How we found Untours

I believe in fate. I also believe that sometimes bad things have to happen before good things can happen.

Episode (1)

It all began in the Spring of 2001. We had just started listening to a radio station in North Jersey called WMTR. The theme of the show was music from our youth, the 1950's. One morning while Eleanor was listening, they announced the annual "Living in Style" contest. That year the winner and companion would be going on a trip to Switzerland. To enter, you had to either mail or fax your entry. Eleanor had just installed a fax on our computer. The contest entry was the first fax she sent on our new system. For the next two months a name would be drawn each morning around 7:00-7:30am and announced on the air. If your name was announced, you had 10 minutes to call the station to qualify (along with a companion) for the "Big Band Brunch" June 24, 2001 at the Skylands in Randolph, New Jersey. Every successful contestant would also receive a $50 gift certificate at a local store as well as an entry in the drawing for the Grand Prize, a trip for two to Switzerland. The drawing would take place at the end of the brunch. Neither Eleanor nor I ever won anything significant in our lives. But we figured that at least we had a chance for a free brunch. On April 16th, the very first day of the contest, lo and behold Eleanor's name was called. She immediately called the station. Her name was the first on the list for the Big Band Brunch.

Episode 2) "Luck be a Lady Tonight"

In between having Eleanor's name called and the day of the Big Band Brunch, we went on vacation (April 30 to May 11th). It included stops in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Annapolis, and Washington, D.C.. Highlights in included a visit to the the Star-Spangled Banner House and Fort McHenry. In Annapolis it was the Naval Academy and breakfast at Chick & Ruth's Deli, where each morning at 8:30am everyone stands and recites the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

Raising the Flag at Ft. McHenry

In Washington, we hit many of the major sites, including a visit with an old high school friend of mine on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. The plan was to also visit The Pentagon, but we ran out of time.

On June 24, 2001, we drove to Skylands in Randolph, New Jersey for the Big Band Brunch. We were required to show our invitation at the entrance. Then your name is checked off the list. Each preliminary winner had to put their name on a card and drop it in a basket. The man ahead of us announced the he would be the big winner of the trip to Switzerland. Eleanor estimated that there were 120 people in attendance, 60 eligible for the Grand Prize and 60 guests. There was an old time band along with two big buffet tables filled with food. However, we weren't very hungry. The previous night we filled up on goodies at a family party.

The lady in blue announced that we were seated at the "Lucky Table". She had won a trip to England the previous year.

Episode (3) How lucky can we get!

Of course Eleanor made a point of getting an autograph and photo of Chris Edwards, WMTR Morning Show Host.

At 2:56pm, they had the drawing for the Grand Prize. It was an absolute total shock when they announced the name....Eleanor Kover. How lucky can you get!

The Grand Prize was a 9 day trip for two to Switzerland. In mid-November, we would fly Business First Class. Once in Zurich, Trafalgar escorted tours would take us on a bus tour to Zurich, Liechtenstein, Locarno, Stresa, Zermatt, Lake Geneva, Montreux, Geneva, Berne, Interlaken, Brienz and Lucerne. The fact that all this would take place over a period of only 7 days did not sink in until we recovered from our subdued delirium.

We hardly ever go into New York City anymore. We've "been there, done that" in our younger days. But for July 4th, we decided to do something we've never done before, see in person the Macy's fireworks display in New York City. We signed up for a bus tour into the city where we would board a Circle Line boat that would take us around the tip of Manhattan to the East River.

Little did I know that this would be my last photos of the World Trade Center.

We passed under the Brooklyn Bridge and dropped anchor. I think this is when our luck started to change. The fireworks display was a big disappointment. Our Circle Line boat was positioned too far away for a good view of the display.

Episode (4) September 11, 2001

We had planned a 6 day trip to the hometown of Norman Rockwell, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in September followed by a few days with Eleanor's cousin, Richard, in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. It was a little stressful preparing for the Switzerland trip. I'm used to a year's worth of preparation on any big vacation. But we decided to go ahead with the Massachusetts/Quebec trip anyway. We thought that it would be good to get away and relax. In Quebec, we would be staying at the lakeside house of Richard's girlfriend, Danielle. While Eleanor and Danielle read a book lakeside, I would go out into the countryside with Richard. He would relax painting landscapes, and I would do my photography thing.

September 11, 2001. We were staying at a Bed and Breakfast in Stockbridge. It had rained heavy the night before. But the morning was glorious and sunny. We were the only people there. So breakfast was leisurely and included a long conversation with the owner.

Breakfast, September 11, 2001 8:36am

By the time we got started with the planned itinerary for the day, it was almost 10:00am. Eleanor turned on the radio in the car to listen for the weather forecast. It didn't take long before we lost all interest in the weather. There was no television back at the B&B. We decided to continue with the plans for the day, if only to take our minds off what was happening.

We arrived at Chesterwood, the estate of Daniel Chester French, the designer of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in time for the first tour of the day.

There was only one tour conducted that day...us. By 11:50am, we were in the gift shop. The saleslady was very upset. Her husband and son were both fireman in New York City. Chesterwood closed soon afterwards. We didn't find out what happened to those two firemen until two years later on a return trip. They both made it through the terrorist attack okay.

Episode (5) It must be a brain tumor!

The month of October was spent making final preparations for our trip to Switzerland. Since the delirium of winning the Grand Prize, our enthusiasum had dampened. We weren't looking forward to a grueling tour bus marathon of 12 cities in 7 days. The only thing that appealed to us about the trip was flying business first class. So as our departure date of November 12th approached, our mood was more a sense of dread than anticipation. Our flight was scheduled to depart Newark International Airport at 5:15pm. We had made arrangements for a limo to pick us up at 1:00pm. Our bags were all packed and ready.

Monday, November 12, 2001

During the night, I made a trip to the bathroom. I felt dizzy, and had to hold onto things to make it back to bed. When I took my shower at 7:00am, the dizziness returned, accompanied by a feeling of nausea and the beginnings of sweats. I crawled back into bed, and told Eleanor I wasn't feeling well. Our doctor told Eleanor to bring me into the office to be examined. In the meantime, reports of an airplane crash in Queens, New York came in over the news. Terrorism was a possibility. Newark Airport was closed as a precaution. Not long after that the limo service called and cancelled our ride to the airport.

To get to the doctor's office, Eleanor had to get me dressed and out to the car. I had to move in very slow motion to prevent a wave of dizziness from overwhelming me. Once in the car, I had to recline the seat and put my baseball cap over my face. It didn't take long for the doctor to announce that I had "labyrinthitis", a viral infection of the inner ear. She gave me a prescription for Dimenhydrinate (also known as Dramamine) and sent me home. She said that labyrinthitis usually runs its course over a few weeks. In the meantime, I was to keep still and rest. Furthermore I was to avoid sudden position changes as well as bright lights. She also advised me not to do any reading. Those instructions were easy to follow. The only time I felt halfway better was when I stayed in bed in a certain position.

Eleanor called the travel agent and told her what happened. She was informed that this was a special arranged trip. If the airports reopenned for business, and the trip has not been rescheduled, that's it. We lost the trip! For the next 4 days, I remained in bed with no improvement. The anti-dizziness medication had absolutely no effect at all. I became convinced that the doctor made the wrong diagnosis. I thought to myself, "It must be a brain tumor. I'm going to die!".

Episode (6) Life is Good!

Well it turns out that the doctor's diagnosis was the correct one. I didn't have a brain tumor. On the fifth day of my forced bed rest, I found out something about recovering from Labyrinthitis. It is not a gradual recovery, but a step-by-step improvement interrupted by several days of no change. One day I was depressed with no recovery in sight. The next day I suddenly felt better. From then on I would suddenly get a little better after a few days of no change. I was first able to move from the bed to the recliner, but had to remain in a reclined position in order to watch any television. It took five weeks before I was able to drive again.

Every Sunday the first section I read in the papers is the Travel Section. I believe it was there that I first saw the word "Untours", probably in an Arthur Frommer article. I looked up the website and registered. I also signed up for notification of any "specials". In mid-December I received an email from Untours about a winter special. For $999 per person we could spend two weeks at a chalet in Switzerland at a place called Sachseln. It even included air fare and a rail pass. This special was good for as late as March 31, 2002. But we had to make our reservation by December 31st. I told Eleanor that we lost Switzerland, and now it was being given back to us. I made the call, and requested a two week period for as late in March as possible. The person at the other end of the line had a pretty name, "Francy". She became our 'lucky lady" that day in December. She told us about an interesting restaurant called "Blindekuh". She made reservations for March 12-26, 2002. When we stepped off the train at Sachseln March 13th, we had on our winter coats. But the temperature that day was 70 degrees Fahrenheit. How lucky could we get! Our luck just got better and better. The two people waiting for us at the train station were Berit and Albert Greutert.

I believe in fate. Because the Grand Prize trip to Switzerland was free, we had not purchased Trip Cancellation/Medical insurance. I can't imagine what would have happened if I had come down with Labyrinthitis while we were in Switzerland. We later found out that in addition to the marathon bus tour and seven different hotels we were scheduled to endure, the month that the trip was scheduled for, November, is the worst month to visit Switzerland. So getting sick and losing the Grand Prize trip to Switzerland was the luckiest thing that ever happened to us.

Well, maybe one of the luckiest. Bad things have happened to both of us in the past that led to lucky changes in our lives. People may think that Eleanor got a bad break when she came down with Polio at the age of five. But that became a lucky break for her. She always wanted to be a teacher. When she was graduating from high school, one of her teachers asked her where she was going to college. Her family was poor. Her father had died when she was 14 years old. She couldn't afford to go to college. That teacher had some connections with admissions at Glassboro State College (now called Rowan University), and knew of a scholarship for the handicapped. She was able to get a full scholarship, and wound up teaching for 29 years.

Polio made that possible. It's a long story, but Eleanor and I would have never met if both our fathers hadn't died when we were young. During college, I had a summer job across the street from her house, but never saw her. When we look back, it seems like fate was gradually bringing us closer and closer until we met at a July 4th barbecue as teammates in a harmless game of darts (We won!).

So I say it again. I believe in fate. I also believe that sometimes bad things have to happen before good things can happen. So the next time you are having a run of bad luck, keep your chin up. The luckiest day of your life may be just around the corner, like the day we found Untours.