Summer of 2011 | our-summer-travels

There were lots of buildings on the street but only a few antique shops and businesses were open. All the other buildings were either closed or empty. We pulled into the Revels RV Parts and Accessories, picked up two items that took us 20 minutes to get. We got the items right away but when we went to the cashier, the guy there wanted to tell us his life story and history of the town. Starke was once a very wealthy town when the railroad took produce grown here to market but as generations grew, they moved away and produce declined turning the town into a very poor town. He hates the wealthy, including our campground owner, and a super Wall-mart took away all the business. Nice enough guy and proud of his town.

Georgia - May 2011

Agrirama, Georgia Museum of Agriculture & Historic Village Pictures

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Tifton, Georgia - May 3, 2011

The Village opened in 1976 and consists of 95 acres of open land, farm land and over 35 structures that have been preserved or restored and relocated here. There are costumed guides in almost every building to explain and demonstrate what life was like in the 19th century. The main building is the Georgia Museum of Agriculture. This large building houses tractors, horse carriages and all kinds of farm equipment and farm tools used in the 19th century as well as pictures and history of Tifton. Tifton started as a harvesting ground for Turpentine and its by-product, rosin. Turpentine and rosin were used in the ship building business and as the demand grew Captain Henry Harding Tift and his wife settled here from Mystic, CT and built their home and a sawmill around which the town of Tifton developed. He was instrumental in developing railroad lines through the area, establishing fruit and vegetable farms, canning factory, brick yard, an oil company, cotton mills, banks, tool manufacturing and a foundry and machine works. Once through the building, you walk outside to the village. The Tifton House is an upper-class home with hard wood floors, silk wall coverings and some of the most beautiful pine wood trimmings I’ve ever seen. The next building was the Doctor’s Office with instruments I’m glad we don’t use anymore. The Masonic Hall was one of the first buildings and looked like the town’s meeting place. The Cotton Gin houses original equipment from 1896 and could clean fifty pounds of cotton in a single day instead of one pound if done by hand. The Church was originally hand constructed in 1882. All the pulpit, pews and railings are all original. The School House, built in 1895, has one room and taught first to 8th grade. If you wanted to educate your children further, you had to move out of town and go live in another city. The guide demonstrated, not on me, how the school teachers would discipline unruly children with a wisp stick. The teacher had the parent’s permission to do so from the first day of school; not so today. If a child was unruly for three days, he or she was taken out of school and made to work in the fields which was much harder work so most children behaved.

The Traditional Farmstead consisted of a one room house with two or more side rooms and a detached kitchen-dining room connected by walkways and usually had cows, hogs and sheep. The Progressive Farmhouse was a large structure with a “dog trot” or breezeway that provided shade and cool breezes in the summer. Each room had a bed in it because this size house was built for families of six or more children, grandparents or possibly borders. The Gristmill, built in 1879, was used to grind corn into meal and grits. The machinery is powered by water and the guide demonstrated how it worked. He turned a large wheel which opened the water flow from the pond that turned the waterwheel that turned belts that turned the grinding stones that ground the corn that poured out down a shoot into a sifter. Two young boys working there also took the meal and scooped it up into bags by weight. The Train Depot was built between 1895 and 1905 and was one of the first prefab buildings. All studs, eaves and shingles came assembled and shipped to the site where workmen reassembled it. They have an old steam train that runs around the property but it wasn’t running today. The Print Shop and Telephone Exchange had two printing presses dated 1888 and the newspaper for the museum is printed on these presses. They also have an old telephone switchboard used by the town. The Sawmill has a large steam engine sawmill and is said to be able to saw as much as 10,000 board feet per day. The Turpentine Still is where the turpentine was collected and barreled. We thought it was a moonshiner’s still but it was awfully big. The Variety Works is a wood working shop called Variety Works because of all the “variety” of wood items they made there. The guide inside said the mill was steam powered and it could get up to 150 degrees inside. The Drug Store/Feed and Seed Store had all kinds of items used in the 19th century and a soda fountain that sold soda and ice cream. A very interesting place.

GA - Museum of Agriculture

GA - Stone Mountain

Stone Mountain, Georgia Stone Mountain; Relief Carving; Carillon Bells

May 6, 2011

We drove around the mountain and went to a place called Miss Katie’s. The building is an old log cabin and inside the walls are filled with old pictures and just about every kind of kitchen utensil you could think of plus all kinds of jars of canned fruits and vegetables; like a combination of every grandma’s house. The waitress brought us a plate with fried pickles, fried onion sticks and sweet potato sticks with lots of cinnamon; it was like eating crunchy sweet potato pie. Jack naturally made the comment that they were all mine because he doesn’t eat any of THAT STUFF... Next thing we knew, the waitress brought over another plate with two hand tossed yeast rolls; Jack was very happy. He did try the sweet potato sticks but naturally, I tried them all and they were really good, especially the fried pickles! We walked around the park looking into the stores and over to the grass area in front of the relief carving.

World’s largest relief carving

Stone Mountain Georgia

This carving is of three confederate Generals, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis all on horseback carved into the side of the mountain. It took 17 years to complete due to three changes in the design by three different designers. The carving is the size of a football field and the head of General Lee is eight stories high and after it was finished, they parked a bus on the rump of Lee’s horse for a dinner party. Going on the Skyride gives you a closer look and a better understanding of just how big this thing is.

Carillon Bells Tower Video

Stone Mountain Georgia

We have to do this every time we come here, they are just so beautiful. The woman was still there that we first saw playing the organ. She greeted us like she remembered who we were and afterwards played “Proud to be an American” and other patriotic songs for us, she really did remember us. She said she hadn’t played those songs since she played them for us. She even played the true Navel Hymn that brought tears to Jack’s eyes. The music is so beautiful. She finished with a few other songs and ended with Amazing Grace. She walked out and asked if that was good; good, it was great! She gave us both a big hug and said that’s why she continues to play when friends like us return to hear her play. She brought tears to my eyes this time.

NC - Asheville (Biltmore Estate)

North Carolina - May 2011

Asheville, North Carolina - Biltmore Estate Tour All Pictures (Biltmore Estate, Biltmore Gardens)

Asheville, North Carolina - May 13, 2011

A ticket cost $69 per person because it was a weekend; we were a little shocked but at least getting tickets here entitles us to go back a second day. They say you really need to spend two days to see everything. Once inside the gates we still had to drive two miles to get to the house. The grounds are massive and there are thousands of trees, shrubs and flowering bushes. The forecast was for rain later today so we decided to walk through the Gardens first because it was still sunny. I took a few pictures and walked to the end of the grounds to take a picture of the house. I asked Jack to take a picture of me in front of the Estate but as he did the camera broke and had a “System Zoom” (Error). I tried several times with the same result. Oh no, I broke my camera, no wait, Jack did...and I didn’t have another one with me. I really got upset but we found out they don’t allow pictures inside anyway. So we stayed and took the tour. The Biltmore Estate was the home of George and Edith Vanderbilt built by Richard Morris Hunt and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and said to be America’s largest home. Biltmore House took 6 years and 1,000 men to build. With just over 4 acres of floor space it contains 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, 43 bathrooms, 34 bedrooms, and 3 kitchens. Of course our tour didn’t include every room. The tour is self-guided and you can purchase an audio tour which I did to explain each room on the tour. Inside the doorway is a very large Entrance Hall with a grand staircase to the second floor, hallways to the rest of the house and a lush Winter Garden with a glass roof and filled with all kinds of plants and a large center fountain. The first room is the Billiard Room with custom oak billiard tables; one regular table and one French table that doesn’t have any pockets. The Banquet Hall was next that is 74 feet long by 42 feet wide, has a seven-story high ceiling and an organ loft with a beautiful pipe organ. The oak table in the middle of the room could seat 64 guests. There are also flags from the original 13 colonies and stuffed animal heads that are among the largest in the world and a Breakfast Room with two paintings by Renoir. The Tapestry Gallery is a 90-foot hall with three of the five existing religious tapestries done in the 1500’s. The Library is off the Tapestry Gallery and contains half of George Vanderbilt’s 23,000 volume collection of books. A New York journalist was quoted to say George Vanderbilt was “the best read man in the country”. The library was built around the ceiling that was originally in the Pisani Palace in Venice. The woodwork is beyond words and a second floor railing goes all around the room. There is a small chess table that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte in the corner. It took us almost an hour to do the first floor and we had three more!

Up the staircase onto the second floor you walk into the Second Floor Living Hall that is now just an exhibit on the preservation and restoration of the house. We then moved on to Mr. Vanderbilt’s Bedroom that has wall covering of silk and 14 karat gold leaf. The oak Sitting Room is where the Vanderbilt’s shared breakfast and where Mrs. Vanderbilt would talk to the staff and plan the day. There is a large tiled cabinet at the end of the room known as a tile stove where coal or wood would be placed in the bottom and the tiles would hold the heat to heat the room. We then moved on to Mrs. Vanderbilt’s Bedroom that is done in yellow and purple and very feminine. We then go up another set of stairs to the third floor where we walked into the Third Floor Living Hall that contains treasures collected by George Vanderbilt. Other bedrooms line the hallway with names of Damask Room, Claude Room, Tyrolean Chimney Room, Louis XV Room that we were able to look at and were the grandest guest rooms in the house. They were all extraordinary with wall coverings and beautiful woodwork. We then went back to the main floor and down into the basement. Here we walked through a stone hallway into a large storage room called the Halloween Room. This room had the history of the house in pictures. It was called the Halloween Room because of the wall paintings done by the guest at a Halloween party given by the Vanderbilt’s in 1900. Next we walked into a two lane Bowling Alley that was one of the nation’s first installed in a private home. Then we walked into the Dressing Rooms and the Swimming Pool. Guest would change into their bathing suites in these rooms as it was not appropriate to walk through the house dressed for swimming. The Swimming Pool holds 70,000 gallons of water and was heated with underwater lighting and a beautiful tile ceiling. There were call buttons on the walls for when the ladies or gentlemen were ready to leave and needed help changing. Next to the pool was a Gymnasium with all kinds of equipment. We then walked into the Servants’ Quarters. All female servants lived in the house and each had a private room that was furnished and heated; uncommon for the period. The male servants lived in the Stables. We passed a Vegetable Pantry for storing fresh fruits and vegetables grown on the estate before going into the kitchens. The Pastry Kitchen is where the chef could cook the Vanderbilt’s elaborate desserts while being protected from the heat of the Main Kitchen. The Rotisserie Kitchen that was used to roast all kinds of meat keeping the smoke and grease out of the other kitchens. The Main Kitchen was huge and had every size copper pot hanging over the center island. This kitchen was in use from 8 AM to 8 PM serving not only the Vanderbilt’s and their guests but the 1,800 servants needed to run the house. Then we walked through the Kitchen Pantry with two large dumbwaiters and the Servants’ Dining Room. The Main Laundry and Drying Room was next with a belt-driven barrel washer and large rolling racks that were heated for drying. The Bachelors’ Wing was the last on the tour. This area had a dark wood Smoking Room and Gun Room that had a display case with several rifles and shotguns. The Vanderbilt’s loved having hunting parties and each guest had their choice of those guns.

It was back outside to the Stables which is now converted into gift shops and the Stables Restaurant. Inside the restaurant each stall has a table. Ever think you would be eating lunch in a horse stall? Of course there is no hay or straw and the only smell is of good food. The food was excellent and service superb. Wow....What a house... We then drove around the Estate to the Antler Hill Village. The Village Green is a collection of shops and cafés and there is a Village Winery where they make their own wine; no I didn’t get any I have enough already. Up the hill is The Farm, part of the old Farm and stables that is now a display of farm equipment plus a blacksmith shop, smoke shop and mercantile shop.

With another camera in hand (my old one was really broke so I bought another one), we went back to the Biltmore Estate the next day to walk the gardens. Of course, first things first, I had to take some pictures of the house first.

The Gardens at the Biltmore

Biltmore Estate, Ashville, North Carolina

They are awesome. They were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and they are enormous and beautiful. The Italian Gardens with three pools and statues running the entire length of the grounds. The Spring Garden has beautiful shrubs and budding flowers. The Rose Garden and Conservatory is so beautiful with all colors of large roses and tea-roses. The Conservatory is huge with lush green plants, orchids and other delicate and exotic flowers and even had a couple playing a guitar and some strange looking harp-like instrument. They were wonderful and the music was called Braidstream Music; beautiful. We continued walking along the pathways passed all kinds of shrubs, trees and flowers what seemed to be among five or six acres. We managed to find our way back to the house and car. As we were driving out, I had an “aha” moment, we didn’t see the Azalea Garden! It took us almost three hours to walk through what we did see. We drove around the property and stopped at the Inn at the Biltmore. This is a large hotel with rooms from $189 to $500 for a standard room and has some nice views of the property.

VA - Staunton, Shillington, etc,

Virginia - May 2011

Staunton, Shillington, Verona, Virginia Pictures

May 18, 2011

Staunton was settled in 1792 and the buildings downtown still reflect that era. We walked up and down East Beverly Street where most of the antique shops were. One old hardware store turned antique shop was crammed full of all kinds of stuff, lots more than hardware. We even saw a collection of pin-up girls; now that we’ve never seen before.

Pennsylvania - May 2011

Ronks, Pennsylvania Pictures

May 27, 2011

Memorial Day was celebrated in the campground with hot dogs, sauerkraut and soda for $1 for lunch and a bluegrass band that played from 7 PM until 10 PM. These guys are pretty good with guitar, base fiddle, banjo and violin. Boy, that guy sure can play that violin! They had root beer floats for $1 and gave away five gift certificates at a raffle. The rest of the time we spent walking around the campground, talking to neighbors, going to the Farmers’ Market, the outlets and eating lots of good Amish food. One weekend Jack’s “girls”, six girl friends from Jack’s high school, came for a visit. They brought all kinds of food and wine so we ate, talked, laughed, went shopping and played games. They even gave me a really neat picture frame with the words “The Girls”, “Friends”, “Forever”, and “Love” on the glass as a thank you. The Girls accepted me and treated me like a sister. They are great and those two days went by way too fast. It was so much fun having six sisters around for two days. After they left, I sat outside and finished up the wine but something was missing. It just wasn’t the same.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania All Pictures (Gettysburg, Battlefield Tour)

May 23, 2011

Gettysburg’s streets are all torn up with construction going on with the sidewalks and roads. We walked over to where the Visitor’s Center used to be but it is now empty and closed down. The place looked like a ghost town. All the stores we walked into were empty or already closed. We talked to one woman who told us the Visitor’s Center was moved outside of town and the tour buses go to the new Visitor Center leaving everyone to shop and eat there instead of coming downtown. We could tell how upset she was. The next day we drove to the new Visitor Center. The building is very large with a grand hall, a book store, snack shop, restaurant and a souvenir/gift shop plus a theater and the Gettysburg bus tours. It is a nice building and there is plenty of parking and the area bus area is huge. Lots of people spending money here at the shops and most won't go downtown, that’s a shame. There is also a diorama of the battle that costs $10 to see. The David Wills House was where Abraham Lincoln slept the night before he gave his famous Gettysburg Address. Mr. Wills invited President Lincoln to speak as a secondary speaker to give “a few appropriate remarks” following Edward Everett, Secretary of State, two-hour speech.

Gettysburg Battlefield

May 26, 2011

We followed the Auto Tour taking pictures here and there. There were several tour buses and lots of people at most sites. There are reported to be over 1,600 monuments in the Gettysburg battlefields. The Peace Monument with its eternal light burns to the testament of “Peace Eternal in a Nation United.” This monument was dedicated 75-years after the war by over 1,800 Civil War veterans. We stopped along the route at various State Markers and took a few pictures. Our next stop was Little Round Top that overlooks Blood Valley and Devils Den where the worst and bloodiest fighting of the Gettysburg battle took place. Standing here you just can’t imagine what it was like to have 75,000 Confederate soldiers and 92,000 Union soldiers walking miles and miles lugging 40 pound packs, operating 1,200 pound canons wearing wool clothing and fighting for three days in 85 degree heat. It was 91 degrees today and we were wearing shorts and t-shirts and sweating. Every home, barn and church became makeshift hospitals to treat the 51,000 casualties. They say more men died from infections than bullets because of the lack of adequate medical procedures. They say the number of legs and arms that were amputated reached the table tops. There were even 5,000 horses killed here. We continued through the battlefield to the Pennsylvania Memorial which must be one of the largest. We ended up driving about 20 miles around the Battlefield. We ended at the Soldiers’ Memorial in the Gettysburg Cemetery. This large monument was constructed on the spot in the middle of the cemetery with graves around it in a semi-circle marked by white grave markers. Those three days in July, 1863 had 10,000 killed or mortally wounded, nearly 30,000 wounded and almost 10,000 captured or missing. Within days after the battle, the dead were hastily buried in shallow graves on the battlefield and marked by a wooden board with the soldier’s name written in pencil. This was done quickly for fear of an epidemic spreading in the hot humid summer conditions. In an effort to give Union Soldiers a proper and permanent burial, this 17-acre Soldiers’ National Cemetery was established. Unfortunately, many of these temporary grave markers were lost due to exposure to weather and many graves, some 979 of them, are marked UNKNOWN with only numbers. There are also a few Confederate Soldiers that were mistakenly buried here. They remain here today buried next to their former foes, resting under one flag. It wasn’t until seven to ten years later when 3,200 Confederate Soldiers, still buried in the battlefield, were removed and returned to their respective states. Just over the iron fence in the Evergreen Cemetery is where President Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address. This 2 minute address had to follow a lengthy two-hour speech by Edward Everett, Secretary of State but this speech that was “a few appropriate remarks” was probably not even heard by most in attendance, but is one of the greatest speeches ever written.

President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address - November 19, 1863

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we’re engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate-we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain: That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that this Government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

This 2 minute address was probably not even heard by most in attendance but certainly has taken its place in history as one of the greatest speeches ever written.

PA - Ronks

PA - Gettysburg

Rhode Island - July 2011

Newport, Rhode Island Pictures

July 5, 2011

Newport is where Jack spent time in the Navy and where we had a timeshare for several years. We hadn’t been back since leaving New Jersey. The town still has money but now Bellevue Ave. where all the mansions are has grown up so much you can’t even see them anymore. Ocean Drive is still a beautiful drive but there are more houses and it is grown up more also. All the parking places were filled and lot of people. We ended up at the old Hy-Ly building that is now simply Newport Gran Slots. I had some money and Jack said he had some so we tried our luck. By the time we met two hours later, Jack had made his contribution but I was up $190. I actually was up $244 but spent $60 on the way out.

Massachusetts - July 2011

Newburyport, Massachusetts All Pictures (Newburyport, Salisbury Beach)

July 9, 2011

I really like this town because there are so many shops, restaurants and small cafes everywhere and it is always busy with lots of people. The town center is a nice brick area with shops, tables and benches outside. We walked down to the pier area that has a very nice boardwalk and sat watching the boats and people.

Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts - Sand Sculptures

A sand sculpture completion was here two weeks ago and there were still four sculptures standing. A surfing competition was also supposed to happen but there were no waves so no competition but the beach was backed. The main street is just one block long but is crammed with surf shops and fast food places; your typical beach town.

RI - Newport

MA - Newburyport

ME - Portland

Maine - July 2011

Portland, Maine All Pictures (Portland, Fort Williams & Portland Head Light, Len Libby Chocolates)

July 12, 2011

There are nice shops along Commercial Street and a pretty Old Port District. We checked out 157 foot yacht docked there called Top Five, and boy was it nice. We also checked out DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant docked there. One interesting place was $3 Dewey’s. It is a burger restaurant but used to be a brothel. Service cost $1 for a lookie, $2 for a touchie and $3 for a doie. When it was changed over to a restaurant they kept the $3-doie ($3 Dewey) name.

Fort Williams State Park and Portland Head Light

Portland, Maine

This lighthouse is Maine’s first lighthouse built in 1791. Next to the keepers house is a rock supposedly used by Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was a frequent visitor to the lighthouse, when he wrote his poem “The Lighthouse”. The park is large with lots of large grass areas and plenty of benches and walking trails. Fort Williams is a former military installation begun in 1878 and known as the Battery at Portland Head. It guarded the entrance to Casco Bay and was the headquarters for the harbor defenses of Portland and remained an active military base until closed in 1964.

Goddard Mansion, Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse (Bug Light),

Memorial to Portland's Liberty Ships

After walking around the lighthouse we drove down to another parking lot and walked around some relics of the old fort and the remaining stone walls of the Goddard Mansion built in 1858 for John Goddard and the first of the grand houses built along the Cape Elizabeth shoreline. Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse was built in 1897 and sits at the end of a 900-foot long stone breakwater. About a mile away is the Portland Breakwater Lighthouse, now called Bug Light. Bug Light lighthouse was built in 1875 and guided ships coming into Portland’s busy port for 127 years. Along the stone breakwater there are several memorial stones leading to the lighthouse. There was a memorial to Portland’s Liberty Ships with a steel outline of a ship and pictures and history of the Liberty ships built here in Portland. There were 274 ships built here during World War II and most of them were Liberty Ships which carried supplies across the Atlantic during the war.

Len Libby Homemade Chocolates

Down the Rt. 1 is this small chocolate shop. They have all kinds of homemade chocolates, fudge, candy and ice cream and the only life-size Moose in the world made with 1,700 pounds of milk chocolate called Lenny. It took four weeks to make it. They also have a Maine Black Bear named Libby that is 380 pounds of solid dark chocolate and two cubs at 80 pounds each also of dark chocolate, amazing.

Boothbay, Maine All Pictures (Boothbay, Railway Village, Topsham & Bailey's Point)

July 14, 2011

Boothbay is a great small sea port. Streets go every which way and lined with shops. We walked all around town and along the docks and stopped at a small stand called Wannawaf Waffles and Dogs that serves specialty hot dogs, waffles and ice cream. We forgot about the specialty part and ordered two “bare mutts” (just plain hot dog on a bun). We then walked over the footbridge into East Boothbay and up to the Lobster Wharf which I thought was an outside café but I was wrong; it was a regular restaurant, disappointing. We caught the trolley that runs around Boothbay making several stops and returns every 30 minutes and is FREE. It’s sponsored by the Rock Tide Inn. It was good to get off our feet. We found out the place I wanted to walk to was just up the road just before the corner; another 1/8 mile or so. The driver points out several things of interest as he drives along, like the foot bridge is the longest footbridge in the country and was built to get the firemen from Boothbay to East Boothbay without going in the water, the Tug Boat Inn is a real tug boat that was moored where it is today but kept sinking so they decided to anchor it permanently and turn it into a restaurant. He also told us the Inn had 500 ship models inside that were worth looking at if we got a chance. So we rode the trolley all the way around and back to the Inn. We walked inside to see the ship models. They are incredible with great details. They had schooners, paddle wheelers, cruise ships, two Viking ships and a large model of the Titanic. The Inn is really nice and the restaurant part of it looks really nice, only serves dinner starting at 5 PM and is probably expensive. We walked up the street to a place called Knot Gray’s Wharf. We sat outside on the deck watching all the boats and ate dinner. We then drove out to Ocean View and parked the car so I could take a few pictures. A woman who was actually from New York was doing a watercolor painting.

Boothbay Railway Village

Boothbay, Maine - July 18, 2011

The Village is situated on thirty acres and has 28 exhibit buildings but you can’t go inside but only look inside through the door. Their antique automobile exhibit has 60 antique cars and they were having a car show outside.

Bailey's Island (Lands End)

Bailey's Island - July 18, 2011

After going through the Boothbay Railway Village, my cousin took us for a ride through Topsham to Bailey's Island. Great little island but not much else but pretty scenery.

Belfast, Maine All Pictures (Belfast, Islesboro Island, Columbia Falls Wild Blueberry Land)

July 19, 2011

Belfast, ME is a quaint shore town established in 1765 and still has many of the original brick buildings with a very beautiful harbor along Penobscot Bay. We drove down to the pier, parked and walked up the hill to town. There are lots of neat shops to explore and plenty of restaurants but it was really hot out and walking up that hill turned us into dishrags. After walking up and down the Main Street shops we drove back to the campground stopping at Perry’s Nut House along our way. We made a mistake and walked into a miniature doll house shop next door. They sure had a lot of stuff. Perry’s Nut House has all kinds of nuts, jelly beans and candy plus a gift shop with all kinds of toys and stuff.

Islesboro Island, Maine

We wanted to see our friend, Jim, who lives on the island. We drove into Lincolnville and caught the ferry over to the island. The ferry is big enough for 30 cars and the ride took 20 minutes to go 3 miles to the island. Jim picked us up and drove us around the island. Islesboro is an island 17 miles long by 7 to 10 miles wide that is 90 percent forest. Jim does landscape design for the ultra-rich who live there during the months of July and August. Jim drove us around the island showing us some of his work. I half expected to see massive houses on the island but there are regular houses, at lease along the main road in the middle of the island, all the massive houses are along the shoreline hidden by a dense forest. He said there are about 500 permanent residents but that swells in the summer to 2,000 or more. After driving around he drove us to his house that he designed. It is beautiful and sits on 16 acres of land on the Penobscot Bay and the breezes are wonderful. Jim looks great and we had a wonderful visit.

Lincolnville, Maine - Wild Blueberry Land

Lincolnville, Maine

We passed a place called Wild Blueberry Land; a large round blue building containing blueberry products, homemade muffins, scones and pies. They also had Maine gifts and tables outside and a mini golf course. We took some pictures and bought a few blueberry muffins.

ME - Boothbay

ME - Belfast, Islesboro, Columbia Falls

ME - Eastport

Eastport, Maine Pictures

July 24, 2011

Eastport is the most Eastern City in the U.S. and the first place the sun hits land so around 4:45 AM I woke up and sat by my window waiting for the sunrise. It was around 4:50 AM when the clouds turned a beautiful pink reflecting off the water and just beautiful. The sun was up over the trees by 5:15 AM. Okay, I saw the sunrise, it’s back to sleep.

New Hampshire - August 2011

Lancaster, New Hampshire

Six Gun City Six Gun City; Littleton; Cog Railway; The Flume

Lancaster, New Hampshire - August 4, 2011

This is a theme park of the old west from 1880 to 1890. They have a Main Street with a bank, newspaper shop, gun smith, store, etc. and a town hall on one side and a hotel on the other. We walked through several other buildings looking at carriages, minerals, toys, etc. as well as the gallows, the jail, a chapel, and a large barn where you could take a carriage ride pulled by a tractor with wood horses on the side. There was also a water park and racetrack with miniature race cars and a large field with several grazing miniature horses. We walked all around in about an hour before watching a bank robbery. We watched as a “bad” guy runs into the bank and back out with a bag of money. The Judge deputizes all the kids he could find and they chase the bad guy through the town until they catch him. The Sheriff arrest him, takes him to the gallows where he is put on trial and taken to jail. The kids had a ball. It’s a small park and in my estimation not worth the money we had to pay to get in.

Mount Washington Cog Railway

Lancaster, New Hampshire

The Mt. Washington Cog Railway is the first mountain climbing cog railway in the world. Sylvester Marsh of Littleton, NH was caught in a fierce storm while climbing Mt. Washington and decided to design and build a cog railway so everyone could get to the top in comfort and safety. The three-mile ride to the top takes about 35 minutes each way and allows you to stay about an hour at the top. We walked through the museum and gift shop and outside looking at the old tractors and trains and the old steam engine. They now have four biodiesel engines that push the passenger car up the mountain. However, you can still be pushed up by the steam train by making reservations on the once a day runs. While we were there, two trains came back down the mountain. We didn’t, however, take the ride; I just didn’t feel like spending $62 each for the trip and I had been on it before. On Sunday, we woke up to the smell of waffles. The campground takes orders for them on Saturday night and delivers them to your campsite Sunday morning. Boy do they smell good! They also have muffins each morning and Green Mountain coffee that is very good.

The Flume

North Woodstock, New Hampshire

We stopped here to see the two moose that locked horns in battle and died that way because they couldn’t get themselves unlocked. Of course the real carcasses were completely gone when found so the display was done to simulate how they were locked. Two very large moose with horns locked together must have been terrible.

Littleton, New Hampshire - Picture

Littleton is a neat town with old buildings, lots of neat shops, thrift shops and restaurants. I even found a new red hat in one of the thrift shops for $1.99. Littleton has a covered bridge in town crossing the river which makes a beautiful setting. The Old Thayer’s Hotel was one of the most elegant and comfortable hotels of its time. In the day of horse and buggy, the hotel would send their coach to fetch you from the railroad and bring you back to the hotel. They were also known to be one of the safest hotels with its fireproofing installed in 1931. The hand carved woodwork and staircase were beautiful. Littleton also has the world’s longest candy counter at the Chutter’s Candy Store. The counter runs the entire length of the store front to back and contains any kind of candy you could want. While we were walking around town we kept hearing piano music and there on the street outside the music store was a guy playing a decorated piano and he was pretty good too. Apparently this week is Music in the Streets and there were pianos on every other corner that anyone could play.

Vermont - August 2011

St. Johnsbury, Vermont All Pictures (Moose River CG, Hawaiian Lau-al, Fairbanks Museum)

August 11, 2011

We stay in Moose River Campground in St. Johnsbury that is surrounded by the Moose River with sites that are long enough for three motor homes and really nice people. From here we travel around Vermont and the White Mountain area. The campground has something going on almost every weekend and there are four places I can play bingo.

Pot Luck Hawaiian Lau-al

St. Johnsbury, Vermont (at campground)

Tonight the campground is having a pot luck Hawaiian Lau Al and we have to bring a dish but didn’t have anything here so we headed into town to the Farmer’s Market to see what they had. We ended up getting all kinds of fresh vegetables for a large salad. Now we had to get a large bowl because I didn’t bring one. The Lau al started at 5 PM so I grabbed my salad, dishes, silverware and drinks and headed over to the roast. The campground roasted a pig and boy did it smell good. The pork was excellent and there was lots of it.

Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium

St. Johnsbury, Vermont

This building was built in 1891 and expanded in 1894 because the collections had outgrown their space. Franklin Fairbanks was the founder of the museum and it is his collections that are on display. He started collecting items at the age of 12 not as a hobby but as something to share, in the hopes of sparking another person’s curiosity. There are two large bronze lions guarding the entrance that have been there since 1894. Inside the museum are two stories high with a really impressive solid oak barrel vault ceiling running the length of the building and cherry display cabinets. The museum collection has over 170,000 objects including 450 birds, various stuffed animals, rocks and minerals, shells and fossils. There are also artifacts from Japan, China, India and Egypt and doll collections of American dolls of the 19th and 20th centuries and ethnic dolls from around the world. Some really unique pictures done by John Hampson are known as “Bug Art”. Each picture is made up of thousands of insects and butterflies. One picture consisted of 10,982 insects and butterflies; it was interesting but creepy. In the basement there is a display of Franklin Scales invented by Franklin Fairbanks uncle. There was also a weather center in the basement of the museum but we were told it is being converted into a classroom so we couldn’t go in. Upstairs to a small planetarium and a darkened room with black light pictures of planets and stars.

Brownington, Vermont

Old Stone House Days Pictures

Brownington, Vermont

Our 43 mile drive up, down and around mountains to get there was beautiful. Brownington was once a thriving center for political, economic and educational life in Orleans County. Today most building have been preserved for the way of life and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. There are six buildings dating from the first half of the 19th century. The Blacksmith Shop had demonstrations on the art of making horseshoes. The Twilight House is now a museum gift shop with quilting demonstrations. An old barn called Lawrence Barn had antique farm equipment. Samuel Read Hall’s house was principal and teacher at the Orleans County Grammar School and minister of the Brownington Congregational Church. The rooms display furnishings from the period. One room had tables covered with pies with a raffle you could bid on. The Brownington Congregational Church and Cemetery at the top of the road was built in 1841. The Cyrus Eaton House, built in 1834 and now houses research library and archives. Last is the Old Stone House that’s an impressive granite building built in 1836 and used as a dormitory for the Orleans County Grammar School. It is very impressive. Outside around the grounds were tents with hand crafts, basket weaving, rug weaving, string art, jewelry making and fruit and vegetables stands. There was a woman cooking coffee and corn over a large wood fire who had just squeezed fresh apple cider in a press. I had a cup and boy was it good. They also had a Concord Stagecoach on display, one of only four made, that was just beautiful. It was an interesting place.

NH - Six Gun City

VT - St. Johnsbury (our campground)

NH - Littleton

VT - Old Stone House Days

Lyndonville, Vermont

Caledonia County Fair All Pictures (Caledonia County Fair, Orleans County Fair)

Lyndonville, Vermont - August 25, 2011

Today is Lumberjack Day so we walked through buildings housing horses, cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, chickens, rabbits and piggy’s to the Grand Stand where the lumberjack demonstrations were going on. We saw guys sawing large logs with two-man hand saws, two-man bow saws and chainsaws and axe throwing. We watched for a little while before moving on to the amusement part of the fair. There were lots of amusements but just like the other fairs, expensive to play. We walked through a large tractor display and back to the Grand Stand to see the team lumberjack competition. This time six guys made a team; two sawed the log with a two-man handsaw then two others chopped a log in half with axes then two others finished by sawing the log with chainsaws. It was interesting.

Orleans County Fair

Barton, Vermont - August 18, 2011

Barton is about 35 miles from the campground. We walked through several buildings with cows, horses, goats, sheep, rabbits, chickens and pigs. They had children’s exhibits, cow judging and several demonstrations going on and we met one couple whose grandson was showing his cow. We watched harness races then walked through the amusement area with lots of rides for kids and lots of skill games, but the cost was pretty expensive at $2 a shot up to $5 a shot and you still got the same old small stuffed animal. We then walked back to watch the Horse Pull. We sat on the bleachers next to an old guy that ended up telling Jack all about the art of horse pulling. There were nine teams completing. They pull a flat wooden sled with large 1,000 pound concrete blocks on top. The first pull of 2,000 pounds and the last pull we saw was 6,000 pounds. Each team has to pull the sled 12 feet and get three minutes and three tries to complete the pull. There are three guys working each team; one drives the horses and the other two holds the wooden harness that attaches to the sled. The team is brought to the front of the sled while the two guys drop on the harness. The guys have to be fast and accurate because the horses are ready to go as soon as they are facing forward. I’m really amazed that someone doesn’t get hurt. Once the team pulls the sled 12-feet they do it all over again with an additional 1,000 pounds added. The 6,000 pound sled we saw was pulled by seven of the nine teams. The old guy told us a few tricks the teams use: they purposely have the team go out of bounds so they use all three times so the horse get use to the weight. Another “trick” was to remove the blinders from the horses’ eyes so they can be scared making them pull harder. We saw this and it really did work. It was very interesting. We watched something called the Banana Derby. Monkeys dressed like jockeys ride dogs around a small track. It was funny. There were wood cutting demonstrations, tractors and other farm equipment on display. We saw two beautiful white tigers and four Siberian tigers in a trailer called Big Cat Encounters. The funniest was the Pork Chop Revue. Four large pigs and one smaller pig lined up side by side with their front feet on stools to be introduced. The trainer started singing Oh McDonald and one large pig walked to the middle of the arena and did the "oink, oink" on que; really funny. He also had a large pig push the smalled pig around the arena in a carriage like a baby, but one thing the guy didn't expect was the "baby" pig was peeing up in the air all the way around. For the finale, he brought out a slide and had each pig go up and down it. It was fun and very interesting.

VT - Caledonia County Fair

Hurricane Irene Damages around Vermont Pictures

August 28, 2011

Hurricane Irene came upon us today. We had rain, rain and more rain. We stayed inside all day and made several calls to family and friends to see how they got through it. Jack went out around 10 PM when the rain slowed down just to check the level of the river in back of us. It was still well below the banks and we were high and dry. The winds didn’t hit us until 2 AM but they weren’t bad at all; the motor home didn’t even rock. In fact, the electric didn’t even go out. In the morning the sun was shining and everything was quiet. We walked around the campground and took pictures of the river overflowing its banks. Yep, the river is now over its banks in the lower areas and is now covering the fire pits on those sites. It is really flowing fast and seems to be rising by the hour. It still has a few feet to go before it is over the banks on the higher ground and we are high and dry. The TV reports say there is extensive flooding all over Vermont and that the state has the worst damage. There were three covered bridges destroyed, hundreds of road closings (some 260 of them), over 100 schools closed today and all the government offices are closed. Brattleboro, Vermont, about two hours south from here, received the worst damage with lots of flooding and 23 deaths. We drove into White River Junction, Vermont to check out the Quechee Gorge and Village. The shops were fine but the Quechee covered bridge down the road is sitting in the middle of the river with no roads on either side, they had been washed away. Buildings along the river were flooded and in some cases, walls were gone. We then drove into Woodstock, Vermont seeing all kinds of dump trucks along the way and when we got into town we saw the National Guard distributing water. The hurricane wiped out the town’s water system and they say it would be at least two months to restore. In the middle of town there were tables set up with food, water and other goods for the town’s residents. Some of the stores were open but all the restaurants were closed. Route 4 going into New York is closed from here to Rutland, Vermont. When we came back into the campground, we heard on the radio the rains that just started will produce another 4 to 6 inches; it is not needed.

New York - September 2011

Our drive around New York trying to find a route Pictures

September 2, 2011

We took a ride to find a way to get across into New York. We saw plenty of roads with large pot holes and one of two lanes completely washed away. We passed bridges washed out or covered with debris in and over it. We kept running into closed roads or low clearance bridges. We rode around for over three hours looking for a way out. We'll have to try again another day. We had found a route out and into New York so we were ready to leave. Tropical storm Lee was going to hit here tomorrow with heavy rain again tonight and maybe more roads being flooded so we left.

NY - Trying to drive home

VT - Hurricane Irene damages

NY - Our Flat Tire

Our Flat Tire

Gansevoort, New York - September 5, 2011

We were driving on I-88 when a guy in a pickup truck signaled us to pull over. He told us our car had a blown front tire and was running on the rim. Sure enough, the tire was completely shredded off. Jack changed the tire with the donut and we continued on our way but were detoured due to a mud slide. After getting settled in at the campground we found a tire place and had the tire changed. It was amazing how much the tire shred; the only rubber left was that attached to the rim which probably saved it. This turned out to be one sucky drive. The next day we did some road recon and actually drove down I-88 and I-81 into Pennsylvania. I-88 was closed at Exit 2 for about 15 miles to I-81 due to a mud slide. When we got to the campground the two guys showed us to our site that was at the end of the road next to a canal. Oh no, more water and the site was already muddy but that wasn’t the worst of it, we had to back down the entire road in order to back into the site. The woman said it was her favorite site. Oh well, as long as the pond doesn’t overflow, we’re be okay, I hope. It rained all night, heavy at times but the morning was just overcast. The rain however, splashed the mud half way up the sides of the motor home and car; Jack is not a happy camper. At least the pond didn’t overflow and by the time we left, the ground was drying out. We took a ride to the Riverside RV Park where we were supposed to stay last night. We called to find out they were under ten feet of water. It's right on the Susquehanna River and even now, five days later, was still totally flooded out.

Pennsylvania - September 2011

Ronks, Pennsylvania Pictures

September 13, 2011

Every time we come here we get the pull-thru site but this time I wanted to go to the site in the back next to the Amish Farm. We were here the first time and I really liked the site BUT, there are trees and now with all the rain and wind, leaves and branches had fallen on the motor home every couple of days. Jack was not a happy camper needing to clean the roof that often. Okay, it’s back to the pull-thru site from now on. We relaxed, met good friends, played bingo and ate plenty of that good Amish food for about 30 days.

South Carolina - October 2011

Dillon, South Carolina

B&W Auction Pictures

Dillon, South Carolina - October 14, 2011

Dillon is a small town that if you blink you would miss it. The town doesn’t have much besides a few restaurants and businesses except for the B&W Auction. A large open field with rows of “stuff” of anything from furniture to glassware, tools to “junk”. If you want to buy you go to the office and get a free “bidder’s number”. Everything is sold by the auctioneer, nothing is sold individually. Starting at 11 AM two women on a golf cart ride down each row stopping at each “lot” (all the items from one person) and start the bidding. Lots went for $1 up to $90 for a hand-carved wooden bear. We walked the entire field then followed the auctioneer for a while. It was really different and interesting. Larger furniture items, glassware, coins, and pictures were inside the building and auctioned off after all the items outside were gone.

South of the Border

South Carolina

This is a really big tourist spot. They have Pedro’s motel, Pedro’s restaurant, Pedro’s South of the Border campground, Pedro’s ice cream shop, Pedro’s etc. etc. Get the idea? All the gift shops have all the same stuff. There are statues of Pedro, donkey’s, and other animals everywhere and there is a large building called Silver’s Arcade. I assume it is all arcade machines because we didn’t go in it. It’s a great place for families to stop during their drive south because it has lots of things kids can climb on.

Georgia - October 2011

Tybee Island & Tybee Lighthouse All Pictures (Tybee Island. Fort Screven & Tybee Lighthouse, Botanical Gardens

Tybee Island, Georgia - October 20, 2011

Tybee Island has five miles of pristine natural public beaches and lots of vacation rental homes, inn’s, hotels and beach resorts. We drove to North Beach and Fort Screven Park passing by the museum and stopping to take a picture of Tybee Lighthouse that was built in 1773 and is Georgia’s tallest lighthouse at 145 feet; pretty picture.

Savanah Botanical Gardens

Tybee Island Georgia - October 25, 2011

We drove down SR-204 to the Botanical Gardens and when we asked, had passed right by it. This is a botanical gardens developed by the Savannah Area Council of Garden Clubs, Inc. The an old farm house is the office and the gardens are in back of that. Price of admission is donation. The winter roses were blooming so we saw some really beautiful ones. There was a vegetable garden among the flowers, a children’s garden and a pond. It was well done.

PA - Ronks (Sept)

SC - B&W Auction/Dillon

GA - Tyee Island

Savannah, Georgia All Pictures

October 22, 2011

We got tickets for the Oglethorpe Tours. There must be six different tour bus companies all bidding for your buck. The Oglethorpe Tours is cheaper than the others and takes you all the same places. The tour bus is open which I thought would be cold but it was great, I could take clear pictures on my side. The tour runs every 20 minutes and lasted for 90 minutes. They took us passed beautiful Victorian homes of city founders and other famous people in the Historic District, passed beautiful cathedrals, especially the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist which is one of the largest cathedrals I’ve ever seen, passed the Colonial Park Cemetery and the City Market. We drove down by the river and down River Street passed all the shops and restaurants in that area and the statue of the Waving Girl.

Savannah was founded by James Oglethorpe in 1733 and is laid out in a system of 24 squares. All businesses, homes and churches surround each square creating a network of interconnected neighborhoods. Each square is a beautiful park setting with lush trees, bushes and flowers. The city is beautiful with so many beautiful homes and streets lined with trees and hanging moss. It seems like every two blocks there is a beautiful park. We decided to come back during the week to do some walking around on our own so we can see some of the squares. The guide was very good as he told us about Savannah’s history and pointing out homes, parks and other interesting facts. The tour didn’t really stop at most sights but rode slow passed them. I sure wouldn’t want to drive around here. Today Savannah was sponsoring a dog Wag-O-Ween party at a pet shop and we kept seeing people walking their dogs all dressed up in costumes for Halloween; some were really cute. We stopped at the Dockside on River Street and told we were done with the tour and could get off here, do some shopping and catch any trolley back to the Welcome Center or stay onboard to go back. We stayed onboard.

Once back at the Welcome Center we walked across the street to a Memorial Park with rows of plaques with the names of roughly 800 soldiers that were killed or wounded in one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution. Then we walked over to the Georgia State Railroad Museum and Roundhouse. This railroad was to bring products grown in Georgia to Savannah for export, primarily cotton. By 1851 the repair shops were built holding a rolling stock with 50 locomotives and 500 cars. In 1893 the Central, as it was now called, operated high speed passenger service between Savannah and Atlanta. By the 1920’s the Central was the largest employer in Savannah. By the late 1940’s many steam engines were replaced by diesel locomotives and sent to Macon shops and the roundhouse, not conducive to diesel maintenance, was closed. The Southern Railway began demolishing the roundhouse but concerned citizens halted the destruction and title was transferred to the City of Savannah. Restoration is continuing today. Steam Trains are displayed outside and others inside the roundhouse are refurbished with a few you can walk through. The floor of the Roundhouse is wood “bricks”. They are actually wood but look like brick blocks. The décor and woodwork was beautiful. We walked all over the yard looking at the trains and the Turntable that is 85 feet in length and used to rotate the locomotives and rolling stock into each stall in the roundhouse. Inside the buildings we walked through several areas still under construction that housed a blacksmith shop, machine shop, tool shop, frame shop, paint shop, coach shop, carpenters’ shop, storehouse, boiler room, lumber shed and the smokestack. This smokestack is 125 feet tall and used to draw smoke from several areas of the site. It also held a 40,000 gallon cast iron water tank.

City Market is a people walkway passing shops, restaurants and art galleries. After going through the City Market we walked down to River Street that is 40 feet below street level down steep steps and looked in all the shops. They have a little bit of everything and lots of places to eat. The Savannah Candy Store has free sample of Savannah Pralines; pretty good. We continued our walk across the street to see the sail boats and take a cruise up the river. The cruise went a quarter mile or so up the Savannah River pointing out the buildings along the port where cotton, sugar, rubber and other products were off loaded. Savannah’s port is the second busiest port in the US even today, first is Los Angeles. They cater to 2,800 ships a year, most being cargo ships. We saw one large cargo ship off loading John Deer tractors. The cruise lasted one hour. The Savannah River down town is not much to look at because all of it is lined by shipping docks, product plants and ships. However, it was very informative for history of Savannah shipping. We continued our walk down River Street looking at the rest of the shops and restaurants. We walked to the end of River Street to see the Waving Girl statue. The statue was erected in memorial to Florence Martus who married a mariner who left on a ship shortly after they were married. When she received word he was returning, she came out to the pier and waved to every ship that passed in hopes her husband would be on it. She did this for 44 years; her husband never came home.

Another day we drove back into Savannah. Once in town we parked the car and caught the free shuttle bus to Lafayette Square. The city runs the DOT Shuttle buses for free stopping at various stops in the Historic District. The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist is the largest Catholic Church in Georgia and is massive and just magnificent and the pillars inside reach to the ceiling and beyond. Statues adorn the side walls with beautiful stained glass and murals. Even the organ pipes are massive. What a beautiful place. The largest park in the city, Forsyth Park, has a fountain that is just exceptional. Water not only flows out the top but the sides. We were approached by a guy asking if we wanted him to take a picture of us in front of the fountain but we declined because we saw him sitting with three other guys before he approached us and just didn’t want to get involved if he had other intentions than taking our picture. Yes, we’ve seen some scary and homeless people roaming around. Taking the bus tour you tend to only see the beauty of the area. They don’t take you down every street and probably don’t for a reason. Walking you can see the not so beautiful problems of the city. Anyway, the park was beautiful as long as you are aware of those around you. We must have walked 20 or 22 blocks of the Historic District.

GA - Savannah

GA - Jekyll Island

Jekyll Island, Georgia Pictures

October 20, 2011

We drove 8 miles to get onto the island then paid $5 to enter the island for a 24-hour period. We first stopped at the Tidelands Nature Center which was just a small display of the islands eco system and some turtles. We passed a water park (no one was there because it was too cold) and passed a few roads leading back to homes at the southern end called Jekyll Point. We stopped at the South Dunes Picnic Area, walked through trees with lots of moss and along a wood boardwalk over the dunes to the beach. Jekyll Island has 5,700 acres, is 7-1/2 miles long and has 20 miles of bike paths and 10 miles of beach. Of course no one was on the beach so we had the whole place to ourselves. We continued around the island and stopped at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. This center houses sea turtles that have been stranded or hurt. They nurse them back to health and return them to the wild. They even hatch baby turtles and took us on a tour of the hospital. We walked over to the Pier Road Shops set up like a small village with a few shops; A Christmas shop, Just-By-Hand jewelry shop, a candy shop, a coffee shop and a commissary. We passed by the Historic District before we knew it and continued passed the airport, more homes and the ruins of the Horton House. This was the home of William Horton, one of James Oglethorpe’s men, who established the colony of Jekyll Island. We then checked out the campground on the island. This campground is rustic, in the woods with fairly large sites everywhere. It’s a nice campground. We then went back to the Historic District. Jekyll Island was a private retreat for the wealthy in the 1900’s and it is said to have housed 1/6th of the world’s wealth. Restorations of the homes belonging to the rich and famous in the Jekyll Island Clubhouse District are ongoing and they are gorgeous. We walked past several cottages: Villa Ospo owned by Walter Jennings, Director of Standard Oil, and the only cottage with a garage. It has a beautiful fountain and lily pool. Villa Marianna, owned by Frances Miller Gould, plumbing, and named for his little girl, Marianna. It’s a beautiful Spanish home and the last home constructed on the island. Hollybourne Cottage, owned by Charles Stewart Maurice and is the only house built during the club era with the island’s native tabby. It is also reported to be the most haunted home on the island and has yet to be renovated. Every time work is done, it is torn down. Cherokee Cottage, owned by Dr. and Mrs. G.F. Shrady of New York is a beautiful Italian Renaissance style house. The area has walkways of seashells and is lined by moss covered trees. Moss Cottage built in 1896 used all local materials and named after the Spanish moss hanging on all the trees. This was the home of George Henry Macy, tobacconist of Hudson, New York and a beautiful cottage. Goodyear Cottage built in 1906, for Frank Henry Goodyear, head of a vast lumber, coal, iron, and railroad Empire. Unfortunately, he only lived here for one season before he died. It is now the Jekyll Island Art Association. Mistletoe Cottage built in 1900 for Henry Porter, a manufacturer of locomotives. It almost looks like a very stylish barn but is considered a Dutch Colonial Revival style. Indian Mound Cottage originally built in 1892 for Gordon McKay but after his death in 1903, was purchased by Mr. & Mrs. William Rockefeller, the younger brother of John D. Rockefeller and head of the Standard Oil Company in New York. This is really a beautiful home. I just love the wrap-around porch. Crane Cottage built in 1919 owned by Richard Teller Crane, Jr. and President of Crane Company of Chicago (plumbing fixtures). This cottage is the largest and most expensive cottage in the District with 20 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms and beautiful enclosed gardens. The Faith Chapel was built in 1904 of Tidewater Red Cypress shingle as a non-denominational chapel for the members of the Jekyll Island Club. It is a beautiful Gothic Revival style. DuBignon Cottage is a simple farmhouse owned by John Eugene DuBignon, owner of Jekyll Island, as a hunting club in 1884. It was sold to the Jekyll Island Club and became the home of the Club’s resident manager E.G. Brob. Many of the historic “cottages” are for rent and others are museums, art galleries and bookstores. We then walked over to the Sans Souci Hotel built to accommodate those who wanted to escape the crowds of guests at the Jekyll Island Clubhouse. Henry B. Hyde, Equitable Life Insurance Company, personally oversaw all aspects of the six apartments in this hotel. He even personally approved its occupants, rejecting those with children or mistresses. The Jekyll Island Clubhouse is massive and the only word I can think of for this place that oozes with luxury and money is WOW! The Jekyll Island Club Wharf is where the most luxurious pleasure crafts docked. Today the wharf has dolphin tours and the Latitude 31 Restaurant & Rah Bar, and I didn’t spell that wrong. It’s easy to see why the wealthy came here.

On the way back to the motor home we stopped at the Georgia Pig Barbeque for dinner. This is a small log cabin with tables and an open BBQ pit. They have pork, beef and sausage, all slow cooked. We got a platter of pork ribs, beef ribs and a pile of pulled pork. The pulled pork was excellent but the ribs are large with lots of meat and they were great! They are the best since Thermopolis, WY. Even the BBQ sauce was really good, not spicy at all.

St. Simons Island, Georgia All Pictures (St. Simons Island, St. Marys)

October 30, 2011

The south end of the island is just packed with shops, restaurants and cafés with tables along the sidewalks. There is a boardwalk, pier, playground and picnic area under large oak trees, a very picturesque and peaceful place. We then walked over to the St. Simons Island Lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1872 and is one of only five surviving “light towers” in Georgia and its light still shines today aiding traffic entering St. Simons Sound. There is also a keeper’s dwelling, an 1890 oil house and a Victorian gazebo. We drove to the north end of the island driving under beautiful moss covered trees overhanging the streets. We passed plenty of restaurants, various shopping centers, homes and the Sea Palms Golf Club. We were amazed to see such big beautiful homes out at the end of the island. Coming back we stopped at Christ Church, the second oldest Episcopal church in Georgia and the third oldest in the country, originally built in 1820 and rebuilt in 1886 when the original was destroyed during the Civil War. This is also the church established for the town of Frederica and its first minister, Rev. Charles Wesley. It is a beautiful small church with beautiful grounds and gardens. Across the street is a pathway through the woods leading to the Wesley Memorial Monument and Gardens to commemorate the ministries of Charles and John Wesley in Georgia. The focal point is an 18-foot Celtic cross weighing fifteen tons. Just down the road is The Fort Frederica National Monument. This fort was established here in 1736 by General Oglethorpe to guard Georgia’s southern frontier and best remembered for repulsing a Spanish invasion of Georgia in 1742. The fort became the town of Frederica and home to colonists seeking a new life and some seventy houses became part of the fort. Today there are only ruins of the houses, the barracks and the Kings Magazine (gun storage). The fort was surrounded by dirt walls that are just barely visible today and only three cannons still sit at their posts. The entire town was surrounded by a wall and moat. At the other end of town is the burying ground believed to be the final resting place of early residents of Frederica but little else is known about it.

St. Marys, Georgia

Downtown area has a few restaurants, churches bed & breakfasts, hotels and a few shops. We walked along the waterfront which is pretty with all the sailboats and saw a large shrimp boat offloading large bags of frozen shrimp. We decided to take a tour through the Historic District. The First Presbyterian Church here is the oldest building in Georgia that has been in continuous use as a church since it was built. We passed several other churches, the Elementary School and the oldest house in St. Marys. The Toonerville Trolley is a truck that was outfitted with steel wheels to ride on the rails for the first “train” from St. Marys to Kingsland that Roy Crane immortalized in his comic strip. We drove passed an old hard oak tree as an example of those that were harvested to build ships and the marsh where rice was grown. Passed the Oak Grove Cemetery with large concrete slabs placed on top of the graves to keep them from floating away when the area floods and the Orange Hall/House Museum, getting its name from the orange grove around the house, is the only antebellum Greek Revival style house known. We were wondering how a town tour could take an hour but after listening to the town’s history and stories at each stop, the hour was up before we knew it. We then walked over to the St. Marys Submarine Museum. This submarine museum is the largest of its kind in the south and the fifth largest in the country. There are 20,000 artifacts, paintings, models and historical documents on submarines. We walked into a room that houses more than 99% of all the WWII patrol reports and their command history files in file cabinets. They also have equipment on display and lots of plaques hanging on the walls. It was a real interesting place.

GA - St. Simons Island

FL - St. Augustine

St. Augustine, Florida Pictures

November 5, 2011

In 1565 on September 8, Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles stepped ashore, planted the Spanish flag into the sandy soil and founded a new city and named it St. Augustine. That was 55 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. From that day until today, the City of St. Augustine has continued to survive and thrive, making it the longest continually inhabited European founded city in the United States, and commonly called the "Nation’s Oldest City."

St. George Street is one lined with shops and restaurants and a blast to walk down. Everywhere you go there is history. Of course the city is a real tourist place and rightly so, there is plenty to do and see here. You can take a train ride around town, go into the Believe-It-or-Not Museum or take a tour of the fort. It's a neat place to visit.

The lighthouse was built between 1871 and 1873 and is the 10th tallest in the USA with 219 steps to the top of the 145 foot tower. I guess the view is awesome but I didn't go up. The lighthouse still serves as a functioning lighthouse today. We walked into the museum’s gift shop and ended up buying two really nice jackets.

Back Home

November 6, 2011

Well, here we are back home again for the winter. We can’t believe the summer is over again for this year. Where did the summer go? Jack seemed to actually enjoy this summer more than the past ones because he didn’t have to drive every day or go somewhere. Back home. Now I will start going to bingo, ladies luncheon, playing Bunco, bowling, spaghetti dinners, etc. etc., etc. Welcome Home to Us - UNTIL NEXT YEAR......