Asheville, NC and Marietta, GA

On our next journey from Natural Bridge to Asheville, North Carolina we did not gamble on the weather and so opted not to take the Blue Ridge mountain trail, instead we drove down 1-81. Asheville which is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains is definitely a hippy kind-of town, a real gem of a place.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are truly blue; a beautiful blue haze is settled on them all the time. Asheville is famous for its many art deco buildings, with shops like Woolworth’s,  locally owned department stores and cafeterias still with their art deco exteriors but inside they house little shops and boutiques. “The Grove” is a beautiful shopping center whose outside is lined with shops, cafes and restaurants while inside is ascetically tasteful, including five beautiful wood surrounded telephone kiosks lining a wall. Very much a local treasure is the independent, free spirited, old bookstore and coffee shop “Malaprop’s” right in the center of town; it was good to see how busy an independent bookstore can be. A 1.7 mile self-guided walking tour around town features about 30 sculptures portraying the history of Asheville. Thomas Wolfe wrote a semiautobiographical novel “Look Homeward Angel” which was set in his mother’s boarding house and was banned in Asheville for a year. Adele has downloaded it onto her Kindle and started reading it last night to learn why it was banned.

Asheville also boasts the Biltmore Mansion and boy is it expensive to visit - $69 a person, having already visited several mansions in Newport, RI we felt that it was a rip off and instead visited another Asheville landmark “The Grove Park Inn”.  This was renovated recently; the outside is made of large granite boulders in a lovely ginger color, with red clay roof tiles and beautiful views over the town.

Adele was so disappointed that the doors of St. Lawrence’s Basilica were locked on Saturday and could not see the interior that she headed there for Mass on Sunday morning (hope you survive this bit of news Barbara) the Basilica has a very large dome and is beautifully decorated throughout. Sunday afternoon we drove up into the Blue Ridge Mountains and visited the Craft Center which had an array of amazing crafts on display. Once every year a very big Art Fair is held there.

PBS frequently has interesting programs on local history, a local celebrity or a topic of local interest from which we are learning a lot. Our TV is a HDTV and as most RV Parks provide cable we are well catered for. Sadly the Wi-Fi signal is not always reliable, with the park(s) antennae at an elevation of about 15 feet; we are looking into purchasing a signal extender/booster – suggestions most welcome. Another communication problem is that cell phone signal coverage is definitely not national, we have come across many dead spots so sometimes we have cell signal and sometimes we don’t.

From Asheville we transited through South Carolina (no we’re not counting this as a visit and will return in the spring) to Marietta, GA a suburb of Atlanta, where Peg and Norm longtime friends whom we had not seen for about 8 years live. We had a lovely reunion visit with them the Monday before Thanksgiving; we knew that they were flying to Dallas early Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving with one of their sons and family. One thing we agreed on was that we, all four, are looking so well! We have kept in touch through Christmas letters every year but it’s so much better to see our friends in person. 

On Tuesday we went to Stone Mountain State Park with the intention of taking the Swiss Gondola Summit Sky ride which whisks visitors to the top. As luck, or lack thereof, would have it Tom took a right turn instead of a left and we ended up at the foot of a mile and a half hike up the back of the mountain and as we needed a good hike off we went. About halfway up we realized that we were indeed hiking up a mountain. The day was hot and there were lots of people of all ages hiking up and down, obviously a very popular hike. And…well worth the effort as the views from the top (360 degrees) are spectacular, we could literally see for miles. On our return to base camp we drove around to the front of the rock where the large Confederate Memorial Carving of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on horseback are carved into the mountain.  We discovered that one Gutzon Borglum was commissioned to sculpt this monument and having carved Robert E .Lee’s head and shoulders had a disagreement with the Commissioners and was fired. Shortly afterwards he received the commission to create what is now known as the Shrine of Democracy in the Black Hills of South Dakota where he carved the faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln on Mount Rushmore. 

The next man to take up the job at Stone Mountain decided to obliterate Borglum’s work and started the now smaller carving. Money was scarce in the South and the two World Wars passed before it was finished. To complete an excellent day with lots of walking we visited the Antebellum Plantation, where numerous buildings portraying different socio-economic backgrounds are on display with period furnishings from that era.

Our Appalachian Trail or was it Trial?

From Lake Anna, VA we headed for Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Mountains (Appalachians) along Route 33 and it starts to rain! We had some good and beautiful days in the preceding 2 weeks and had not checked on the weather channel and although we know that at this time of the year there can be bad days, we had not anticipated this. As we pass through the National Parks Gate at the top of the Shenandoah Mountains we are literally in the clouds with fog all round and can see for only about 150 yards in front of us. This provides for very difficult driving with clouds swirling about on an unknown road; we can’t turn back as the roads are narrow with lots of curves. So we end up taking 2 hours to travel just 40 miles in these conditions and emerge into the James River valley and make our way to I-81 which passes through the mountains; here all is well - no fog, traffic moving freely and we get to our destination “Jelleystone RV Park” in Natural Bridge just before dark. That night and the following day it rained so we decided to take an easy day; Adele baked brown scones in our little oven and made soup, we caught up on writing our blog and planned where to head for next - so the day passed quickly enough.

On the next day we drove to Lexington, VA where Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson  both lived yet at different times. We wondered why would a parent call their son Stonewall…the answer - his name was Thomas Jonathan Jackson however, he earned his nickname during the Civil War for standing his ground in battle. Stonewall Jackson was an exemplary citizen, deeply religious, a dedicated family man who taught in The Virginia Military Institute one of the local universities the other being The Washington and Lee University. We took a self-guided walking tour around Lexington where many of the buildings are pre Civil War (Stonewall Jackson’s house which we toured) included; as the town is on a steep hill we had plenty of exercise.

    

Washington and Lee University is a private school which has a student population of less than 2,000 was originally founded in 1749 as The Augusta Academy and renamed Liberty Hall in 1776; in 1782 it was chartered as Liberty Hall Academy by the Virginia legislature and empowered to grant degrees, then in 1796 George Washington saved the struggling Liberty Hall Academy when he gave the school its first major endowment--$20,000 worth of James River Canal stock. The trustees promptly changed the name of the school to Washington Academy as an expression of their gratitude. In 1865 after the Civil War General Robert E Lee reluctantly accepted the position of president of the College a position he held until his death in 1870. After Lee's death the trustees voted to change the name from Washington College to Washington and Lee University. Robert E Lee is buried in a magnificent Virginia marble tomb, which bears his likeness lying in full military uniform, in the Lee Memorial Chapel.

Adjacent to Washington and Lee University is the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) which was founded in1839, students of General Stonewall Jackson helped train Confederate Army recruits during the Civil War. Today, a co-ed institution, all students dress in military uniform. As we toured the grounds and museum we were greeted and welcomed by the students as they walked by. Students who are civilian soldiers of the State of Virginia may, after graduation, be commissioned into an arm of the US forces or undertake a civilian career.

VMI’s most famous past student is George C. Marshall architect and implementer of “The Marshall Plan” who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.

Our time with Carole and Fred

1 Murals at Reading Metro Station
2 Tom in line at Redding Terminal Market
3 Our Phili Cheesesteak being made
4 At Longwood Gardens
5 Checking the camera
6 Beautiful flowers
7 Chatting over lunch

Maine, Mass & Rhode Island

1 Eileen and Adele at LLBean's
2 Celebrating Halloween (early)
3 Rover at a truck stop
4 On board the Mayflower
5 Plymouth Rock
6 Mayflower
7 Preacher at Plimouth Village
8 A Mansion in Newport Rhode Island
9 The Breakers (Vanderbilt Mansion) RI

Israel

Lake House, Lake Anna, Virginia

Charlie was keen to have a trip in the RV as he would like to have a road trip himself, Pam needs some convincing, so Saturday morning Charlie sat up front with Tom as we headed for their lake house.  On the way we stopped at The National Museum of the Marine Corps. This proved to be a much more interesting stop than we had imagined.  The building is designed to look like the iconic photo of “Raising the Flag” on Iwo Jima. 

A docent suggested we start our tour by viewing a film of the landing of 65,000 marines on Iwo Jima with commentary of the plans to take the island. We lucked out in meeting a survivor (considered a treasure by the marines) 84 year old Frank Mathew who was one of the marines. What a delight speaking and listening to Frank tell his story; he was 18 and a half years at the time of the assault, this was his first assignment as a marine, there were many of photographs of the landing also. The was docent tipped us to ask Frank about playing the organ for various religious services on Iwo Jima; he was delighted to recount playing the little portable organ with members of the different denominations at his shoulder advising him what and when to play. His proudest moment was when he was “ordered” to play the Star Spangled Banner as the “second” flag was being raised.

Another docent gave us the scoop on the famous photo of “Raising the Flag” it turns out that that was the second flag to be raised - the first was a household size flag and not very visible. The Commanding Officer had a large flag and he sent a Lieutenant, four marines and a photographer to raise the bigger flag. The marines had no pole but found an old water pipe close by, they attached the flag to the pole and the photographer takes photos as they raise it. Afterwards the photographer takes a posed photo with about 10 marines and sends his film to Hawaii to be developed. Later he is asked if he had the Marines pose with the flag and answered “yes” he was thinking of the photo with the 10 marines. It was not until he finally saw the developed photos that he realized that he had taken the photo that became the historic “Raising the Flag”. Great stories of sacrifice, heroism and history made – an excellent Museum and a must visit.  

Charlie and Pam’s lake house is beautifully set among trees on the shore of Lake Anna in a very nice gated community. As it is off-season we had lots of room near the boat ramp to park “Rover.” The yard was under a cover of leaves so we all took a rake and cleared the lawn and driveway – the next day the yard was hidden under leaves again.  Pam arrived Sunday and we were all invited to a neighbor’s house for dinner where we met many of their friends and had a most enjoyable night. 

Monday Charlie and Pam drove us to Fredericksburg the scene Fredericksburg Battle.  Once again the casualties on both sides were terrible and, the dead and wounded were left behind for the locals to bury or treat. On the outskirts of town there’s a large cemetery with thousands of unknown soldiers buried up to 8 to the grave, so sad to see. Charlie led us on a walking tour around the town; the main part of town has brick buildings most of which have multiple bullet holes from the time of the civil war. The day was lovely and warm – a tee shirts kind of day.

Tuesday and it was time for us to be on our way so we said “good bye” to our wonderful hosts promising to return and rake the leaves next Fall/Autumn.     

Tunnels and RV’s

We learned they don’t go together as we drove down I-95 on our way to Washington DC through Baltimore. The GPS while identifying “toll roads” does not advise about tunnels (we have a Tom Tom, we wonder if any of the other GPS providers check and advise for tunnels). We had not realized that I-95 has a tunnel in Baltimore, very near the tunnel we see a sign that lets us know there is a tunnel and “No Hazardous Materials” with an outline of a propane tank, allowed. We take the next exit, see a sign for a truck stop so head towards it, just as we approach the gate we see a sign – no RVs! Oh ****! We are now 30 feet from the gate, can’t reverse and there’s no room to turn. Adele goes up to the window tells the lady we are lost, can’t turn and would she allow us enter, turn and come straight out again. Of course, no problem and she also gave us directions on how to go around Baltimore which involved going back north on I- 95 to 695 a ring road and pick up I- 95 again south of the city. Maps will now be studied for tunnels. 

Although old Newcomer friends, Pam and Charlie Hoffman who live outside DC had invited us to park RamblingRover on their driveway we had booked into an RV Park for the first night – we need to make sure that we can fit on private driveways.  After hooking up in “Cherry Hill” we headed over to Pam & Charlie’s for dinner and to check out their driveway. Tom & Charlie surveyed the driveway area after which Charlie chopped off a branch so that we could drive in easily. The following day we moved the RV over and Charlie drove us to the “Kiss & Ride” entrance for Metro which we took to The National Mall. We exited at the Smithsonian into a bright, cold, sunny day and walked along the Mall to see the war memorials. They are so different - the WW2 Memorial being the best - it honors the 400,000 who died and the 16 million who fought and the millions more, including Rosie the Riveter who worked in the war effort.  We also saw the Korean Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam Woman’s Memorial. From there we went to the Lincoln Memorial where a school band from Taft CA was playing on the steps front, we sat across the road and had a hot cup of coffee and listened to the band. Next we visited the newly opened Martin Luther King memorial which is spectacular. Being short on time (closing hour is 5 pm) we took a quick visit to the Museum of Natural History and saw the Hope Diamond and other precious gems in the company of many teenage girls who were admiring the gems and dreaming (as the young should) that they will have one when they grow up and are Princesses.

The next day turned out to be a wet day but it never bothered us as we spent the day indoors visiting the Capitol Building. After taking an official guided tour of the building and hearing about its history and the workings of the government we headed over to South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson’s office and got tickets to enter the Senate and the House Representatives. Before going to either house we had lunch in the restaurant in the basement. We then went to the Senate where a Senator was finishing his speech (to an almost empty chamber) after which a vote needed to be taken. This was fascinating as all the Senators streamed in, cast their vote, chatted with each other or just voted and walked back out again; we saw many we recognized.  We then went over to the other wing to the House of Representatives in time to hear its adjournment for the weekend, so…we sat and admired the well-proportioned room.

Thankfully as there’s a tunnel from Congress to the Library of Congress we did not have to go out into the weather and with our usual luck we were in time for the last tour of the day.  This is a beautiful, ornate building where we had an excellent docent who pointed out all of its beautiful features, the decorations on the stairs, the walls, the ceilings as well as a potted history of the library. As Tom had been very active in the Irish Network we had an invitation to the Irish Embassy for coffee on the following morning. The Embassy, on Embassy Row, is located on Sheridan Circle in a beautiful building. After our visit and coffee we walked around the area and admired and marveled at the ornateness of some of the embassies. We then walked further afield to DuPont Circle and on to the neighborhoods around there. After lunch in Starbucks where we used their Wi-Fi we headed back to the Smithsonian Museums. First we went to the Natural Museum to see a 3D movie about Tornadoes’ Alley - hope we never are caught in one. Then on to the sculpture garden where we walked past a sculpture of a house six times - it turned inside out as one passed. Then we went into the Art Gallery where we tagged along on a tour that had already started and learned how to look at a painting. Once again we are the last group to leave the Museum. 

Charlie and Pam invited us to their Lake House in Virginia for a long weekend, so that’s where we’re headed next.