Beer Steins Online

MARCO ISLAND — If time and space could be transformed, guests of “Oktoberfest in February” could have been seated in the dining room of a riverboat exploring the German Rhine.

The transformation Thursday of Marco Island Yacht Club’s upstairs to a pleasure craft had the signatures of Jill and Ewout de Vries and the staff of America Travel. Steins of imported beer never fell empty. Marc-Allen Barker of Viking River Cruises roamed among diners in traditional lederhosen.

The yacht club’s dining staff complemented the occasion with a buffet even the Deutsche would envy: Bratwurst and knockwurst with sauerkraut, veal shanks, hasenpfeffer (German rabbit stew), spaetzle, hot German potato salad, and abundant pastries and cake.

The evening’s crowning event for its 126 dinner guests was a vicarious trip to foreign lands via the magic of screen. Diners were visually transported to prestigious destinations by the largest riverboat company of its kind on the globe.

“Our cruisers spend more time at their destination and less times aboard ship,” said Darren Dolan, director of business development for Viking River Cruises. “That’s because we take you to the heart of a country rather than skimming its coast.”

Riverboat travel varies from ocean line cruising in remarkable ways. River vessels meander through scenic countryside rather than steaming long distances between destinations. Onshore, the group of fewer than 200 passengers blends into towns and hamlets without interrupting the daily flow of local inhabitants.

Most excursions are included in the cost of the trip, so small groups can explore regions of interest; and in some cases, meet the boat downstream rather than trudge back to the same dockage. All passengers are seated for dinner at 7 p.m., but dress is always casual.

“I tell guests to leave their tuxedos at home,” Dolan said. “We want them to be comfortably immersed in the destination’s culture.”

Local color is never far away. Viking brings town musicians and cultural activities onboard in the evenings for guests’ entertainment. One of Dolan’s favorite venues is sailing through the Wachau Valley on the Danube River.

“The chef prepares local dishes and we bring kegs of local beer and locally produced schnapps onboard,” Dolan said. “We also hire accordion players as you sail down the Danube surrounded by castles and vineyards.”

Dolan praised America Travel for its spot as their No. 1 seller of riverboat cruises. De Vries admitted that he has traveled on every riverboat itinerary.

Viking will be christening four state-of-the-art ships in Amsterdam next month.

“The new ships will be different,” said de Vries. “The corridor will be moved slightly to one side allowing larger cabins with balconies. Suites will have two rooms, a living room and bedroom with French balconies and an extra veranda.”

A special suite at the back of the ship allows a 270-degree view of the countryside.

For those who enjoy exotic travel, de Vries will be escorting a trip to the

Mekong Delta in southwestern Vietnam in October and has four cabins remaining.

Viking sails primarily in Europe on the main rivers of France, Russia, Germany, Austria and Portugal. In Asia, Viking sails in China, Vietnam and Korea. Bookings are generally open for travel from March to December. The company will have 27 riverboats in service by the end of the year.

Riverboat cruises are typically 8-23 days. An 8-day sailing would take visitors to four countries while a 23-day trip could reach as many as nine. Two popular destinations are the 8-day gastronome sailing through the south of France and a northern France trip that includes the beaches of Normandy, Dolan said.

For more information on Viking River Cruises or for reservations, call America Travel at (239) 642-6616.

The era is Prohibition.

Speakeasies are common, and bootleggers quench the country’s thirst for that banned substance, alcohol.

It’s a fascinating piece of American history, an element known here in Lycoming County as well as the nation at large.

When two bottles of Prince Farrington’s Prohibition-era moonshine whisky recently landed on the auction block, local historian Robert E. Kane Jr. wasn’t going to let the opportunity to own one slip through his fingers. Another local man with a passion for historic preservation, Edward Lyon, was the successful bidder on the second bottle.

“This item really appealed to me when it came up for sale,” Kane said, “This item is something he actually touched and was actually his.”

Kane, president and CEO of Divine Providence Hospital, explained the bottle was a valuable addition to his collection of “a couple hundred” bottles, which can have their roots traced back to the area.

The “life-long bottle collector” found himself with the opportunity to be only the bottle’s fifth owner since it was first filled with its illegal contents during Prohibition.

“This passed through very few owners from Prince Farrington to me,” Kane said.

Farrington, the bottle’s original owner, was a bootlegger – one who produced and sold liquor illegally during the years of Prohibition – in Lycoming County.

The second owner of the bottle of moonshine was Harry Lewis Williams Jr., a driver who would deliver Farrington’s illegal packages to the customers. Kane said Williams once spent six months in prison because he was caught with the alcohol.

Williams’ son was the next owner. Kane said the son was a “teetotaler” – someone who doesn’t drink alcohol – and didn’t want anyone to find the bottle in his house when he died, so he gave it to a close friend before it wound up at auction.

Kane said like the journey from Farrington to him, the bottle itself, tells a story of the years of Prohibition.

“This is a pre-Prohibition whisky bottle,” Kane said, “And Prince Farrington used any bottle he could get his hands on.”

Though producing, selling and consuming alcohol was illegal during Prohibition – 1920 to 1933 – the bottle doesn’t hide what it contains, clearly stating it as a whisky bottle on its label.

Kane explained since it’s a pre-Prohibition bottle, the label was made before alcohol was banned.

“Of course he would never put his own labels on a bottle.”

Kane’s bottle collection includes medicine bottles, soda and beer bottles but Farrington’s bottle will add something extra to it.

“Prince Farrington was so much a part of local history, whether it is about illegal activities or the many good things he did, it’s important to the local heritage,” Kane said.

Kane’s interest in local bottles caused him to create his own display of products from a Williamsport brewery.

“One of the things I’ve collected … is memorabilia from Flock’s Brewery,” he said.

The company – started by Henry Jacob Flock – was in business from 1856 to 1954 and located where Lycoming College is today.

“Much of this collection came out of the Kast Hotel in Newberry,” Kane said of the display.

Kane’s collection includes beer steins, mirrors, advertising displays, ash trays and foam scoopers – a tool used in bars to knock the foam off of a glass of beer.

“You have everything from punch sets to lighted clocks,” he said.

In 1943, Flock’s was sold to a group of investors that brought new products to the company.

“They actually bottled things such as soft drinks and it was known as Bald Eagle Soft Drinks and Ales,” he said.

From a local bootlegger to a brewery, Kane’s collection is more about stories of the area than just a piece of glass.

“I think it all tells the story of progression and evolution of not only Williamsport but of the United States at that time,” he said.

VACAVILLE (CBS SF) – It was instant karma for Vacaville firefighter Louis Jones when he responded Thursday morning to a medical call at a mobile home on Sunset Drive in Vacaville.

A home on Bishop Drive that Jones had been preparing to rent out was burglarized overnight last week. He discovered the theft on Friday.

A 4-wheel dirt bike, washer and dryer, tools, lawn mower, wood chipper, power tools, hand tools and personal items were stolen.

When he arrived at the mobile home this morning in response to a medical call, he noticed another missing item that looked familiar—a plastic, bright yellow wedge used to stabilize cars during extrications was being used as a doorstop on the gate to the mobile home.

“I recognized it right away. I became suspicious right away,” Jones said.

His suspicions were confirmed when inside the mobile home was the missing Whirlpool washer and dryer he intended to leave to the new tenants of his rental home.

Construction work was underway on the mobile home’s deck, Jones said.

Being a firefighter and medical responder, he kept his cool, he said. The man in the mobile home was transported to VacaValley Hospital.

“We took care of our business and left,” Jones said.

Ricky Mankini (Vacaville Police Dept.)

As Jones and the other responders were leaving, they encountered 47-year-old Ricky Mankini, who also lived at the mobile home park, according to Vacaville police Officer Debi Lopez.

“We didn’t confront him. I called the police,” Jones said.

Vacaville police contacted Mankini at VacaValley Hospital where he was visiting his housemate, Jones said. A search of Mankini’s vehicle revealed more stolen items and Mankini was arrested for possession of stolen property and booked into the Solano County jail, Lopez said.

Jones returned to the mobile home where he identified the property that was missing from his rental home.

“The only thing we recovered was the washer and dryer, a lawn mower, some paint, hinges, paint brushes and keepsakes—beer steins with firefighting related artwork,” Jones said.

The recovered property is worth about $2,300, Lopez said.

“Ninety percent of the stuff is still missing,” Jones said. He estimates it’s worth between $8,000 and $10,000.

Jones, a firefighter for 20 years, 10 of them with the Vacaville department, offered his perspective about his stolen property.

“It’s just stuff. It’s not like it’s a life-or-death situation,” he said.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)