Monday, June 20, 2016

We are at Liberty Harbor RV Park, which advertises itself as the closest RV park to New York City.  It’s actually in Jersey City, NJ, across the river from Manhattan.

And while the view out the back window is nothing to write home about:

you can see Lady Liberty from the front of our rig if you try hard enough.

The view does get better in the evening.

The park is a paved parking lot with water and electricity available.  It serves its purpose well and has a prime location.  I was all for avoiding New York City but Steve wanted to see the Statue of Liberty.  This park is near the ferries to Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and Castle Clinton (which preceded Ellis Island as an immigration center).

Named after an early governor of New York, Castle Clinton originally protected the city.  Until the 1850s, there was no regulation of immigrants.  Castle Clinton became the first immigration center.  Steve has ancestors who came through Castle Clinton.

Steve figured out all the ferries and explored Castle Clinton on Sunday after we arrived.

Monday our first stop was Ellis Island.  This is where your ancestors were processed if they came through New York between 1892 and 1954.

This is the hall where the immigrants were evaluated physically, mentally and legally.

On most days, they processed 3000 immigrants.  Their biggest day was about 12,000.  Most immigrants were processed the same day they arrived and were on their way.

Our next stop was Liberty Island, the home of the Statue of Liberty.  I hadn’t been here since I was 3, and Steve hadn’t ever been.  She’s a beautiful lady, who welcomed millions of immigrants, many of them refugees, to this country.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

- Emma Lazarus

Most left bad conditions in their homeland – police and religious persecution, conscription of young boys into the army, and famine, among others.  Others fled for their very lives.  They gave up everything and everyone they knew for a chance at a better life.  Many traveled hundreds, even thousands of miles to get to a port to catch a boat.  They came with the clothes on their backs and, maybe, one satchel, bag or basket.  For most, whatever future was ahead would be better than what they left behind.

They saw the lady with the lamp and knew they had made it to America.  They had reached their goal.  And many had no idea what would come next.  But at Ellis Island they were processed quickly, fed, and given a bed if they could not be processed that day.  It was quite a change from a harrowing 15-day sea voyage with little to eat.

They gave up everything to come to this land, as millions before and since have done.

Steve and I both have ancestors who came through either Castle Clinton or Ellis Island.  They ended up in Wisconsin and Indiana.  Other ancestors came even earlier, on even more harrowing journeys.

Most people haven’t come to this country lightly.  They come for a better life.  We had a Russian student (who is now our daughter) staying with us when 9/11 happened.  As we watched the twin towers burn, she turned to me and said, “I still feel safer here.”

Deb

Saturday, June 18, 2016

We are at a KOA campground somewhere between Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD.  It’s as close as we can get to Steve’s dad’s place.

But the campground is quite nice. Here’s the view out our window:

After Charlottesville and Montpelier, we headed towards Williamsburg.  It was a short drive, so we got the trailer settled and went into Colonial Williamsburg for lunch at one of the taverns.

Colonial Williamsburg is part of the modern city of Williamsburg, VA.  There are a few people who actually live in the colonial area and the church still has an active congregation.  No motorized traffic is allowed between 8 am and 10 pm, but there are parking lots on the perimeter to park if you want to eat at one of the taverns.  I had looked at the menus on line and chose Chowning’s Tavern, which is housed in an 18th century building.

It’s always fun to walk through Williamsburg.  It’s a step back in time, with boardwalks instead of sidewalks and streets that appear to be dirt, but aren’t.  I’m sure it’s much cleaner and neater than during revolutionary times.  Characters in historic costume stroll through, engaging the tourists.  They tend to make a special point with kids.  There were several engaging the kids in games in an open area.  And there are reminders of how different life was.  This is how goods were moved in the 18th century.

We had stopped at Williamsburg for a few days on our honeymoon 43 years ago and had eaten at Chowning’s tavern.  We had Brunswick stew and I bought the Williamsburg cookbook so I could make it.  I still make it once or twice a year.

We also decided on our silverware at Williamsburg.  We hadn’t found anything we liked before we got married and were going to use what Steve had from his apartment.  The taverns in Williamsburg all use a Queen Anne pattern silverware – pistol grip knives and 3 tined forks.  We liked them and were able to find them later.

So – lots of memories at Williamsburg!  We hadn’t bought tickets to any of the historical sites, but the church is open to all.  It’s still an active parish. Bruton Parish Episcopal Church was built in 1714 and has seen a lot of history.  Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia during the revolutionary period, so this was the church that the elected officials attended when they were in town.  Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Patrick Henry all attended this church.

The next day, we went to Jamestown Settlement.  This site is run by the state of Virginia and is next to Historical Jamestown, which was the actual site of Jamestown.  The Settlement has a reconstructed fort, a Powhatan Indian Village, and reconstruction of the 3 ships that brought the settler’s in 1607.

We had stopped at Jamestown before and my memory of the ships was that they were TINY.  They weren’t as small as I remembered.  This is a replica of the largest ship, the Susan Constant.  It was 116’ by 25’ and carried 71 people and supplies for a year.

Only one of the smaller ships was there, the Discovery.  It was 66’ by 14’ and carried 21 people and supplies.

Neither one is large enough for me to cross the ocean in!

Our next stop was Chelsea Plantation, the home where Steve’s 6-times-great-grandfather, George Seaton, grew up.  His mother married the owner of Chelsea when George was about 2.  The house was built in 1709.

We had tried to visit about 18 months ago, but hadn’t managed to make a firm reservation.  Although they accept visitors, it’s still a private home.  The current owner is a descendant of Augustine Moore who built the house, although the house had been sold several time and the owner’s father had purchased it back.  So Steve and Billy, the current owner, are distant cousins and share a relative in Steve’s 7-times-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Todd Seaton Moore, George’s mother.

The public rooms still have the original paneling, including at least one in walnut.  The stairway is lovely and original.  Billy has decorated the house with his collection of antiques and 18th century paintings.  The house is amazing and we are glad we were able to see it.

We then headed for Delaware for a few days and found some great seafood before heading back to Maryland to visit Steve’s family.  We were able to celebrate Steve’s dad’s 93rd birthday with him and Steve was able to get some chores done for his dad and his sister.

Tomorrow we head for New York.  We’ll actually be staying in New Jersey, but just across the river from New York, where we have plans to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

So long for now!

Deb

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

We are in Charlottesville, Virginia, home of 3 of the first 5 presidents of the United States: Jefferson, Madison and Monroe.  Washington was also from Virginia, but from the eastern part.  Adams, who was the second president, was from Massachusetts. 

We visited Montpelier, the home of James and Dolley Madison.  James was the fourth president of the United States.  He’s known as the father of the Constitution.  He deeply researched self-governance while the country struggled under the Articles of Confederation and then championed the idea of a constitutional convention, even persuading George Washington to attend.  The convention adopted many of his ideas. 

James was raised and died at Montpelier.  Dolley had to sell the home after James’ death and it passed through several hands before it was purchased by one of the DuPonts in the early 1900’s.  The DuPonts massively remodeled the estate, but their daughter, who lived there until she died, left it to the National Trust to be restored to how it was during James and Dolley’s retirement from Washington.

Behind the house was a touching statue of James and Dolley Madison.  

The pictures show the dense forestation of the area.  Much of the area is cleared for fields and buildings, but this is a forested area of the country.  We are continually driving down roads that are tree tunnels.  With all the twists and turns, it’s easy to suppose that many roads follow the trails and footpaths that preceded actual roads.  From the highway, the mountains and hills are covered in trees, with the valleys sheltering towns and farms.  

The area around Montpelier is filled with large horse and cattle farms and small homes.  We passed several other homes that probably date back to the same period as Montpelier, notable for the number of chimneys they had.

When I last posted, we were in Ohio, traveling the hills of southern Ohio.  We crossed the Ohio River into West Virginia and the mountains.

This is when we thank our farmer friends for strongly suggesting a 1-ton diesel pickup.  Steve’s big blue truck (our granddaughter Maria’s name for it) pulls the trailer nicely.

We stayed Monday night at Little Beaver State Park in West Virginia.  The view out the back was quite pleasant, mainly because there weren’t many other campers.

The next morning we got up and drove about 1.5 hours to Lost World Caverns.  I’m not terribly fond of caves, but Steve is and this one had some good reviews.  They had a couple of llamas (I think) out front who had interesting haircuts.

The cave had a 45-minute self-guided tour and I thought I could manage that, so I joined Steve.  It had a lot of interesting formations; I was most intrigued by the ones that looked like folds of fabric and not the normal stalactites.  

I’ll probably skip the next few caves we visit, but Steve will take lots of pictures.

We’re headed next to Williamsburg and hope to visit the plantation on which Steve’s six-times-great-grandfather grew up.

Deb

Sunday, June 5, 2016

“On the road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again!”

We are just outside of Chillicothe, Ohio.  After tentatively planning to leave June 1, I had pushed it back to June 2 in my mind.  Then Sunday, May 29, I managed to trip on the sidewalk and scrape up my left knee, arm and hand.  Nothing was broken, but it was fairly painful and certainly slowed me down.

So now we were planning on Friday, June 3.  Then my back/hip pain that I had been having for a while got worse and since it was on my left side, where I fell, x-rays were taken.  Again, nothing was broken but I have some issues with some disks.  The treatment is anti-inflammatory drugs and ice and heat.  I slept in on Friday and we moved leaving until Saturday.  We worked hard Friday afternoon and most of Saturday morning, in the rain.  Leigh was a tremendous help.  But we were more organized than ever inside the trailer.  We finished before noon on Saturday and expected to leave after lunch.

Then we looked at the forecast, which was rain and thunderstorms all Saturday into the night, clear across the state.  Since it is no fun setting up in the rain and we don’t HAVE to be anywhere until the 14th, we decided to stay home one more night.  As we were watching the evening news, the Indianapolis station broke in with tornado warnings near where we would have been camped!

So we left early Sunday morning and had a nice drive to Chillicothe.  Steve found us a nice campground and while we don’t have a terrific view out the back window, I’ve been watching a swan swim around the lake out our side window.  You can’t see the swan in this picture.  I’ve had to use the binoculars to really see him.  He ducks down in the water occasionally, looking for dinner.

We are now in southern Ohio, so we have some hills and everything is very green.  When we were headed home in March, we kept driving through spring, it seemed and most of the trees hadn’t leafed out yet.  Although we did get to drive through several areas lined with what we were told were Bradford pear trees.  Whatever they were, they were lovely.

Shortly before we left Indiana, we both noticed something in the sky.  It was a line/change of color clear across the sky.  I’ve enlarged this picture hoping you can see it.

I don’t know what would create that.  Hope it shows up.  If you have a clue, please let me know.

We’re headed to New England and eastern Canada via Virginia and Maryland.  I’ll try to keep up with my posting, but the easiest way to follow me is to sign up for email.  Then, when I do post, it shows up in your inbox.

Deb

P.S.  Last year at this time we were throwing snowballs and catching sight of our first bear in the wild.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

We are at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, Forsyth County, North Carolina, just outside of Winston-Salem.  Steve’s nephew, Bryan, and his wife, Katie, live here and recommended the park when we visited 3 years ago.  It’s a great county park that offers walking and biking trails, horseback riding, golf, swimming, playgrounds and a dog park.  It’s a well used park.

Oh, and it has an RV campground.  This is my view:

I last wrote from Beverly Beach, where we had an ocean view. We had dinner there with Steve’s sister Nancy and her husband, Graham. They are building their retirement home near there and happened to be in town to talk to the builder. 

Steve tore me away from my beautiful view March 2, but the wildlife gave us a good show before we left.  There was a group of 7 pelicans that we had watched over the course of our visit and they did a fly over that morning.  We also saw more dolphins and even a few whales (or at least their spouts).  But soon we were on the road and headed for River’s Edge Campground on Tybee Island, Georgia, near Savannah.  A fellow camper had suggested this campground, so off we went.  We were now officially headed north for home, with a stop at my dad’s in New Bern, NC, along the way.

As we headed for Georgia, the scenery changed to coastal marshes.  The coasts of Georgia and South Carolina are home to more than 100 islands, the most famous of which is probably Hilton Head.  But the coast is riddled with marshes that border the islands, rivers, and coast.  It’s not uncommon to have a mile long bridge that goes over a river that is flowing through marshland.  Some times home docks stretch 100 yards or more before reaching navigable water.  It was very hard to capture a picture that would depict this, but here’s my attempt.

The sea islands were originally settled by the Spanish who were driven south by the English and plantations established on many of them.  Sea island cotton was a luxury item.  With so many islands, the area was also a haven for pirates who could hide on the various waterways.

Near Tybee Island is Cockspur Island, where Fort Pulaski was established to protect shipping into and out of Savannah.  The fort was completed in 1847.  Robert E. Lee oversaw part of it’s building.  It was thought to be impenetrable except by large cannons, which couldn’t be brought close enough to the island to do damage.   The governor of Georgia occupied the fort at the very beginning of the Civil War, but abandoned nearby Tybee Island, allowing northern troops to establish a foothold on the Georgia coast.  They built batteries and brought in rifle-bored cannon, a relatively new invention, which were more accurate and had a longer range than previous cannons.  The walls of the fort were breached and the fort surrendered.  That brought shipping in Savannah to a halt for the duration of the war.

We had a wonderful interpreter telling us about the fort.  He was dressed in a Union Civil War uniform.

Tybee Island is a tourist destination and as a result has lots of restaurants.  We enjoyed several, including one we walked to for dinner one night and took this picture on our way home.

Our next stop was James Island County Park, outside Charleston, SC.  Two of Steve’s nieces, Jennifer and Meredith, live here and we had lunch with them.

We also managed to finally catch the SpaceX launch at nearby Folly Beach, NC.  The launch was due about dusk, and although we were several hundred miles away, Steve wanted to try and see it.  So we found a restaurant on the beach and went out on the pier after dinner and were lucky enough to see the vapor trail.  I don’t know if you can make it out in this picture.

Steve was happy.

Charleston has some unusual architecture.  The old houses are long and narrow and set perpendicular to the street.

The style developed to take advantage of the prevailing breezes and the porches are always on the South and/or West side of the houses to shade the house from the sun.  The porches and side yard were used as an extension of the house, so for privacy, there is a front door on the street that opens onto the porch.  The side yards were typically fenced.  Because of this, the north and east sides of the houses might have few windows, allowing more privacy for your neighbors.  “Charleston manners” dictated that you not notice anything out those windows.  There are a surprising number of these homes still standing.

I’d like to get this posted today, so I’ll sign off for now.  We will be home by Easter!

Deb

Monday, February 29, 2016

We are at Beverly Beach Camptown RV Resort in Flagler Beach, FL.  And this is my view.

I think the only time I’ll be moving from my chair is to take a walk and sleep.  This is awesome!  Lots of birds, people and dogs to watch!  

Pelicans for my dad:

And here are several that I’m not sure about, although I think they are gulls.

These have funny haircuts:

Our two weeks in Cocoa, Florida, were very relaxing.  This sign at our campground sums it up.

We visited with Joan and Pat, friends from our college days, and Joan’s friend, Bill.  One of Steve’s amateur radio buddies, John, was close by, so we visited him and his wife, Diane.

Steve also went to Kennedy Space Center.  Since I’ve been in the last 5 years, I really didn’t feel inclined to go.  But he went on two different days, visiting the Space Center and trying to catch a SpaceX launch.  Unfortunately, the launch still hasn’t gone, but he did get some pictures.  The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket vehicle is the vertical white pole on the right surrounded by four taller towers.  I like the rainbow.

He also took a picture of Snoopy, who helped publicize the space program.

And one of our favorite artifacts at the Space Center is this front page cartoon from the Indianapolis Star:

With the help of Tripadvisor, we also had some great meals, including one in a restaurant made out of two train cars.  Ben, in Chicago, we were thinking of you!

We drove over to Port Canaveral one day for lunch.  Lunch was great – bacon wrapped scallops for me and a shrimp Cuban sandwich for Steve.  There were several ships in port and we drove around trying to get a decent picture of the Disney ship.  That didn’t happen but the car from Ghostbusters was sitting outside a car museum.

We never know what we’ll see!  This morning, as we were watching birds dive for fish and people walk their dogs, a pod of dolphins swam by.  They were working their way north fairly rapidly and we barely caught a picture, but it was cool!

I’ll close with sunrise and sunset pictures.  And, yes, I’ve gotten up to see the sunrise two days in a row.

Sunset:

Deb