Treasures – Valerie's Voice

Unexpected Treasure

The morning of our second day in Savannah, Georgia, Gary and I were the only two people in line for a tour of the historic Davenport House.

The Davenport House was built in 1820 by Isaiah Davenport, and is a beautiful example of Federal-Style architecture. He built the house for his large family, but also to demonstrate and promote his carpentry skills.

I took this photo in the Davenport House because it reminded me of the canopy bed my dad made for me when I was a little girl.

Our docent was knowledgeable and happy to share information on the house and family with just the two of us.

A lovely staircase in the Davenport House.

We only toured this one historic house while in Savannah, although there are many others. I do enjoy touring houses.

The JW Marriott hotel in Savannah, Georgia.

After our tour, we told our docent that we were going to the Riverwalk next. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We asked her if there was anything in particular we should look for, and she suggested the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel. She informed us the manager/owner of the JW was a collector and had some of his collections on display. But she didn’t tell us what the collections were.

“OK, thanks, we’ll look for it.” And so we did.

One, of several, geodes on display at the JW in Savanna.

The JW Marriott’s are luxury hotels. The JW Marriot in Savannah was built on the site of an old electric power plant. You could see part of the electric plant’s antique workings exposed on one wall. The modern hotel covers a lot of ground, using the space for conference rooms, ballrooms, restaurants, hotel rooms, etc.

A hanging light fixture made of amethyst in a conference room off the lobby.

It was difficult finding the right door. Of course, lobbies of hotels should be not hard to find, but we found we were coming from the opposite side of a very big complex. It took us several attempts, going through different doors, to find the lobby. But we persisted, and we were glad we did.

A perspective as to the size of the geode on display.

We found the collections the docent was talking about. Among other antique artifacts, there was a large collection of geodes…stunning geodes…from all over the world.

Another perspective showing the size of this amethyst, found in Brazil.

We enjoyed oohing and ahhing over the splendor and sizes of the geodes, all the while hearing a pianist in the background, playing a grand piano in the lobby of this luxury hotel.

An overview of the piano player and display cases in the lobby of the JW.

I’m so glad we found this display on the Riverwalk. We would have never gone inside this hotel if we had not asked a “local” for suggestions of things to see. We did not find this lobby listed in any tour guide book.

A citrine geode. The sign said this is one of the largest in existence and took years to prepare for display. It was found in Brazil.

A side view of the citrine geode…ordinary gray rock on the outside, surrounding stunning crystals on the inside.

We often do that… ask a local… and we find hidden treasures, in unexpected places.

A Treasure Hunt

I do well with order. I like to keep a tidy house, with a place for everything and everything in its place. However, right now I am living in the “messy middle” as my friend calls it, because I am charged with going through many boxes of my late aunt’s possessions. “I’m going on a treasure hunt,” of sorts.

My aunt Ag & Florence – in 1984 I believe. Most photos lack dates and identification!

My aunt died is 2004, but her long-time friend and housemate lived in the house they owned together since 1968. The house was passed on to Florence when Auntie Ag died. Florence lived another 16 years in that house (after Ag’s death), and Florence died in their home at age 99.

So it was up to Florence’s family to clear out, and clean up, the house. They carefully put all the items that belonged to Aggie in boxes to be given to our family. I was chosen as the point person, so over a dozen hefty boxes were delivered last week, to my doorstep. Each individual box to be sorted, organized, and then distributed.

My house is a mess! I have tablecloths and linens on the dining room table…my grandma’s wedding dress hanging in the office,

my kitchen table and counter tops full of old photos, another room with a table set up and all kinds of Norwegian folk art and other miscellaneous items on top of it. There is a large box of jewelry, and another large box of pictures off the walls, a box of books and a box of Christmas plates…and more boxes in the garage…

So for now, I am going through her stuff, one box at a time, and setting it out for her niece and nephews (my cousins) to pick out what they want from the collections. In my effort to declutter my own things I’m in the mindset to not keep much. I hope I don’t regret it but I think a few mementos, and some photos, will suffice.

That being said, I did succeed in finding a most valuable treasure within the boxes. I opened up an inconspicuous, old, Fanny Farmer candy box and discovered it was full of hand-written letters, from my father to his mother and father, and sister and brothers.

My father sent these letters back home from the army during WWII. I did not know the letters existed, all dated 1942 or 1943. I’ve been reading each one and learning a bit about this man, my father, who died at a young age (55 years old). I was 20.

I enjoyed that some letters were tied up with ribbon.

These letters are precious. They will be kept, read and reread, and cherished.

I set out on a treasure hunt, and found a fortune.

A Treasure Chest

Every few years we open up our cedar chest. It holds many treasures.

We use the beautiful cedar chest my father gave to my mother (when they got married in 1947) as a TV stand. The price tag is still inside…$54.95. Also, inside is a moth insurance policy!

The cedar chest works well as a TV stand, but with the TV on top it is not conducive to getting inside. We need to move the TV and other paraphernalia in order to open it up.

A look inside the cedar chest. It still smells good.

The last time we looked inside was in 2016 and I blogged about it then. Recently we opened up this treasure chest and here a some of the treasures:

This is a baby quilt made for me by my aunts and cousins, when I was pregnant for the first time. it is precious and I put it back into the cedar chest.

This is my Brownie uniform. I gave it to a thrift store.

This is my candy striper uniform, complete with a cap! I was a candy striper at the University of MN hospital. I gave it to a thrift shop.

This baptism gown was used by me and my brother. My mother and her sister’s was also in the cedar chest but in very bad condition. I had to throw it away. I’ll keep this gown until the next time.

This “shawl” my mother knitted. It does have arms and an angora collar. I liked it. I saved it for the grandchildren to play dress-up.

These bags I made for my boys, and then stenciled them. They used them to carry their “stuff” around.

A pillow cover I made from a Norwegian stitchery kit. I sent it on to the thrift store.

This is one of my favorite dresses I sewed in high school. I put it back in the cedar chest.

This is another dress I sewed after high school. It was hard to get the whole dress in the picture. I kept the dress.

There were other items not pictured…an old Christmas stocking, a purse, some glass cat figurines I remember buying as a souvenir on one of my family road trips. It was fun going through these treasures that took me down memory lane.

I do have a story about an afghan I pulled from the cedar chest that I will share soon.

England, Part II

About that special birthday trip…

I mentioned the special trip my son gave me as a birthday gift one year, before either of my sons were married. It was a significant birthday and my oldest son said he’d like to take me to London. I had been there once before, when we visited him after his semester studying at Oxford University. I enjoyed London a lot and was excited to be going back. This was a wonderful, thoughtful gift. What I didn’t know is I was in for another amazing gift, and a great big surprise while in London.

An enchanting evening…the London Eye under the full moon, a photo from a page in my album.

Michael and I had spent a lovely, long day in Oxford the day before so we were having a leisurely breakfast the next morning. It was a traditional English breakfast, buffet style, at our hotel. After our first trip to the breakfast bar my son said he wanted another bowl of muesli and I got another cup of coffee. A while later he said he wanted a third bowl of muesli so I had another cup of coffee.

Little did I know he was stalling….and during that third bowl of muesli in comes my younger son. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Tim was living in Mozambique, Africa at the time and in he walks, up to our breakfast table in the London hotel, to surprise me… and I was 100% totally surprised!!! What a moment. I started to cry and then laugh and then excitedly I settled down to visit (my husband had known all about this rendezvous and managed to keep their secret).

My two sons and I spent a few more days together in London and some very special memories were made for this mom, that I will never forget and always treasure. My heart was full.