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Who are the Darnell’s you ask? Well, let me share a little bit about our hosts.
First a few steps back. About a year prior I was photographing the Jazz Age Lawn Festival in New York City for a magazine assignment. The summer festival on Governors Island features a huge Gatsby style party. There was so much to photograph but a very well dressed couple in vintage finery happened to catch my eye. The woman looked like she was a silent movie film star. The man had a rugged elegance like that of an early explorer. I strolled over to have my first encounter with the Darnell’s. It was revea- led that they were both Egyptologists as well as Professors.
Interesting.
During our conversation, they mentioned they were putting together a 1920’s vintage trip to Egypt in the future. Bells went off in my head as I had always wanted to be an Egyptologist but took a different career path. I handed them my card and asked them to stay in touch. Thankfu- lly they did just that!
By the way.... there is one thing you should know about the Darnell’s. They live in vintage clothing full time and embrace the simplicity, manners and elegance from that era. A trip to the grocery store - vintage. Teaching at Yale - vintage. A night out on the town... you get the idea. New York City is full of fascinating people but Colleen and John are by far the most unique couple I have met while living in New York.
Back to Egypt....
The next morning we all met in the lobby re- ady to depart for our journey down the Nile. Hotel guests were stopping to take photos of us, I suppose we did look quite odd to others dressed in vintage attire. “Who are these peo- ple?” We heard mumbles ...some thought we were part of a movie. Someone in our group whispered to an on looker (jokingly) that some were members of the Swedish Royal Family. Any way you slice it, we had them wondering.
Our intrepid group consisted of various walks of life, from a darling family, an entertainment attorney, a burlesque dancer, a historical costu- mer, fine art painter, a world- class mixologist, a 92 year old spunky woman from NYC (who still runs her Wall St. finance firm), a governess from London and other fabulous adventurers. As diverse as we were, we all had several things