Home Again

We have been home for several days as I write this last blog post for this trip. After staying the four extra days in Washington DC, we had a problem-free drive home, staying the first night in Ohio, the second in Indiana, and the third and fourth nights in Iowa City. The Ohio campground was very interesting and possibly worth a comment.

I had called ahead and gotten a reservation for the night in Cambridge, OH. Since the weather was not wonderful and it is still only April, we did not expect a full campground. Generally speaking, we have seen full campgrounds only in the summer months - largely travelers like us, or local families on a summer outing. When we arrived at the Ohio campground, it was nearly full. We surveyed the types of vehicles camped, and because of our experience in British Columbia last summer, seeing the lively activity of oil field workers, heavy equipment being transported, workers' big pick-up trucks loaded with work equipment and their trailers that are their homes, we knew right away that we had blundered into an area with natural gas exploration and possibly other energy/oil production activity. Sure enough, upon further research, Ohio is an active area for energy exploration - the Utica and Marcellus formations. Gary found a map that showed all of the sites in the state actively undergoing various processes for energy production. This was interesting to me because I had no idea Ohio was a state where this was happening, probably not to the extent that it is happening in North Dakota or in western and central Canada, but significant none-the-less. We felt like we were back camping in Ft Nelson, BC or Regina, Saskatchewan!

We stayed in Remington, IN, and went into the very small town for dinner at the local bar and grill. Eating at these small local establishments is always fun. We drove around the town and saw this beautiful brick water tower that is a National Historic Landmark.

Iowa City is great with the wonderful university and campus there, and a nice downtown undergoing a renaissance. We had dinner downtown the first night - not quite warm enough to eat outside, but certainly warm enough to sit by the open window. Our waiter told us that it was good we were south of US 20, which, in his mind, is the dividing line between where you want to be this time of year and where you don't want to be. This federal highway runs east/west near Mason City and Clear Lake. Sure enough, as we drove north, we began to see patches of snow beside the highway north of US 20. And then more and more snow the further north we drove.

The first day and a half we were back here in Minneapolis really weren't that bad. The sidewalks were clear and there was very little snow anywhere - just patches here and there, and some pretty big piles in parking lots. A little chilly but not too bad. In fact a friend of mine and I went for a walk around Lake Calhoun this morning. It was cold and windy, but the park was snow-free. This was good. I took a picture of the loons at the north end of the lake. When I first saw them they were clustered together, and it appeared that there were 50-75 of them. But when I passed by again, they had dispersed somewhat. I took the photo anyway. As you can see, there is still a lot of ice on the lake, but there are these little patches of open water where the migrating birds are hanging out, waiting for spring. They are going to be here for awhile because we hear the ice is not going to be out north of here anytime soon. We are too far north of US 20!!

Since the walk this morning, we have had probably 5-6 inches of snow. NOOOO! Say it isn't so! It was a miserable, windy, slushy afternoon with roads slicked by an icy mix. This is, I think, very unseasonal, even for Minnesota. I was told by one friend yesterday that everyone here is "cranky".

So am I glad to be home? Well, maybe not completely. My head is still in beautiful Maryland and Washington DC - those beautiful blossoms and the great kayaking, the warm weather and sunshine, the Paint Branch trail for walking and running. I hope it won't be too long before we have that here!

 

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Blossoms

We went back in to The District today. Finally, the cherry blossoms are at absolute peak. It happened really fast once the warm weather arrived, which it did today. It was 91 degrees, a record.

What is there that one can actually say about the cherry blossoms in Washington DC that hasn't already been said? I did not want this day to ever end. The blossoms are such a lovely symbol of our friendship with Japan which gifted the original trees to us. There are thousands of Japanese tourists in DC right now, taking photos, walking around, as well as so many other tourists - special trips for school children from all over the country, other tour groups, people like us. Everyone was enjoying the day completely. There weren't nearly as many people walking around the Tidal Basin today, and so our meander was so much more pleasant.

I could hardly stop taking photos. I will present a few. Just imagine the warm breezes, very slight fragrance and walking beneath and around in such beauty.

 

 

Sigh!

 

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Still in Maryland

Looking at the weather forecast for the center of the country yesterday, we made a decision to delay our departure date from the East Coast to start homeward. At that time it looked like the center of the US, through which we would have to travel, would be an area of possible severe weather, high wind and even snow. I don't know how exactly it will all play out, but here we are.

And, I will add, glad of it. Yesterday and today have been just knock-your-sox-off beautiful days here. It was in the mid 70s yesterday, and reached the mid 80s today, and all the trees just couldn't wait to put on their show. The flowering trees are in full bloom.

Yesterday we had a delightful run on nearby Paint Branch River trail, a wind through the woods to the University of Maryland campus. Really a lovely run on the path right beside what is more of a creek than a river, through an area teeming with birds and frogs.

Today we decided to drive over to a launch site on the Patuxent River to go kayaking. It was GREAT! We launched at a point about 40 miles upstream from the mouth of the river which is at the Chesapeake Bay. So at our launch point it was not very wide - a curving, gentle meander of a river. We saw so many ospreys! Perches had been constructed along the river for them to sit for fishing. We didn't think these low perches were for nests, but we weren't sure. We saw geese, anhingas, herons, egrets and kingfishers. The river is full of fish and we knew that because they frequently jumped right in front of our kayak! A fisherman I spoke with at the launch point said he caught perch, carp, catfish, "spotteds" and some others I can't remember. His cooler was already full by noon.

Then we decided to drive down to Historic St Mary's City, way down on the tip of the peninsula between the outflow of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. Long drive but worth it. This was the first capital of Maryland where archeological excavations have revealed the locations of the mid 1600s buildings. A few of the buildings have been outlined and/or rebuilt as they are believed to have looked. We had only about an hour to look around and absorb what we could as it was already 3:00 and they closed everything at 4:00.

I snapped some photos. Here is the reconstructed state house of 1676. The capital was actually established in 1634 and served as the state capital for 61 years, until the capital was moved to Annapolis in 1695. The town was then abandoned, and all the buildings crumbled and bricks and stones were carried away by locals for other purposes.

This was Homeschool Day, so these children were participating.

 

The inside.

Early colonists came over from England on the Ark, accompanied by a supply ship, the Dove. A replica of the Dove has been constructed which visitors can walk through. The Dove at the dock on the Potomac River.

George Calvert and his decedents established the colony. They were Catholic but an early decision was made to establish religious freedom. There was to be no official established religion in Maryland, either Catholic or Protestant. This belief was tested several times. The crown's appointed governor, Lord Baltimore, moved the capital at a time of Protestant animosity and it was then that the town was largely abandoned. In 1704 the principle was again tested when Catholic Churches and schools were closed in accordance with "An Act to Prevent the Growth of Popery within this Province". Today Maryland prides itself on being at the forefront of the development of religious freedom.

This is Farthing's Ordinary, a shop.

This is a reconstructed inn that was popular in colonial times. It provided private beds surrounded by curtains, and good food. There was also a coffee house, a novel concept of the day.

We started our 80 mile drive back. On the way we had dinner at a crab shack on the Chesapeake. No outdoor seating was ready yet, but our view out the window was great, and the crab cakes were superb!

 

 

 

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Baseball again

We drove up to Baltimore today for a baseball game - Twins vs Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. We had Club seats and they were nice! It was a great game which the O's should have won but the Twins did, 4-3. So really, the Twins are off to a good start this season. They are tied with the White Sox at 4 - 2 for first place. One of our young pitchers, Hernandez, got off to a rocky start, but then did well for several innings after that. Relief pitching came through for the rest of the game.

It was chilly in the shade where we were, but nice in the sunshine, and of course, the club is very comfortable. Camden Yards is a wonderful newer stadium with all the amenities.

Leaving tomorrow to head for home. We hear from folks back home that there is still ice on Lake Calhoun, thick enough to walk on. We wonder what the record date for ice out of the lake is.... We may take our time getting home, don't know yet.

 

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Cherry Blossoms, Well, A Few...

We went back in to The District today hoping for the best with regard to cherry blossoms. They are at least a week late this year, and probably more like 1 1/2 weeks late. Today was our last shot at it. The weather was very cooperative. It is still quite cool at night - in the mid to high 30s - but daytime temps were in the high 50s. It was a clear day. Surely there would be some blossoms today....

We were not the only ones who thought this was a good day to be at the Tidal Basin, at the Mall, and around the Smithsonian museums. There were thousands and thousands of people milling around, walking around the Basin, taking photos, vying for places in line for food, etc. But people were generally very well behaved and everyone seemed to be enjoying the "blossoms".

We walked around the Tidal Basin. There really was only 1 place, over by the FDR Memorial, where the blossoms had really started to open. This has to be due to maybe a little warmer air temps at night there due to all the stone in the area reflecting the heat of the day, maybe a little more shelter, who knows. So I took a photo or two over there. The blossoms really are beautiful.

 

I snapped a few other photos in the area. Washington DC is undeniably beautiful. What was really nice to see was a vast improvement in the walkways, grass, etc. on The Mall. A major renovation has just recently been completed. The last time we were here it looked pretty bad.

The Reflecting Pool

The Washington Monument is still in scaffolding for repairs following an earthquake a few years ago. You can see the cherry trees on the far side of the Tidal Basin that are only just beginning to open. The monument isn't crooked, just an unsteady photographer!

We saw the new Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial. King is depicted emerging from the stone, and we thought it was very effective.

 

We walked through the National Sculpture Garden and saw my three favorite sculptures again. The perspective of the house is an optical illusion as you walk by the sculpture - the perspective changes as you move. It is one of my favorite contemporary sculptures.

The Hare, another of my favorites.

The Spider. This isn't a very good photo.

A little further on, near the National Academy of Sciences, is the Albert Einstein Memorial.

We also walked through the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The walls in the lower level of the museum are quite "loud".

 

 

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A Visit to Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens

We found yet another place to tour in Washington DC that we hadn't visited - The Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens. This was a home (one of several) owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post, the only child of the founder of the Postum Cereal Company which became Post Cereals. She became the sole heiress of the company in 1914 upon the deaths of her parents, and by exposure to art collectors in Manhattan and other places, she became a serious art collector with a special focus on Russian art. She was married and divorced four times, became an astute business woman, expanding the company she inherited to include Birdseye Foods.

After her divorce from her fourth husband in 1955 she purchased Hillwood and promptly remodeled it so that she could include not only her ever growing collection of priceless works of art but also whole rooms of furnishings, the walls, the lighting, etc. from various castles and homes in Europe which she imported and incorporated into the house. Upon her death in 1973 she bequeathed the estate to The Smithsonian, but they decided they couldn't keep it and use it as they wanted, so gave it back and it is now owned and operated by the foundation she set up. She had always wanted the house to be a museum. One of her daughters is a familiar name - the actress Dina Merrill.

We took a docent-led tour - very good and we learned a lot. It was almost visual overload, though. Just so many fabulous treasures and room after beautiful room in the home. I took a few photos which I will post to give a small idea of what is in this home.

The mansion.

The beautiful dining room

A charming breakfast room

Two stunningly beautiful items we saw were two Faberge eggs, not just any, but imperial celebration eggs, made specifically for royalty. We were told that there are 43 - 50 (our guide said 43, the booklet says 50) in existence, and Hillwood has two of them.

 

There is so much more in this museum that it would be hard to list even every category. To name a few: icons, orthodox robes, chalices, orbs, Russian porcelain and other table service used by the Czars, jade, paintings, tapestries, elaborate little boxes, enameled art pieces, jewelry, chandeliers, furniture (much of it French), rugs, clothing, books, silver, well, you get the idea.

We walked around some of the gardens. While not much is in bloom right now due to the cold weather we've had, the Japanese gardens are always lovely.

 

That concluded our tour. It was time for tea - standing in museums is hard work!

 

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Wonderful Annapolis!

Today we drove over to Annapolis to tour both the town and the Naval Academy. We had never done either. It was a great day!

(First, a word about the current state of security checks in the DC area and in other places. It is a mixed bag, and sometimes I don't understand the inconsistencies. Several museums we were in yesterday did bag checks, and several did nothing at all. Today at the Naval Academy, the only thing they did upon our entering the Visitor Center was to ask for our IDs - drivers licenses, no bag checks, nothing else. At the Maryland State House, we walked through a metal detector and there was a bag airport-security-type Xray. Every Spring Training game we were at did a bag check. I don't know, it just makes one wonder what actually works and what doesn't.)

The point of the above description is to say that at the Naval Academy, they were very welcoming and as visitors we were given only brief instructions about the buildings we could go in - they were circled on a map we were given, and there were a lot of them available to us. We were politely asked not to go into buildings not circled on the map. It all made for an extremely pleasant visit. We immediately signed up for a walking tour, but were told that we could go and see the Meal Formation in the central plaza area which would take place prior to our tour, or go anywhere else on our own if we wished. We had an hour to see the Formation and grab a bite to eat in the student activity center before our tour.

Apparently they do not do Noon Meal Formation in colder weather, but now it apparently is warm enough to do it (not very warm today, by the way!). There are over 4500 students at the Academy and they are all at the formation all around Bancroft Hall, the largest single residence hall at any university in the country. All students live in this hall. It is an immense and beautiful gray stone building in the Beaux Arts style, which has aged well. Plus, all 4500 students eat at the same time in what is a gigantic mess hall at the rear of the building. We didn't get to see the mess hall inside, but did go to a point in the public area of Bancroft Hall where we could see the roof. It is the size of two football fields!

Here is the Meal Formation from the front of the Hall. Students assemble 360 degrees around the building, all 4500 of them, marching, standing at attention, the lead midshipmen answering the roll call for their units, and then all midshipmen filing into the building to the academy band music. It was very impressive.

 

By the way, almost 25% of the student body is now women.

The officers' quarters (those who run the Academy) live in a row of beautiful houses.

We joined our tour and were first taken into some of the wonderful academy athletic facilities. We learned from our cheerful and humorous tour guide that, above all, Navy desires and often does beat Army! Then we went back over to Bancroft Hall and into the building - stunning architecture and gorgeous interior decor.

 

 

We then walked through what was built as the Armory, but has since been converted to a multi use facility. It is huge. Other than a food area at one end, I didn't hear what else they use this building for. It could hold a very large number of people.

We were taken to the Chapel, a huge basilica-like building. First we went down into the crypt where John Paul Jones, Revolutionary war hero of the Navy, is buried, a symbolic gesture intended to inspire future naval officers. The tomb is quite elaborate - I had never seen anything quite like it.

Then we were taken upstairs to the sanctuary. This building is another breathtaking place of beautiful architecture, magnificent Tiffany stained glass windows, and lovely decor. Apparently there are many weddings that take place here, and I can certainly understand why. Attendance at chapel is entirely voluntary, and all religions are honored on campus.

We went to another building, on our own, where there is an exhibit running until November on the War of 1812, from a naval perspective. Nicely done.

We then toured the town, stopping for coffee at a little book store with the cozy coffee nook way in back. This was just a very little store, a jumble of books old and new, and totally charming, just like the town of Annapolis. While there are many shops in town that are obviously there to appeal to a tourist population, there are many streets that appear almost untouched by time, harkening back to pre-Revolutionary war days when the town was built. I felt like I was in another country - England, maybe. Because it was so chilly and windy today, there weren't many people around, and it was a real treat to see this city like that. Here is an example of one of the residential streets.

 

 

Our final stop was the Maryland State House, an 18th and 19th century building built on a hill and surrounded by the town streets like spokes on a wheel. The Maryland Legislature is currently in session. In fact, they just passed aggressive gun control legislation which I think now goes to the governor. We were free to walk around and could have sat in the second floor public viewing area if they had actually been doing anything at the time. There are two areas of the state house that are being restored to their 18th century look. The senate side is currently done.

Here is a view from the street of the Maryland State House.

A legislator, possibly the Speaker of the House (but that is just conjecture) was being interviewed for something, maybe a local TV station.

 

A wonderful day in Annapolis!

 

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