Mark's Notebook

All Articles - June 2006

Da Yoopers

Tuesday, June 27

Last night we stayed in Newberry, Michigan, on the Upper Peninsula. The folks here call themselves "yoopers," probably a play on the words "UP-ers." There are books in the store about learning to talk Yoopers, sort of like the books on learning to talk Southern or Redneck. There is a little something different about the accent here.

We have no stops today; we just want to cover as much ground as possible. Our next possible outing is in Duluth, where they have a fresh-water aquarium. To get there, we have to go all the way through Michigan then all the way through Wisconsin.

I got the first symptoms of a cold last night, and I took some medication. So I was in no shape to drive this morning. Mary drove while I slept in the truck. She took us to halfway through Wisconsin before I took over. We decided to pass on Duluth, and I drove to Brainerd, almost half the way through Minnesota. Then Mary took over again and drove us to Detroit Lakes, where we are staying now.

Tomorrow, we hope to make it to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota, about 6-1/2 hours away from here.

We had lunch on the upper peninsula at Ma's Place, in Wakefield, Michigan. The waitress was friendly and understood food allergies. The locals congregated in the smoking room didn't look very friendly, though; maybe they thought it was funny that we sat alone in the non-smoking room in the back.

O Canada

Our checkout time is early in the morning, so here are just the highlights from the past few days.

I'm also working on updating the maps but there is just not enough time to work on it.

Friday, June 23

Today we visited Niagara Falls. We took a tour that visits both the Canada side and the US side. The Canada side is much more built up with tourist stops and restaurants. Tour highlights included:

Skylon Tower - a 500 foot tower on the Canada side, giving a view of both parts of the falls.

Goat Island - an island in the middle of the falls, where you can walk out to the very edge of the American Falls and Bridalveil Fall.

Promenade - that's just a name I made up for the shoreline along the Canada side, where you can walk for quite a ways.

Maid of the Mist - a boat ride that takes you out right under the Horseshoe Falls.

The falls are split by Goat Island into the straight falls on the "American" side, and the Horseshoe Falls on the "Canada" side. In addition, the straight falls are split by smaller rocks into the American Falls and the Bridalveil Fall. The Horseshoe falls are wider and more impressive, sending up a spray that is visible for miles away and feels like rain when you walk near the falls. It is not possible to walk behind any of the falls, despite the misnamed attractions that seem to promise that.

We had lunch at the Misty Dog Grill, just across from the Rainbow Bridge over into Canada. It was recommended by the tour operator. They have burgers made from beef, buffalo, kobe beef, lamb, and venison. They take a long time but they are worth it. The sweet potato fries were not cooked enough to make them crispy.

In the evening we headed into Toronto. It took us five hours to wade through the Friday night traffic to the north side of town where we stayed.

Saturday, June 24

Today we took the subway into downtown Toronto. We started at the Royal Ontario Museum, which has six million artifacts from all over the world. First off, we took a guided tour through the first floor, which includes two wings. The first wing was First Peoples, which is what Canada calls the native Indians and Eskimo peoples. The second wing included artwork from Japan, China, and Korea. We were really more interested in the First Peoples exhibits, because you can't find that stuff anywhere else. But it was all fascinating. After the tour was over, we wandered through the third floor by ourselves. It had exhibits devoted to Bronze Age Greece, Ancient Egypt, and Ancient Cyprus. But my favorite was the exhibit devoted to the history of European art. It discussed Romanesque and Gothic architecture, and Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, and Deco art.

Then we bought a picnic lunch at the Richtree Market near the waterfront, and we took a ferry to the Toronto Island. Mary wasn't feeling well so we didn't walk around the island, but we did enjoy a nice lunch in peace and quiet.

After lunch, we took the ferry back and walked around the corner to the CN Tower, billed as the tallest building in the world at over 1800 feet. Some dispute that because it is a tower and not an office building. But even after having visited the St. Louis Arch, the Washington Monument, the Statue of Liberty, and the Empire State Building, we have to admit that the view here was mighty impressive.

Sunday, June 25

This morning we visited Thornhill Vineyard Church on the north side of Toronto. This was a very friendly church. They introduced us to all and they clapped for us ... and for other newcomers also. We talked to the Pastor, Dale, and also to another gentleman, Jim. We felt at home here even though we didn't know many of their worship songs. They did give us good advice on what to visit ... particularly their suggestion to visit Algonquin Provincial Park if we wanted to see moose.

After church, we headed the three hours north to Algonquin Provincial Park. The park is quite large, but most of it is accessible only via canoe or hiking. There is one road along the southern edge of the park. The road is about 55 km long (about 35-40 miles) from the west gate to the east gate. We got there around 5:00 pm and we figured that might be a good time to see moose. At the visitor center we were told that moose are seen here every day, but there were no posted sightings yet for that day. We drove through the park slowly, scanning every marshy area for the elusive animals. We took about 1 hour 15 mintues to traverse the park, but no luck. At the east gate visitor center we inquired again. We were told that there had been a sighting only about 15 km back earlier that day. We were also told that the opportunity is better nearest dusk. We decided to nap for an hour and head out around 7:30. Sure enough, at the 40 km marker we found a "wildlife jam" (a traffic jam caused by cars stopping to see wildlife). There was a mama moose and one cub. They were in a marshy area behind some trees. The mama was dark in color, while the cub was more a "caramel" color (as Mary the color expert described it).

We were so glad God answered our prayers to see a moose. We did take some pictures but the focus wasn't working right so the pics are probably not the best.

We drove farther north to North Bay for the night. The bugs were out like an Egyptian plague and when we got to North Bay we almost couldn't see out the windshield.

(Next morning, we almost couldn't see the white truck or its chrome underneath the dense blanket of bugs.)

Monday, June 26

We started about five or six hours from the border crossing at Sault Ste Marie, which takes you over Lake Superior into Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It was a pretty boring drive. We did note that the terrain changed gradually from evergreens to grass plains to rolling hills and back to grass plains again. We did stop at the library in North Bay to check email, and we also went shopping at a local drug store. When we got to the Michigan border, we went shopping again at the Duty Free Store. The border crossing itself was pretty painless but the border guard seemed pretty gruff.

Once back on US soil, we headed west until we've ended up here in Newberry. Since we've taken a more northerly route, we've given up on visiting Detroit, Toledo, Chicago, and Minneapolis. Our next stop will probably be Duluth ... I think there is a fresh water museum there. After that comes Fargo, the largest city in North Dakota, which isn't saying much. (It's actually a nice little university town.) After that, maybe Roosevelt National Park, then Glacier NP in Montana. Mary wants to see the Grand Tetons again, because we didn't get to see much two years ago (too rushed) and we know there are moose there. Finally, we'll end up in Washington State to visit Mary's dad. Almost home!

MoMA art we saw

I had no internet access when I posted about visiting MoMA.

The MoMA web site is here.

Some of the works we saw:

• Paul Cézanne. The Bather. c. 1885
• Vincent van Gogh. The Starry Night. Saint Rémy, June 1889
• Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Paris, June-July 1907 (the nekkid ladies)
• René Magritte. The False Mirror. 1928
• Paul Klee. Cat and Bird. 1928
• Salvador Dalí. The Persistence of Memory. 1931
• Edward Hopper. Gas. 1940
• Piet Mondrian. Broadway Boogie Woogie. 1942-43
• Jackson Pollock. One: Number 31, 1950. 1950
• Barnett Newman. Vir Heroicus Sublimis. 1950-51
• Claude Monet. Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond. c. 1920

Abandoning Moose for Buffalo

Yes, today, Thursday 22nd - I drove quite a long ways through the Adirondack Mountains today. There was an Adirondacks Museum that is supposed to be quite good, but it is several buildings and they suggest allowing three hours to tour it. We don't have that long ... we want to be in Niagara Falls by tonight. The Adirondacks are still beautiful just to drive through.

Eventually we got lost in Utica and stuck in a long line of traffic (miles long) at a construction site. We're just trying to find the Turnpike. Once we find the pike, we're only on there one exit when we find an exit for Oneida. (How do you pronounce it?) I've heard that the original commune is still here, and they still manufacture the silverware here. We have two sets at home (Mary's set is American Colonial and mine is Colonial Boston) but there are a few pieces missing after serving at too many church functions.

It took us quite a while, including stopping to ask several strangers on the street for directions, until we found the factory outlet; by the time we found it we had only 20 minutes left to shop. Both our patterns are discontinued, but they have been replaced with a newer cheaper pattern, 1620. But we were able to find a couple "server sets" in American Colonial, plus a few sugar spoons, replacement spoons, and repolacement knives in the "bins" at only 75 cents each. We lost a serving spoon at church, but we bought several in the new 1620 pattern to replace it. All this cost us only about $50; everything was discounted quite a bit.

Maybe I should look for the discontinued patterns on ebay; although I've heard they are expensive even there.

Mary likes driving on the freeway, so I let her do the three-hour leg along the turnpike to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. The hotel manager arranged a tour for us tomorrow ... it starts real early for us (8:30 am) but it includes four hours on both the American side and the Canadian side, the island, and several different falls (shows what I know ... I thought there was only one.)

After the tour tomorrow, we hope to make it up to Toronto where we will spend Saturday and Sunday. On Monday we'll drive down to Chicago where we hope to take in a Cubs home game on Monday night in historic Wrigley Field.

The Elusive Moose

Wednesday, June 21

Today was factory tour day. We started with the Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury, Vermont. It looks just a B&J scoop shop, but more so ... more signs, bigger signs, lots of posters, brightly colored buildings. The tour costs only $3, so the price is right, and even though the tour is short, it is interesting. It includes a humorous movie that talks about the history of the company, and the founder's current social-improvement activities. The tour itself is really just one room, but you do get to see a lot, and the whole process and the big machines are fascinating. We were told not to take any pictures so as not to let out any trade secrets! As if we weren't spies from the evil HD empire anyway ... he he. So you expect that after seeing this, I'm now ready to duplicate the process at home! Fat chance. Speaking of which, my favorite hat in their store says "Body by Ben & Jerry's," and I resemble that remark, which coincidentally we heard again later in the day.

If you go, don't miss the "flavor graveyard," where all the discontinued flavors have gravestones and poetic epitaphs.

Back to Burlington and a little beyond, we found little Shelburne and the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. This is the place where you can call and order a custom teddy bear with custom clothing. You can also grab a teddy bear "skin" and fill it yourself ... in person only, not via the mail. The tour is again just one large room, and very tongue-in-cheek. At one point he showed what happens if you overstuff the bear ... body by Ben & Jerry's. Twice in one day. Anyway, the way they construct these things is pretty clever, and the way they cut the fur into pieces is impressive ... a huge Sizzix-like stamping machine that can cut out dozens of bears in one cut, through eight layers of material.

We got a bear for Mary's mom, who has been in the hospital. The bear is shipped UPS via in a brightly-colored box that includes an air hole so the bear can breathe, some candy so the bear has something to eat on the trip, and the inside of the box is printed with board games in case the bear gets bored while in transit. We got the "hero bear;" when you buy that one, another gets sent to an organization that hands out bears to kids who are going though disasters. (Mary's mom got the bear on Thursday and she loved it.)

We took a relaxing ferry across the lake into New York. The ferry driver suggested we go to Lake Placid, where some Winter Olympics were held. He even gave us a map, but I got lost anyway. Well, not exactly lost, but we went the wrong way, a longer way, but we got there eventually. A tourist trap town but not much activity. Down the road past another lake we found a grocery store to get some meat, and we found a nice room with a rustic theme and a photo of a moose in the stairway.

We have been looking everywhere for moose, even asking for suggestions on where to look, and praying to see one. But not a glimpse yet. One guy in the teddy bear factory said a moose wandered into his back yard some time back, but he's only seen two in his life, both years ago. I guess the trick is having both patience and time; we're short on both. We did buy a stuffed moose in Maine for a gift. Who wants a stuffed moose for Christmas?

(On Thursday, as I'm writing this, we saw a store called the Elusive Moose, which summed it all up.)

The Maine Thing

Tuesday, June 20

We are in Maine, but by tonight we want to get to the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont. Vermont and New Hampshire are not large, but Maine is larger than you might expect. We have a fair amount of driving to do.

First, we went to the beach at Fort Popham on the Maine coast. They wanted to charge us $8 to get into Popham Point State Beach, so we opted for the fort instead, since it is free. All we want to do is dip our toes in the Atlantic Ocean, so we can truly say this is a "coast-to-coast" trip. The water was cold, but the beach was nice. Lots of little kids playing on the beach and in this dark stone fort. The parents suggested we bring flashlights "next time."

Of course, we didn't make it through the town of Bath without Mary wanting to go shopping in the cute boutiques there. I found us a couple of Maine lobster baseball caps - mine blue, hers pink.

We drove north on 201 to Showhegan, then headed west on highway 2, which will take us all the way to Montpelier. It took hours to make this back-roads drive, but it was beautiful. Mary did some of the driving through one section where it rained a lot and there were storm warnings on the radio, but that lasted only about an hour. We got to Waterbury after dark, only to find that there is only one hotel in town, and only the VIP room is available. Beyond our budget, but tempting. There are lots of B and B's but it's a bit late to come in without a reservation. We found a nice room near Burlington, about 25 miles further up the road. We'll have to backtrack tomorrow but we saved a lot of $$$ staying farther away.

Brooklyn Bridge

Right now we are on the New York Thruway driving from Utica to Buffalo. Mary has volunteered to drive so I can catch up on the blog.

Friday Again - June 16

Today Steve and Sydelle dropped us off at the Brooklyn Bridge so we could walk across into Manhattan. I've always wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I don't remember why! Maybe I read one of those travel articles in the AAA magazine. Anyway, it's free to walk across the bridge. It takes about 30 minutes, so we really wanted to go only one way, and walking into Manhattan lets you see the Manhattan skyline as you approach.

The bridge is about 6000 feet long. I don't know whether that includes the approaches or not. It was an excellent day for walking across. The weather was sunny but not too hot ... but not windy either. I was afraid it might be too cold, like when you walk across the Golden Gate bridge. But it was definitely comfortable. The walkway is above the traffic, in the middle, unlike most other bridges where the walking lanes are along the sides of the bridge. There are two beautiful towers with two gothic arches each, one for each lane of traffic? Anyway, as you walk over, near the towers there are plaques that commemorate and describe the construction of the bridge. It was like being in a museum, which is good because there is also a Brooklyn Bridge Museum but we forgot to go there.

When we came off the bridge at the other end, we found ourselves near City Hall Park and I knew there was something nearby ... yes, J&R, the one found in the back of your computer, music, and photo magazines. It takes up almost a full city block and it is divided into several older buildings, so it doesn't look like a computer store and it's not easy to see if you don't know where to look. They did not have anything we needed, and their prices were not any better than we could find at home anyway.

We bought a couple baseball hats for presents, and the cart-keeper spoke English (!) and he gave us directions to the World Trade Center site only a couple of blocks away. At the WTC site there is sort of an observation deck where you can overlook each of the holes. They aren't really holes, like deep in the ground or anything, just holes in the sense that there are no buildings there. It looks like they are just cleaning up in order to build other stuff there, and if you didn't know any better you'd never know that anything extraordinary had ever happened there.

There is a kiosk that describes several different projects that will be built here. It looked to me like they were alternative projects and the choice had not been made yet. Mary understood that they would build all the projects here in different places or on different levels. So I'm really not sure. One project is a beautiful tower that starts out square on ground level but assumes an octagonal cross-section as it gets higher; it is supposed to be at least as tall as the original towers were. A second project is a transportation hub that includes a structure that looks like the guy wires for a suspension bridge, but I don't think there is any bridge there. Note that there are already several subway stations underneath the site, and all except one of them are currently operating. The intention is to add terminals for other transportation systems, notably PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson, which operates ferries). I think the third project was some kind of park, pool, or fountain that would serve as a memorial.

Down some stairs, on the way to the subway station, there is artwork that appears to have been drawn by children of the people who lost their lives here ... many tributes to "daddy" ... and they were moving.

We were able to catch a subway right here heading uptown, where we got off to see the Museum of Modern Art. We had tickets to see it free, but many of the museums are open late on Fridays and they are free after 4:00 pm anyway. Actually, we also had tickets for the Natural History Museum and the Guggenheim. We solicited suggestions and everyone said Natural History was the best, but we saw Natural History in Washington and we were burned out on that. Of the two remaining, most thought the MoMA was better. So that's where we headed.

MoMA has many of the modern classics ... Andy Warhol's Campbell soup cans, Salvador Dali's melting clocks, Monet's reflections of clouds in a lily pond, Van Gogh's "Starry Night," Picasso's woman's reflection in a mirror. (Sorry, I don't remember the real names of the works.) There was also the guy who draws the blocks, but I don't remember his name. There was a room devoted to him, and if you go through his stuff in chronological order you see how he arrives at the masterpiece that looks like a map of the New York subway system. And they also had several by the other guy, I also don't remember his name right now, but he threw or dripped the paint onto his canvas. The whole concept makes a lot of sense when you hear it described. It also helped on a lot of these works to listen to the audio tracks targeted at children. They explain the works in a way that anyone can understand.

After the museums close, if you don't want to see a Broadway show, go to a bar, or spend all evening in an expensive restaurant, I hate to say it but there is not much to do in New York except people watch, shop, and go to a rock 'n 'roll concert. We found ourselves in the Burger Joint again since was not too far from MoMA and we were hungry. Other patrons there told us about a jazz concert at Carnegie Hall, and it's probably not sold out, but when we walked around the corner we found that they will not let us in without advance tickets ... the box office is closed. Does that make any sense? To turn paying customers away when the show is not sold out? One subway stop away, nothing going on at Radio City Music Hall either. This is a Friday night! What are we supposed to do? We head back to Brooklyn to get some shut-eye. We will be leaving NYC tomorrow.

Brooklyn

Right now we are on the New York Thruway driving from Utica to Buffalo. Mary has volunteered to drive so I can catch up on the blog.

Thursday Again - June 15

Today we went into Brooklyn to visit our friends Steve and Sydelle Gansl. We started the day on the wrong foot by oversleeping, then continued awry as we got lost on city streets in Newark on the way to Staten Island. (I think the easiest way to get to Brooklyn without hitting a lot of traffic is over the Verrizanno Narrows Bridge, but I didn't count on getting lost.) (This is the last time I will look for directions on Google Maps ... Mapquest has always served me well.)

Sydelle was still able to show us lots of stuff in Brooklyn. We started by going to Coney Island to have lunch at the original Nathan's. We didn't walk around Coney Island at all; we just ate at some tables next to the street. I got a good photo that I hope to post later.

Sydelle told us lots of stories about "Little Russia." Apparently Russian immigrants settled in the neighborhoods around Coney Island and kicked out the bad guys that had been there previously. So now that area is pretty safe.

She brought us to two special places for views. The Promenade is a beautiful walkway on top of two levels of freeway along the Hudson River. Sydelle says it appears in the first scene of most Woddy Allen movies, and it did look very familiar even though we'd never been there before. There are great views of Manhattan and walking there with Mary was very romantic. Sydelle also brought us to the River Cafe, a restaurant underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. We had seen this previously when the guide of our Circle Line cruise pointed it out from the water. Since it is right underneath the bridge, the views of the bridge are pretty amazing. It's not just the underside of the bridge, but the smaller cables on top stand out in relief when viewed from underneath. There is also a dock there with plaques that describe and commemorate the bridge. There is also some poetry in the fencing around the dock.

Sydelle drove us past all the beautiful brownstones in Brooklyn Heights. Mary reminds me that we also saw some houses that were converted carriage houses.

We finished up the afternoon at a store called Amazing Savings" It is sort of like a Big Lots on steroids. Mary stocked up on lots of rubber stamps, paper punches, and crafty stuff.

Late in the evening they took us to the Sahara Mediterranean Restaurant. The owner is Greek, and our waitress seemed to speak mostly Greek. We were able to get by and order a large appetizer plate and chicken skewers.

We've heard New York described as a city of immigrants over and over since we've been here. Truly, we've found that the only people we can converse with here are other tourists. By and large, the shopkeepers and restaurant workers do not speak much English at all. It seems everyone just takes all this in stride. Our experience at the Sahara restaurant did not faze us at all.

Intrepid Museum

Wednesday again

Today we visited the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum on the Hudson River in New York City. It is an aircraft carrier that was used in World War II and survived five kamikaze attacks, two on the same day. She was used in the 1960s to pick up Mercury and Gemini capsules, and in the 1970s she became part of the "Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club" as she served in Vietnam.

The Museum also includes a Concorde airplane that was disappointing because, while you could go inside, you can't actually go down the aisle or sit down in the nice leather seats. It also includes a submarine, the "Growler," that we didn't tour because we would have had to wait for the next guided tour and we were too tired.

There are also, on the flight deck and in the hangar deck, about two dozen aircraft of the type launched from here over a 30-year period. You could look at the outsides of the planes and read about the distincitve features of each, but you can't really see inside them or get that close to them.

We were tired today after having got up so early yesterday, been sick, etc. so we gave up early today.

Statue of Liberty

Tuesday again

We had to get up very early to see the Statue of Liberty. We called on Monday, and we were told about the ticket situation. Anyone can take the ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island if they pay the fare. But you need a special free "timed ticket" to get inside the Statue of Liberty. This is similar to the situation at the Washington Monument and the US Capitol building, so we were familiar with the routine. Anyway, we were told the doors would open at 8:30 am and we should be there possibly as early as 7:30 am. In order to be there are 7:30 am, we'd need to catch the subway at 7:00 am, catch the train at 6:00 am, leave the hotel at 5:30 am, and get up at 5:00 am.

This must have been our earliest day yet. But everything timed out very well, and we were in line by 7:30 to 7:45. There were only a dozen people in line ahead of us, so we weren't worried. But a lot of people had reserved tickets ahead of time. I don't know how they did that, because the NPS web page would not let me do that. But apparently there is an 800 number you can call to reserve the tickets, and I had missed that. Anyway, the whole procedure was painless for us but not for others. We just walked up to the window and asked for a timed ticket, and we had ferry tickets and "inside tour" tickets for the first time block this morning. But another family who was actually in line ahead of us came back empty-handed because they went to a different ticket window. I don't understand that at all! Worse yet, this family had come down early three times and never got a tour ticket.

The construction of the SOL is fascinating, but the inside tour didn't really allow you to see that much of it. In the past, you could actually go inside the SOL up to the crown, but now you can just go up to the top of the pedestal. The view from there is much better than the view from below. But I had hoped to see more of the inside of the statue.

Ellis Island was overwhelming. We got an audio tour, saw a play, and saw a movie. After all that, we didn't really have the energy to tour the insides of all the buildings. So we got in a long line to head back to Manhattan; it was so long we had to wait for the second ferry. The ferry service should anticipate that outbound trips would be busy in the morning, inbound trips busy in the afternoon, and adjust schedules accordingly; but they did not.

After landing back in Manhattan we had just a few minutes to view the Fire Department Museum on Spring Street. We wouldn't know about this otherwise, but a friend back home told us about it. They do have an excellent 9/11 memorial that includes a tile structure with one tile for every lost firefighter, with his photograph on the tile.

Meanwhile, I was getting a small headache. All that time in the sun on the islands and ferries had got me dehydrated. Pretty soon we were in a restaurant but I couldn't eat. Eventually I got sick in their restroom, but they were gracious about it. We took our meals "to go" and when I felt better a few hours later in the hotel room, their meal of spanish rice with sausage, chicken, scallops, and clams tasted wonderful. Having learned my lesson, tomorrow I will take an extra bottle of water into town in case we can't find any.

New England

Sunday, June 18

Today we went to church at South Coast Vineyard in New Bedford, Massachusetts. We had been staying in Newport, Rhode Island, and this is the closest church we found. It was about 45 minutes away so we had to leave earlier than usual. It was worth it. This was a very small church. They had lots of chairs set up, but really only about eight families were there, including us and the pastors. We met pastors Ruth and Richard, and another couple, Glen and Mary. They were all very helpful trying to help us find our way around. They also were full of the joy of the Lord which they shared with everyone.

We did laundry this afternoon. We found a run-down "laundrette" in a poor side of town, but we got our clothes clean. After we left there, we found several other nicer laundromats in better parts of town. But we did get to spend a few minutes talking to the owner of this one. It seemed she might need someone to talk to.

We drove around the coast area of New Bedford, where there were some nice beaches. But we didn't really see too much interesting in this town, even though we'd been told about whaling museums and other fun stuff. Since we're way behind schedule, we decided to beat feet toward Boston. We'd been warned that traffic on Cape Cod would be heavy after 6 pm on Sunday, so we headed for Plymouth instead. Plymouth was a disappointment. "Plymouth Rock" is just a large rock with the date "1620" added centuries later. We took a trolley tour around the town and decided we'd seen enough. We're interested in the Pilgrims and all, but we can learn plenty about that without having to be in a tourist trap. So we headed north around 6 pm.

We have seen lots of Boston before, and since we spent so much time in NYC and Washington on this trip, we decided to skip Boston altogether. We did go straight through the town, though, and we went through a long tunnel I don't remember being there before. Was this the "big dig?" I think so. It is certainly a lot easier to get through the center of town now.

One of our favorite restaurants is Warren's Lobster House just inside Maine. We made it there by 8:30 pm, just in time to get some lobster before they closed. Even the salad bar was wonderful, which is unusual anywhere on the east coast.

We found a nice Econo Lodge in Kittery, Maine, but they didn't have internet access so I couldn't post anything last night.

Monday, June 19

Today we "took a vacation from our vacation." I've been reading Europe through the Back Door by Rick Steves, and he recommends doing this every couple of weeks when on a long trip. Anyway, we had lots of errands to run: Mary and I both needed work on our hair, my truck hadn't had an oil change since we left California 9000 miles ago, and we had a care package to put in the mail to Matthew in Iraq.

After dinner in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, we headed up the Maine coast, and tonight we are in Brunswick, Maine.

Tomorrow, we plan to go to some point clearly on the Atlantic coast (not on any bay or inlet), and dip our toes in the ocean. Then we'll truly be able to call this a "coast-to-coast" trip. After that, we need to turn back. Not counting the two weeks on the Mississippi coast, we have spent eight weeks to get to this point, and we have only two weeks to get back. In the next two weeks, we hope to do this:

• Travel through northern Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont to end up at the Ben & Jerry's factory.
• Head north into Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and see if we can order anything at Wendy's in French.
• Head across Quebec and Ontario to the Canada side of Niagara Falls.
• Detroit, Michigan to see Greenfield Village.
• Chicago, Illinois to see a Cubs game.

Quick update from New York

Right now I'm way too tired to tell everything we've done this week, but I'll try to give you a quick summary.

Tuesday, June 13 - we visited the Statue of Liberty, and we were lucky enough to get tickets to go inside. That is a story in itself, and I'll tell that story later. The ferry ride to the SOL also includes a trip to Ellis Island, and there is so much there we were overwhelmed and we just watched a play and a movie. Back in Manhattan, we were able to see the Fire Department Museum on Spring Street, which was recommended by Monica Bellizi of Holy Cross Lutheran Church. It includes a couple of 9/11 memorial rooms. We ate at a Mexican restaurant in the Village but I got sick (not because of the food, but because of dehydration from being out in the sun on the islands all day). I was able to eat my dinner later when I felt better.

Wednesday, June 14 - We visited the USS Intrepid, a WWII aircraft carrier that has been converted to a museum. It has a fascinating story that I'll tell later.

Thursday, June 15 - Today we visited Steve and Sydelle Gansl at their house in Brooklyn. It's the first time we've been to Brooklyn. Sydelle took us on the grand tour - Nathan's at Coney Island, Little Russia, the Promenade, the fruit streets, the brownstones, etc. We had a Turkish dinner at Sahara on Coney Island Blvd. Steve showed me his collection of antique peanut jars and other stuff while Sydelle and Mary talked rubber stamping.

Friday, June 16 - Today Steve and Sydelle took us to the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge so we could walk across. We went from Brooklyn into Manhattan, so you can see the Manhattan skyline as you go across. On the other side, we went to J&R Music and the 9/11 "holes" before heading uptown to MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art. It has all the classic stuff by Picasso, Monet, Warhol, etc. We loved the top two floors. It comes with a free audio tour; I highly reccommend listening to the tracks intended for children.

Saturday, June 17 - We have been on our feet all week. Time to get out of the city and drive a little. It took us four hours to get from Brooklyn to New Haven, Connecticut, where we had a hamburger at Louis Lunch. We were disappointed. More about that later. We made it to Newport, Rhode Island, where we will stay tonight. I'm too tired to drive on.

Tomorrow we hope to make it to Cape Cod or Plymouth before we head up to Boston. Since we have to be home in about two weeks, we'll probably just spend a day in Boston, then hit only the highlights on the way home, particularly Niagara Falls, Chicago, maybe Minneapolis, and hopefully Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

Clueless in Manhattan

More Sunday, June 11

After the show, we figured there must be something else we could do late on a Sunday night, because the last trains don't run until almost 2:00 am. We somehow decided the Empire State Building was nearby so we'd try that.

Of course, you can't go up for free. We bought the City Pass, which includes the ESB and several other attractions: a cruise on the Hudson, the Intrepid aircraft carrier museum, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Modern Art. It is supposed to be a great value. You roughly break even if you see only three of those attractions. The ESB ticket comes with the audio by Tony the Cab Driver. Mary and I have found the audio tours to be well worthwhile, starting with Carlsbad Caverns when we first went there last year.

At night, you can't see everything they're describing, but you sure do see a lot of pretty lights. We'd like to go back up there during the daylight, but we'll have to pay for another ticket. We'll see if we finish up all this other stuff first.

We finished up at ESB when they closed at 11:00 pm. By the time we wound our way back to Penn Station, found our train, waited for it to arrive, rode 70 minutes back out to the 'burbs, got lost because we forgot where we parked the truck, wandered around several Morristown streets until we found something that looked familiar, found the truck, and drove 20 minutes back to the hotel, it was almost 3:00 am.

We are going to sleep in tomorrow.

Monday, June 12

We were up real late last night and we wanted to sleep in today. So we didn't actually make it into town until about 2 or 3 pm. Well, actually, we got into Morristown and had a heck of a time finding a parking space. There are lots of reserved spaces but no daily spaces ... they were all taken by the commuters early in the morning. Finally, we ended up in the police department parking lot (after asking politely first). By the time we found a parking place and walked down the hill to the train station, we'd probably lost the good part of an hour.

What are we going to do today? Well, we don't know. We have signed up to go to the Letterman show, but our chances in the lottery are only 50/50 and they have not called us yet.

Our first stop was the east side again, this time to J G Melon on Third Avenue, which many consider to serve the best burger in town. Our verdict: a good burger, perhaps, but not nearly as friendly or as quirky a restaurant as the Burger Joint, where we ate yesterday.

What to do the rest of our day? We are wandering around clueless. I think we're just tired from being up so late last night. I look at the map to see if there is anything nearby worth seeing. Of course, there is lots, but at 4:00 pm all the museums are getting ready to close up. We walked to Grand Central Station. It is really something else! We tried walking around the balcony, but we went somewhere we weren't supposed to, and an employee politely but firmly shooed us away. GCS has this really weird thing I can't understand. There is a highway that goes over an overpass into the building on the seconnd floor! But if you go inside the building, there is no highway there! Where did it go? I can't figure it out. This is no joke. The building is beautiful, anyway, and Mary took lots of photos of the late afternoon sun coming through the windows in various ways. There is also a mall here and whatnot but we didn't really find it; what we did find was a nice grocery store somewhat like a Whole Foods or a Cosentino's. People can run through the store to pick up something quick to make for dinner when they get home, when they get on or off the train.

(By the way, we're told it's not Grand Central Station but Grand Central Terminal. The difference is that a terminal is at the end of the line, while a station is in the middle of the line. Even my map says Grand Central Terminal, and I was concerned that we might be going to the wrong place. No, just wrong words in our vocabulary.)

We have a ticket for a river cruise around the lower end of Manhattan. It's part of the City Pass packet. We still have time to do our choice of rides today: 6:00 pm "Beast" speedboat ride, or 7:00 pm "twilight" ride. We choose the slower ride. It's timed so that on the return trip you see the sun setting over the New Jersey skyline. We also went past the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.

I've called to get information about the Statue of Liberty. You can take a ferry from the lower tip of Manhattan, Battery Park. Like the Washington Monument and some other sights we've seen, there are special tours inside but the number of tickets is limited. We've been advised that we need to get there very early in the morning, before 8:00 am, in order to get a ticket. Deja vu. We determine to wake up tomorrow at 5 am to catch the 6 am train, catch the subway downtown around 7:15 am to arrive at Battery Park before 7:45 am. Stay tuned for the story how that worked out.

Well, Mary wants to use the computer now, so you'll have to check back later to find out what happened to us on Tuesday, what we plan for Wednesday, and the special friend we will be visiting on Thursday.

New York, Day One, Part One

Sunday, June 11

This morning we went to The Vineyard Church in Morristown, New Jersey. They were finishing up a series on the Da Vinci Code. The sermon was excellent, a lot of meat, lots of information about the development of the New Testament canon. It was a lot of the same kind of information you can find in Geisler and Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible. Pastor Craig is as energetic as he appears to be on the web page.

We got to speak to several people after the service, including Pastor Craig, Carolyn, Suzanne, and at least one or two other gentlemen whose names I can't remember. They all offered excellent advice on how to get into the city. We are about 30 miles out. We were thinking of driving down to Newark, then getting on the train there. But they told us there would be little parking in Newark, and the truck wouldn't be as safe there anyway. They suggested instead using the Morristown station, right here, and parking for free on the street nearby. It takes about one hour to get into the city from here. One person even drew us a map how to get to the train station.

Getting into the city was a snap. Once in Penn Station, we were at a loss how to find the right subway. Penn Station is a central location for NJ Transit, Amtrak, Long Island Railroad, the subway, and other local trains. But everyone there was helpful, and soon we were on the E train headed for the middle east side.

In the Parker Meridien Hotel, there is a recommended hamburger at the Burger Joint. It is a dive hidden away behind the hotel lobby. The hamburgers were wonderful but not distinctive. The fries were OK. The shakes are made from Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Yum!

Not too far away from there, we found Carnegie Hall. No interesting concerts today or this week even. Tours cost $9 but no tours today. We might try to get back here tomorrow.

Walking down Broadway. Mary says this feels like San Francisco but more crowded. I think it feels like San Francisco but just taller (buildings). We look at lots of shows but none grabs us. Ticket prices seem pretty uniform, about $111 per ticket for full view seats. But nothing much seems to be playing tonight ... most of the Sunday shows are 3:00 pm matinees. Someone at church had told us about a place that sells half price tickets. We called Bill T, who we met at church and he actually gave us his phone number. He tells us the half price tickets are at 47th and Broadway. It was really wonderful having someone like Bill to help us out. He really went out of his way to make himself available to us. Pretty soon we had in hand tickets for a 7:00 pm showing of "Chicago" (of "All That Jazz" fame or vice versa). They were $59 each including service charges.

We wandered back up Broadway, stopped at a Starbucks, and went into a few trinket stores and electronics stores. Didn't buy anything, but we're going to buy some gifts tomorrow. (Trinkets, not electronics, so don't get y'all hopes up, now.)

The show was good. We don't go to lots of musicals, so we're not really in a place to judge. I liked the excellent orchestra and the funny story line. Mary had a really good time. We both got to talk to the people sitting near us, and we had nice conversations.

There is more, but we have to go now. We learned how to ride the subway, we went to the Empire State Building. But that will have to wait until later.

Where's the beef?

Saturday, June 10

Today we decided to take it easy and not necessarily go into New York City yet.

One of the 20 best hamburgers is in Hackensack, so we decide to try it. We spent most of the early afternoon getting lost trying to find the New Jersey Turnpike. "Turnpike turn right here" ... then no more signs for five miles, while you're passing shady neighborhoods and abandoned buildings. Yuck. That was in the New Brunswick area, or was it Wood-something or Something-wood? Woodbridge?

Anyway, once in downtown Hackensack it wasn't too difficult to find. It's called "White Manna" and the burgers are small, sort of like White Castle's (from what we've heard, never eaten them ourselves) and made from scratch. The protocol is pretty strange. The small place was full, with every seat occupied and many of us standing, but almost no one eating. The cook would take orders whenever space freed up on the grill, yelling "next!" They said he could keep track of what order everyone came in. We felt bad placing a special order (neither of us can eat the bun, and Mary can't have pickles either) but others in line told us to give it a try. After about ten minutes, others in line ahead of us were gone, and we had four small cheeseburgers with onions drenched in grease, fries, and cokes. We both thought it well worth spending the morning lost to find this place.

White Manna is a typical New Jersey diner, and you can see photographs here and here.

Oh, while searching for these photos, I came across this list of the 20 best hamburgers with addresses and maps. (Search the page for "GQ", about two-thirds of the way down.)

Motels in Hackensack and Paramus are more expensive than we would like, so we've ended up farther west in East Hanover, near Parsippany and Morristown. This is about 30 minutes out from Newark, New Jersey. We hope to take a test run tomorrow: drive out to Newark and park in the park and ride lot, then take the PATH train across into New York City, which should only take a few minutes. We'll see how it works out. If easy, then we might stay here for a few days. Otherwise, we might move to a hotel closer to NYC. The tradeoff is that as you get closer in, the opportunities for free (and safe) parking diminish. I found two affordable hotels in Brooklyn and Queens, but in both cases you have to park a couple blocks away, and we with all the "valuables" in the truck. No, sir.

There is a Vineyard Church in Morristown, about ten miles from here, and we'll check it out tomorrow morning.

Oh ... we went out to Wendy's a few minutes ago. Three hamburger meals in the last 26 hours. There are two more to try in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn, and Mary says she might like to go back to White Manna again as long as we're staying nearby.

In the city of brotherly religious freedom

Friday, June 9

Today was a great day. We made a few wrong turns again in the morning, including at least two that took us over bridges into New Jersey, each requiring that we pay a toll to return to Pennsylvania ... but eventually we got wrong-turn-itis out of our system.

In Philadelphia, we were able to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the first US Capitol, two different Quaker houses, Benjamin Franklin's grave, a memorial to the unknown soldiers of the revolutionary war, and probably a few other things that I don't remember right now.

Philadelphia advertises a four-by-five-block stretch of downtown as "America's most historic mile," and it certainly is.

We learned a lot about William Penn, his ideal of religious tolerance, and his contributions to the Pennsylvania constitution, which formed the basis for our own Bill of Rights. We learned most of this not in Independence Park, but in one of the Quaker houses, which had a very friendly guide that we caught at a quite time. He is a member of a Quaker meeting in New Jersey, and he explained to us a bit about the Quaker meetings and the beliefs of the various different Quaker groups.

Everything here is well worth seeing. The Liberty Bell is the real one, not a replica. Being really just a very old bell with a big crack in it, it was a bit ugly despite its historical significance.

At both the first US Capitol and Independence Hall, we were fortunate enough to get the same very enthusiastic guide. Learning about these buildings would have been a very different experience without a guide or with a different guide.

After everything here closed at 6:00 pm, we got the car out of hock and cruised on down to Rittenhouse Square. Parking is expensive in Philadelphia! It cost us $16 to park near Independence Hall for six hours, then another $14 to park near Rittenhouse Square for just two hours to eat dinner. Traffic was pretty bad getting to the Square during 6 pm rush hour, but not so bad when we left there at 8 pm.

We ate at Rouge on 18th, just across from the Square. Their "Rouge Burger" was considered one of the "20 hamburgers you must eat before you die" by GQ magazine. We both had ours bunless, since we are allergic to wheat gluten. The burger itself must be a half pound, and it's not flat, but almost more like meat ball shape because it's so tall. Our medium requests came out mildly crunchy on the outside while pink in the very center. They come with carmelized onions and gruyere cheese, plus lettuce, tomato and pickle if you want them. They also come with "pommes frites" which is I guess how they say "french fries" in Philadelphia's French Quarter. We had a side order of grilled asparagus that seemed barely warmed, but was very tasty. To top it all off, they had two different flavors of our favorite dessert, creme brule, and a flourless chocolate cake to boot. But the cook suggested the flourless cake might still have a trace of flour from the baking process, where it is used to remove the cake from the pan. We did try both the vanilla and the chocolate creme brules. I let Mary have most of the chocolate one, although it was the better of the two, because it was so rich.

We will be on the lookout for more "burgers to die for" as we get into New Jersey and New York, where there are four more.

Tonight we've ended up in the middle of New Jersey near Princeton, because I ran out of steam. We hope to get into NYC tomorrow, but we still don't even know yet where to catch the train or where we can park the truck safely.

Escape from Washington

Thursday, June 8

And now for something completely different. We have been walking around in Washington for four full days. Mary's feet are killing her. I decided we can try something else today.

We started by going to the Marine Veteran's Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial. We were almost there when we took one wrong turn, and we ended up going many miles out of our way before we found our way back. Today was definitely our day for making wrong turns. Eventually we got there and after the busload of kids left, we were left alone with the ranger, who was a volunteer and a Marine veteran of Lebanon 1958, Vietnam, and the Dominican Republic. We learned a lot about the memorial and the crowds from him.

Next, we saw the Teddy Roosevelt Memorial. In fashion true to his reputation as a conservationist, his memorial is on an island without roads, accessible only via a footbridge. The island is peaceful except when the planes land at nearby Reagan National Airport just across the river; this happens only about every five minutes or so. Grrr.

Next came the most comedic stretch of wrong turns in our whole trip. I wanted to go across one of the 14th street bridges to the Jefferson Memorial. We went back and forth past the Pentagon on one freeway, then another, then surface streets, then into the back lot of a business, then into a dead end, then back up the GW Parkway ten miles into another county before we found a place to turn around, then back past the Pentagon again, without ever being in the right lane to exit onto any bridge at all. Finally, we ended up on the Key Bridge at 4:30 pm, which is really crazy. Key Bridge is the one farthest from where we wanted to be, it was rush hour, and we were heading right into downtown. We eventually made it down to the Lincoln Memorial and I tried to go around it, but confound it, that road goes back across the river and pretty soon we were back across where we started, near Arlington Cemetery again. We found another circle where we could turn around and come right back across the bridge to the Lincoln Memorial. Then we found the back road down the island where the Jefferson Memorial is. It was worth going "out of the way" to get too; even Mary agreed. It is a beautiful building with a rounded dome that looks like a bald head; no spire on top like the Capitol has.

OK; we've had it. We have been in Washington six days and we have barely made it halfway through two Smithsonian museums; we could stay here another week and not get through it all. At some point you've got to take up stakes and get moving. Only problem was, we're not done making wrong turns yet. I wanted to take the Anacostia Freeway out of town to the east, but going over the river I took a wrong turn, and we ended up in Anacostia Park instead of the freeway. We had to ride along the shoreline for quite a while before we found our way back to the freeway. I have been lost in Anacostia before, at night in the dark, and I was very afraid. Anacostia is a neighborhood across the Anacostia River from downtown, and it is a slum. I figured we'd be safe in the daylight, in the park, but I wanted to find my way out quickly.

As we headed up through Baltimore, we found a few sections of road that required tolls. We temporarily mislaid the small change jar, we've spent all our bills except one dollar, and we don't have enough in the car to pay the next toll. We found an exit just shy of the next toll and we found an ATM.

As we passed Baltimore, the weather started turning bad. Eventually the rain got to the point that I could not see very well. We got off in a place called Havre de Grace or something like that, to slurp a chocolate shake at McDonald's and wait out the storm. In 20 minutes, the storm let up a little and we left armed with directions from the locals how to get into Delaware paying the least possible in tolls.

Eventually we made our way to the north side of Philadelphia, where we will visit downtown tomorrow.

The early bird and the monument ... battle of the wills part two

Wednesday, June 7

Yesterday we saw part of the Air and Space Museum. Did I mention that they have actual capsules that have been in space? At Rocket Park in Houston, we saw rockets and capsules that were intended for space use but never actually deployed. At the NASM, they have the actual Mercury 7, Gemini IV or VI (I have dyslexia when it comes to roman numerals), and Apollo 11 ... the one Neil Armstrong rode to the first moon landing. Mary thought it was real cool to see real artifacts from the space program. We saw a space suit that had actual "moon dust" on it. We didn't get to touch anything, though.

We were quite disappointed that we didn't get Washington Monument tickets yesterday. We were mostly disappointed that (1) we would have to get up early again, and (2) we would have to get up even earlier than we did on Tuesday. Grrr. We set the alarm for 6:00 am and we got up as soon as the alarm went off, instead of dawdling.

The story about Washington Monument tickets is that they start handing them out at 8:30 am, and they usually run out around 9:00 am. Some people start lining up as early as 8:00 am just to make sure they get one. The tickets don't cost anything. The tickets are timed ... you come back at a designated time slot. Mary thinks it's like the fast passes you can get at Disneyland. The real purpose here is to insure the security lines are not overloaded ... they let only a few people through security at a time.

Anyway, we got into town around 7:45 and rushed up to the already-forming line. By the time we got to the front, we got the last tickets for the 3:30 pm time slot, and there were only a couple of time slots with any remaining tickets at all. You are allowed a choice of time slots, but as they run out your choices dwindle.

After the early-morning rush of getting the tickets, this turned out to be one of the more fun days we had. We left the mall area to see sights elsewhere. We decided to see the International Spy Museum. But on the way there, we accidentally came across Ford's Theater and the house where Lincoln died. Ford's Theater has been reconstructed internally to its 1865 state. I was disappointed to find that almost nothing original was there; but the experience was still educational. They fill up the theater with as many as want to see the presentation, which takes about 20 minutes. It is just a ranger talk. But you get to hear every detail of what happened all day in the theater on the fateful day when Lincoln was shot. School is still in session and there are lots of kids doing field trips, so our presentation was full of people. We noticed later in the afternoon that the lines were a lot shorter and the crowds smaller.

Did you know that Lincoln was shot on a Good Friday? I didn't know that. Turns out that fact was instrumental in the assassination coming together that day ... which is another story altogether. But it shows that you can really learn a lot at these ranger presentations.

Most of these museums and other sights are part of the Smithsonian Museums or the National Park Service, so they are free. Personally, we think they are all much better than the sights we have paid to see on this trip.

The bottom floor of the theater is turned into a museum about Lincoln, the civil war, the politics of the day, and the group who conspired to kill Lincoln.

After Lincoln was shot, he was taken across the street to a boarding house, where he died the next day in the room of a Union soldier who happened to be out of town that weekend. You can view three rooms of that house. It's not really that interesting, but the wait was short so it was worthwhile.

We eventually got to the International Spy Museum, one of the few museums in DC we've paid to get into. We had about two hours before we had to head back down to the Washington Monument. They suggested you allow two hours to view the museum. After two hours, we'd finished not quite half the museum! They were nice enough to let us come back later and enter a second time to finish up. It's a fascinating place about the science of spying and the lives of spies. It discusses tools of the trade like lock picks, bugs, tiny cameras, and hidden weapons. It shows in rudimentary fashion how spies are trained to do what they do. It tells the stories of a great many US, Soviet, and German spies who were caught. It tells about the deceptions regarding the Normandy invasion and how spies led the Germans astray about Allied plans. It tells about the atomic bomb and those who leaked secrets to the Soviets.

We finally got to see the inside of the Washington Monument at 3:30 pm. Anyone can walk up to the monument, see the outside of it, take photos, talk to a ranger, etc. But you need a special ticket to take the elevator to the top. It's really quite a view. The monument faces directly north, south, east, and west, and it is in a central location on the mall. You can see the Capitol, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the reflecting pools, the Pentagon, the Smithsonian Castle, and many other familiar landmarks. You can come down one floor from the top to visit a small museum about Washington and a bookstore. On the way back down, the you can see various special stones that were donated by the states for use during the construction. Some of them are quite elaborate. We were told that on some days when there is enough staff on hand, you can ride the elevator to the top (500 feet), then walk down with a ranger who will show you all the special stones. There are over 100 of them.

At the end of our very long day, since this is our last night here, I insisted we take a stroll through Georgetown. We found a restaurant there that was very helpful with our food allergies. After dinner, we even got to go into one store (Urban Outfitters) that was still open after 9:00 pm.

The early bird and the monument ... battle of the wills part one

Tuesday, June 6

Were there elections in California today? We have our home phone forwarded to our cell phone, and every day I've been getting recorded messages, campaign workers calling me, and surveys. It's really annoying, and you probably agree. I hope we stop getting these calls after today.

OK, so today we really did get up early. 7:00 am is really early for us. But by the time we worked our way through commute traffic to the train station, we were already way late. We got to the Washington Monument just after they gave away the last ticket. We were disappointed.

Did I mention that we are staying at the south end of Alexandria, near Van Dorn, but I didn't like the train station there so we are driving up to the West Falls Church station instead? That station is in a much nicer neighborhood. It's around the corner from where Calvary Chapel meets. It's right next to a university (I don't remember which one). That station is about twelve miles away from us by freeway. Late at night, it takes only fifteen minutes to drive. But in the commute, it's more like 45 minutes. Taking surface streets instead also takes about 45 minutes. So this does cost us some extra time at each end of the commute. But I think it's safer to park the car at the Falls Church station with the laptop inside.

Anyway, we trudged on up to the Capitol instead. We were able to get a 2:30 ticket to tour the Capitol. In the meantime, we went to the Air and Space Museum again. We got through quite a bit of it, but when we left there we had still finished only one floor of two. The place is huge and very interesting. We might try to get back there to finish more of it.

The basic Capitol tour takes you to the Rotunda (inside the dome), the old House room, and the basement below the Rotunda. Our tour guide was a character. He rolled his eyes a lot while talking about the lawmakers, past and present. Anyway, the basic tour was pretty short. The only reason it took more than half an hour is because there were 50 other tour groups in the same room at the same time, and you had to force your way through one group to get to your next stop.

In order to see more, specifically, the galleries (upstairs in the actual house or senate chambers), you must get a ticket from your congressman's or senator's office. I don't even know who our house representative is, but I told Mary I know who our California senators are (snicker). She said she did not want to see them. I said, you go to the office, the senator is busy, a staffer gives you the ticket. Anyway, a couple nearby us overheard our conversation and gave us two tickets to the House gallery. Someone had just handed them a handful of tickets; they kept enough for their family and gave us the last two. So we didn't even have to walk across the street to the congressional offices.

The house chambers were beautiful but disappointing. We went in around 4:00 pm. The House was in session but they had just finished an appropriations bill when they realized some last-minute paperwork was missing, so they took a recess to fetch it. They would not return from recess until 5:15 pm. We did not want to wait that long. I counted the seats and came up with more than 360. (There are about 450 congressman.) A guard told us about the statues and moldingsj around the room. There are 22 famous lawgivers around the ceiling. We were sitting under Moses, my favorite. The guard told us we could find more information at the Architect of the Capitol web site.

By the time we finished here, the Air and Space Museum was near closing time and had lost its appeal for today. We wandered next door to the Hirschhorn Museum, which houses relatively modern art (mostly apparently collected during the 1960's). We got through one floor of four before closing time. We are not real fans of art, modern or otherwise, but it was relaxing.

OK, got to take my shower and check out of the room ... will try to post more later tonight.

National Museum of National Museums

Monday, June 5

Today we really slept in, but we both needed the sleep. We intended to start seeing the Smithsonian museums. We ended up at the Capitol building. But again, you need tickets that are issued first-come first-served early the morning. The tickets are free, but there will still be a line even if we manage to get up early.

So we started at the National Air and Space Museum. We got through only about one-fourth of the museum before it closed at 5:30 pm. We got through the the section on the history of aviation before WWII and the section on jet aviation.

The Museum of National History stays open later so we went there next. Again, in two hours we got through only about one-fourth of the exhibits. We saw an exhibit about mammals, a short movie about evolution, an exhibit about Sikhs, and an exhibit about Lewis and Clark. The mammal exhibit was like a zoo except that all the animals were stuffed. We will try to get back to this museum to finish it, but we might skip the animals unless the exhibits offer something we didn't already see at the zoo.

Oh, I forgot, we also saw the Ulysses S. Grant memorial and the US Botanic Garden, which Mary loved. She took lots of photos there.

After all this, we found a nice sidewalk restaurant and they really helped us find food we could eat.

Tomorrow, we will set the alarm early and see if we can see some of the sights that require tickets. Before we're done here, we really hope to see:

• The inside of the Washington Monument.
• The inside of the Capitol building.
• The remainder of the Air and Space Museum.
• The remainder of the Natural History Museum.
• The Museum of American History and Technology.

The Holocaust Museum and the Bureau of Printing and Engraving also require advance tickets, but they are lower priority. We've also been told that the Thomas Jefferson building and the Library of Congress are the most beautiful buildings in the city, and we should try to see them.

There is also the National Gallery of Art, but neither of us is into fine art that much. But if tomorrow goes well, we might stay here a few more days and see a lot more.

Memorial Day

Sunday, June 4

Today we went to church at Calvary Chapel DC Metro, which is not actually in DC but in Falls Church, Virginia. The church service was wonderful. They had a guest speaker from New Jersey and he spoke very well. He spoke out of 2 Peter 1 about the progression from faith to virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly love, and agape love. He gave good examples of each.

The church had a group of guests from an orphanage in Haiti. They sang for us and it was beautiful.

We parked in the Metro station right next to the church and we went into DC. We saw the Washington Monument, the the World War II memorial, the Vietnam Veterans memorial, the Lincoln memorial, and the Korean War Veterans memorial. Then we went to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, but we didn't see much.

Each memorial has its own unique qualities. We both thought the World War II memorial had the most compelling design. It has a central fountain surrounded by pillars. There is a pillar for each state, and each pillar has a green-copper wreath. The pillars present each state in chronological order, but they alternate sides of the circle, so that, for example, Delaware (the first state) and Alaska (the 49th state) are on one side of the fountain, while Pennsylvania (the second state) and Hawaii (the 50th state) are on the other side of the circle. There is also a small "waterfall" from the large reflecting pool into a smaller pool on the edge of the monument.

The Washington Monument has elevators that take you to the top, but you need to get tickets early in the day. Mary and I are not morning people, and we were disappointed. It will take some effort for us to get up early, but we hope to make it happen one day while we are here.

We went into the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, but again, you must get tickets early in the day in order to see the bulk of the exhibits.

We were hungry at the end of the day but we couldn't find any food. Probably because it's Sunday after hours. We finally found a Hard Rock Cafe near 12th and E, and Mary said although she's never been to one, she knows we can find good food there. Well, it turns out almost everything they make has gluten in it. Every salad dressing, every sauce, BBQ sauce, baked potatoes, even the vegetables have a seasoning that has gluten. The manager was very helpful. We ended up with bacon cheeseburgers and huge salads without dressing. Unfortunately, this meant we totally missed out on the Hard Rock Cafe "experience" (except for watching the videos on the wall). But the food was good and we were hungry.

Rx

Saturday, June 3

I like the College Park area because it is much nicer than Silver Spring, and not as far out as Laurel. Just inside the Beltway there is a Metro station for UMD. But the Holiday Inn here is overpriced and not that comfortable. Also, Mary was not feeling well today, and when either of us gets worse I like to get us out into a new motel just in case. So we left College Park not knowing exactly where we will end up tonight.

I got Mary to a clinic where we could get medications for her minor infection. The clinic is right next to a Rite Aid where we could fill the prescriptions right away, and as soon as she took them, Mary started feeling better.

We tried to find a less expensive room up in Laurel, and I did have a few coupons. (Before this trip, I thought those books of traveler's coupons were useless; now we use them almost every night. The hotel manager our very first night out in El Monte, California suggested that we use them.) Anyway, there is some kind of jazz festival going on here this weekend, and every room in the Laurel area is sold out. We still have a couple of choices: find something up in the Rockville area, and hop on the train in Bethesda in order to ride into town. Bethesda is a real nice area but the hotels are expensive and we have no coupons for that town. But we have some coupons for Rockville. I also found some coupons for Alexandria on the Virginia side. We ended up at a mediocre but passable motel in Alexandria, where we will stay for a few days.

We used the evening to rest up instead of going into DC. Late in the evening Mary felt well enough to go out and look for a Cold Stone Creamery. This is the best she has felt in a couple of weeks. Looks like the day of rest paid off.

Can you help me find this address in Gettysburg?

Friday, June 2

Today we went to Gettysburg National Park. I never really knew what Gettysburg was about, except that there is a cemetery there and there was a battle, and President Lincoln gave a speech there.

The park itself is huge. There are supposedly 26 miles of streets in the park, and it takes two full hours just to drive them without even stopping to see the sights. The town of Gettysburg is right in the middle of the park, and some of the sights take you right into town or through town.

A battle took place here July 1-3, 1863. There were separate battles each of the three days, and each was staged in a different place: on the north side of town, on the west side of town, and on the south side of town. This is one reason the park is so big.

There are lots of official and unofficial tours of the park. One of the official tours costs only about $40 and a private guide comes along with you in your own car. I thought that was a great deal pricewise, but of course we don't have room for a third person to ride with us in the truck. We found another option in the bookstore: a set of two audio CDs with a guidebook. You play the CDs in your car and it tells you where to go, where to stop, what to see, and the historical significance of what you are seeing. You can see the park at your own pace, spend more time at the sights that interest you more, take a break to rest or eat, or skip something that seems dull. The CDs cost $20 for the set, and the bookstore clerk said it is the absolute best way to see the park. We took about four to five hours to see pretty much everything except the cemetery.

After finishing up at Gettysburg, we headed on down to Washington DC, only about an hour and a half away. We drove over the bridge into downtown just to see what the monuments look like at night, without intending to get out. Mary did get a few photos of the Washington Monument all lit up, but it was impossible to drive past the front of the Lincoln Memorial. We might try this again before we leave, since we now have Metro passes. There is a night tour but all we really want to do is to get photos of the monuments all lit up at night.

I tried to drive us into Georgetown, but I made a wrong turn or got dis-oriented and we headed north from the mall instead of west. We ended up on Georgia Ave near Walter Reed hospital; then I knew I'd gone terribly wrong. But for a good 30 to 45 minutes, I was just totally lost and I was just trying to keep driving until I passed a familiar-sounding name or a freeway entrance.

We settled into a hotel in College Park, Maryland, on the east side of Washington, around 9:00 pm.

What? No Laptops?

Thursday, June 1

Today we traveled all over the Lancaster area. We started by visiting a quilt store on the west side of town. I left the papers in the car so right now I don't remember the name of it. The store is run by Mennonites and their quilts were beautiful. One difference between the Amish and the Mennonites is that the Mennonites will use electricity. The quilts we saw today were pieced by machine, but quilted by hand. We bought some fabric at a great price, and we bought some trinkets for gifts. If you're on our Christmas gift list, look forward to some fun stuff this year!

We took a 25-minute ride with Amish Barn Buggy Rides, located in the town of Bird In Hand, east of Lancaster on Highway 340. Our driver had grown up Amish but had left when he was about 20 years old. He joined up with the Mennonites, who allowed him to drive his Mustang and take a job in aviation. (The Amish do not allow the use of automobiles or electricity, and they don't allow one to work outside the community.) We had fun swapping stories with him, because he was familiar with Chuck Smith and John Wimber, and he apparently came to a real personal faith through the Vineyard ministry.

The buggy ride took us onto a real working farm where we could see the cows, alfalfa fields, corn fields, house, barn, and diesel equipment. (The Amish use diesel engines to provide hydraulic and pneumatic power for their tools, but they don't use the engines to generate electricity.) He told us about the typical farm (a dairy farm with 64 acres and about 50 cows) and its trials. He also told us what different kinds of workers are and are not allowed to do. For example, construction workers working on a barn might be allowed to use electric tools while on a job, but they are not allowed to let the clients use the electricity to power radios or other appliances. Also, an Amish landlord might have electricity in their house if they are renting a room to someone who is not Amish, but only the renter can use the electricity; the landlord cannot.

Finally, we went to the Lancaster County History Museum. We hoped to learn more about the Amish and the Mennonites, but we didn't really learn anything new, except that the central Pennsylvania area became a destination for several persecuted religious sects, including also Quakers and Huguenots. It showed that one president was from Pennsylvania and lived nearby. Daniel Boone was from this area. Davy Crockett campaigned here. Abraham Lincoln passed by here twice, once on the way from Illinois to his inauguration, and the other on the way home to his burial. Overall, we thought the museum was very well done, but geared more toward children, and overpriced.

We are now in Gettysburg. We hope to visit the National Park and the cemetery tomorrow. There's a lot here to get through. But the hotel here is expensive and we're determined to move on quickly. We hope to be in the Washington DC area by late tomorrow night. That's less than two hours away from here.

War Happens

Wednesday, May 31

Today, we went to the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital city. It is a well-done museum, arranged in roughly chronological order, with separate rooms for each year of the war. It also devotes a room to the pre-war causes of conflict, and another room to reflection on the costs of the war. We ran out of time and had to rush through the last couple of rooms. But we enjoyed it quite a lot and we learned a lot. Our main complaints would be that the light was sometimes too low to read the text, and the lettering contrast (red with yellow shadows on translucent smoke colored plastic) was sometimes too low.

We stayed in the Harrisburg area tonight, because Mary is still not feeling well. We will leave for Lancaster and the Amish country tomorrow morning, since it's not too far down the road from here.

Science Happens

Tuesday, May 30

Today we went to the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. We didn't arrive there until after 1 pm, and it was recommended that we not try to see two movies and all the exhibits in only four hours. But Mary wasn't feeling too well, so the idea of sitting for a while in the IMAX movie theater appealed to her. We signed up for two movies: Magnificent Desolation (about moon exploration), and The Mystery of the Nile (about the first traversal of the complete Blue Nile from Ethiopia to the Mediterranean).

We also saw a presentation called Stars Over Pittsburgh, which presented a simulation of the night sky. The presentation showed how to locate and identify the various constellations visible during spring and summer in Pittsburgh.

The museum had a WWII submarine, the USS Requin, that you could go inside and explore. We were surprised at the ease with which we could move around, but the very small spaces provided for the sailors to sleep.

The museum had exhibits about the eye, color, prisms, sound, earthquakes, airplane wings and air pressure, among others. We did not see everything in the museum, but we were happy with what we were able to get to. The exhibits are really geared toward younger people, but they were still interesting to us old folks.

Pittsburgh has interesting geography. The Allegheny River flows in from the north, and combines with the Monongahela River, which flows in from West Virginia to the southeast, to form the Ohio River, which flows out to the west. Consequently, the city has lots of bridges over the rivers. Where the rivers come together, there is Point State Park, which we tried to get to, but we could not find parking nearby. I thought it would be fun to dip our ties into three large rivers at the same time.

The National Aviary, the Carnegie Science Museum, and two ball fields are in the North Shore area, north of all the rivers. The downtown area, the universities, and the "strip" are located between the Allegheny and the Monongahela. We also drove around near Frick Park and Squirrel Hill, a hilly area to the east of the universities. We got lost but eventually found our way to a freeway, and we were on our way to Harrisburg and the Amish country.

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Last updated Monday 3 August 2009