Mid Atlantic Musings

The amazing thing is that there are just hundreds of neat places to see all within a 3 hour driving radius. I'd love to see people keep posting about where they'v gone and what they've seen. I find as much delight in discovering a covered bridge as in seeing some famous landmark. The fact that I've just happened on to it, makes it even that much better.

Rick.................I was a professional scouter serving this area the first time we were here. The Loyalsock Trail was then being built with lots of scout units helping. Yes I know about that aproximate 1000 foot climb you mention. I personally have only been supportive of its use then and now. Now of course I could only observe from an assessable point by automobile. There is now a trail association that tends to the business of keeping it in good shape.

Ric, one time DSO and I were driving on either 30 or the turnpike out to Gettysburg having left early in the morning. Having drunk a fair amount of Java in the car, I urgently needed to find a lady's room. We got off of the highway in a town called Columbia or Columbus. The entire town, evey home, business, car, pole, bicycle, wagon and about 500 Harley's were draped in red white and blue bunting. Hundreds of lawn, folding and plastic chairs were set up along the sidewalks. We couldn't find a gas station or restaurant open. But then we saw a tap room with lit signs. Being desperate, we parked and went inside. It was about 9 am and the bar was full of patrons.

After my mad dash to the facilities, I found DSO at the bar having a shot & cup of coffee. The barmaid asked what I wanted, so she poured me a cup of coffee. Then she decided to spike it with something to "get me going". She poured some red schnapps into it that turned the coffee the color of blood. Wanting to be polite, I sipped it. YUCKKKK. It tasted like those red hot cinnamon jelly candies. I think it was called something like red hot or red shots. DSO explained to her that I could not drink on an empty stomach as we had left home with no breakfast.

Within 15 minutes the owner of the bar had his wife make us a complete country style breakfast. They set a table and chairs up for us in the bar room. There was no menu in this place, they didn't serve meals. We asked them what all of the hoopla was for outside. The local high school had just won the state basketball championship over their long time arch rival. The entire community was going to turn out for the parade. Sure enough we stood up and looked out the small window and the streets were beginning to fill with people. By 10:15Am, most of the chairs had been filled and people were sitting on steps and porch bannisters.

The bar owner went down to his basement and came up with two folding chairs and insisted that we sit with he and his wife to watch the parade. We really wanted to get on the road, but felt that we should stay since they had been so hospitable. The entire town, police, fire company, marching bands, local dignitaries, celebrities and floats filled with beautiful babies came out to salute these local heroes. It was a wonderful slice of Americana, that those of us from the cities and suburbs rarely get to glimpse.
We have been to Gettysburg a number of times, but we cherish the memory of that trip above all others.

That was a nice story Storm!

Stormy, that's a great story. When ever our high school wins an out-of-town competition, football game or band competition, our fire department meets the bus and escorts them through town with sirens blasting and parents follow in cars honking horns.

Stormy, That would have probably been Colombia, right along the Susquehanna River, it's a quiet, friendly home town kinda' place, just south of us. The coffee additive was most likely Fire Water cinnamon schnapps, I can't imagine putting that in coffee. LOL Ric

Lady, That's great. Stuff like that hasn't been done around here since I was a kid. The urban sprawl has really changed the complexion of our communities. But yet middle America is just a short drive away!

Ric, yeah, especially at 9AM. LOL

That's a great story Stormy.
We found this out of the way little restaurant on our trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway(maybe in NC???). Friday night fish fry, salad, fish, veggie and potato, dessert and drinks $5.99 Of course we'd never be able to find it again, I don't even know where we were. I really should have wrote these things down, but we're like that just get up and go(or we used to be before kids)

Jen, those are the wonderful things that I love about just getting in the car and exploring. People from other countries always criticized our gas guzzeling cars, but motoring is (or was) the great American past time.

Well, the motorcycle gets great gas mileage, so does my Firebird(convertible, baby!)

I'd like to spend a month or so in Europe with a Eurail pass. You can go from the Greek Isles to Scandinavia by rail or ferry, and do it affordably. An upgrade for overnight rail, a hostel, or inn can be very reasonable and usually includes breakfast. For $2124 you can have unlimited travel for 2 for 1 month in the following countries: Austria, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic Of Ireland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary. Airline tickets $1587 for 2 from Pa. to Germany! With better deals to be had. That's $3700 plus WAM. I still dream of doing this, I just don't know if I can talk Holly into it. Not that I've spent any time thinking about it or anything! LOL Ric

Sounds great Ric! I have a friend who goes all over the world with Elder Hostel. She is about 73 years old. She lives in Jersey on her sailboat in the summer and in Fla in her condo in the winter. She was a world cultures teacher before she retired. She's not afraid to go anywhere by herself. I've never traveled by rail in Europe, unless you count an unlimited Metro pass in Paris. LOL It was pretty easy to figure out the subway system and people would always help me if I couldn't. Of course, in Paris, people are used to tourists wandering around with confused looks on their faces.

I am so behind on this thread.
First Lvs, Those are just beautiful dogs. GD have always been a favorite of mine. There was a cover picture on one of my Equestrian mags years ago with a pic of a Appaloosa all decked out and working a dressage movement. Right beside the app was a harlequin Dane just strutting his stuff. Probably saw that pic 20 years ago and I still remember it.
I have a friend that had one years ago she will be retiring in the next 2 years and has been talking about getting another Dane when she retires. My first choice for a really big dog is an Irish Wolfhound a Dane would be my second. Although I think Danes might have a better personality or calmer temperament. If I ever do decide to get one I will have to check them out first all I really know about Irish Wolf Hounds are that they are sight hounds and you need to be a bit careful that you don't loose them. They will see something that you can't and take off like a shot to it. Also sadly to say that same as GD they are short lived dogs. You asked about pets Ric and I have had quite a lot of them over the years, there were 5 dogs here at one time, a lot of cats over the years and a few more exotic furry pets like my daughter's ferrets and son's chinchillas. Some fish aquariums, one with tadpoles turning into frogs and a few small birds. Then there were the barn animals horses/ponies, goats (Nubian milk goats and a few pygmies), pigs, bunnies, chickens, turkeys. Sounds like a lot but there were only a few of them and not all at the same time. Throw in my 4 children and their many friends that thought this was the fun place to hang out and we had quite the house full. Right now we only have one aged dog Buddy a beagle/basset mix and Sassy the elderly blind cat, the aquarium with it's one fish. The Girls, our 3 chickies were given to us last Easter by my son are more like pets than laying hens but are providing us with a few eggs every day. HOLLY

Stormy, Thanks for the link I hardly ever go to the Aroid forum that is some interesting plant. I think we might have seen one at Longwood and I think I saw one in Washington years ago.
VWR, I didn't realize that I should be looking in the Aroid forum for EE's I just love them, too. I really don't know much about them but the few I have seem to like a short dormant period. When they start to die back and look a little worse for wear I stop watering them for a couple of months. That is usually about the time I need to move them for the holidays and then I start watering them usually in March when I start up my seedlings. Last year I ordered a couple of those really big Port Odora EE's from Caladiums for Less. He has a classified add up this year and has a special price on them again so I ordered 2 more. I sure hope the bulbs I saved from last year are good that would give me 4 really big ones.
Hello Pagan, I have never been to Tennessee but I have seen some of those "Come to Tennessee" commercials and it sure looks beautiful. One of these days we will have to get there.

Sheryl, Why don't you post a photo of Stormy here.

Re helmet hair you should try snowmobile hair. We use to go up north and "go" out for the evening. An hours snowmobile ride dressed in snowmobile suits and boots with wool caps and helmets to get to the bar for our evening out. Boy did we look good when we got there. LOL Of course there weren't many girls to compete with so most of the guys were just glad to see a woman.
Ric and I both had bikes years ago. Of course his was a lot bigger than the little put put that I used to run back and forth to work. Thought I looked so cute riding in my jeans with a bikini top up to the lake to meet him. Yea right until I hit a patch of loose stone in the turn and took a tumble out over the handle bars. Lucky I was going real slow and did one of those shoulder rolls so there was only a small patch of road rash. I vividly remember as I flew over those handle bars thinking about how much of my exposed skin was going to end up on the road. After that I was all covered up no matter how warm it was. LOL Holly

Holly, I often think about that when I see girls riding on motorcycles with tank tops and such. I also can't believe the amount of sun and wind burn they get. I bet you looked great after you got off of that snowmobile. I still like your winter dive gear in the pool look the best.

Well I finally did catch up. RCN what a neet stone house. Stormy did you post those pics over in the Tree Forum? They would just love them over there. What a wonderful tree and thanks for investigating it for us. Doc beautiful pictures, I especially love the grey weathered barn.

Holly, No I didn't, but maybe I will.

Ric, I take that back. I did take a train from Stockolm to Oslo. Heavens, I may have also taken a train from Helsinki to Stockholm. What amazed me on that trip was the hugh heavy backpacks the younger set would carry on their trips. They must have weighed 80 lbs. fully loaded. They packs were often to big to fit into the trains storage lockers.

Rail travel in southern Europe can be a real challenge if you have an agenda to be met. In Greece, the Balkans and Italy, they seriously over sell the train tickets and you have to show up and hope you can get on the train. Often there is not another train until the next day and then you still have to fight to get on that train. We once had to wait three days for friends to join us from Italy. In Italy, they do that with the planes too. Confirmed seating is a total farce. They have complete disregard for your connecting flights. If you need to make your overseas flight home on time, it's best to do your travels through southern Europe early in your trip, so you can adjust your later excursions to insure that you can meet your transatlantic flight home.

I'm not too sure about an extended trip but I would love to go to Greece. My aunt and uncle did a European Rail trip several years ago. Pretty much without solid plans they had a wonderful trip. I remember that they couldn't get off one of the Greek Islands for days as there was some weather issues and the small boats that would take people off the islands weren't running. So they just stayed a couple of extra days ate, drank and pretended they were Greek. Good thing they didn't have a plane to catch. Holly

Holly-OUCH sounds like that hurt

We went to Gatlinburg when I was in 3rd grade, I think before it got too touristy...I loved it and always love travelling the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Whew--I have read once that sycamores grew so big around that some settlers used the hollowed trunks for shelter. Now I know it can be true. Previous owner to this house planted one in the front which will never be able to achieve its full potential in this tiny front yard! What a neat old property. Those columns look like brick cores that had cement plastered on them. Makes me wonder if there was a grand facade like a Southern plantation.
doc, some very nice pixtures

Sally, Yes there was. One of the links that I posted has an old paintitng of it in it's heyday. That painting hangs in the Reading Railroad Terminal in Philadelphia. We may see it on our trip to the Flower show.

Claypa told me that Indians used the hollow trunks of Sycamores to make canoes. There is another road near here that is lined with Sycamores. One of them is much older than the rest and it's on the corner of a school yard. The school had a fence built to meet the two sides of the tree without hurting it. It's trunk is hugh and about 8' from the bottom splits into two large trunks. One of those is completely hollow. I wonder what it is about some Sycamores that makes the trunks hollow.

In the vein of fascination with stuff thats gone to heck, I really enjoyed last years Grey Gardens by HBO with Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore. The mom loved her place even while it rotted around her literally, inside and out.

I still haven't looked to see if Netflix has that movie. I'm sure it does, I think they must have everything. Thanks for reminding me. Holly

Speaking of the Jersey Pine Barrens, I once took a nature hike over there and the instructor showed us this point that is believed to be the northern edge of the Piedmont Plateau. I had no idea that it came this far north. It was about 40 miles due east of Philadelphia. Last year there were reports of Sturgeon being sighted for the first time in many decades in the Delaware river harbor. They were in brackish water just about where the bay meets the river. The Lenni Lenape Indians used to pull thousand pounders out of that water to feed their tribes and enrich their crop soil.

They should--It's been for sale at Target and online--If you ever need movie ideas, go get in on Ordered from Netflix on the Books, TV, Movie forum

edit--the movie that is, not the sturgeon at Target

This message was edited Jan 29, 2010 10:33 AM

Holly, If you have "on demand" tv, the movie is there as one of the choices. I followed the story of those two Bouvier/Beale women for many years, back when Jackie gave them the money and had the house cleaned up the first time the board of health wanted it condemned. That was in the 70's. There was a documentary about it that is also on demand on either Bravo or the Biography series on A&E. The real Bouvier ladies are in that one. Drew Barrymore did an amazing job as the daughter.

One of the reasons those two never left the house was because they went out to a party in the early 60's and while they were gone someone broke in and burglarized the place and stole their jewelry. It was quite suspiscious as it was the first time in years that they had gone out. They were quite an embarassment for Lee Radizwell & Jackie. The filmmakers first went there as part of a documentary they were making with Lee about the Hamptons. When they saw the house and met the two ladies, they were fascinated with filming them and gave up on Lee's documentary.

During the publicity for the documentary all sorts of bad press was directed at Jackie about letting her relatives live in such squalor. Onasis convinced her to go there and rehab the place and hire someone to look after them. She did all that, but those biddies fired the help and soon were back to their old habits., They never used any of the new appliances that Jackie had bought. They stored junk in the oven and washing machine.

Rumor has it that old Rose Kennedy got quite a kick out of the whole affair. But actually Rose did somewhat of the same thing with the Kennedy Palm Beach property. I've read that all of the neighbors considered it the neighborhood eyesore. If I remember correctly, old Joe Kennedy gifted the property to the family trust. Rose was the trustee. As such she felt that the trust couldn't afford to spend any money on the house and grounds. She expected the family members to support it if they wanted to use it. It wasn't dirty or full of garbage, just all the cushions and curtains were threadbare and the paint all peeling and nothing modernized. Rose took her trust duties seriously and could really squeeze a nickel. I read that she made Jackie write her a sizable check for the trust when Jackie wanted the desk that Jack had written Profiles in Courage on for the JFK library.

This message was edited Jan 29, 2010 11:03 AM

I am just getting caught up this morning on all the "musings"!

I love all the pictures and stories! I especially love hearing about the old trees! Virginia extension did a research project that then turned into a beautiful coffee table book called "Remarkable trees of Virginia". Pei=ople from all over the state were able to nominate trees fro the book by sending in a photo and information about individual trees that were the largest, oldest, most historical or simply unusual. I had nominated two different trees from the F'burg area... one made the book and one didn't.

The one that made the book is actually two trees, side by side. They are southern catalpa trees on the grounds of Chatham Manor, and they are dated to pre-Civil War. Someone attempted to burn them down during the war, when the house was used as a battle headquarters. They still live, though they are hollow, and very knotty and gnarly!

VWR, I just love the character of those two trees. If only they could talk. I bet they have borne witness to some interesting events. Good for you on the success with the book!

VWR, Check out the link to that Waymarking site that I posted. It is all historical trees. It's up in that post with all of the other links. You can add your own photos too. I added one.

This is a wonderful thread, but it is getting long!
I think it should continue so I have started Page 2...
Come on over!
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1072745/

Oh, I've fallen off the wagon and am running to keep up with this!!

But did want to ask you, Stormy--about the"Weird U.S." books...do they have Arkansas and Luisiana?? I'd have to get one. I bought the Time-Life series volumes on the various parts of North America. It's wonderful!! I have a picture of Mt.Hood in Oregon before it blew its cap with a volcanic eruption in the late '80's.

That was a nice story about Gettysburg. I visited there a year and a half ago and just loved it. Saw the Civil War battlefield and walked the streets of the old town part.

HELLLLLOOOOO, Stormy!
If you had posted a lin to this, i would have gotten back to you sooner......:o)

I had to search for the "Musings" Forum....Found you! Clicked to "Watch it"-----NOW--I am all ears!
What is it you wanted from me?????? Please----NOT my firstborn!!!.......

I never knew this existed--so I am NOT caught up with anything here....just seeing all my old "Pals" posting.....
I suppose i will have to read it all and catch up--but as slow as i read--it may take several days....weeks....months.....
I sound like Winnie-the Poo.....

GIta