Footsteps in Havana - Jane

What did two 29 year old women do in Havana Cuba in 1938?  When I and my three amigas go to Havana on March 7th (my birthday), will we do or see what my mother and her friend experienced over 70 years ago?  Stay tuned to this blog as I try to walk in those long ago footsteps of Margaret and Onna, and imagine what it was like for them.  

August 1938

At 5 p.m. on August 9th, 1938 they embarked on the Peninsula & Occidental S.S.Florida from Miami bound for Havana.  The following morning they arrived in Havana Harbor at 8:30 a.m.  They were met by Juan & Julio from the Miami Travel Agency and taken to the Royal Palm Hotel at the corner of San Rafael & Industria.  From what I can tell - the hotel has disappeared.   

Artifact from the Royal Palm

The first stop after the hotel was the Capitol Building built over 3 years starting in 1926 at a cost of $21 million.  It was modeled after the US Capitol, but is smaller overall, though the dome is larger.  

Fraternity Square and Capitol

From there Margaret & Onna stopped at the Iglesia  del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus, the Church of the Sacred Heart, then went to the Havana Rum Club for daiquiris, which in my mind is a very logical progression, from church to cocktails!  Sloppy Joe's is also in my mother's diary.  The interior burned in the early 1960s, but in 2013 it was restored and is open again.  That will definitely be on my agenda to see and have a daiquiri in her honor.  Of course that will be after lighting a candle for her at Sacred Heart.

This is a great idea!

The two Midwestern school teachers stayed only 2 nights in Havana, but they experienced so much. They danced the Rumba, strolled the Ave. of the Royal Palms, and went to Havana's China Town. 

From my mother's scrapbook & diary of this trip I know she had fond memories.   

I have great expectations that we 4 amigas will also have a memorable adventure together.