Travels with John and Susan

Perry, GA

2011-03-24T14:49:00.001-04:00

Spring is here, so it's time for us to hit the road again. Our first stop on this trip is Perry, GA, where we attended a big, week-long RV Rally at the Georgia Fairgrounds with about 3,000 rigs in attendance. Now, we're staying an extra week with some RV friends from The Villages at a smaller RV rally and lots of socializing.

Last Saturday, we drove to Warm Springs, GA to visit Franklin D. Roosevelt's Little White House. Roosevelt came to Warm Springs in 1924 in hopes of recovering from polio. He had this house built in 1932 while he was Governor of NY and visited it many times while he was our President. It was neither large nor pretentious as many Presidential homes are, but more like a nice, comfortable rural retreat overlooking a small valley. He died here in this bedroom in 1945 after suffering a massive stroke while sitting for a portrait.

From there, we paid a visit to Callaway Gardens. It was a bit too early in the season for the gardens to be in bloom, so we spent most of our time there walking around the beautiful Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center and seeing a variety of local butterflys emerge from their cocoons and fly around inside the center.We'll have to return here when everything is in bloom.

Weeki Wachee Springs, FL

2011-02-04T19:54:00.062-05:00

While attending the South Eastern Area RV Rally in Brooksville, FL, we took a little side trip to check out Weeki Wachee Springs. It is the largest fresh water spring in the US with more than 117 million gallons of 72-degree fresh water bubbling up every day. An underwater theater was built in 1947 so tourists could watch women dressed up as mermaids swim and perform shows underwater while breathing out of air hoses. Today, it is as popular as ever for its mermaid shows. We enjoyed watching two of the mermaid shows. It was amazing to see what those gals can do under water. In between shows, we took a boat ride down the river that flows out of the springs. A very scenic place indeed.

Mediterranean Cruise 2010

2011-01-17T17:41:00.000-05:00

So much for staying at home. We flew to Rome, Italy for a 3-week land/sea cruise with eight friends of ours on the Navigator of the Seas. To see the details, click on our cruise blog at http://navigatoroftheseas2010.blogspot.com.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

2010-10-09T19:07:00.004-04:00

We awoke at 4:30 AM this morning to get over to the Balloon Fiesta Park in time to see the Mass Ascension where about 500 hot air balloons from 17 different countries were scheduled to launch into the morning sky over a period of an hour or two. This is THE event to see at the Fiesta! The sun began rising, the sky was clear, the wind was light, and then, almost like magic, you would see balloons begin to inflate all around you. At first, only a few... then a few dozen... then as others began to grow, some began floating into the sky. Before you knew it, the sky was lit up as the morning light illuminated all the balloons and the sky filled with color.

Some of the more unique special shaped balloons (87 of them in total) included a giant cow (not jumping over the moon), Darth Vader, a swarm of bees, a witch and Spongebob Squarepants. What a fantastic way to spend a morning!

Albuquerque, NM

2010-10-08T17:43:00.045-04:00

Today, after our ship's memorial service in the Chapel of Kirtland Air Force Base, our group toured the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History where we learned a lot about how atomic energy has been used to develop everything from the fluoroscope x-ray machines to the atomic and hydrogen bombs. Then, in the early evening, we went to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta to observe their Special Shape Glowdio where all of the special shaped balloons were inflated while tethered to the ground, then lit using the gas flames that are used to heat the balloon. We were allowed to walk among them and observe the event really close up and we did so with smiles on our faces the whole time. What an awesomely beautiful jaw-dropping experience!!

Santa Fe, NM

2010-10-07T17:21:00.039-04:00

We are now in Albuquerque, NM to attend my Navy ship's annual reunion. Today, we took a side trip up to Santa Fe to explore some of the southwest's history and culture. The architecture of this area is very unique. This building is one of the museums that surround the town square. In the square proper are many booths manned by the local Native Americans selling their jewelry and other local art. We visited Loretto Chapel which contains the Miraculous Stairway that was built by hand in 1873 and has no visible means of support, yet still stands strong after all these years of use. Simply amazing.

NC Good Sam Samboree in Marion, NC

2010-09-25T10:17:00.076-04:00

Our last stop before heading back to Florida was at the NC Good Sam Samboree that was held in Marion, NC. We camped with five other RVs from our Sams-O-Wake club (plus about 275 other RVs from all over) for the week and took part in the many activities these gatherings offer - like playing bean-bag baseball, ring toss, bingo, hide and seek (only kidding on this one!), shopping at vendor booths, enjoying to the evening music performances and waiting to see if we won anything at the Chinese Auction - and we did!

We also took a few side trips early in the week. On Tuesday, our friends Art & Sandy took us to the mountains where we visited Cherokee, NC. This is a touristy area mainly populated by the Cherokee Indian Tribe with most stores and decorations depicting their lifestyle. While there, we went into their humongous casino and spent some time playing the penny slot machines (we're not big gamblers). I didn't win anything but Susan came out over $6.00 ahead. Wow! The next day, we drove up to visit Little Switzerland up in the mountains. It was a beautiful drive but there wasn't much to see in the town itself - especially since the fog was so thick on the mountain tops that we almost missed the town when we got there. Tomorrow, we'll drive home to Florida and prepare for our next big adventure.

Heading South

2010-09-20T09:06:00.005-04:00

We spent the following week at another campground near Lancaster to attend an RV club outing with our long-time friends from the Sams-O-Wake club in Raleigh. While we were there, we visited even more fascinating Amish places, ate way too much good food and got caught up with what's happened since we moved away. What a fun time!

Then we headed South to Greensboro, NC to attend the High Lonesome Strings' Fall Camp n' Pick. We have belonged to this bluegrass club for many years and really enjoyed this opportunity to see some old friends, eat some fine country cooking and play some good old bluegrass music with them again.

Strasburg, PA

2010-09-06T18:38:00.002-04:00

Another short drive from the campground finds us at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg. What a cool place! Inside their humongous building are a wide variety of locomotives from the very first steam carriage (ca. 1825) through the mid-1900s, passenger cars, freight cars, mail cars and cabooses in near perfect condition. They even have an exhibit that looks like an early 20th century passenger depot. You almost fell like you've gone back in time. Outside are even more locomotives (more than 100 of them in all) and various other rail cars. A very impressive collection.

On our way home, we passed through a small town by the name of Paradise, PA. This must really be Paradise since, as this sign shows, there is a very important office here.

Harrisburg, PA

2010-09-05T19:32:00.000-04:00

We went to Harrisburg to do some genealogical research into Susan's family. We visited a large cemetery searching for the burial site for one of her relatives. While we didn't find the one we were looking for, we did find some other Facklers (Susan's family name) and even some Cooks (my mother's family).

After returning to our campsite, I noticed that the gate to the Museum of Antique Machinery had been opened for a blacksmith class so I went in and watched them work - notice the hot fire on a collapsible wooden bench - look safe to you? Then I went to look at some of the old steam-powered equipment (like this 1908 Avery tractor) on display. Pretty cool stuff.

Intercourse, PA

2010-09-04T18:30:00.000-04:00

A short drive from here is a little town with the most unusual name of Intercourse. It is loaded with a variety of small shops that mainly peddle Amish goods and other local art and foods. One of our stops was at the People's Place Quilt Museum, located in the Old Country Store, where some awesome quilts (this one is called Picket Fence) were on display. The we went across the street to a collection of small shops where a band played to amuse the husbands while their wives shopped. I listened to them a lot. ;-)

Lancaster, PA

2010-09-03T17:28:00.002-04:00

We started the day by taking a Segway tour of downtown Lancaster, Our tour guide provided us with a lot of local history and showed us many interesting sites such as their local farmers market, several large art murals and lots of old buildings.

Our next stop was at Wheatland, the home of our 15th President, James Buchhanan. The house tour was very interesting and I was even able to get a picture of Susan with our 8th dead President.

Lititz, PA

2010-09-02T16:56:00.035-04:00

We took a short trip to Lititz, PA (just north of Lancaster) where we visited the Wilbur Chocolate Company. Local folks say they make the best chocolates. Well, they've been making chocolates here since 1884, so they must know what they're doing. We toured their chocolate museum displays, watched women making chocolates and, of course, bought more chocolate than we should have...but, what the heck, chocolate is supposed to be good for you. I'm not sure if it is really good for you but it sure tastes good! Yum! I agree with the locals.

Kinzer, PA

2010-09-01T16:40:00.029-04:00

We're now in southern Pennsylvania where we'll spend the next week and a half - mainly due to the Labor Day holiday (campsites are hard to find). We're in the heart of Amish country and literally surrounded by large Amish farms. Most of the crops are corn but they also grow tobacco and a few other crops interspersed between the rows. The scenery is beautiful. Right behind the campground is the Museum of Antique Machinery which, unfortunately, is closed. This doesn't stop us from admiring some of their collection through the chain-link fence. Besides old farm tractors, there have antique trucks, steam shovels, steamrollers and other heavy equipment. I sure wish it was open.

Nazareth, PA

2010-08-31T16:32:00.000-04:00

This was a two stop day - both with surprises. Our first stop was the C. F. Martin & Company guitar manufacturing plant in Nazareth, PA. We took the free, hour-long guided factory tour where we saw all aspects of manufacturing some of the finest guitars in the world (according to some of my musical friends). Some of the more interesting things seen was the largest guitar in the world and watching a giant robotic arm pick up and polish guitar bodies with style and grace. Then we toured the Martin Guitar Museum which contained many interesting instruments including the One Millionth Martin guitar made in 2004.

When we first arrived, Susan had asked someone in the gift shop about buying some strings for her new dulcimer (she broke a string last night). They checked but none were in stock or could be found anywhere. Our surprise came at the end of the tour when a gentleman approached the tour group and asked who the dulcimer player was. He then gave Susan a complete set of Martin dulcimer strings at no charge. That was so nice!

Then we went a few miles down the road to Easton, PA to take a tour of the Crayola Factory. Our surprise here was that the Crayola Factory wasn't a real factory but was a place where kids of all ages could play with Crayolas. Oh well, you can't win em all.

Stockbridge, MA

2010-08-29T20:48:00.037-04:00

This morning, we drove back into Massachusetts to see the Norman Rockwell Museum. On display was the complete collection (about 45 years worth) of Saturday Evening Post covers that he had painted plus a large number of his original paintings that covered everything from his early years with the Boy Scouts through the 1960's political art. Each piece had an interesting story to tell. Before leaving, we visited his studio where much of his later work was done. Fascinating...

Then we went to Pittsfield, MA where we toured the Hancock Shaker Village. The Shakers built this village back in the 1770's and, while they no longer exist, have become well-known for their beautiful handmade furniture, chairs, baskets, wooden boxes and other craft items still made by local craftsmen. As we walked the grounds, there were people working in the various shops, fields and barns who answered questions and even encouraged visitors to use some of the tools and machines they use. Another fascinating place.

Presidents in New York

2010-08-28T20:08:00.054-04:00

This was a historic day for us - we visited not one, but two, Presidential Historic Sites. Our first stop was in Hyde Park, NY where we visited the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. As proof, here's a picture of Susan with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt relaxing in the fresh air. We also toured Springwood, home of FDR. The tour was most interesting and, besides the usual home stuff, we saw some of the things FDR used to hide his disability (he contracted Polio at age 29 and was paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life). His major contribution to us was Social Security - for which we'll be forever grateful since, without it, we wouldn't be here now.

Then we drove up to Kinderhook, NY to visit the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. There we toured Lindenwald, where Van Buren lived after being our eighth President. Here is a picture of Susan with another dead President - this one was taken in downtown Kinderhook.

Plymouth, Mass.

2010-08-26T19:12:00.001-04:00

We awoke this morning to see the sun after five rainy days. Being such a good birth of our day, we took this as an omen to go see the birth of our country in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Mayflower II was on display at the dock but we didn't take the tour. Instead, we took a stern-wheel boat tour of Plymouth Harbor which gave us a nice overview of the area. Then we walked over to see the actual Plymouth Rock, where our ancestors first set foot on American soil.

Then we went to Plimoth Plantation (that is not a misspelling, just one of the ways the English spelled the place). This interesting walking tour took us to a recreated Wampanoag Homestead where Native American docents explained their life before and after the Pilgrims arrived. Then we walked to a 1627 English Village where costumed role players demonstrated how life for the Pilgrims was back then, from building homes to explaining daily life. All of the people in these villages welcomed questions and gave informative answers. It was fun going back in time.

Hartford, CT

2010-08-25T16:59:00.001-04:00

Since most of the rain was east of us, we decided to head west to Hartford and visit the Mark Twain House & Museum. In the lobby was a life-sized statue of Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) made entirely out of Legos. I'm going to break tradition here, and perhaps start a new trend, with a picture of Susan with a dead Author. We took a guided tour of the house where he lived from 1874 to 1891 and wrote so many of his classic tales. Photography was not allowed inside which is a real shame since the place was very beautiful and unique compared with most of the other homes we've toured in the past. This picture of the outside should give you a good idea of the overall architecture. Oh yes, we actually saw the sun for the first time in 4 days when we exited the house. Wow!

Tiverton, R.I.

2010-08-24T16:26:00.030-04:00

A good friend of ours recently introduced us to software designed to trace our family trees. In my research of the Fried/Cook family before this trip, I found out that a lot of my relatives (from my grandfather's side of the family) had connections to Tiverton, Rhode Island so, despite the continuing rain, we went there to see what we could find. Their local library was a great resource of information that I will use to help complete my family tree. We went to see the house that belonged to my 9th great-grandfather but it was no longer in existence. We then visited the local cemetery and saw the many grave markers of my family (one dating back to 1812) plus one for the last occupant of the now-missing house who passed away in 1998. We assume that the house was dismantled after her death (the foundation shows on Google Maps). All in all, a most informative day.

Mystic Seaport, CT

2010-08-23T17:54:00.004-04:00

A short drive south on a rainy day and we're in Mystic, CT to see the famous Mystic Seaport. Fortunately, the rain lessened as we approached the town so it was only a little misty in Mystic. ;-) What a neat place - especially for people who love ships (like us). We spent the whole day exploring the area. We explored the restoration of an old ship, the Charles W. Morgan, originally built in 1841, walked through a shipyard (where various ship parts were being built from old logs), toured four ships from tall masted to a fishing schooner. We explored a 19th century seafaring village that had many small buildings showing all aspects of seaport life like lobster and clam shacks, a print shop, a nautical instrument shop, a cooperage, a shipsmith shop and so much more. There were also museums covering everything from figureheads to scrimshaw. Almost too much to see in one day.

Salem, Mass.

2010-08-21T19:18:00.041-04:00

Today's destination was Salem, Mass. We took the Salem Trolley tour of the town and learned some of its history. One of the biggest tourist attractions there is witches. There were a lot of witch-related stores, museums and tarot readers but we stayed away from them. Then we walked to the dock area and toured one of the tall ships on display. A few block further down was the famous House of The Seven Gables - the inspiration and setting for Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel built in 1668. Of course, we had to take the tour which was very interesting and even had us walking up and down some very tight, secret staircases.

Coast of Maine

2010-08-20T18:09:00.055-04:00

Yesterday, we drove up to Bangor, Maine where we rested overnight before exploring the Maine coastal area. This morning, we drove out to Bar Harbor and visited the beautiful Acadia National Park. We began by going to the top of Cadillac Mountain which, at 1530 feet, is the highest point on the US Atlantic Coast. Behind us is the town of Bar Harbor (which we never did get into). Then we spent the rest of the day working our way south along scenic US-1 visiting sites like Sand Beach (Acadia's only sandy beach - the sand is made of crushed shells), Thunder Hole (where the waves crash into a small area - but there were no waves when we were there) and having lunch in the town of Belfast overlooking their scenic harbor.

Lebanon, Maine

2010-08-18T17:34:00.056-04:00

We relocated to southern Maine yesterday and will explore the state by car from here for a while. Today we visited the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Calling this a museum is a bit of a misnomer. It is more of a collection of old restored homes from the early days of this area's history - each furnished and/or decorated in different times from the late 1700's through the 1950's.

From there we drove out to New Castle Island and visited Fort Constitution State Park. This site commemorates the first victory of the American Revolution on December 14-15, 1774. There isn't much there but it is indeed a very historic place in our history.

We finished our day by taking a tour of Red Hook Brewery back in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The tour was interesting and the beer tasting afterwords was fun.

Quechee, VT - Day 2

2010-08-16T17:17:00.000-04:00

Our first stop today was at Simon Pearce Glass in Quechee, VT. Other than selling somewhat pricey, but nice, glass objects and other art, they have a place where you can view the glass makers at work. Alongside the building was a beautiful waterfall just upstream from the covered bridge that we drove our RV through on our way to the campground.

Then it was on to Windsor, VT where we visited the American Precision Museum. On display here was a large collection of old machinery that was designed back as early as the 1830's to automate the manufacture of all sorts of goods from rifles to wood screws. One of the machines - a Bridgeport Milling Machine - was one I used at my first job after leaving the Navy in the early 60's. They even had a display of miniature machine models (notice the quarter in the lower left for a size comparison) that actually worked!

From there, we decided to have lunch at the Harpoon Brewery just down the road. Tours weren't available on Monday but the brewery was operating at full tilt so we watched the operations for a while before hunger took over. Lunch was good and their Octoberfest beer was a nice accent.

Quechee, VT

2010-08-15T20:26:00.000-04:00

We're now in Eastern Vermont working our way towards Maine. Once we settled in at the campground, we drove over to visit nearby Quechee Gorge that claims to be Vermont's Grand Canyon. While it has a long way to go before becoming anywhere near that large, it is an interesting place to visit. We walked from the waterfalls of the dam at one end of the gorge to the far end of the gorge where the Ottauquechee River slows down. It was a beautiful, scenic walk through the woods about 150 feet above the river in temperatures of about 72 degrees. What a nice way to spend an afternoon in August!

Vermont - Day 2

2010-08-14T22:40:00.014-04:00

More of Vermont to explore. Our first stop of the day was at the Long Trail Brewing Company in Bridgewater Corners, VT. We toured the brewery (like most others) and sampled some of their beers. Fortunately, we got a late start so it was afternoon before we sipped the beer (after all, it's 5 o'clock somewhere).

Then we happened upon the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth Notch, VT. We visited the house where he was born and the house where he was sworn in as President after the unexpected death of President Harding. In case you didn't know, he was sworn in by his father, a notary public, at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923. To keep the blog tradition going, here is another picture of Susan with a dead President.

From there, we went to Weston, VT to see the Vermont Country Store. This place is a lot like the Mast General Store in Valle Cruces, NC. They have all kinds of products from the past for sale like Buster Brown shoes, Tinkertoys, Bosco chocolate, plus various household gadgets you don't normally see in stores any more like bread boxes and pants stretchers. A very unique store indeed.

Vermont - Day 1

2010-08-13T20:57:00.035-04:00

Our first stop of the day was at the Vermont Marble Museum in Proctor, VT. This place claims to be the world's largest marble exhibit and has everything from marble busts of our 40 past Presidents to examples of the various types of marble known to man.

On the way to our next stop, we passed by, and sometimes through, four old covered bridges - all built in the early 1840's using what is called town lattice construction. It is amazing that some of these bridges are still in use today.

Our last stop of the day was at the New England Maple Museum in Pittsford, VT - supposedly the sweetest story ever told! This place traces the history of maple syrup from the time the Indians discovered that maple sap cooked over an open fire produces a sweet syrup through how it is now harvested and refined into what we enjoy today. And, yes, we got hooked on the samples and bought some to take with us to use on our pancakes. Yum!

Whitehall, NY

2010-08-12T20:50:00.007-04:00

This afternoon, we arrived at the Whitehall Marina & RV Park in NY. This is the same place where, last year, we had decided to cut our trip short and return home to address my back pain. We thought it would be appropriate to continue exploring New England from here. Out of curiosity, I checked to see when we stayed here last year. To my total surprise, it was on the exact same weekend and same nights as this year! Scary but appropriate, eh?

Antietam & Harpers Ferry

2010-08-10T22:38:00.000-04:00

We've been camping in Gettysburg, PA (where we stayed last August) as a base for exploring some new historical sites. This morning, we drove down to Maryland to visit the Antietam National Battlefield where the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War occurred on September 12, 1862. Another decisive battle occurred at the Lower Bridge (also called Burnside Bridge) on September 17, 1862.

From there, we went over to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park which is located right where Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland meet. We spent most of our time there looking around the Lower Town and enjoying the scenic views along where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers meet. We even walked along the famous Appalachian Trail . . . for about a 1/2 mile or so. It was about 100 degrees, so we decided that was enough walking for one day.

Clifftop Reflections

2010-08-08T19:15:00.001-04:00

Clifftop 2010 is now history and we are now heading North to explore New England. Here is a few reflections on what makes Clifftop so special to us: First and foremost is seeing our old friends. One special friend that we only get to see once a year at Clifftop is Leslie. We've known her for many years and she never fails to put a smile on our faces and love in our hearts. This year, she dressed like a hula girl and dared me to post a picture of her. Well, Leslie, here you go babe!!

Another reflection concerns the unique and unusual signs and banners appearing on some of the tents and campsites around Clifftop. Click on the Richard's Roadkill Eatery picture and read the menu. Yum, yum, yuck! BTW, it's not a real eatery...

Clifftop, WV

2010-08-07T14:57:00.000-04:00

We arrived at Clifftop last Sunday to attend the annual old-time music festival held here. We've been coming here for many years and just love the gathering of several thousand musicians who come here to play music all week. It is held at Camp Washington-Carver that is located on top of a remote mountain not far from the famous New River Bridge. Folks camp here in everything from big RVs to tents and endure heat, rain, cold or whatever nature throws at us so we can jam with old friends and make new friends in the process. Today is the last day so we'll be heading North in the morning, tired but happy.

Galax, VA

2010-07-30T15:57:00.000-04:00

We drove up to Galax, VA yesterday where we'll spend a few nights before moving on to Clifftop, WV for the old-time music festival next week. On the way here, we had a unique experience. We were driving along Interstate 40 in our 38' RV and we get passed by - are you ready for this? - a giant motorized shopping cart on a trailer! No kidding...this thing was huge. I didn't have my camera ready in time for a picture but I did find an image of it on the Internet, so here it is.

Raleigh, NC

2010-07-28T20:44:00.001-04:00

I never thought that Raleigh would be a place to visit on one of our RV trips - but we are now here as visitors instead of residents. We spent the past week camped out at the NC State Fairgrounds while visiting, dining and even playing music with many of our old friends. We did take some time out to visit the newly rebuilt and updated North Carolina Museum of Art that had reopened shortly after our move to Florida. A wide variety of art objects were on display both inside and out. It is a very nice place that you should definitely go see if you like art. What a wonderful week we've had. Thanks everyone!

On the Road Again

2010-07-21T19:39:00.018-04:00

It's hard to believe, but we've left all the fun of The Villages behind, loaded up the RV and hit the road again. We're spending the first night of our trip just north of Savannah GA and will head up to Raleigh tomorrow to spend some time visiting old friends. From there, we're off to Clifftop WV for our favorite music festival and then we're going to explore New England for a while. Stay tuned, more to come...

Getting Settled In and Our Golf Car

2010-05-26T17:31:00.000-04:00

Well, we've been here three weeks now and we're still unpacking. On the bright side, we actually have a few rooms without any boxes in them but there are still lots of pictures to hang and things to, oh how shall I say it, adjust. Our new living room furniture is on order and we are finally beginning to enjoy life without having to unpack something every waking minute. We are now getting out of the house more and getting involved in the many activities around here. We have met (and continue to meet) our wonderful neighbors. We are going to love it here in The Villages.

Shortly after moving in, we picked up our new car, or should I say golf car. We ordered it on the Internet prior to moving and even selected the color and fabric pattern there. It is a 2010 Yamaha gas golf car (not 'cart' as it has turn signals, lights and other options that makes it a 'car'). It even has our names printed on the front fenders and a built-in 'beverage container'. We use it for most of our transportation needs within The Villages including going grocery shopping - it has a large bag that will hold a shopping cart's worth of groceries. If it rains or gets cold, we simply unfold the sides and lower the protective back and travel in comfort. One of our first long trips in it was to go to the Villages Polo Grounds where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and beverage of choice while watching a polo match from beneath a shady live oak. What a cool way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Life is good!

Moving Into The Villages, FL

2010-05-04T16:53:00.001-04:00

After an over-night stay in Georgia, we arrived on Monday, 5/3, in Florida and saw our new home for the first time. It was just as beautiful as the pictures we had seen as it was being built - see our other blog at friedsnewhome.blogspot.com. It is located in the Village of Hemingway in The Villages, FL.

On Tuesday, the movers showed up and the real 'fun' began. Picture this...Susan is in the garage checking off each box and piece of furniture being moved into the house, I am inside the house showing the movers where to put everything. Then the guy shows up to install the washer and dryer. A few minutes later, another guy shows up to install our phone and Internet. Then the DirecTV guy shows up to install the TV dish. Then, our good friends Ken & Joanne show up (they are the ones who made us fall in love with this place) to welcome us to The Villages. Talk about multitasking!!! Then, before we knew it, everyone was gone and we had a house full of boxes everywhere - but our TV worked. ;-) We headed back to the RV for a well-deserved long night's sleep.

Concord, NC

2010-05-02T16:29:00.000-04:00

Our first stop after saying goodbye to Knightdale was to attend the NC Good Sam RV Rally in Concord, NC. We arrived on Wednesday and stayed through Sunday morning. It was held in the camping park adjacent to the three Charlotte Motor Speedway tracks - a drag strip, a dirt track and the big NASCAR track. We took a complete guided tour of the main NASCAR track. We saw the garages, where the drivers park their RVs, pit lane and the winner's circle and we even rode around the track in a van at about 85 mph. Pretty cool. I wanted to take a ride in one of the race cars but just didn't have the time. Oh well...maybe next time.

Our Driveway in Knightdale

2010-04-27T15:44:00.036-04:00

On Monday, 4/26, we moved into our RV while it was parked in our driveway. We did this because our house was being packed up in preparation for our move to Florida. As we watched the packers carefully wrap our belongings, we commented to each other about how it would be so much faster to unpack things than to pack them. WRONG!! More on that later.

On Tuesday, 4/27, the movers showed up and spent the day loading everything to be moved. By mid-afternoon they were all packed up and gone. We stayed in our now empty home and waited for the carpets to be cleaned. Our last night on Pebblebrook Drive, after enjoying 25 years in this great neighborhood, was in the driveway in the RV. We left in the morning to begin our trip South. Goodbye Knightdale, NC!

The Villages, Florida

2010-02-20T19:26:00.002-05:00

This, being the third Saturday of the month, was the monthly antique automobile show in a part of The Villages called Spanish Springs. This is one of two town areas and is entirely decorated in a Spanish motif. Today there were hundreds of antique automobiles on display in and around the main square of the town. The roads were blocked off and there was live music (mainly rock and roll) in the square from 4:00 until about 8:00 and happy hour ran from 5:00 until 7:00 so there were a lot of folks dancing and walking around and checking out the fascinating cars on display. At 7:00, all the cars started up and drove through Spanish Springs like a parade. Chuga, chuga, vroom, vroom, vroom! What a lovely 70 degree plus day in Florida!

St. Petersburg, Florida

2010-02-14T21:53:00.003-05:00

On Thursday, 2/11, we moved our RV about 30 miles south to Clermont, FL where another RV friend is camping. On Saturday, we drove over to St Petersburg to visit the Salvadore Dali Museum which houses a wide collection of his very unique art and paintings. They had a narrated tour of some of his more complex works that really helped us understand the nuances of his art. Then we went to another local attraction called The Pier where we had lunch while watching dozens of sailboats race in Tampa Bay. Talk about a classy way to have lunch. . .

Summerfield, Florida

2010-02-10T20:49:00.002-05:00

After finally having our kitchen remodel completed, we decided to get in the RV and head South for warmer weather. We have some friends who live in a place called The Villages in central Florida, so we chose that area as our destination. We left our 20-30 degree snow & ice covered home on Wednesday, Feb 3rd, and arrived in Florida on Thursday. It was cold (by Floridian standards), but 50-60 degree daily highs are a whole lot nicer than what we've had at home.

We've spent most of our time visiting our friends and being introduced to The Villages, which is a very large and unique retirement community. We've explored the two main downtown areas (Spanish Springs with its spanish styled buildings and Sumpter Landing that is located on a large lake), seen many of the 29 golf courses (free to residents) that weave through the many neighborhoods, and have toured several of the different home styles offered for sale. Each neighborhood has its own recreation center offering a wide variety of special-interest clubs, a swimming pool, plus a variety of outdoor shuffle ball, tennis and boccie ball courts. There are probably more golf carts than cars on the road around here. Our friends got us a guest card that gives us access to almost everything while we are here. Susan commented that The Villages seems like Disney World for adults. We won't get bored here, that's for sure.

Cruising Back to Miami

2010-01-16T21:27:00.001-05:00

Saturday was another leisurely day at sea as we sailed back to Miami. Tomorrow begins the long drive home. We have enjoyed our week of exploration, relaxation and dining aboard the Carnival Valor with our friends. We are looking forward to this coming October when, once again, we'll be cruising with these same couples - this time from Rome to Florida. Until then, we're looking forward to heading out to continue exploring the good old USA in our RV. Stay tuned...

Cozumel

2010-01-15T20:42:00.006-05:00

It's Friday, and our last stop of the cruise lands us in Cozumel, Mexico - another place we know well from dive trips and other cruises. We took a taxi downtown with a few of our friends and went on a shopping mission. My goal was to buy some Kahluha at a good price and I saved $5/bottle over ship pricing. We walked around a beautiful old plaza that had giant iguana lizards living in the trees. What a nice way to end the land part of our cruise. The first rain storm during our trip took place as we were preparing to leave port. Excellent timing!

Belize

2010-01-14T20:21:00.004-05:00

It's Thursday morning and we find ourselves in Belize - another location that we know well from our past diving trips. Susan spent the day relaxing on the ship while I went off to walk around the old town with some of our friends. Once we got past all of the pier shops (with free tastings of local spirits offered everywhere) and worked our way outside the 'tourist wall', we explored some of the old town and looked at the wide variety of local arts and crafts on display everywhere. Fortunately, none of us are collectors, so all we did was look. The weather was warm, the beer was cold and it was an enjoyable day with friends. Life is good!

Roatan

2010-01-13T20:02:00.005-05:00

Around noon on Wednesday, we docked on the Island of Roatan at a little 'town' called Mahogany Bay (e.g. a community of shops built by Carnival that mainly sold the same old touristy stuff that they sold on the ship). We took an island tour that took us to beautiful Carambola Gardens where we viewed a lot of the local flora and even watched a group of worker ants walking along carrying bits of leaves. Our next stop was the Roatan Butterfly Garden where we saw some colorful butterflies and exotic birds. We even got to hold some of the birds. Our tour ended with a stop at the little town of West End where the roads were so muddy that we spent our shopping time at a bar on the end of a pier sipping the usual 'beverage of choice' and watching a local band with native dancers perform. Quite nice.

Grand Cayman

2010-01-12T18:41:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday morning, we arrived on the island of Grand Cayman. Susan and I have been here many times before when I was active in scuba diving, so we decided to just spend the day casually walking around George Town while our friends took various tours of the island. One of our stops was Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville where I finally found a nice "It's 5 o'clock Somewhere" sign and then we enjoyed a cool 'beverages of choice' at the upstairs bar overlooking the bay. Susan found a nice little Wedgwood bowl that she just couldn't live without, so that made it a successful day of shopping.

Let the Cruising Begin!

2010-01-11T20:17:00.003-05:00

On Saturday, 1/9, we left cold Raleigh (about 17 degrees) and drove down to Miami with our friends, Tom & Carole, to board the Carnival Valor for a week-long cruise in the Caribbean. When we arrived in Miami on Sunday, the temperature was a balmy 37 degrees! What ever happened to all the warmth? We met up with the three other couples in our group (all RVing friends) at the terminal and proceeded to board the ship. We left the dock at 5:00 pm and waved goodbye to Miami from our balcony. Monday was spent cruising the waters North of Cuba and enjoying temperatures in the low 70's around the pool and hot tubs.

Raleigh Christmas Parade

2009-11-21T15:31:00.003-05:00

I spent this morning in downtown Raleigh. I met with about 20 other folks at Raleigh Segway (located in City Market) where we all donned our Santa hats and boarded Segways all spiffed up with bows, bells, ribbons, gift boxes, and other assorted embellishments to participate in the south's largest Christmas parade. We glided (e.g. slang for riding a Segway) to the parade assembly area where we awaited our turn in the parade. Finally, we were off - sandwiched in between a school band and a horse-drawn stagecoach. What a hoot it was gliding down the street in our planned serpentine motion, occasionally stopping to do quick 360s or other stunts, all the time waving to the crowds of kids and adults and exchanging Christmas greetings. We were even featured on the local TV station's coverage of the parade. All to soon, it was over. What a fun experience! Happy Holidays to one and all!

Redwood City, CA

2009-10-06T23:00:00.007-04:00

On Friday, we drove to Palo Alto to attend the Friday evening reunion dinner party, the first of the planned activities for the Sequoia High School 50th Reunion. It has been 10 years since the last reunion and it was so nice to see so many of my old classmates again.

On Saturday morning, a bunch of us took a walking tour of downtown Redwood City (where I was born and raised). As we toured the area, we reminisced about the stores that were there 50 years ago and about some of the more interesting things that we did back then. We paused for a group picture in front of the old county courthouse. After the tour, we visited the Sequoia HS Memorial Gardens where a Sequoia Tree and plaque were planted/placed by my sister and me several years ago to honor our mother (Class of 1937) and grandmother (Class of 1914) - yes, Sequoia HS has been around for a long time! Then we drove around the area, visited our family homes, Susan's high school (Carlmont - one of Sequoia's rivals ;-) ) and paid our respects to Susan's parents. That evening, we attended the formal reunion dinner with over 250 classmates in attendance!

On Sunday morning, we went on a guided tour of the Sequoia High School campus, then wandered around the "Horses to Horsepower" car show held on campus annually (several cars were owned by my classmates). We then went back to my family home (which my parents bought in 1945 and lived in for over 56 years) and found the current owners at home. They graciously invited us in and showed us the nice renovations they have done to the house.

On Monday, we spent the day in Pleasanton, CA with Susan's cousins, Paul & Michael and Paul's wife, Kathy. Paul is into woodcarving and showed us some of his award winning work. Lots of reminiscing and a delicious lunch filled the day.

On Tuesday, we decided to take a scenic drive along the Pacific Coast Highway. Our first stop was the Pulgas Water Temple that denotes where the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct terminates into the San Francisco water reservoir known as Crystal Springs. Then we visited Half Moon Bay and drove south to Santa Cruz with numerous stops along the way to visit such sites as Pescadero and the Pigeon Point Light Station. What beauty! After a late lunch in Santa Cruz, we headed back to pack for tomorrow's flight home. All good things must come to an end...

Sacramento, CA

2009-10-02T12:39:00.004-04:00

You may be wondering how we got to California without any blog entries along the way. Well, we didn't drive the RV. . .we flew out on Tuesday, 9/29. This coming weekend is my high school class' 50th reunion on the San Francisco Peninsula. Before we go there though, we're spending a few days visiting with my sister, Pat, and her partner, Keith, who are both talented artists. We enjoyed seeing their studio in the downtown Sacramento area, consuming good food and all that goes with it. We also had an interesting experience while visiting one of the local stores. While talking with the sales lady, I mentioned the reunion and her eyes lit up. She asked me to wait a minute while she got the store's owner. Come to find out that she was a classmate of mine and was also going to the reunion. Small world indeed! We left Friday to drive to the reunion.

Pleasant Garden, NC

2009-09-20T15:38:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday, we drove to Hagen-Stone Park near Greensboro, NC for the annual High Lonesome Strings Camp-N-Pick. We spent the whole weekend visiting with musician friends from the Triad area and playing a wide variety of music from old-time to bluegrass. For the first time in ages, I played all of my instruments - bass, fiddle, banjo and mandolin - over the course of the weekend. What fun!

On Saturday evening, we were treated to a covered dish supper featuring some delicious pork barbecue prepared by our resident chef, Kent, with help from his cut-up friend, Brent. I nicknamed them the "Ent" brothers. ;-) After we all pigged out, we were entertained by the Snyder Family Band featuring 10-year old Samantha on fiddle and 14-year old Zeb on guitar. Talk about young talent - wow! Then the picking sessions resumed until the wee hours of the night. . .

Boone, NC

2009-09-13T17:40:00.005-04:00

We spent this weekend at about 3,500 feet in elevation in the NC mountains with our RV club - the Sams-O-Wake.

On Friday, we took some friends up to Blowing Rock, North Carolina's oldest tourist attraction (it's over 250 million year old). It is called Blowing Rock because the rocky walls of the gorge form a flume through which the northwest wind sweeps up the mountain with such force that it returns light objects cast into the gorge. I didn't try it though. The scenery was nice, too. From there, we drove to Valle Crucis, NC to visit (and shop) at the original Mast General Store. This place is like going back in time. They even had an old-time band playing on the back porch.

On Saturday, our main goal was to show our RV friends the famous Grandfather Mountain. This place has a mile-high swinging bridge that takes you over to the rocky summit of the mountain. We all crossed over the bridge but I was the only one who was brave (or stupid) enough to walk out on the rocks but the view from there was totally awesome! Then we traveled north along the Blue Ridge Parkway, walked under then drove across the Linn Cove Viaduct, and finally visited the Moses Cone House/Memorial Park before returning to the campground for dinner with the club. A fun weekend indeed!

Knightdale, NC (Home)

2009-08-21T21:54:00.003-04:00

After a marathon drive from Gettysburg through work areas and traffic jams, we're home again - a month earlier than planned, but home we are. Get ready, Dr. Moore, I'll see you on Monday to hopefully fix my sciatica!

Gettysburg, PA - Day 3

2009-08-20T15:41:00.011-04:00

Most of today was spent driving around the self-guiding auto tour of the Gettysfield Battlefield. While we covered a lot of it on our Segway tour yesterday, this time we saw the whole thing. We started at Oak Ridge where we walked to the top of a viewing tower, then on to the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. From there, we went to the North Carolina Memorial, McPherson Ridge, past Pitzer Woods down to Warfield Ridge, Devil's Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Plum Ridge, and many other historic battle sites. It never ceased to amaze us at how people were so willing to give their lives for what they believed in.

Our last stop of the day was back at the RV park where they have the country's largest diorama. This is a miniature display of the entire area showing every battle that occurred during those three days in history. There was a 35 minute long narrated light show using the diarama to document the major battles and their impact on the outcome of the war. Quite impressive for an RV park.

Gettysburg, PA - Day 2

2009-08-19T17:55:00.006-04:00

We're doing it again - taking another Segway tour. We spent about 3 hours touring the old community of Gettysburg and most of the Gettysburg National Military Park by Segway instead of by automobile. What an amazing way to see the area! We were the only two on this tour, so we had our own personal guide for the whole 9+ mile trip. We saw many monuments - including one dedicated to the soldiers from North Carolina - and numerous cannons spread out over the enormous park. All along the way, we listened to a recorded explanation of the various battles and heroes of the battles that took place there.

After a late lunch, we walked through the Soldier's National Cemetery and got there just in time to become part of a tour guided by a Park Ranger. One of the things he pointed out was the actual site where Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863 (which, at the time, was viewed as one of the worst speeches ever given). The Lincoln Address Memorial monument shown here is about 300 yards from the actual site.

Gettysburg, PA

2009-08-18T20:30:00.007-04:00

We're staying at an nice RV park that is literally surrounded by the Gettysburg National Military Park. What a cool place! Once we got the RV settled in, we went over to the park headquarters and signed up for a tour of the Dwight D. Eisenhower farm and home here in Gettysburg. The brick structure on the right was the originl home with the larger white section added later. He and Mamie bought the farm in 1950 and lived in it during his two terms as President and they eventually retired here and enjoyed raising black angus cattle. While a rainstorm kept us from seeing the whole farm, we did tour the house itself that was packed with memorabilia and restored to look like it did when they lived here and saw some of the farm buildings.

Pottsville and Hershey, PA

2009-08-17T17:50:00.005-04:00

We started today by driving to Pottsville, PA for a visit to the Yuengling & Son Brewing Company - founded in 1829 making it America's oldest brewing company. The town was so cool, lots of interesting buildings built within feet of the roadway and obviously a very old town. We just missed the 10:00 tour and the next tour wasn't until 1:30 so we opted to move on to our next destination. Oh yeah, no tasting available either...pooh!

Next we went to Hershey, PA where we visited Hershey's Chocolate World. This place is both enormous and very crowded (especially considering that this is a Monday). We took the tour in a carnival-like ride that showed the process of making chocolate without actually showing us the real factory. It was still interesting but seeing the real thing would have been better. There were areas there where you could see a 3D movie or make your own chocolate (for $$) and, of course, the largest chocolate gift shop in the state was all around you. Right next door was a gigantic amusement park but we didn't go there.

Our next stop was the AACA Museum (AACA is the Antique Automobile Club of America) which has one of the largest and nicest collection of antique cars we have ever seen. Out in front they had the Hershey Kissmobile on display. Inside, they had an awesome collection of antique cars, some unique racing cars and specialty cars plus there was a wide variety of old motorcycles and busses - all nicely restored. One of the busses was used in the movie "Forrest Gump." There were even some nice reproductions of an old service station (back when gas was 17 and 6/10 cents/gallon) and an 1950's soda shoppe. It was like stepping back in time. A very nice museum indeed.

Into Canada - Not!

2009-08-15T18:28:00.000-04:00

Even before our trip began, I (John) had a nagging problem with my back - mainly with my sciatic nerve - often causing pain to shoot down my left leg when sitting, driving or lying down. I expected it to go away with time. It didn't. In fact, it got worse. Our destination today was going to be the beginning of our stay in Canada. When we found it difficult to get a campsite in Canada (mainly because of no cellphone service and limited WiFi), we agreed that it would be best to head home instead and seek treatment for this problem. We're still going to do some sightseeing on the way home but we'll be getting there a lot sooner than originally planned.

Vermont in a Day

2009-08-14T18:16:00.000-04:00

Our first stop today was about two blocks outside of the campground in Whitehall, NY to see Lock C-12 on the Champlain Canal. It is a single lock that raises boats 15.5 feet in elevation from Lake Champlain to the beginning of the canal system.

Then we went to explore Vermont. Stop #1 was at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory in Shelburne, VT where we were treated to a guided tour of the operations where they make over 1,000 teddy bears per day. We even saw the Vermont Teddy Bear Hospital where owners may send their damaged bears to be repaired.

Stop #2 was at the Magic Hat Brewery in Burlington, VT where we did yet another beer factory tour and sampled their fine brews. Their bottling operation was going full speed and producing more beer per minute than I could drink in a day!

Stop #3 was at Lake Champlain Chocolates in Burlington, VT where we missed the factory tour by just a few minutes. We did spend time (and money) in their gift shop where we stocked up on some delicious chocolates to snack on.

Stop #4 was at Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory in Waterbury, VT. While they weren't making ice cream that day, we took the factory tour and, surprise, sampled some Imagine Whirled Peace ice cream (Susan's favorite). We also saw their Ice Cream Graveyard where headstones describe the various flavors that are no longer with us.

Whitehall, NY

2009-08-13T18:02:00.006-04:00

We spent a few nights at a nice little campground and marina located at the other end of the Erie Canal off of Lake Champlain. Right outside of the campground was a plaque proclaiming this to be the Birthplace of the United States Navy. The first fleet of Navy ships were built here in 1776.

We drove north to see Fort Ticonderoga, first built by the French in 1755 and first used to attack their English rivals. In 1758, the English took it over but Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys captured the fort in 1775. After the wars, it was abandoned and fell into ruins until purchased and restored in 1909. The fort has many old cannons and displays of historic relics. There were also some docents dressed as French troops who gave tours and displays of musket and cannon firing. We then drove to the top of neighboring Mount Defiance for an interesting view of Fort Ticonderoga from above.

Cooperstown, NY

2009-08-12T17:55:00.000-04:00

Cooperstown...hmmm, where have I heard that name before?...think baseball...oh yeah! We started our day in Cooperstown by visiting Doubleday Field (built in 1839) where baseball was first played. From there, we went down the street to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. There, we saw exhibits and read all about famous ballplayers like Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Lou Gehrig, Pee Wee Reese, Hank Aaron and the various teams and their interesting history. If you like baseball, you gotta see this place.

On the way back, we stopped in at the Ommegang Brewery (who specialize in brewing Belgian style beers) and took a tour of their brewery. Of course, there was a beer tasting event afterwords. We also stopped in to visit the Cooperstown Brewing Company and enjoyed even more fine beer samples. What a nice day - yesterday we learned about making glass and today we found something good to fill a glass with. ;-)

Corning, NY

2009-08-10T17:40:00.016-04:00

Today, we drove down to Corning, NY on a route that, most unfortunately, took us past Watkins Glen Raceway. It was unfortunate because rain had delayed the big NASCAR race that weekend so it was held today. What a traffic jam! Thanks to Jill (our faithful GPS) we were able to take some back roads around the town.

When we finally reached Corning, we visited the Corning Museum of Glass. What a cool place and it is absolutely huge! It is loaded with some of the most awesome glass sculptures (this one is life-sized) and glass art ever assembled plus interesting displays of glass artifacts that were used to explain the progress of making things from glass over the centuries and we watched a demonstration of custom glass blowing.

We then took the free tour bus to the Rockwell Museum which had an extensive collection covering three floors of western and Indian art. Very nice indeed. We drove home on the other side of Lake Seneca, one of the Finger Lakes, to avoid the Watkins Glen traffic. Beautiful scenery in this area (as it is in most of northern NY).

Waterloo, NY

2009-08-09T19:18:00.005-04:00

After arriving in Waterloo, we started playing tourist again. Our first stop was at the National Women's Hall of Fame located in Seneca Falls where we read plaques describing the various women and the reasons they were chosen to win this honor. Susan even knew one of the women, Gertrude Elion, whom she had met while she was President of the Raleigh Business and Professional Women's organization.

From there we walked down the street to visit the Women's Rights National Historical Park Visitor Center where we read all about the full history of women's rights.

We then drove back to Waterloo and stopped at the National Memorial Day Museum. Unfortunately, it was closed for the day. We had been told about this historic event while at my Navy reunion - yes, John Grimmke, you were right! ;-) On May 5, 1866, the residents of Waterloo held the first complete community-wide observance of Memorial Day to honor the Civil War dead in a solemn and patriotic manner. This would have been an interesting visit if it was open. Oh well...

Lockport, NY

2009-08-08T19:18:00.000-04:00

Our travels today took us to the city of Lockport, NY where we toured the Erie Canal Locks 34 and 35 and the Lockport Cave. There are actually two locks paired side by side. The oldest had five locks that raised boats 10 feet per lock. They completed in 1825 but were too narrow and took over 8 hours to traverse so the newer and wider two-lock system was built around 1910. These locks raise boats and barges 25 feet per lock in a matter of minutes. We watched as several boats went through the locks and it was a surprisingly fast and smooth operation.

Then we went on a tour of the Lockport Cave that started out as a tunnel that parallels the Erie Canal. It was built to flow water through it to power several manufacturing businesses back in the 1800s using the hydraulic power of the water to run its machinery. Our guide explained how the tunnels were blasted out at a rate of about 1 foot per day. It took a long time to complete. Most of the 'blasters' were 10-12 year old boys because they could run from the blast area faster than older men. Talk about child labor laws! ;-) At the end of the tunnel walk, we boarded a small boat for a ride through the flooded part of the tunnel. A very intersting trip indeed.

Niagara Falls, NY

2009-08-07T22:28:00.000-04:00

We had a few days of relocation travel which took us down through the Lower Peninsula of Michigan into Port Huron for the night, then crossing through lower Canada to get to the Buffalo, NY area where we'll spend the next few days.

On our first day here, we just had to go see Niagara Falls. Wow, what a place!! We started on the American side where we first viewed the falls from the Prospect Point viewing area. We could only see part of the Canadian falls from there but the power and beauty of the American Falls were absolutely breathtaking! Look carefully at the bottom of the picture and you can see folks walking up to the base of the falls (as we did later).

We then donned the traditional blue plastic ponchos (to help keep us dry) and boarded the Maid of the Mist boat for a half-hour tour past the American Falls to the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side. The mist from the Horseshoe Falls was unbelievable - rising hundreds of feet into the air and we rode right into it! So cool - literally! ;-) After getting back to shore, we used our ponchos to explore the bottom of the American Falls.

We then walked across the bridge and entered Canada to explore the falls from their side. We started with lunch at the Secret Garden Restaurant (sitting outside with an awesome view of the falls and the beautifully flowered and gardened main street). Then we went to Table Rock where we stood in awe watching the magnificence and power of Horseshoe Falls. With the sun behind us, we were treated to a beautiful rainbow in the mist of the falls. We enjoyed watching the Maid of the Mist treating other tourists to a shower (this picture shows the boat entering the area).

Then we took the Journey Behind the Falls tour. This involved donning yet another poncho (yellow this time) and, after taking an elevator down about 150 feet, walking through tunnels beneath the falls and emerging at several viewing areas to watch the torrents of thundering water fall from the back side. Only one viewing area took us outside and the view there was a wet one as were were mere feet away from the edge of the falls. We were sure happy to have the ponchos on. We then walked back to the good ol' USA after spending one of the most awe-inspiring days of this trip and taking almost 100 pictures. We'll sleep well tonight...

Mackinac Island, MI

2009-08-03T22:32:00.000-04:00

After a morning of rain, we drove down to St. Ignace, MI and boarded a hydro-jet ferry out to Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw). What a neat place! No cars, no motorcycles, no motorized anything. . .just bicycles and horse-drawn carriages on the whole island. We boarded a two-horse carriage ride that took us past the Grand Hotel (and it is really grand) to the Surry Hills Museum. As we left the museum, we boarded another carriage (this one with three horses) for a long tour around the island. Along the way, we saw the island's cemetery and stopped for a few minutes to see Arch Rock before taking us to Fort Mackinac. There, we were greeted by a docent who was an officer's wife from the early 1800's who explained a lot about the history of the fort. We then entered and toured through the many restored buildings and watched a demonstration of gun firing by some men dressed as period soldiers. The view from the fort was awesome as the town and harbor lay at the base of the hill. We then walked down to the town and played tourist - buying T-shirts and some delicious chocolate fudge. Another ferry trip to the mainland and we had dinner and drove back to the RV. What a fun day!

Sault Ste Marie, MI

2009-08-02T20:54:00.022-04:00

We arrived in Sault Ste Marie yesterday and spent the afternoon touring the downtown locks area and visitor's center. We watched from an elevated walkway while a 750+ foot long boat (yep, they call ships 'boats' on the Great Lakes) loaded with iron ore entered a lock and watched it get raised 21-feet to exit onto Lake Superior.

Today, we boarded a much smaller boat (with Soo Locks Boat Tours) for a two-hour cruise through the locks. As we left the pier, another one of those little 750+ foot long 'boats' was entering one of the locks. After cruising around the St Marys River and seeing some of Canada's sights (and seeing our RV from the water) for a few minutes, we entered the lock next to the big boat. The lower lock gate closed and the water level raised us up 21-feet in elevation in about 10 minutes. Then the upper lock gate opened and we entered Lake Superior followed closely by the big boat. We were shown a large steel mill in Canada then we entered one of the Canadian locks to descend 21-feet and return to our pier. What fun! BTW, the high temperature today will be 68 degrees. I never expected to be wearing a coat in early August. Really cool. . .

After lunch, we drove out to Whitefish Point along the shores of Lake Superior and went to see the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum where, among other things, we learned about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and saw the ship's bell recovered from the wreck. We toured the museum, lighthouse and the keeper's home. Over 550 shipwrecks have occurred over the years in the waters around Whitefish Point. Makes me glad that we were on land. ;-)

We weren't finished yet. Our next stop was Tahquamenon Falls State Park where we walked along some long wooden bridges and paths to see both the Lower and Upper Falls. They were quite beautiful despite the brownish colored water (mainly from dissolved tannic acids from woody debris upstream). A lot of walking but all that beauty made it all worth while. We'll sleep well tonight.

Green Bay, WI - Day 5

2009-07-31T21:09:00.002-04:00

While commuting to/from the reunion hotel this past week, we've driven by the National Railroad Museum and didn't want to miss it, so we stopped in this morning before hitting the road again. We got there just in time to board an open rail car for a tour around the grounds. Our guide explained the history of the museum and of many of its displays. We then walked the grounds and looked at the old locomotives and the various rail cars on display including a unique Aerotrain (built by GM in the early 1950's), Dwight D. Eisenhower's famous war train and even walked through an old mail car. We also learned a lot about hobo signs (cryptic marks that told other hobos about certain areas). A very nice museum indeed. We're heading off to Sault Ste Marie now. . .

Green Bay, WI - Day 4 (Lambeau Field)

2009-07-30T22:21:00.004-04:00

This morning, we drove a few miles out to Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. They were having their annual shareholder's meeting and one of the Hubbard crew was able to obtain tickets for many of us. We walked around the stadium and visited the Packer Museum and, of course, the gift shop. While Susan isn't an official cheese-head, she sure looks like one, doesn't she? We learned a lot about the history of the Packers (who were originally created for a local meat company - hence the name) and famous people like Vince Lombardi.

In the afternoon, we attended the Hubbard business meeting and, later that evening, the formal banquet. It was so nice to see my old shipmates and friends again. They make me so proud to have served in the Navy.

Green Bay, WI - Day 3 (Manitowoc)

2009-07-29T21:59:00.004-04:00

Today's tour took us to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc where we saw a lot of the history of the fishing and lake life of the area. At 10:30, we had a memorial service given by our friend Rear Admiral Roy Hoffmann for the fallen comrades of the Hubbard, followed by a tour of the submarine USS Cobia (SS-245) which is docked at the museum.

From there, we were taken to the Lighthouse Inn at Two Rivers for lunch followed by an ice cream dessert at the historic Washington House - where the ice cream sundae was invented - and toured it's nice museum. Then we wandered around the area seeing such unique sites as the world's largest grandfather's clock, beautiful Algoma Harbor and the Door County Maritime Museum before heading back to socialize with our shipmates. Quite a full day.

Green Bay, WI - Day 2 (Oshkosh Fly-In)

2009-07-28T21:21:00.002-04:00

This morning, we were taken about 45 miles south to attend the 2009 EAA Airventure in Oshkosh, WI. For those who've never heard of this, it is a gathering of EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) pilots and other people who love airplanes and acrobatic flying. There were thousands of people, airplanes, bicycles, RVs and vendors gathered there. Four static displays of airplanes were there - warbirds (including a WWII Army camp), homebuilt, vintage and ultralight & rotorcraft - plus many other museums and displays of unique aircraft. In the afternoon, there was a fascinating airshow with sky divers, acrobatic planes (and even an awesome acrobatic helicopter), wing walkers, the new Airbus 500 passenger jet, and the White Knight 2 (Richard Branson and Burt Rutan's unusual prototype aircraft that is expected to take people into space in the near future). We've been to airshows in the past but nothing even close to this. Wow!!

Green Bay, WI - Day 1 (Door County)

2009-07-27T19:27:00.011-04:00

We'll be in and around Green Bay, Wisconsin for a while to attend the reunion of the sailors who served on the USS Harry E Hubbard (DD-748). On day one, we went by bus to Door County where our first stop was the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse where we toured the lighthouse (nice because it didn't take too many steps to reach the top). This place even had what they claimed to be the original "brick sh*thouse" on the property.

From there, we were taken to the Old Post Office Restaurant in Ephriam, WI to experience a Fish Boil - a local delicacy. "What is a fish boil?" you may ask. Well, they sat us outside around a large cauldron full of boiling water above a roaring wood fire. Then, they placed a large container full of potatoes into the water. Next came a smaller container of locally caught whitefish on top of the potatoes. Then one full of whole onions. They all boiled for a while, then the cook tossed kerosene onto the fire, causing the water to erupt into a large ball of steam. They then removed the food and moved us inside to enjoy the delicious meal we just saw being cooked. Quite an interesting experience...and good, too!

Oshkosh, WI

2009-07-26T18:02:00.007-04:00

After watching the off-road truck and buggy racing on TV for many years, I finally got a chance to see it in person. We went to the Oshkosh Speed Zone Raceway this afternoon to attend the Traxxas Off-Road Championship races. This is a dirt track with lots of jumps and tight curves. We got there in time to see the time trials, wander through the pits and watch the trucks and buggys being prepared to race, and, of course, watch the races themselves. While we didn't stay the whole evening (it was getting cold and we didn't have sweaters), we saw some real exciting races and several crashes. Even Susan had a good time. Like most sports, it is a lot more fun to see it live instead of on TV. What a hoot!

Portage, WI

2009-07-24T17:37:00.006-04:00

We camped on a hilltop near a ski resort at Sky High RV Park in Portage, Wisconsin for a few days. On Wednesday, we went to see the Circus World Museum, located in Baraboo, where the Ringling Brothers Circus used to call home. In addition to the dazzling displays of circus memorabilia, posters and general history, there were two buildings devoted to restoring and preserving old circus wagons including the famous giraffe wagon. We went to the Hippodrome to watch a one-ring circus performance with acrobats, balancing acts, rope acts, a clown and an elephant show. Very entertaining (but no photos allowed). Afterwards, elephant rides were available. I wanted to get on one but the line was so long that we decided to move on. All-in-all, an entertaining afternoon.

On Thursday, we had planned on going to see Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's unique home, but changed our minds when we found out that it costs $48.00 per person to see it! Instead, we went to lunch at Kristin's Kitchen in downtown Portage - a place highly recommended by everyone we talked to. They were right...it was delicious. Then we walked around a local farmer's market and saw some mighty good looking veggies. After a doctor visit for John's bad cough and headache, we called it a day. P.S. the meds helped.

Springfield - Day 2

2009-07-21T16:24:00.012-04:00

This morning we went back to downtown Springfield to tour the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Our tour took us through the only house that Lincoln ever owned. He moved into shortly after marrying Mary Todd and lived there until he became President and moved into the White House. Much of the furniture and objects on display were original to the Lincoln household which added to the awe of the tour. Lincoln's neighborhood surrounding the house has also been restored to look like it was when he lived there.

From there, we drove out to the Lincoln Tomb where Abraham Lincoln, his wife Mary Todd Lincoln and three of their four sons are buried. We were allowed to enter the tomb, which had beautiful marble walls and ceilings, statues of Lincoln by noted artists like Gutzon Borglum and to view the casket itself (although his body actually lies ten feet under the ground). Quite an impressive end to our Lincoln experience.

On our way back, we stopped for lunch at the Cozy Drive In, known for inventing the hotdog on a stick (or corndog to us Southerners). It is located on the famous Route 66 Highway. We ordered the house specialty - four hotdogs on a stick plus fries - and a couple of Route Beers to wash it down. We didn't leave there hungry.

Springfield, IL

2009-07-20T20:10:00.004-04:00

This town name sounds vaguely familiar. . .someone famous used to live here. . .oh yeah, Abraham Lincoln! So, once we got our RV parked, we headed downtown to visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and get another picture of Susan with a dead President. I even got my picture taken with John Wilkes Booth. . .how about that? What an interesting and well prepared place. The exhibits were all very realistic and informative and we learned a lot about his life and what he did for our country.

Champaign - Day 2

2009-07-18T19:20:00.008-04:00

Today, we headed south again. This time to Arcola, IL to visit the Raggedy Ann and Andy Museum. This is the hometown of Johnny Gruelle who invented the dolls back in 1915 while he was a newspaper cartoonist. The museum is run by his descendants and contains a wide variety of the dolls as they evolved through the years as well as other items from the early times. Susan bought a small Raggedy Ann doll and had it autographed by his grand-daughter, who is an artist in her own right.

From there, we drove out to see Rockome Gardens, an Amish tourist attraction just outside of Arcola. It was like wandering around a small Amish village where we saw interesting rock sculptures decorating beautiful gardens, visited a few unique shops, watched a horse pulling demonstration and ate a delicious lunch at their restaurant.

Our last stop of the day was at the Champaign County Historical Museum back in Champaign, IL. It was a small museum but loaded with some excellent displays of farm and town life from the early 1900's. We even saw a small bronze statue by Gutzon Borglum of Abraham Lincoln sitting on a bench that resembled the larger one in silver that we saw at Houmas House in Livingston, LA last Spring. A very nice place to visit and our guide was very informative.

Champaign, IL

2009-07-17T19:13:00.002-04:00

We'll be staying in Champaign, IL for the next few days. This morning, we drove south to Tolono, IL to find the farmland once owned by Susan's family. Thanks to an old document drawn by Susan's father, we drove right to it and, guess what, it looked like every other corn/soybean field in the state. ;-) Unfortunately, the old family house was no longer standing. Next, we searched several local cemeteries and we found the burial sites of Susan's grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents, plus several other distant relatives.

Then we drove north to Rantoul, IL and visited the Chanute Air Museum. Rantoul used to be a school and training area for pilots and support personnel during the Second World War and beyond. This was also the home of the Tuskogee Airmen. It was closed in the 1990's and now the town and museum are looking pretty sad. It's a shame because the museum houses quite a collection of old aircraft.

Louisville - Day 2

2009-07-15T16:56:00.009-04:00

With heavy rains headed our way, we decided to stay in Louisville one more day. It was a wise decision - it poured! We did take the car down to Loretto, KY where we took a tour of the Maker's Mark Distillery. We got to see the huge vats where the sour mash ferments and even got to stick our fingers into the different vats to see how the fermenting process changes flavor from sweet to sour. Then it was off to the barrel room where the whiskey sits for over 6 years to gain its unique flavor. From there, it was the bottling room where we watched workers dip the bottle tops into hot wax (a trademark of Maker's Mark). Then, the tasting room. Yum! I didn't buy any whiskey but did bring home some delicious chocolate bourbon balls.

After a delicious lunch at their little cafe (BBQ pulled pork sandwich - too good!), we drove up to Bardstown, KY where we visited My Old Kentucky Home State Park. We toured the old home at Federal Hill that Steven Foster visited in 1853 and wrote the state song of Kentucky, My Old Kentucky Home. The house was nice but, as usual, no photography was allowed so you'll have to use your imagination. . . close your eyes and think of an old house. Got it? Good.

Louisville, KY

2009-07-14T16:25:00.004-04:00

We started our day by driving to downtown Louisville and visiting the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. After being greeted by the world's largest baseball bat, we took a tour of the factory and watched them make bats for both beginners and professionals. Quite an operation for such a seemingly simple device. The museum gave us the opportunity to hold bats used by such famous stars as Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Ted Williams and to stand behind a foam-filled "catcher" while a 100+ mph pitch was hurled straight at us! Thank God for that bullet-proof plastic in front of us! I'm not sure I could hit a pitch that fast.

From there, we headed out to Churchill Downs Race Track where the Kentucky Derby has been held every year since 1875. We toured the facility including the paddock area and the track itself. Then we saw a horse, Phantom On Tour, who had finished 6th in the 1997 Kentucky Derby and still looked very fit. Then it was off to the 360-degree theater for a film on the history of Churchill Downs before being given the opportunity to visit their gift shop.

Then we drove down to Clermont, KY to visit the Jim Beam Distillery. Unfortunately, when we got there, we discovered that the factory tours were not available due to a vast remodeling project being done to the factory and the grounds, We did get a chance to do a 'tasting' of some of their fine bourbons before visiting their gift shop. Quite a day!

Off We Go Again

2009-07-13T17:20:00.003-04:00

The old travel bug has bitten us again and we're off on another RV trip to explore the USA and Canada. We left home last Thursday and drove to Galax, VA to meet with the Sams-O-Wake RV Club for their monthly campout. Lots of good company and good food (perhaps too much of the latter) consumed the weekend.

On Sunday, we headed out on our adventure. I've mapped out our probable route (see attached map) but it will likely change as time progresses. Our basic intent is to explore the NorthEast USA and Eastern Canada. We spent last night in Milton, WV - just overnighting...nothing special to see. This afternoon, we arrived in Louisville, KY where we'll spend a day or two exploring the area. Stay tuned for details as they unfold. . .

Antiques Roadshow in Raleigh

2009-07-01T15:31:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, June 27, the Antiques Roadshow came to Raleigh and we were one of the lucky few who received tickets to attend and have our precious items valued by the experts. After weeks of searching the house for the best stuff to bring, we arrived at 10:30 and joined a few thousand other hopefuls at the Raleigh Convention Center. We stood in the entry line for about 45 minutes while talking with other folks. Then we reached the tables where our items were classified and we were given tickets to the Toys and Games table (for our train set and magic lantern) and the Decorative Arts table (for our glass paintings). Off to another line... Toys and Games were first. When we finally got to the table, we met Noel Barrett who loved our old American Flyer train set and valued it at $300-$500. Then, he looked at the toy magic lantern that used a small kerosene lantern to project glass slides on a screen plus a box of old slides. He said it was from the early 20th century and originally sold for. . . are you ready for this?. . .about twenty-seven cents! It's current value is $35-$50. Oh well, that European vacation will just have to wait.

Then on to another, much longer, line for Decorative Arts. Here, we met J. Michael Flanigan who evaluated a pair of old, turn of the century, round glass paintings with metal collars made to hang on a wall. We thought these would be our "big find!" Nope! Printed on paper, then transferred to the back of the glass. Value: Worthless! Poo! Another, oh well!

Bottom line is that we won't be on TV unless we're seen in line behind someone lucky enough to have brought something a lot nicer than our stuff - like the lady with a jade collection valued at over $1.5 million! Regardless of the evaluations, it was a unique and fun experience and we really enjoyed meeting some nice folks and seeing some of the stars of the Antiques Roadshow. At least we came home with a nice picture of us.

Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention

2009-06-08T16:09:00.007-04:00

Last Monday, I took the RV up to Mt Airy, NC to attend the 38th Annual Bluegrass & Old Time Fiddlers Convention. While the official competition events don't start until Friday, the real die-hard musicians (like me) get there earlier in the week to get in as much picking as they can. While Susan enjoys listening to the music, she doesn't care to hear it all day long and into the wee hours of the morning so she stayed home and enjoyed the peace and quiet. I, on the other hand, spent every day out seeing friends old and new and playing old-time and bluegrass music on my fiddle, banjo and bass until the wee hours. What a hoot! I was even invited to play bass in a bluegrass band ("Pammy and the Bluegrass Boys") for the Friday and Saturday night competitions. We played well but didn't win anything. Maybe next year. . . I drove home on Sunday totally exhausted but with lots of great memories.

Pickin' In The Park

2009-05-17T19:12:00.001-04:00

This past weekend, we took the RV to Hagan-Stone Park in Pleasant Garden, NC (just south of Greensboro) to attend the High Lonesome Strings' 12th annual "Pickin' In The Park" bluegrass festival. We arrived on Friday afternoon, set up camp with about 30 other RVs owned by lovers of bluegrass music, enjoyed a group hot dog feast and then played bluegrass music all evening long. On Saturday morning, I started the day by attending a fiddle workshop down by the lake which turned into a bluegrass/old-time music jam that lasted until the early afternoon. While I was jamming, the official "Pickin' In The Park" event got started on an outdoor stage which showcased many local bluegrass bands as part of a free concert that lasted until about 6:00pm. After dinner, jamming started up again in the camping area and we all spent the evening picking tunes with friends. Lots of fun despite the occasional rain and we're already looking forward to next year.

Keeling, VA

2009-05-10T18:25:00.007-04:00

On Thursday, we hit the road again to attend our Sams-O-Wake RV club's monthly campout in southern Virginia. We were joined there by about 18 other RVs from the club and we had a wonderful long weekend visiting with old and new friends, sharing tales of everyone's RVing adventures and eating out at local restaurants.

On Saturday morning, we went with most of the club to visit the American Armored Foundation's Tank Museum in Danville, VA. We spent many hours wandering around the 350,000+ square feet of the most extensive collection of international tank and cavalry artifacts from around the world (over 20,000 artifacts). They even had displays of military uniforms, small arms and over 700 hats and helmets. Quite an interesting place to visit. We returned home on Sunday to spend a few days of 'normalcy' before leaving on our next trip.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

2009-05-01T15:21:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, after spending three whole days at home, we drove the RV out to Camp Hatteras RV Park in Waves, NC - about as far East as you can go in NC without getting wet. Our campsite is on the Outer Banks within a stone's throw of the Pamlico Sound where we're attending the 2009 North Carolina WIT (Winnebago-Itasca Travelers) State Rally with about 70 other RVs made by Winnebago. We've met some nice folks and have enjoyed sitting back and watching all the 'kids' parasailing in the Sound in the gusty coastal winds we have today.

We drove about 25 miles further down the Outer Banks to visit the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse this morning and, thanks to several busloads of kids with tickets that were waiting in line, we decided not to climb the 250+ steps to the top today. We did view a movie about how the lighthouse was moved over 2,900 feet inland in 1999 to help preserve it. Quite impressive indeed and one more lighthouse magnet now hangs on our fridge.

Marion, NC

2009-04-23T15:50:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, we drove a whopping 40 miles down the mountains to Marion, NC to attend the North Carolina State Samboree RV Rally with a bunch of friends from our local RV club, the Sams-O-Wake. We'll be staying here for the rest of the week enjoying a lot of socializing, looking at vendors and just plain having fun before returning home on Sunday. This will be our first time home in about 6 weeks but we'll only be there for a few days. Stay tuned...more to come.

Asheville, NC

2009-04-21T18:29:00.005-04:00

Well, we're finally back in our home state again. We arrived in Asheville yesterday, made arrangements for today's activities and went out for my birthday dinner.

This morning, we went to Biltmore House where we spent several hours touring the estate on Segways - our second Segway experience of the trip. We rode the X2 offroad version and needed it as we rode over gravel paths and across fields and up and down hills. One stop gave us a unique view of the back of the Biltmore House from atop a large hill. What a fun experience!

In the afternoon we toured through the house seeing all four floors and the basement area. The last time we were here, only the first and second floors were open. There is a lot to see in this old home. We also toured the gardens which were in full bloom. Totally breathtaking. It costs a lot more to tour the Biltmore than it did 10+ years ago but it was worth every penny.

To make a perfect day even better, an old friend, Tom Lawton, picked me up at the RV and took me to a local old-time music jam where we spent the evening playing music. What a great way to end the day. Thanks, Tom!

Knoxville, TN

2009-04-18T17:43:00.006-04:00

Our first stop today was the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, TN. We expected a small display of local arts and crafts but were completely surprised by the number of buildings (34) with most holding a vast collection of old artifacts and furnished rooms showing the life and times of the residents of the Appalacian Mountains. One building (my favorite) had displays of old musical instruments...fiddles, banjos, dulcimers, and even some very unusual instruments like an ironing board dulcimer and a banjo made out of a toilet seat. There were peacocks and turkeys roaming freely as we toured the various buildings. There was even a bluegrass band playing on one of the porches. A very interesting place indeed.

Our next stop was Oak Ridge, TN, that was built under a cloak of great secrecy during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. This is where the world's first atomic weapons were produced. We toured the American Museum of Science and Technology which, while interesting, was more of a children's learning area. We decided to drive around the Oak Ridge facility (which we heard was interesting) but instead led to a potential security risk to the USA! As we entered the Y-12 Site, we were informed by the guard that this was a secured area. "No problem," I said, "I'll just back up and do a u-turn." The guard said I had to wait to be 'escorted' out of the area. After having to fill out an information sheet, having my driver's licence scanned for their records, and having my hands and car scanned for explosive devices (no kidding!), a security vehicle showed up and escorted us as we did our u-turn. So much for our paranoid society and so much for wanting to tour the area.

From there we went somewhere a lot safer...Norris Dam. It was constructed in the mid-1930's as the first major project for the Tennessee Valley Authority. We got to drive across the dam (without being accused of anything) and visited several scenic overlooks. A very beautiful dam indeed.

Nashville, TN

2009-04-16T21:52:00.011-04:00

This is Susan's second and my fourth time to Nashville, so we didn't go see the usual Grand Old Opry sites. Instead, we started the day with a visit to The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson. We took a walking tour of the house and grounds plus a horse-drawn carriage tour of the back of the property where the crops grew, the water well still flows and the old slave quarters used to be. The house still has its original wallpaper and furnishings.

From there, we went to visit the Lane Motor Museum, without a doubt one of the most unique car collections we have ever seen. We found out about the museum from a friend's email about an old unusual car called a Helicron that is half car and half airplane (e.g. propellor powered) just one day before we went to Nashville. We just had to see it but, unfortunately, the Helicron was out on tour when we were there. But the other cars in the collection were so unusual and interesting that only seeing a model of the Helicron wasn't a real disappointment. If you ever get to Nashville, check this place out!

After dinner, we went to the Fort Negley Visitors Center where I got to play in an old-time music jam with the Nashville Old-Time String Band Association. I was surprised to see an old friend, Ed Gregory, that I had met at NashCamp several years ago. We played music for several hours and had a great time. Oh how I miss playing old-time...

Memphis, TN - Day 3

2009-04-14T16:49:00.009-04:00

Our destination today was Beale Street - Memphis' Center for Southern Folklore. This three-block long area is packed with unique blues music bars, restaurants, shops and other blues related memorials and businesses. A few blocks away was The Peabody hotel where we watched its famous ducks enjoy their day in the elaborate lobby fountain. Then it was back to Beale Street where we had a delicious lunch at BB King's Blues Club. Then we hopped onto one of Memphis' famous Riverfront Trolleys where, for only 50 cents each, we enjoyed a relaxing trolley ride through the old riverfront area. Tomorrow will be a travel day for us as we head out for Nashville.

Memphis, TN - Day 2

2009-04-13T18:47:00.006-04:00

After waiting for the morning rain to quit, we drove to downtown Memphis and boarded the faux sternwheeler Island Queen. I say faux because it was the river that caused the paddlewheel to turn instead of the other way round. Regardless, it took us on a scenic 1.5 hour cruise up and down the Mississippi River while we listened to narration about river life and local history.

Then we went to the National Civil Rights Museum and walked through a museum about the history of civil rights. The museum is located at the site of the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated by James Earl Ray in April 1968. Across the street, we visited the room where the fatal shot was fired and even saw the rifle that was used in the killing.

Memphis, TN

2009-04-12T17:15:00.008-04:00

This morning, we drove to the Graceland RV Park in Memphis, TN. The directions we were given said to turn in at the Heartbreak Hotel and drive to the end of Lonely Street. So we did. Three guesses as to where we spent the day. Give up? The Graceland Mansion...where else? What an interesting tour. We got to see two of the three floors of the mansion with displays of many of Elvis' awards and costumes, the Elvis Automobile Museum, his two private jets (the Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II), plus several other special exhibits covering his Hollywood years, military service and pop culture. Of course, each of the areas exited into a different gift shop but that should come as no big surprise to any traveler. Before leaving the mansion, we stopped at the Meditation Garden to view the graves of Elvis and his family. Talk about good timing, as we left the last of the exhibits, the rain that we had been expecting finally hit but we were able to walk back to the RV before it got too heavy. Whew!

Travelin' The Great River Road

2009-04-11T20:27:00.008-04:00

Yesterday was a travel day. We drove from Vicksburg, MS up to Robinsonville, MS (just below the MS/TN state line) where we're now staying in the Sam's Town Casino RV Park (the third largest gambling area in the USA). We can see two different casinos from our RV but we don't plan on donating money to either of them.

This morning, we drove along the Great River Road to Helena, Arkansas (known as the Main Street of the Blues) where we toured through the Delta Cultural Center (with historical displays of the lives of Delta inhabitants) and radio station KFFA, 1360 AM, where the King Biscuit Flour Hour (a famous live blues show) is broadcast.

Then we drove down to Clarksdale, Mississippi where we toured the Delta Blues Museum. It was suggested that we have lunch at the Ground Zero Blues Club that was just around the corner from the museum. Located in a very dilapidated part of town, it didn't look very attractive as you can see in the first picture but we went inside anyway. The inside was awesome! There were people's autographs and 'art' (drawings) covering everthing (walls, tables, chairs, columns, floor, you name it) and there were guitars (including one made from an old 5-gallon gas can) and other blues instruments hanging everywhere. This place is owned by Morgan Freeman and features live blues bands almost every evening. We enjoyed our lunch and won't soon forget this place.

Vicksburg, MS

2009-04-09T18:34:00.007-04:00

We visited the Vicksburg National Military Park and hired a NPS guide to show us around the enormous park (over 16 miles of roadway). He drove our car and gave us a complete, detailed story of the entire Civil War battle as it unfolded throughout the area. There were numerous monuments, statues and plaques throughout the park with most of them sponsored by the Federal states (they did win after all).

Near the end of our three-hour tour, we stopped and looked at the U.S.S. Cairo - an ironclad ship that was sunk during the war and was recovered from the Mississippi River in the 1970's (almost exactly 100 years after it's sinking). The original guns, engines, and most of the hull were used to make the reconstructed ship. The tour was very informative indeed.

Natchez Trace Parkway

2009-04-08T18:13:00.004-04:00

Today's travels took us along the Natchez Trace Parkway (which Susan described as the Blue Ridge Parkway without the mountains). It runs 444 miles from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN but we only did the first 87 miles so we could go to Vicksburg. It was a nice 2-lane 50 mph road with scenic spots along the way. There were a few sites we couldn't see due to narrow roads or low bridge clearances (we were driving the RV). Our favorite stop was at the Sunken Old Trace which is part of the original early 1800's road that has been preserved. Talk about a worn down path...

Natchez, MS Day 2

2009-04-07T18:22:00.004-04:00

We spent today touring old homes in Natchez. The first three that we saw were only open for the town's annual Spring Pilgrimage event. They were Magnolia Hall (1858), Shields Town House (1860) and Airlie (1790) - each distinct in architecture and setting but all of them showing the opulence of the wealthy people of the times. After a delicious lunch at the Magnolia Grill located in Nachez Under the Hill (e.g. right on the Mississippi River), we drove out to see Mammy's Cupboard - a most unusual building indeed. From there, we toured Longwood, the largest octagonal house in America, which was started in 1859 by a wealthy cotton planter, Haller Nutt. Construction was stopped in 1861 due to the start of the Civil War and it was never completed. A most interesting place to see...

Natchez, MS

2009-04-06T17:57:00.005-04:00

Despite the colder weather, we decided to start heading north today and will spend the next few nights in Natchez, MS. The RV park we're staying in is literally right on the Mississippi River and we have an awesome view of the river and Natchez from our site (here's Susan in front of the RV enjoying the view). After getting settled in, we went to the Natchez Visitor's Center and got tickets to their Spring Pilgrimage (tours of old homes only open once a year) - which we'll do tomorrow - and tickets for a horse-drawn carriage tour of historic Natchez that we took this afternoon.

Livingston, LA again

2009-04-05T21:09:00.004-04:00

We liked Lakeside RV Park that we visited a few weeks ago so much that we decided to stay there again. Today, we drove back to the Great River Road area to visit some more old plantations. Our first stop was at the Laura Plantation, a Creole plantation dating back over 200 years. Our hour-long tour really covered a lot of the Creole history of the area.

A few miles down the road we visited Oak Alley Plantation that got its name from the twenty-eight evenly spaced oak trees planted in the early 1700's in two rows leading to the Mississippi River. These three-hundred year old oaks were simply awesome. The beautiful house was built in 1837 by a rich Creole sugar planter to take advantage of the view provided by the oaks. Again, we learned more about the history of the Creole people. We even sipped on a mint julep while sitting on the veranda. When in Rome...