Tag: Travel

Memorable Hikes – Washington D.C. 2018

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

After a beautiful Easter morning service that included the singing of Christ the Lord is Risen Today and hearing the Hallelujah Chorus at a church we were visiting in the D.C. area, we decided to take the train to the National Mall and walk around.

The metro system in Washington D.C. is user friendly and we hopped on the train, along with our host for the weekend, and “people watched” for thirty minutes while we enjoyed the train ride to the National Mall.

The Washington Monument.

As soon as we stepped out of the metro station we saw the Washington monument standing tall. There were lots of people everywhere…and this was April…I can’t imagine the crowds during summer. We turned and looked behind us, to the East, and saw the U.S. Capitol from a distance, and then started our hike walking west toward the Washington Monument.

It was wonderful to see the cherry trees in bloom.

The day was cool but the cherry trees were in bloom and it was beautiful. We walked from memorial to memorial, beginning at the Washington Monument (built in 1848). I have been up in the Washington Monument on a prior visit, but it is currently closed for renovation until 2019. We glanced at the White House to the north as we passed it, then walked through the WW II Memorial (dedicated in 2004) on our way to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (dedicated in 1982), and a Vietnam Women’s Memorial, a sculpture dedicated in 1993 for the women who served in the Vietnam war.

Next we stopped at the Lincoln Memorial (dedicated in 1922) which is a favorite of mine, and for many I believe.

A classic view of the Lincoln Memorial from one end of the Reflecting Pool.
The statue of President Lincoln.

Next we walked to the Korean War Veterans Memorial (dedicated in 1995) and then to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is a fairly new memorial dedicated in 2011, and this was the first time I saw it and it immediately became a favorite for me.  The Stone of Hope is a granite sculpture out of which the carving of Dr. King emerges. The memorial covers four acres and is located on the Tidal Basin. The walls surrounding the statue are etched with several different quotes from Dr. King Jr. such as:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

The statue of Martin Luther King Jr.

At this point we were on a trajectory to see the Jefferson Memorial (dedicated in 1943) which took us past the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (dedicated in 1997), also new to me.

A view of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin.

The King, Roosevelt and Jefferson memorials are all on the Tidal Basin, off the Potomac River, surrounded by blooming cherry trees.


The cherry trees along the Tidal Basin were given as a gift of friendship to the People of the United States from the People of Japan in 1912.

When we started out we had no idea we would hike a total of six miles that afternoon, but it was fun to see these truly amazing memorials. There are interesting stories behind each one.

They are continually adding new memorials and museums in this area. For instance, they are planning a Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, under construction at this time, and we visited the newly opened Museum of the Bible which was very interesting.

Washington D.C. is a very unique place to visit and a fun place to hike around, and I am grateful we had the opportunity to do so in the cherry tree blooming season.

Click here to view a good map of the National Mall.

Ben Franklin’s Amazing Glass Instrument

“Of all my inventions, the glass armonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction.” ~ Ben Franklin

While visiting the Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg one of the scheduled events that sounded intriguing was a multi-media concert of glass instruments. So we made sure we were seated in the auditorium before the demonstration began.

Mr. Dean Shostak was demonstrating three glass instruments. The first instrument, the armonica, was created by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. It is a series of glasses cupped together and you use wet fingers to play it. Each cup produces a different tone. I had not heard of this instrument before. However, it has been featured on Mr. Rogers. Mr. Shostak showed a video clip from one of Mr. Rogers television programs where Mr. Rogers was introducing the instrument to the children.

The armonica. Dean Shostak was playing the instrument which was projected on a screen for better viewing.

Mr. Shostak played several pieces for us on the armonica.

Next he showed us his glass violin. He had it made for him in Japan. It was a beautiful instrument with lovely etching on the sides. He let us come close after the concert to take photos and touch it. There are not too many of these glass violins around. He played one song on it for us. To my untrained ear it sounded nice and much like other violins

Dean Shostak was proud of his glass violin.
The beautiful etching on the side of the glass violin.

The third instrument was similar to the armonica only formatted differently. Instead of the glasses cupped together they were upright in a wooden box, but you still needed wet fingers to play it. I forgot the name of it.

The instrument he was playing was projected onto the screen.

It was a very enlightening, interesting and entertaining 45 minute concert in the Williamsburg’s Folk Art Museum.

On a side note; while we were looking at the dress design exhibit in the art museum we recognized a fellow Northfielder as we turned a corner. We stopped to chat and laughed about our meeting unexpectedly in this place so far away from home.

A 3,000 Mile Road Trip

We traveled over 3,200 miles during our three-week road trip to the East Coast.

A fun photo taken in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

I’m so thankful we have a comfortable car to drive and ride in, instead of a horse and buggy which we saw trotting all over Lancaster County when we visited my husband’s family in Amish country. Can you imagine?

Our trip took us to Colonial Williamsburg, Washington D.C., and Lancaster County Pennsylvania (with a stop in Indiana, Delaware and Kentucky.) There were many highlights: visiting friends and family and attending a family wedding in a restored barn, going to see Jesus at the Sight and Sound Theater, attending an Easter service in a welcoming church, participating in a Seder meal with our Jewish host and hostess, walking six miles from monument to monument in DC, touring the new Museum of the Bible in DC, seeing the cherry trees in bloom in DC, touring the Hagley Museum where gunpowder was made in Delaware, attending a glass instrument concert, walking throughout authentic Williamsburg, seeing Jamestown and Yorktown, hiking to find the wild ponies, enjoying spring flowers blooming, taking a detour on our way home to see the replica of Noah’s Ark in Kentucky.

Cherry trees in bloom in Washington D.C.

While waiting in the theater to see the awesome production of Jesus I thought to myself how blessed I am to be able to experience so many wonderful things. Our travels have been enriching times! I’ll be writing more details surrounding different events.

Easter at Trinity Lutheran Church in Rockville, Maryland. The pastor did his undergraduate studies at St. Olaf College, in our hometown.

We are grateful for our safe travels, and for the variety of experiences we enjoyed.

Memorable Hikes – Chincoteague, Virginia 2018

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

While in the Williamsburg area with our friends, we decided to take a day trip to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. To get there we had do drive through underwater tunnels and over bridges with the Chesapeake Bay on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other side.

At the southern tip of the peninsula we stopped at the visitor’s center and learned  in the northern part is where the ‘famous’ wild ponies roam. (The difference between horses and ponies is the height. Any horse that stands less than 14 hands is considered a pony and the average height of a Chincoteague Pony is between 12 and 13 hands.)

I asked how likely it would be to see the wild ponies if we drove over an hour to get to the Wildlife Refuge…the assistant said it was likely. So we took off for Chincoteague.

The Chincoteague ponies started roaming the Chincotegue Island around 1750. Evidence seems to indicate the ponies survived a Spanish galleon shipwreck in 1749. The ponies have been there ever since. The refuge retains a permit to let 150 ponies graze on the refuge so they have to decrease the herd once a year. Annually, in late July, thousands of people gather to watch the ponies swim cross the Assateaque Channel and then the ponies are auctioned off.

After we arrived at the refuge,  we were directed to a paved trail. Along the trail we stopped and talked with an older gentleman who told us he came to the park twice a day, with his binoculars, to look for the ponies. He described two bands (small groups of ponies) in this area. Riptide, was a brown male with a blonde mane and his band was near-by. Maverick, the lead male of a different band, was farther away at this time.

We continued walking but didn’t see any ponies. We came to an “unofficial trail” heading into the woods towards the ocean so we decided to follow it. Once we came to the ocean we talked with a couple who had just seen ponies and they told us which direction to try. We walked along the beach. It was low tide, so there was a wide swath to walk on (with a few obstacles to climb over.)

This turned out to be quite an adventure but we persisted and continued walking until finally we saw movement in the trees, inland along the shore. We spotted one pony, and then another, and another until there were about fifteen. And we identified Riptide grazing in the grass. The ponies were beautiful.

After taking several pictures and watching the wild and wonderful creatures, we started hiking back. On our return trip the tide was rising but our beach swath was still passable. We darted into the woods where we thought we had exited a couple hours ago and finally found the original paved trail and walked back to our car.

It was a exciting and adventurous hike, searching and finding the Chincoteague  ponies in the wild.

 

Colonial Williamsburg

A view down the main street of Williamsburg, VA – the  Duke of Gloucester.

Colonial Williamsburg is a living history museum with restored buildings and actors in period costumes making 18th century history come alive. It’s picturesque and well done.

While driving through five states to get from Minnesota to Virginia we started listening to the book 1776 to get a flavor of what was happening during that time period. It was interesting and thought-provoking. It made us think of how a few men together discussed, debated, and made decisions that changed the life of the colonies forever. All the events leading up to our freedom from England is not something we think about much, but it was interesting to have a refresher history lesson. The problems we experience today are not easy and the problems they experienced back then weren’t easy, but it was fun and enlightening to get glimpses of our past played out for us.

The Raleigh Tavern, built in 1717, was a center of social business and political activities. Guests include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and Lafayette. Many discussions about the future of our country were held in this place. It was remarkable to be able to walk around in it.
The Magazine.  A magazine “stores or contains things”…this magazine held military artillery.
The first capital of Virginia- well, a replica, built in the early 1930’s.
The Court House…Gary acted as a defendant during a reenactment of a colonial court case.
The Governor’s Palace was grand.
A Fife and Drum corps march and demonstration ends the day at Williamsburg. Drums were used for the men to march in step, and were an important part of the battlefield communications system, with various drum rolls used to signal different commands from officers to troops.
An interesting, gnarly, old tree next to an aged brick building. The brick fence trimmed with a rounded top, also made from bricks, is very unique.
The Rockefeller retreat home…they spent springs and falls in this beautiful home. They were very philanthropic and have contributed much to the development of Colonial Williamsburg, contributing to the saving of over twenty National Parks and started many schools for black children.

To visit these real places from history is an amazing experience and we enjoyed our time in Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown.

South Hills Market & Cafe

Usually when we travel we like to stay away from chain restaurants…so on Saturday night, after a little research we decided to eat at the South Hills Market & Café in Charleston, West Virginia.

Usually we do not sit at the bar… but since this was a small, family–run restaurant with few tables that were already reserved until 8:30 pm, and it was a busy Saturday night, and we didn’t know where else to go, we decided to sit at the bar since they served the same menu.

I chose the Buttermilk Chicken with a Pecan Waffle that I had found intriguing when we looked at the menu online. Gary chose fish tacos. Both were delicious.

But what made our experience extra special were the people sitting beside us at the bar. To my right a mom and her adult son were also eating dinner and we visited for a while…they were from the Charleston area. A little while later, as the place filled up, another couple sat down beside Gary on our left. They were “regulars” and the staff knew them. They were very friendly also, and stuck up a conversation with us.

Soon I was tapped on the shoulder and Pam, on my right, offered me 2 beignets – a French-style pastry. They had ordered the dessert but the portions were so large they decided to share it with us which I found touching. When we left I told them we’d pay it forward.

So now I have a new outlook on sitting at the bar versus sitting at a table. Both have their place, but for this evening the bar was a wonderful choice.

We were celebration our 40th anniversary too!

Memorable Hikes – Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado 1992

Continuing my Friday series on memorable hikes…

Our family camping trip out west took us to several national parks in 1992. Each park is unique and so much fun to visit and explore. We are so grateful for those who went before us to preserve such wonderful lands.

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde’s largest cliff dwellingNPS Photo

At Mesa Verde National Park we took a hike to see the cliff dwellings, for which the park is known. Mesa Verde is unique because the park preserves the ancient cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloans. When we were there in 1992 the park called the people Anasazi Indians, but when recently looking up information on the park I discovered they no longer use that term, and the correct name is Ancestral Puebloans.

View of Cliff Palace from aboveNPS Photo

The website reads the park “offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from AD 600 to 1300. Today the park protects nearly 5,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.”

Long HouseNPS Photo

The website also gives permission to copy photos from their site as long credit is given to the NPS. “They (the photos) may be used for private, public, or press use. Please credit “NPS Photo.”

We went on a ranger led hike through the cliff dwellings. I remember the ranger’s warning that one had to be able to climb ladder steps and fit through small spaces in order to participate in the hike. It was fun to see the cliff dwellings up close and learn about the fascinating life style of the people who had lived there years ago.

Memorable Hikes – Tent Rocks Nat’l Monument, NM 2017

Continuing my Friday series of memorable hikes…

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument is located between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Kasha-Katuwe means “white cliffs” in the Pueblo language. I didn’t know the difference between a national monument and a national park so I looked it up and this is the answer I found:

“To laypeople, the distinction between lands designated as national parks and national monuments can appear finite. The primary difference lies in the reason for preserving the land: National parks are protected due to their scenic, inspirational, education, and recreational value. National monuments have objects of historical, cultural, and/or scientific interest, so their content is quite varied.”

In Tent Rocks National Monument, volcanic rock and ash have formed unusual slot canyons and tent-shape rocks that make up the landscape of this very unique park.

There is a 1.2 mile trail through a slot canyon up to a lookout point and we hiked it one day last fall. The slots through this canyon trail were sometimes very tight, unlike the slot canyon in The Narrows in Zion National Park. The Tent Rocks trail was interesting because of all the distinctive, smooth formations and conical-shaped rocks. The vistas at the top were great and at the bottom we hiked another mile along the base of these rock formations. It was a fun hike. I had never heard of this park until we planned our trip to New Mexico, but what a wonderful find!

I always enjoy discovering and exploring new places. There are so many in this world…