Old Forge, NY to Lake Placid, NY

Today I visited a very classy museum complex known as the Adirondack Museum, which is located at Blue Mountain Lake, New York.  Like most regional museums, it is a private, non-profit affair.  But it has been very successful with its fund-raising, and it provides a comprehensive view of the history and development of the Adirondack area through exceptional exhibits.  Below is a snapshot of a schematic of the museum complex.  There are entire buildings for exhibits on

            Boats and boat building in the Adirondacks

            Roads and Rails:  Everyday Life in the Age of Horses

  

            Adirondack Rustic Furniture

            Work in the Woods:  Logging in the Adirondacks

Along with numerous other features.  Here is a schematic of the museum:

There was a particularly interesting and comprehensive display on Adirondack guide boats.  They are lightweight craft that look a lot like a canoe, but have a broader beam and are powered like a rowboat with the guide with the oars in the center facing backward to the direction of travel.  Here is an example on display in the museum in a boat craftsman's shop:

The museum provided me with information about Adirondack Park, which is by far the biggest state park in the country.  Its size is greater than the entire state of Massachusetts.  There are a total of 2759 lakes in the park, and several that I saw are very large.

Another unique feature about Adirondack Park is that only 40 percent of it is state owned.  As a result, there are quite a few villages and towns within the park, including Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake and Old Forge.  While most of the park is mountainous and forested, all of the trees are at least second-growth, as timber harvesting was extensive until recently.  Loggers cut down the timber on public lands, despite state rules and regulations against it, and it took the passage of a constitutional amendment in 1894 to stop the logging on the publically-owned part of the Adirondacks.  The amendment is known as the Forever Wild Law and it remains in effect.  But a century of experience with the law has not stopped the antagonism between local residents and state officials.

The major state impact on the private lands of Adirondack Park is a form of strict zoning controls administered by the state’s Adirondack Park Agency.  Private landowners are often quite critical of the agency’s decisions and efforts have been made on a regular basis to weaken its power, but so far to no avail.  A few years ago the agency stopped cold a major development of 24,000 acres of privately-owned park land.  One agency commissioner said the agency’s objective was to avoid what happened at Lake George, which is on the eastern edge of the park.  I will be going to Lake George tomorrow and will be able to see for myself what the commissioner is talking about.


Update on Lake George:  Its not so bad.  There is a lot of tourist-focused development and a solid phalanx of second homes along the shore, but its not Panama City Beach or the Grand Strand.  I saw only one miniature golf course in Lake George Village, whereas there were at least eight in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

I then headed to Lake Placid to see the Lake Placid Winter Olympics Museum.  The museum is open every day from 9 AM to 5 PM.  I arrived at 3:15 PM to find the entry door locked and a sign posted saying “Museum closes today at 3 PM.”  Aw shucks.

Mileage: 113  Cumulative Mileage: 3,030

Scranton, PA to Old Forge, NY

I finally took in a railroad museum today.  The venue was Steamtown, which is a National Historic Site owned and operated by the National Park Service.  Why, of all the railroad museums in the land is this one is run by the federal government?  This answer is “earmark.”  In 1986 Congressman Joseph M McCade, who represented the Scranton, Pennsylvania area, got Congress to approve the site as a national park facility.  The City of Scranton already owned the an old railroad repair facility, which it had picked up in a bankruptcy sale.  And a collection of over 100 steam-era locomotives and train cars, owned by a private foundation, was also on hand.  According to Wikipedia, the National Park Service has spent $66 million on the site.  

Steamtown is impressive in only ways that federal largess can do it.  The displays are well-designed, easy to read, and comprehensive.  Steam railway is examined historically, technologically and demographically.  Here are some tidbits that caught my attention:

          The railroads were responsible for standardized time in the United States.  Railroads needed precise scheduling to operate so that multiple trains could run on the same track.  Each locality had its own base for calculating time, and these often varied by several minutes from the next locality over.  The railroads got together and came up with the General Time Convention in 1876, which was adopted effective November 18, 1883, at 12 Noon.  This convention established the four time zones in general use today. However, the convention and its time zones were not officially established until Congress passed the Standard Time Act in 1918.

          

          Steam locomotives were used in regular railroad service for about a century.  The last steam locomotive was built in 1949.  By 1952, diesel locomotives in service outnumbered steam locomotives.  Today steam locomotives can only be found operating in the United States on tourist trains.  An obvious reason for their replacement is high maintenance.  A steam locomotive spends about half its time in maintenance and repair shops.  In comparison, a diesel locomotive only spends one to two days a month undergoing maintenance or repair.

To show how impressed I am with steam power, here is the only picture of a locomotive I took at Steamtown.

Steamtown F3 Diesel Locomotive

My other stop today was at Colgate University, located in the village of Hamilton, New York.  From September 1963 to June 1964, I spent my freshman year of college at Colgate.  Though it had the moniker of  “university,” it was a liberal arts undergraduate college of about 2000 men.  It is now co-educational and much larger, and for all I know, now qualifies as a university—which means it offers post-graduate degrees.  Colgate has added to , but not replaced, the buildings that existed when I was attending there.  The core of  the college as I knew it was set of five buildings and a chapel placed around a grassy quadrangle on a hill overlooking the village.  The quad cluster is still there, though so many other buildings, mostly larger than the existing buildings, have been placed about it that the pastoral college-on-the-hill motif no longer holds.

Colgate University East Residence Hall
My Home 1963-64

Colgate University Chapel
On the Quad

Why did I leave Colgate after one year?  The logical answer is that leaving home in California and going across country to college as a 17-year-old was a step too great.  I know I did a lot of growing up during that year, and my memories of it are still vivid.  But the irony is that I was succeeding there and I could have just as easily stayed and finished Colgate as having transferred and finished at Claremont Men’s College in California.  It remains a big “what if” of my life.

But there aren’t any do-overs, and Colgate and I obviously moved on without each other.  A nice visit, but just a been-there, done-that experience.

Mileage: 223.  Cumulative Mileage: 2,917

Blue Knob State Park, PA to Scranton, PA

I visited Horseshoe Curve National Historic Site, near Altoona, Pennsylvania.  The site is of interest mostly to railfans.  I watched a coal train go by.  Here it is.

Yup.  Locomotives both pulling and pushing.


Mileage: 253 Cumulative mileage: 2,694.

Lancaster, PA to Blue Knob State Park, PA

My stop today is the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.  I go to web site to get directions and to my horror, discover that the museum is closed on Mondays.  What to do, oh what to do.

The answer is obvious.  I'm off to Hershey's Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  Throughout the building is the smell of "sweet", sort of like inhaling cotton candy.  They have a ride, "free" if you will, called the "Chocolate Tour Ride", which is a lot like "Its A Small World" at Disney World.  The never-ending chorus, led by the cow-mannequins Gabby, Harmony and Olympia, sings the stirring message of the wonders of chocolate confections.  The theme is uplifting:  What is the most important ingredient in the Hershey's Chocolate Bar?  Chocolate!  No.  SUGAR!!  No.  Its.......milk. You don't believe me?  Click on the video and the video and the video. Nature's most perfect food transformed into a diabetic's bad dream.  But even I, fearless warrior, succumb in part to these rhythmic and odoriferous entreaties, and like everybody in this "free" place, I buy.  But not much.  I pass by the endless displays of 72 Hershey's candy bars for $25.  I glance away from the orange visual cacophony of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  I look to the less-obtrusive offerings and select a package of Moana Loa Milk Chocolate Macadamias and a box of Reese's Peanut Butter Whoppers.  With that I am able to escape.

But not completely.  Everywhere I go I see orange daylilies along the roadside.  Are they another subliminal message from Gabby, Harmony and Olympia?

Hershey Reese's Pieces Daylilies

Mileage: 241.  Cumulative mileage: 2,441.

Philadelphia, PA to Chicago, IL to Lancaster, PA

Julie and I flew, separately and together, to Chicago to attend niece Jennie's wedding.  I had the pleasure of assisting in the ceremony.  Jennie was a beautiful, blushing bride.

This was a singular event for sister Joan, who has been unceasingly devoted to Jennie since birth.  Joan has withstood numerous personal and medical challenges to see this day.  Her indomitable spirit radiated throughout the weekend's events.  We were glad to be there.

Mileage: 68.  Cumulative mileage: 2,200.

Baltimore, MD to Philadelphia, PA

Today I visited one of the premier public gardens in the country:  Longwood Gardens outside of Philadelphia.  Pierre S. DuPont purchased the initial property in 1909 to save a specimen stand of trees from being cut.  He developed his gardens between then and his death in 1954.  As he had been childless, he established a trust consisting of the Longwood estate and funds to provide for its upkeep.  DuPont designed most of the gardens and other features himself.  He had been disappointed with a landscape designer he had employed to design another of his properties in 1905, and he taught himself to do his own design and implementation.

The house on the property was originally a farmhouse.  DuPont expanded it and added a conservatory and a separate building for use as his library.  This was not his primary residence, so he did not lavish much attention on the house.  The major structure is a separate, huge conservatory that covers at least 50 acres.  Inside the conservatory are greenhouses and various rooms with different floral or landscape themes.  One that I particularly liked is the Silver Garden, which consists of plants that are primarily silver, gray or white.  I have included a series of photos from this room along with others from Longwood Gardens on the Miscellany page.  Here is one example from the room:

Small Tree in Silver Garden

Pierre DuPont's original plan emphasized structured gardens, concrete, mechanized fountains, and natural wooded areas.  The foundation that runs the gardens has made changes over the past 50 years, but has retained DuPont's original plan.  One thing interesting about the estate is the absence of recreational structures such as swimming pools, horse stables, tennis courts or bowling alleys.  He and his wife entertained, but the emphasis was on theatre and music.  Longwood had a custom-made concert Steinway piano and a pipe organ that is still played today.  The property has an outdoor theatre that was and is used for both stage performances and fountain shows.  He designed and developed an Italian water garden from 1925 to 1927 based on a garden he and his wife had seen in Europe.  Below is a detail from the water garden.  In order to provide the correct perspective for viewing, the far pool is 14 feet longer than the near pool.  His design work included working out the hydraulics for the various water spouts in the fountains.  Two more views of the Italian Water Garden are on the Miscellany page.

Detail of Longwood Italian Water Garden

Though DuPont emphasized landscape design and use of water features, the foundation has made some changes the give Longwood Gardens more of a botancal-garden feel.  For example, there are five lily ponds in the Conservatory and they hold a wide variety of waterlilies, both in size and flower color.  Varietal marking is excellent.  Another addition is an Idea Garden that incorporates new varieties of annuals, perennials, grasses, ground covers, vines, vegetables and berries.

The gardens are well worth a visit.  I spent three hours on a somewhat rushed look.  If my legs could have handled it, I could have spent twice that time and not seen everything.

More pictures of Longwood Gardens are on the Miscellany page.

Mileage: 117.  Cumulative mileage: 2,132.

Baltimore, MD

I spent a long day in downtown Baltimore.  It was my first attempt at traveling by public transportation while staying at a motel in the suburbs.  I used light rail, subway, and water taxi.  It went fairly well.

I visited the following:

           National Aquarium
           Ft. McHenry
           USS Constellation
           Lexington Market

The old days when you went to the aquarium and saw just a huge tank full of all kinds of fish swimming in circles is long gone.  Why didn't the sharks just attack everything anyway?  Sea World, I guess, started the change with shows featuring dolphins and whales.  The environmentalists have gotten into the act big time, and no display is without its ALERT!  But the big theme is displaying watery environments with the proper species of not only fish, but also birds,snakes, bats and plants.  While this is designated the national aquarium, the focus is generally on the habitats of the Chesapeake region, which was fine.  Overall, the exhibits are excellently presented.  As always, where there are fish or animals, there are lots of kids.

Ft. McHenry is all about the 'Stars Spangled Banner,' and a newly opened visitors center presents the setting in considerable detail.  A key exhibit is an interactive, detailed analysis of key phrases in the four verses of lyrics.  The other main attraction is the flag.  The one that flew on that fateful morning in 1814 was 30 feet by 42 feet.  The National Park Service has a full-sized replica of the flag, but it is only flown when weather conditions permit.  It takes a wind of 3 to 5 knots to unfurl the flag, but if the wind exceeds 12 knots, the flagpole can't handle the strain.  And so on a daily basis they fly a more conventional 5 foot by 9 foot flag, though one with the 15 stars and 15 stripes from the time of the War of 1812.  Here is a picture I took of the smaller flag.  The 'Star Spangled Banner' is six times the size of this one, and its bottom edge extends to the black ring at the middle of the flag staff.

Regular Size Flag Flying at Ft. McHenry

I had the impression the USS Constellation was a Revolutionary-era warship.  But in fact it was a Civil War-era United States warship.  It spent most of the war in the Mediterranian Sea intercepting vessels carrying cargo from or to the Confederate States.  Despite its remote location, apparently it was quite busy.  So the tour was of an example of one of the last sail-driven US warships.  In that respect it looked a lot like the USS Constitution, located in Boston Harbor, which was a Revoluntary-era warship.

I have sometimes heard that Pensacola should emulate the Baltimore Inner Harbor area.  Baltimore has done an outstanding job of rehabilitating its downtown waterfront, and it is an excellent destination for tourism.  The feature that most impressed me is pictured here:

Pensacola Should Emulate Baltimore Inner Harbor

Lexington Market is a huge warehouse-like structure located just North of downtown Baltimore.  Inside are dozens of permanent retail booth each about 15 feet by 20 feet.  All manner of food, both prepared and raw, is sold at these booths.  The structure and ambiance is similar to the Farmers Market in Los Angeles, though not as large.  My destination was Faidleys, a seafood place legendary for its crab cakes.  Their deluxe is a cake of lump crab the size and shape of a baseball.  Not knowing what I was getting into, I ordered two of them, along with fries and slaw.  It was way too much food, but they were delicious.  Crabmeat made up about 90 percent of the ball, and they weren't deep fried as I had expected.  A once in a lifetime experience, at $12 per crab cake.

Mileage: 0.  Cumulative mileage 2,015.   Today's earworm:  "Don't Stop Believin'"  Journey

Salisbury, MD to Baltimore, MD

The Chesapeake Bay Environment Center is a special place.  First of all, its a private, non-profit operation funded by membership dues, donations and use fees.  Second, its a pristine environment within driving distance of millions of people.

In 1981, the Wildfowl Trust of North America, purchased 315 acres of marshland and pine forest in Grasonville, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore, just east of the Bay Bridge, and about 40 miles from Baltimore.  The trust added 195 acres in 1999.  As its website states:

                  Demonstration gardens, backyard habitats and a constructed wetland enable school groups and visitors to learn techniques and designs to enhance habitat on their own property.  The Visitor’s Center, education building, screened lakeside pavilion and main exhibit area including a collection of non-releasable raptors, are open to the public throughout the year.


 I spent about two hours roaming about the place, visiting marshlands, the shoreline, the lakeside and the loblolly pine forest.  Unfortunately, the only wildlife I saw these six geese standing at attention on an island in the lake.

They didn't move during the ten minutes I observed them.

Here is a picture of marshlands along the bay and an observation tower, and a picture of an elevated wooden path through tall marsh grass.

Mileage:  155.  Cumulative mileage:  2.015.  Today's earworm: "Wanted Dead or Alive" Bon Jovi

Norfolk, VA to Salisbury, MD

So here I am, minding my own business, driving across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, when up comes a rainstorm that won't quit for an hour.  Heavy stuff.  And I'm thinking: And I'm gonna camp out in this?  But let's not be hasty, have a nice lunch and think it over.  I have this place, the Red Roost, in the middle of nowhere, picked out for lunch.  But I get there, in the middle of nowhere, and the sign says "Open at 5:30."  What to do now?  I really want to eat there.  And it might rain again.  So I get a motel room in Salisbury and drive back to the Red Roost for dinner.

What's the deal with the Red Roost?  Its supposed to have the best crab in Maryland, which is saying something.  The locale and ambiance reminds me of Salt Lick, outside of Austin, Texas, or even of the old Swamp Guinney Inn, outside of Athens, Georgia.  See picture.

The Red Roost
Whitehaven, Maryland

The interior is plank tables in the middle and booths along the sides.  There is butcher paper on the tables and rolls of paper towels for napkins.  The lights have overturned peach baskets for shades.  And there is a 70-gallon trash can at the end of each table.  But the food is something else.

I thought they had a seafood buffet, but instead the specialty is "all you can eat."  Top of the line is the "Everything" which means you get all you can eat (1) whole blue crabs, (2) snow crab clusters, (3) steamed shrimp, and (4) fried chicken.  All that for a mere $47.95 per person.  I asked the waitress if people really ordered that and she said, "Yes, quite a bit."

I decided to settle for the "Red Roost Sampler" for $23.95.  It consisted of a snow crab cluster, a steamed blue crab, about a dozen steamed shrimp, a fried chicken thigh, and a rack of four barbeque ribs.  I also got french fries, cole slaw and corn on the cob.  Because that certainly wasn't going to be enough, I got the appetizer of crab balls--five orbs that looked like hush puppies, but were in fact miniature crab cakes consisting of at least 70 percent crabmeat.  The feast is below (I have never before in my life taken a picture of what I was about to eat):

Red Roost Sampler

On the left side of the center plate is the blue crab.  The waitress called it a Maryland crab because of where it came from and how it was prepared.  It is steamed, and then coated with Old Bay Seasoning.  As you pull apart the crab to get at the meat, your fingers transfer the seasoning onto the meat.  Then you dip the meat in vinegar and then into more Old Bay Seasoning and eat.  Really.  That's how its done.  You also get butter (or margarine) for the snow crab clusters, which come from Alaska (thank you Deadliest Catch).  It only took me an hour and fifteen minutes to consume most of it.  It was delicious.

Mileage: 200.  Cumulative mileage: 1,860.  Today's earworm:  "Bad Moon Rising" Credence Clearwater Revival.

Norfolk, VA

Today I did stuff:

          Two-hour boat cruise of Norfolk Harbor and the Naval Base.

          Toured Nauticus: The National Maritime Center
       
          Watched movie "Operation Deep Sea" at Nauticus

          Visited Mount Trashmore Park at Virginia Beach

But I don't have much to say about any of it.

Here are photos of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) docked at the Norfolk Naval Base:

USS Dwight D Eisenhower (CVN 69)

Superstructure of Eisenhower

Mileage: 68.  Cumulative mileage: 1,660.  Today's earworm: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" Simon & Garfinkel.

Outer Banks, NC to Norfolk, VA

Today was my day to explore the story of the 'Lost Colony' on Roanoke Island, North Carolina.  That we know much of anything about what happened is on account of an Englishman named John White.  He was on the first voyage as a naturalist artist.  That first voyage in 1584 was a reconnaissance that landed on Roanoke Island and made contact with the native Algonquians, and after several weeks returned to England with two of the natives, Manteo and Wanchese.  The next year 600 people sailed to Roanoke Island in seven ships led by Sir Richard Grenville.  John White was again on board.  Soldiers in the party built an earthen fort.  It was a small, star-shaped affair.  It has been reproduced at its original site based on documents and the uncovering of a trench in 1950.

Rebuilt Earthen Fort at Ft. Raleigh National Historic Site

Once the fort was finished, Grenville returned to England with most of the company, leaving 107 soldiers and colonists.  In short order the English traded with the natives for food, infected the natives with strange diseases, and got into a fight with the natives that resulted in the death of Algonquian Chief Wingina and possibly others.  Sir Francis Drake happened by and the English skeedaddled.

The next and last colonization effort started in 1587.  The group this time was led by John White and included his daughter and son-in-law, Elenora and Ananias Dare, among 117 colonists.  They repaired the fort and dwellings left by the 1585 colonists.  A colonist was killed by the Algonquians in retaliation for the previous murder of their chief.  The colonists then attacked a nearby village and killed a native before realizing it was a friendly group.  With the situation deteriorating and food running low, John White sailed back to England to solicit more assistance, leaving behind the Dares, including his granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America.  By now, Sir Walter Raleigh had lost interest in the colony, and it took White three years to gather the money for another expedition.  There was also the problem that Queen Elizabeth had embargoed the movement of all ships so they would be available to defend against the Spanish Armada.  When White arrived on Roanoke Island, no one was there and the fort and settlement had been destroyed.  Hence, the 'Lost Colony".  No trace of them was ever found.

The 'great man' Raleigh never set foot in North America.  Why they named the fort and the historic site after him I don't know.  He and his friends did put up the initial money.  A monument on site erected in 1896 says the name of the fort was 'New Fort in Virginia'.  The fondness for Queen Elizabeth in the area is also a puzzle  since she apparently did not fund the expeditions and her action (justifiable as it was) of embargoing ships impeded the rescue of the colony.  Whether or not the colony would have been saved is an unanswerable question.

Queen Elizabeth is honored in the nearby Elizabethan Gardens, which have been developed and are run by the Garden Club of North Carolina.  Below is a statue of Good Queen Bess that is on the grounds of the gardens.

Statute of Queen Elizabeth I at the Elizabethan Gardens, Roanoke Island

A gallery of photos from the Elizabethan Gardens is published on the Miscellany page.

Mileage: 181.  Cumulative mileage: 1,592.  Today's earworm: "A Woman Left Lonely" Janis Joplin

Washington, NC to Outer Banks, NC

I spent most of the day thinking I was in Louisiana.  The low country of eastern North Carolina has the same low boggy, swampy, flat vastness as southern Louisiana.  One phenomenon I noticed was new to me here was the fishing pole racks bolted or welded to the front of pickup trucks.  These are vertical tubes and the racks don't have room for one or two poles, but for at least eight.  Some may hold as many as twenty.  Funny I never saw more than two poles in any of these racks.  The advanced racks also contain a plastic cooler and a bait tank.  Bill Daughdrill, my fishing expert, you've got the pickup truck, but where is your fishing pole rack?

My destination was Cape Hatteras on the North Carolina outer banks or barrier islands.  Knowing of its reputation as a hurricane alley, I expected to see windblown sand hills and minimal structures.  The sand hills are there, larger that the gulf coast barrier islands, but the construction and development is every bit as great as, say, Panama City Beach. Cape Hatteras High School shows its sense of place, if not humor:  its nickname is the "Hurricanes."

I took the obligatory picture of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, which is below.  I made the 257-step climb to the top of the lighthouse, leaving my complaining knees at the top.  The ranger said that if your knees were hurting you needed to breath more.  I was huffing and puffing like a choo-choo and it certainly was not assisting my knees.  I think I fell prey to Ranger Folk Medicine 101.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

I found an interesting article on the development of the outer banks barrier islands:  "The Nature of the Barrier Islands", by Thomas Yocum.  According to Mr. Yocum, the current set of barrier islands is at least 17th such chain in the past two million years.  The current barrier islands date from the last ice age (which ended about 12,000 to 15,000 years ago) and they are migrating westward due to wind-blown sand erosion.  Oysters, which live in the brackish waters of the sound side, have over time been covered with sand as the islands move west, and their shells have been unearthed as the ocean side of the island erodes.  Scientists date the exposed shells at eight thousand years old.

Mileage: 240.  Cumulative mileage:  1,411.  Today's earworm:  "American Tune" Simon & Garfunkel

Wilmington, NC to Washington, NC

I did my visiting in the morning:  Ft. Fisher and the North Carolina Aquarium, Cape Fear Branch.

The first thing to note about Ft. Fisher, a Confederate fort, is that it is operated by the State of North Carolina, whereas Ft. Pulaski is a national monument.  Following from this ownership is a rather surprising nickname for the place:  "American Gibraltar."  Granted that it allowed the port at Wilmington to generally withstand the Union blockade for most of the Civil War, and granted that it was accepted by generals on both sides to have been a well-designed and well-built fortress, it was neither 'American' nor an impenetrable rock.  As reflected in both Ft. Sumter and Ft. Pulaski, masonry and brick forts had proved incapable of withstanding shore-based or shipboard cannon, and the rifling of barrels had increased both the range and accuracy of cannon.  Ft. Fisher was built using masses of piled earth over a period of three years.

The fort's commander, William Lamb, designed Ft. Fisher as an earthen fortress after the Malakof, a Russian fortress during the Crimean War.  The earthen ramparts protected the guns, the ammunition dumps and the communication tunnels against the explosive shells, whose destructive energy was mostly dissipated by the mounds of dirt.  Whereas Ft. Pulaski succumbed after a deluge of about 1000 shells, Ft. Fisher withstood about 50,000 rounds over the course of two battles.  A land assault along the  the northern side of the fort in January 1865 finally ended the Confederate fort's military career.

While some of the historical emphasis may have been different if the site were run by the National Park Service rather than the State of North Carolina, the historical features are still fairly depicted, the archaeological work is well done, and the signage is excellent.

Landward face of Ft. Fisher

Aquariums are unusual experiences.  There always seem to be LOTS of children.  And the adults all have cameras, which they use to shoot flash pictures of the children and the fish.  The children don't smile and the fish--I don't know.  For all I know, maybe they like it.  I do know that the pictures of the fish are useless because the flash is reflected on the glass and produces a big star in the middle of the picture.  Why do I know this?  Because I tried it.  Anyway, today I saw my first (and probably last) albino alligator.  Here it is:

Albino Alligator at North Carolina Aquarium

Mileage: 158.  Cumulative mileage:  1,171.  Today's earworm:  "The Lucky Old Sun" Louis Armstrong

Savannah, GA to Wilmington, NC

Today wound up being an uneventful driving day through the low country of South Carolina.  I had intended to visit Brookgreen Gardens on the Grand Strand and to take the ferry from Southport to Fort Fisher, but both were dropped--the gardens because the driving was slow and I was running behind time, and the ferry because I arrived too late.  So much for planning the perfect trip on paper.

I did have a late lunch at the Sea Captain's House on Myrtle Beach.  The place is a great place to eat and has been for a long time.  But more important is that Julie worked there as a waitress during summer breaks while in college.  This isn't a nostalgia trip, but making the connection was easy and I did need to eat.  I had crab salad and peach cobbler.  Say "beach".  Say "South".

Tonight is my second night of camping and my first to make supper (a can of soup) on my one-burner cook top.

21st Century Man Cave

Mileage: 328.  Cumulative mileage: 1,013.  Today's earworm:  "Jug Band Music" The Lovin' Spoonful.

Savannah, GA

Anyone who decides to do touristy things in the South or West in the HEAT of June, July or August is a head case.  I fully qualify.

Today's premier location was the Bamboo Forest and Coastal Garden, operated by the State of Georgia Extension.  The place has a colorful history, which is set out in detail at its website (link is here).  While the developed part of its 50-acre plot is a relatively small affair, it has a lot to offer.  The bamboo is incredible.  There are about 50 varieties in individual clumps set in a grid with each clump separated by about 20 feet of open space.  Each variety is identified by name, maximum dimensions, place of origin, and primary uses.  Some of the varieties have been in place since the 1920s.  Another prominent feature is 20 to 30 specimen trees, all of which are fully grown and quite spectacular.  This arboretum was just the right size to allow time to give each tree a good long look.  Among the varieties:  Lackbark Elm, Chinese Zelkova, Formosan Sweetgum, Dawn Redwood, Chinese Pistache, and Oliver Maple (much like a large Japanese Maple).  There is also an extensive camellia garden, a rose garden and a daylily garden.  The Bamboo Forest and Coastal Garden has a very ambitious master plan, and though it is not well-known, it holds a lot of promise and it was well worth the visit.

Below are examples of bamboo varieties in the Barbour Lathrop Bamboo Groves.

Meyer Bamboo

Giant Grey Bamboo

Golden Vivax Bamboo

Detail of Golden Vivax Bamboo

I also ventured out to Ft. Pulaski National Monument on Cockspur Island, mostly to get in a healthy hike.  The fort is similar to Ft. Pickens on Pensacola Beach, and both were established for coastal defense after the War of 1812.  The only action seen by the fort occurred after the Georgia militia took possession of the fort in 1861.  However, Union forces took possession of nearby Tybee Island, and on April 10, 1862, they bombarded the fort with rifled cannon from a distance of a mile.  The Confederate forces surrendered after the wall was breached.  The fort was declared a national monument by President Coolidge in 1924.

Ft. Pulaski showing impacts from cannon balls

On Left is repaired area where wall was breached

Mileage: 78.  Cumulative mileage:  685.  Today's earworm:  "Carolina In My Mind"

Jekyll Island, GA to Savannah, GA

In 1736, James Oglethorpe, founder of the British colony of Georgia, sailed to St. Simons Island off the Georgia coast with a body of soldiers, tradesmen and women, farmers and indentured servants.  They established the settlement of Frederica on the north central part of the island.  From that base Oglethorpe and his company withstood challenges from the Spanish at St. Augustine to assert Britain's claim to the territory north of Florida.  Frederica was later abandoned, and only two partial structures remain:  a part of the fort structure and a part of the soldiers' barracks.  Starting in the 1950s, archeological activities assisted by maps of the townsite have unearthed several building foundations and numerous pieces of artifacts that had belonged to these settlers.  The result is the Fort Frederica National Monument.

Frederica can be viewed as Oglethorpe's first effort at town designing and building.  It is a very simple grid without any of the squares he incorported into his design of Savannah.  The primitive nature of the effort carries over to the use of material for building.  Walls were made of something called tabby, which consisted of a mixture of sand, lime, water and oyster shells to make a crude kind of concrete.  The walls were six to eight inches thick.  To give their houses an English style, the tabby walls were covered with clapboard siding. 

Oglethorpe was accompanied in 1736 to St. Simons Island by John and Charles Wesley, founders of the Methodist chuch.  An interesting story is that the wife of Dr. Hawkins, the town physician and magistrate, tried to kill John Wesley with a knife.  He got away, but only after Mrs. Hawkins had ripped off a piece of his shirt with her teeth.  Funny I don't remember hearing that Wesley story in Sunday School.  Lucky for the church they didn't have Twitter then, or maybe no Methodism.

Mileage:  152.  Cumulative mileage:  607.  Today's earworm:  "(That's Why) The Lady Is a Tramp."

Pensacola, FL to Jekyll Island, GA

Intrepid Trekker Leaves Homestead

This was a very long first day of traveling through the piney woods and peanut fields of Southern Alabama and Southern Georgia.  The trip was one of the few days of familiar territory on the trek, and I made no long stops.  Jekyll Island is Nature Land as the Disney folks would do it.  Though there is some residential development, most of the island is laid out to hide improvements with foliage and to limit lines of sight with curving roads.  I have driven around most of the island and I have seen some marshland, but have yet to see the ocean.  Jekyll Island spent most of the 19th and 20th centuries as an exclusive playground for rich folks.  Membership in the Jekyll Island Club, which owned the island, was limited to 100 families that included the Morgans, Rockefellers and Vanderbilts.  The member families and their guests used the island for hunting, golfing, carriage riding and tennis.  The depression years and World War II brought on financial strains that could not be met by the members, and it was purchased by the State of Georgia in 1947.  It is now a state park, and the previous exclusivity has been replaced by full public assess.  I am enjoying the full fruits of that public access by tent camping in the public campground at the northern end of the island.  

Jekyll Island also interests me because of its role in American financial history.  Prior to 1913 the United States did not have a central bank to regulate banks and to step in when the financial markets were hit with a panic.  The 1907 panic demonstrated the limits of the banking system in handling a panic.  The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee at the time, Nelson Aldrich (grandfather of Vice President Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller), assembled a group of six prominent bankers who met in secret at the Jekyll Island Club in November 1910 and they developed the first draft of the legislation for the Federal Reserve System.  Aldrich took the draft to Washington and used it to champion the cause for a central bank, which resulted in adoption of the legislation in 1913.  The activity of the Jekyll Island Seven was so secret that it was not acknowledged to have occurred until 1930.  Image being able to do that in the internet age.                                                  

Mileage 455.  Today's earworm:  "What a Wonderful World".

Trip Beginning

Blog entries in orange are links

My trip will begin on June 12, 2011.

Look under "Miscellany" to see posts on our cruise to Western Caribbean and my trip to view the Mississippi River flood.


For your information:  I have put my schedule and visiting plans on blog posts, one day per post.  Because of the way a blog works, with the most recent post on top, I had to assign "Day One" a post date of 6/11/11, then "Day Two" a post date of 6/10/11, and so forth, to "Day 149" which has a post date of 2/14/11.

You can find the schedules days in the archives on the right side of the blog

June archive:  Day One to Day 17 (Pensacola to Scranton, PA)
May archive:  Day 18 to Day 54 (to Kaetogama, MN)
April archive:  Day 55 to Day 90 (to Yakima, WA)
March archive:  Day 91 to Day 132 (to Navajo National Monument, AZ)
February archive:  Day 133 to Day 149 (back to Pensacola)

Once I am on the road, I will be posting with the most recent day on top, but the schedule days will still be in the archives.

Day 1 - Pensacola, FL to Brunswick, GA

Mileage - 411e
Camp Jekyll Island Campground
        Made reservation
Jekyll Island
     Historic District
     Central bank history
St. Simons Island
     Ft. Frederica National Monument
Dining in the Golden Isles

Days 2 and 3 - Brunswick, GA to Savannah, GA

Mileage - 78e
Motel, Super 8 Savannah
          Made reservation
Savannah, GA
     Wikitravel Savannah Travel Guide
     Massie School Museum - model of Oglethorpe's city plan
     Ships of the Sea Museum
     Bamboo Farm & Coastal Garden
     Roundhouse Railroad Museum
     Polk's Fresh Market
     Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room
     The Pirates' House
     Wiley's Championship BBQ
Tybee Island
     Fort Pulaski National Monument
     AJ's Dockside Restaurant

Day 4 - Savannah, GA to Wilmington, NC

Mileage - 304e
Camp - Carolina Beach State Park
Grand Strand, SC
     Brookgreen Gardens
     Sea Captain's House Restaurant
Southport, NC
     Southport-Fort Fisher Ferry
Fort Fisher
     State Historic Site
     Basin trail, 2.2 miles out and back
     North Carolina Aquarium

Day 5 - Wilmington, NC to Washington, NC

Mileage - 137e
Motel Comfort Inn Washington NC
          Made reservation
     Airlie Gardens
New Bern, NC
     Tryon Palace Gardens
     North Carolina History Center

Day 6 - Washington, NC to Outer Banks, NC

Mileage - 177e
Camp, Cape Point and Frisco Campgrounds, Oregon Inlet Campground
Roanoke Island
     Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
     Thomas Harriot Nature Trail
     Elizabethan Gardens
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
     Buxton
     Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
     Buxton Woods Nature Trail
Nags Head
     Sam & Omie's Restaurant
Kill Devil Hills
     Wright Brothers National Memorial

Days 7 and 8 - Outer Banks, NC to Norfolk, VA

Mileage - 116e
Motel, Super 8 Chesapeake Greenbrier
           Made reservation
Norfolk
     Norfolk Botanical Garden
     Nauticus:  The National Maritime Center
Portsmouth
     Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum
Newport News
     The Mariners Museum & Monitor Center
Williamsburg
     Colonial Williamsburg
     Blue Talon Bistro - butcher's tasting board
     College of William & Mary
     Colonial Parkway
     Jamestown Island
     Yorktown Victory Center
Virginia Beach
     Mount Trashmore Park
     Gringo's Taqueria - fish tacos
     Captain George's Seafood - seafood buffet

Day 9 - Norfolk, VA to Queen Anne, MD

Mileage - 207e
Camp, Tuckahoe State Park $26
Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel
     Sea Gull Island - only stopping point
Whitehaven, MD
     The Red Roost - all you can eat crabfest
Tilghmann Island and St. Michaels, MD (Route 33 from Easton)
     Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
Queen Anne, MD
     Tuckahoe Valley Trail - 4.5 miles
     Adkins Arboretum

Days 10 and 11 - Queen Anne, MD to Baltimore, MD

Mileage - 57e
Motel, Comfort Inn BWI Airport
              Made reservation
Queenstown, MD
     Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center
Baltimore, MD
     Charm City Circulator, Orange Route and Purple Route
     Inner Harbor
          USS Constellation
          National Aquarium
          Baltimore Maritime Museum
          Top of the World Observation Tower
          Maryland Science Center
          American Visionary Art Museum
     Seaside Restaurant and Crab House, Glen Burnie
     Water Taxi
     Lexington Market,
          Faidley's
     Ft. McHenry
          LP Steamers, crab joint
     Chaps Pit Beef, Baltimore pit beef sandwich

Days 12 to 14 - Baltimore, MD to Philadelphia, PA

Mileage - 94e
Motel, Microtel Inn Philadelphia Airport
         Made reservation
Annapolis, MD

     Naval Academy Museum

     Banneke-Douglas Museum

Kennett Square, PA

     Longwood Gardens

Trip to Chicago for Jenni's wedding
Philadelphia International Airport
     SmartPark
     Leave Philadelphia 6/24 5:50 AM, AirTran 331/22
     Return Philadelphia 6/26 5:42 PM, AirTran 27/334

Day 15 - Philadelphia, PA to Lancaster, PA

Mileage - 67e
Motel - Super 8 Lancaster
             Made reservation

Day 16 - Lancaster, PA to Pavia, PA

Mileage - 151e
Camp, Blue Knob State Park
Strasburg, PA
     Strasburg Railroad
     Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

Day 17 - Pavia, PA to Scranton, PA

Mileage - 227e
Motel
Horseshoe Curve National Historic Site
Altoona, PA
     Justin Rail Yard
     Railroaders Memorial Museum
Scranton, PA
     Steamtown National Historic Site
     Nay Aug Park (Olmstead design)
     Anthracite Heritage Museum
     Lackawanna Coal Mine tour
     Cooper's Seafood House
     Old Forge-style pizza
     Glider Diner