The final few days...and home

Mammoth Cave is exactly as the name implies - gigantic, the largest cave in the world. They have found hundreds of miles passageways and in fact, there are still parts and passageways being discovered.  There is one large room that is so big that it could hold three football fields!  We opted for one of the short trips underground, a one and a quarter hour visit to the area with the most formations, including stalagmites and stalactites.  The day was hot and it felt good to descend with our guide and about 24 others into the tunnels.  The tour we took was called "Frozen Niagara" because the featured formation looks like a frozen waterfall.  It was very beautiful and we were glad that we had chosen that tour.

Kentucky has many interesting features and one of them is that it is, in some places, a dry state.  Each county can decided whether it is "dry", "wet" or "moist".  "Moist" means that restaurants can serve alcohol and some can even sell you a sealed bottle of wine to take home.  Not knowing about all this, we were surprised when we tried two nights in a row to find a place for Jon to replenish his supply of gin.  We ended up driving about 20 miles each way to get into another county which, of course, had liquor stores just inside the county line.  By the way, I had long since bought a box of wine at a Target store.  The size I bought was equivalent to 2 bottles, was easy to transport since it didn't break or leak, and was very inexpensive.  It was also good.  But I digress...

The day after the cave, we traveled east to visit a Shaker community called Pleasant Hill.  It is another "living museum" kind of place where volunteers dressed as community members in the 19th century demonstrate skills as they would have been used in that era.  This particular community began in the early 1800s and survived for over 100 years.  I tended to lump Shakers and the Amish together and of course learned that I was incorrect about that.  The Shakers were both celibate and communal, severing all family ties when they joined, donating all their possessions to the larger group and living in "family" houses, men sleeping in one area, women in another.  They were very modern however.  They had the latest in tools - the latest model of sewing machines, saws and iron heaters for example.  They also treated women equal to men - for every Deacon there was a Deaconess etc.  Most of this is in direct contrast to the Amish.  The site is the original site of the community and the buildings have been restored by a local non profit group.  It was very interesting and we were glad we'd taken the time to drive there.

In the late afternoon we stopped at My Old Kentucky Home State Park.  It is named of course for the song written by Stephen Foster and is Kentucky's state song.  The park features a video about him as well as a mansion built by one of his uncles, John Rowan.  We took a guided tour of the house and it was interesting to contrast it with the homes we had seen in the deep South.

One place we had been told that we "had" to visit was the Louisville Slugger museum and factory and so we did.  Our trusty GPS got us into downtown Louisville and we enjoyed the building and tour that allowed us to see the bats being made.  Currently, Mariner Justin Smoak has his bats made there and in the past Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez and other Ms greats had their bats manufactured there too.

We were excited to see our friends, the Ewalds - Tom, Sharon and daughter Laura, who lived in Poulsbo for years but moved to Murray, Kentucky twelve years ago.  We enjoyed a great reunion with them Monday night, catching up on their lives and seeing their new home.  They looked wonderful - life there agrees with them.  I didn't know that Sharon is a skilled quilter and I loved seeing her creations - they were an inspiration for me!  The next day they took us to Paducah.  I wanted to see the National Quilt Museum , the recognized center of quilting in the country, and they were pleased to go with us and to show us the other sites there too.  The museum was our first stop and it was amazing!  We were blown away by the fabric art that we saw.  Their annual competition was in April and several of the winners were still on display.  The designs, colors, stitchery and piecing were gorgeous and Jon gained a whole new appreciation of the art form.  After a nice lunch, we saw the murals that have been painted on the flood prevention cement wall that runs along the Ohio river.  The murals were fantastic, beautiful scenes from Paducah's history.    Long the home of Native Americans, the town was established by William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame, at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers.  It was a trading center, a site of Civil War battles and is now part of the TVA's (Tennessee Valley Authority) nuclear energy production region.

After enjoying a final meal with our friends, we said good bye and returned to our hotel room to pack.  Somehow, by discarding AAA tour books and state maps when we didn't need them any more, we found room in our luggage for the souvenirs we had bought along the way.  The next morning, Wednesday, we drove through western Kentucky, into Illinois and across to St. Louis.  Our flight was not until 6:00 pm but we had to return the car and then get to the airport itself.  I was able to check in online Tuesday evening so that saved us time but we still left our hotel early.  Fortunately we had no problems and reached St. Louis early in the afternoon, well away from rush hour.  All went well with the car and at the airport.  Our flight took off on time and we arrived back in Seattle at around 8:30, Seattle time.  By the time we got home, it was around 11 - 1 am Kentucky time - but that was okay, we were home.

Photos: friends Tom and Sharon Ewald and Jon, Laura Ewald, two herbalists at Pleasant Hill Shaker community, bat outside Louisville Slugger museum, Jon heading into Mammoth Cave Visitor Center, in the cave - two photos, iron heater at Pleasant Hill, weaver Louise at Pleasant Hill. (and repeat of herbalists).

Scenic driving

Skyline drive, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the New River area of West Virginia - all these make up some of the most incredible natural beauty one could ever see.  Green hills (up to 6000 feet) that go on as far as the eye can see...human interference only in the distance, except for the road and an occasional building, carefully controlled,  providing services for tourists..this area is a billboard for the National Park Service.  The Blue Ridge Parkway links the older Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks and one could spend days, even weeks, driving and exploring from one end to the other.

In the last post, I told you about the Skyline section.  From there we drove into West Virginia to the New River and Gauley River areas.  The latter is quite undeveloped; white water rafting, hiking and camping are the activities and are definitely off road.  The New River is more car friendly and so we spent our time there for the most part.  Coal mining used to be very big there and there are many exhibits and a few "ghost towns" to explore.  We went to the Canyon Rim Visitor Center which is next to the largest single span arched truss bridge in the world.  Needless to say, it was quite impressive.  We visited the abandoned town of Thurmond and drove an 80+ mile circular road through the small towns and hillsides that surround the river.  The "New" is actually a very old river and is one of the few that flow north!

Once back on the Parkway, we enjoyed the great scenery and one particular stop - the Folk Art Center at mile post 382!  It is an artists' cooperative, full of traditional Appalachian crafts as well as some more modern things.  The walls in the gallery were covered with quilts!  Some were traditional patterns, some were abstract and some were largely appliques.  Wow!

Our first night back on the Parkway was spent in a 1907 house that is now a Bed and Breakfast.  It is in the little village of Woolwine.  There was only one other couple there, honeymooners, and so it was very quiet and rural.  We sat on the porch, drank wine and watched a HUGE thunderstorm, complete with thunder, lightening and several inches of rain in about half an hour.  Quite amazing for someone who is used to rain in drizzles!

Our second night we stayed at the Pisgah Inn, a concessionaire on the Parkway.  Each room had a balcony that overlooked the valley, complete with rocking chairs!  It was wonderful to be in that quiet environment with a chill in the air - we were at the 5000 foot level.  That night we were treated to a light show in the sky - continuous heat lightening which went on even after I fell asleep at midnight.

Upon reaching the end of the Parkway, we immediately went into Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  We of course stopped at the Visitor Center, which had an area much like our Pioneer Farm in Eatonville.  Original buildings moved there from throughout the region demonstrating life in the early 1800s.  There was also a good presentation of the Trail of Tears.  The Eastern Cherokee reservation lies just outside the park.  These people had been given land along the river by the government before the removal plan came along so they were never forced to leave.  Those who were removed walked to Oklahoma.  The tribe has quite a commercial venture and we had fry bread tacos, Cherokee style, at the  "Little Princess" cafe.  After that we "had" to visit the crafts shop!

The Smokies are gorgeous.  The drive through was easier; not as up and down nor as windy as the Parkway.  There were streams and a few waterfalls.  At one stop, we could stand with a foot in Tennessee and a foot in North Carolina, walk a bit on the Appalachian trail, and see where FDR first dedicated the park.  We met hikers from the AT and a Chinese family from Beijing.  The drive through the park is only 40 miles long and so we easily drove into Gatlinburg in the late afternoon.  What a shock!  The town is one long stretch of family entertainment.  Three separate Ripley's Believe It or Not attractions, endless hotels and restaurants, mini golf, water slides etc. etc.  AND road construction.  It was a total shock to our senses!  Not a place I would recommend!

Today we drove north into Pigeon Forge where Dollywood is!  We didn't stop but I took a picture of a billboard for the record.  Happily there was only a short stretch of the road devoted to amusements of the Gatlinburg sort.  We drove on through Tennessee and into Kentucky.  The eastern portion of both the states is truly lovely and I would like to come back to this area some day.

Tonight we are in Somerset, a midway point on our way to Mammoth Cave, tomorrow's destination.  We have said goodbye to Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee now.  We will drive across Kentucky as far as Murray where we will visit our friends from Poulsbo, the Ewalds.  We fly home next Wednesday.  I can say that I have truly enjoyed the South.  It is beautiful, charming and friendly.  More reflection later....

Photos:  the Shenandoah valley, Skyline drive, the New river in West Virginia, bridge at Canyon Rim Visitor Center, same, rapids on the New, the New river from Grand View, back on the Blue Ridge Parkway, our B & B in Woolwine, Jon and I on the porch at the B & B, our trusty GPS, the view out our window at the Pisgah Inn, along the Parkway, spring time and our little Corolla.
Second set:  Road sign in English and Cherokee, Smoky Mountains view, signs along the way.

Virginia, the history state

We have spent the last five days steeped in Revolutionary and Civil War history, sights and culture.  We are thoroughly enjoying being in the places where so many important things have happened.  We have walked where so many famous people have stepped before us, looked at the same landscapes that soldiers, slaves and statesmen have seen.  For our nation, this is history as far back as it goes.

After leaving Rita in Chesapeake, we drove to Jamestown, the oldest continually inhabited English settlement in the United States.  The first inhabitants arrived in 1607 and there have been people there ever since.  There is a historic area which is where the fort actually was and where excavations continue to go on, and there is Jamestown Settlement.  The latter is nearby and is a recreation of the colony, with volunteers dressed in period costumes, replicas of the initial ships etc.  We visited both.  It was an interesting day since both were extremely well done.

The next day we drove to Fredericksburg, site of one of the most important battles of the Civil War.  The region between Washington, DC. and Richmond, VA was fought over several times because of it's importance to both sides.  Spotsylvania(1864), Chancellorsville(1863 )and the Battle of the Wilderness(1864) all took place in the area, in addition to Fredericksburg(1862).  Thousands of men died, Stonewall Jackson was killed and became a legend and the beginning of the end took place here as Burnside and Grant battled Lee.  We decided to do a driving tour which in this case meant a dozen stops in and around the city.  The most meaningful to us was the park area outside the city with only grass, trees and cannon; it was not hard to imagine Union soldiers charging up the hill.  The video in the Visitor Center was very well done, as usual, and we decided that this would be the last battle field that we needed to see.  So many times it was as one general was quoted "very much like murder".  Terrible decisions, impossible odds, complete slaughter.  What a horrific war.

After the battle fields, visiting Appomattox the next day was pleasant.  Fittingly, the weather had been cloudy and rainy in Fredericksburg but for the visit to the place where the war ended, it was sunny.  Again, the Visitor Center had excellent displays and videos, the latter stressing the honor and respect between Grant and Lee and their armies when surrender finally came.  We visited the courthouse and the home where the papers were actually signed and looked at the hills and farmlands where the opposing armies had stood.  One nation again.

Monticello was our next stop.  Thomas Jefferson has always been a man of great interest to me.  Such a mind - inventor, visionary, philosopher.  A man of contradictions too, most especially in his opposition to slavery as an evil yet a slave holder himself.  His original house still stands with its original columns, the inside filled with reproductions, period pieces and a few of his possessions.  The paint has been restored to the colors it was when he last lived there.  The gardens remain as they were.  Happily after his death, the house stayed in his family until the late 1800s when a family from New York purchased it and used it as a summer home for the next 100 years.  Then it was purchased and lovingly tended by a local group dedicated to maintaining it as a memorial to Jefferson.  We took an informative tour called "slavery at Monticello" whose guide's purpose was, in part, to raise questions in our minds about Jefferson and the contradictions of his life.  I learned many things but I was especially glad to know that of his six children with slave Sally Hemings, two ran away and he didn't pursue them, and he freed two of them at his death.  The other two had died as children.

Our final Civil War stop was Harper's Ferry.  Some say that's where the whole thing started since John Brown attempted a slave insurrection, the thing most feared in the South.  His actions and his subsequent capture and hanging brought a focus and emotion to the issue of slavery that hadn't been there before.  It set other actions in motion.

Having dealt enough with wars and slavery, we turned our attention today to the beautiful hills and mountains of western Virginia.  We drove the Skyline Drive in beautiful weather.  The green rolling hills were gorgeous and the Shenandoah river turned and twisted its way along in the valley.  We also began driving the Blue Ridge Parkway late in the afternoon before we turned west toward West Virginia.  Spring is a great time to be here and we were blessed with blooming wildflowers and rhododendrons along the road.  Our spirits were renewed!

"Take me home, country road, to the land where I belong....Blue Ridge mountains, Shenandoah valley...life is old there..." (borrowed from John Denver)

Photos:  Jamestown sign, Pocahantas statue, replica of a ship that brought supplies to Jamestown, musket shooter at Jamestown Settlement, Chatham - the mansion outside Fredericksburg used by Union troops and where Clara Barton and Walt Whitman nursed troops and wrote, Appomattox sign, Monticello, statue of Jefferson and Jon, sign at Harper's Ferry.

Charleston, the Outer Banks and Rita

Wow!  I can't believe how much time has gone by again before doing another post!  We have been busy seeing so many new things that I hope I can remember them all!

When I last wrote, we had arrived in Charleston.  We hoped to see our friends Joyce and Paul Stier, as well as to experience the charms of that legendary city.  We did the latter but unfortunately the timing didn't work out well for our planned reunion.

We spent our first full day in South Carolina at the Magnolia Plantation.  It has been owned by the same family for 11 generations, dating back to before the Revolutionary War.  At present it consists of five hundred acres, part in gardens and part in historic and tourist buildings and facilities.  We opted for three guided tours, including one about slavery on the plantation.  That was by far the most interesting and worthwhile of the three.  Our guide gave a short presentation on the history of slavery itself, in Africa and in the US and then explained what it looked like on that particular plantation.  The so called "low country" of the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia grew rice, not cotton.  The slaves from West Africa knew a lot about growing rice and were in fact experts from whom their masters learned a great deal.  According to our guide, their lives were better than the "hell" of the cotton plantations, in spite of alligators and poisonous snakes in the water in which they worked.

Our experience at the plantation took all day and it was hot so we were pretty tired by the time we got back to our hotel.  The next morning we moved to a second Best Western in the historic district of the city and prepared for another warm day full of the city life.  We took a carriage ride, ate excellent seafood for lunch, took a boat tour to Fort Sumter in the afternoon, shopped the city market and bought a Gullah basket, and treated ourselves to a special dinner out.  As it was getting dark, we walked to the old slave market museum.  It was closed for the day but it was still so meaningful to even just see the outside.  We were told that of the thousands of slaves that were brought to this country, the vast majority came ashore in Charleston.

Each day we were in contact with Joyce, hoping to find a time that worked to get together.  Unfortunately, Paul is undergoing treatment for cancer.  He had recently finished a round of chemo and the week that we were there, he was having radiation.  He was just too tired and ill to meet and of course Joyce needed to stay with him.  We have agreed that when he is better, they will come to Seattle for a visit and we will see each other then.  We were all disappointed but at least Joyce and I had an extended phone conversation.

We drove out of Charleston early the next morning since we had a six or seven hour drive to reach the ferry we needed to take to Ocracoke Island in the group of islands that makes up the Outer Banks.  Unlike the Washington State ferries, the route we were taking only has four runs a day.  We had made a reservation on the last run of the day, at 4:30.  We had hotel reservations in Ocracoke (town) for that evening.  We made it to the ferry with about an hour and a half to spare.  It was still pretty hot but there was an air conditioned waiting room in which we could read etc.  The voyage itself takes over 2 hours and is over fairly calm water so it was a peaceful way to relax after the stress of the drive.  We checked into the hotel and watched the sun set over the water - beautiful!  We had a delicious dinner, thanks to our friend Marcus' recommendation before we left home, and the next morning we had a fantastic breakfast at a cafe called - you have to love it! - the Flying Melon (the owner let his kids name it).  Sweet potato pancakes, deep fried french toast  - this guy knows southern cooking!

Ocracoke is the least developed of the major Outer Banks islands and is charming.  Lots of white dunes, green beach grass, and in our case, beautiful blue skies and warm temperatures to complete the picture.  Lots of wind too!  We drove up to the north end of the island and took a free (!) ferry across to Hatteras and began the long bridge-linked drive up several islands to Kill Devil Hills where we were to spend two nights.  Of course this drive took most of the day.  We topped it off with a great dinner amidst a thunder storm, some of which we watched from our hotel window.

The next day we went to the Wright Brothers National Memorial, located about a mile from our hotel.  The National Park Service years ago acquired the spot where their very first flight took place and it is all preserved quite well today.  Like several places we've been on this trip, it was quite inspiring and I was impressed by the genius and courage it must have taken to accomplish what they did.  After a quick lunch, we drove to Roanoke Island to visit the site of the "lost colony" begun by Sir Walter Raleigh.  We watched an interesting film and then wandering the site briefly.  Apparently, some recent findings may lead to a discovery of what actually happened to the settlers who lived there, beginning in 1585.  We also learned about a Freedmen's Colony that was established there from 1862 to 1867 after Union troops took over the island.  Hundreds of freed slaves were able to live there in an atmosphere of freedom until the community was disbanded.

The following day was Monday and we drove off the islands and out of North Carolina and into Virginia to the Chesapeake area where our wonderful almost-daughter Rita lives with her husband Ludo and sons Braden and Alex.  We had not seen Rita in eight years, since she was matron of honor in our daughter Jessica's wedding!  When she walked into our hotel lobby to meet us, I couldn't help but shed a few tears!  We loved meeting 17 month old Alex and handsome French husband Ludo and it was incredible to see Braden who is now 12!!!  We all had a great dinner together and then a fun breakfast this morning.  It was so hard to say goodbye to them but we elicited from them a promise to come to Seattle soon, if not this summer then some time in the year following.

So now we begin our exploration of one of the most historically significant states in our country.  Our plans include Jamestown, Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home), the Civil War battlefields of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania and Appomattox.  We'll also drive the Skyline Drive down the Shenandoah Valley and on down the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Maybe we'll hum a little John Denver on the drive.  More to come.....

Photos:  at Magnolia Plantation - note the Spanish moss hanging from the tree, our tour guide in the carriage in Charleston, flags over Fort Sumter showing the countries it has belonged to over time, a cannon ball still lodged in the wall, sunset over the harbor at Ocracoke Island, the Wright brothers, a sculpture of their plane, storm-driven waves on the beach at Kill Devil Hills, Rita, Rita and her family and me.

Northern Florida and Savannah

It's been a while and so it's time to record the events of the past few days.  We are now in Charleston, South Carolina but to start I need to go back to the Florida coast and the Kennedy Space Center.

We stayed in Cocoa Beach on Florida's Atlantic coast for two nights.  After arriving on our first night, we contacted our friend Alice Black who lives in Rockledge.  She and her husband Bud moved back there from Suquamish about 20 years ago after he retired.  We had a wonderful time visiting with her, first at her home and then over dinner at a nearby restaurant.  We spent about five hours together and every minute was full of story telling and remembering good times and laughing.

The next day we went to the Kennedy Space Center.  It is an amazing complex and we spent 8 hours there, taking it in.  We went to the "rocket garden", the Apollo center that held a Saturn rocket as well as a lunar vehicle and moon rocks, a launch pad, a conversation with an astronaut, a great simulator developed by several astronauts that creates real launch sensations, and several movies, including 2 IMAX presentations.  It was a very full day but very interesting and rewarding.  I have a whole new respect and admiration for the astronauts' courage.

On Sunday we began our drive north and then made a stop in St. Augustine, the oldest continually occupied city in the country.  It was first settled by the Spanish and our first stop was the historic fort that guarded the city where we watched a cannon firing exhibition.  We also wandered down George Street, a pedestrians-only road, and enjoyed a delicious lunch.  In all, we spent several hours enjoying the mix of Spanish, English and American influences before continuing our drive on to Savannah, one of the queen cities of the old South.

Once having arrived in Savannah, we spent our first night enjoying a great dinner at the Chart House restaurant (I had shrimp and grits, one of the staples of southern cooking) which is located in the oldest cotton warehouse in the city.  The next day, yesterday, we started with a sightseeing trolley ride.  It was a hop on/hop off tour.  We saw several old homes and other buildings but the first stop that we hopped off for was Juliette Gordon Low's home.  As some of you know, she was the founder of the Girl Scouts in the United States.  The Girl Scouts now own the home and conduct tours through it.  We took the tour and I learned some facts about her that I didn't know; she was an excellent painter and artist in general although she had very little formal training and she felt very much a failure after she and her husband divorced and she was childless.  Happily, she met Lord Baden-Powell in England and he inspired her to start Girl Guiding in the US.

We also stopped at the city market and river front market for some browsing.  By this time it was mid afternoon and quite warm - high 80s - so we went back to our hotel for a rest before our dinner cruise on the Savannah river.  We were so glad that we had booked it!  Dinner was a buffet, but unlike some, the food was plentiful and delicious.  The entertainment for the evening was a gospel choir and they were excellent!  The cruise was 2 hours and they sang for most of that time.  We all enjoyed singing along and clapping to the familiar tunes and listening appreciatively to the ones we didn't know.

This morning we had another wonderful experience.  We went to the First African Baptist church (if we remember correctly, the first African/black church in the country) for a tour.  This church was begun in the 1700s and the building was built by slaves after their work hours were done.  As you can tell, it has an amazing history.  One of the most interesting parts is the role it played in the Underground Railroad, the escape route north for slaves prior to the Civil War.  There was a tunnel dug from the church to the river and it could hold up to 200 people at once.  Holes were drilled in the flooring of the fellowship hall in the basement to allow air to enter the tunnel.  It was never discovered during that era and in fact today no one is sure where the entry was at the church or where the exit was by the river.

Before we left Savannah, we also visited an old mansion.  It is where Gen. Sherman stayed, at the invitation of the owner, while the Union Army occupied Savannah.  This Mr. Green, an Englishman by birth,  wanted to curry favor with the Yankee commander so that the city wouldn't be burned.  They also became friends and Sherman visited at least once after the war.

We left Savannah at about 2 and drove north to Charleston.  It is usually not a long drive, maybe 2 hours at most, but we had some road construction which slowed us down.  The day was hot and we were glad to get to our new "home" here.  Tomorrow we will visit a plantation outside of the city and reunite with some friends we met in Europe, on our Israel-Egypt-Jordan tour, Joyce and Paul Stier.  They live near the plantation area and we're planning to meet for lunch.  It will be fun to see them!

Photos:  our friend Alice Black and me, Jon and I with the astronaut who we heard speak, the back end of a Saturn rocket, Snoopy and space, firing the cannon at the fort at St. Augustine, Juliette Gordon Low's home in Savannah, and the gospel choir on our dinner cruise.