5-15-10 Assateague

Assateague is a barrier island, part of Maryland and a National Park Seashore. It is located just South of the very popular Ocean City, where all the urbanites pilgrimage to when the weather gets warm. We didn't visit Ocean City but it sounds a lot like Myrtle Beach - all tourists and crowded beaches. Assateague is for the calmer set. We got there, after dropping Tim off at the airport, at about 1:30.

It would have been sooner but we stopped at a great Museum in Salisbury, Md, recommended by our friend Don Wolkerstorfer. This is the Ward Museum of bird decoys. Award winning examples of the state of this art are there and they are truly amazing. Also some history, and a replica of the workshop of the Ward brothers from Crisfield Maryland who made this a real art form. What started out as making nicer and nicer decoys for hunters has turned into an art form where some folks specialize in just making extremely detained feathers out of wood.

We were concerned we would not see the famous Assateague ponies during our visit. We had read that sightings were rare. So we were happy to see three of them grazing right by the road when we came in. That took that concern away. Then we ate lunch on the beach. This is an Eastern beach, which is not what this Western boy is used to. It is just a beach and people go there and lie in the sun. We ate our lunch sitting on the beach but that sure gets boring. We then went for some walking tours.

On the way out we happened upon a collection of ponies by the beach, close to a parking lot. Sue took this wonderful picture of me and the pony - I fully expect the comments about two horse's asses and she claims innocence but I am suspicious. The ponies were also drinking out of the water sprayers people use to get sand off their feet, while the kids stood next to them and petted them. So maybe the ponies are not so wild and rarely seen after all.

At about 5 we headed South to the place where we are spending the night, Chincoteague. Same island but in Virginia.

5-11-10 to 5-14-10 Tim's in town

Tim came to visit us after his conference in Baltimore was over. Unfortunately, Ann could not come also. Their trip to see us got snowed out around Christmas time by Snowmaggedon. Tim arrived Tuesday afternoon at the train station, a bit green around the gills. Sue took him home and mothered him and he felt much better the next day. It was not clear if it was food poisoning or alcohol poisoning or what. Wednesday, he and Sue toured the monuments in the morning and then met me for lunch. We went to Ford's Theater for the tour and then visited the Old Post Office Tower. We all rode the Metro back to Alexandria.

On Thursday, Tim and Sue tried to tour Alexandria, but several places were closed. They went to see the Library of Congress (Sue used her card to get onto the Reading Room floor), had a Capitol tour in the afternoon and then went to the Supreme Court.

On Friday, I took off and we went to Mt. Vernon for the day. It was warm, trending to hot. The crowds are picking up - we had to wait about 30 minutes to get into the house. We met a freindly (hungry?) bull and Tim took this neat picture of him.

Saturday, Tim's flight left Baltimore at 7:45, so we were on the road early to get him there. After we left him off and said our goodbyes, we took off for our next adventure - the Wild Ponies of Assateague.

5-8-10 Arlington

It's Mother's Day and out outing today is Arlington Cemetery. Strange it might be but we have been wanting to see this for some time and today is a great day. Sunny but not too hot. We drove instead of taking the Metro. The main sight Sue wanted to see was Lee's home, Arlington House, that he lost after taking command of the Army of Virginia. It is being renovated and one can go inside but it is pretty stripped down. It will be years before they move the furniture back in. Nevertheless, what a view of Washington.

We saw the Kennedy graves and then walked over to see the changing of the guard.

Sue's Mother's Day gift was to see the new movie Babies, that shows the first about 2 years of life, until they are walking, of four babies from around the world - Mongolia, Japan, San Francisco, Namibia. No script, just scenes. Pretty good.

5-7-10 Tall Ship in town

Today Sue and I visited a "tall ship" that is in Alexandria for a few weeks. This is a three masted sailing ship like those of a long time ago, but new, built a few 10s of years ago in Brazil. The ship is owned by one of the "Twelve Tribes of Israel", a religious world-wide group of an independent nature, looking for self sufficiency and sustainment. Anyway, the ship is open to the public for free self tours. The group offers pottery and food items for sale. The ship is gorgeous, beautiful wood carving and carpentry. Here are some pictures.

5-2-10 Azelias at the Arboretum

Today we went to the National Arboretum to see what was there. The Azaleas were close to the peak, perhaps a bit beyond. It was hot and muggy but most the azaleas were in the shade in the woods on the grounds. The arboretum is quite a place - we only saw a small part of it. There was a banzai tree exhibit at the visitor's center with winner's of a competition. The trees were very impressive, very original. Made me want to do banzai, but... No pictures were allowed so I'll just have to put azalea pictures here. Of course I took a ton of azalea pictures so choosing is hard.

5-1-10 Gettysburg

It was time to make a pilgrimage to Gettysburg. We had both read the Shaara book and wanted to make the connections between the story and the land. A nice day, sort of overcast but that kept it from getting too hot. Early enough in the season that the Park was not swamped. We first went to the Visitor's Center (relatively new, rebuilt) and decided against seeing the movie, preferring instead to explore the real thing. We bought a CD at the gift shop that we played in the car as we drove to the locations of the battles. that was a very good purchase.

We had been to Gettysburg a long time ago when the kids were small and I have always remembered the vast expanse of the shallow valley that Pickett's charge streamed across (The charge is also called Longstreet's Assault on the older monuments in the park. The picture is Sue with Longstreet's statue, hidden in a roadside glen). Having read the Shaara book, it meant more to see the monument to Armistead (South), where he fell only a short distance from where his longtime friend Hancock (North) had been wounded during the advance. Armistead had been so concerned about coming face to face with his old friend but in the end they were spared that tragedy.

But the other locations meant a lot more - Little Roundtop where the Union left flank was tried and Maine's Chamberlain became a hero for leading his troops in a charge when their ammunition was about gone. This against Alabamans who had not slept for almost 2 days, had no water, no shoes, but were nevertheless charging a well defended position up a hill. (The picture is taken from the South's point of view.) Amazing. Seeing all the places really made reading the book important.

And finally, we learned about Father Corby, who blessed the men of the Northern Irish Brigade (started with 3000 men, only 600 left to start this charge) and gave them absolution before they marched into the hell of the Wheatfield and The Peach Orchard. The CD we bought notes that he is said to have told them, after blessing them, that the Catholic Church does not offer a Christian burial to any soldier who is shot in the back, so to make sure they were always facing the enemy. (I can't find any corroboration of that anecdote.) How well they responded! Only 400 returned. Father Corby later went on to be the third President of Notre Dame, nominated for the Medal of Honor, and he is buried and has a statue at Notre Dame. Interesting sidelight.

4-29-10 A talk downtown

The last two weeks were occupied with a trip to California to see Sir Malcolm, the FOURTH Grandson from Kate and Erik. Great trip, got to play with Aiden and Sean and Gavin. The boys are so different - Malcolm seems to be the calmest of the four so far - time will tell.

In the evening Sue and I went downtown for a talk at the National Air and Space on cratering phenomena seen in the solar system. I had done this before; it's free and you get a free IMAX movie (dated but still fun) before the talk.

3-28-10 Alexandria Touring

Oops. I missed one of our outings. We spend Sunday in Alexandria and decided to see some of the sights here so we would not just keep putting them off. We toured the Apothecary Museum. This is an old drugstore that still has the flavor of a revolutionary war era store. Log books with Martha Washington's transactions in it, Robert E Lee's signature for items, jars of old potions - it is all very interesting. It was preserved by a fluke - due to a business going under and the store just being shuttered. If you are ever in Alexandria, it is a good sight to see.

Then we went to the Carlyle House. This is an old house that has been renovated. It fell into ruin and was surrounded by a hotel in the early 1900s. The hotel was torn down, the grounds returned to their 1700s look and the house has been restored. It also is a good tour.

4-11-10 Urban Hike

While Sue is out in Calif, I continued our search for a Church. Today I went to St. Louis to the south of us. It's close, about 10 minutes away, and seems pretty middle of the road. This might be it.

Afterwards I went for a walk at Hidden Pond Nature Center in Springfield Va. I had read where they had a wildflower walk there yesterday and thought I might see some if I went today. It was again nice weather and the area, while being in the middle of suburbia, is large and not crowded. I spent about 90 minutes there. While not finding a lot of wildflowers, it is a nice place to take a walk. Some pics attached.

4-10-10 Day in DC

So while I'm batchng it, I decided to spend a day poking around DC, seeing some things that seem minor but might be interesting. First I went to the Library of Congress, my most favorite building in all of DC. I went to see the Ricci map, 400 years old and going off display on Monday. The first map in Chinese to show America. I also reviewed the map and chart display. Then I spent a fair time just looking at the murals on the walls - so much to see in that building.

It was a wonderful day, cool but sunny. Next stop was the National Museum of Art. I walked through the Meyerhoff collection - very modern, very strange, included some by Rothko - just big patches of darkish colors. I did see a fantastic Dali of the Last Supper. The light in the picture is amazing and it is very mystical. Had lunch there.

Then off to one of those events you have to search the paper for - the Blessing of the Fleets at the Navy Memorial. This is when the fountains at the Memorial are turned on for the first time in a year. The "Waters of the world" are collected and mixed in four clear containers that are then poured int he four sections of the fountains and the fountains turned on. The Navy band was there, talking heads, midshipmen, and NROTC. A picture is included.

I hurried over to the Air and Space to see Hubble3D in the IMAX. A GREAT movie. Poked around the A&S a bit but it was a total ZOO, with thousands of people in it. Not the time to visit.

Finally off to the Museum of American Art to see the display of Timothy O'Sullivan's photos of the West after the Civil War. I then went to a talk (free again) by James McPherson, the author of Battle Cry of Freedom. He was talking about the first pictures of Civil War dead, taken at Antietam. He spent over an hour talking about the importance of Antietam to the outcome of the Civil War, mainly in that since the Confederacy had to withdraw, the Brits did not come in to call for a peace treaty between North and South.

A very full day - what I came back here for.

4-7-10 Welcome Malcolm

Kate delivered grandson number 4, Malcolm Burns, early in the morning. Sue also left in the morning for Sacramento to help the Burns family with the new baby. She stayed out in California until the 24th. I flew out to Sacramento on the 14th and came back on the 19th.

In the evening I drove back downtown and went to a talk at the National Air and Space Museum, free again. The talk was preceded by a free showing of Blue Planet an IMAX movie. The talk was about Martian dust and sand. Well worth the time.

4-4-10 Easter

A real treat! We had Easter brunch at our place. Sue's niece Debbie Sharkey and hubby Brian, kids Grace and Chris, came down from Columbus, Md to visit. San and Amanda were here also, Amanda being on one of her frequent visits to see hubby Sal. AND, Matt McElwee, one of Sue's nephews, was visiting the Sharkeys from his base in Rayleigh NC (Duke) and he could join us also - complete with Mimosas! Great time, great weather.

3-27-10 Cherry Blossoms

What could be more DC than the Cherry Blossom Festival. The town turned into a Zoo. There were so many people downtown, so quickly, that it was really hard to comprehend. The trees peaked on the 31st. We went downtown the weekend before on the 27th to see the trees, the Kite Flying festival at the Washington Monument and to generally enjoy the beautiful weather. It was too windy for good kite flying but there were a ton of people out. We could walk around the tidal basin fairly easily, the peak of the crowds coming on the week of the 29th. I've added some obligatory blossom pics.

We came across a women's rugby game - now that was something to see. We also visited the National Building Museum to see the Cherry Blossom festival show - just caught the end of it - and then see two of the exhibits in the museum, the most interesting of which was one about the evolution of parking garages, from an architectural point of view.

Sue came downtown after workon the 31st and we walked around the tidal basin on the peak day. It was worth an encore.