Lucy & Chautauqua

Posted by Melissa
We headed from Niagara Falls to Chicago via the scenic Chautauqua area of New York - thanks in part to my son Spencer who called us after reading a travel article on this area. Jamestown,NY is Lucille Ball's hometown. We stopped by the Lucy-Desi Museum and really enjoyed seeing all the photos, costumes, and memorabilia. We watched some of the old TV clips and really enjoyed her character's silly antics.

I am continually impressed with the age and character of the towns we have seen on the east coast. Even the alleys are interesting - this is in downtown Jamestown where both the sreets and alleys are paved with brick.We drove around the lake stopping for lunch in Bemus Point. We stumbled upon the Hotel Lenhart, a quintessential east coast resort overlooking the lake. This hotel has been owned and operated by the same family since 1881. Is this old school or what??The prices are not too bad considering that they include both a full breakfast and full dinner. The prices are less on the second and third floors because there is no elevator.I think I could manage to while away a few days here!As we continued our drive around the lake we found that there is a sizable Amish community here as well. Our drive through the Pennysilvania Dutch area was on a Sunday so the Amish were not working, but instead were out and about visiting. This time it was a work day and we saw a farmer working the fields..and several Amish men building a barn.Hey Spence - This is your kind of country - check out what we found at a country gas station.....
Yep - that is a bait dispenser machine!

Up next: Chicago

Niagara Falls

This is on the way to Niagara falls. If I could only paint clouds like these!

Posted by Thane
We stayed on the American side because we forgot to renew our passports before we left! Oh well, we got to see the Canadian side anyway by taking the Maid of the Mist boat tour under the falls. Here is a picture of the boat heading toward the falls. Boy did we get wet and the falls were loud. I'll let the pictures tell the story.Here's a video from the wettest part.

This was our only night in New York so we had to find an original New York pizza. We found Aldo Evangelista who has been in business for 47 years here in Niagara falls. Great pizza and he kept us amused the the whole time with his tales.

Up next - We're heading off to Chicago by way of Jamestown NY on Lake Chautauqua.

Pennsylvania Amish Counry

Posted by Thane

What a great change to head to the rural parts of Pennsylvania from DC. We traveled through this peaceful, bucolic setting on a Sunday when all the Amish were out in their buggies visiting. It also meant that almost nothing was open, even the gas stations were closed! We finally found an open restaurant called Plain and Fancy that served "family style" Amish food that was delicious. Fried chicken, roast beef, chicken pot pie, sausage, chow chow, mashed potatoes, greenbeans, corn and wet bottom shoo-fly pie for dessert. I guess if you do a lot of manual labor out on the farm you could eat like this more often! We learned quite a bit about the Amish culture but the sign that hit me the most was this one:

Want to become Amish? Here is some words of advice from the Small Farm Journal written by an Amishman. "We realize that not everyone is cut out to be one of the plain people. Many have not the opportunity; but here is the challenge: If you admire our faith, strengthen yours. If you admire our sense of commitment-deepen yours. If you admire our sense of community spirit, build your own. If you admire the simple life, cut back. If you admire deep character and enduring values, live them yourself.

The Amish farms were usually white and immaculately kept. They had no power lines going to them, although recently the dairy farms have added power to the barn only to meet government requirements for refrigeration.The Old Order Amish do not drive cars, although they will ride in them for necessary trips (doctor, work etc.). Some of the more modern Amish will drive cars, but the car will usually be black and plain. Some will use bicycles, but many will only use scooters because the bicycle is too fast.Here is a scene from one of the small towns we went through.
Next: Up to Niagara Falls

Washington, DC

Posted by Melissa

DC is filled with huge memorials, immense government buildings, wonderful museums as well as residential neighborhoods which varied from near ghetto to fabulous gated estates.

We visited most of the usual sights - The Lincoln Memorial(The Gettysburg address is one of the two speeches engraved on the inside wall of the Lincoln Memorial. I am brought to tears every time I read it. This was the bloodiest battle ever fought in our country - On July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, more men actually fought and more men died than in any other battle before or since on North American soil. Over 172,000 men fought. An estimated 569 tons of ammunition was expended. There were over 51,000 casualties. The wreckage of war also included 5000 dead horses left on the battlefield. I can't imagine the scene with that many dead men and animals. Sobering...)

The White House - at nightWe also found homeless people every where we looked - this scene was within 2 blocks of the white house.Shame on you Bush!! Maybe you could spend more money at home and less sending troups to Iraq!!!!

The Mall -(Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool) also at night -

We visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at night also. I felt a sense of getting deeper and deeper into the war as I walked down to the center of this memorial which is recessed into the ground and then as I walked back up/out, the sense that the end is approaching - up until the very last name on the memorial when it ended.

The Jefferson Memorial -

The National Cathedral -
This is the main, central interior of the National Cathedral:

This was one of the smaller, secondary alters in the National Cathedral.
Another absolutely beautiful church in DC is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. This church is filled with tile mosaics featuring gorgeous colors. It also has HUGE pipe organs - yes organs - not just one but I saw at least two! Our pictures did not turn out all that well since we could not use flash - but if you go to the website and click on Virtual tour you can see probably hundreds of mosaics - check out our favorite Saint!
We also visited the Holocaust Museum (no pics allowed). This is a DON'T MISS museum. We spent several hours here and we were absolutely drained by the end. It would take 4 trips through to actually see it all. Everyone and their children should see this. One fact that I took home from here is just how much can be done when people care.

One of the exhibits compared Jewish survival rates in different countries. The difference was amazing. In Denmark, Jewish people were considered part of the fabric of society prior to the war. During the war, the Danes refused to follow orders and turn over and/or arrest Jewish citizens. Instead they hid them, took their children into their homes and disguised them as their own, and helped them escape the country. Only 1 in 10 Danish Jews perished compared to 8-9 of 10 in some countries. Some more interesting facts and personal testimony are here.

Note - we are actually in Minnesota right now. We typically run about a week behind on posting our blog entries. - DC was hot and smoky from the fire in North Carolina. We are thrilled to be out of the hot weather and smoky air! It actually cooled down about a 4-5 days ago, when we were in Niagara falls. We have had cooler temps and rain since leaving DC and we are LOVING it!

Up next: Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish) country and Niagara Falls

Monticello

Posted by Melissa
Thomas Jefferson, author of The Declaration of Independence (you know - "all men are created equal" and have a right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness") which established the foundations of self government and individual freedom in America also owned slaves - up to 150 slaves lived on his 5000 acre plantation. It is hard to reconcile this paradox....

Jefferson grew up on this land and as a child this hilltop was his favorite spot. When he inherited it he immediately began building on the hill. He started with a smaller, classical building. After spending years in Paris, he returned and began remodeling the house to incorporate ancient Roman features. All in all, he spend 40 years designing, constructing, and remodeling Monticello, his "essay in architecture".

He was also very interested in gardening and designed beautiful gardens with included both vegetables and ornamental plants. Some of his gardens have been recreated based on his meticulous record keeping.Mulberry Row was home to workers and craftsmen (both free and enslaved) that worked on the plantation. Homes and workshop buildings like a blacksmith and nail shop (NOT manicures!!), smokehouse, and a carpenters shop were located here. The slaves were housed with entire families in SMALL 20 x 12 houses. They worked from sunup to sundown. They tended their own personal gardens after dark. Jefferson's records show that he purchased some vegetables and chickens from his slaves. I thought that was very interesting - if he owns them how can they sell him things? What we found out is that this practice was common among some plantation owners because it improved moral slightly. The thinking was that happier slaves may need less supervision and may be less likely to run away. Hmm, I'm thinking decent pay may have accomplished the same thing...

I love these tree alleys that we have seen all over the south. If I ever live in the country again, I want one of these - minus the slave quarters!!

Jefferson was a very complex man with many interests and Monticello had many innovative features. If you are interested the website has LOTS of information. Just click here.

Up next: Washington DC

Northwest Virginia

Posted by Thane
The historic town of Salem , Virginia is 300 year old Moravian community that has been restored and preserved to it's original condition. The Moravians were a hard working religious sect that kept meticulous records. Those records helped in restoring not only the architecture but also the lifestyle that was lived. During the day the town is inhabited by workers and business owners in period dress.










From Salem we traveled up to Mount Airy, the town where Andy Griffith grew up and he used as a model for his show in the 60's. Everybody was extremely friendly and greeted you with a Goober -like "Hey!" I wanted to get a haircut at Floyd's but the line was too long for an $8 haircut.
Up the Blue Ridge Parkway we went, a 45 mph road that rides the ridge. From some areas you had a 360 degree view. We stopped at an old Grist Mill from the early 1900's. Then on to dinner in the old town of Buchanon where you can see that we got away for less than $12!!

From there we arrived at our B&B in Nellysford Virginia, the Mark-Addy. Leslie and Rafael bought this 10 room house only a few years ago and told us about life as innkeepers one late night. Our room there was huge, comfortable and had a balcony for late evening relaxing. Breakfast was a wonderful, three course meal. The Inn is on 12 acres out in the country and felt like home - except the view was the Blue Ridge Mountains instead of the Sierra Nevada foothills.

We also got to meet Ubon and Dan, owners of the Thai-Mex II restaurant. Great food. We quickly became friends and made a short visit to their house after dinner. They invited us to travel to Thailand in October with them. Melissa is thinking it sure would be nice to visit Thailand with someone who is from there.

On to Monticello and Washington DC.

Outer Banks, North Carolina

Posted by Melissa
OK - the heat wave continues - but with a new twist - a major fire. We are now downwind from a fire that was just classified a National Disaster area. So much for planning!!

We stayed in Wilmington NC for the night on our way to the Outer Banks. What a cute college town - right on a river. We went downtown for dinner and found it to be a very lively town with lots of people out and about and live music.
We headed out to the Outer Banks where we planned to spend a couple of days laying around on the beach and relaxing. Wrong! Temps were over 100 and the air was thick with smoke - plus stifling humidity. The view out our window was gray and faded quickly because of the dense smoke. We waited until sunset to head to the beach and found the water was wonderful! Just the right temp to cool off and the beach was soft sand. But as soon as we got out of the water we were attacked by biting flies. We decided to head back to the room and enjoy a Mikes Hard Lemonade instead! - Perfect for this hot weather. Our hotel was right on the ocean with a boardwalk over the dunes to the beach (these people must be immune to to biting flies!!)
We finally got a picture of one of the many drive-through liquor stores we have seen on this trip. After being in such heat for so long, I am beginning to understand why these are so popular!
The Wright Brothers National Memorial was great! I just take air travel for granted but seeing what these guys did when others thought it impossible was just amazing. Too often I think of historic figures as old, out of date, men but that is, of course, wrong. One of the reasons the Wright Bros succeeded when others failed is that they were not only bicycle mechanics but racers as well. The realized that part of the mechanics of turning a bike included leaning the bike to the side. They realized that a plane also needed to lean and figured out how to do that by tweeking the wings through a complex mechanism of cables. Without this a plane could only fly in a straight line. Not very useful.We had lunch a this little place that had an underwater theme - check out the ceiling.This is one of the lighthouse in the Cape Hatteras - Outer Banks area. The cast iron spiral stairs were a work of art.
Our history lessons continued - not only is the where the Wright Brothers first flew - it is the sight of the first English Settlement in the New World - Roanoke Island. English settlers came here in 1584. They disappeared by 1590 without a trace. We attended an outdoor play, The Lost Colony, that tells their story. The costumes were absolutely beautiful. We wondered, though, how the actors could take the temps. The play did not start until 8:30 and the temps were still in the high 90's. Side note - this is where Andy Griffith got his start. He started out as a bit player and worked his way up to the lead roll!

Up next: Salem, VA, Mt. Airy (and Mayberry), The Blue Ridge Parkway, and Monticello