Ft. Lauderdale - Saturday, 7 May 2016

The week has really gone fast and it has been so valuable to hear such quality speakers and meet new genealogists. Today's first session was one that was presented by Donna Moughty on Using Griffith's Valuation to Identify Your Ancestors' Origins. I have used this website, with limited results. I will need to go back and use some of the pointers in this presentation. Moughty also guides tours to Ireland that might be a good trip to keep in mind.

Paul Milner's lecture on What's in the English Parish Chest was one of the best of the conference. For anyone doing English research, this was a veritable fount of information. It was based on his book, which unfortunately was not available in the vendor area. Will have to procure it when I get home. 


Keeping with the "across the pond" theme, the 11:00 presentation was by David Rencher on Irish Church Records.  Rencher covered each religion and itemized what one could expect to find in each's church records. Great presentation and good information.

Lunch was a quick hot dog in the vendor area and then one more time around the exhibits. I listened for a while to Beidler's mini talk on German naming conventions, but I knew most of it so wandered on, bought a few books and resisted temptation of others.

The last session for me was Amy Larner Giroux's Does the Data Fit: Using Evidence Summaries to Assist your Analysis.  This was a good case study supported by a number of different ways to summarize your evidence. I wish that she would have had some templates or had screen shots that were large enough to see how she had done her summaries. It was a good talk, but could have had a bit more meat to it. 

We needed to be ready for our SuperShuttle pickup at 4:35 so I hastened back to the hotel, met Earle and got our bags out of storage. The shuttle was a bit delayed, but we had allowed plenty of time for our 7:00 flight. Got to the airport and through security, complete with a pat down since my FitBit set off the alarm, and had time for a bite to eat. The food options in the Ft. Lauderdale airport were limited at best. Had a horrible hamburger for which I waited 20 minutes because the fast food people were so incompetent. Wandered down to a bar and watched the Kentucky Derby before settling in at the gate.  Flight was on time and boarding went quickly. 

The Pens were playing and it was so hysterical seeing so many people on the plane watching the game on iPads. The Pens lost forcing a 6th game. And the Bucs lost to the Cardinals 6-4.

Home, finally, around midnight and greeted by little Abby who will be staying with us for a week while her human takes a well earned vacation. 

Need to find another blogging program since this one refuses to upload pictures from the iPad in a dependable manner. 

Next trip - the first part of June!

Fort Lauderdale - Friday, 6 May 2016

Day 3 of the NGS Family History Conference and the last full day in the Florida sun. Wait, there is sun? Unfortunately, I haven't had a minute to really enjoy pool or beach. Maybe the next trip. 

This morning's sessions started with Elizabeth Shown Mills' Exhaustive Research: The First Criteria for Genealogical Proof.  Again, an excellent presentation and wonderful case study. Attending one of her lectures is like having an NGS Quarterly  article explained to you. Her methodology and delivery keeps one on his/her toes. 

The 9:30 lecture was one with an intriguing title: Your Immigrants' Germany: Microstates and Microbreweries  by James M. Beidler. At the onset there was a disclaimer that it really didn't include microbreweries., but there was enough other information on German resources to make it worthwhile. Beidler has written some excellent books on Germany research that I bought later in the day. 

At 11:00 I went to Dr. Thomas Jones' session on Systematically Using Autosomal DNA Test Results to Help Break Through Genealogical Brick Walls.  Dr. Jones is another presenter from whom you can always learn. This session was not DNA heavy, but rather how to use those test to confirm relationships. Again, a great case study that highlighted methodology.

The luncheon for today was sponsored by The Board for Certification of Genealogists and featured Judy Russell, Michael Ramage, and Dann Devine, all board certified and lawyers, too. The presentation focused on copyright and copyright infringement. It wasn't as heavy as some of the lectures, but informative just the same.

After lunch it was time for Eddie Wenck: The case of a Little Lost Boy.  Again, focusing on methodology and process this lecture by Julie Miller was an interesting one. Have to say that I figured out the next steps along the way. 

The last lecture was by my friend, Lisa Alzo on How to Overcome Brick Walls in Easter European Research.  I haven't really examined much in eastern Europe, but need to concentrate on it in the future to place my maternal grandparents in time and place. 

We opted for an early dinner tonight since we wanted to go to 15th Street Fisheries. It was Friday and we understood the wait could get long. We took a cab to the restaurant even though we could see it clearly from our hotel. There was no easy way to cross the water. No pictures of food tonight, but we had a wonderful bowl of Bahamian Style Conch Chowder and then split Coconut Fried Shrimp and Fresh Mahi Tacos. We ate dockside and enjoyed watching the boats on the Intercoastal.

 

We took the restaurant van back to the hotel. I needed to pack and have everything ready for traveling back to Mars before bed. So did that while listening to the Pirates game. Yea! We beat the Cardinals 4-2.

Fort Lauderdale - Thursday, 5 May 2016.

Another early morning and exciting day to which we could look forward. Breakfast in the room and then the walk to the Convention Center. It's nice that Earle gets up, sets out breakfast, and then walks with me to the meeting. I would probably opt to stay in bed at such an early hour. 

This morning I focused on New York State repositories and records. This was a 2 part presentation by Jane Wilcox and very useful. Much of it was taken from the book New York Family History Research Guide and Gazetteer.

This is really an invaluable resource for anyone doing NYState research. 

Keeping with the map theme, I attended Are You Lost: Maps and Gazetteers for English and Welsh Records by Paul Milner. Wow, what a session this was. I have a whole cadre of "go to" places for finding those pesky English relatives of Earle's. 

Next up was the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society luncheon with speaker Elizabeth Shown Mills. This was a delightful presentation on how the present imitates the past. What we often think of as problems in our today's society,  really aren't new and can be found in history.
After the delicious lunch, I went down to the exhibit hall, walked around for a bit trying to decide on what to spend my budgeted dollars. There were some books and memberships calling out to me. At 2:15 I was scheduled to work at the APG table talking about the benefits of becoming a member and what services professional genealogists can provide. It was fun meeting new people and chatting with other members who were working. 

I skipped out a bit early to get to a 4:00 session: Dissection and Analysis of Research Problems by Elizabeth Shown Mills. I am truly in awe of the way Ms. Mills attacks a research problem and connects what seemingly appears to be unconnectable dots. This was a "simple" ten step approach to problems with some good case work.

It was a tiring, but super educational day. Back to the hotel to catch up on some email, Lexulous with Sharon, and feet up time. 

Dinner tonight was at Market 17, just about 3 blocks from the hotel. It was a very pricey, but wonderful dinner. Market 17 bills itself as a farm fresh restaurant with freshly caught fish and farmstand vegetables. We both had cobia, a fish that was unknown to us, but that was absolutely delicious. It was served with a cheddar polenta, candied nuts, asparagus, and toasted chick peas. 

After  dinner back to the hotel. Watched a bit of TV while planning Friday's sessions. No Pirates tonight since it was a travel day.

Fort Lauderdale - Wednesday, 4 May 2016

For this retiree, it was an early morning wake up call. But how nice to get out of the shower and find my breakfast set out on our little table.

Off to the Convention Center for the opening session (8a.m.) of the NGS Family History Conference. This was presented by Connie Lester and was titled Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives. It was a discussion on the farmers who have contributed so much to the history of our country. While Floridacentric, there were still some interesting concepts.

After this session, the exhibits opened and there was time for a quick stroll around to get the lay of the land. There didn't seem to be as many exhibitors or vendors this year as in the past or at the FGS conference last year. The exhibit hall was also 2 floors and a hefty walk from the lecture rooms. One good aspect was that it did add steps to the FitBit.

There were so many tracks and interesting presentations that it was hard to choose which ones to attend. Each one was an hour with a half hour between sessions. Because the vendor floor was so far removed, it was difficult to spend time there between the sessions. The first session I attended was Bounty Land: State and Federal. This was a great overview of the resources one could use to trace land records beginning from Revolutionary Times.

I hadn't bought a luncheon ticket so I spent some time in the vendor hall after grabbing a bit of lunch at the overpriced "cafe" in the Convention Center. It was a very stormy day, so I didn't want to venture out in it.

I changed plans after lunch and gave up a Translation presentation in favor of A New Document: Now what? This was presented by Mark Lowe and was a great intro-intermediate discussion of research plans. It is similar to one that will be given at the NHG Fall Conference.

Next up at 4 p.m. was JStor: Context and More by Joshua Taylor. Great talk on the ins and outs of JStor from a librarian at heart. I don't use this enough, but it is on my radar for becoming more adept at mechanics.

Returned to the hotel at 5 and put the feet up for a while. Earle had returned from his sightseeing/pool/reading day. We then headed out for dinner at The Boatyard, keeping an eye on the sky for more rain.

What an excellent find this was. Earle had a grouper fillet and I enjoyed seafood paella.

On our way back we did get caught in a downpour and despite the umbrella, got soaked. So much for sunny FL.

Double sports night tonight. Couldn't believe that the Pens/Capitals game was not available at the hotel. We had already changed out of wet clothes so didn't want to go out again. Thank goodness for iPads and apps. Great overtime win by the Pens.

Not so good for the Bucs as they lost again to the Cubs 6-2.

Mars to Ft. Lauderdale - Tuesday, 3 May 2016

It has been a while since we packed suitcases. After a late night at the Pens-Capitals game, we were up early this morning and at the airport by 8 am. Flying Southwest is definitely a better travel experience than most airlines. Our flight was one stop in Baltimore with just a brief layover on the plane and then we were on to Ft. Lauderdale for the National Genealogical Society 2016 Family History Conference. I will be in sessions for most of the days while Earle can enjoy some sun and sightseeing. 


Arrived about 2 in the afternoon and got to the Hilton Marina Hotel by about 3 via SuperShuttle. Had checked in by the app and had a virtual key. Really a neat app. Got to our room and was really disappointed. We were supposed to have a desk, but didn't. What was most troubling was that there was no place in the bathroom for toiletries or a closet in which trousers or a dress could be hung. I stewed a bit before going down to the registration desk to see what could be done. After a bit of hemming and hawing, they agreed we could move to another more appropriate room. So we did.

Then we walked over to the Convention Center so I could pick up credentials and maps, etc. It's not a bad walk, but the heat and humidity left us northern blooded beings a bit overwhelmed. Back to the room to unpack a bit for me and a suitcase for Earle. 

We headed out to dinner about 6:15 to Kelly's Landing. It was about a mile walk, but so worth it. Earle has been missing fried whole clams since Amy graduated from Wellesley and left the Boston area. Kelly's is a New England restaurant that specializes in clams, lobster, and all things seafood. Earle had his clams, coleslaw and baked beans and I had the triple lobster tails. Glad we had a walk back to the hotel to walk some of it off.

Crossed the street to Winn Dixie to pick up some breakfast foods and water/seltzer. Back to the hotel and settled in to listen to the Buccos getting trounced by the Cubs again. I sure hope they can find a way to beat this team by the end of the season. 

Off to bed at the end of the game. Final score tonight 7-1 Cubs win.


Need to make up a bit of sleep that we lost last night.