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Steve Mikulski, wife Holly, daughter Kristen Mitchell and husband Nick Mitchell in Istanbul

Mikulski has Istanbul by the horns

Steve Mikulski, Class of 1964,  is talking Turkey, as in Istanbul, where he and wife Holly are visiting their daughter, Kristen Mikulski Mitchell, and her husband Nick Mitchell.

Steve and Holly head back to their Germantown,

Aya Sophia, previously Sophia Hagia

Maryland home on Friday.

Exudes Steve:

“Greetings from Istanbul! I have not been able to share my photography yet but I will when we get back to the U.S. I have taken close to 2,000 pictures and in my humble opinion I have some good stuff to share.

“Our flight home is tomorrow (Friday) and this is one vacation I hate to see end. We have had such a great time with Kristen and Nick,  enjoying the many sites and people of Istanbul.

“Holly's Fitbit shows we have walked 39 miles in 8 days seeing the sites.”

Steve’s mother was Violet Morris Higinbotham Mikulski, Class of 1944, who was married to Eugene Higinbotham and then Stephen “Charlie” Mikulski. Violet’s parents were Courtie “Jack” and Eunice Louise (Belt) Morris. 

Through her stepfather Lloyd Whaley, who hired her mother as his housekeeper before marrying her, Violet had four step-siblings: Harold Whaley, Jeryl Whaley, Saranell Shaffer and Evalina Rowand. 

Violet lived in Carolina, where she once worked in the U.S. Post Office, from 1936 until 1968, when she moved to Monongah. She was a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist at Fairmont General Hospital for 30 years.

The siblings of Fairmont State grad Steve, a Montgomery County Public Schools teacher of engineering design, are Tom Mikulski, Class of 1966, who grew up in Carolina and lives in Henderson, Nevada; David Higinbotham and wife Cheryl of Greensburg, Pennsylvania; Catherine Rogers and husband Harry of Fairmont; and Susan Morgan and husband Nick Perrotto of Cupertino, California.  

Tom’s son, Tom B. Mikulski II, is a 1986 North Marion High grad who lives in Denver, Colorado.

Another granddaughter, Amie Marchesani, lives in Monongah with husband Nick.

Other Mikulskis who graduated from Monongah High or Marion High:

Carolyn Prahl Mikulski, Class of 1966.

Cathy Rogers Mikulski, Class of 1969.

Cheri Mikulski, North Marion 1988.

Paula has been on 54 of my 79 trips. We  enjoyed our 2006 trip to Istanbul – Constantinople until the Turks took over.

It is the only city that is in two continents, Europe and Asia, straddling the Bosphorus (Golden Horn) waters.

Paula and I enjoyed the Blue Mosque, built in the 17^th century by Sultan Ahmet Camii, which provided a fantastic view when you stand inside and look up at the incredible ceiling. There was a bit of a dustup because the Blue Mosque has six minarets, the same number as the revered Great Mosque of Mecca (which seemed sacriligious to some), so the Sultan gifted a seventh minaret to the Mecca mosque to calm the waters.

The Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia when Paula and I visited), built in 536 under Byzantine emperor Justinian, is another amazing structure. The Ottoman Empire converted it into a mosque after conquering the city.

Topkapi Palace, Mehmet the Conqueror’s 15^th century structure, houses Islamic art.

If you run into Steve, I’m sure he can describe his Istanbul experiences into even greater and more enthusiastic detail.

It IS one of the most amazing cities I’ve visited, and I’ve been to 52 countries and 43 states.

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After Steve returned to America, he wrote:

“Thanks for the article, John. I am back from Istanbul and we had an 11-hour flight yesterday so I am trying to get back to local time, which is not easy.”  :-)

As it turned out, Steve was prophetic. Later, hewrote:

“About those pictures of Istanbul I was going to post ...

“I have been really ill since we returned from Turkey and have missed 3 days of work this week. The past five days have not been fun.

“Holly spent close to 5 hours with me at Kaiser Urgent Care Monday evening as I was given IV fluids and anti-nausea medication. My doctor said I likely picked up whatever I have on the plane ... in a cramped space with 270 people on-board from all over the world.

“I was fine when we arrived at Dulles after that 11+ hour flight. This is my first day up and around the house. I so look forward to getting back to myself.

“Steve”