Wednesday, 13 October. After breakfast, Markus finally was able to contact the man who had compiled the old records for residents of several villages, including Steinberg. We arranged to meet him in Saarlouis at 10:30. We thanked Markus for all his help and his wonderful hospitality and were on the road by 9:20.

Our meeting in Saarlouis was very interesting but there wasn't sufficient time to take full advantage of it. We left Saarlouis at 12:30 and headed for Darmstadt. We stopped for lunch along the way and had a huge tureen of pea soup. We got to the Marenbach's house in Klein-Gerau about 4 p.m. It was a delight to see them. We talked with Ernst and Gisela most of the evening.

Thursday, 14 October. Darrell left with Ernst at 9 a.m. to visit some of the villages of his Jacoby ancestors in Hesse. 

[NOTE: No description of the visits to the ancestral villages is included in this journal. They are only briefly mentioned to show the chronology of our travels. Eventually they will be summarized in more detail in my genealogy pages.]

It was a very productive trip, but they had to start back to Klein-Gerau at 4 p.m. because we all were invited to a friend's for a wine-tasting that evening. Gisella insisted on fixing a "snack" (aka "feast") even though there would be plenty to eat at the Gauf's. Dr. Horst Gauf was a German attorney Darrell had met while working in Frankfurt (1973-73). In fact, he had been Ernst's boss. We got to his house at 6:45. To our surprise, Horst was reluctant to speak English for most of the evening. He felt his English had grown rusty through lack of practice. Of course, Jane and Darrell were having the same problem with German, and Randy remembered very little from his high school German classes. Horst's wife, Gisella, never did speak English, so it was a bit difficult for a while.

The Gaufs had prepared quite an elaborate table to accompany the wine tasting. There were several kinds of breads, cheeses, and fruits. Horst served eight excellent wines in a progression of ascending quality. None of them were very dry, and by the time we were half way through, they were decidedly sweet. Coming on the heels of the six previous wines, the last two were almost too sweet to drink. Of course, those were also the ones Horst prized most. It was great to see the Gaufs again, and we really enjoyed the evening. About 10:15 we headed back to Klein-Gerau with the Marenbachs.

Friday, 15 October. We woke to another mostly sunny day and had a leisurely morning. Ernst, Randy, and Darrell went running in the nearby forest. Then after lunch, Jane, Darrell, and Randy headed for Frankfurt so Randy could see some of the places he'd known 27 years earlier. We had an unexpected emergency, though, when Jane suffered a sudden, very painful bladder infection. We stopped at the first apoteke (pharmacy) we could find and got her some medicine. She was still in pain, but insisted that we go on.

We went by the I.G. Farben Building that had been V Corps headquarters when Darrell worked there in 1972-73. It had been turned back to the Germans around 1995 and was still being renovated. The nearby PX had been replaced by new buildings and the whole area was very much changed. We drove out to Bad Vilbel, the little town where we had lived. The housing area there was largely unchanged, although that too had been returned to the Germans. Randy remembered our house and the nearby athletic field and track.

We drove back through Frankfurt and got back to Klein-Gerau around 5 p.m. Jane lay down to rest while Darrell took Randy and the Marenbachs to an Italian restaurant in Gross-Gerau. By now we realized that Ernst was very fond of Italian food. Jane felt much better by the time we returned, thanks to the rest and the medicine. She talked like her old self before we finally retired for the night.