Ouderkerk aan den Amstel: idyllic little village just a stone’s throw from Amsterdam

One of the little picturesque villages in the Netherlands which happens to be just a stone’s throw away from Amsterdam is Ouderkerk aan den Amstel. By car, it’s the first exit from the highway after leaving the A10 highway ring and joining the A2 highway to the direction of Utrecht and Maastricht. An easy option from Amsterdam would be by bike or boat as it is fairly near. If taking a look at the map of North Holland province, one can see that the village is right across Amsterdam Zuid Oost with only the A2 highway separating it.

I’ll have to warn though that this village is REALLY small. The place is ideal for lunching or having afternoon tea combined with a nice walk or a bike excursion in and around the surroundings, which I must add, the landscape past Ronde Hoep nearby is very pretty. The zigzagged dike doubles up as the country road is above sea level and the canals and vast fields below form a majestic panorama. Or, if you arrive by a boat, you can always dock somewhere and then have drinks by the café restaurant on the corner of the white wooden draw bridge called Korte Brug over the Bullewijk River.

Draw bridges are typically Dutch and the one in Ouderkerk aan den Amstel over the Bullewijk River, which is a tributary river of the Amstel River in Amsterdam, gives this little bucolic village its very own fascinating charisma.


This is the Kerkstraat, the main street of the village that leads to the St. Urbanus Roman Catholic Church and ends on the other side with a couple restaurants and shops. This wooden white bridge is called Korte Brug and the river below it is called Bullewijk River which is an offshoot of the River Amstel in Amsterdam.


The "De Oude Smidse" cafe restaurant is a pretty location to have drinks or dining while enjoying the serene village surroundings over the river. Unfortunately, my Nokia Navigator wasn't of much help here as it can't really take nice pictures against the light. On the same street, one can find the more than 100 years old bakery, Bakker Out - baking since 1897.


Here is another foto of the Roman Catholic St. Urbanus Church. There is a Protestant Church on the other side of the river which isn't as pretty as her Catholic sister (and which is always the case anyway as Protestants are more conservative than the "bourgondisch" Catholics). To get out of the village just follow - Doorgand verkeer.

Anywho... just want to say that when I was here and when I was leaving my way via the dikes in Ronde Hoep all the way to Vinkeveen, I passed by a police car and a tow truck busy pulling out a muddied car nestled between a duct and the meadow below the 2-meter high dikes. Goodness heavens. That is one long jump to get down there! The driver must have driven above the required speed limit which is 50 km/ph–the roads are narrow and winding–and lost control of the wheel. OK, tell me... why I am not surprised to see that the driver was a woman? lol

Ouderkerk aan den Amstel is also two centuries older than Amsterdam. Yes, that old!

And for such a small village, who would expect that there are 7 restaurants in residence here? One of which is even a Michelin-star restaurant. During summer months I read that there are culinaire walking tours being held here too.

A few more fotos here: Ouderkerk aan den Amstel - North Holland, Netherlands

Well, I’d like to come back to Ouderkerk aan den Amstel and park myself on the deck terrace of De Oude Smidse café restaurant by the little draw bridge over the Bullewijk River. On a beautiful sunny day, I think it’s one of the nice and romantic places to sit down, enjoy a glass of chilled wine and watch the world go by.
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Snow Queen!

My Gazelle "Linda" has now been updated for the winter, with new tires and woven dress guards. She is a beautiful sight to behold against the snowy landscape!



The tire replacement was something that had to be done anyhow, as the original ones were cracked and I did not want them to fail in the winter. And of course, I was only too happy to replace them with my favourite creamSchwalbe Delta Cruisers.As for the woven dress guards, there was no reason for them what so ever, other than aestheticcaprice. I thought that Linda looked somewhat generic with the solid black vinyl dress guards, and I wanted to personalise her. We purchased the woven dress guards from Mike Flanigan of ANT and installed them by drilling holes directly into the fenders. I have close-up pictures of the installation and will write a detailed tutorial in a separate post, for those interested.



Riding the Gazelle with the new tires, I immediately noticed that shebecame a bit faster and quicker to accelerate. This echoes my experience with Delta Cruisers on other bikes- which is one reason I love these tires so much. They are the best combination of city/ sporty/ cushy/ all-weather I have found so far. And okay, it does not hurt that they are available in cream!



It was interesting to cycle on the Gazelle after such a heavy snowfall, and to compare her handling to the Bella Ciao - which I rode immediately after the previous snowfall. Somewhat to my surprise, they handle similarly at slow speeds (under 10mph)- which is the speed I stick to under winter road conditions. The Bella Ciao's superior responsiveness and the Gazelle's superior cushiness are considerably less noticeable when cycling gingerly over slush and ice patches. Their common qualities, however, are all the more noticeable: Namely, how well-balanced and stable they both are. The PashleyI rode last year had these same qualities as well - so I think that all three are great winter bicycles.



The Gazelle does have a bit of an edge when cycling over large formations of hardened snow, due to its wider tires. On the other hand, theBella Ciao has a considerable "winter cyclocross" advantage: It is easier to drag, lift and carry when road conditions necessitate getting off the bike and moving it over heaps of snow or patches of ice. Overall, I am honestly not sure which I prefer, and I see the two bikes as representing different ends of my winter comfort zone spectrum. The Gazelle has a rack and lights, so by default I ride it more. But once I install these on the Bella Ciao, that may change. For those who have tried different upright transportation bicycles in the winter (i.e., Pashley vs Workcycles vs Retrovelo vs Rivendell vs ANT vs Abici, etc.), I would love to know what you think of the handling.



After the first two snow storms of the season, I can already tell that I will have an easier time cycling this winter than I did last year. Nothing has really changed in a drastic way, but maybe my balancing skills have gradually improved and my lungs have grown accustomed to cycling in freezing temperatures. And as far as aesthetics go, I really do think that it helps to have a bicycle that you are excited about as a winter bike, rather than a "beater". This helped me last year and it's helping me now. The winter landscape is so beautiful, that cycling through it on a bicycle I love (and feel safe on) makes it all the more special.

Charles Romain Brubaker

Charles Romain Brubaker, was my great-grandfather. Also known as "C.R." and "Romey" he was the son of Malissa Mariah Joslin and William Brubaker. His date of birth is not known for certain. Several records (marriage application, his father's Civil War Pension application) give his date of birth as August 15, 1871, which would be just four months after his parents married. My grandmother's notes put his date of birth as August 15, 1872. Two obituary notices, one published in Pascagoula, Mississippi where he lived at the time of his death, and the other published in Columbia City give his date of birth as August 19, 1870. His gravemarker shows that he was born August 19, 1871.

From my grandmother's autobiography we learn a little about his early life:

My father was Charles Romain Brubaker, who was born in Troy Township in Whitley County, Indiana, August 15, 1872. His father always called him Charlie and his mother called him Romey. If he had a split personality I think this may have contributed to it. He loved the farm and as a very young boy, and into manhood, he worked hard on the beloved farm that his father had bought when he returned from the Civil War. However, his mother wanted him to become a doctor and sent him to Valparaiso to college.

I do not know how long he stayed there, but long enough that his classmate, Carl Sauder, told us that he was a very bright student and might have been an excellent physician. In time he tired of college and took off for Chicago. There he worked as a newspaper reporter. He then left for the Northern Michigan lumber camps; here he was in his glory. While we children were growing up he told us many stories of his life in the lumber camp of the Indians and the rough men. He loved it all.

In the fall of 1896 he returned to the home farm. He began courting Maude Catherine Wise, against the wishes of her family. So in February 1897, he and Maude eloped and were married by a Methodist minister in Larwill. Her parents refused to let him enter the house when they came for her clothes, but they soon relented. And though they never fully approved of him, the two families were friendly for many years.

[Note: There will be some duplication in the following presentation, but I felt that Maude and Romey each deserved their own separate posts.]

Romey and Maude set up housekeeping in Huntington, Indiana. It puzzled me for a while as to why they went to Huntington, but after I realized that he had uncles and cousins that lived there it made sense. While living in Huntington, the Spanish-American War broke out and, apparently after some prodding by his mother, Romey enlisted in Company K, 160th Indiana Volunteer Infantry.

From the "Record of Indiana Volunteers in the Spanish American War 1898-1899" published in 1900 by the state of Indiana:

The regiment arrived at Camp Mount April 26, 1898, under orders from the Governor, for the purpose of being mustered into the service of the United States, and, after a most rigid physical examination of both officers and men, the regiment was mustered into the volunteer service of the United States on May 12, 1898. Left Camp Mount May 16, and proceeded by rail to Camp Thomas, Chickamauga Park, Georgia, arriving there on May 18. Under orders to proceed to Porto Rico, the regiment left Camp Thomas on July 28 and arrived at Newport News, Virginia, on July 30, the orders for the regiment to proceed to Porto Rico having been countermanded the regiment left Newport News on August 21 and proceeded to Camp Hamilton, Lexington, Kentucky, where it arrived on August 23. Left Camp Hamilton November 9, and arrived at Columbus, Georgia, November 11, 1898. On January 15, 1899, the regiment was ordered to proceed, in three sections, to Matanuzas, Cuba, where they were united on January 27, and went into camp. The regiment remained in Cuba until March 27, when they were ordered to proceed to Savannah, Georgia, to prepare for muster-out. They arrived in Savannah March 29, and were mustered out and discharged April 25, 1899.

In Cuba. Between January 27 and March 27, 1899. Romey Brubaker is the second man from the right (leaning on the table).

My grandmother wrote about her father's experiences while in service, I too wish that she could have remembered more stories.

We children heard many exciting stories of his experiences in Cuba. I only wish that I could remember more of them, but this was my favorite. Papa was out "scouting" in the jungle. He heard a voice call "Hello". He crept on his knees closer and closer to the voice. Then to his everlasting embarrassment, he saw a parrot, one that had possibly been trained to speak and had escaped into the wild. The parrot was with several wild ones and seemed to be trying to teach them to speak English.

Later, he contracted Malaria Fever, so prevalent in the swampy country. He was taken to the hospital where Catholic Nuns were the nurses. He was very sick and they put him into a ward reserved for the dying, when he made a miraculous recovery. He always praised these wonderful women whom he credited for saving his life.

When Romey returned home after his year in service he joined his wife at the Goose Lake farm where she had been living with his parents. Over the next few years, they moved around quite a bit. Their first child, John Wise Brubaker was born February 16, 1901 and died a few days later. They then moved to Lorain, Ohio where Romey's aunt Rose Zinsmeister and his uncle Harry Wise also lived. My grandmother, Hazlette, was born there on January 16, 1902 but within six months they returned to Whitley County.

Two more children would be born to Romey and Maude: Choella Jane on April 14, 1903 and on February 22, 1905 William Hale. Grandma lost track of how many times the family moved. As she said "I'm not sure why but we would be at the farm for a while then move some place else." After the birth of little Billy, Maude was a semi-invalid. They moved to Columbia City where, according to my grandmother, Romey started a rug weaving factory.

I don’t remember the first house but Papa started a rug-weaving factory in a small building. He had a couple of looms and had Horty Bills work with him in making carpets. Some were made of rags, which had been sewed into long strips. They were woven with rug cord into long sections then sewn together to make the correct width and length. The other loom took ingrain carpeting (old) and made it into a fluffy kind of carpet. I wish I knew the process but whatever it was it became obsolete when oxminster carpeting became in vogue. It seemed to do well and we moved into a three-story brick house on North Line Street; it is still standing. He put his looms in the basement and did very well, I think. After a time Papa sold his looms and took a job of some kind and we moved to a little house on North Elm Street. Then we moved into Sanford Tinkham's home. There Papa baked our bread, did our laundry, etc. and helped Sanford at his sawmill. This was a house in the woods and the sawmill was in the center of the wood.

Now Papa had the wanderlust again, and as soon as Mama was able to care for herself he moved the family back to Grandma Brubaker's, he went to Traverse City, Michigan. He got a job and rented a house and soon we were on our way again. Our first home was on Peninsula Avenue, facing the Grand Traverse Bay.

I know that Papa worked at different things while we were there. He was very mechanically inclined and could do almost anything. Papa worked in an Oval Dish Factory. They made the little wooden dishes that were used to put lard, peanut butter, etc. in at the grocery stores. He received $1.00 per day and worked six days a week, twelve hours a day. In fact, we hardly ever saw him except on Sundays.

Papa left the Oval Dish factory after a time and worked for the City Transportation. They had purchased some kind of streetcars and Papa operated one of them. It was just a big automobile like affair with seats, something like the first school busses. Papa was a good mechanic and liked this job. He also worked at the Yacht Club repairing motors in the launches for a time; I think he was doing this when we left.

There were bad times there too. Papa and Jack Smith came home one night, late and intoxicated. Sometimes Papa became very abusive to Mama when he was drunk. And this was the very worst time of all. I ran across the street and told Mr. Giadop that my Papa was sick and to please go to him. I guess he really settled him down, Papa walked all night. When he came home there was a bad mark on his head where I had hit him with a stove poker, but he never knew that I had done it. It hadn't helped at all and it always hurt me to know that I'd injured my beloved Papa.

After we had been in Traverse City some time the folks bought a house at 838 State Street. This was a nice little house, about one block from the Bay, near the school. One night in mid-December 1910 a telegram came that changed all our lives. Uncle Hale, Papa's only brother, had died of pneumonia in New York City where he was attending Columbia University. This death was a terrible shock and grief to my parents as they both loved him so much. Papa and Mama were both terribly grieved... Papa never went back to Michigan. Several weeks later Mama went to Traverse City, settled affairs there and packed our household goods and had them shipped to Columbia City. Papa picked them up in a dray (horse and wagon) and we got settled back on the farm where we were determined to stay for several years.

In the spring of 1911, Romey's parents moved to Columbia City and left Romey to run the Goose Lake Farm. A young boy, Orville Day, was hired to help him, so my grandmother notes:

After Orville came, Papa began to raise tomatoes, cucumbers and cauliflower. He also tried onions. These crops he planned to take to Fort Wayne and sell at the Farmer's Market. He got a contract from Sears Company for the cauliflower. This one year he had a beautiful crop, about one acre. The plants were set out by hand, kid's hands, and it was hard work. We even tied up the plants so the cauliflower wouldn't sunburn. Sears reneged on the contract and all that hard work and money went down the drain.

This was what happened to much of Papa's farming. He stocked up on dairy cattle, and they got some kind of disease and had to be killed. About this time Papa got sick and was covered with boils and seemed to be out of his mind some of the time. The cattle probably had undulant fever and so Papa had that too. After feeling he was a complete failure, he rented the place to Uncle Harl and we moved to North Webster.

It was in 1917 that the family moved to North Webster. I'm not sure how long they stayed there, but it wasn't long before they were back in Columbia City. But all was not well. A notice in the Columbia City Post dated January 15, 1919 states that they were separated on September 15, 1917 and she filed for divorce which was granted on April 13, 1921. Amongst the causes for the separation and divorce were charges of non-support, intoxication, and squandering an inheritance. What it doesn't tell is that there are always two sides to every story, and we've never heard his.

I don't know if Romey waited until after the divorce or not, but he moved to Jackson County, Mississippi, living for a while in Moss Point and later in Pascagoula. According to the newspaper article about the divorce, Romey had enlisted in the Army during World War I. His gravemarker states that he served during both the Spanish-American War and WWI, the 1930 census says he was a veteran of the World War, and two out of three obituary notices also confirm his service, so I have no reason to doubt that it is true, I just haven't found any official document of his WWI service.

Why he went to Mississippi isn't known. I can only guess that perhaps he was stationed there during his time in service during WWI. Romey was married to Viola Fagan on April 1, 1923, he was 51, she was 33 years old and the mother of a six year old girl, Kathleen. The 1930 census gives his occupation as Laborer, Gardening. Based upon his previous work history, he could have been a general laborer, a handyman, a "jack-of-all-trades" who could perform nearly any kind of work that was needed.

Charles Romain Brubaker passed away on December 19, 1945 at the veteran's hospital in Biloxi, Mississippi at the age of 74. His wife, Viola, would live another 30 years, passing away on April 11, 1977.

Photo identified only as "Summer of 1925 - Aunt Bet and Jane." On the left is Aunt Bet (Henrietta Rebecca Dunfee). Jane Brubaker is peeking over the shoulder of the man. From other family pictures, I believe the man is Charles Romain Brubaker and the woman is probably his wife, Viola Fagan Brubaker.

During the last week of June .., my mother and I took a trip to Mississippi and Louisiana. We stopped in Moss Point and Pascagoula for a couple of days. We found the courthouse, the library, and the cemetery where Romey and Viola are buried. From Viola's obituary I got the correct married name of her daughter, Kathleen Langley. She would be 85 years old. I looked her up in the phone directory and made the call. The number had been disconnected.

Then I did something I had never done before. I contacted the funeral home that had made the arrangements for Viola. It was then that I learned that Kathleen had died just a few months before, on April 10th. The funeral home director put me in touch with her lawyer's office and we paid them a visit. We spoke with the attorney, I told him who I was and that I was looking for information on and pictures of Romey. He said there were pictures in the estate, which was due to be auctioned off in the next couple of weeks but he thought he could get copies made first. He didn't have time right then to go check and we had to leave the next day. I called him when I got home, several times, but each time the lawyer was unavailable and he never returned my calls.

Kathleen was the widow of Owen Langley and didn't have any children. If there were any pictures of Romey in her estate, they are now in the hands of strangers.

Spying on couples during Valentines Day and Madurodam in Den Haag

This is nothing really new but thought it’s good to remind those hordes of google searchers landing on this blog about what they are looking for today.

The typical Dutch man in my opinion has an aversion to Valentines Day (I am not talking about the Dutch man I live with even!) because this typical unromantic, logical and cheap Dutch man finds the practice of celebrating what he deems to be of silly and emotional substance turned into commercialization madness, objectionable. Many other typical unromantic, logical and cheap Dutch men do not even know that Valentines Day exists! SIGH, so so sooo typically Dutch.

Anywho, I told Dutchman, whether he likes it or not, we are going out for dinner on Saturday evening, on Valentines night. He-he, a bit cheesy but I’ve been meaning to go somewhere. My feet are itching to go to places other than my usual Amsterdam or Utrecht route, like Rotterdam for example, but got discouraged with the long drive. Forty minutes drive is a bit long when we have the option to walk to Utrecht Center in twenty minutes or take the tram in five minutes, or get on the bike and be there in ten.

So we stayed in Utrecht and had drinks in our favorite hang out café at the Neude plein where we spied on a couple having a date. Now, that was fun. With the questions they were firing at each other, they were obviously in the getting to know each other phase; he, somewhat 40ish and she in her late 20’s or early 30ish were talking about their beloved mothers (yawn), their friends having one-night stands (hello! hinting?), and work related stuff.

Dutchman and I can’t really help but eavesdrop into their conversation as both were talking not only in high pitched tones but with their hands! They seem to have gotten along quite fine which was good, and when it was time to bring the date to the next level, girl naively asked guy, “Where do you want to eat tonight?” (she meant: restaurant somewhere around the corner) whilst guy cockily replied, “I’ll cook something for you at my place.” (hmm... he had something else in mind!)

Ten points to the guy for making the assertive move, lol.

Later, we left the café and surveyed the restaurants in the Center and decided to go Italian. We noticed some familiarity with the interior and had a quick déjà vu thing. Well, looks like we were indeed here before, years back. We didn’t get to spy on other couples as we were seated far to the corner of the restaurant but we noticed that the place was full. Dutchman said the restaurant is full because it’s Saturday night and not because it’s Valentines. Yeah, right.

Tonight, we are invited for some mussels treat at the schoonouders. Dutchman will be getting pizza I think. He hates seafood.

Anyway, I got some late Madurodam fotos here. Took me some time to work and upload them! We were at the Madurodam park end December after Christmas.

Here is miniature Amsterdam and the VOC ship during the Golden Age (Verenigde Oost-Indie Compagnie).

Madurodam is an entertainment miniature (very touristy) park in The Hague on a scale of 1:25 and is considered to be the smallest city in the Netherlands. It’s actually a very popular tourist attraction and destination as I seem to only find tourists there (lots of Asians), if not Dutch families with little kids. We went there with the Omniversum combi ticket which is highly recommended. Another combi ticket is with Sea Life.

More fotos here: Madurodam - Den Haag, The Netherlands

On the left foto is me with miniature Utrecht and the Dom Toren, and next foto is the beautiful Waterport in Sneek, Friesland up north.

The visit was a huge disappointment though.

Firstly, it was freezing! Brrr, it was soooo cold, it was -8C and I have to stand outside and pretend I don’t feel the chill and the wisps of brittle wind blowing sharply on my cheeks and neck. My ears have turned red and have iced over! It was bad timing to go to an open-air park that day with below zero freezing temperatures. Because of this, I was not able to take a lot of fotos. I wanted to hide my frozen butt in the cafe with a warm cup of tea.

The miniature Muiderslot (Muider Castle) in Muiden, North Holland.

Secondly, the Madurodam by Light show scheduled in the evening, which is a special additional attraction, did not push through because of the darn weather. Laser technology and -8C degree temperatures doesn’t seem to work together, unfortunately.

Thirdly, the park is a disgrace in itself. With the many visitors the park receives daily, ergo good revenue I would assume (€14,50 entrance fee for adults and €10,50 for kids), they seriously need to up their maintenance, and clean and renovate some of the miniature buildings. We saw paint fading and falling off, corrosion, moulds all over the place, and just dirt. The park and its subjects looked so outdated that the restaurant, toilet and souvenir shop were waaaay better in comparison and maintenance.

Such a shame really... the park need to get their act together and urgently do something!

Cocoa Beach and Good Friends

I had the chance not once, but twice this past week to share with family members of ours how great of friends we have made since living this lifestyle. I was so fanatical in my sharing with one of them that I think I may have scared them a bit. It's hard not to be really passionate when trying to explain how special of a crowd we have been lucky enough to hang out with the past few years though.



We have said time and time again what exceptional people the pickleball crowd in particular are. This past week was a great example of that. Rich and Donna invited us to their beach condo. I can honestly say we have never had friends invite us along on their vacation to stay in their condo with them, let alone a beach one! I am so grateful to them!



We had to squeeze this trip in around my work schedule so we only had a few days to visit, but we made those days as fun filled as possible. We were also spoiled rotten by Rich and Donna who definitely have the gift of being great hosts. I do not have this gift, so I will have to bake extra goodies when they come to stay with us to make up for it! First thing we got to tour the facilities at the place where there condo is at, and we were very impressed with it.



We then headed out to do a bit of sight seeing. We have never actually visited Cocoa Beach so it was neat to visit some place new in Florida. There was the typical touristy Florida beach stuff of course, but they took us to some non-touristy unique spots. We stopped at Manatee park where they have been able to see manatees and dolphins in their previous visits. Sadly, we did not encounter any wildlife but the park was really pretty so we still enjoyed the stop.



We then visited the pier there, which Donna already wrote about so I'll just send you to her blog Florida Picklers. The first thing I saw there was this cool 3-D mural on the side of this building.



We stopped to catch a few waves, with the ladies trying out the surfboard first.







Then on to the pier, where we visited a shop and I found a pair of flip flop earrings that I loved (and bought).



We saw some fishing being done, birds flying around, lots of beach activity and real surfing in the water.



I thought the pier itself was really neat.



Donna had a great idea for a group shot, taking a picture of our reflections in the water. Love this!



We also managed to squeeze in dinner at an Italian restaurant they have eaten at before. Nathan was able to try one of their small stombolis. Yes, folks, that is their small size! The food there was very good!



After all of that, we still were not done with our day. We took our drinks outside and lounged by the pool and chatted for a bit. Once we digested enough of our dinner we headed over to the tennis courts and chalked off lines for some pickleball. It was very windy and we had fun even with the frustration of not knowing at all where they ball would go after we hit it. I didn't realize until the next day how hard I had really played because the wind really kept me cooled off. After so much fun, we headed to bed for the night gearing up for another fun day the next day.

The Shenandoah Valley

We have been busy, busy, busy since we hit the valley. Between seeing Austin and the rest of the family, we've hardly had time to catch our breath. We spent the night at Memaw's, and Ava decided that Memaw is the bomb....just like Austin thinks she is. On Sunday, the guys took the kids and they went up on the mountain and went skeet shooting. The ladies all went to see the movie The Help. Nathan and I had already seen the movie, but I loved it so much that I was happy to see it again.



We have a very short visit, due to the holiday weekend coming in (we can't stay at this place then). So we are trying to enjoy what little time we do have. The valley is as beautiful as always. Beyond our heavy hearts over the devastation in OBX, we are trying to enjoy where we are.

Autumn Rainbow

Near Greenwood Lake - Cook County, MN. The other day I was driving the back roads from the Gunflint Trail back to Grand Portage. Along the way there were a few rain showers and at one point the sun came out and I saw this beautiful, full rainbow. Luckily I was in a place where the trees weren't as tall so I was able to get a good view of it!