Thanksgiving and D.C.

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving! Most of our family were together for the day. My son Neal and his boy Ricardo, traveled from Michigan to be with us. His wife, Claudia, recently got a new job as a prep-chef (she is in culinary school) at McCormick and Schmidt. It was mandatory for her to work because they were opened on Thanksgiving day!!! Jennifer's boyfriend Jimmy went home to Michigan to be with his family, but she stayed behind to spend the time with us!! And of course, Amanda and Jordan.... who hosted our feast. Although, I did the cooking once again. Maybe next year. I did tell Claudia she needed to have the experience and we were ALL coming there! She is the cook in the family. My other daughter, Alyson, and her family stayed home in Tampa. But we will be spending Christmas with them. Because we were all together, we celebrated Christmas and exchanged our gifts. It was actually really fun and odd at the same time. No snow, no tree, but we all made out well with the presents. As most of us do every year, we ate too much and watched too much football.

The next day we avoided Black Friday shopping. But Jennifer ventured out for the good bargains and Amanda had to work. (Her store opened at 7:00 AM.) Jordan went hunting but Andy, Neal and Ricardo and I drove into D.C. to show Ricardo his capital city. It was a great day for him but the weather was very cold, windy and rainy!!! Unfortunately, it was our only possible day to go. We did see most of the landmarks and only one museum, the Natural History with all the dinosaurs, fossils and mammals. It is the most interesting one for a seven-year-old. He loved it! He is planning on putting together a photo book to take back to school to show his class. Along with all his D.C. maps he collected.

Ricardo didn't want to go back to Michigan, begged to stay with his new BFF (Jordan and Cash...the dog). They played with him, kept him entertained and let him stay up way too late every night. We are sure he will sleep most of the way home during that 9 hour drive.

Assateague Island National Seashore

Andy and I both slept great last night in our own bed. The best in the past 4 weeks. (Sorry Jennifer and Amanda). We got back into our little routine and realize how nice it is not to live out of a suitcase! Altho, it was much colder at night. Had the furnace on.
Eight miles south of Ocean City is Assateague Island National Seashore, paralleling the coast of Maryland and Virginia. It is a narrow 37-mile-long barrier island and home to the Chincoteague wild horses, locally called "ponies". During the summer, these ponies are seen on the beach where the sea breezes offer relief from the biting insects. Occasionally, they can be seen entering the surf to cool off, too. We were hoping to see them on the beach and searched for hours trying to find them. The park service had told us during the storm last week, the ponies were not even visible. We definitely saw "signs" of them all over the beach and trails!! Just as we were leaving the park, many were standing along the side of the road, stopping traffic. Some will eat right from your hands, as you can see the one ponie sticking his nose in that car! But they are wild and have unpredictable behavior. The cooler fall weather and fewer insects allow the herds to move from the beaches back to the marshes. They graze on abundant salt marsh cord grass, hay and beach grass. Unfortunately this diet is nutrient-poor, resulting in the short stature. They are slightly smaller than other horses and shaggy in appearance and have lived on Assateague Island for more then two hundred years. In 1968, there were 28 horses wild and free-roaming. Today there are 150 ponies, the number being controlled by contraception conducted by the National Park Service.

This seashore is good for surf fishing. No saltwater license is required. The dunes on the coast offer off-road vehicles to drive and camp with a required permit. Unfortunately, our RV didn't meet the requirements for camping!!

Ocean City, MD

We left Baltimore today (Friday) to spend the weekend on the Maryland coast in Ocean City. Picked up the camper and headed southeast. It has been almost five weeks since we put the camper in storage and have been living in comfort with a 42 inch flat screen, warm bed, always electricity and the Internet!! Both Andy and I were a little hesitant to hit the road; not sure we would remember how to "travel" this way. The ocean is about two-and-a-half hours from my daughters place, we had to go over two toll bridges charging us a fee of $9.00, then $12.00 to cross! Normal 2-axle-vehicles are charged only $2.00. Does that make sense?? We are staying in a real nice RV campground (half-off, the end of season rate) about 10 miles from Ocean City and its great boardwalk. We were here about 2 years ago and the place was much warmer and more crowded. As you can see by the pictures, the beach and boardwalk are empty. Many of the beach front hotels and shops are closed for the season. Actually, the beach itself was "closed". The concrete wall along the side of the walk way had gates blocking the entrance onto the sand. Last week this area got hit real hard from the "Atlantic Assault", a.k.a Hurricane Ida. Altho, those gates didn't stop us from climbing over and searching the coast for sea shells. There were no signs posted! And we needed the sea shells for my daughters beach wedding in April. We got over a half filled brown grocery bag of shells. Saving us about $20 if I were to buy them. And some of the snail shaped ones still any critters living in them!

Ocean City is a small resort town of about 7,000 people and has a 10-mile-long public beach, shops and small amusement park out on the pier. Tomorrow we are heading down to the National Sea Shore to look for those wild ponies on the beach.

Back to D.C. & Pentagon

On Sunday, we went back into D.C. This time we drove. We had noticed the amble free street parking last week, so took our chance we would be able to find a close spot; and we did. Very little traffic on Sundays! We started at the Capital Hill steps. That's Andy "pinching" the government! And then walked over to the US Supreme Court.

Our plan was to visit as many of the Smithsonian Museums we could. And that ended up being just one! We spent the entire afternoon in the American History museum. We were so engrossed in the American Wars and Politics with "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War" exhibit. The exhibit surveyed the history of the US military from the Colonial era (Revolutionary/Civil Wars) to the present (Vietnam/Desert Storm/Iraq conflict). It was both informative and depressing. On the lighter side we also got to see the First Lady's Inaugural gowns, Jackie Kennedy's pearls, Archie Bunker's chair, Abe's top hat and the ruby slippers!

The most interesting fact was how the Smithsonian Institution began:

The founder was English scientist James Smithson who devoted his life to research chemistry, mineralogy and geology. He had never visited the United States, but bequeathed his entire estate ($12 million) to establish in Washington, D.C. an institution for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge". In 1903, Alexander Graham Bell had Smithson's remains brought from Genoa, Italy (where he was buried) to Washington. They are interred in a crypt in the Smithsonian Castle. Still, so much more to see. We will be back!

The highlight of our afternoon though was visiting the Pentagon Building. Because it was Sunday, no tours were conducted. The Pentagon is the largest office building, by floor area, in the world. It has five sides, five floors above ground (plus 2 basement level) and five ring corridors per floor. It also has a five-acre central plaza shaped like a pentagon and informally known as "ground zero". I read that all in our tour book!

What we did discover was the Pentagon Memorial commemorating the lives lost during the terrorist attack on the Department of Defense headquarters on Sept 11, 2001. On the west side of the building where the American Airline Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon are 184 cantilevered benches. Each extends over a rectangular pool of illuminated water; collectively, the dramatic carvings create a timeline representing the victims' ages. The benches are inscribed with the names of the 59 passengers and crew killed, are backed by the sky. In the opposite direction, overlooking the five-sided government structure, are individual memorials to the 125 military and civilian personnel who died. This was the first memorial constructed after Sept 11th, which was opened within the following year after the attacks.

Alexandria,VA

Well, once again the east coast weather is disturbing our plans. Because of Hurricane Ida, the mid- Atlantic coast has been experiencing rain, flooding, high winds and very large waves. The weather stations are referring to it as "Atlantic Assault" (Nor'Easter). We were planning on going out to Ocean City and down the Assateague Island National Seashore, but that has been post-poned until next week.

Today we visited Alexandria, Virginia. Alexandria is an integral part of Washington DC metropolitan area, although it is a distinct city of its own. It was founded in 1749 and George Washington considered Alexandria his hometown. He owned a small townhouse here and socialized in the local inn's and taverns. He was also elected vestryman of Christ Church Parish. George Washington purchased pew 60 for 36 pounds and 10 shillings when the church was first opened. Also Robert E. Lee attended services there regularly. The church claims that every president since the early 1900's have attended the President Day services, except for a handful like Nixon and JFK. We were disappointed that the church was not open to the public due to a wedding.

The highlight of our visit was the Torpedo Factory Art Center. It is a large warehouse constructed in 1918 for the manufacturing of torpedo casings during WWI and WWII. Today it is owned by the city and features 82 working artists' studios, six galleries and an art school. The public can watch the artist and crafters at work. I have a photo of the inside of the factory plus an artist we met who was a young physicist who worked on the Atomic Bomb. He's aged a little since then and his work was quite strange, as you can see.

The city sits on the shore of the Potomac River, facing Washington DC across the river. In our photo, you can see the US capital. The other photo is a cobblestone street of row houses called Captains Row, one of the oldest and most picturesque area in the city. Many of these Federal houses were built by sea captains in the earlier days. The charm and quaintness of the Old Town architecture has much historic significance but also has many galleries, antique shops, boutiques and restaurants. And very busy, even this time of year and with this weather!!

Gunpowder Falls State Park, MD

The weather here is unbelievable, upper 60 degrees, sunny, requiring only a light sweat shirt!

Andy and I discovered Gunpowder Falls State Park from the recommendation of my daughter Amanda. The park was established to protect the stream valleys of the Big and Little Gunpowder Falls and Gunpowder River. There are over 100 miles of trail. The bike trail is similar to the Paint Creek Trails in Rochester, double-tracked crushed stone that is hard packed and easy to ride on. This trail begins in Ashland, MD and continues 40 miles to York, PA. It was once the Northern Central Railway (c. 1840) that once transported milk from local farmers to the city of Baltimore. Even President Lincoln traveled on it to give his Gettysburg Address. The rail line later served as a commuter train until the 1970's when it was destroyed by Hurricane Agnes. We found out that this trail is also part of the East Coast Greenway, a developing trail system nearly 3,000 miles long from northern Maine winding down to Key West, linking all the major cities along the eastern seaboard. About a quarter of the trail is safe and traffic-free paths.

Andy has put riding the entire trail on our Bucket List of things to do. Yes, we have a Bucket List. And it is continuing to grow.

Washington D.C.

Today the temperature made it to 75 degrees and clear and sunny. It was way too beautiful to stay inside and waste this weather, since we all know these days are numbered with the winter just around the corner. Andy and I took the metro into D.C. and walked and walked; around all the monuments and the National Mall. The Mall extends from the Capital grounds to the Lincoln Memorial. It was envisioned as a formal park in the original plan for the city of Washington. This rectangular area is a popular spot for picnicking, riding bikes, jogging and many football, soccer and kickball games! Also it is lined on both sides with by American elm trees and ten Smithsonian Institution museums.

My favorite place is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial with the polished black granite wall inscribed with the names of the dead. As always, it really moves me. There was a family standing together, staring at a name, in front of the wall. I couldn't resist taking a picture. I can only imagine the story behind the reason for the gathering. The older man on the end was in uniform. Now that, brought tears to my eyes.
We visited the Lincoln Memorial, which is aligned with the Capital and the Washington Monument. It is a stately marble structure with 36 Doric columns, one for each state in existence at the time of Lincoln's death. Dominating the interior is the seated statue of Lincoln and two of his famous speeches carved on the walls. In front of Lincoln Memorial is the reflecting pool (almost four tenths of a mile) with a view of the Washington Monument which is near the center of the Mall. This Washington Monument was first begun in 1848, but not completed until 1884 explaining why the marble is a different color about a third of the way up its 555 feet pyramid. The top of the pyramid is cast aluminum. The White House is in view from the 50 flags surrounding this monument. Ironically, every President has lived in the White House except Washington!

We were able to view the circular Classic dome of the Jefferson Memorial on the other side of the Tidal Basin. The central memorial room contains a 19-foot-tall bronze statue of Jefferson with the walls also inscribed with the statesman's most significant writings. Remember the Declaration of Independence?

The two new memorials recently added in the Mall are the World War II and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. The WWII honors the 16 million men and women served in the US armed forces, more then 400,00 who died and the millions who supported the effort at home. There are two 43-foot arches at the ends of an oval-shaped plaza and 56 17-foot-tall stone pillars (representing the territories at the time of war) making up the outer border of a water fountain and pool. The Korean Memorial was erected to those 1.5 million American military personnel who served in Korea in 1950-53. There are 19 poncho-clad soldiers giving the impression of moving warily through the unknown terrain of rice paddies. Very real.

We made the long walk to see Capital Hill, a 59-acre park which has the 550 room US Capital building. It has two wings, constructed of marble, containing the Senate and House chambers, while the center part of the building includes the Rotunda. Very impressive building, like all of them in this great city. Very clean city. We never felt unsafe. Friendly and helpful locals giving us directions. Actually, we enjoyed D.C. so much, we are coming back next week to visit the Smithsonian museums....again for the entire day. I doubt we will see all 18 of them, though! But the great thing about D.C., its all free and so educational.

This is America.

Baltimore Inner Harbor

We are still in Baltimore, MD visiting with Amanda and Jordan. Spent the day at the Inner Harbor, beautiful downtown area...clean, safe and much to see and do. My daughter works right where these photos were taken. Nice environment, unfortunately, her work has no windows! Andy and I still just relaxing and enjoying our time here. No traveling or pulling a heavy camper around, waking up with modern amenities (TV and cable), and making new plans every morning on what to do that day. We have gotten a lot accomplished with this future wedding, planning Thanksgiving, and even started Christmas shopping! Lately, though, we are getting anxious to hit the road again and seeing new sights and meeting new people. We can't stay idle for too long in one place!

Taking it easy!

We are now back in Baltimore. Didn't get kicked out of Jennifer's home, just thought they may need a break. I know how family can wear out their welcome. Amanda needed to work on her wedding plans and she is still getting settled in her new place. We have been hanging pictures, rearranging furniture, and doing a lot of Internet search for wedding ideas!! It has been great spending this time with our girls and helping out in any way we can.
We still sleep in, read a lot (we both just finished the Twilight novels, all four), Andy plays a little bit of golf and still enjoying NOT working. And we still really like each other!
Our plans are still to stay in this area until right after Thanksgiving. Then we are heading south and spend some time in the Carolina's before reaching Florida. Right now, our plans are to stay in Venice, Florida for about 6-8 weeks. Andy is looking into going to Daytona this year, so we are trying to work that into our travels, too.
We will be home in Michigan...flying back...the weekend of January 22ND. My daughters bridal shower is that weekend. It won't be a long visit, but I doubt we will be able to handle the cold and possible snow for too long! Neither one of us brought boots or winter coats. We may have given them away. The weather here has been so mild, still in the mid to high 60's. Not bad for early November. We are liking it.