The new Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

This museum is an incredible adventure in the history of man's flight efforts. It shows the many machines man has invented for flight.  The first photo is of a replica of the Wright Brothers plane. This plane was built with steering mechanism suited for bicycles because the Wright's were bike builders.

The Enola Gay is the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Japan. It has been rebuilt twice. Shortly after it was rebuilt the first time, it was flown with insufficient fuel and landed in the ocean. It had to be rebuilt, of course.

The fastest passenger plane in the world is the French Concorde. While it, too, has been replaced, the guide told a story of two flights leaving the U.S. about the same time--one a Concorde, one a 707.  The Concorde made a round trip with two separate passenger loads before the 707 reached its first destination.

The final picture is the SR71--the famous Blackbird used for aerial reconnaissance during the height of the Cold War. It is still one of the most high tech designs in existence. It was one of the earliest planes with built-in radar evasion characteristics. It was capable of flying at over 85,000 feet. At that altitude, its photographic equipment could reach out laterally 500 miles. From its 85,000-foot operating altitude, its camera could identify the state on a car's license. In many cases it conducted surveillance while surveying the borders of its target and not have to overfly to complete its work. It could fly only an hour and a half without refueling. The guide said that it cost $85,000 an hour to operate.

Jamestown Colony

Jamestown Colony, a property of the state of Virginia, is an incredible facility. The site includes both indoor (museum) and outdoor (living history) exhibits. The facility was opened in 2004 and is extremely well planned, convenient, and attractive. 

The museum displays follow a timeline which takes you through the history and interaction of three elements of colonial society--colonists, Africans, and native Americans. There are a number of film presentations in addition to extensive artifact displays and explanations. We highly recommend visiting this site.

Outside, the living history display includes a native village and three ships and the fort. These displays are staffed by period players who provide commentary about colonial life and thinking and who answer questions. We found our discussion with the blacksmith at the fort particularly enlightening contrasting philosophies and practices of marriage and family. In colonial times, marriages were primarily economic arrangements between families.

The ships closely resemble the Mayflower in Plimoth colony.

We took a photo of the North Dakota plaque placed below the state's flag on the mall at the Jamestown Colony. Flags of all states were flying and it was very picturesque.  

Colonial Williamsburg

Colonial Wmsburg is a living history museum of the original capitol city of Virginia. It covers a large area and includes a wide variety of colonial government buildings, homes, and shops Actors portray townspeople of the era. The craftsmen are all masters of their trades. We watched a number of the  them at work, including a carpenter, a blacksmith, a wheelwright (see picture), and a silversmith. At this season, not all of the shops are open. 

The Governor's Palace is an authentic reproduction. Compared to the daily lives of the colonists, the Palace was sinfully opulent. For example, there were 600 weapons including muskets, pistols, swords, etc. displayed in the Palace.  The original Palace was burned down by an arsonist during the War of Independence. Before the fire, however, the colonists had taken over the Governor's Palace and auctioned off anything removable to finance the Revolution. That is why they were able to buy back some of the original artifacts--because some family had bought them and knew their provenance. Consequently, a large number of artifacts were recovered and are now displayed in the current Governors' Palace. Notice in the picture the carefully shaped trees and bushes in the formal gardens.

A variety of live performances are available each day which portray aspects of history and life of the time.  For example, we listened to "Patrick Henry" hold forth for about a half hour on freedom and, in response to audience questions, talk about his family and daily life and professional practice as a lawyer.

We also witnessed a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence from the Capitol balcony. A variety of actors participated portraying a variety of colonists including a black slave and two women. 

If you're a history buff at all, this is a must-see.

Luray (VA) Caverns

The Luray Caverns are the third largest in the country. There are a number of caverns in this part of Appalachia. Everyone we talked to told us the Luray Caverns were the best. While we haven't seen the other caverns in the area, we found the Luray Caverns fantastic!

The first picture shows a mirror image:  the top half of the picture is actual stalactites while the bottom half is a reflection in a pool of water not more than 18 inches deep.  Even standing right beside the pool, it was hard to tell it was a pool.  

The second photo is of formation called a drapery. You can easily see why. While it is actually a rock formation, some parts are thin enough for light to shine through. The one in the center of the photo, called the towel, is only one-quarter of an inch thick.

The final photo is a small piece of a pretty amazing story.  An electronics engineer built a pipe organ deep in the caverns which uses the stalactites as pipes.  He used a tuning fork to find the right "tone" in the rocks.  Then he mounted a solenoid which could be activated to tap the rock creating its "note."  It took him three years to find the right sounding rocks to complete the keyboard.  The guide demonstrated while we watched the solenoid in the picture being "played" several times during "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God."  The guide's line is that the organ has only one shortcoming:  it plays only "rock" music!

Unique Beagle Balloon

This blog is for all the children we know and the child in each of us. 

The pictures pretty much speak for themselves. This lovable beagle is huge! You could hear the reaction from the large crowd as the balloon inflated and became recognizable!

The festival included craft booths, food stands, a classic car show, and a display of antique fire engines.  

Hot Air Balloons near Winchester, VA

At Winchester, VA, they hold an annual Hot Air Balloon and Wine Festival at the Long Branch Historic House and Farm. On Friday evening, just after sunset, balloons are inflated while tethered. These pictures show the balloon of the International Manufacturing Technology Show. The glow is caused by the torch firing to fill the balloon with hot air.

Early Saturday morning, the balloons are inflated again. We concentrated on the IMTS balloon although there were quite a number of other balloons at the show. The second picture shows the IMTS balloon just before launch.

The final picture is the same balloon just after liftoff on Saturday morning. It's amazing to see them fill and launch these balloons.  It's even more amazing to see them land easily in a small courtyard!

 

Corridor H

We found that in much of New England, roads run through forested areas following the terrain through narrow road corridors.  Consequently, there are few opportunities to get a panoramic view of the area.  Corridor H, which runs west from Wardensville, West Virginia, is an exception.

This road, while not completed, provides some of the most phenomenal views of the Appalachians that we've seen!  The first picture is one of the bridge structures in the new road.  The view of the bridge is from old Highway 55, an example of the kind of roads we're talking about above.   It rises approximately 300 feet from the valley floor to the bottom of the road bed above.  When completed, Corridor H will become US 48, the third highway so named.  The other Highways 48 have been renamed.  It is highly unusual for a highway name/ number to be reused.  

The second picture shows Tom standing on old Highway 55 with granite boulders just off the road bed.  This picture provides an example of the view from the old roadway.

The native wild flowers in the third picture are everywhere throughout Virginia and West Virginia.  In this case, they were planted in a buffer strip between the Corridor H roadway and a scenic overlook.  

West Virginia Country Church

On a long drive through the countryside in West Virginia, we came across a country church with trees in full fall color in front of it. While we have seen a lot of great fall color, it doesn't get much better than this.

Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park is about 100 miles long but in most places not more than a few miles wide.   The key feature of the Park is Skyline Drive.  It extends the length of the Park and provides dozens of scenic overlooks. The first two photos are shot from several of these overlooks. 

Many of the Park's roads, walls, and buildings were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.  

A more recent addition to the Park is the Appalachian Trial. While the Trail is much longer than the Park, the Trail runs the length of Shenandoah National Park.  Along the trail a single mark on a tree indicates that the hiker is on the Trail; a double mark indicates a significant change of direction of the Trail.  Although we didn't have the time (or energy) to do the Trail, we did take a short hike along the trail.

On this day we covered the northern third of Skyline Drive.

Gettysburg

Our tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield provided a perspective of a Civil War that all of our study of history couldn't provide.  So many soldiers--both Federalist and Confederate --were killed.  In the three-day battle there were over 20,000 casualties.  

President Lincoln is, of course, known for his short but eloquent speech, the Gettysburg address.  The monument pictures provides the complete text of his address when he dedicated the National Soldiers' Cemetery.

The area of the battle includes markers denoting the soldiers killed from the various states.  Many of the grave markers are entitled "unknown."  

There are cemeteries everywhere.  There are also many cannons.  

There were about 75,000 Confederate soldiers under General Lee in the battle.  The Federalists were outnumbered.  However, the auto tour does an excellent job of pointing out the impact of occupying strategic locations.  The Federalists in most cases occupied the high ground and that fact may have made the different in the outcome of the battle.    

The area is not large--approximately 10 square miles--but the detailed descriptions of troop movements and the impact of command and control (or the lack of it in some cases) were outlined.  While the auto tour is advertised as taking 1 1/2 to 2 hours, we spent over six hours following the battles.

This is definitely a worthwhile walk through history.   Note:  The soldiers buried at Gettysburg are not all veterans of the Civil War.

Steamtown National Museum

The Steamtown National Museum is in downtown Scranton, PA.  It covers several acres and includes a museum and a working railyard as well as a graveyard for old train cars and engines. The Museum included a large numbers of historical exhibits, including an executive's Pullman car--very luxurious for the time--and a mail sorting car.

The first picture shows a steam engine being parked in the train shed.  We watched this engine pulling into the yard and unhooking two Pullman coaches.  Then it was backed into the roundhouse where the engine was rotated to the position you see in the picture so it could be moved into the shed for storage.  

The extra large engine shown was one of the largest rail locomotives ever built.  It weighs well over a million pounds and was used to move troops and freight at one time.

For contrast, the little engine pictured is one of the smallest rail steam locomotives used.  It was used for switching in a rail yard and could basically only move a few cars at a time.

Delaware Water Gap

After we left the New York City area, we moved on to Pennsylvania where we visited the Delaware Water Gap national Recreation Area.  

There are beautiful waterfalls on streams feeding the Delaware River.  We hiked a considerable distance but it was well worth the effort.  We were the only people there.  It was incredibly peaceful with gorgeous fall colors.  As you can see the waterfalls were spectacular!

The first photo is of Raymondskill Falls--which is really three waterfalls.  The second is Silver Thread waterfall.  Silver Thread Falls more than 300 feet.  The volume of water is really quite small but it creates a unique effect.

Tom also took the time to organize a stream improvement project as you can see.   (Just kidding!).

The Lady and Ellis Island

While in New York, we took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty. She's really impressive from close up.  

There were large crowds all around the statue--it's a favorite for tourists from around the world.  

We also visited Ellis Island and looked through many of the artifacts and the information there. It makes one stop to think of our freedom and citizenship.  While there are many sad stories at Ellis Island, the vast majority of immigrants were admitted to America.

In the second picture, you will see Ellis Island with the New York skyline in the background. Certainly the skyline has changed over the years, but it still had to be pretty impressive to newly arrived immigrants.

Ground Zero

While in New York City, we visited Ground Zero.  The emotional impact of going to this site is hard to describe.  The actual site is walled off and is now a massive construction site.  It is very difficult to get pictures.  

The plaque you see is at the very tip of Manhattan Island, some distance from Ground Zero.  The other two pictures show a sculpture that was near the Twin Towers.  The damage to the sculpture occurred when the Towers collapsed.  It is the closest thing to a memorial at this point.

A Visit to New York City

We traveled to New York City with all the commuters from Brewster, CT.  What a drag a daily commute of 2 hours or more would be!  

Once we got to Grand Central Station we immediately headed for the Empire State Building.  We were among the first to get there that day!

The view from the top was amazing!  We would recommend this as the starting point for anyone who hasn't been to NYC before.  Two of our group had been there before and thought it was still very helpful in starting a new tour.  It's a great way to get oriented about where things are.  On the ground, you're walking in tunnels and perspective or even direction is difficult--to say nothing about the crowds.  However, we found NYC friendlier than we expected.  

The dark building at the center of the picture--taken from the top of the ESB looking west--is Penn Plaza.  From the ground you never get a good perspective of a building.  

After we left the ESB, we headed for St. Patrick's Cathedral.  From the ESB it looked like it was only a few blocks.  It turned out to be quite a distance!  It was too dark in the Cathedral for good pictures.

On the way to Central Park, we visited Rockefeller Center. (Ocean Spray was handing out bottles of cranberry juice and craisins--especially interesting to us because we'd just come through the cranberry bogs and harvest in Massachusetts.)  The building pictured is the oldest structure in the Park.  We came into the park from the south and exited to the west heading for Broadway and Times Square.  On the way, we had lunch at a great little restaurant called Cafe Europa.  Most of the wait staff are immigrants.  Our waiter was from Poland.

On Broadway, we saw the current craze--the Naked Cowboy, an actor with a guitar who wears only his white briefs.  It was chilly that day but there were lines of people wanting a picture with him.

We walked through Times Square, saw Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie hall, and the NBC Studios.

At the end of the day, we raced into Grand Central, bought our tickets, and ran to catch our train.  We felt like old-hand commuters as we settled down for the long ride home.

The colonists' village at Plimoth Plantation

The colonists' village shows faithful replications of the village, its buildings, animals, and even actors representing its people.

The homes are made mostly of wood, with dirt floors, wooden superstructure and siding, and thatched roofs.  The actors are in character of the time and represent original colonists.  Their stories are incredible.  We learned much about the original Pilgrims from these actors.

The privations they suffered were many.  Half of the original Pilgrims didn't live through the first winter.  We had always believes that all of them were strong believers in their religion.  The actors let us know that was definitely not the case.  The leaders welcomed others to come but weren't completely honest about the life in the colony.  

The fort shown is also the community meeting hall and church, as well as a fort.  There were cannons on the upper floor facing every direction.  The building had morticed joints pinned together with wooden pegs.  The walled-in compound around this building provided firing platforms at each corner for colonial soldiers.  

English citizens were required to attend church services on Sunday so all colonists--even those who were not Puritans--had to attend.  Services were led by the most educated man in the colony--who was not an ordained minister.

The Wampanoag Village

Plimoth Plantation (the British spelling) provides accurate repro- ductions of life in a native village as well as a colonial village.

The "actors" in the Wampanoag Village are native Americans, who may be Wampan- oags or may be from other native commu- nities.  They reenact traditional culture from the time of the Pilgrims.  

Their homes are covered by bark from the abundance of wood in the area.  Their canoes are made of logs.