A Year About

We were driving into Savannah today and came to a stop light where there was a lot of trash, mostly papers strewn about everywhere. Elise was really bothered by it and remembered that when we lived in our townhouse we used to pick up trash when we took walks. She decided that when we get back from the trip we need to have “Save the World” days once a month. On that day we would do things that would make God happy like picking up trash or playing with people who are lonely. She thought we should do it on Sundays since our going to church would make Him happy, too.



We had another gorgeous day today for touring Savannah. I know that this city is one of my brother Shawn’s favorites, but I have to say that I prefer Charleston. No mistake, Savannah is a pretty city. There are beautiful squares every couple of blocks that are essentially parks with huge live oaks hung with Spanish moss. But something about Charleston captivated me in a way that Savannah didn’t.



We did find the most glorious cathedral, though. The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is the Bishop’s church for the Diocese of Savannah. The congregation formed in the late 18th century and became a cathedral in 1850. A fire destroyed most of the structure in 1898. It was quickly rebuilt and opened again in 1900. Another renovation took place in 2000.



Bobby and I went to confession and then we all went to the 5:30 Vigil Mass. The altar servers were all grown men. One was a seminarian, but the other two were not. I liked it. It lent a seriousness to the Mass I enjoyed.



Tomorrow we head to St. Augustine, FL for three nights. We’re staying at Anastasia State Park, recommended by our friends Rich, Eleanor and Emma. I don’t think there is wi-fi there, so we will try to hit a library to post our blog. After St. Augustine, we will go to the Kennedy Space Center and then make our way down to the Keys. We have 2 nights reserved at Bahia Honda State Park and 3 nights at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. We might try snorkeling while we are down there. Bobby’s done it before but Elise and I haven’t. We’ll have to see…

Eyeing the Hensely hitch for grease.

Elise has taken on various jobs as part of our traveling routine. She helps me grease the hitch, which we do every 500 miles or so. It’s not too hard on either of us and kinda fun. She also helps me connect the chains, electrical, and emergency brake to the truck once we are hitched.


Plugging in the electrical connection between trailer and truck.

At our Charleston campground, Elise filled out the questionnaire. She marked “excellent” a lot, but it was a good campground.


Filling out the campground questionnaire in Charleston.

She helped me line up the truck and trailer before we left too! Soon I will just sit back in my smoking jacket with a glass of brandy and wait for the girls to tell me when it’s time to go.

By the way, here’s our Google Map of the trip so far and our current location in Rincon, GA.

Elise on the way back from Ft. Sumter

We left Charleston, SC this morning and toodled down the road to Savannah, GA. Elise has already found a friend, Bobby is at the grocery store and I am doing laundry. It’s a crystal clear day in the low 70s and all is well.

We had a great day with Bobby’s parents in Charleston yesterday. They left Atlanta on Tuesday while we played with my friends Jim, Betty and Ralph and drove on to Charleston. We met back up with them Wednesday in Charleston. When we got to our campground there it was hot and humid. Yesterday dawned just as beautiful as today and the day was glorious.


One of the houses on Battery Row

We started with a self-guided walking tour of the historic part of the city using a AAA guide book. The private gardens in the city are just gorgeous. For those of you from Northern Virginia, think Old Town. Just stunning. Bobby really liked the front doors we saw. The variety was surprising, but fun to see.






There are more pictures on our Flickr site.

We found out a way to tell the difference between homes built pre-1886 and post. Charleston sits on the Woodstock Fault and an eathquake ripped through there on August 31, 1886 with an estimated magnitude of 7. Most brick homes crumbled. To save those with large cracks, large screws were inserted through the floorboards of the houses and tightened, in effect cranking the brickwork back together. These earthquake bolts, as they’re called, can be seen in houses all over the city. Some have been cleverly disguised by decorative plaques and other coverings.


The black circles on the side of the house are the earthquake bolts.

After lunch we boarded a boat and headed out to Ft. Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. A very cool story. One of the things historians note about the Civil War was how this was a war where brothers and neighbors fought each other. This was true even for the commanders. Maj. Anderson was in charge of the garrison of soldiers who held Ft. Sumter. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, the Confederate commander who gave the order to fire the first shot, was a friend of his. Anderson and his troops surrendered 33 hours after the fighting began. No one was killed on either side. The terms of surrender that Anderson was given were very generous. He was allowed to keep his flag, the men were not taken prisoner but allowed to return North on a ship and they were given a 100-gun salute. This was cut short to 50 though, when at shot 47, the gun misfired, killing the gunman instantly. Awkward.



As we were unhitching at our new campsite today, we were greeted by the campground’s welcoming committee. These ducks stood at our door for a good five minutes, waiting for a handout I suppose. They didn’t get one, so went on to the next rig. Bizarre!

I’m exhausted and I will never be hungry again. Yet, somehow I’m surprisingly content.


On top of Stone Mountain

We had a great day with Jim and Betty, my friends from Atlanta (Alpharetta, actually). Betty’s husband Ralph wasn’t able to accompany us during the day, so I get to choose the picture of him to post later. In the morning we went to Stone Mountain, the largest piece of exposed granite in the world. There is a relief sculpture on the mountain with carvings of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Robert E. Lee’s horse is almost as long as a football field. While it was being created, workers would hide in the horse’s nostrils or mouth when it rained.





After Stone Mountain we had the most amazing lunch at a place called Tauqueria del Sol in Decatur. The restuarant serves soft tacos, soups and enchiladas. Their chips and salsa are awesome, too. I had a BLT taco, a fried chicken taco and another one with pulled pork and other yummy things inside. It was one taco too many. I couldn’t move after we finished.



All of us in a taco-induced coma, we headed out to the Georgia Aquarium. This is one incredible place. The first place we went was a huge (and by that I mean larger than I can possibly describe to you) tank filled with, among other things, 4 whale sharks. Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the ocean. Their mouths alone are over 4 feet wide. What I found fascinating about them is that, as large as they are, their esophagus is the size of a quarter! They feed on krill and shrimp and other very small fish. They just eat a lot of them!


Betty, Danine, Elise and Jim attempt to touch the rays in the touch tank.

We closed down the aquarium and headed back to Betty and Ralph’s for an incredibly delicious meal cooked by Jim. We started with pita chips and lemon hummus, pickled okra and ham wraps and Jim’s homemade pickled jalepeno jelly with cream cheese. Full already, we proceeded next to dinner which was Jim’s homemade mac ‘n’ cheese, beans with meat, peppers and noodles in a pot of yummy sauce, grilled pork with a chutney Betty made, homemade coleslaw and deviled eggs. It was a veritable feast and we didn’t begin to do it justice. Jim likes to cook but doesn’t cook like this often, so we are very grateful to him for going to all this trouble for us. He just greatly reduced our food budget for the month, too, because we won’t be eating for at least a week! And did I mention the Ghiradelli brownies with Starbucks’ Coffee Ice Cream for dessert?!


Ralph

Elise and Maud

Today we met up with my parents and reconnected with two of my great aunts. Maud is my grandmother’s sister (my mom’s mom). She is 91, tall, charming and as sharp as ever. We met her and her daughter Mary (my mom’s cousin) for a lovely chat just before lunch. I had last seen them in 1983, when I was 10 and Maud’s mother (my great grandmother) was celebrating her 100th birthday. My great grandmother was 90 years (less 2 days) older than me. Maud is a lot like her: easy to talk with; always makes you feel special; remembers you like she saw you yesterday. That is impressive and humbling.


Elise and Ruby

Just as impressive is my aunt Ruby, who is 100. She was married to Maud’s brother Ty. Always a good storyteller, Ruby continues to share her century of experiences happily. Her hearing is poor, but her mind is as active as ever, and her memory near perfect. We think the secret to her longevity is her breakfast regimen which includes a can of Pepsi every morning! Elise met Ruby once before she moved to Atlanta, but didn’t remember. However, Ruby’s thoughtfulness and affection won her over quickly. We had a wonderful visit.

Regular people like you and me simply don’t have memories like these two ladies. And few of us can share them with such conversational skill. These visits make me want to gather all of their stories and the multitude of other family stories, and record them so they’re never lost. That is so hard to do: to not lose the past.

We ended the day visiting with Ruby’s daughter Ann and her husband Bill. They have been very flexible with our vague schedule, fed us a delicious meal, and even broke out the grandchildren’s toys for Elise (who loved it).

When we decided to do take our trip visiting family wasn’t the foremost reason for doing it, but it has been great to discover what an important part of the experience it has become.

Sorry to be absent so long. We have been traveling the past few days, trying to get down here to Atlanta and we didn’t have wi-fi anywhere we stayed and didn’t have time to find it. So, it promises to be another long blog entry. Stay focused!

Thursday, October 4
Our visit at home was great. My mother made two delicious meals for us and we got to spend time with my parents, my sister and her family. Elise was thrilled to see her cousins, Conor and Taylor. She even got to visit her old school and see her first grade teacher and some friends.

One of our main reasons for stopping at home was to pick up our truck bed cover. It had arrived at my parents’ the day after we left for my brother’s wedding last month. Bobby installed that successfully and completed some other maintenance on the trailer. Our hitch had been groaning terribly since Maine and I was afraid we were going to lose the trailer while we were driving down the highway. We had been greasing our spring bars every 500 miles so we knew that couldn’t be the problem. We discovered that the sound was coming from the ball of the hitch and even though Hensley, the hitch manufacturer, said we shouldn’t need to grease it yet, we did and the trip down here was mercifully silent. What did I accomplish while home? I got all of our laundry done. No easy task, I assure you.

Before leaving Northern Virginia we had one errand to run. Elise wanted a haircut. I wanted her to have one, too, if only to make showers easier while we are on the road. That much hair is a lot to wash. She wanted to donate her hair to Locks for Love if it was long enough. It wasn’t quite. So instead we had 6 inches lopped off. She looks completely different to me. We love her new look and so does she.





After the haircut, we made our way down to Blacksburg, Virginia to see a good friend of mine, Ruth, from my college days. Ruth is a friend I don’t talk to very often and even more seldomly see, but it’s one of those friendships where you just pick up where you left off. She is an amazing person. She and her husband have been bringing foster children into their home for a few years now and are in the process of adopting one of the children.

We left there close to 11:00 and made a quick stop at Virginia Tech’s campus to see the memorial from the April 16 shootings. I hadn’t been back to my alma mater since the tragedy and I wanted to see the campus. I tried to stay steady for the night shots, but didn’t do a great job. I would have liked to stay longer, but Elise was exhausted and we still had a 45 minute drive back to our campground.


The April 16 memorial in front of Burruss Hall

Friday, October 5
I told Bobby last week that for Elise’s sake, we needed to extend ourselves a little bit and try to be more friendly with our neighbors in the campgrounds. We tend to say “hi” and make small talk briefly. But that’s not enough for Elise. She is so extroverted that she wants to spend time with these complete strangers and talk, talk, talk!

So today as we were hitching up to go, our neighbors came over to offer their help and ask us about our hitch. We ended up talking to them for over an hour and a half. They were incredibly friendly and Gary (the dad) had story upon story to tell. They are from Lebanon, VA. Gary has a family construction business with his brother working around coal mines (but never in them). His son Brad is 20 and works full time with his dad while going to school online through Old Dominion University. Gary’s wife and Elise talked together quite a lot and she gave Elise a pedicure and a bag of those hideous orange circus peanuts. She was one happy kid.

As we pulled away, they waved and Bobby and I agreed that they were some of the friendliest people we have encountered yet. We really enjoyed talking to them and hearing their stories. So as much as we were thinking about extending ourselves for Elise’s sake, we benefited, too.

Saturday, October 6
Today we visited the Biltmore House, the largest privately owned home in the United States. This is one amazing house.


Elise’s expression upon seeing the house for the first time.


The Biltmore

It was built in 1895 and covers 4 acres inside. There are 101 bedrooms in the house: 65 for servants and the rest for family and guests. There are 65 fireplaces and only two of them are the same design. It is a fascinating place. We spent 3 hours wandering through the house, listening to an audio tour (perfect for Elise). I have decided that audio tours are the way to go. You learn a lot more and it’s a great way for Elise to learn about what she is seeing. For example: During World War II, the National Gallery of Art was really worried about the security of some of their priceless works and asked Vanderbilt if they could store some at the Biltmore. Permission was granted and security guards moved into the house with the artifacts and took turns guarding them 24 hours a day. Three years later, all was returned to Washington, D.C.

After lunch we took a rooftop tour. That was cool! We got to see some rooms not open to the public as well as go out on some balconies and the roof. The house is amazingly well constructed. The frame is made of steel and the house is made of brick, with 4-6 inches of limestone facing covering it. The flashing on the top of the roof is copper and has turned green with age. When the house was first built, the copper flashing was covered in 24-karat gold leafing. Today it has faded but you can see it if the sun hits it just right.


The “GV” is for “George Vanderbilt” and the three acorns represent his family crest. You can see the remaining gold on the bottom left acorn.

We finally left the house around 5:30 and walked around the grounds until close to 7:00. Just amazing.

Sunday, October 7
Now we are caught up to today. Our drive to Atlanta was pleasant. We are listening to Book 6 in the Harry Potter series in the truck and it certainly helps pass the time. We got here around 4:00 and met up with Bobby’s parents close to 5:00. As far as looks goes, this is the least attractive place we’ve stayed. This morning we woke up to nothing but nature in Pisgah National Forest and tonight we have 2 RVs on either side of us, separated from us by less than 10 feet on each side.

We are here to visit two of Bobby’s great aunts. One is 93 and the other is 100, both still fairly sharp. Aunt Ruby, the one who is 100, informed Bobby’s parents today that she still takes care of her own finances! Bobby’s parents came down from Pittsburgh to see us and visit the aunts, too. Happily, they are also going to continue on with us to Charleston, so we will get to see them for a few days. Tuesday, we are going to spend the day with some friends of mine who run a great company, Fresh Science. I met them when I was doing consulting work for Fairfax County and we have become good friends. I’m looking forward to seeing them and having them show us some of Hot-lanta!

Wednesday it is off to Charleston and Friday we head to Savannah, GA. My brother Shawn who runs a book review website called Critical Compendium has told me that I should read “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” before we get to Savannah. I’ll try to pick it up soon.

Elise and Lola

We are home (my parents’ home, that is). We broke our 4 hours of driving a day rule and drove from Stormville, NY to Falls Church, VA in about 7 1/2 hours. Traffic was relatively light and this time we drove around Baltimore instead of going through the Harbor Tunnel. We didn’t know we couldn’t drive through it since we had propane until after we had gone through the last time. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose. The scary part is that no one busted us for it!

Last night we visitied my cousin Brandt and his family. He and his wife, Dominica, have a beautiful little girl, Lola. She likes to read and took to Bobby pretty quickly. He was the one she chose to read to her and pick her up. We had a great dinner with them. Brandt is a cousin I don’t get to see very often and when I was younger, I was determined to marry him. I have since gotten over the crush, but I love to dance with the man!



Tomorrow is a day of errands. The truck needs an oil change, we need to organize and drop off some odds and ends and then Thursday we head back out. Blacksburg, VA Thursday, Asheville, NC Friday.

For those of you who have known us for a while, you will remember that I had a thing for Hanover, New Hampshire for a time. Sight unseen, I decided that it was the perfect college town for us to live in and I went so far as to go on realtor.com to try and find a house. We had the opportunity to go to Hanover yesterday on our way to Saratoga and I decided that I didn’t really need to see the town. We’re not moving there. I’m sure it’s a pretty town, but I’ve let it go.

What this really means is that we have successfully left New England without purchasing a piece of land or a house. To all our Northern Virginia friends, this means we are coming back (despite bets to the contrary). If any place was going to sway me into leaving NoVa, it would have been New England. There is still a piece of land for sale at the top of Mt. Desert Island with 200 ft. of waterfront, though…

Today we leave Saratoga and head to Stormville, NY to visit my cousin (on my dad’s side), Brandt. He is married to Dominica and they have a little girl, Lola, who we are looking forward to meeting. Tomorrow it is home for two nights and then we start to head south.