HYDE PARK - If there really was a "Love Boat," chances are its captain and crew would know Hyde Park resident Dorothy Flannigan Raftis on a first-name basis.
Raftis, born in Troy on Feb. 23, 1908, celebrates her 100th birthday today. Such a milestone is worthy of recognition all on its own, but the centenarian also has bragging rights to something else that singles her out among her contemporaries: She has racked up more foreign travel miles in the last decade than most people accumulate in a lifetime. In fact, plans currently are being made for a trip to Ireland this summer.
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Raftis has called Hyde Park her home for the past 26 years. She was married to Jerry Raftis for 52 years until his death in 1994.
RECOLLECTIONS of her youth include happy times spent in Troy in a house that was built by her great-grandfather, Martin Hunt, who owned a stone yard.
Raftis, one of six siblings, said her passion for travel was nurtured in her youth.
"My father was a manager and buyer for Whitney department stores in Albany and New York City and Wallace's in Schenectady, so we moved around a lot," she said.
AFTER RAFTIS and her husband retired, their vacation destinations shifted from domestic to interna-tional locales.
And even when Jerry passed away, Dorothy did not temper her passion for travel.
"I've traveled extensively in Europe and covered half of the Caribbean," she said recently. "I've been to China, Japan, Australia, South America and New Zealand. I really don't like the cold weather but will probably go to Alaska some time."
She recently returned from a trip to South America.
RAFTIS recalled a one-day excursion during a previous trip to Ireland that boasted romantic overtones.
"My husband came to Ireland with me but wasn't with us that day," she said. "I met a man who was selling whistles. I said, 'I'll take this whistle if someone can show me how to play it.'"
The Irishman mistook the meaning of her candid statement and discreetly offered to be her private tutor.
"He said, 'We'll go dancing every night and you can have all the whiskey you can drink,'" Raftis said. "I told him I didn't drink whiskey, and then a man who was part of our (tourist) group came over to see what was going on."
Upon learning he had been flirting with a married woman, the vendor apologized.
"He said, 'I guess I picked out the wrong woman this time,' which made me wonder how often he did that sort of thing," Raftis said.
RAFTIS' European travels have taken her to inns and castles and cathedrals in numerous cities, includ-ing Rome.
"Every country has at least one cathedral. You have to see them all. Italy has a whole bunch of them," she said.
Eventually, the novelty of visiting a "haunted" inn or castle wears off, Raftis said. But perhaps the most somber and eerie, she said, was Dracula's Castle in Romania. She said images of the famous count left a lasting impression on her that she couldn't shake.
AS A WORLD traveler, Raftis has learned to eat what the natives do. She never shied away from a breakfast of miso soup while in Japan or an ostrich steak dinner in Australia.
Shopping while on vacation is another of her passions.
"I like to buy jewelry and other things because I can get such good prices," she said.
This past September, while visiting Buenos Aires, in Argentina, she had two bomber-style leather jackets (custom made because after buying one in Florence, Italy, she realized how flattering they were.
RAFTIS sometimes travels with her daughter, Peggy Bendel, senior vice president of Development Counselors International on Park Avenue in New York City. Her son and daughter-in-law, Jay and Nancy Raftis of Hyde Park, who own CPM Services, hold down the homestead while Raftis jets around the world.
During a trip to Australia in November 2006, a fellow passenger asked Raftis what was left to explore upon learning she had visited just about every continent.
"I guess it will have to be Antarctica!" she answered.
RAFTIS attributes her longevity to eating healthy and good living.
She enjoys doing crossword puzzles, playing computer games, reading the newspaper and keeping track of her stock investments.
