Skyline Drive

I'm suffering from allergies just now.  I don't feel real energized, so we've decided to take the lazy way today and drive for our entertainment.

Skyline Drive is 105 miles of possible wildlife viewing:  white-tailed deer, black bear, raccoons, opossum, skunk, birds, red and gray fox, beaver, river otter, mink, weasel, woodchuck, rabbit, squirrel and chipmunks and as many as 200 species of local and migratory birds.  There are overlooks and turnouts and facilities you can stop at, pull out binoculars, and look to your hearts content!  There are waterfalls large and small, too.

Skyline Drive meanders through the peaks of Shenandoah National Park, which  has one of the densest populations of black bears documented within the U.S.  They pretty well stay in the hollows and meadows of the park though.

There is very little traffic on Skyline Drive because it has very little access from adjacent roadways, and it's pretty much a highway to nowhere.  If you are a bicyclist it is absolutely perfect, and if you're a mountain biker you can take the easy, smooth, high-road for awhile and then link back up with the Appalachian Trail for more rustic scenery.

Granpa's thrilled that he's finding Dogwood trees scattered frequently throughout the roadside.  His hometown has a Dogwood celebration and parade every year, but because of all our travels he's missed it for several years in a row.  Up here on the Skyline it is just now warming up enough for the Dogwoods to bloom.  The Dogwood, of course, is both a tree and a flower, and it is the state tree of Virginia, but we love it in Texas, too.

This is the kind of view you get looking left or looking right for mile after mile after mile.  They are absolutely splendid!  In the fall, you have this panorama of greens and yellows and reds in blazing glory, through the blue haze, crowned with wonderful white clouds.

The land acquisition and road construction for Shenandoah National Park and Skyline are stories in themselves.  There is still hard feeling about some of the land-taking, and the Visitor's Centers address this in an open and honest manner.  Be sure you stop and mosey through the history they present.  It's good stuff.

Mary's Rock Tunnel (I like that name!) is maybe one of the most notable features of the road - but it, too, has its controversy.  It took three months to blast through the 600 feet of solid granite rock and 1,000 pounds of dynamite a day.  But was it an engineering necessity?  or just for show?  Regardless, almost before the last roar of dynamite drifted away cars began to pass through this tunnel.

Blue Ridge Mountains, Skyline Drive and the Appalachian Trail

Skyline Drive is closed during the winter due to the elevation resulting in frequent snow and ice.  Some of the Blue Ridge peaks of the Appalachian chain of mountains are about 5,000 feet above sea level.  They are no Rocky Mountains, but they are certainly tall enough! 

Can you imagine being Daniel Boone and being the very first white man to walk through these mountains?  He was born in Pennsylvania in 1734, moved with his folks to North Carolina when he was 15, and in 1769 discovered a path to the west through the Appalachian's where the now-states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia converge.  These woods and mountains were full of black bear back then, and there are still quite a few in them now.  (Our little farmhouse is just east of these mountains and remember we saw a black bear in our own "back yard" about 100 yards from the house.)

The Appalachian's run from the Canadian border in Maine down into Alabama.  Part of these mountains have Skyline Drive and to the south it's called the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Appalachian Trail runs along the very tippy-top of the Blue Ridge Mountains for 1,200 miles!  It's parallel to the road so you can stop and hike a bit of it if you want.  (ALWAYS take water and trail snacks.)  If you wanted to you can hike the whole 1,200 miles and tent camp.  Now there's an adventure I'd like to take if I weren't old and fat!  Then again, if I did it I probably wouldn't be fat anymore!

Lying Fallow

When we got back to Danville, Virginia this time the fields around our little farmhouse were lying fallow.  A couple of weeks later they were plowed as you see them here.

I love plowed fields.    The smell is marvelous after a rain or in the warming sunshine.  They are acres of hope.  I say hope, because farmers are the biggest gamblers there are.  They hope for enough rain - but not too much.  They hope for sunshine - but not too much.  They hope for a long growing season - maybe long enough for a bumper crop.  They hope for the market price to be right when they finally harvest.  It's all a gamble.  Farmers are brave men and women.


Next, along came parade of vehicles and a tractor.

What is that he's pulling behind the tractor?  Whatever it is, it's a new one on me...

Okay.  I guess what I'm seeing are baby tobacco plants being hand fed into those "cups," and I'm assuming they are then mechanically planted into the ground, then the wheels tuck the soil safely around the roots.  Who even thinks of these things?  How does one make a metal monster that will handle fragile roots, stems and leaves leaving behind neatly packed rows of crops? 








I'm sure they use this same type of equipment to plant a myriad of crops that are started in hot houses.  Isn't technology amazing?  I love it.  My grandfather would love it, for sure!!

Adieu, Mr. President

This is a way cool piece of artwork.  I think it shows how honorable a man George Washington was.  I think that's what's missing in the world today - the importance of a personal sense of honor.  Now everyone seems to abide by the "as long as I don't get caught" sense of honor.  "It's my intentions, not my actions, that count."  Godlessness causes that because if you believe in God you know that He is omnipotent and omnipresent.  If you believe in God, you know you're "caught" before you even do it - which goes a long way to keeping you from doing it.

Well, that's my sermon for the day...

I'll end this with "A Brief Chronology" of the Washington timeline:

1674  John Washington, great-grandfather of George, is granted land on the upper Potomac, between Little Hunting Creek and Dogue Run, which will become the Mount Vernon homesite.

1726  Augustine Washington, father of George, acquires Little Hunting Creek Plantation from his sister Mildred.

1732   George, first child of Augustine and Mary (Ball) Washington, is born at Pope's Creek Plantation on the Potomac River in Westmoreland County, Virginia.

1735-38  and 1741  Augustine Washington is in residence at Little Hunting Creek Plantation with his young family.

1742  Augustine Washington dies.  Lawrence Washington, George's elder half brother, marries and settles at the plantation changing its name to Mount Vernon in honor of his commanding officer, Admiral Edward Vernon.

1752  Lawrence Washington dies at Mount Vernon

1754  George acquires Mount Vernon by leases from Lawrence's widow

1759  George marries Martha Dandridge Custis, widow of Daniel Parke Custis, and they settle at Mount Vernon with her two young children, John Parke and Martha Parke Custis.

1775  Washington is appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental forces.  Except for brief stops at Mount Vernon on his way to and from Yorktown in 1781, he will not be at Mount Vernon again for eight years.

1781  John Parke Custis dies; George and Martha raise her two youngest grandchildren, Eleanor Parke and George Washington Parke Custis, as their own.

1783  George resigns his military commission to Congress and retires to Mount Vernon

1787  George  presides over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia

1789-97 George Washington serves as first President of the United States of America.  During this time he visits Mount Vernon 15 times.  (Remember, there was no Washington, D.C. at this time.  The government was based in New York and.)

1799 George dies and is entombed at Mount Vernon in the old family vault (Old Tomb)

1802 Martha dies and is entombed beside her husband in the old family vault (Old Tomb).  Mount Vernon passes to George's nephew, Bushrod Washington.

1829  Bushrod Washington dies, leaving Mount Vernon to his nephew, John Augustine Washington.

1831  Honoring George's Last Will and Testament, the New Tomb is constructed.  Washington, his wife Martha, and other relatives buried in the Old Tomb are re-interred in the New Tomb.

1858  The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association receives its charter from Virginia and purchases Mount Vernon from John A. Washington, Jr. 


(By the way, none of your comments appear on the blog until I have reviewed them, so if you want to contact me but NOT have it published, just say so in your comment.)

Farmhouse Flowers

For Mother's Day I thought I would share Granpa's photos of flowers around our lil' farmhouse here in Virginia.

River Cruise

Well, Granpa has been wanting for YEARS to take a cruise.  Remember, "I don't fly, and I don't float?"   Well, for Granpa, I'm willing to give this idea a shot:  A Potomac River cruise.

I've always heard that river cruises won't make you seasick because there are no "rolling" waves.  Well, this water does look pretty calm and smooth.  "Granpa, if I get seasick I will try not to say I told you so... "
The river gave almost 100% of the access to Mount Vernon is the 1700's.  Not only did it receive travelers, but the Washington's made a living transporting goods from their land by river.  Washington's fishing vessels also tied up here.  In the year 1772 alone his fisheries harvested 1.3 MILLION herring and more than 11,000 shad from the Potomac, providing food and income to the people of Mount Vernon.  The wharf was rebuilt in 1880 and restored in 1991.  It was dedicated that year by none other than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain!
While we're waiting at George Washington's Mount Vernon dock, the port master points out an Osprey sitting on a nest full of eggs. That's pretty cool.

Boy, she looks like she'd take a bite out of anyone even thinking of touching her eggs - and if she doesn't, her ever-watchful partner would!

Well, back to the cruise...  Our ships name is "Miss Christin" and that portends well because one of our daughters-in-law is named "Kristin."  Close enough!  She's a calm lady, so maybe this cruise will be, too.

This is the view one might have seen in 1790 (without the white tents to the side.  There must have been a party planned - or maybe these are left over from "National Treasure - Book of Secrets.")  The cruise IS going smoothly so far.  Maybe there is something to the smooth river cruise concept...

Why, looky here, just around the corner from Mount Vernon to our left is -- Washington, D.C. and, surprise! the Washington Monument!

To the right is Fort Washington.

Neither of these things, of course, were here during George's time.  The fort wasn't built until 1809, and the Washington Monument's construction didn't begin until 1848.

I'm doing fine on this lil' cruise thing - except for being cold in the breeze, but then I'm most always cold.  I've heard the old saying, "Cold hands, warm heart," but what if you're whole body is cold?  Oh-h-h-h.  THAT's why Granpa wanted to cruise:  so I'd hug up to him!!

Just Folks at Mount Vernon

 

Back to Front

This side of Mount Vernon faces west (the camera is looking south.)  In the summer it would be a marvelous place to start the day, and, with the open air arched passageways on either side, the river breezes would pretty much keep it comfortable all day long.  It would really be quite something to live here even now!

This riverside view I suspect is what most people see and consider to be the front.  I suppose it depends on whether you arrive by land or by "sea."  And, yes, ocean-going vessels could come this far upriver because it is still tidal waters (meaning the level of the river rises and falls daily with the ocean tides.)  The high piazza provides shade for the second floor windows and encourages excellent breezes from the river to flow through both upstairs and downstairs passages.  The shutters downstairs are solid wood (for safety and to block winter winds off of the Potomac), but Washington had louvered wooden blinds to provide privacy yet allow ventilation during summer months.  These things and the draft caused by the cupola would have this place cool as a cucumber!

Anyone traveling north to south or south to north were welcomed at Mount Vernon for overnight stays or several nights at a time.  It's said that 2/3rds of the time Mount Vernon housed guests - total strangers a lot of the time.  Can you IMAGINE!?!

In the photo, on the left, notice the gentleman in the powder blue knee-length coat.  He's a costumed interpreter behaving and speaking totally in character.  Any questions asked will be answered as though it was still the late 1700's.  How fun!

A Riding Chair

Ya' think you've seen it all - or at least read about it - but here's yet another new one on me:  a Riding Chair.

The one in the foreground is a modern reproduction, but the one behind it is actually from the 1700's.  See how enormous the wheels are?  All the better to roll across rutted dirt roads and maybe places that don't even resemble roads.  I suppose the other advantages would be having a back on the chair to relax against, and it was only two-wheeled and would be much easier to navigate down twisty-turning paths.  I wonder how long it would take me to train our horses to pull one of these?  Riding chairs were also popular back then because they were certainly cheaper than 4-wheeled chariots or coaches - like the one we might all associate with George Washington.

 

The replica riding chair is a result of the skill of colonial vehicle body specialist Chris Wright who could be found in a shop at the Governor's Palace coach house in the Historic Area of Williamsburg, Virginia.  

In the first photo, notice the sleigh in the very back.  That would be fun, too.

Living In The Moment

Granpa and I were talking on the way to work this morning.  I opined that this medical traveling we're doing forces us to live in the moment, as they say.  We know our time anywhere is limited by the contract dates, so we only have "x" amount of time to discover interesting history in that location.  Time and again, people who live there say they haven't been to these places that are in their own back yard.

Granpa said that people who don't have short contract jobs live in a cocoon of certainty.  They begin to believe it's a cocoon of their own creation, and they tend to forget that it all comes from the Lord.  We, on the other hand, are very aware that God is in control of our lives.  We never know where the next contract will be, whether it will be extended for weeks or months or even a year - or even if there will BE a next contract!  We never know what our housing will be like, what we'll have in the way of cooking utensils, what bed we'll have, what chairs we'll have to sit in...  We don't know if we will have to fly or drive to the next location.  We take nothing for granted.

Conclusion?  More people should be travelers!!

The Necessary

Yup.  That's the Mount Vernon Necessary.  

Some things never pass away.  Guess what's on the bathroom door of our little farmhouse here in Virginia?

 

Strolling Up To Mount Vernon

Wow!  For the 1700's this is a HUGE home in America!!  As with most homes here, it didn't start out this size.  It began as a simple farmhouse built by George's father in 1735 and, after leasing it from his widowed sister-in-law in 1754, George did a little of this and a little of that to it over the next 50 years.  This is the final result!  Not bad considering he was off fighting our wars most of the time!

Nowadays, remodeling almost says to the world that you don't have enough money to buy "new."  How crazy are we?  Stay in the same house for fifty years and you have twenty years of "free" rent!  Stop moving from house to house folks!  Just "grow" the one you have and forget about what the Jones' think!
 
But back to Mount Vernon.  Getting instructions communicated back to his family wasn't easy.  His first major expansion was in 1758-59 during our war with the French and Indians (1754-1763).  Benjamin Franklin didn't even get the U.S. Postal Service authorized and started until 1775 - and it was very primitive, so even then George had to rely on friends and couriers to get a letter to or from Mount Vernon.

Just before the American Revolution against England broke out in 1776, George started his second major expansion.  (Now, I wonder why ol' Ben wanted a national postal service in 1775 that could deliver letters and newspapers cheaply?  Ohhh!  So the rebellious Americans could communicate during the Revolution!  Of course!)  The "modern" postal service, though, wasn't established until 1792 when Congress authorized local post offices and postal roads.  I'm thinkin' those Post Roads did as much for transportation and commerce in the 1770's as Interstates did in the 1950's - comparatively speaking.)

The cupola on the top of Mount Vernon is one of my favorite features.  Remember, there was no air conditioning back then.  In the summertime, if you went up to the cupola and opened the windows, they would act as a chimney and draw the cooler air in from the open doors and windows on the first floor, up through the different levels and force the hot air out.  However, unlike chimneys, in the winter time you could close those windows tight and trap the warm air of the house in those upper bedrooms.  Smart.  Very, very smart!  Just as (another) side note, Washington created a chair with a foot pedal that would swing a fan over his head for extra cooling.  I would imagine wearing those powdered wigs was a very hot piece of fashion in more ways than one.  We weren't allowed to take photos inside the house, or I'd share that one with you.

Overall I think it is a very handsome home!

Over To Mount Vernon, The Home of George Washington

From our Cherry tree quest, we cross the Potomac River and follow what seemed to be some very convoluted GPS directions to Mount Vernon.  Eventually we achieved our goal and were pretty much the first folks there that Saturday morning.  We enter the estate through what is known as "The Texas Gate" because a group of Texans supported the construction of the original main gate in 1899, and again in 1988 the restoration of this gate.  (Who knew?)

We were greeted by the (life size) Washington family:

George reminds me of Granpa.  This bronze is supposedly made from a lifemask George allowed to have done, and so the head dimensions are precise.  The body dimensions are based on his clothing, so the body dimensions are probably right on also.  By all accounts, Granpa's head was dimensionally big for his body, too, but I guarantee you that his shoulders were (and are) much broader than George's! Martha, if I remember correctly, was really more like me and my dimensions, but, hey, she was the first First Lady, so she gets to be any size she wants!  (And that's okay by me.)
 

We move on to allow the Washington's to greet other guests, and we stroll through the Visitor's Center.


These stained glass windows give a quick overview of Washington's life.  They're really quite something to see in person.

Our first glimpse of the home at Mount Vernon is from a distance:

I don't know if that's ectoplasm or sun glare on the camera lens - but I think it's pretty cool the way it comes down right on that spot. 

Cherry Blossoms?

We're drivin' and lookin' - lookin' and drivin'...

Cool architecture.  A couple of flowerless, leafless trees of unknown species.  Still drivin' ...

Pretty flowers.  Still lookin'...

Cool building.  Washington has LOTS of cool buildings.

Washington Monument.  Must be getting close...  Cherry trees are planted willy-nilly throughout D.C., but "the" trees are along the banks of the Potomac, and the Washington Monument is on the Potomac.

Ah, ha!  We think this must be a cherry tree!  The whole cherry tree thing started in 1885 when one Eliza Schidmore, a photographer (in 1885?  She was certainly on the cutting edge of technology!) Schidmore came home from Japan with the idea of adding some color to D.C.  The city of Washington, D.C. simply ignored her.  Over twenty years later, she's still hung up on the idea and decides to raise funds to buy them herself.  She buddied up with First Lady Helen Taft who had lived in Japan for awhile and knew of the beauty of blossoming cherry trees.  (You know, I never learned much about the Taft's in my history classes, but these folks keep popping up everywhere now that I'm doing my own research.)

Well, when you get First Ladies involved things start poppin' !!  The Japanese consul in New York got wind of the plans and suggested his government make a gift of the cherry trees to them. 

The story doesn't end there, though, because nothing in life is simple.


The City of Tokyo donated two thousand cherry trees to be planted along the Potomac River.  They were shipped to Seattle and finally reached D.C. in January, 1910.  Oops!  The U.S. Department of Agriculture discovered those 2,000 trees were crawling with insects and nematodes, and the trees themselves were diseased.  To protect America's trees, they decided to destroy (almost) all 2,000 trees - as in burn them!  And so, with President Taft's approval, they did - without so much as a "by your leave" to the Japanese embassy.

WELL!  Another (major) oops!  The cherry blossom "is a potent symbol equated with the evanescence of human life and epitomizes the transformation of Japanese culture throughout the ages."  How do you think the Japanese felt about the burning of their gift?  How would YOU feel about having a gift you gave burned?  But, diplomacy (LOTS of diplomacy) eventually worked its magic, and the mayor of Tokyo chose to donate not 2,000 trees but actually increased it to 3,000 trees!  AND, he ordered that these 3,000 were to be "taken in December 1910 from the famous collection along the bank of the Arakawa River in Adachi Ward, a suburb of Tokyo, and grafted onto specially selected understock produced in Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture."

THESE trees reached D.C., and in a ceremony on March 27, 1912, two were planted by Mrs. Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted two Yoshino cherry trees on the northern bank of the Tidal Basin, about 125 feet south of what is now Independence Avenue, SW.  These two original trees still stand several hundred yards west of the John Paul Jones Memorial, located at the terminus of 17th Street, SW. Situated near the bases of the trees is a large bronze plaque which commemorates the occasion.

By the time we got to the cherry trees on the Potomac we were too late - blooms were mostly gone and everything was leafed out.  Not all is lost though, because now we know the story!!

Remember I said "almost" all of those first 2,000 trees were burned?  Well, in an Evening Star article on January 29, 1910, mention is made of a dozen of the "buggiest trees" being saved for further study, and "planted out in the experimental plot of the bureau, and there will be an expert entomologist with a dark lantern, and a butterfly net, cyanide bottle and other lethal weapons placed on guard over the trees, to see what sort of bugs develop."

And with that image, I bid you adieu!