Category: USA 2017

Before we left Petersburg Virginia this morning, we had a very special stop to make…  The Old Blanford church which is today a Confederate Memorial site.

We were out of the hotel at 9am but the church didn’t open until 10 so we spent the next hour exploring the historic part of the city of Petersburg. Established in the mid 1600s, it was, for the next 200 years, a major hub of industry and commerce on the eastern seaboard as well as an important strategic point in the Civil War of the 1860s (north against the south over the abolishment of slavery).

Then it was time to visit the Old Blanford church. We walked into the visitors center exactly at 10 o’clock and were the only guests there. We were greeted by our guide Chuck. We had him all to ourselves as he led us through the cemetary and into the church all the while weaving the story of the southern Confederate army and the townspeople of Petersburg as they defended their city against the Union army of the north. In the vast cemetary surrounding the church are buried 30,000 confederate soldiers!!!

The church itself was designated a Confederate Memorial site in 1901 by the Women’s Memorial Association who commissioned Louis Comfort Tiffany to create 15 stained glass windows to honor the dead. These windows were paid for by the 13 Confederate States, 1 by Maryland who was a southern sympathesizer, and one donated by Tiffany himself (the Cross of Jewels). All are signed by Tiffany. They are absolutely spectacular… most windows depict of a martyred Saint. Photos are not allowed inside the church so I bought a gift store booklet and photographed the colored pictures for my blog. These pics cannot show the real beauty. You would have see them for yourself to really appreciate them.

Carrying on, we drove south and out onto the narrow spit of land called the Outer Banks. Only wide enough in places for the 2-lane road, it is essentially a sand dune that extends for many miles along the Atlantic coastline.

We passed through Kitty Hawk, famous as the site where the Wright brothers made history with the first sustained powered flight and now a congested tourist trap of outlet malls and kiddy amusement parks.

We stopped for some photos on the Rodanthe Pier … Monica loved the movie “Nights in Rodanthe” with Richard Gere.

We stopped to see the Bodie Lighthouse… beautiful… black and white horizontal stripes.

Finally we came to Buxton and found our hotel for the night. Here we visited the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse… so lovely with its black and white spiral stripe. This lighthouse was physically moved almost a mile inland in 1999 because of coastal erosion. At 210 feet, it is the tallest brick lighthouse in America and 29th tallest in the world.

Supper was at the Diamond Shoals Restaurant next door to our hotel. Tuna for me and crab cakes for Mon. Sufficient but uninspiring. After supper, we strolled to the beach to watch the fishermen and enjoy the Atlantic surf in the warm evening breeze.

Here are the photo highlights for day 15 – Outer Banks of North Carolina

A short post today as far as activities go but a long day covering 10 kms of walking in 30 degree clear blue skies. The shorts and t-shirts are out of the suitcase now.

We left our apartment at 9am and drove 5 minutes to visit the Smithsonian Historic site and home of Frederick Douglass, African-American, abolitionist, popular orator and statesman in the mid 1850s and a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln. His house sits high on Cedar Hill overlooking Washington. It didn’t open for public tours until 9:30 but we were anxious to move on to our major stop of the day before leaving Washington, so we didn’t bother waiting around… just a few pics and we continued on.

The next three hours were a very poignant and beautiful stroll through the gorgeous 1100 acre Arlington Cemetary… where approximately 400,000 soldiers and military leaders are buried. At any point in the cemetary, you are surrounded by a sea of white tombstones. The symmetry of the rows is hypnotic as they undulate back and forth over the knolls.

Highlights of our tour included:

• The interpretive center (aka museum)
• The grave of President J. F. Kennedy
• The grave of President Taft
• The monument to Robert E. Lee
• The monument to the crew of the Challenger (1986 just 3 weeks before Ryan was born) and the Columbia (2003)
• The tomb of the Unknown Soldier where we saw the changing of the Guard
• The monument to all nurses who served in the military

Leaving Arlington, we took Ryan to the airport, hugged him goodbye and made our way out of Washington… very slowly … in 3 lanes of snail-pace traffic that took 2 hours to drive 30 miles. Oy-Vay!

Eventually we made it to Petersburg, Virginia and pulled into the Holiday Express for the night. So glad to be here now. Looking forward to seeing some North Carolina coastline tomorrow.

Here are the photo highlights of day 14 – Arlington Cemetary

The morning dawned beautiful and warm. I stepped outside early to breathe the air and enjoy the signature sounds of distance sirens and rap music 😐

Our final day in Washington was another marathon walking day covering 12 kms to see all the wonderful monuments around the National Mall; Jefferson, F.D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., the Korean War, Lincoln, the Vietnam War including the Three Soldiers and the Women of Vietnam statues, WWII, the Washington obelisk and finally the White House. All superb monuments and we could really sense the respect and emotions other people around us were showing.

After the White House, we stepped into the very small and historical New York Avenue Presbyterian church to see the Lincoln Window. This is where many past Presidents worshiped and notables like Martin Luther King Jr preached. The stained glass windows are modern and superb, especially the Lincoln Window. I was very glad for the chance to visit.

Lunch, at Ryan’s request, was at MacDonald’s… yes, I know!

The final stop for the day was the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery (same building). Four floors of notable American artists, thousands of art works, thoroughly enjoyable and very sore feet when finished. My most anticipated viewing was the beautiful stained glass peacock windows by John Lafarge. I’ve long admired them in books and online but to see them in person is beyond amazing. They are truly mesmerizing.

Supper was a relaxing meal back at the apartment where Monica made us steaks and salad. Yum!

Tomorrow we wrap up Washington and take Ryan to the airport with a couple of interesting stops on the way.

Here are the photo highlights of day 13 – The Monuments and the American Art and Portraits Museum

The weather gradually improved all day and turned out quite balmy by afternoon. It was another big walking day which covered 10 km in total taking us to three more major attractions, the first of which was one I had been looking forward to for a very long time.

1. The National Cathedral: Officially called the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul but known commonly as the National Cathedral, this Episcopalian church is the second largest in North America and the sixth largest in the world. There are 215 stained glass windows in this Cathedral!!! , so you can imagine my excitement as we entered. There was a service in session so we killed a half hour by taking the elevator to the 7th floor observatory for sweeping views of Washington and then down into the crypts to get lost in the labyrinth of chapels. Down there, we found the tomb of Helen Keller.

This cathedral is absolutely spectacular in every way but the windows are truly out of this world. Most are of a more modern design style compared to European cathedrals we have seen but the colors are probably more spectacular. Each window presents a different major color theme and there are two levels of windows with the upper ones being the largest. This gives the entire building a spectral intensity. It just blew me away! One window in particular, “The Space Window”, is the world’s most expensive stained glass window because it contains an actual piece of moon rock donated by the three astronauts of Apollo 11; Aldrin, Armstrong and Collins. I also really loved the three huge rose windows in the north, south and west transepts and I bought a small souvenir sun catcher of one of them. Monica and Ryan waited patiently for me as I made two passes around the interior. See Gallery/World Windows for all the photos.

2. The Smithsonian Zoo: A free admission park, very well done as far as the animal enclosures go, but I found it quite smelly (ammonia). I’m not a big fan of zoos as I feel the animals must get bored and therefore unhappy. However, they do have their place and help to preserve endangered species. This zoo actually has pandas (two adults and a baby). This was the first time I’ve seen real panda… cool! There were lots of children in the park and the guides were helpful and patient with them.

3. The Ford’s Theater where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. It is still a working theater today but between shows is a museum for the public. It is very well done. At the end of the tour, the audience is seated in the theater and given the history lesson by a National Park Ranger (this being a national historic site). She wove an intriguing tale taking us through the events leading up to that night on April 14th when John Wilkes Booth crept into the theater, entered the president’s theater box and shot him in the back of the head. Lincoln actually lived for 9 hours and died next morning in a hotel across the street (you can tour that as well but the line up was too long for us).

For dinner, we strolled into Chinatown, through the Friendship Arch and found a great low key restaurant (Joy Luck) and had really good, nothing weird, and very inexpensive Chinese food. Then home to relax. It was another great day.

Here are the photo highlights for day 12 – The National Cathedral, Zoo and Ford’s Theater.

Today was an 8-hour sight seeing marathon to see three major attractions;

1. Capitol Hill – we had 10:30 tour reservations and arrived 45 minutes early at Emancipation Hall (visitor’s center). While waiting, we enjoyed the several sculptures on display including, just to name a few, astronaut John Swigert of Apollo 13 fame (Colorado), Chief Washakie (Wyoming) and Helen Keller (Alabama) plus the full size plaster model of “Freedom” from which the bronze statue that graces the pinnacle of the Capitol building was cast. At 10:30, we got in line with hundreds of rambunctious school children. Fortunately we found a small group of adults only ☺ and enjoyed the tour around the Capitol Museum Gallery. No photos allowed! 😡 plus the main rotunda was closed today due to a special function for holocaust survivors so we didn’t get to see the magnificent artwork of the dome. C’est la vie.

After the tour we visited and actually sat in on live sessions of both the House of Representatives (someone was not happy that Donald Trump has not produced his tax returns for the past several years) and the Senate (Senator Ted Cruz was chairing the meeting on endorsements for the new Deputy Attorney General).

2. Library of Congress: WOW!!! What a beautiful building… so ornate. This really made up for not seeing the rotunda in the Capitol. We saw the great reading room plus several exhibits covering WWI, discovery of the Americas as well as historical art and documents.

3. The Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space. Fantastic displays covering everything imaginable to do with flight from Davinci’s first models to the Hubble Telescope images of distant space. Very amazing!

Dinner was a couple of blocks away at the Elephant and Castle restaurant for a hearty meal and then home for the evening. Wonderful day.

Here are the photo highlights of day 11 – Washington Capitol,  Library of Congress and the Museum of Air and Space.

It rained all day but we didn’t care. Our plans for the day mostly kept us inside where we covered two major attractions: The Smithsonian Museum of American History and the Bacilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

1. The Smithsonian Museum of American History is free admission like all the Smithsonians. We spent nearly 4 hours perusing the three floors exploring the many exhibitions that tell the tale of how the United States came to be and continued to develop into a world super power. All aspects of American life were presented from politics to religion to entertainment to industry and more. The quality of this museum is exemplary… everything done with perfection. We were very glad to have Ryan as our personal history guide.

2. The Bacilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is the largest Roman Catholic church in the USA and the second largest in North America (after one in Mexico). It is way beyond opulent and covers two full floors of space. Although the stained glass is certainly beautiful, it is the mosaics that dominate the decor. The vastness of the interior, however, makes it difficult to capture the beauty in photos. All you can do is look up with your mouth open and whisper “Oh, wow”. Unfortunately, the central dome is undergoing mosaic completion and won’t be ready for public viewing until December 2017.

Hungry after six hours of the above, we found a great restaurant called Busboys and Poets and enjoyed talking about everything we had seen today over our meal. Then home to relax and blog.

Here are the photo highlights of day 10 – Washington Museum of American History and the Bacilica

As we prepared to leave Lancaster County this morning, we were up with the chickens and enjoyed the sunrise over the Amish farm next to our hotel. What a beautiful sunrise it was and to our delight, two hot air balloons rose over the farm and drifted over the hotel. It was so quiet I could hear the people talking in the baskets.

The final destination today would be Washington DC but we had a very special stop planned on the way. Since it was Sunday morning, we wanted to go to church in Baltimore at the Brown Memorial Presbyterian church specifically to see the Tiffany stained glass windows but were treated to much more than just the  windows.

Service was not until 11 am but we arrived early (9:30) and stepped inside to photograph the windows before the crowd arrived. As luck would have it, we caught the music rehearsal of the morning’s special music guest group, Soulful Revue. Incredible! I had goose bumps the whole time. Here is a 3 minute clip of them practicing A Change Is Gonna Come by composer, Sam Cooke, and sung by soloist James Cox.

The Tiffany (and other) windows in this church are breath taking… two of them must be almost 30 feet high and are the largest Tiffany windows in existence (see Gallery/World Windows for all photos). The colors are absolutely astounding and as the sun rose higher in the sky and came around the southside side of the church during the morning service, the windows glowed brighter and brighter.

Waiting for service to start, we strolled around the block, found a coffee shop, stepped into another church (Corpus Christie) just for a shot before Mass started, saw the Maryland College of Art, strolled past lovely brownstone town houses and then back to Brown Memorial for the 11:00 service.

The entire service was a delight; the acoustics are phenomenal in this church giving an ethereal quality to the music, the choir was just as fantastic as the special quests, the message was about tolerance for diversity and the importance of belief, the people were friendly and welcoming and those windows are spectacular. We are so glad we did this.

After church, we carried on to Washington and found our apartment for the next five days. We settled in and then caught the subway to Ronald Reagan Airport to meet Ryan who is joining us for the week. Back at the apartment, we relaxed with conversation, wine and pizza as we planned our itinerary for the week.

Here are the photo highlights for day 9 – Sunday Service and Arriving Washington.

Unfortunately, yesterday Monica had taken a wrong step on a sidewalk crack and badly twisted her ankle. It was very swollen and painful this morning so there wasn’t much walking involved today. However, she was good for a drive in the countryside but will will have to lay low for a couple of days so she can be ready for Washington on Monday.

Gentle showers fell all day which freshened the air and made the fields extra green. We headed for the back roads to get lost many times looking for covered bridges and antique stores. We did find both eventually and in between discoveries, thoroughly enjoyed seeing the farmers coming and going about their Saturday morning business with horse and buggy. We did a bit of shopping and actually bought a tent… that’s right, a tent! ($15 at K-Mart). That should be a hoot a little later on in the journey.

For the day’s entertainment, we caught the 11:00 show at the Amish Experience in Intercourse called “Jacob’s Choice”… an experiential movie shown on 5 screens all around the theater (sort of like I-Max except with real wind and rain and smoke) about a young Amish man who wrestles with his choice to leave home to go to college and play baseball or stay with his family and be baptised into the church and live the Amish life of his fore-father’s. It was very poignant yet uplifting at the same time. This experiential theater is supposedly one of only three like it in North America.

Dinner was hearty home-cookin’ at the Good and Plenty Restaurant just down the road from our hotel. Fried Chicken for Mon and Dutch Sampler for me (chicken, meat loaf and pork ‘n sauerkraut). Mmmmmm, very filling and only $10 each (gotta love that).

Tomorrow we head to Washington with a very special stop on the way.

Here are the photo highlights of day 8 – Amish Country

We left Philadelphia at 8:00 with a gentle rain falling and headed north west toward Lancaster County. Traffic was surprisingly heavy all the way. We pulled into a couple of towns along the way to get out and stretch our legs;

• Pottstown – a bit dingy with an industrial feel but some beautiful churches (closed today)
• Reading – as in Reading Railroad fame of the coal industry during the 1800s. City size, some interesting history here. We found a Chinese pagoda high up on the hill overlooking the city. Closed today… as were ALL the churches (sad face)
• Bird In Hand – (funny name) which is in the heart of Amish farmland but has become a tourist trap of mass produced gift shops
• Intercourse – (why they would call it that?, who knows) congested and commercialized with a main highway thoroughfare right through pristine farmland that draws the tourists
• Lancaster – big city… we got groceries here and then got out as fast as we could
• Ronks – here is where our hotel is located

Our hotel is The Old Amish Inn and out our window we have a lovely view of an Amish farm. That will do nicely.  As I write this, the window in our room is open and a warm breeze is bringing the smell of cow manure (I love that… coming from Havelock) and the sky is darkening with the threat of a thunder storm (I love that too).

Tomorrow, Mon and I will seek the back roads away from all this hubbub in search of authentic crafts and enjoy a more peaceful Amish experience.

Here are the photo highlights of day 7 – Arriving Lancaster County

Today Monica and I took a drive through the beautiful rolling countryside of Buck’s County just north of Philadelphia. Mon had covered bridges in mind as there are a few in the area. So off we went fully prepared to “get lost” on the back roads.

Before we left Chestnut Hill, however, there was a church nearby our apartment that I was anxious to see… First Presbyterian Church in Germantown. We got there early and waited for the doors to open at 9am. We were welcomed inside by the very kind and cheerful receptionist, Ruth, who gave us a personal tour through the sanctuary. And there they were… several Tiffany windows that nicely shows off Tiffany’s method of layering the glass to produce a 3-D effect. The nativity window is particularly stunning although my camera couldn’t capture it without light wash. There are other non-Tiffany windows here as well, not to diminish them in any way. Also in the church are several murals by renowned artist Violet Oakley,  the first American woman to receive a public mural commission in 1902. See Gallery/World Windows for all the photos of this church.

Next we headed northwest for Doylestown, supposedly a 30 minutes drive from our apartment. Well, this is where the “getting lost” began. Two hours later we found it (humph). Talk about runnung around in circles. Nevertheless,  the drive through the farmlands was lovely. Dandelions in full bloom!

Continuing on, we happened upon Crossing Winery very near to the historic site where George Washington crossed the Delaware River. Monica had packed a beautiful lunch for later which begged for a bottle of cold Pinot Grigio and this winery had just the thing.

We carried on toward the historic crossing site where in December 1776, Washington and his men pushed across the ice-jammed river to take Trenton, New Jersey during the American Revolution (War of Independence). The site today is a national historic park with interpretive center, museum of artifacts, original dwellings that have been restored, and beautiful promenade along the river. Quite moving. Such history!

From there, we set off to get lost again looking for more bridges. We found a couple of them by accident as our GPS didn’t quite understand what we wanted. The drive through the wooded hills and valley was nothing short of spectacular. We saw the all the following trees in full bloom: Dogwood, Myrtle, Crabapple, Cherry, Lilac and Redbud and hugh rhododendrons almost ready to bloom. Traffic was very light and we were in cruising mode with windows down.

By 2:30, we were starving and looking for a suitable picnic spot when we happened upon Stover State Park on Tohickon Creek (feeds into the Delaware River). Monica spread lunch out on a picnic table and we enjoyed ham and cheese sandwiches, pasta salad, grapes and a glass of wine. I had just a small glass… Mon had the rest 🙂  As we ate, we watched woodpeckers flit among the trees, saw fishermen wading down the creek, and enjoyed the mild and calm peacefulness of this park. Very beautiful.

After lunch, we strolled the creek for a bit to enjoy the scenery and then carried on. There was one final stop into the town of New Hope where we walked across the Bridge over the Delaware, crossing the New Jersey/Pensylvania state line (the river is the border) to visit the town of Lambertville, NJ. We browsed some antique shops and then strolled back to New Hope to carry on home.

Here are the photo highlights of day 5 – Buck’s County PA

The morning dawned bright and beautiful and by 5:30, the cardinals and robins were having a singing competition. Mon and I had a light breakfast and headed across the street to catch the 8:00 train downtown for a day of sightseeing in the old historic area.

Philadelphia is so interesting because of the mix of 300 year old architecture amidst modern skyscrapers. I also found the streets and sidewalks clean and well maintained but also bumpy with cobblestones in spots so you need to watch where you step. Happy to say also that the people here in “The City of Brotherly Love” are really friendly and helpful so it lives up to its nick name.

We got off the train at Jefferson station and walked straight to the end of Market Street to the banks of the Delaware River (10 blocks) and started our tour there. What an amazing day! We saw many things; some anticipated and some not. The day’s itinerary in chronological order included:

• Christ Church – founded 1695. Simple and lovely both inside and out, several of the signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here
• Elfreth’s Alley – the oldest still-inhabited street in America
• St. Augustine’s Church – 1796. Beautiful stained glass (see under World Windows for all the photos)
• Benjamin Franklin’s gravesite
• Independence Mall – the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall (sold out today… maybe another day) and the original City Hall
• The National Liberty Museum – provocative, humbling and filled with glass including stained glass, blown glass, fused glass and glass sculpture… the highlight being Dale Chihuly’s towering bright red Liberty Flame installation
• The B Free Franklin post office where we mailed some postcards (Ben was the first Post Master General)
• Carpenters Hall – brotherhood of carpenters and architects
• Merchant’s Exchange where imports and exports were wheeled and dealed
• Washington Square – nice fountain and statue of Washington
• The Curtis Center where we saw the magnificent marble floors and fountain AND the 30 foot Tiffany stained glass mosaic called “The Dream Garden”
• Philly Cheese Steaks at Campos followed by Franklin Ice Cream for supper
• The Peace Arch in Chinatown
• Reading Market where we bought some things for tomorrow’s picnic

Whew! Eight hours of that and it was home to put up the swollen feet and play with photos for a bit before bedtime. Great day. Wonderful history. Tomorrow we will change pace and go for a drive in the Pennsylvania countryside.

Here are the photo highlights for day 4 – Old Philadelphia

A driving day from Newport to Philadelphia took us 5 hours including a wrong turn or two and some white knuckle moments through New York City. There was only one major stop in New London Conneticut to visit St. James Episcopal Church. We were toured through the sanctuary by Father Miner who gave us an excellent history of the church. The highlight was the four Tiffany windows among several others. The color and emotion in these windows is phenomenal. (See Gallery/World Windows for all photos). Tiffany (early 1900s) was one of the first glass artists to use the colors and textures in the glass to “paint” the picture, rather than use actual paints as had been done for centuries before him. The facial and other detailed features, however,  are painted in the traditional methods.

We arrived at Chestnut Hill, Germantown (north Philadelphia) at 4:00, found our apartment and were greeted by our hostess, Rachel. After chats and wine, Mon and I set out on foot to explore this beautiful upscale and artsy neighborhood. Trees and flowers blooming and 24 degrees… how lovely it is. Later we had a fantastic sushi dinner at Hokka Hokka and called it a day. Tomorrow we explore downtown Philly.

Here are the photo highlights of day 3- Arriving Philadelphia

Up and away from Portland at 4:00 AM (I know… we were excited) primarily so we could get through Boston before the traffic got too heavy.

Three hours later,  we pulled into Newport and easily found the Marriott hotel.  As this was Easter Sunday morning, traffic was light. Our room was ready and they let us right in at 9:00 am (excellent). Beautiful hotel!

Off we went on foot to visit six churches in the downtown area;

• St. Mary’s  (where JFK and Jacqueline were married)
• Trinity (1698 – gorgeous white interior with a Tiffany window!)
• St. Joseph’s  (stunning glass dome and pink marble)
• First Presbyterian Church  (huge and stunning rose window)
• St. John the Evangelist (dark, small, beautiful)
• Channing Memorial Church (Lafarge stained glass)

Each church we went into we caught a little of the service; a prayer here, a hymn there, even a coffee fellowship and everywhere people wishing us a Happy Easter. What a wonderful way to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. I’ll spare you most of the photos here but if you are interested, you will find all photos of each church under Gallery/World Windows.

The afternoon was bright and warm. Newport is famous for its many mansions of the rich and famous from the gilded age of the late 1800s. We toured two of the better known mansions, both built by the Vanderbilt family of railroad and shipping tycoon fame. First, Marble House built by William Vanderbilt and second, The Breakers built by his brother, Cornelius. If you know the name Gloria Vanderbilt, she is decendent from Cornelius. These homes are museums today but still look as they did 150 years ago. The wealth! The privilege! The spoiled lives they led! We’re they any happier than the rest of us? I’m not so sure.

After the tours, Monica and I walked for awhile along the famous “cliff walk” that follows the coast behind several of Newport’s mansions. Beautiful views up and down the coast.

Dinner was at the Brick Alley Pub just across the street from our hotel. Steak for Mon and scallops for me. Full, tired from 6 hours or walking, and totally enthralled with the days photos, we crashed and I counted stained glass windows until I fell asleep.

Here are the photo highlights of day 2-Newport

A new adventure begins. Monica and I are on a road trip to see the north eastern United States. We will travel as far south as Charleston (South Carolina), then west to Kansas City (Missouri), then north to Des Moines (Iowa) and finally east along the northern states to home. There will be lots of stops along the way to see some pretty fantastic things.

Today we made it as far as Portland and enjoyed a walk about the city on this gorgeous spring day. Temps hit the high teens while the flowers were sprouting and birds were chirping. Some folks were parading about with clothing way too scant for the temperature but they seemed delighted to be catching a few rays.

We saw our first anti-Trump demonstration in front of city hall. They did not seem cheerful in their chanting… something about not willing to pay for Trump Tower. Very interesting!

On a lighter note, we also saw two churches (Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and St. Luke’s), a blacksmith demonstration in the park and had a great lunch at El Rayo Mexican restaurant. Tomorrow it’s up and away early as we make our way to Newport Rhode Island.

Here is today’s photo gallery. 1- Portland