7-16-11 Frederick and Monocacy

We took one of our last road trips today. The weather has been nice and it seemed like a good time to see someplace we had not been yet, so we headed to Frederick Maryland. We first went to the Monocacy Battlefield where an outmanned Federal force delayed Jubal Early on his drive to threaten the North side of Washington DC in the summer of 1864. The Feds pinned him down for a day, enough time for Grant to send reinforcements to Ft. Stevens by Rock Creek Park in DC and convince Early that it would be suicide to attack. The battle in Frederick took place on the fields of two farms - almost 2000 casualties. It is so peaceful today.

We then walked around the town of Frederick. Sue found a street she particularly resonated with. Very nice and reminded us of Alexandria - nice downtown, lots of eateries, shops, and a green belt that runs through the downtown with a canal or stream flowing in it.

We then headed south to the Potomac and found the C&O canal trail. Some folks helped us locate the Monocacy Aqueduct, a feature of the C&O built in 1833 that carried the canal across the Monocacy River where it entered the Potomac. This structure was built to last - the Confederates tried to destroy it twice but couldn't budge it.

7-9-2011 Happy Birthday Alexandria

Every year Alexandria celebrates its Birthday on the weekend after the fourth. Since we had been in Albuquerque over the Fourth and missed the DC version, we though this would be good to see. It is Alexandria's 262nd BD. We walked down to the waterfront park - it was actually not too hot - and found a spot right behind the 4 howitzers that the Marine Cadets from Quantico had brought. We had to wait about 90 minutes for it to get dark enough. The Alexandria Symphony played the 1812 Overture and the fireworks went off at the end - a nice show - probably nothing to compare with DC's but then there were 20x fewer people probably - and we could just walk home.

6-28-11 Pirate ships, broken bridges, fireflies and fairys

It cooled off a bit tonight so we took a walk at about 8:45. The weather has been hot for two days but really quite temperate and even pleasant before that. As we came around the corner of the pier on the Potomac by our house at 9pm, just as it was getting dark, we saw a three-masted ship at rest in the river. We suspected it was waiting to go under the Wilson Bridge, waiting for the bridge to open. The ship looked for all the world like what one thinks of as a pirate ship, complete with gun ports on the side. The bridge did start to open, the ship sailed through and the bridge started to close - a 20 minute process - but one of the ramps seemed to hang up and it looked like the operators were bouncing it to get it to come down. We thought we might be witness to the "Night the Wilson Bridge Broke" but no, they got it to work and the Beltway resumed its load roar. The fireflies were out in force as we walked home, all the way up into the tops of the trees, so the whole green belt near our house looked sparkly with little blue lights. I thought this must be where stories of fairies come from.

6-18-11 Cape May

After going to the Farmer's Market in the Alexandria square, we got on the road to Cape May at about 10am. We had decided to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and go northeast through Maryland, so Sue could see the countryside (as opposed to taking the ferry from Lewes). I had gone this way on my road trip to the lighthouses of the Delaware River. Maryland is very agricultural and it was a good drive, though the bridge crossing was very slow due to traffic to the beaches, I guess. We had lunch in Middletown, MD ( huge deli sandwich - we split a 12 inch and thought we were doing good until the sandwich came out with a pound and a half of meat in each 6 inch half - burp) and had a custard later - Oh my, my weight is up after the trips to California and New Mexico and this is NOT helping!

Sue wanted to stop at a fabric store in Vineland NJ. After that we pushed for Cape May - it was about 3:30. But I talked Sue into a detour to the East Point Light House on the Delaware Bay. Second oldest standing lighthouse in NJ and the first of several I hope to capture on this trip. We got to the B&B in Cape May (Buttonwood) at about 5. We got settled and then headed down to the beach to walk along the boardwalk, Huge old hotels, new hotels, lots of big houses, many really nicely fixed up Victorian houses also. We walked back through the boutique-laden downtown and went to dinner at an Italian restaurant the lady at the B&B had recommended. Determined not to overeat, we were going to have small pizzas until we heard the special and we both wound up having a grilled chicken breast in pasta with red peppers and it was ever so good! But a lot of food. Oh well.

On Sunday morning we slept in since breakfast was not until 9am. After French Toast we headed out for a long day walking. We first went to the Beach where we found we had to pay ($10) for an access badge. We walked west along the beach towards the Cape May Light. When we got there we got stopped at the boundary of another community beach and headed in to see the Light. For Father's Day I got to go up for free. I found that, up until 4 weeks ago, the Cape May light was the longest continuously operating light in the US. The managers had to send to China for the part to fix the mechanism - Boy! Sue and I walked the nature trails - it was a very pleasant day since it was overcast and relatively dry. We walked back into town for a late lunch and drove out to the WWII observation tower where we learned about the submarine war off the East Coast. Then went to Mass at 6pm. After, we walked down to the Martini Beach restaurant for a dinner of tapas and salad. Our kids called and we got the Birthday-Father's Day-Anniversary wishes.

Unfortunately, as I got back to the B&B, I crashed - with chills, aches and then fever. This was a relapse of the illness I had had since the 6th, before we went out to Sacramento. It was a bad night.

In the morning I felt better but not a 100% - more like 60%. We had a pancake breakfast (really good pancakes) and then headed up the Atlantic coast of NJ, first to go to the Hereford Light in Wildwood (the common man's beach town) and then Atlantic City to see the Abescon Light. The Abescon Light seems doomed - it is surrounded by development. We did find a spot of the boardwalk and stood on it, but it was very hard to get to beach access for all the massive casinos. It seemed like the casinos were being built out of a slum area that had a few dilapidated old houses still standing - we did not want to stop. But we drive down Baltic Avenue to celebrate being near the origin of Monopoly.

We drove to the bridge across the Delaware and then stopped at the fifth light of the trip - Turkey Point. My long suffering wife OKed the trip and we walked a mile to the light. It was a beautiful light in a beautiful setting, on a bluff overlooking the water. We got home at about 7pm.

6-1-2011 The Beast is here!

It's HOT! Our first 90 degree day, a watershed event (no pun intended), was 5/26. In the past few days it has really been hot. Heat and bad air advisories. Air so steamy you can see the water vapor. The AC in the house was repaired on Tuesday due to the water drain clogging and shorting out the electronics inside the unit. Cost our landlord $2K. We escaped over the weekend on our W Va-Pa trip - it was not that bad over there. Hot, yes, but not so steamy. Even with all this though, we think we have acclimated somewhat. We actually went out walking tonight and really worked up a sweat. Last year I don't think we would have done that. I am wearing the short sleeve shirts to work now and my two sport coats (blue and tan) are stored in at work. No coats outside now.

5-28 to 30-2011 W Va,Pa, FLW House trip

The Frank Lloyd Wright house at Falling Water has been on our list since we saw it on a Smithsonian "Top 10 World Sights" list. We made a road trip of the visit by driving into West Virginia, since we had seen little of that state, spending a night and then seeing the two FLW houses the next day. We targeted Seneca Rocks in WVa as a good spot. The drive was good even though it was Memorial Day. Driving in that part of WVa is a pattern of drive up the ridge, over the top, down to the valley, cross the river and train tracks in the bottom and then repeat. The valley between Moorefield and Petersburg was especially pretty. Seneca Rocks is a climbing location. What we saw on the way there was the real goal. We toured a Pioneer's house at the park. And we stood beside the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River - now that's a mouthful.

We then headed North and, since there are no Lighthouses in WVa, we fell back to collecting Covered Bridges. The one pictured is at Phillipi. We passed through Webster, the birthplace of Mother's Day! We spent the night in Morgantown - went to Church and had a dinner at a Japanese BenniHanna type restaurant, of all things. The Univ of WVa is spread all over the town. It is very hilly, very green, old and very rural.

The drive to the Frank Lloyd Wright houses was not very long. Along the way we stopped at the Fort Necessity National Battlefield, the site of George Washington's first command in the French and Indian War - it didn't go so well. We got to the house in time for our visit. The site for the house is beautiful, a creek runs right under the house, the platforms that form the house are anchored in the rock behind it. It looked very 50s but that's part of the appeal.

We headed to our next stop, the FLW house in the USONA tradition, Kentuck Knob. On the way we stopped at the falls in Ohiopyle State park, had lunch and walked around. Kentuck Knob is owned by an English person of large wealth who occasionally comes here to live. So we could take pictures outside. Very stark - no space for clutter - FLW hated clutter - invented the carport to take away all the space for clutter in a garage. The grounds were wonderful with a large outdoor sculpture garden down the hill from the house.

Our final night on the road was in Sommerset. On the way there we travelled a back road through Ohiopyle Park and came across these amazing stands of pink and white flowers. With the green grass, they were just stunning - had to stop and collect a picture or 10.

The next day, Monday, we headed home. Picked up two covered bridges on the way (I'll spare you). And stopped by the site of the Flight 93 crash on 9/11. The monument is almost ready to open. There is a good set of documentation and information in the make-shift visitor's center.

5-21-11 Patuxtant Wildlife, Ft. McHenry, Ft. Carroll

Our day trip today is to Baltimore to see Ft. McHenry of the Star Spangled Banner fame. On the way while driving on the Washington-Baltimore Parkway, we turned off and visited the Patuxant Wildlife refuge. We had seen the sign for the turnoff on our many trips to Baltimore and we thought that today would be a good day for a visit. It was a nice area to walk - not much wildlife - fairly hot, but we got some good exercise. That morning at the Farmer's market, Sue had bought a sun hat for such days. Doesn't she look like a Southern Belle? We also found Mountain Laurel trees bringing back memories of our Shenandoah trip last year.

We headed on to Baltimore and drove to the Visitor's Center. There is a large display about the Flag, the shelling of Ft. McHenry, the War of 1812, and the Star Spangled Banner song. All very interesting. We walked out to the Fort and started to look around - and Lo and Behold, a Lighthouse. This is Lazaretto Point, a replica of the original light built by the Company that owns the dock to remember their founder. The fort has a set of replica artillery from the War of 1812 days, complete with reenactors, but most of the grounds are covered with a wonderful display of Civil War Rodman guns. I love these behemoths and they are all over the place. The Fort itself is a display about life in the early 1800s.

After Ft. McHenry, I talked my lovely wife into visiting just one more lighthouse - Fort Carroll. How could we pass that one up. Deserted, dilapidated, on an island in the harbor, the light is in pretty bad shape. But we got the picture.