Unexpected Beauty

Springtime in Arkansas is quite beautiful. Driving through the Ozarks is a trip with hairpin turns on roads through tunnels of trees. The forests are full of mayapples, ferns, wildflowers, and an occasional redbud or dogwood in bloom. We visited Eureka Springs for the first time and stayed at the "most haunted hotel in America - The Crescent Hotel. we didnt see any ghosts but it was a nightmare trying to navigate the winding streets that never met at a 90 degree angle. Victorian homes abut against natural limestone walls and stone homes from the 1800s are still beautiful. This city is a series of terraces cut into the limestone. very colorful. From there we drove to one of the best museums of American Art- Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, AR. One of Walmart founder Sam Walton's daughters is the founder. The art trail has 2 Kusama works and we visited an exhibit "The Dirty South" from "our" museum, The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, in Richmond.

Just a few more pics from Belle Air Mansion

Nashville Belle Air Mansion

Staying in a real pre-Civil War mansion 5 miles from downtown Nashville. Unbelievable that people lived like this in the 1800s or now. Seventy seven slaves worked 1800 acres before the Civil War. There's a dungeon in the basement because court proceedings were held in the library. Andrew Jackson practiced law in the "courtroom." Prisoners were held in the dungeon. One of the mansion mistresses had a huge rose garden and sold rosewater. Now the restored building is a grand bed and breakfast. This video gives a good overview. https://youtu.be/8Szh6L59uJE

Heading to Texas

First stop is lovely Hotel Bristol in Bristol VA which straddles the border with TN. We visited the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Well worth a visit. More concerning were the local newspaper headlines about the problems with the local landfill. The landfill opened in 1998 when the VA part of the city bought a Vulcan quarry and started filling it with trash. Jump forward to now when mysterious noxious odors take over the whole adjacent area - even downtown - especially in the winter. No one can figure out why and all kinds of people are suing each other. BUT the Hotel Bristol is fabulous and the rooftop bar was great when we visited twice.

Leaving the excess behind

The dog with the necklace sums up my impression of the Gilded Age in Newport: too much excess all around. We spent 3 days at the beautiful Samuel Durfee House in downtown Newport. we could walk to almost everything. But we did drive to the Castle Inn a mile and a half from where Jackie Bouvier grew up. The Inn is a Relais and Chateau property where rooms run more than $1000 a night. A lady at one of the mansion stores told me it was a great place to get a drink on the lawn and enjoy the view. Luckily lunch and a drink on the lawn were more in line with our budget. We had a wonderful afternoon watching the sailboats bounce around in front of us. Today we started the drive south and stopped to spend the night at an historic hotel near Lancaster PA- The Inn at Leola Village. The flying pig is their symbol so we saw them wherever we walked. Tomorrow we visit Lititz for Wilbur buds(chocolates) and a pretzel factory. Then it's home to get back to reality after 3 beautiful weeks exploring New England.

Topiaries, dahlias, zinnia, lobsta

A beautiful day in Rhode Island. We finally found a restaurant that had reasonable prices. Graziano's 501 Cafe is a neighborhood place that had 2 hot dogs and fries for 5.99 for Bob and the special lobster roll, chowder, + fries for 20.00 for me. First stop was the Green Animals Topiary garden which was fabulous. It was bursting with colors as well- its a famous dahlia garden and it did not disappoint. Most of the topiaries are from the early 1900s. In the afternoon we checked into our B&B in Newport and visited Chateau Sur Mer before it closed for the season.

UpsideDown Curtain Motel

More from Woods Hole where you know everyone you see on the street in skinny spandex shorts and bike helmet is way smarter than you. Genius idea: take a 700 lb buoy and cut away sea crestures to create a fabulous "fire ball" - so much cooler than my Solo stove. Not so genius idea: hang the curtains upside down so you dont have to do anymore sewing. We had planned to take the ferry to Martha's Vineyard to see the 1% ers but it was too choppy and drizzly for this landbubber's constitution. So we walked around town.

Gorey times

Yesterday we visited the Edward Gorey Museum. I LOVED it but Bob was a bit unsettled by the art. As the guide kept repeating "You just cannot empathize with the subjects." Anyway, Bob patiently waited in the car while I soaked in the Gorey-ness. And I came back to the hotel and entered the Gorey Hallowen Envelope Contest. This year's subject is "Beastly babies." Then we went to Herring Cove Beach to watch the sunset. Sunday morning we walked around Provincetown before the crowds came. Then we went to the beach and saw the scariest shark warning sign ever.

Beautiful fall day

The drive from Maine to Massachusetts was beautiful. The trees are turning bright colors. Eric Carle Museum was as colorful as you would expect and it explained how he created his collages by painting tissue paper with acrylic paint and adding texture by brushing on more colors with brooms or other tools. There is even an art studio where we could make art. We stopped at a nearby farm market for apple cider doughnuts which seem to be everywhere. The day ended with us sitting on the beach at Cape Cod watching the sunset. Then we returned to our teeny tiny room im Provincetown driving past lots of groups of people gathered around firepits.

Oh the places you’ll go!

Springfield Massachusetts is birthplace of Dr Seuss, home location of many industries, like the Indian Motorcycle Company. Luckily there are 5 museums to fill you in on all the details. But we stayed in Amherst, Emily Dickinson's home and location of U Mass and Amherst at a B&B with free range chickens amd fabulous breakfast.

Maine does not disappoint

On this perfect fall day Acadia National Park was a busy place. The past two days were cloudy and misty but we stayed at the beautiful Lyme Inn. Luckily today we had reservations to drive up to Cadillac Mountain Summit in Acadia. There were lines to get into the park store. All the parking spaces at Jordan Pond were taken and cars snaked around its two parking lots. Bikers, hikers, and drivers swarmed everywhere. We spent the day at the park and then had a late lunch at the same place we ate yesterday- Acadia Lobster and BBQ outside of Ellsworth. A lobster roll was $30! We dont go to fancy places but the prices to eat out are outrageously high everywhere on this trip. The chill in the air and the clear skies were perfect for taking pictures. I ended up buying a walking stick hoping it would protect me from falls and not trip me up. So far there has been one injury per day - bug bites that turn into massive itchy welts, or whacking my elbow on a hook in the ladies' room stall and thinking it might be chipped or broken. Today it was skinning my leg on a rock as I gently brushed against it while stepping down onto a trail overlooking the water. It's dangerous out there when you are a delicate but clumsy flower.

Fall in Vermont

Pumpkins, mums, & Enfield scarecrows

Bennington Vermont

Today we drove north to Bennington, a sweet college town. First stop was Robert Frost's stone house (pictured)which wasnt open yet- because we travel super early. However, I may have or may have NOT gotten some milkweed seeds from his garden. Then we visited the Bennington Museum which had a very eclectic collection. The statue pictured is "Waiting (for Trayvon Martin) by local artist Matthew Perry who has 3 sons. It was a moving sculpture to see and reminded me that I have seen more "Black Lives Matter" signs in New England than I see at home. In addition there were old artifacts like a case of sewing machines, lace making equipment, a Robert Frost exhibit, the unbelievably intricate 1863 Jane Stickle quilt with 225 patterns and much much more. Our stop for the night is in Manchester Vermont which has a fabulous bookstore and a library with very interesting programs.

Forest Bathing

"Forest bathing" didn't make much sense to me until i walked through Innisfree Garden in New York. Distractions always crept in to any walk Ive ever taken until I experienced this garden. At the beginning of the walk a sign explains that this is a Cup Garden- a Japanese concept of having small areas with focal points - The focal point might be a tree or a rock or maybe a mossy area. What is a focal point to me might not be a focal point for you. I felt totally immersed by nature in this garden and Im sure my blood pressure dropped significantly.

New York State is closed on Monday and Tuesday

Most tourist sites are closed Monday and Tuesday. In addition, many places have cut back due to covid. Advance planning is really important for any travel now. Luckily the Culinary Institute of America was open for its students so we ate with them at their student cafe The Egg. Then I visited the Conrad Hilton Library for a look around this fascinating place. After wandering into the Archivist's office I had a wonderful time learning about the odd collection of artifacts like a Roman amphora, an ancient glass vase and menus that were designed by famous artists like Ellsworth Kelly and Allen Ginsberg for the NYC restaurant Chanterelle. After tea time at the clssic Eveready Diner. A walk at the Vanderbilt Mansion gave us beautiful views of the Hudson and the Catskills in the distance.

Matisse and Chagall in Sleepy Hollow

Stained glass windows by Matisse and Chagall were commissioned by their friends, the Rockefellers at the Union Church of Pocatino. Then we visited Harney & Sons Tea Company in Millerton NY and lunch at McEnroe Farms

Pumpkin Blaze near Sleepy Hollow

Back Home

News about the rise of the covid delta variant influenced us to cut our trip short. Our ages and comorbidities were risk factors we couldnt control. Nevertheless, we had a fabulous time at all the places we did see. Our country is so beautiful and we can't wait to get out on the road again.

Circus World

Baraboo Wisconsin was the hometown of the Ringling Brothers. Then it was the winter home of the circus every winter. The Circus World Museum has a big top and multiple buildings that used to house the animals. The buildings have been refurbished and now hold exhibits of posters, costumes, and circus wagons from many different circuses. It was really interesting to see a rail car that transported animals and read about how the circus was such a big part of entertainment culture in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Wisconsin: it’s not what you imagine

If you think Wisconsin is all farms and dairies and cheese and average people, you haven't seen the Wisconsin I've seen. I am not a minimalist but our visit to House on the Rock, triggered a panic attack from being surrounded by so much stuff. Alex Jordan was an eccentric genius who designed a home on a big rock just down the road from Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesan. He incrementally proceeded to expand it and fill it with countless collections that he acquired or had built. (actually that is quite an understatement) He was a collector and commissioned the largest carousel in the world. You just have to read about it. Then we stopped by Dr Evermor's park with his Forevertron. Here's what Wikipedia says: "The sculpture incorporates two Thomas Edison dynamos from the 1880s, lightning rods, high-voltage components from 1920s power plants, scrap from the nearby Badger Army Ammunition Plant, and the decontamination chamber from the Apollo 11 spacecraft.[2] Its creator, Tom Every (1938 - 2020),[3][4] was born in Brooklyn, Wisconsin and was a demolition expert who spent decades collecting antique machinery for the sculpture and the surrounding fiction that justifies it. According to Every, Dr. Evermor was a Victorian inventor who designed the Forevertron to launch himself, "into the heavens on a magnetic lightning force beam." The Forevertron, despite its size and weight, was designed to be relocatable to a different site—the sculpture is built in sections that are connected by bolts and pins." I got to talk to his widow, Lady Eleanor, who was absolutely lovely and clearly misses her husband who passed away last year. In addition to art, we visited the International Crane Society's sanctuary with the 15 different types of cranes that are in the world. We ended our day by staying at the Ringling House B and B in Baraboo. This is where the Ringling Brothers Circus began.