Our guest speaker for September 25th was Victor Neal with Prime Travel of Edmond, Oklahoma. Victor brought a wealth of information of his native state of the Isle of Mann, UK and shared it with the club. Familiarity certainly did not breed anything but a sincere admiration for the tiny nation. The Isle of Mann experienced a huge population growth in the '60s when England abruptly turned socialist and began taxing incomes above £10,000 at the rate of £1.20 for every £1.00 earned! Earning the moniker "The Great Brain Drain", England's loss of many of the brightest and most independent thinking population simply moved up the coast 100 Km or so and ferried out to Mann and settled there. This migration soon ate up all the available properties, and created a boom in the housing market that exists today. Passionately proud of its history and culture, the Isle of Man boasts the world’s oldest continuous parliament and enjoys a semi-autonomous status within the UK. It also boasts some of the most beautifully maintained examples of medieval castles and prehistoric ruins dating to 6500 BC.
Have you been dreaming of a trip to Ireland, but putting it off due to the cost? Victor told the club that the Isle of Man has much the same climate, many-many golf courses, castles out the wazoo, train rides, trolleys, history and more history, and all for a fraction of the cost of the more highly publicized tourist sites. If time permits, a 3 hour SeaCat Ferry Ride out of Douglas gets you to Dublin or Belfast if you really want to see some of Ireland or 2-1/2 hours to Liverpool UK. All in all, a great presentation and all the more reason to update the old passport photo and start saving up for that dream vacay for that next big anniversary! eh!
Have you been dreaming of a trip to Ireland, but putting it off due to the cost? Victor told the club that the Isle of Man has much the same climate, many-many golf courses, castles out the wazoo, train rides, trolleys, history and more history, and all for a fraction of the cost of the more highly publicized tourist sites. If time permits, a 3 hour SeaCat Ferry Ride out of Douglas gets you to Dublin or Belfast if you really want to see some of Ireland or 2-1/2 hours to Liverpool UK. All in all, a great presentation and all the more reason to update the old passport photo and start saving up for that dream vacay for that next big anniversary! eh!