Washington, D.C. & the mountains

Drove up to D.C. (as it's affectionately known) on a Saturday, ate dinner out with Robert & Allison and then spent part of the day Sunday at a shower for the baby Allison is expecting at the end of June. Nice to meet all those people but tough to keep names and faces and relationships straight.

The sad note was late in the afternoon both Allison and Robert had to rush one of their cats to the emergency vet where, eventually, they had to have him put down. He'd developed a blood clot and his whole rear and back legs had been paralyzed. It was a heart-wrenching decision for them. Comet was Rob's pal.

On Monday, after the kids had gone to work, we headed into D.C. and parked out at Arlington National Cemetery and took the tour-mobile 'tram' into the Mall and travelled around seeing the points of interest along the way. Got out at the US Capitol and did a tour of that building and had lunch there. Back on the tour mobile to see the rest of the loop of buildings on the tour and stepped out at the Lincoln Memorial. Took the prescribed photos and hopped the 'tram' back to Arlington and home. The next day we started off at Arlington and toured the cemetery and saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the ceremony that goes on with the changing of the guard.

(Van pretended to have a sinus condition and cough so he sat in the visitor's center while we toured the cemetery and also did the same thing when we went to Mount Vernon. He's getting better but still spends the day clearing his throat and coughing phlegm - love that word! Getting better every day!)

M. Nietz at the U.S. Capitol

Abe and Margaret - he's the one sitting

A small part of Arlington - it covers a huge amount of territory

Impressive ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns

JFK and his missus & the Eternal Flame

This time I'm the one sitting - time for a nap on the front porch at Mt. Vernon

On Wednesday we headed out of D.C. to the mountains. Ended up on the Skyline Drive and spent the night in a cabin at Skyland Resort. Quite cold in the mountains and we were glad of the heater in the room - no fire in the main dining room but stood and warmed ourselves at the check-in counter at the fire they had there.

Next day we headed down to Charlottesville, VA and toured Thomas Jefferson's home - Monticello. Quite interesting innovations he incorporated into his house over the years and the vegetable gardens were very extensive. Even had a chance to visit the gravesite and walk the grounds a little. Then a drive home to the beach with another stop in the nasty little outlet mall we had been to before.

(Haven't had a chance to download more photos from Margaret's camera for a while.)

Williamsburg

The female members of the reading audience will understand the following..... we had a wonderful tour of the colonial town of Williamsburg, Virginia in all its restored glory and we checked out a few stores in the nearby Outlet Mall. Difficult to decide which was of more interest, eh?

Williamsburg is restored to its glory days of around 1780 or so. The main street (Duke of Gloucester Street) is one mile long and the houses and shops lining it are serviced by people dressed for the period. the town spreads about 3 or 4 blocks either side of the main street - all restored. Did a tour of the Governor's Palace and gardens and stopped by for an early tea at Shields Tavern in the colonial area. Also wandered in a couple of shops up the commercial end of the street and picked up a couple of items of interest.

General view of Duke of Gloucester Street

Rosie having tea (!) in the Wythe House

Garden behind the Wythe House

A lovely alleé at the Governor's Palace (he was not at home!)

In fact he left around 1776 and hasn't been back

Hobnobbing with the staff at Shields Tavern

Hope you won't mind that we've no photos of the outlet mall. Like any outlet mall it was just full of shops selling stuff at discount prices. Not terribly interesting unless you like bargains and such.

Naval Base & Botanic Gardens

After a long hiatus we return to update our blog. Don't ask for specific dates - at least the events are in pretty correct chronological order.

One nice sunny day we headed off to do a tour/cruise on the waters around Norfolk, Virginia. We sat in the shade on the top deck and had a narrated tour as we chugged out past the Norfolk waterfront, marine repair facilities, Portsmouth Naval Hospital (largest Military Hospital in the world), the tourist attraction of the battleship Wisconsin (permanently tied to the waterfront), and the Norfolk Naval Operations Base (home of the US Atlantic Fleet). Very pleasant couple of hours and then back home to rest.

At this point it should be noted all photos are from Margaret's camera - most were taken by her as well.

USS Wisconsin under the American Flag

Back end of an aircraft carrier (George H.W. Bush)

From keel to top it is about 25 stories tall!

Another afternoon, after our usual 10 am rising time and gulp of breakfast, we headed to the Norfolk Botanic Gardens and took a little tractor-pulled tram tour of the gardens. Sadly, the day before, the female bald eagle of a pair with three young in the nest had been struck and killed by an airplane landing at the airport next door. Didn't see the eagles but saw a lot of azaleas and a few camellias in bloom. The rose garden was just starting to show some color and a few rhododendron were peeking out of their buds waiting to bloom a couple of days later.

A grass-roofed  garden shed

We've managed to eat out once or twice - perhaps it would be more accurate to say we have eaten at home once or twice. Had one lovely (but too extensive) meal at Yanni's Greek Restaurant - did not sleep too well that night... wonder why?

Plantations

Well, the title is a little misleading as we've got pictures from Savannah & Charleston as well as our trip today to plantations on the James River in Virginia.

Probably too hard to recall all we did in Savannah and Charleston. Suffice it to say we did a tour in each city which gave us an overview of the area. In addition, in Charleston, we went out to Magnolia Plantation -  but you've heard all about that in the email we sent.

Houses in the south

We saw Forest Gump - run, Forest, run.

Wormsloe Plantation has a 1.5 mile oak allee

Did we mention it was Garden Week at the beach?

We saw some gardens from the water

So, on to today....

Rousted everyone out of bed for an early start. Tried to get off by 9 am and managed 9:30 which was pretty good. Started at Westover which was delightful. A family home built back about 1640 which is only open five days a year - during Virginia Garden Week in the spring. The gardens are open all year round though and we wandered around looking at the azalea, peony, dogwood, iris, and other flowers.

Then it was time for lunch. We had reserved a spot at an old house converted into the James City Tavern. Rosie and Van had lightly fried oysters and crab cake, in that order. Margaret, for some reason, eschewed the seafood and opted for ham and spinach quiche. We also had a bowl of asparagus soup to start off and Margaret also checked out the Bourbon Pecan Bread Pudding for dessert. She proclaimed it the best meal she's had so far. Glad she enjoyed it. Then off to Shirley which is currently occupied by the eleventh generation of the same family. No gardens to see, just as well as the rain began to drop whilst we were touring the house and we were glad to sink into the car seats and head for home.

The fact that Ma snuggled down and took a nap whilst we were reviewing the evening news suggests we have been running her a bit hard. That's OK as we have a bye tomorrow. Need to prepare for luncheon on Sunday. Rosie has invited about a dozen people to share lunch with us at home Easter Sunday. Usually people will head off to an expensive and crowded buffet somewhere to celebrate the day but we have decided to spend time at home with a potluckish dinner. We supply the spiral cut honey ham and wine and mimosas too..... mmmm. The other guests are all bringing something to add to the feast and we'll enjoy one another's company without noisy and intrusive strangers around us competing for the food.

Here are some more photos from down south.

See the Spanish Moss hanging from the tree...

Additional Indian Information

Hit the button too quickly and sent the blog off into the blogosphere before we had completed our entry.

So here is another of the Indian dancer who did the war dance. His feet were really flying but I had put the camera away and didn't think I could get it out in time.

Then there is a nicer photo of the other man with his painted face. His wife was with him and she was beading a necklace and his daughter was too. The daughter seemed a bit disinterested in the whole thing.

Biltmore & Cherokee

Where to start? We are staying at a charming rustic cabin only five minutes from the Biltmore estate. The cabin has a kitchen, dining area, lounge (with fireplace) and bathroom with a deck out the back. Downstairs are two bedrooms and another bathroom.

View from our deck down to one of the lakes on the property

Tuesday was a bit cold and somewhat rainy and we headed off to Biltmore to visit the 250 rooms and wander the grounds. Built for George Washington Vanderbilt (grandson of the railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt) it opened Christmas Eve 1905. Won't talk about the room with leather wallpaper or the beautiful fresh flowers in vases all over the place. You'll just have to wait to see the photos and the brochure. We had lunch in the stables and forced ourselves to check out the gift shop.

Our little summer cabin 

The formal gardens were spectacular

Headed back to the cabin and started a fire to warm our bones. In fact we have a fire again tonight (Wednesday) and it is just what the doctor ordered.

Today we drove about an hour and a half to Cherokee - named for the Indian tribe who own a large reservation there. Went in to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and the Qualla Craft Shop. Beautiful weavings and baskets and lots of other indian crafts. The dogwood and other flowers are blooming at the lower elevations.

Rosie showing off a white dogwood

An authentic indian - tepees used by Plains Indians

Dancing - he also did a war dance for me

There are flowering cherry trees too which are just masses of blooms. Then we headed off along a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This runs along the ridges of the Great Smoky Mountains and, being at a higher elevation, spring has not yet arrived and the dogwood are not yet in bloom. The views from the parkway demonstrate why these are called the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Only met one wild mountain man in our travels today. Fed him some ice cream for tea and he fixed steaks on the grill for himself and Rosie. I had a good salad, some fruit salad and a coffee.

Imagine meeting this on a dark night - or even high noon!

Post Wedding

OH BOY! Forget to do the blog for a couple of days and it just mounts up over you and becomes overwhelming.

Tonight (Monday, April 11) we are sleeping in a delightful little cabin in Asheville, North Carolina. Lovely deck off the main room with two bedrooms downstairs. Took some photos of a cheeky squirrel who practically DEMANDED food this afternoon - we obliged with some cookie crumbs. Also have a picture of a female cardinal - the male is bright red with a black mask but he wasn't around when I was.

Perhaps we should back up a couple of days. Arrived at our hotel in Chapel Hill on Saturday and as we pulled in to a parking space Robert and Allison pulled in beside us. They had driven from Washington, DC. Met them and moved all our luggage from the car to the room. While Rosie & Van headed for the airport to collect Chris & Juliet I got all dolled up for the Rehearsal Dinner that night. The theme was Bluegrass and Barbeque and we enjoyed the music and the pulled pork concoction - it was a buffet so lots of good stuff to choose from. Met more of Rosie's family at the party.

On Sunday they had the wedding ceremony and luncheon (to which I was NOT invited) so I slept in late (it was wonderful) and wandered down the road a couple of hundred yards to a Hardee's fast food restaurant for lunch. Got a burger and a drink and a coffee and other stuff and the young lad offered me an apple turnover (for free) and I sat and nibbled and people watched for a while. Here are Will Bryan & Laura - the newly married couple.

Got back to the motel and had a rest and Van & Rosie turned up to take me over to Duke University. Old Gothic buildings and a very large "campus" and we drove on to find the Sarah Duke Memorial Gardens which had been donated by Doris Duke. The tulips were out in full bloom and Japanese maple popping up here, there and everywhere. Headed "home" but stopped off at an Outback Steak House for supper. Great meal and a delightful waitress - left her my home address if/when she makes it to Australia.

Today (Monday) we drove for about 5 hours to get to Asheville and our charming little cabin. Will spend three nights here. I think I need a ladder to climb into my bed - will have to take a picture of it if I can manage it.

Also tonight (after I'd slipped off to bed) Van downloaded my photos to his computer. They will stay there as a backup in case something happens to the memory card or the camera between now and then. He was a naughty lad and is sending a couple of teaser pictures from the earlier part of my trip for you to enjoy. Hope he does not include the photos I took of my knee and the floor of the bus!

The Grand Canyon and the Colorado River from my helicopter

Bryce Canyon with snow on the hoodoos (those vertical towers of rock)