Great Expectations

Homeward Bound

2009-12-11T07:06:00.030-06:00

We stopped in Shreveport, LA on our way West. The RV park owners told us to be sure and see the R. W. Norton Art Gallery if we were interested in art. Us? Off we went!

This gallery is BIG and it houses the art collection of R. W. Norton. It was built by his son as a tribute to his father and open to the public free of charge. The staff told us the family struck oil in Louisiana and this is what oil could buy. There are special exhibits, collections of Steuben glass, 19th and 20th century paintings, 16th century tapestries, and rooms full of Western art (by the biggies) with large galleries devoted to Remmington and Russell. It took us more than two hours to tour the collections. (No photos inside, of course.) It's a fabulous collection. Ben and Sarah called to tell us that we had to go to Strawns Pie Shop to try their strawberry pie. We did - and they were CLOSED! Guess this means we'll have to go back to Shreveport one day...

We made a decision to forego our planned stop in Fort Worth and head home. It just felt like it was time... We were 830 miles from home - 2 1/2 days in RV terms. On day one we stopped for gas in Texas where Ed got a made to order lunch on the road in the convenience store. Nice stop. Ed posed with the chef.

We stopped for the night in Wichita Falls, TX and watched the weather reports of a "severe weather warning." We left early in the morning planning to go only as long as the driving was good and the conditions not dangerous. We drove into some fog and misting rain. It was COLD outside! but the roads were not icy and Ed felt good about continuing the drive. Finn stayed on his rug...

The worst of the storm had passed during the night. The trees were covered in ice and with the fog there was a very ethereal quality about the scenery.

We pulled into a rest area so I could take a few photos of the trees.

When we hit Amarillo the storm was over. There were still warnings about wind, but Ed decided to continue on to Tucumcari. It was the toughest part of the drive, but not unsafe. We were delighted when we saw this sign:

We hadn't seen sunshine for about a week but it was out in New Mexico!!! We made a short stop at the New Mexico Welcome Center.

We pulled into a park in Tucumcari where the owners handed us the menu!! Homemade dinner to be delivered to our RV at 6:00 p.m. Heaven. They gave us a level pull thru site so we didn't have to set up anything, and told us the winds would stop at 8:00 p.m. They did - on the dot.

It was so cold in Tucumcari that our water froze. We decided Winter camping isn't for us...

Going Home Day! A beautiful sunrise...

A hot shower, clean clothes, and we were on our way. Weather - perfect!

Our off-ramp!

Home! and our mountain has snow on it!

Our street!

Ed unhooked the car for the last time on this trip. That storm left it so dirty you couldn't see through the windshielf.

Coming up our driveway! H O M E!

9100 miles in the RV and even more in the Jeep. What an adventure this has been!

On the way home we talked about the experiences we've had. We couldn't come up with one highlight because every sentence ended with "and..." Maine and..., Charleston and..., meeting so and so and,... New Orleans with Ben and Sarah and,... Appomattox and..., Lowell, MA and..., Chautauqua Institute and..., the Hudson Valley and... It goes on and on.

We've both come back a lot smarter than we were when we set out on this journey. We learned so much...in every possibile way. This trip was so much more than we expected. We feel blessed to have had this opportunity. We're certainly richer for it.

It's good to be home...for awhile...

M I S S (i s) S I P P I

2009-12-04T20:45:00.059-06:00

Miss - sippi. That's how I would pronounce it if I lived there. I'd also say "yes" as if it had two syllables. How they ever learn to read is beyond me...!

The weather in Mississippi left a little to be desired when we rolled into town. We crossed the mighty Mississippi River and checked into a campground on the Louisiana side. The state line goes right down the middle of the river.
This is the view from the front of the RV from our campsite. We could watch the tugboats and barges going up and down the river or take a walk on the paved river walk along the water. It was one of the nicest campsites we've been in. Natchez is just on the other side.

We began exploring Natchez. This lovely Victorian home is called Glen Auburn and is circa 1875. It's just one of the historic homes in town.

Stanton Hall, 1857 is now an inn. Several of the antebellum homes are now boutique hotels or B & B's.

A riverboat! Turned out to be a casino (the common use of the river corridor). It shows the bridge to our campsite, and it is a charming sight.

Fort Rosalie was spared during the Civil War as was all of Natchez which accounts for the abundance of antebellum homes. The house was the headquarters of the Union forces when they took Natchez.

We continue to find elaborate synagogues in the Southern towns. Natchez is another community that once had a thriving Jewish community, mostly merchants. Their presence can be traced to 1780. Congregation B'nai Israel was established in 1843. This temple was built in 1905. We think it is no longer being used.

A short drive to the local cemetary and we found this Confederate plot. These are not soldiers who fell in battle. They were old veterans who wanted to be remembered as Confederate soldiers.

The cemetary seems to go on for miles. It dates back to 1822.

The National Park Service operates two sites in Natchez: Melrose Mansion and the William Johnson House.

Johnson was a black former slave who was freed by his white father. Because he could read and write, he kept a diary of his life. He amassed a sizeable fortune, owned a home, a barbering business, and was a well respected citizen of the city. He also owned slaves - a fact that surprised us. He was murdered at age 42 over a property dispute.

Melrose Mansion, a cotton kingdom estate, was built to showcase the weath of John McMurran and his family. McMurran had a profitable law practice, became a state legislator, married into a respected local family and acquired the first of five plantations and slaves. We toured the home with a National Park Service Ranger guide. McMurran's plantations were in other locations.

We had never seen a "punkah" before. This one is a magnificient mahogany piece suspended over the dining table. A rope attached to the bottom is threaded through a loop on the wall beside the window. When operated by a slave, it shooed flies away from the food.

The main parlor in the mansion is covered in gold leaf. The light fixtures, the curtain valences, the wallpaper. We were told that the McMurrans furnished Melrose with "all that fine taste and a full purse" could provide.

Leaving Natchez for Vicksburg, we drove through Port Gibson. There on Church Street amid all the lovely historic homes we came upon Temple Gemiluth Chessed. Again, Jewish merchants played an large role in the community at one time. It is no longer an active synagogue.

We arrived in Vicksburg wondering just when we would see the sun again. Vicksburg, like Natchez is a Mississippi River town.

Vicksburg is home to one of the largest Civil War battlefields. Battlefield Park is under the wings of the National Park Service. It's a somber testament to the horrors of that war. We drove the field making stops along the way after watching the film in the Visitors Center detailing what happened on this land. The arch is the entry to the battlefield tour.

This is the battle that placed Ulysses S. Grant on the national scene. It was his greatest triumph in the Civil War. When one looks at the fortifications and the topography of the area, one understands the magnitude of Grant's achievement. His tenacity and bullheadedness is the only way to explain this victory. He showed a great deal of imagination in using ground and naval forces in amphibious operations - unheard of in their scope at that time.

The field draws the Union and Confederate battle lines and is host to monuments, statues, placques, artillery pieces, and a Union cemetary.

The vastness of this battlefield is mind boggling. It takes 45 minutes just to drive the field tour.

This is the largest monument. It honors the Illinois fighters and fallen.

This is the Cairo - pronounced Kay-row. It was a steam paddlewheel ironclad ship built for the Union forces specifically to operate on the Mississippi River. It's timber framed and clad with iron plates and guns on all four sides. It was being used during the Vicksburg campaign when it hit a Confederate mine and sank in twelve minutes - with no loss of lives. It sat on the bottom of the river until the mid-1960's when it was raised, shipped to Florida, stored for 19 years until it was restored and placed here at the battlefield as a museum. This exhibit was a highlight for Ed. It's incredible to walk inside and try to imagine what it was like during battle.

The Old Court House Museum is an amazing place. The building survived a tremendous bombardment lasting 47 days. It now houses an eclectic collection covering all aspects of life in Vicksburg. The curator describes it as "Grandmas attic."

The exhibits would make most museum curators wince. Everything is displayed with little regard for preservation. However, it's a marvelous display of 19th century museumship. We were taken into a back room and shown the ledgers and files left as they were found when the building became a museum. We looked into drawers full of "Confederate Pensions."

Our path to state capitols continued when we drove to Jackson, Mississippi. The Old Capitol Museum is now the state history museum. The building dates to 1839, but it's most recent renovation was after Katrina. The 1861 secession convention was held here.

The new State Capitol was built in 1905 - and it's a beauty.

This is the rotunda...

The House and Senate arebeautiful rooms, but what is unique are the stained glass domes over both chambers. Not to hard to work under something so lovely.

The Govenor's Mansion is right in the middle of downtown Jackson.

We had a treat in Vicksburg when we were given a tour of the George Washington Ball home. Our guide, resident, and restorer, Betty, gave us the history of the home and talked about the process of restoration. She was lots of fun.

This is the exterior of the home.

We've enjoyed our stay in Mississippi. It was, in antebellum times, the most prosperous of the Southern states. Natchez was the center of the wealth. We were told there were 19 southern millionaires and 16 of them lived in Natchez. The wealth came from cotton and shipping on the river. Today, it's long past its prime, but the charm remains. The people are friendly and welcoming. We noticed a difference in the black population. They don't appear to carry a chip on their shoulders. It was nice.

It's our last night in Mississippi - and it's snowing!!! We're continue to head West and expect to be home soon. We're on our way to Shreveport, LA.

And Then We Went to Baton Rouge and Met LSU Fans

2009-11-29T19:14:00.031-06:00

Sarah and Ben surprised us when they asked us to come to Baton Rouge for a Friday Thanksgiving with Sarah's Dad, her uncle and aunt, grandfather, cousins and a houseful of others. Spell this afternoon D E L I G H T F U L. We were warmly greeted and treated and sent home with a care package. Uncle Logan (known to insiders as Uncle Bubba) and Aunt Michelle spread the southern hospitality thickly. Logan cooks so there was a witches caldron sized pot of turkey gumbo on the stove along with turkey and every trimming you can imagine. Sarah's deviled eggs lasted a mere nano-second. And somebody's peach mincemeat pie...heaven.

This is Sarah and her dad, Lane. This man has a million interests and is on a quest to find more. He is a retired Army General. We both thoroughly enjoyed meeting and spending time with him. The bond between Lane and Sarah is clear and we found them alike in so many ways.
It was great to spend this day with the Killlen's. We left with homemade pesto from Michelle and a generous serving of Uncle Bubba's gumbo. It will provide us with delicious memories more than once. They saved the best for last when they gave Ed two tickets to the LSU/Arkansas football game. More about that later.

We took a little time to explore Baton Rouge. The Old State House is now a museum. It a beautiful building with exhibits on Louisiana history.

This imposing staircase is in the center lobby...

...and this skylight is two floors above.

Magnolia Mound Plantation is right in town. It was built about 1791. Here's the main house.

The thing I love about the old plantation properties are the large trees. Most are well over 200 years old and magnificient.

The former Governor's Mansion is also a museum. Louisiana govenor, Huey Long, was assassinated in 1935. The State House has an exhibit called "Who Shot Huey Long" and the former mansion has his pajamas on display... We didn't tour - just took photos.

LSU fans are just plain crazy people. But are they fun. Logan tail gates and told us he was making Jambalaya. The game didn't begin until 6:00 p.m. so we made our way to the campus at 3:00, visions of turkey Jambalaya in our heads, mouths watering, and anticipation high. We followed the directions Logan provided, asking if people knew him, looking for anyone serving Jambalaya. There are hundreds of tail gate parties all over the campus.

We tasted roast pigs, perused amazing food displays, danced with fans, admired the TV setups with batteries and small generators, stuffed tigers, and got lost in the crowd more than once.

Home games are cultural events like no other. We never found the Killens... We never tasted Logan's Jambalaya. But we got a good sense of just how c r a z y LSU fans are.

Here's the spot where a picture is worth a thousand words:

We watched the four buses carrying the Arkansas team roll in. Now, imagine the entire area being awash in purple and gold when four buses of red uniformed Razorbacks roll in complete with a police motorcycle escort. Definitely not a warm fuzzy moment.

We made our way into the stadium and found our seats in the 16th row on the 45 yard line behind the Razorbacks. I'm still trying to get that smile off Ed's face. Man! Was he excited!

I was warned not to wear red - which eliminated most of my clothing. Sarah instructed me to wear my yellow jacket. I fit right in!

One of the first orders of business was the presentation of the LSU tiger. They announced that he is cared for by the School of Veterinary Science - all the animal people can relax. This Bengal is beloved!

Since this was the last home game, they presented all the senior team members and their parents. The players ran the corridor with the band playing and presented their moms with a yellow rose. Nice. Pride is an emotion well known by parents...

This is a mom and dad with their son and the head coach being photographed on the 50 yard line.

Arkansas took to the field with the presentation of their flags.

And LSU came to the field with fireworks shooting into the sky, the band playing, and the noise level deafening.

And the game began...

It looked at first like LSU was going to enjoy an easy victory.

The marching band performed during halftime...

...and Arkansas came back to the second half with a new attitude.

The final score 33-30 in overtime - LSU the victor.

We and 94,011 others enjoyed the game. What a blast! Ed is still smiling...

We're on our way to Natchez.

What We Ate and Who We Saw in New Orleans

2009-11-26T14:10:00.032-06:00

I like to call this photo "Finnegan Arrives in New Orleans." We were crossing Lake Pontchartrain and he seemed to be mesmerized by the sights around him. So were we!! Driving out of Mobile on the elevated highways over the wetlands was a new experience for us. And then the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain...certainly not anything like the high desert we call "home."
We came here to see Ben and Sarah...here are couple of photos we took when they came to the campground to have breakfast with us. Cute, Uh?

Meet Bayla. She's Sarah's Great Dane - and she's a real sweet thing.

Well, she's sweet until she thinks you're going to take her picture. She took one look at the camera and she was gone, complete with her tail down.

The most popular passtime in New Orleans - EATING! And, damn, the food is good. We began with some serious oyster time at Pasqual Manales. (Appetizer before dinner, of course.) Sarah is a master catsup, horseradish, worchester, and lemon mixer. Ed made himself scarse watching tv in the bar after he took this photo. We did this more than once. Y U M !!

Sarah and I took a class at the New Orleans School of Cooking. It was fun, and we picked up a few new recipes and got to eat lunch there: Artichoke Shrimp Soup, Crawfish Etoufee, Bread Pudding, and Pralines. Ben took Ed to Surrey's for a special breakfast while we were in class. (Note: Can you see the eating trend developing??) He was introduced to boudin - a spicy sausage with rice in it.

Ben did a lot of work on his house after Katrina. This incredible paint job really stands out on the block. The house is a "camelback" with rental units. Sarah has great plans for the big back yard. Think: eggs, chickens, raised planters, greenhouse. This place seems to be on track for a makeover by a woman's hand.

Ben took us to Tipitina's. The band has been inducted to the Walk of Fame out front. It sounds like it was a fun evening when they placed this medallion in the sidewalk.

We were in town for the Po Boy Festival. I had seen an item in the tourist papers and then Ben suggested we attend. We hit early in the event to avoid the shoulder to shoulder crowds. What an excellent idea that was! Several blocks were barricaded for the festival.

The idea is to purchase small po boy sandwiches from the restaurant sponsored stands and sample different kinds. It's an eating frenzy, and we fit right in.
Here'a Ben at the Pasqual Manales stand where they hollowed out the rolls and filled them with barbequed shrimp. A little po boy education: The rolls are the secret and these are baked by one bakery in New Orleans. Also, barbequed in New Orleans usually means butter and pepper. For the record, this barbequed shrimp po boy was outstanding!

My runaway favorite was the barbequed oysters. The put the raw oysters on the half shell right on the grill, add a little butter, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Oh..My..God! Our order was six. Ben made sure I got four of them...by telling me he can have then "anytime."

There's a very large Vietnamese community in New Orleans and their restaruants abound. My next favorite was this Vietnamese po boy made of barbequed pork loin. Delicious! Ed loved it too.

We ate fish tacos, roast beef po boy, and I can't even remember what else. A small sandwich, a couple bites, and we moved on.

Sarah was working so we brought her one of the Vietnamese po boys. She was a very happy camper.

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday night at Clancy's, a wonderful neighborhood eatery, as Ben's guests. We all ordered something different and passed food around the table tasting and sharing the meal. It was a wonderful evening.

How Do people stay thin in New Orleans?!?!?

Being a tourist in New Orleans

2009-11-26T14:09:00.076-06:00

We did so much in New Orleans and the surrounding area.

The Louisana State Museum in the French Quarter had a special exhibit. The Zulu Club loaned their Mardi Gras costumes. The exhibit covered the design and creation as well as the history of the club. Amazing exhibits. This was what greeted us in the lobby: And here's a sample of the costumes on display:

We spent a day touring the plantation district west of the city. We decided to tour Laura Plantation. This lovely home and the surrounding buildings are all on the National Historic Register. It's always in the process of renovation with the hope of taking the property back to it's original condition.

Laura Plantation is unique. It is a Creole sugarcane plantation built in 1805. Laura's memoirs and other documents have provided the history of this property and the 12 remaining buildings that were home to the family and 175 slaves. It's a fascinating tour. This is the main building that was the corporate office of the business and home to the family. This Mississippi River map gave us a visual of the more than 1000 plantations that sat on the river between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. They were all narrow and deep so each could have crucial access to the river for shipping and supplies. Sugar cane was the crop grown. This is still sugar cane country. They were harvesting when we were there. The gardens on the property are beautifl. There are banana palms with fruit almost ready to pick. It looks very tropical. The large kettles used to boil the crushed sugar cane are being used as planters and vegetable gardens are still producing. The slave cabins were in use by migrant workers until the 1970's. This family treated their slaves well and many remained after the civil war as indentured workers.

Laura Plantation was a good choice for us. We learned a lot. There are others, and we took some time to look at them but did not tour.

Oak Alley is the most popular one and is the South's most photographed plantation. So...we took a photo. Built in 1839, it's known for the oak trees - some nearly 300 years old. There's a B & B, a restaurant, and a building used for weddings and other special events.

St. Joseph is another Creole plantation, built in 1830. It was given to a daughter as a wedding gift, completely furnished, with a full staff of slaves. Hmmm.

Everygreen is a working sugar cane plantation. It has 37 buildings and has been given National Landmark designation. It's a private home and stunningly beautiful.

We couldn't go to New Orleans without seeing some of the devastation caused by Katrina. It's still shocking to see the buildings with the "x" marks on them noting the search after the storm.

There are buildings abandoned, boarded up, deserted, with water marks, empty lots, rebuilt family homes - all on the same street.

FEMA trailers still sit in front of homes. Four years later!!!

The roads are a mess and the neighborhoods in disrepair, and there's no money to get the work done. The mayor has his children in school in Ft. Worth. There are signs reading "Brad Pitt for Mayor" showing appreciation for the investment he has made in the city. Yet - the magic that is New Orleans is thriving.

Ben and Sarah took us to Preservation Hall in the French Quarter. It's a small room, loaded with history. Patrons pay $10 to enter, than stand in the back or sit on the floor in front. We had the coveted seats along the wall because Ben's friend is the manager and he's friends with the owners.

And then the musicians arrive. The cream of the crop. They sit down and without rehearsal they treat us to good old New Orleans jazz. It's a jam session - and it's amazing!! This evening there was a song stylist - and she was great. We stayed through both sets - each 4 numbers and 45 minutes long. What a treat.

The National Park Service has two locations in the French Quarter. One has a free walking tour in the morning. We never got to that one. The other is all about jazz. We enjoyed a portion of this midday piano session. I swear that man has more than two hands. It was great!

New Orleans is all about the music. We photographed street musicians in the French Quarter. This group was here most days right in front of Jackson Square. The five of them them made some real good sounds.

It's just happy music coming from all directions.This lady was my favorite. She played away on her keyboard and sang her heart out.

Always time for music.

On any corner.

Here are a few street scenes in the French Quarter. This is along Jackson Square. There were more and more artists as the weather improved.

Color everywhere.

With Ben and Sarah on our way to an oyster bar.

The plantation owners had townhomes in the French Quarter. This is a residential street.

And another. New Orleans has a Civil War Museum. Cute couple out in front...

We stopped at Lafayette Cemetary. It on the National Historic Register. Wonder if it's haunted...

All four of us went to the WWII Museum. This is the main lobby. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have been instrumental in making this place happen.They have just opened a new building across the street. It's home to a 45 minute film in 4-D that really defines in global terms what WWII was about. It's very well done, a little Hollywood, but it makes its point and every student should see it. We all agreed that the film should be seen before the museum.

Finnegan spent time in doggy day care in New Orleans and, as usual, made some new friends and ran off some energy. The staff at these places always come out to say goodbye to him when we say we're leaving town.

On this day, we took Finn for a walk in the Garden District. He made friends with a very mean looking dog at the French embassy who ended up licking Finn's nose and wagging his tail as they played through the fence. The Garden District homes are beautiful, often VERY big, and always extremely expensive and in need of lots of on going loving care. In short, they can be money pits.

It's a real ooh and aah sort of walk.

I could learn to love this home...

This one too...but we'd have to replace that yellow Jeep...

It's been a wonderful week in the Big Easy...!!!

And Then We Went To Alabama

2009-11-17T07:36:00.061-06:00

We figured a short stop in Montgomery would be all we'd see in Alabama. How wrong we were.

First stop was in Tuskegee at the airfield where the Tuskegee Airmen trained. The U.S. military was segregated. Blacks were not allowed into any elite units. Becoming an officer was extremely difficult. Political pressure at the beginning of WWII cracked the door open to allow blacks to train as aviators, ground support personnel, and all aspects of aviation. But - they were still segregated! They trained at this Tuskegee site and then deployed overseas. The airfield and some of the original building are managed by the National Park Service. The small airport is still in use.

The Tuskegee Airmen flew over 15,000 sorties in the European theater and have received numerous citations for bravery and excellent service. They opened the door for integration in the military. Several became generals.

There's a museum inside this hanger.

We drove the historic 45 mile road to Selma to see cradle of desegregation. This monument is placed at the foot of the Pettus Bridge. The National Park Service has designated this a Preservation site but has not yet built out the plans. They have acquired the 25 acres at this spot.

This is the site of one of the most notorious events in Civil Rights history. On March 7, 1965, Bloody Sunday, 600 protestors marching for the right to vote, were stopped at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and attacked by state and local lawmen using billy clubs and tear gas, and diven six blocks back into Selma. Martin Luther King, preaching his credo of non-violence, led a symbolic march two days later and finally a full scale march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery under full court protection. On March 21st, about 3,200 marchers set out for Montgomery. Marching 12 miles a day, sleeping in fields, they reached the capitol on March 25th. They were 25,000 strong! President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 less then five months later.

The road the marchers walked has been designated an "All American Road" - the highest tribute a road can receive. It's known as the Selma-to-Montomery National Historic Trail.

And all the people wanted was the right to vote...

This old train depot is the Selma historical museum. This city has a long history. Maybe one day people will come to learn more about it. Mostly, the towns main street is in ruins and full of empty buildings. But speaking with the staff in the museum gave us more insight into Selma. It has a big arts community and a square mile of Victorian and antebellum homes. Beautiful!

There was once a large Jewish population in the city. They owned most of the businesses on the main street, built themselves a big social hall, Harmony Hall, and in 1899 dedicated a beautiful synagogue. It's on the National Historic Register but not in use today. It's an imposing structure on the main street. The Visitors Center in Montgomery is in the old train depot, complete with stained glass and beautiful wood furnishings. There's a trolley that makes stops at some of the local sights.

F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald lived in this house with their daughter in 1931-32.

The state capitol of Alabama has a white dome. There's a statue of Jefferson Davis in front. He took the oath of office as President of the Confederacy in 1861 on the front porch of this building.

This star marks the spot...and Ed tried it out for size. (He didn't feel it fit...)

The building is home to the Govenors office but is no longer used for law making. It's been restored as a museum to the way it was when the South declared itself a country. This is the House of Representatives.

And this is the Senate chamber. There's a sign posted that says, "In this room the Confederacy as formed."

There's another house in the neighborhood that was the first White House of the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis and his family lived here until they moved to Richmond in 1861. It's been beautifully restored. You can tell by talking to the staff, that they still think the Confederacy should exist.

Here are a couple of the public rooms.

Live was gracious.

This sign stands on the outside the Rosa Parks Museum on the very spot where she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger.

The Rosa Parks Museum is beautifully done. There's a reenactment of the event on a real bus and a history of bus desegragation in Montgomery. This full size diorama of an integrated bus is at the end of the museum.

Martin Luther Kings was just 27 years old when he lead the march from Selma to Montgomery. This is the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, circa 1885, where he preached. It's still a functioning church, and it sits just one block from the State House.

We made a stop in Mobile on our way to New Orleans. We took in some of the sights, Finn got a haircut, and we did the laundry.

The battleship Alabama, commissioned 8/16/42, had a distinguished career in the Pacific in WWII. It's on display as a museum in Mobile harbor. (Her sister ship, the Massachuetts, is also a floating museum in Fall River, MA.) It has a displacement of 45,000 tons and main armament of nine 16 inch guns. Ed really enjoyed being on the Alabama.

Ed took this photo from the bow looking back. You can see the two superposed main turrets. Incredible sight! He said you have no idea how big this ship is until you walk on it.

There's also a submarine in the harbor. This is the Drum, a WWII fleet submarine used in the Pacific theater. Ed toured and talked about how claustrophobic he felt inside. This sub is in outstanding condition. A full size model of the C.S.S. Hunley is standing in front of the stairs. It's a wonderful comparison: 1863 to 1943 submarines. Hurricane Katrina did a great deal of damage to the outdoor displays here especially to the military aircraft outside.

Mobile's History Museum is located in this beautiful building.

It covers the history of the city and region from the 17th century pioneers to the end of WWII. Mobile was a major shipping and ship building center. It still is. Cotton was king here pre-Civil War.

We visited the Bellingrath Gardens and Home. There were getting ready for the evening lighted displays for the holidays. Anyone in the area should visit. It's going to be a spectacular show.

The gardens are beautiful. There's something blooming all the time and the walk is beautiful.

There's a Great Lawn, a Rose Garden, an Oriental Garden, a River Walk, waterfalls. It goes on and on.

The Bellingraths never had any children. The home and gardens are now a non-profit foundation that support Christian schools and churches. They made their fortune when Mr. Bellingrath purchased the Coco Cola franchise for Mobile and 100 miles around Mobile. He made a $1500 investment in 1905.

We also toured the 10,000 sq. ft. home that began as a fishing lodge. Mrs. Bellingrath was an collector of antiques, silver, and procelein. The home is filled with her collections. It was decored for Christmas when we were there.

We're leaving for New Orleans to visit with Ben and Sarah.

Georgia...Georgia...On My Mind...

2009-11-17T07:11:00.044-06:00

We settled into a beautiful state park campground on Skidaway Island just outside of Savannah. This is the prettiest park we have been in on this trip. Our site was huge. The trees hung heavy with Spanish Moss. There were very few people around. Perfect!Then hurricane Ida dumped her rain on us for a couple days. I took this photo from under an umbrella as the rain came down in sheets. It made the park prettier in some sense. We went to the local video store and rented Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Perfect day for a movie and popcorn in Savannah.

We took Finnegan and went into Savannah to get a look at this city everyone speaks about with such admiration. We walked the waterfront, Finnegan making friends all along the way, and then took to the streets of the Historic District.

The Historic District is laid out in a grid with park squares every 3 blocks. The area is a mile square and has 24 park squares. Each is named and has a monument in the center and each one is different.

There are beautiful old - and often restored - homes, restaurants, shops, schools, houses of worship. This is absoutely the BEST walking city we have visited.

The old trees are huge and dramatic. The largest park has this beautiful fountain. (Cute guy enjoying the scenery...)

We couldn't resist photographing some of the lovely buildings. The trolleys provide tours of the Historic District. We opted to walk and read the posted placques.

One of the mansions. Some of these homes cover a full city block. Most were built in the second half of the 19th century.

Another...

This city has so much character and charm.

This is the Mercer Williams house. It was owned and restored by Jim Williams and is the home made famous in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. We toured the house. The movie was filmed there and all the events of the book took place in these rooms. Williams was an antique dealer and some of the items in the house are impressive. His sister lives there today with her family. (Now that I've seen the house, the movie, and the town...I've GOT to read the book!)

The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist is massive and impressive.

The Historical Society of Savannah has a library inside this charming building.

Ed almost got lost in it...

Savannah is home to Congregation Mickeva Israel, established 1790. This Gothic synagogue was consecreted in 1878.

We were walking Finn the day we discoved the temple. We usually take turns entering buildings when we have the dog with us, but in this case, Finnegan was invited to come in. (Does that make him officially a Jewish dog...?) The Gothic architecture is beautiful in the sanctuary. We were invited to come to Friday night services and decided it was something we wanted to do. We enjoyed the service and the tradition of bread and wine outside on the street facing the square. We spent time talking with the rabbi and some of the other congregants. They encouraged us to return on Saturday morning (when they serve lunch after the service) but we were leaving in the morning.

Tybee Island is the beach of Savannah. I love this picture. Ed said it reminded him of the 1950's. There is a lighthouse on Tybee Island.

I opted out of the trip to Fort Pulaski. Ed went by himself. This National Historic Monument was used to protect the approach to Savannah Harbor. It was built between 1825 and 1850. It is built in the style of Fort Sumter. It was taken over by the Confederacy after the succession of South Carolina.

It was held briefly by units of the Georgia Militia. Federal forces surrounded the Fort and bombarded it until the Confederacy surrendered it in the first months of the Civil War. It successfully served to blockcade Savannah throughout the war.

This is an interior photo of gun positions.

The Fort was badly damaged during the Federal bombardment. It was used briefly after the Civil War but fell into disrepair until the Park Service designated it a National Monument in the 1930's.

Fort Pulaski is a more interesting representation of a mid-19th Century naval fort than Fort Sumter though it does not have the same historical significance.

We packed up to leave Savannah and realized we had no power inside the motorhome. That meant no backup camera to monitor the Jeep behind us and see clearances for lane changes. And - no way to lower our bed!!! The park office provided us with a few business cards for repair service, but by now it was pushing midday on Saturday! And so we encountered our Road Angel - Pete Hilton.

Pete is just outside of Macon where we were headed. He gave us directions to his home and we hit the road. We arrived just before 5:00. He not only fixed our electric problem (a tripped switch Ed didn't know we had) but he fixed our refrigerator (we don't need a new one!!!), gave us a place to spend the night on his property with power and water connections, invited us to dinner, shared some information about the Hunley with Ed, and allowed Finn to run and play all over his property. We now considere Janice and Pete Hilton among our special friends. Southern hospitality at its finest.

Robins Airforce Base has a very nice aviation museum. They display more than 100 airplanes inside hangers and outdoors. We stopped there before heading to Montgomery, AL.

We're off to learn more about desegregation in the South.

Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina

2009-11-09T07:07:00.025-06:00

We stopped in Columbia, South Carolina to visit with friends, Rory and Rick Ackerman. We met Rory and Rick on a trip to Turkey four years ago. They were living in Florida at that time. They moved to Columbia after they retired so they could live a certain lifestyle. They wanted to be near a major university. They live in this really neat 4 story house (complete with elevator) right on the perimeter of the University of South Carolina.

The house is filled with things they love and things they have collected on their world travels. Rory has decorateded it with color and charm and it speaks perfectly to their interests and passions. They were gracious and welcoming and we enjoyed our visit thoroughly.

Rory made reservations for all of us to tour the govenor's mansion. (This is the same govenor who has made himself famous for flying down to Argentina...) The grounds are beautiful. The trees on both sides of the house are palmetto palms, the offical tree of South Carolina, (They are on EVERTHING and everything is named palmetto something.)

The interior of the mansion is lovely. Just what you would expect a southern govenors home to look like. This is the main drawing room.

We followed up our tour with lunch at the culinary school of the university, and then Rory took us to see the State House while Rick went off to watch the girls basketball practice. This back approach has a statue of Strom Thurmond.The House of Representatives...

...and Rory and me in the Senate chamber.

Columbia was burned by Sherman during the Civil War. The outside of the State House has stars marking cannon damage. It's all on one side of the building. It points out the senseless destruction and poor efficiency of the weapons - and that's a GOOD thing. This beautiful building should not have been destroyed.

We hugged our goodbyes and headed on to Charleston. First stop - the Charleston Museum, Americas first museum, founded in 1773.

A model of the H.L. Hunley stands outside the museum. This little submarine played a small role in the Civil War when in 1863 it became the first submarine to sink an enemy warship. It was also lost with the 32 Confederate crewmen aboard. The Hunley was found in 1995 just outside of Charleston Harbor and raised in 2000.

I loved the display of old quilts and the special exhibits of silver and wedding dresses.

Charleston is a feast for the eyes. The beautifully cobblestoned strees and the granite sidewalks. Watching where you step is very important here.

The is the entry to the market on Meeting St. and Market St. This has always been a market with all manner of food, livestock, and goods being sold. Today it's mostly tourist stuff. We celebrated our anniversary at a restaurant at the opposite end, 5 blocks away, called S.N.O.B. Stands for Slightly North Of Broad.

This historic Exchange building is now a museum. I got a stiff neck from looking up as we walked the streets of Charleston.

It's fun to walk the little streets of the historic district. Turn down an "alley" and discover that it's a full fledged street with homes lining both sides. Lots are narrow and deep so homes are placed sideways. A small door faces the street. That little door opens to a long veranda facing a side yard that is the garden of the home. Often a formal garden. And in this part of town - a very expensive car is parked in a little slot just big enough to hold it.

The mansions line the streets facing the water. Charleston is sort of a peninsula. It's the curve along the bottom where the big homes reside.This is a Catholic Church.

Battery Park. Finn made lots of friends. One lady even stopped her car to admire our Kerry Blue.

I was really taken with the Sweetgrass baskets that are regional to Charleston. Actually, the Sweetgrass Highway is in Mt. Pleasant over the Ravenal Bridge. Here I am shopping one of the stands. Lots of work goes into these items and the makers take pride and honor in the craft.

We finally found one we both wanted - and could afford. We bought an elephant ear pattern basket from Ann Simmons on Meeting Street in Charleston. It's a beauty!

Finn spent time in Fetch Doggy Day Care. He doesn't stop playing ALL DAY and they were wondering if he was tired when we picked him up. This is our pooped pup.

Charleston Sights

2009-11-09T07:06:00.050-06:00

We visited so many sights in Charleston. One of the first was Fort Sumter. This completed the circle for us - we visited the site of the the end of the Civil War. This site is the beginning.

South Carolina was the first state to seceded from the Union. Union forces remained at Fort Sumter. The South demanded the Fort be vacated but the North refused. The shots fired at the Fort on April 12, 1861 began what the Confederates thought would be a little skirmish and would be over very quickly. No one predicted the horrendous consequences. Fort Sumter was bombarded with 46,000 shells - estimated at seven million pounds of metal over the next four years.

Fort Sumter is reached by ferry boat from Charleston. It's a 30 minute ride to the Fort. As we approached we were struck by how small it is. It's easy to understand the strategic location to protect the city, but its size is disarming. It's a National Park Service site and it sits mostly in ruin.

The ferry boats dock just outside the Fort where a Park ranger meets the group and then escorts the group into the Fort. This view faces the city of Charleston.

The walls of the Fort were once 500 feet above sea level. This is all that remains.

The cannons are placed as they would have been in 1861.

There's a small museum that describes what happened to Fort Sumter. Basically - it was destoyed by cannon fire during the Civil War. This poster from the museum shows it as it was...

...and as it is today. The large black iron structure in the center was placed there during the Spanish American War.

We toured some of the historical homes in Charleston. Some we liked...and some we didn't.

This one was our favorite. It's the 1820 Aiken-Rhett House. What makes it so interesting is that it's a virtual time capsule unaltered since 1858. The exterior has been restored by a grant from the National Park Service, but the inside remains untouched and houses some of the original items purchased for the rooms. The is called "conservation" restoration. There's value placed on the crumbling plaster and wallpaper remnents. The house is toured by audio tour. The result is a real sense of life during this time.

The back of the house has a kitchen building with slave quarters upstairs, a stable, and a garden
Thanks to the audio you can stand and listen to the sounds of life in this urban plantation.

Photography is not allowed inside of most of the historic buildings.

The Heyward-Washington house is known as Charleston's Revolutionary War House. It was built in 1772 by Thomas Heyward, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. George Washington stayed here during a week long stay in Charleston in 1791. It's a townhouse built close to the street with a lovely garden in the back.

This view of the rear of the home also shows the kitchen building. Kitchens were always seperate from the house and most homes have had more than one kitchen building. It was common for them to burn down since all cooking was done on open fires.

The Calhoun Mansion, circa 1876, is privately owned and currently lived in. The owner is a collector of everything (!) and the home is stuffed with expensive antiques ranging from glass to stuffed animals, religious items to furniture. The lighting in the house was designed by Tiffany. Sensory overload...

The Joseph Manigault House, known as Charleston's Huguenot House was built in 1803. It belonged to a wealthy rice-planting family of French Huguenot descent. The outstanding feature is the floating staircase. This building was a USO during WWII and there were photos of the GI's and the girls on the stairs.

Charleston has a long Jewish history. Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim is a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1749, it is the oldest synagogue in continous use in the United States, and is the founding Reform Jewish congregation in the U.S. The original building burned down in the Charleston fire of 1838 and was replaced in 1840 with the colonnaded Greek Revival temple.

The sanctuary is lovely with high ceilings. Our docent guide spoke about the trials the congregation endured to have an organ in the synagogue.

The Charles Pinckney National Historic Site in Mount Pleasant just over the Ravenal Bridge from Charleston is a remnant of his plantation. Pinckney is called "the forgotten founder." He was a principal author and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

The little house above houses a little museum that tells his story. We found the beautiful trees on the property the most special part of being there.

We wanted to visit a plantation. Cotton was important here, but rice was king. The wealthy plantation owners owned more than one farm and often lived in the city. A bit of internet research and we found the Hampton Plantation. It's a South Carolina State Historic Site and is a 35 mile drive from Charleston. We didn't know what we would find but decided to go and see and then do a little shopping on the Sweetgrass Highway on the way back. We were so glad we did!!!

This place is all about the lowcountry rice culture and plantation life. It stands as a monument to the labor of enslaved Africans and the wealth and social prominence of the families who occupied the home. Rice was a very labor intensive crop. There were as many as 350 slaves working this plantation.

The Georgian style mansion is the centerpiece. It grew from a simple farmhouse to a grand mansion.

This beautiful oak tree stands right in front of the house. The story goes that when George Washington visited Hampton Plantation in 1791 he was told that this tree was to be cut down because it blocked the view of the property. He is said to have stated, "Don't cut it down," and it became known as the George Washington Oak. I reached up to touch the moss and was warned that chiggers live in the moss. No more touching for me!!

That's the kitchen building behind the house and the walk down to the river.

Looking across the Wambaw Creek are the remains of the rice fields. We could close our eyes and imagine the sounds of the plantation...over the sound of the buzzing mosquitoes. Rice fields...standing water...billions and billions of mosquitoes. The owners could leave and go to other homes, but the slaves remained to work.

I took a cooking class in Charleston. No photos, but I can now make Seared Pork Chops with Bourbon Bacon Sauce, Cheddar Apple Grits, and Pumpkin Pie with Ginger Snap Crust. It was a great class because the chef knew the chemistry of cooking and taught techniques as well as demonstrating recipes.

Ed went to tour the Yorktown Aircraft Carrier. This ship played a role in the Pacific in WWII. It was decommissioned in 1970, moved to Charleston in 1975 to become the centerpiece of the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

The flight deck displays aircraft used on this ship.

Below deck is the hanger. It houses a display of WWII fighters and dive bombers and early jets.

The Medal of Honor Museum is inside the flight deck. It honors all medal recipants from the Civil War to the present.

We've have loved being in Charleston, but it time to move on. We are leaving South Carolina for Savannah, Ga.

North Carolina - It's Highs and Lows

2009-10-28T09:10:00.031-05:00

Our visit to North Carolina began with a boom! A very loud boom! About 20 miles outside of Greensboro. We had blown a tire - an inside dual rear on the passenger side. We pulled to the side of the road and called our road service. When this truck arrived about 2 hours later, it had turned dark, but the driver had a new tire on board and all the equipment he needed to get us back on the road.
Road service called out the highway patrol to make sure we were safe. We were on the shoulder on a major interstate and the big trucks were whizzng by. The officer had the cutest southern drawl...

Finnegan supervised the entire project. Note I was wearing two layers of clothing and was still cold while our service guy thought he was in Florida in summer...

No wonder the boom was so loud....

O.K. So we made it to Asheville after a couple days in Greensboro where we had the oil changed on our "house," Ed did some research on replacing the parts of the right rear hydraulic leveler that got blown away by the exploding tire, the batteries got some maintainence, and we made a stop at Replacements Unlimited. What a trip that place was. Miracle of miracles - we got out without buying a single thing!!! But it was fun to see that place.

The biggest employer in Asheville is the Biltmore Corp. and the crown jewel of that organization is the Vanderbuilt Mansion. The front door of "Americas largest home" and us proving we were there:

We took the self guided tour ($55/person w/o audio) and thoroughly enjoyed America's homage to excess. Now I ask you: Did three people really need 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces on 8000 acres? The official Christmas celebration was beginning in about 2 weeks so there were crews all over the house setting up trees and draping garlands. There was a tree in every room. We couldn't take photos inside, but we could have purchased a book of interior photos for $12.95 or bought the photo they take inside of everyone who tours the house. Don't get me wrong...I think it would have been a hoot to be there when it was up and running as a family house. The basement has a gym, bowling alley, swimming pool, and kitchens that take up room after room after room. Yup - if we lived in Asheville I'd be a guide. I think it would be lots of fun. And the guides are paid employees.

We toured the formal gardens after going through the house. Here's a view of the quarter mile path to the gardens.

A long shot of the front of the house...

...and the side of the house from the path to the gardens.

One side of the walled garden...

And the conservatory at the end of the walled garden. It's huge and displays many catagories of plants and flowers. We loved the orchid room.

Then we went to the Biltmore Winery on the property where we had the opportunity to buy wine and other stuff and learn about other venues designed to part us with our cash. It was a fun day.

We received a call about 2 p.m. on Saturday. It was Ben asking where we were and informing us that he too was in Asheville and that Galactic was playing an outdoor concert in downtown that night. We met for dinner. Here I am with my two favorite men in the entire world:

Ed took tons of photos.

Galactic's guest performer and me outside the tour bus that is home to the guys while they are on the road. This was the last number of the night featuring Stanton on drums. There were about 2000 people there on a very cold night. What a great show they put on!!!

We spent the last day in Asheville taking a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Americas Roadway. The leaves were at the peak and the scenic overlooks breathtaking.

Here's the high point at more than 5000 ft.. No more leaves up here, but the panorama is beautiful.

We stopped at Mount Mitchell State Park and hiked up to the overlook. Wow! Finn seemed most interested in another dog. He's not much for views.

So much beauty.

This viewpoint from Mount Michell looking west needed a name. I named it The Road Home.

There's a resort in Asheville on the National Historic Register. The Grove Park Inn. We stopped by to see it. This building is a private cottage used for dignitaries. It's modeled after Ann Hathaways Cottage.

The main building was covered in scaffolding while they redo the roof. The stone work is beautiful.

It's completely furnished in original Stickley furniture.

There are 2 main fireplaces - one on each side of the lobby. HUGE.

There's an auto museum on the surrounding property...

...a museum and an art gallery. Ed photographed the sculpture garden.

We really enjoyed Asheville. We both understand why people love it. We ate good food, enjoyed the lively downtown, explored the active art scene, Finn fit right in to the dog friendly mood of the the town, and loved the mountain scenery. It's a totally cool place.

We're off to visit Rory and Rick in Columbia, SC.

And Other Sites We Enjoyed in Virginia.

2009-10-13T07:54:00.059-05:00

We've seen a lot of historical sites in Virginia and we've enjoyed the landscape of this beautiful state. Eight of our presidents were born in Virginia - more than any other state.

The Civil war ended in Virginia on April 9th, 1865. Our visit to Appomattox Courthouse, now a National Historic Park, has been my favorite Civil War site. This mural in the park museum is as close to the real event as any every painted. Lee on the left is surrendering to Grant on the right. The man with the sword is Robert Todd Lincoln, son of the president.The event took place on this property...

...in this house...

...in this very livingroom.

Grant sat at the little table and Lee sat behind the marble topped table. The terms of the surrender pledged that the combatants would never raise up arms against the United States. Lee was not asked to surrender his sword. The men simply shook hands. The park ranger explained that this was by directive of Abraham Lincoln. The ending of the war took only about three hours and the Union was reunited.

A printing press was set up in the town tavern and 30,000 passes or "paroles" were printed in two days allowing the Confederates to return to their homes.

The ending of this bloody and horrible war was humane. A year after the war this little cemetary was established by the women of the community. There are 19 graves, 18 Confederate and 1 Union. Only 7 are identified. There's a touching poignancy to its existance.

There are several interesting sites in Lexington, VA. The campus of Washington and Lee University is beautiful with red brick columned buildings in a hilly setting.

The university is home to Lee Chapel, Lee was president of the university from 1865 until his death in 1870. He started the chapel as a religious meeting place. It was never consecrated as a church. Today it serves as a museum and as the final resting place for Lee and members of his family. His beloved horse, Traveler, is buried outside.

Virginia Military Institute was established in 1839. It has a great military tradition, graduating officers to this day. All the buildings are light grey and imposing. There are cadets all over town. It was cold and raining the day we arrived. It was interesting to see the cadets still in summer whites with short sleeves, and no jackets.

VMI has produced more Medal of Honor recipients than any other military institution. They are on display in the VMI Museum.

This is the only house ever owned by Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. He purchased it in 1859. It sits in downtown Lexington within walking distance of VMI where Jackson was professor of physics. He was much beloved at VMI where he has been honored with memorials and statues around the campus.

The back of the home boasts a garden. Jackson and his family are interred just a few blocks from the house. Jackson was killed in battle in 1863 before the Battle of Gettysburg.

Our tour of presidential museums continued in Staunton, VA at the Woodrow Wilson birthplace and Museum.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the son of a Presbyterian minister. He grew up dyslexic and could not read until he was 11 years old. The family lived in the church manse - a beautiful gracious home where his father could discharge his church duties.

Wilson attended Princeton University, completed law school though he didn't enjoy lawyering, became president of Princeton, governor of New Jersey, president of the United States from 1912-1920, attended the Paris Peace Conference that established the League of Nations, instituted the Federal Reserve, and won a Nobel Peace prize. And we hardly ever think about him...

He bought his Pierce-Arrow limo from the government after he left office

The 14 Points are the basis of The League of Nation.

We continue to run into interesting people! We met Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.

This beautiful farm was designed by Jefferson. His interests ran the gamut from science to art and music. He was a man of letters, a politcal visionary, and a slave holder. He was a man of his time.

The back side of Monticello faces the flower garden. Turn over a nickle and you'll see this view.

This road along the side of the home is known as Mulberry Row. The house is off to the right and the garden off to the left. There would have been a row of buildings lining this pathway where all the weaving, woodworking, metal smithing, coopering, and others crafting was done. Monticello was actually a little village. On the day we visited, the leaves were turning, the pumpkins were in the garden. It was idylic. It sits on the top of a little mountain.

We could not photograph inside the home, as is the case in most of the historic properties, but it is filled with personal possessions and furnished as it was when Jefferson lived there.

The guides discussed the slave issues, mostly Sally Hemmings and her children. There is DNA evidence Jefferson fathered her children, but it is never stated definitively.

Lower down on the property is the Jefferson family cemetary, still active today. The obelisk marker was selected by Jefferson for his grave.We took a drive to Newport News where we took a hike that all 3 of us enjoyed. It was a sunny day and Finn had a great time meeting all the other dogs on the trail.Newport News is a major shipbuilding center and naval base. This is the aircraft carrier, George Bush. It's so big its a city on the water. It was in for repairs giving us the opportunity to see it.

We drove into Richmond for a day. There was so much to see. Our internet research told us not to miss the Hollywood Cemetary. This is an old cemetary dating back to 1680. It's full of ornate monuments and is the final resting place of three presidents - John Tyler, James Monroe, and Jefferson Davis.

This stone monument was built to honor the Confederate soldiers buried in this area.

We were given a map and told to follow the blue line on the road. The result was a tour of southern history.

The tomb of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy. Remember, down here the Civil War is known as the War of Northern Aggression.

Richmond being the capitol of Virginia, has a lovely capitol building in a parklike setting in the center of town.

Washington was born in Virginia. This statue stands on the capitol grounds.

The Museum of the Confederacy in downtown Richmond is nestled beside a hospital. We were told to park in the hospital garage, exit the front door of the hospital and make a sharp left to the museum. Ed loved this museum and described it as outstanding.

Right next door and included in the museum entry is the White House of the Confederacy. We were given a guided tour of this building. It has been restored to the way it was when Jefferson Davis and his family resided there. I enjoyed this part of the tour.

We've enjoyed this part of the country and learned a lot visiting it. Sometimes the Revolutionary and Civil Wars get confused in my head, but I certainly know a lot more than I did before our travels.

We're moving on to the Carolinas...

The Historic Triangle in Virginia - Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown

2009-10-12T18:06:00.072-05:00

We settled into American Heritage RV Park in Williamsburg. It's a very nice park with LOTS of spacious sites, trees, and tiled bathrooms. The last night there, we returned to our site and I remarked to Ed that a Phaeton just like Mary and Dick Lee's had pulled in across from us. Then I noted the owners also had a Bichon just like the Lee's Bogey. In the meantime, the people in the Phaeton had sat down outside and noted that there was a yellow Jeep just like the Kibel's... (Can you see where this is going???)

Now, what are the chances we'd end up in the same park, nose to nose with each other??? If we'd been 2 sites away, we never would have seen each other!!!

The end of the story: We enjoyed a wonderful visit with Mary and Dick, went to breakfast at a charming restaurant, The Olde Chickahominy House, and then we departed for our next stop and they remained to visit the sites we had already seen. There's a theory that RVers are a community albeit a moving one. I think it's true...
The Historic Triangle is comprised of Williamsburg , Yorktown, and Jamestown. It's made up of 5 sites to visit: the Village of Williamsburg, and both National Park Service sites and living history sites at Yorktown and Jamestown.

Jamestown was the first English settlement in the New World. One hundred and four men and boys settled on James Island on the James River in 1607 - 13 years before the Pilgrms arrived in Plymouth. Though they suffered very hard times, the settlement endured through the Revoluntary War and the implementation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

The first Africans arrived about 1619. They were prisoners of war from Angola. They arrived as indentured servants, but by mid-century is was common to have slaves for life.

The living history complex at Jamestown has three areas to visit - the fort, the Powhatan indian village, and the ships. There's also a museum that covers its 200 years of history. This is inside the fort. Reconstructed buildings and working craftsmen depict all aspects of life in the settlement.They learned about tobacco as a cash crop about 1613. This storehouse has it hanging from the rafters.

I spoke with this tailor. He was handstitching a new jacket. Though people are in costume, they do not take on particular characters. All are knowledgeable and can talk about life in Jamestown.

The ships on the dock are all open for touring. I asked about the largest one, the Susan Constant, as compared to the Mayflower. It's about 30% smaller. Consider that it took 4 months to cross, most of it spent in the belly of the ship. The smaller ships, Godspeed and Discovery, carried only about 12 - 15 passengers.

We spoke with some of the park interpreters in the Powhatan Village. Relations with the indians were mostly good. The settlers learned from them and traded with them.

My new fact: Pocahontas was never married to John Smith. They knew each other, but she was married to John Rolfe, moved to England and died there a short time later. She was used as a public relations tool for the colony..
The National Park Service offers Historic Jamestown on the original site of the settlement. There's an archelogical dig on the site of the fort, a church tower, and a museum detailing the finds and the work being done there.

Yorktown Battlefield is the exact spot where we gave up colony status to become a nation! Here is where Cornwallis surrendered to Washington's combined American and French army after a 6 year battle. There's a museum in the visitors center.

The park ranger walked us around the battlefield and described the victory and the events leading up to it. He lectured for more than an hour and never lost even one member of his group. He was wonderful! He brought it to life with descriptions of all sides of the event and the should-not-have-happened ending.

This was a cannon battle - not anything like our visions of colonial fighting.

The Yorktown Victory Center is another living history musem. A museum, a recreation of a continental army encampment...

...and a farm showing how people lived in the decade following the Revoluntary War. Ed enjoyed the musket firing.

We got a good taste of modern medicine during the Revoluntionary War.

And so on to Williamsburg. It's a mile long village with homes, shops, restaurants, reenactors and just about anything you can imagine to depict life in the capitol in the 18th Century. This is on the main street:

Our first stop was in the Capitol Building. It's a reconstruction of the original on the footprint of the original. This is one of the courtrooms.

The sights around Williamsburg are charming. It's a huge operation and they make it a lot of fun to be there. Anyone can walk the streets, but to enter the buildings you much have a badge - which you receive with a paid admission.

The Palace was the home of the British Royal Governor in British America. People like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Patrick Henry walked its halls. We took a guided tour of the house and the gardens.

The main street of Colonial Williamsburg is the Duke of Glouster Street. It's about a mile long from the Capitol to the entrance of William and Mary College. There are also active side and backstreets.

The Village is home to the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and the Abby Aldrich Folk Art Museum. We spent an entire day in the Village and returned two more times. Seeing the museums was stop number two.

There are 5 examples of the Declaration of Independence.

American pottery in the folk art museum:We both loved the creamware we saw in Williamsburg. There are reproductions being sold. These are original.

Weathervanes in the folk art museum:

This is a 400 year old quilt:

Here's an example of one of the decorative arts galleries.

Our 3rd trip to the Village was was see the reenactors. Here is General George Washington on the white horse meeting the residents of the Village outside the Capitol building. LaFayette was also in attendence. Washington acknowledged the hardships of life and asked for more from the people.

He showed off his troops...

...and then asked for volunteers for the army. There was this one man in the first row...

They were given sticks to use as guns and drilled in becoming soldiers.

...and then they were marched off down Duke of Gloucester Street led by the troops. General Washington looked so proud!

I was really taken with the guy in the back row...

We then attended a trial of a man who was accused of treason. The charges were unfounded but he pled guilty to another crime, and the court elected to make an example of him for the other soldiers and he was condemed to death. All in one trial.

His wife ran into town and pled for mercy from General Washington who stated he was unfamiliar with the case but would review it. We never learned the result.

The day ended with General Washington reviewing his troops and leading them and all the townsfolk in a parade.

Williamsburg was lots of fun and very educational!

We do D.C.

2009-10-06T21:04:00.034-05:00

Here's a little clue to where we are:

Washington, D.C. - we have descended upon you!

We enjoyed a short eyeball to eyeball with Lauri, Michael, Gaby, Zoie, and Lindsay Reamer, and then we were off to the RV park. We checked into Cherry Hill. It's the closest park to D.C. and they make it very easy to get into the capitol. The local bus line stops in the park and delivers guests to the subway for just 60 cents. We got the benefit of being old once again as we were able to purchase subway passes right at the park at a huge discount.

The National Mall is a mind boggler. There's so much to see and do!!! We began with a stroll past Ford's Theatre (think Lincoln) and then we headed to the Mall. Ed wanted to stop in Air and Space. We set a meeting time, and I headed for the National Gallery.

Ed told me this is the first commercial space plane. It's hanging right next to Lindbergh's 1927 Atlantic crossing Ryan plane.I took the abbreviated tour of the "must sees" and covered most of the 1st floor. This portrait, Ginevra de'Benci, (c.1474) by Leonardo da Vinci, touched me to the core. You can almost read her mind...

We went on to the Museum of the American Indian. The goal here is to let people know who the Native Americans are. Our New Mexico home has given us much more than this exhibition could, but we were struck by the architecture of the building. It's quite beautiful...and unusual.

This red building is known as the Castle. It's the old Smithsonian when it was all housed in one building. Today it's the Visitor's Center and all around interesting building.

We had to go to the Natural History Museum so I could visit...

...the Hope Diamond. It's there in all its 45.52 carats of glory, out of its setting so I could get an even better look at it. The gems and minerals are breathtaking. There are lots of wonderful exhibits in this building.

One day we had official "Monument Day." We began at that obelisk to George. It's much bigger in person than it looks on tv...and more impressive. (That might be because of all the rules about what you can and cannot do around it.) We walked from there down to the Lincoln Memorial stopping at all the monuments along the way. Now this monument is actually quite small and not much visited. It's a memorial to the District of Columbia dead in all the major wars. Viet Nam. It's sobering to see all those names... I was touched by this man doing a rubbing on one of the special papers provided. It took him quite awhile. I could feel his pain.

The Korean War:

Old Abe. It has even more meaning for us since we visited Daniel Chester French's studio.

We were both surprised to find the WWII monument. It was dedicated in 2004 under the leadership of George W. Bush. It's HUGE...and it's beautiful.

Ed took this photo in the very worthwhile transportation wing of the American History Museum. It wasn't one of our favorite museums though I did enjoy the Julia Childs kitchen. They were playing old videos of her shows. She said that when you make a mistake in the kitchen - never admit it!! I'm going to remember that.

The Holocaust Museum is just off the Mall. We can't say we enjoyed it, but we can say we received the lessons, got the messages, and were very proud of our country for teaching this so eloquently. The building is impressive and representative of the story it tells.

The Hall of Remembrance is a quiet place for comtemplation. We both photographed this message. It resonateed with each of us.

The subway took us to Arlington National Cemetary. We hopped on the tram and made stops at the Kennedy gravesites...

...the Tomb of the Unknown where we observed the changing of the guard...

and the Lee Mansion. (Sorry no photo.)

We just keep meeting interesting people on this trip!!! We ran into George and Martha and their grandkids on the grounds at Mt. Vernon.

What a beautiful place. The tour takes you through the entire house and then we were able to explore the grounds and pay our respects at the gravesite. I learned so much about George Washington on this day. He was one remarkable man. Ed took a day trip to Antietum on his own. He also made a stop in Harper's Ferry. This is a shot of the battlefield from the Visitor's Center. This battle was the bloodiest one day battle of the entire Civil War. Over 15,000 on both sides were lost.Harpers Ferry is deeply rooted in U.S. history. John Brown attempted to incite slaves into rebellion. This small fire station is where Brown was captured by Lee and his marines. Brown was tried and convicted of sedition and eventually hanged. This was the prelude to the Civil War.

Harpers Ferry was actually in Virginia. This part of the state became West Virginia in 1863.

We are off to Williamsburg.

The Fire in the Park

2009-10-03T09:19:00.009-05:00

We're staying at Cherry Hill RV Park in College Park, MD while we tour the Washington, D.C. area. We were getting ready to leave one morning when Ed saw black smoke rising from an area not far from our campsite. We walked over and this is what we saw:
The plume of back smoke began to carry pieces of the coach into the air and smoke filled the area. We stood there and watched the motorhome literally melt. It was shocking to watch. People camped on the road were able to report that there was no one inside the coach.

Then the fire trucks began to arrive. This a large park. The trucks converged from every direction.

They connected hoses from all sides and began to douse the fire.

We stood there with our mouths open and watched the whole thing. It took just a few minutes to put the fire out.

The black smoke stopped and the cloud turned white.

Just look at the crew that showed up. Remember that RVs carry propane tanks. They were taking no chances. We all heard the tank in the fire explode.

We got our first look at the damage as the grey smoke began to clear.

The drivers seat frame was still in place.

The fireflighters opened all the walls and then they broke the door on the coach in the next site to make sure no one was inside. There's a lot of heat damage on that RV, and it will be in repair for a long time. Parts of it had begun to melt.

The aftermath just about 30 minutes after it had started:

Here's the story. This older motorhome belonged to a family from New Zealand. They purchased it in California, spent 2 months driving it across the U.S. and sold it two days earlier. It was to be delivered to the new owners just 3 hours after the fire. They had started the engine to charge it up. The fire started at that point. They lost everything including their passports, clothing, computer, and cameras. The park management was very helpful to them.

We had met this family on the bus going to the Metro into D.C. They were very lovely people with two children who had emigrated to New Zealand from Israel. They are all healthy and safe.

How's that for a story about "My Vacation?"

If it's a valley...it must be The Hudson Valley

2009-09-28T17:41:00.083-05:00

We've settled into a very nice RV park in Rhinebeck, NY in the Hudson Valley. We're very close to Hyde Park where we will take in the FDR sites. We have a whole section of the park almost to ourselves. We are traveling in the off season at this point, but never expected to find the park so empty.

The Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a fun place located in the middle of nowhere, especially if you happen to be Ed Kibel. It was established by Cole Palen in 1959 after he purchased the farm. Cole was a pilot and aircraft enthusiatist especially in love with early birds and airplanes up to the 1930's. He used to refurbish and sell early airplanes and then began collecting historical airplanes. His interest in WWI aviation forced him into building replicas as few of the era were found in flying condition. The flight exhibition of the WWI aircraft started in 1960 and continue to date during the summer. The airfield at the farm includes a couple of hangers full of historical aircraft.

This picture shows the flight line of a couple of German WWI aircraft. The red Fokker DR1 triplane and the magnificent Albatross DIII.

There are planes displayed inside the hangers. All are flying replicas of WWI era airplanes.

West Point is located in the Hudson Valley, 50 miles north of NYC. It was established by Congress in 1802 as a cadet school to commission 2nd lieutenants in the U.S. Army. We could not get onto the grounds because of security post 9/11. There is a Visitor Center and Museum outside the academy.

This is the museum. Ed toured while I took Finn for a long walk. I made that decision when I noted the name of the first gallery - The History of War. Ed enjoyed the museum very much for its in depth coverage of warfare from ancient to modern times. It covered American military history beginning with the Revolutionary War.

We took this photo of West Point from on overlook on the approach to the Academy. It sits on the Hudson River which is 200 ft. deep at this point. It was actually a fort during the Revolutionary War.

This is an interesting picture. The Fatboy bomb that was dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
required a B29 bomber to carry just one. This large mortar round which has approximately the same destructive power as the Fatboy, stands only about 4 ft. high.

Ed was taken by this photo of the old West Point Museum circa 1900.

Captain George Patton, during WWI, was a commander of a tank force like this Rennault PT19 light tank.

I got to have a short but sweet visit with my friend Heather Platt. She stopped to meet us on her way back home after a visit to her mom in Canada. We had hoped to spend more time with her, but were pleased to have this time. Finn received the biggest cookie he had ever seen from Heather - and he ate the WHOLE thing!This is the Culinary Institute of America. CIA. We had lunch there - THREE times! On this day - there was a fire drill just as we arrived. I thought maybe it was a receiving party in our honor...but then the fire truck arrived. This is the main building. It's a beautiful campus overlooking the Hudson River. CIA has been there for 60+ years, but the building is older.

Inside the halls are quarter sawn wood with elegant trapping. The students dining hall was once a chapel and the stained glass windows are beautiful. This is the central corridor. The students are working in the kitchens on both sides while we peered at them with our noses pressed against the glass. They seem to be used to it - they just ignored us!

Our first meal was in the Italian restaurant - Ristorante Caterina de' Medici. It was full when we arrived, but we waited to photograph when we left. Wonderful meal, only fair service. We thought it strange when we ordered a cheese plate for dessert, it came with a basket of breads which our waiter immediately took away. We never saw him again...!

Visit number two was with my brother, Bob, and his wife, Sharon. We picked them up at the train station in Poughkeepsie so they could spend the afternoon with us. Poughkeepsie is home to Vasser College. That's where we took this photo.

We had lunch in St. Andrews Cafe at CIA. We waited to take this photo until after lunch. The most handsome and charming Italian man escorted us to our table. He told me he was a lecturer and gave us some information about CIA. This meal was absoutely perfect. Delicious. Beautifully plated. Elegantly served. I could get used to this...

We returned the next day for a quick light lunch in the Apple Pie Bakery Cafe. Ed had a world class BLT and I enjoyed a perfect small salad.

There are two more restaurants there. Next time...

We wanted to see all the FDR sites in Hyde Park. First stop was a photo op with Eleanor and Franklin just outside the Visitors Center. (We've made some very interesting friends on this trip.)

Franklin's mother, Anna, owned the family house which sits on a property that was once the Roosevelt estate.

Much of the land has been sold off. The National Park Service owns and manages the sites that include this home, the museum, gravesites, Top Cottage, and Valkill, and the Vanderbilt estate.

Here's another view of the house. During the tour we were able to peer into most of the rooms on two floors. We found it interesting that Eleanor and Franklin lived here with his mothers bedroom beside theirs. Eleanor was never the mistress of the house.

Outside the home is the rose garden where FDR and Eleanor are buried. The building beyond is the museum.

Inside the door of the museum is the re-creation of the Oval Office. Note all the personal items on FDR's desk.

This is his personal study in the White House. The portrait is of his mother, Anna.

The recounting of a new president's first 100 days began during the FDR administration. He accomplished so much during this short time. FDR took office in 1933 while this country was still in the throes of the great depression. He focused on ways to get people back to work, stabilize the banking system, provide confidence, and guide the country back to solid footing. He began the Fireside chats and became the first American president who spoke directly to the American people.

(Sound familiar...?)

And then there was this new program called Social Security. Thank you, FDR, for making our travels possible.

FDR was quite the speed demon behind the wheel. His personal car - with hand controls - is parked on the lower level of the museum. We heard more than one tale of those who rode with him...in one direction...electing to return by other means.

There's an entire gallery devoted to Eleanor Roosevelts life. She really came into her own after she learned of FDR's infidelity. She remained in the marriage, she began to write, and she pursued her own interests. She traveled the world for humanitarian causes. A remarkable woman...

Each of the Roosevelts had a retreat away from the main house. FDR's was Top Cottage. This lovely stone structure was where he came to enjoy the scenery, birdwatch, and retreat from the demands of his life.

Ed had been trying to get a photo of the wild turkeys we've seen in this part of the country. He finally got one right at Top Cottage. These guys are not small...but they haven't been fattened up for the holidays.

The National Park Service has recreated the interior of Top Cottage to look just as it did during the time FDR used it. No original pieces, but a ringer for the photos.

We sat on the porch with our ranger guide and listened to the silence at Top Cottage. It made it easy to understand why Roosevelt loved to come here. He never stayed here overnight.

Eleanor's hideaway is called Valkill. A kill is an old Dutch term for a stream. (Many of the streets in Hyde Park are named ***kill.) It has two buildings: Stone Cottage where she used to come to get away and the home she lived in after FDR's death until the end of her life. This is the entry over the "kill" up to Stone Cottage.

This is Valkill. It's a lovely home, true to its time with dark panelling and Eleanor's possessions.

The grounds are lovely, with gardens, a tennis court, and swimming pool.

Last stop in Hyde Park - the Vanderbilt mansion. This one is managed by the National Park Service. What makes this one unique is that it remained in the family and the park service was able to purchase it intact complete with some priceless art. No photos are allowed for this reason. Our volunteer guide was wonderful and full of information. That portico on the left looks over the Hudson River.

We both found this display interesting. This is the staff required to keep this house and the grounds going. That Gilded Age was really something... It was hard work getting really for the social seasons.

The grounds are extensive and include formal gardens a short distance from the house. The local gardening club keeps it going for our enjoyment.

The park service always has a visitors center. This one is in a seperate building that was used to house single male guests. We were told the family lived there during the construction of the main house. The stables were a distance away.

We left the Hudson Valley and headed to Washington, D.C. with a stop in Lancaster County, PA.

We bought some local produce at this stand, but the refrigerator in the RV could never handle one of those cabbages.

I think this photo should be titled "All parking lots are not created equal."

I got my fill of quilts. they do such amazing quilting.

Ed spent some time talking with this woodworker. He was planing a table top and they spoke about the hand tools under his bench.

This antique store in an old grist mill became the site of our only purchase so far. We treated ourselves to a spice and condiment set. We've looked at them for years.

On to our nations capitol...

The Nautilus,Mystic, and Newport...so near and yet so far

2009-09-19T09:08:00.050-05:00

Ed went to The Submarine Museum in Groton, CT, the home of the American submarine. This museum celebrates the history of the American submarine. The two circles represent a full size cross sections of an earlier sub and present day nuclear subs.
I went aboard the first nuclear sub in the world - the Nautilus.

It was commissioned 11/30/1954 and decommissioned 3/3/1980 after an illustrious career including being the first sub to submerge under the North Pole. It was build right in Groton.

Here's another view of the ourside of the ship. Even though it's a nuclear submarine and you expect it to be larger, it still retained a lot of the characteristics of the older submarines. Notice how narrow it is:

The Groton shipyard complex has a beautiful and touching memorial to the many American subs lost in WWII. The superstructure of an actual WWII submarine is the centerpiece of the memorial.

We found the most amazing thing when we checked into the rv park - another couple traveling in a Trek. Turned out there was a rally of the New England Safari Club. Well - we own a Safari, so they invited us to join them. We shared two lovely evenings with them and connected with some people we're sure we'll hear from again.

The weather turned cold and misty, but that didn't stop us from spending an entire day in Mystic Seaport. It's a typical 19th century New England fishing and ship building village and a living museum. It's huge. This is part of the model that filled an entire building.

It sits beside the town of Mystic on the Thames River. It couldn't possibly be more charming.

Each building is a mini museum and the place is all about wooden boats...any size...any kind. There isn't a rigging they can't produce. Ed was struck by the size of this one.

The sails are displayed in a huge room complete with sewing machines, hardware, lots of space, and samples in progress.

The rope building is long long long wooden shed. Upstairs they prepare the material and downstairs they made the rope. There are demonstrations.

There's a street of shops. We stopped in and talked with the blacksmith. He was making hooks.

Then there was the navigation equipment shop. Ed got to try out a sextant and the conversation got really technical. We were there for a looong time. We learned a whole lot about how coordinates are plotted and how simple Columbus' navigational tools were.

We got lessons in printing techniques in the mid 19th century in the print shop and the chance to try reading upside down and backwards.

But - this one was my favorite. The cooper took a long time explaining the steps it takes to make a barrel by hand. They were used to hold whale oil so water tight was key. It's a long process and a skilled cooper could make a barrel a day. When we looked at the old ones on display, many were made of quarter sawn oak. They are beautiful especially when they have copper hoops.

I went to a short talk on the Gerda III. This little boat saved more than 1000 Jews in Amsterdam during WWII. She belongs to the Jewish Museum in New York but is living at Mystic Seaport where she is cared for and appreciated for her history.

There were three tall ships in Mystic Seaport this day. The Armistad:

The L.A. Dunton on which I got a lesson in scrimshaw:

And in the working shipyard:

The Charles W. Morgan, built in 1841, and in dry dock for refurbishing.

We climbed a long stairway to the main deck of the Morgan and crawled inside. This is the main deck in it's current phase of construction. The tour of the ship went all the way down to the hold, through the quarters, and provided a lesson in whaling. It was amazing to us that people could live on these ships for voygages lasting from two to three years.

Mystic Seaport was a terrific learning experience!!

The next day we headed out to Newport, RI to visit the mansions of the Gilded Age. Ed learned that the name, Gilded Age, was coined by Mark Twain. It's stuck. And it certainly was gilded!

Newport is tourist tourist tourist. We drove the route to see all the mansions...well, they called them cottages. There were so many people at The Breakers that we opted to tour Marble House. It only has 50 rooms to the Breakers 70. Both were built by the Vanderbilts - different generations.

The front doors are considered the finest metalwork of its time.

And who doesn't need an authentic Chinese teahouse in the back yard???

This is the view of the neighbors from the Marble House back yard.

Those Vanderbilts really knew how to build a house!!! Enough said... We'll visit another of their "cottages" in Hyde Park.

The Freedom Trail and Plimouth Plantation

2009-09-13T19:40:00.044-05:00

And so the pace of touring Boston continues.

Susan Russell came to spend a couple days with us. We planned to walk the Freedom Trail when we visited with her in the Berkshires...let's see...how long ago was that....? We took the subway into Boston and began our walk at North Station...that would bring us to Boston Common at the end. The placque in the sidewalk announces the Freedom Trail...And then you just follow this red brick path for 2 1/2 miles through the history of the city and it's role in the birth of our country.We arrived at Christ Church or the Old North Church after passing Copp's Burying Ground. The church's tall steeple is where the lanterns were hung the night of Paul Rever's ride to warn the people of the advancing British. One if by land, two if by sea. We learned that Revere would not have been calling, "The British are coming" because all the colonists were British. It might have been something like, "The redcoats are coming!"We walked through Revere Mall and looked at the placques dedicated to those who played an role in the Revolution. Ed really liked this statue of Paul Revere.Around the corner is the Revere house. This is where he lived when he made that famous ride to Lexington. He lived here with his first and second wives, and fathered 16 children! The North End is the Italian neighborhood of Boston. There are a million restaurants - all good we were told - and we stopped in one for a delicious lunch. The best part was the two men sitting at a corner table, speaking in Italian, of course. They looked and sounded like they could have come right out of the Sopranos. That little table eventually became the location of eight people, hugging, arguing, and eating heartily. The luncheon atmosphere was perfect! We stopped at a bakery and bought some Italian cookies for dessert. Then there was the pasta shop and the cheese shop... We LOVE ethnic neighborhoods! and this one was the BEST!Faneuil Hall was next. It has always been a marketplace on the first floor. The meeting hall on the second floor is where all sorts of protesting took place. Think: Boston Tea Party and "no taxation without representation." The statue in front is of Samuel Adams. The Old State House was the seat of British government and the first capitol under the first governor of Massachutes, John Hancock. Key events leading to the Revolution happened right in this building. The people in the street are standing on a large round disk that marks the site of the Boston Massacre in 1770.
Here's the Old City Hall. It's a Ruth Chris Steakhouse today with a statue of Ben Franklin in the outdoor dining area. ??? It's an odd feeling to be walking through all this history right where it all happened. And then we came to the Granary Burial Ground.
It's the final resting place of Boston's most famous - Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, the victims of the Boston Massacre. Many of the markers are still in fine condition and we could read about the lives of the people.
We ended the trail at Boston Common where we hopped on the red line train. It had taken us hours and we loved every minute of the walk.

We reconnected with the Meyers family who we met in the Berkshires and spent a terrific day with them. Maureen made a delicious breakfast for us, we piled into their car, and took off for Plimouth Plantation. This sign explains it perfectly!

That's me, Maureen, Jeffrey, Ed, Lanie, and Rich.

We climbed up into the tower to get this photo of the Village. Plimouth Plantation is a living history museum like none we have ever visited. It's made up of the English Village, where the year is 1627 - 7 years after the landing of the Mayflower; the Wampanoag Homesite, where the Native people offer a 21st century viewpoint; and the Crafts Center where modern-day artisans produce 17th century objects.

In the Village, the Colonists are in costume and in character. They talk to you from the perspective of the person they represent and they answer any and all questions as they move around the Village doing what needs to be done - in 1627. This man is William Bradford, the first elected governor of the Village. He spoke with us about this unpaid position and the responsibilities it carries.

We met William Bradford while "touring" this little cottage. He walked in, sat down, and spoke with us. In Plimouth it is proper to visit the inside of all the buildings, walk through the gardens, and ask questions.

The residents are never too busy to stop and talk to you. Life is hard in Plimouth. The people are poor. No one wanted to return to England.

In the Craft Center this woodworker was producing beautiful furniture.

The Wampanoag painted a less than rosy picture of the Colonists arrival. It was quite a contrast to the Colonists optimism. They spoke from a modern perspective while in native costume.

We got into the Meyer's car and drove to the town of Plymouth to see the (replica) Mayflower.

The ship is a museum and we were able to look into every nook and crannie. This is the cabin of the navigator.

There are players here as in the Village. This woman was a passenger. She said she was there unpacking her belongings which included furniture and household items. And she had praise for the Captain for bringing them across safely. She described the conditions and said she stayed below the whole two months. She told us she wouldn't go to California because it was "800 miles to the West." She asked where I was from, I replied, "New Mexico." Her response: "Never heard of it!" I told her that was because I was from the future, and she quipped, "And I'm the Queen of England!" I LOVED her!! There is nothing you can do that will get these actors out of character!!

It was a perfect day with the Meyers. We were able to meet up with them for dinner in a Greek restaurant a week later so we could hug our goodbyes and promise we would meet again...next time in the West.

Battleship Cove in Fall River

2009-09-12T13:43:00.029-05:00

Battleship Cove in Fall River is a floating museum.

The battleship Massachutes of the South Dakota class was laid down 7/20/1939, commissioned 5/12/1942, at the Bethlehem Steel Corp., Quincy, MA. It has 35,000 ton displacement, is 650 feet long, 108 feet wide, 29 feet draft, with main armament of 9 16 in. guns.

The ship took part in the Battle of the Atlantic and then was transferred in 1943 to the Pacific theater where it took part in some of the final major battles of the pacific.

The ship was decommissioned in 3/27/1947. Today it rests in Battleship Cove.

The Cove displays U.S. and foreign ships and boats. The red boat below is a late 1944 Japanses suicide boat. It was laden with explosives and manned by one person. This one was captured intact in 1945.

This rear photo taken from the stern of the Massachutes shows the aft main armament turret.

Here's a model of the Massachutes. It is housed inside the ship which has become a museum itself.

Another model from the museum. It is the St. Paul, a very detailed brass model approx. 7 ft. long and was used for radiation pattern testing.
The St. Paul was a Baltimore class heavy cruiser launched in Quincy Mass on 9/16/1944 and commisioned on 2/17/1945. She displaced 14,500 tons with main armament of 9 8in. guns. Her complement was 1700 officers and elinsted men. She served in the pacific theatre.

Inside the Massachutes again - the crew quarters. The ship complement was approximatly 1800 officers asnd enlisted men.

I took this shot from the bow of the Massachutes. It shows the superposed turrets.

This conning tower is of the fleet submarine Lionfish, a U.S. WWII fleet sub.

Inside the sub, in the forward torpedo room,

Going through this vessel was very claustrophobic to me. I wasn't comfortable. The hatchways are small, everything is close and closed. No space is wasted. The crew slept in shifts as there are only enough bunks for half the crew. This is the main control room.

Here's the engine room.

The photo above shows the Sealion and to its port side the Russian Missile corvett.

The placque below provides a brief history of the Sealion. (Click on it to enlarge it.)

The U.S. destroyer, Joseph Kennedy Jr., is also docked here. This is the aft portion.

And heres the front end.

This is the history of the Kennedy.

Another photo of the Russian missle corvett.

Class and type: Tarantul I class corvett
Displacement: 455 tons
Length:185 ft (56 m)
Beam: 36 ft (11 m)
Speed: 45 Knots
Armament:
One AK-176 76mm gun – 120 rpm
Two AK 630 30 mm six-barrel Gatling guns – 4,000 rpm
Two twin STYXX KT-138E launchers amidships
Two PK-16 chaff launchers aft-16 rounds each
FAM-14 Strella surface-to-air missile launchers

There's so much to see here that I couldn't do it all. I didn't get on the Joseph Kennedy Jr. nor on the Russian boat. There's always next time...

Boston Part Two

2009-09-11T15:47:00.051-05:00

Our day trip to Cape Cod began in Sandwich at the Glass Museum. We watched the demo. That wad going under the press became mine as I was asked to assist and pull the press handle.

The exhibit there is impressive. Much more expensive than we expected. It's a lovely little...may not so little...museum.

We drove to the very tip of the Cape to Provincetown or P-Town to those who are in the know. I loved P-Town!! It's about as *out there* as a town can be. Quintessential beach community. Gay friendly - oh, hell - it defines "gay friendly"! and fun, interesting, and sometimes bizarre shops. It's the most dog friendly town I've ever been around. Every shop had a water bowl out front for Finnegan, and we got stopped every 4 feet by someone who wanted to know what breed he is or to just talk to us about him.

The main street is just one block from the beach and parallel to it.

Everyone had dogs and Finn made lots of new friends.

The National Seashore - also a National Park site - is right at the tip of the Cape. Sort of, turn left to P-Town, turn right to the Shore. The dunes are pristine and beautiful and ever changing with the tides and the winds.

We decided to make it a VERY long day and drove into New Bedford on the return from Cape Cod. We'd been told the Whaling Museum was a must see. And it was!!!

This part of New Bedford is on the National Parks Historical Preservation Program - much like Lowell, MA. As Lowell played a key role in the textile industry, New Bedford played a key role in the fishing industry.

This is the lobby of the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

And this whaling boat is one of the main exhibits.

We were able to crawl all over the boat and then go up to the top level to see all the exhibits around the walkway.

Then there were the galleries, art exhibits, educational exhibits about the industry and the life of the sailor. I photographed one of the Sailors Valentines made out of seashells. We have a smaller one in the Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe.

The carved bone and scrimshaw work is incredible. There are rooms just full of it. When did I ever think of a whale tooth as canvas????

There is, of course, a National Park Service Visitor's Center - in an old bank building. The streets are brick, the old buildings have original signs. We found a woodworker in the meat company building...and I couldn't resist. I walked in and asked, "Where's the beef?" He just laughed and told me it happens many times each day. He showed us his beautiful work. This is the Visitors Center.

A couple streets - brick streets - away is the wharf. It's still a busy place, but the whaling industry is gone.

Gropius House is in Corcord. We didn't tour it, but were invited to walk around the house.

Walter Gropius was the founder of the German school of design called Bauhaus. He taught at Harvard and designed this as his family home. It incorporates all the elements of Bauhaus design - use of industrial material, maximum efficiency of space, simplicity of design. There are glass block walls, chrome bannisters, the circular stairway, straight lines. I couldn't live in it for even five minutes!!!

The front door and exterior stairs:

The U.S.S. Constitution and this destroyer are docked in Charlestown on Boston Harbor.

The Constitution is a tall ship, but the work being done on it has the main masts down.

The weather was lovely and there were lots of boaters out in Boston Harbor that day.

Continuing our well established pattern of Presidential history: Adams was next. John Adams was the first vice president and the second president and his son John Quincy Adams was the sixth president. The birthplaces of both these men and Peace field, the family home of four generations of Adams', are preserved and protected by the National Park Service.

This home is John Adams birthplace. It stand just 75 feet away from another small structure that was his home with his wife Abigail and the birthplace of their son John Quincy Adams.

They purchased this "very genteel dwelling" which Adams named Peace field and and described as "but the farm of a patroit," where they spent their retirement. The home remained in the family for three more generations.

The stone library was once the kitchen. Peace Field has been through many alterations during four generations of Adams. Most of the furniture and artifacts in the home are from the family.

The park ranger told us that this site used to have about 40,000 visitors a year. Since David McCullough's book about the Adams, the visitors now number in the millions! O.K. - now I have to read the book...

Boston Part One

2009-09-11T15:21:00.022-05:00

We have parked ourselves in a very nice park outside of Boston. We could not get closer than 30 miles away, but the park provided us with all the information we needed to get into town. More about that later.

We returned to Concord (very near the park) and visited the local Concord Museum. They told us this is the actual lantern used by Paul Revere on his famous ride. Maybe it is...and maybe it isn't...but I took a photo of it anyway.
I was impressed with the former residents of Concord. Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, Hawthorne. Pretty heady stuff. Their lives were all intertwined by family, work, church, friendship. Emerson was a friend of Alcott's father, a respected educator in his own right, and I have my own theory about Louisa May's feelings about him though he was much older than she was.

Concord is also the location of the Alcott home. Ed opted out, but I toured the place where she lived and wrote Little Women among other books. It's the only historical residence I've visited where we were ushed into each room and didn't have to stand behind ropes or peek in doors. The rooms are filled with the personal belongings of the family. There were so many moms bringing their little girls to take the tour. It was very charming.

Concord is a very exciting town for amateur historians. There's just so much to see. Number one on the list is the National Heritage Museum. We had been to the North Bridge and the Manse but wanted to see what the National Park Service has in Concord. There's a wonderful multimedia presentation on the Revolution that puts it all in order.

The MacLean's of Maine, who were so gracious with their time while we were there, suggested we visit Lowell, MA. It was a fascinating visit!

The National Park Service has designated Lowell a historical site and taken over some of the places we visited. It's part of the Historial America preservation and it's so well worth seeing.

Lowell was a seat of the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. A group of weathly Bostonians decided to invest their money in textile factories and selected Lowell as the location. What remains today are the brick buildings that were built in the first half of the 19th century. It was a working class community for more than 100 years.

They needed water to run factories and Lowell provided that.

The Boote Cotton Mills are staffed with National Park Service Rangers. The museum on the second floor tells the history of the area, the factories, and the people who worked in them.

The first floor is a working museum. There are 90 machines making a variety of fabric patterns. They fire them up and you have the opportunity to experience a texile mill in operation. The noise is deafening! and the whole building vibrates! The Boote factory had 1000 operating machines.

Who staffed these factories? Mill girls, of course. They were mostly farm girls who came from surrounding areas, lived in company provided housing and by company defined rules. They were paid by the piece, so the machines never slowed down. There are testimonies to the damage to hearing, blood pressure, and lung disease. They worked 12-14 hours a day, 6 days a week. When the girls left, the factories employed new immigrants from Ireland and Eastern Europe. And so was born the system of strikes and unions.

The heyday of the mills were done by 1900 and the last textile factory closed in Lowell in the 1950's. Today the large brick buildings are being turned into condos, apartments, and lofts, and Lowell is seeking revitalization.

We also visited the American Textile History Museum. It gives the visitor a new way of thinking about fabric: how the patterns get on it, the texture into it, the materials used to produce it, and the ways in which we use it. The exhibits are wonderful. I was still so taken with our visit to Boote Cotton Mill that I had to take this photo of some of the other machines used in production.

Lowell is also home to a beautiful quilt museum. The current exhibit is of quilts made in Massachutes. No photography allowed, but Ed turned off his flash and got this picture.

The last stop in Lowell - the Whistler House Museum of Art. The home is the birthplace of James McNeill Whistler who's best known for painting a portrait of his mom. They don't have any of his paintings and it was the least impressive of the places we visited in Lowell.

And so...into Boston we went. We drove 25 miles to the Alewife subway station, floundered around buying tickets, and made our way to the Kennedy Museum and Library and later Boston Common...Boston's version of Central Park.

Boston, being the capitol of Massachutes, has a State House. We've tried to visit the capitols of most states we've been in, so we made our way there. It overlooks the Common.

Security was tight here, unlike Vermont, but everyone was very friendly as we piled all buzzer activating stuff into little trays so we could enter.

This is the Hall of Flags, a very large and impressive great hall with three tiers of flags representing every city in Massachutes.

The House of Representatives, very regal...

...and the Senate chamber with a decidedly colonial feel.

The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Lots of memories for me. (Darned if I know why this photo came up sideways - I tried uploading it more than once and it kept turning.) The button in the center that says, "If I was 21 I'd vote for Kennedy" - I wore one of those my freshman year in college. That was before they lowered voting age to match draft age saying if you were old enough to serve you were old enough to vote.

This is the studio in which the Kennedy/Nixon debates took place.

I didn't remember that we had red and blue states, but I do remember sitting up all night watching the returns with no call until the next day. California went red...!

JFK's office and chair and the old tv cameras. Kennedy was the first to do live press conferences.

There are videos of his most famous speeches, a great focus on his legacy - the Peace Corp, the space program, mental health reform, and the arts. The film on the Cuban Missle Crisis is very well done.

The poignancy of this family photograph speaks for itself.

The lower level of the museum overlooks Boston Harbor and his personal boat is outside.

The JFK Library and Museum is an interesting place and well worth a visit. It's focus is on the man and his legacy but is not as indepth as other presidential libraries we've visited. We would have appreciated a tie to world history of the time and explanations of who was in his cabinet and what roles they played.

Camden, Belfast, and the Maine Maritime Museum

2009-09-04T20:59:00.019-05:00

We took this photo in Camden. It was one of those afternoons when we just wandered down the coast stopping in the towns as we were moved to do so.
Surprise! Surprise! Ed wandered into a book store. He found this wonderful one in Searsport that specializes in art books. He got lost for awhile...

We had parked ourselves at the Moorings RV Park. It met the standard I was looking for: it is right on the water. This is the view from where we were parked...o.k... I walked about 50 feet to take the picture...but this is what we could see from our windows.

The private beach was small in the morning. In the afternoon it looks like this:

Finnegan got his very first taste of seaweed here. He didn't keep it in his mouth for very long.

Next door to the park was a pottery studio. I was busy talking to the artist in the studio when Susan Feiner and her husband walked up and said hello. I went completely blank but knew I knew her. She's a fellow docent at MOIFA - and we did a tour together shortly before we began this journey. Take me out of context and my brain cells shut down... That's the best small world story I've got...so far...

We made a stop in Rockland to see the Farnsworth Museum and Homestead. It's a very special place showcasing the work of the Wyeth family. N. C. Wyeth's robust paintings and illustrations, his son Andrew Wyeth's lovely gentle scenes of New England life,and grandson Jamie Wyeth's Seven Sins depicted as seagulls. There also Winslow Homers, works by Louise Nevelson, Edward Hopper and the list goes on and on. Even the building is unusual.

Next to the museum is the William Farnworth Homestead. The wonderful intact 1840's Victorian home belonged to William and Mary Farnsworth. Their daughter Lucy used her inheritance to build the museum and library as a memorial to her father.

Bath, ME is home to the Maine Maritime Museum. Bath has a history of ship building going back to the early 19th century. The Ironworks Shipyard is still in operation building guided missle destroyers for the U.S. Navy. This photo is of the Ironworks.

These are 200 and 300 ton construction cranes and a dry dock.

The museum isn't just a building you enter. It is a collection of original buildings used in the consturction of the largest wooden vessels ever built. These boats were sail powered and designed specifically for cargo carrying. The facility was used from about the 1890's until the 1920's when it was shut down due to obsolescence. Everything was designed and built on site and the grounds are open to tour. This is the interior of the main building.

The largest wooden sail ship ever build was the Wyoming. It was built on this site. The bow is represented in the sculpture below. The shop was close to 400 feet long and had 6 masts. Compare the size of this bow to the building it stands near.

This small wooden schooner was built around the turn of the 20th century. It's docked as an exhibit on the museum waterfrontThe lofting building is where the hulls were shaped. It is an enormous space.

The machine shop was home to wood shaping machines and metal forming machines. Here they fabricated all the pieces of the hulls and fittings. It is also enormous.

The amount of lumber used in construction of wooden ships just boggles your mind. No wonder there is no longer any large scale logging left in Maine.

This drawing is part of the plans for a 6 masted wooden cargo schooner. I especially liked this drawing.

Visiting this place was a great experience.

Acadia National Park

2009-09-04T20:03:00.011-05:00

Acadia National sits on the central coast of Maine. It's a beautiful national park that is a cluster of islands with wonderful vistas of the rocky coastline, granite hills and Cadillac Mountain which rises to over 1500 feet.

Much of the land on Desert Island was owned by the Rockefeller family. They built a system of graveled carriage roads that criss cross the park. They are used by hikers and bike riders, but not automobiles. The 27 mile drive around the park can be done on your own or by riding the free propane buses that have been provided by the L.L. Bean Co. They are a Maine company!

A few vistas we enjoyed while on the drive...

Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on Desert Island and in the park. The top is a rocky cap that provides views of Bar Harbor and the harbor itself. There were no cruise ships in when we were there. We climbed all over the rocks.

Bar Harbor isn't the only harbor on the island. We drove to Southwest Harbor, Bass Harbor, Seal Harbor, and Northeast Harbor - without ever leaving the island! And we went through charming little towns that looked so "Maine." Martha Stewart likes the area too...she has a house on the island.

While doing laundry in the local laundromat, I had a wonderful gabfest with a couple of the locals. They told us the place to see is Schoodic - or more correctly, the Schoodic part of Acadia National Park. One of them even made a stop at the local visitors center and returned to give us a brochure on Schoodic. Not being one to ignore local advise, we set out for Schoodic the next day.

Schoodic is on the very tip of a peninsula between Winter Harbor and Birch Harbor about 20 miles from Ellsworth where we were camped. As we drove down, the fog began to get thicker and thicker. There was an errie beauty about this rocky place.

The water was breaking on the rocks and the view of Bar Harbor and Cadillac Mountain across the bay was completely covered in fog. We were told that weddings are often held on the rocks and that when there's a storm, locals flock to Schoodic to watch it happen.

There's a large research and learning center here. We managed to get lost driving through it, but there weren't any people around. Maybe they were all inside researching and learning...

Prospect Harbor was not far from Schoodic. As we drove the area we realized we were among the lobster fisherman. Right where they live and work. It was late in the afternoon and the days work was done. There was just one man finishing up on the pier.

The boats were all tied up in the water...

And the traps were stacked on the pier.

There was no one around to sell me a lobster. This year the prices are down and there's a sadness about all the money these fisherman are losing. There was even talk about a "lobster war." I was able to buy lobster as low as $3.25/lb - about half of what it usually is.

I've learned all about soft shells vs. hard shell, how big, how to cook, what to eat. Mainers don't eat the tomale - the green stuff inside the lobster. It's the liver and it's where "all the bad stuff" is according to them. But I don't eat lobster all year like they do...

Marvelous Maine or So Many Lighthouses, So Little Time

2009-09-04T19:51:00.016-05:00

We've really been enjoying this time we're spending on the Maine coast. It turns out that Maine is BIG BIG BIG on pottey, and every place we go there are multiple shops and studios. I, of course, attempt to stop in every single one of them. This one was a huge cooperative gallery in Portland. And then there was Edgecomb where they had the most beautiful glazes. Most were crystalline in a rainbow of colors.

This was Lighthouse Day for us. After a little tour of Portland we went to the Two Sister Lighthouses. Here's Ed sitting on the rocks between them.

This is one...

And this is the other.

It's really neat to turn your head to the right, see a lighthouse, and then turn your head to the left and see another. Look straight ahead and see the breathtaking Maine coast in all it's rocky glory.

This is the harbor in Portland. They have been working to revitalize it and have been somewhat successful. They have a way to go. There are shops and restaurants, and sadly, empty stores that have been hurt by the economy. I still haven't gotten used to the lobsters everywhere!!!

It's hard to stop photographing this coast... I took this of the Portland Headlight at Fort Williams. There's a small museum staffed by volunteers. Lighthousing is automated today. Kinda takes the romance out of it...Lighthouses use lenses to reflect. They are huge! This was in the museum at the Portland Headlight.

We reconnected with Jean and Ken MacLean in Scarborough where we were camped. They invited us to their home for a lovely dinner and a wonderful fun evening together. They also spent a day taking us on a tour of the south coastal communities.

Perkin's Cove. Look up "charming" in the dictionary...definition #2...Perkin's Cove. We visited a pottery shop, of course, and met the potter who also happened to be a former neighbor and friend of the MacLeans. We did a little potter talk and looked at her creative work.

Another view of Perkin's Cove.

Here we are with Jean and Ken. We walked the Marginal Way, a trail along the coastline that's dotted with benches to just sit and enjoy the view.

Just another look in the other direction. Can you tell we were enjoying the day?!?!?

Jean and Ken in Perkin's Cove.

Downtown Kennebunkport. That and it's neighbor Kennebunk are charming communities. The homes all look like we think New England will look.

We went through Wells, Ogunquit, Cape Neddick, and York where we enjoyed a delicious late lunch overlooking the water. It really was a perfect day. One of our favorite stops was the Nubble Lighthouse. Ken told us it is the most photographed lighthouse in Maine. And then we took this photo of it.

And then Ken took this photo of us.

Maine was everything we expected it to be. Some of the places, like Old Orchard Beach and York have a 1950's feel about them, and others like Ogunquit, Kennebunk, and Perkin's Cove are more like Carmel and San Clemente on the West coast.

Now we hope the MacLean's will visit us and allow us to be their tour guides in New Mexico.

The Lesson of Sagadahoc Bay

2009-08-28T11:17:00.020-05:00

O.K. I admit it. I was wrong. I almost missed one of the highlights of our travels.

We pulled into Sagadahoc Bay RV Park. I took one look around and announced to Ed that I wanted to leave. Forget that we had paid for three nights. Let's just blow it off and get out of here. Ed stood firm. He said we could manage a few nights even if the bathhouse was too far away and not clean enough, there was basically no management to this park, and I just didn't like it. Then the mosquitoes came out, it rained, and I couldn't get the wi-fi to work. Funksville for me!!

We're over on the right next to the blue house. Ed took this photo from the shore.

The next morning the sun had come out, the mosquitoes were gone, and we began to appreciate the shore and the pretty bay. Note the rocks out in the water. This was 7 a.m.

Those rocks looked a little different at 10 a.m.

The most amazing thing happened at low tide...for about 3 hours the entire bay emptied out and we could walk about a mile into the bay.

Sue and Scott , their daughter Emily, and Otis, their Old English Sheepdog who immediately became Finnegan's best friend introduced us to the morning stroll on the "flats." We shed our shoes to walk on the ocean floor and strolled out to meet the water before it began chasing us back. Finn could run free...and run he did. He came back full of sand, completely wet, and the happiest Kerry Blue in this universe. He romped off to meet other dogs and didn't mind at all when he hit a soft spot and went right under the water.

We met the most wonderful people in this park. Jean and Ken MacLean are Mainers...they actually moved to Maine. Most people move from Maine. We enjoyed an evening in their RV and got some terrific travel information from them.

This is Jean and me with Diane Miller - one of the most generous and kind neighbors one could ask for. Finn went through our screen door and Diane provided me with dog proof screening to replace what was torn. How she ever managed to just have it with her... Clancy belongs to Jean and Ken and Guzzi is Diane's pal...and Finn's.

We took that morning stroll into the water each of the 3 days I would have missed if I'd had my way to leave. This photo is way out as the tide is beginning to return.

Emily and Sue with Otis and Finn. Otis could outrun Finn. They chased birds together.

I like this photo. We took it before we started back. Those little white spots on the right are the RV's.

Finn took a special liking to Emily because she walked him out the farthest.

He liked her so much...that he annointed her... Couldn't believe I got it on film. It became the reason we made an appointment for some minor surgery for him. Seems he's having an early adolescence... He has really good hips...:-)

Finnegan and Guzzi...

...best friends forever! (You can see the RV's off in the distance.)

We think this is the best vacation Finn has ever had!! We've liked it a whole lot too.

Finnegan Meets an Older Woman in Bar Harbor

2009-08-20T06:57:00.020-05:00

We are now on the coastline of downeast Maine. It is the home of Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. It's actually an island - Desert (pronounced Dessert) Island and Bar Harbor is that little town nestled along the water. The highest point on the island and in the park is Cadillac Mountain. It's elevation of about 1500 ft. isn't much to us highlanders from New Mexico, but the view it affords is beautiful. Even through the haze you can see how spectacular the coast is.
So here begins our story about Finnegan and the older woman he met on the island. Her name is Stella, sometimes Stella Bella. She is a beauty...and she's 4 years old - 3 1/2 years older than Finn.

We had barely parked the RV and set up when I went to the market and bought my first lobster. (The going rate is $4-$5 a pound.) He was just a little guy - barely over a pound - and known as a shedder with a new not very hard shell and room to grow inside. Common this time of the year. These Mainers really know their lobster...and they say the shedders are the sweetest. He fit right into the pot outside on the Coleman stove. I was warned not to cook him inside and let the smell soak into the RV. Even the restaurants cook them outside - at least the little roadside ones. He was perfection. Sweet and juicy - like shedders are supposed to be.

There will be more...

There's lobster lore around these parts. Seems there used to be so many lobsters that they crawled up on the beaches. They were fed to prisoners until there was a revolt in the prisons. There's still a law on the books in Maine that states lobsters cannot be fed to inmates more than three times a week.

Now back to Finnegan's story: I have an internet friend I have emailed and spoken to on the phone. Her name is Sharon Riley. She lives in Bar Harbor, and we had a glorious meeting.

Sharon is an artist, a person of heart, a very lovely woman whom we both enjoyed immensly. She gave us one of the maps of Bar Harbor that she created and signed it for us.

Sharon's four legged companion is Stella. She and Finn had an introductory run around a field behind Sharon's home before we took them to the beach. It was immediate love.

Sharon and Stella took us to their favorite little spot along the coast. Here's Finn having his first look at the Maine coastline.

The dogs romped and ran all over the rocks - and then Stella showed Finn her favorite thing to do - get down in the water.

She began coaxing him to join her.

Sharon and I sat on the rocks and watched them run and play while Ed took all these wonderful photos.

Stella kept coaxing but Finn was only going to get his feet wet.

Finally she got a stick...and took it into the water.

Finn went in up to his tummy, splashed around until he was soaked, but he never submerged to enjoy the water Stella-style. He preferred to try to get the stick away from Stella.

We had so much fun with Stella we made a date to meet again the next day.

Hello from New Hampshire

2009-08-15T20:07:00.010-05:00

We've settled into New Hampshire to relax and slow down. We checked into the Fransted Family Campground and we think it's one of the best we've been in. It's well run, has a lovely setting in the White Mountains with large campsites, and the most friendly and welcoming owners and staff.

We took long walks with Finn up on trails where we could let him run off leash. The river runs through the campground and there is a small beach where the children were tubing down the river. The water - cold! We met a lot of people who come here every year.

I'm including this photo of Finnegan. He jumped up on Ed's lap for his nightly chest rub.

Close to the campground is the Robert Frost home. This is where Frost lived. It's now a place where other poets come to write and be inspired by the mountains around them. There is a sign requesting you not disturb resident poets. There was no one there this day.

We made a couple of stops on our short stop in Concord - the state capitol. The is the Franklin Pierce home. Pierce was the 14th president of the United States. He lived in this home for a period of time.

The state capitol sits on the main street in Concord. It's modest compared to some we've seen, but it is unique in that the House and Senate are using the original chambers built in 1819.

The House of Representatives is simple with a quiet elegance.

The Senate chamber is more ornate... It's a beautiful room.

There's an old cog railroad that goes to the top of Mount Washington. It poured while we were there and we were grateful we hadn't planned to go to the top.

We drove the 92 mile circle around the White Mountains. It's a beautiful ride along the Kancamagus Highway.

The highlight for us was Franconia Notch State Park. We paid the tariff and walked the two mile trail to the Flume.

It's a well marked trail that goes up and down hills, up stairs, over covered bridges, and through forests.

The scenery is breathtaking.

We walked along and across the water between granite walls...

....to this waterfall,

We both gave it a 10!

We'll leave here on Monday and head into Maine. We'll spend a little time in Bangor replenishing supplies, and then on to Bar Harbor.

Tanglewood, Herman, the Minuteman, and a Pillow

2009-08-13T16:50:00.037-05:00

We met Maureen and Rich Meyers and their two children at the campground. They live near Boston and have invited us to call them when we get to the Boston area. Both are teachers who spend the summer traveling the U.S. with their children. What an inspiring family. They were full of information for us.

Susan and I decided that we needed to have a girls night out. She suggested a dance performance - something we've done many times before. We went to Jacobs Pillow. I didn't have any idea what I was going to see. The Pillow is a 77 year old institution devoted to dance that has been designated a National Historic Landmark. It is housed on 161 acres of historic property and buildings that was part of the Underground Railroad in the 1800's for slaves escaping to Canada. There are performance stages, rehearsal studios, restaurants, a bookstore, housing for resident artists, a dance archive, a wetlands trail, and more. They present all manner of dance.

We saw a hip hop performance. Nothing like anything I expected. The music was jazz based and the hip hop style was presented with beauty and excitement. It was wonderful! And the after performance chat is called a Pillow Talk...

I, of course, had left my camera in the RV. Jacob's Pillow does have a lovely website...

Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It's a magical venue that draws the very best the music world has to offer. The Boston Pops just happened to be there this week and I got to check another item off my list - hear the Boston Pops on their home turf. And what a beautiful turf their summer home is. Susan joined us for the evening and was our guide, picnic chef, and all around good company. (It's so wonderful to be spending this time with her!) Here we are on the way to the box office.

And here's what I got at the box office. I couldn't believe I had them in my hands.

We began the evening by selecting our spot on the lawn. The pavilion is the Koussevitzky Shed (known as The Shed) where the covered seats face the stage. There were thousands of people on the lawn. There's a large screen ourside (you can see it) and two more under cover. It's sort of like watching live t.v.

There was a prelude concert at the Seiji Ozawa Hall. We took our appetizers, settled on the lawn there, and enjoyed a chamber concert with a South American flavor. This hall is known for it's perfect acoustics - and it's beauty.

Another view of the happenings:

And a look at the grounds from our spot at the chamber concert.

We walked back to the Shed to enjoy the rest of our picnic before the Pops concert.

Ed took this photo during the show. That's Keith Lockhart in the dark shirt.

Ed was in heaven: They did a tribute to Benny Goodman, and Ed jumped and bounced in his seat through the entire first half. It's a pretty good orchestra...

The second half was devoted to Chris Botti. He's a jazz trumpeter. His band is comprised of amazing musicians and he's amazing himself. A great show. You can see the two inside screens in this photo and the one overhead.

And, like every Boston Pops evening...they concluded with Stars and Stripes Forever. Wow!

What fun night! We were so fortunate to have an evening without rain.

Just a thought: We've attended Boston Pops concerts when they are on the road. They are so much better on their home turf. Maybe it's a if-its-Tuesday-it-must-be... thing.

Our next sightseeing stop was right in Pittsfield.

Melville actually lived here for part of his life - in this house. He moved there in 1850 and remained for 13 years. He wrote his most famous works there including Moby Dick. The house remained in the family until 1920.

Another view:

There's a spot near Pittsfield called Monument Mountain where Melville met Nathaniel Hawthorne at a picnic. We heard that Ralph Waldo Emerson also attended , but I never found that in writing.

Before leaving Massachutes, we stopped in Concord to visit the Minuteman National Park. This is the visitors center.

This place was very interesting for a couple reasons. First, it is the exact spot where the shot heard around the world was fired. And second, because it is the Daniel Chester French statue, and we had just visited his studio.

This the North Bridge. You can see the statue to the right of the bridge and beyond the bridge is a home known as the Old Manse.

There was something really exciting about being here. We approached the monument from the rear. 1775 - before we became a nation. It was dedicated 100 years later and the dedication was attended by President Grant.

It's a beautiful work. French was only 19 when he was commissioned to do it.

This is the placque on the front. Well worth reading...

The Old Manse was built in 1770 by Rev. William Emerson, the patriot minister of Concord. This is the front of the home.

From the rear, it looks over the North Bridge and the Minuteman which stands on the very spot where the first shots were fired. Can you imagine witnessing the beginning of the American Revolution on April 19th, 1775....and seeing it from your home?!?! Finn got in a little tree climbing before we left. Just that last look at the North Bridge and the statue.

We're heading North into New Hampshire to spend some time in the White Mountains. Then on into Maine and some lobster!

Sophie and Finnegan's Excellent Adventure

2009-08-10T18:50:00.004-05:00

My mom and dad have been writing all the entries on our blog, but this one belong to ME! I had the most excellent adventure with my new friend, Sophie, and her mom. Her mom is Susan Russell and she and my mom have been friends for a very long time. We visited with Susan and Sophie in Pittsfield, MA in the Berkshire Mountains. They took us to their favorite park and we got to walk for a looong time - and we didn't have to wear our leashes. We could run and play in the brush and our parents didn't mind as long as we appeared sometimes to let them know we were ok. We also had to come when we were called. Here's a picture of Sophie and me walking on the path with my dad.

We didn't always stay with the adults. Usually we just ran along together and darted right and left. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!

Our parents made us sit for a picture together. I hate sitting still... Isn't Sophie pretty?

Here are Susan and my mom. We were just walking along.

Sometimes Sophie would show me her favorite places and sometimes I would lose her in the tall grass. But, we always found each other again.

Susan and my dad found some wild blackberries along the path and the grown-ups all ate some, but they wouldn't let us have any. They said they weren't good for us. I don't believe it.

Then we met Lacy. She's an English Setter and BOY, can she run! I couldn't catch her but I really tried hard. We ran and ran and ran. I guess Sophie did that before because she didn't run with us.

There were lots of other dogs on the trail. Here's the best part: All of their people carry bags full of cookies and everyone gave us cookies. That's Lacy's mom giving me one. Maybe she gave me more like six... It was wonderful! There were so many dogs. We all played. We all ate lots of cookies. We all got really dirty.

Mom had to give me a bath. Then we went to Sophie's house for dinner and we played some more. I couldn't wait to go to bed when we got home. It took me about a minute to go to dreamland.

I'm sure gonna miss Sophie...Love, Finn

American Icons

2009-08-07T09:57:00.022-05:00

We've changed our base of operations to Pittsfield, MA while we enjoy the bounty the Berkshires has to offer. This is where people not only live year round, but there are loads of second homes - cottages, if you will - in charming little villages. We travel around on two lane country roads amidst beautiful surroundings. Everything is lush - provided by the abundance of rain this year - and that includes the mosquitoes. We now carry a generous supply of deet laced spray which we liberally apply as part of the daily routine.

Our good friend, Susan Russell lives here so there's a special connection to Pittsfield.

We bought a four museum pass called American Icons. These are all places in the immediate area and each is unique.

Our first stop was The Mount. Susan spent the day with us visiting the home built by Edith Wharton. The house and gardens are being restored to look nearly as they did when she resided and wrote there.

There are no original furnishings but this collection of books was actually Wharton's. The foundation purchased them and proudly displays them in her library. There are photos of how the rooms looked when she was there.

This room was part of Wharton's personal suite. She usually wrote in bed...but the guides like to say she sat at her desk in this room as she wrote.

Her first book was The Decoration of Homes. She had a distinct style...I suppose this entitled her to write a book. The house is interesting but not nearly as gracious as others we've seen from the Gilded Age.

Books we all know...Ethan Fromme and The Age of Innocense.

There are two gardens. This is a formal Greek garden (that's my pal Susan sitting on the bench) in which there are no flowers. She wanted it to be "beautiful" all year round.

On the other side of the house is the English flower garden.

The rear of the house is grand and imposing. The front is plain, symetrical, and gives no hint of the grandness of the back.

The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge holds the record as the snootiest museum I've ever been in. The lady at the information desk was the only friendly person we met. We ran into docents who had incorrect information and cafe employees who weren't interested in waiting on us.

Despite the mood of this place, I'm a true fan of his work. His sense of humor, storytelling ability, and skill in capturing the America of his time is a joy to see.

Rockwell's studio has been moved to the property and it was interesting to be in one of his workspaces. He lived in Stockbridge but not on this property.

The museum's 122 acres includes this lovely old stone residence. It's where the administrators have their offices.

Daniel Chester French. We weren't familiar with his name. He died in 1933. He was a sculpter who was very successful in his lifetime. You might know a couple of his pieces: The Minuteman and The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

His studio is Chesterwood. It was his summer home. It's a gorgeous property with a Woodland Walk. Just watching the sunlight play on the setting was wonderful. There are modern sculpture pieces displayed along the path.

I took this of a tree stump. Lots of rain has fallen on this land...

After walking the path through the woods, we came to French's studio. No photos allowed inside, but we got this through the door. He had a plaster casting room off to the left, and a very large pair of door immediatly left. The floor panels can be lifted to expose a set a train tracks.

French would roll his works outside, stand on the hill to look at how the light played on them, and then make corrections as he saw fit.

Beside the studio stands his family's summer home. They also had a brownstone in New York. His daughter lived in the house and saw that it was preserved exactly as it was. She and both her parents passed on in this house.

Hancock Shaker Village - one of the last groups of Shakers in this area. It was once a working village, inhabited by several hundred Shakers.

We listened to a lecture about the Shakers. They were peaceful people. Didn't believe in marriage. Lived as brothers and sisters. Their communities were self sustaining. They believed in equality of the sexes. Their founder, a woman, considered herself the second coming of Christ, and they accepted just those parts of the Bible they considered relevant to their lives.

Their lives were defined by simplicity.

They were called Shakers because of the way they shook when in worship.

The red brick building was the residence where they lived - men on the East side and women on the West side.

The round stone barn is the centerpiece of this community. It's huge.

This docent was in the weaving shop. They wear the costumes of the Shakers and do the work as they would have done.

This is the basket shop where they made the beautiful bent wood baskets.

The broom shop.

The cloak shop. These cloaks became a fashion statement in their time.

The Shakers are gone, but we were pleased we had this chance to visit their lifestyle.

Touring Vermont

2009-07-31T16:32:00.005-05:00

We always try to visit state capitols when we are nearby. Montpelier, Vermont has a most unusual state house. We didn't have to go through security to enter the building. It has an open door and though small by most standards, it's a lovely building with a welcoming feel.

The building has been restored, but much of the furniture and most of the fixtures are original. This room is the State Senate.

The House of Representatives is slightly larger. The Speaker of the House this day was from New Mexico.

We stopped at the Ben and Jerry's factory but decided not to wait to take the tour. The place is really cute, lots of fun for children, and pure advertising hype.

Next stop was Rock of Ages. This is a granite quarry and fabrication factory. They have a big visitors center when they sell "stuff" and they give tours of the quarry. We hopped on the bus and found it to be extremely interesting.

They quarry a grey stone out of this spot (they have many other quarries) and the major business is memorials. We got a real lesson in how the large pieces of stone are removed, graded, and fabricated.

Another view of the area. The depth of the pits is over 600 feet and the slabs as heavy as 200 tons. There's a lot of special equipment to raise the slabs.

Then we took the self guided tour on the catwalk in the factory. This is just a part of the factory where they work with the stone. They fabricate the raw granite into industrial slabs for building construction, precision table tops for optical manufacturing, and ornate memorials.

This was a new industry for me but very familiar processes for Ed.

Ethan Allen was a frontierman and hero of the Revolutionary War. He was also the unofficial founder of the State of Vermont. He's a big deal here.

We visited his homestead just outside of Burlington. The house is restored to its original design.

This is what it looks like on the inside. It went through many incarnations over the years and was lived in into the 1970's. Today it's a state monument.

We're headed down to Bennington in southern Vermont. So, it's time to share some of our impressions of this state.

It's beautiful and pristine. There are no billboards, signage is no more than 10 feet tall and downsized, forests are so thick you cannot walk through them. Taxes are very high and increases on property are about 5% per year. They want to preserve this beauty and do not welcome industry to the state. People move out because they can't afford the taxes on their homes. Vermont seems to be a state for the wealthy. It appears they value those who have personal income.

Vermont - Home of Americana

2009-07-31T08:57:00.013-05:00

We arrived in Vermont after driving in pouring rain and settled into a lovely campground in Colchester just outside of Burlington. We meet our neighbors, Maryse LaForce and Jay O'Brien, with whom we enjoyed a lovely campfire and an uncanny commonality of interests. Something tells us we will cross paths again in the future.

Burlington is a charming town. And thanks to the Colchester Library, we were able to check our email a couple of times.

We headed out for a drive to Stowe just about 45 minutes from the campground. We made a stop at a cider factory. Ed was fascinated by the old press.

Stowe looks like all the Charles Wisocki paintings and prints. Actually, all the villages in this area look like his paintings and prints. They even have the cute names he uses and quaint signs. We took this photo in Stowe.

We had one absoutely lovely day weatherwise and we jumped on the opportunity to use it at the Shelburne Museum. This is the entry visitor center.

What a special place this is! It was founded in 1947 by Electra Webb whose ancestry goes back to the Vanderbilts and Havemeyers. She was a collector of Americana and envisioned this place as a collection of 17th and 18th century buildings from New England and New York in which American art could be displayed.

Buildings have been moved to the property, restored, and now house collections ranging from quilts, Quaker artifacts, furniture, whole stores, a steam ship, a train station, a 1950s house, pre and post impressionism and more. It's set up as a village and has beautiful gardens and walkways.

This day lilly garden is outside of the circus parade building.

Here's the inside - it's everything circus. The parade exhibit is over 500 ft. long and hand carved between 1925 and 1955.

Outside is a merry-go-round on which Ed had his first ever ride.

The Ticonderoga (that's Ed sitting on the paddlewheel) was one of the last of its kind, a paddlewheel driven, vertical beam steam engine
ferry. It was built in Shelburne in 1906 to operate on Lake Champlain. We were able to visit all parts of the boat.

The old train depot looked exactly like the one in Sheboygan while I was growing up.

Whistle stopping on the old elegant train car...

The old general store is filled with items of the day. There's a pharmacy, a barber shop, and doctors and dentists offices upstairs.

I couldn't resist taking this photo of one of the cabinets in the pharmacy. Some of this stuff looks downright scary!

Also in the pharmacy. I think they're actually using leeches again...

This was my favorite building. It's houses American folk art - at its finest. Not only permanent collections, but special exhibits as well. There are exhibits downstairs, upstairs, in closets and around every corner.

The Shelburne Museum is well known in the quilt world. They have the premier collection of historic American quilts. And there was a special exhibit as well as a good selection from the permanent collection. I was in hog heaven chatting with this docent. She was working on a red work quilt and we jumped right into "quilter talk."

The special exhibit on rug hooking was amazing! These were my favorite pieces. They don't use latch hooks, but just pull the wool strips up to create a smooth rounded surface. The finite detail achieved by this artist is incredible.

Another current special exhibit is by Louis Comfort Tiffany. It includs not just the lamps, but also pottery, furniture, jewelery, silver flatware and decorative items.

I love this photo of the grounds.

This is an important museum. We'll remember it as a highlight of the area and certainly as a cronicleer of American art history.

Soaking Wet Ottawa

2009-07-27T14:24:00.006-05:00

I took this photo through the window. Just a few seconds later we were outside walking in it. Our umbrella blew inside out as we cuddled under it. Our feet got soaked. Not the most optimal conditions for sightseeing, but we managed anyway.

This is the capitol of Canada. Akin to visiting our capitol in Washington, D.C. It's a large complex with free tours provided by ticket/reservation. Security was similar to an airport and took a good long time.

The tour was quite wonderful and interesting. I'd be posting a photo of the capitol library but it is the one room we could not photograph. It is also the most beautiful.

Ed took this photo of the river from the back of the capitol grounds.

Our cup overflowed on this day. We were stopped by U.S. security when returning and had to wait at the border while they searched the car. We're not sure what they were looking for, but apparently we matched some criteria for suspicious persons. I suggested they straighten up our mess, but border patrol officers don't have a sense of humor...!

We enjoyed the day, but we were happy to get back "home."

On to Vermont. First stop: Burlington. The weather report is for rain daily. I think I'll start wearing my cowboy boots...!

So many islands...so little time...

2009-07-27T11:52:00.015-05:00

We returned to Corning on our way out of this part of New York state to make a stop at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art. We didn't expect much, but found a collection of very impressive works. Could it be that we were feeling elistist being from the "real" west...

Not too shabby...

We stopped in Ithaca - ok, we spent a night at Chez Walmart - on our way up to the 1000 Islands region.

This is the home of Cornell University. What a beautiful campus. All the buildings are of this gray brick and reminded us of Oxford. Lots of grey matter here.

We met Sasha Gutfraind while doing some computer time at a local cafe. He's just one month away from a PhD in mathematics. A delightful young man straight from Russia via Israel and Canada. We may see him again in Albuquerque if he accepts a position with UNM.

We arrived on the St. Lawrence River, set up in Clayton to await our mail, and drove immediately to Ogdensburg to see a museum devoted to this man:

Frederick Remmington spent time in Ogdensburg during his life. They have received his personal collection of his own work and a large selection of Tiffany pieces. Seems the men were friends... The museum is housed in this ornate Victorian:

Ed was overcome in the gallery. I think this is his version of Heaven.

The towns along the river are really just villages. We drove through many of them and came upon this at the end of a road along the water just outside of St. Vincent.

Tibbits Point Lighthouse sits on the point where Lake Ontario dumps into the St. Lawrence Seaway. (Note - see how big Finnegan Morriarty O'Kibel has grown.)

We opted to take a boat trip on the St. Lawrence and did so out of Clayton where we were staying. This freighter passed us on the water.

Now, Clayton is a cute little town and quite friendly, but we weren't prepared to become "locals" after just a few days. We began to be recognized by some of the people who have their morning coffee on the main street each morning. They knew our yellow Jeep and remembered we were from New Mexico.

Our boat, the Miss Clayton, took us to Boldt Castle and back. Our very good guide told us about the history of 1000 Islands. (There are actually 1800 islands...but according to our guide, the first indian who saw the area said to his wife, "There have got to be to 1000 islands in here...!")

Here's a view of Clayton from the water.

We sailed past Millionaires Row. People live well on the water...

...and arrived at Boldt Castle. Now here was a man who really knew how to tell his wife he loved her. He built her a castle - a real castle. She died of consumption before it was completed, he had work stopped, and never set foot on the island (known as Heart Island) again. The historical society is rebuilding it and allows visitors to visit both restored and unrestored areas. This is the front of the building:

There is also a boathouse across the river: (Jim Steckart - keep this in mind for your next boathouse. ;-D)

A Power House:

A children's playhouse and other buildings in various states of repair.

A couple more homes on Millionaires Row. The photos don't capture the elegance of these dwellings.

1000 Islands is a very interesting place. It seems to be in a time warp 50 years ago. It's way past its prime as a place to live or visit, yet the natural beauty of the place is like none other.

We took one day and drove over the bridge and up into Ottawa, Canada. It never stopped raining the entire day. We drove in the rain, walked in the rain, toured the capitol in the rain. We would have loved to do more, but the weather actually managed to slow us down. Neither of us had dressed for the cold dampness.

(I'll have to post a photo of the capitol next time...seems the blogger won't let me put in here now.)