained her passion, and by 20 she had decided that her future would be in music.
“I followed my heart,” she said.

I got to get close to the action and see what went into the making of an album when Muldaur invited me to sit in with her at the recoding studio at George Rezendes' house in Port Townsend. I sat behind a glass window that looked into the studio where fiddle-player Suzy Thompson did her takes as Rezendes made adjustments on his sound board.

Muldaur,with her cascade of black curls and black velvet tunic, typed an email beside me but she’d get up to dance when she heard a take she especially liked.

Between takes, Muldaur turned to me.
“Isn’t it something?" she said,"When I saw you back in October, I got the idea to do this album and now here I am doing it! With the help of some terrific people, of course!” she added.

And they sure had a terrific team. The album took 6 days of long hours to record the album -- imagine 11 songs with separate tracks for 6 musicians/instruments and doing an average of 5 takes each song. The musicians worked off of Muldaur’s “scratch vocal,” the vocal track Maria records just for the recording sessions. Once the mix is done, she will add her final vocal, which she plans to do near her home in California after returning from a vacation in Hawaii. She expects the album to be out by next fall.

I asked Muldaur if it was still as fun to make music today as it was 36 albums ago.

“It’s more fun,” she replied. “I used to be nervous but now I’m really comfortable. I can handle anything. Anything can happen and I’ll just sail above it!”

And is doing a children’s album easier than a regular album?

“Well, it’s more fun” she replied. “It’s more lighthearted, playful, and uplifting music. So in that sense, it’s easier!”

Brennan LaBrie Sings with Straight No Chaser