Tag Archives: Travel

Northwest Trek – Heading Home and Looking Back

22 Aug

We came to the end of our trip, which meant a long flight back home. It was nothing like the return trip of Lewis and Clark, but it still took a while. We had a layover in Los Angeles that brought to mind the old Susan Raye song, “L.A. International Airport.” Unfortunately, that was the only thing pleasant about the experience.

One would think that the second largest city in the United States would have a decent airport. One would be wrong. We landed in one terminal and were told that our connecting flight in another terminal. No big deal. We could just catch the tram to the other building. That is when we found out that the Los Angeles International Airport does not have a tram, or a train, or a monorail. It has a bus that takes you on the tarmac. That is the same tarmac where planes taxi to the runway. In short, the airport is a disaster.

Despite the airport craziness, we made our connection and got back to Tennessee. In the days following, I looked back upon the trip and thought about everything that we did and saw. Overall, it was a good trip. We spent time cutting up and laughing and having fun. We also saw some things that we had never seen before.

Although we had been to Oregon and Washington, it was only long enough to say that we had been there. This time, we saw some stuff.

Looking back, I think we should have spent more time in Washington and driven into the eastern part of that state. Oregon has some great things, but there was not enough in between to justify the drive. Washington is a smaller state and, looking at the map, may have a few more places to see.

Despite that bit of hindsight, I am glad that we made the journey into the Northwest. It gave us the opportunity to spend time together, and it allowed us to explore some territory that we knew little about.

With that being said, I will end this series with a picture of my dad and my brother. I hope you can make them out.IMG_2691

I hope everyone enjoyed reading about our trip. The next post will be about the regular goofy stuff.

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Northwest Trek – The Fate of a Man and a Mountain

21 Aug

Before the trip began, my brother said over and over that Mount St. Helens was the one thing he definitely wanted to see. It did not matter where else we went as long as we went there. He remembered watching the weeks of television coverage as the volcano built towards a massive eruption. Although I am younger, I also remember the images of the mudslides and ash. After visiting the mountain, I know that television did not portray the impact and destruction.

There is only one road to Mount St Helens, but there are a few places to stop along the way. The Mount St. Helens Visitor Center sits a few miles off the interstate and provides a good introduction into the events of 1980. My nephews did not know much about what happened, but they knew a little more after watching a movie about it. Obviously, the film was about the volcano, but it was also about the people who were affected by it. This included a man who I still remember seeing on television.

Harry Truman was in his 80s and had lived in the shadows of Mt. St. Helens for 50 years. As law enforcement evacuated people who lived in the area, Harry was determined that he was not going anywhere. He became a celebrity as reporters flocked to interview him. He was full of quips and quotes and became the face of the people of the area. Harry disappeared in the eruption. It is assumed that he was buried under the boiling mud that slid off the mountain.

As we walked out of the movie, I made the comment that I would have never stayed around to die in a volcano. However, my nephew had another view. Here was a man who had lived his life, and he did not want to leave his home. By staying near the mountain, he lives on in memory rather than fading from our minds.

I am not sure I agree with that, but it is true that Harry has not been forgotten.

We drove to the end of the road and the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. There sits the Johnston Ridge Observatory, named after a scientist who was also killed in the eruption. It is an impressive building that provides an excellent view of the north side of Mount St. Helens. In other words, it is in the blast zone.

There a televisions in one part of the observatory that show news footage from the time. There are interviews with a lot of people, and there are interviews with Harry saying that he will never leave the mountain. When the televisions go dark, doors open into a theater where we learn about the explosion. The cause. The destruction. The environmental impact. When the movie ends, the screen rises and a huge window appears. Outside sits Mount St. Helens. It is an awesome thing to see.IMG_2917

On the observation deck, park rangers explain the event in detail. The mudslide was the largest in recorded history and traveled at 150 miles per hour. What impressed me the most? The entrance to the Columbia River went from a depth of 40 feet to a depth of 9 feet.

The ash cloud traveled at a speed of 300 miles per hour and circled the globe in two weeks. There is no way to describe the destruction in a blog post, but it was total and absolute. The national park service has preserved the land in its ruined state and is studying the environment as it recovers.

Driving back to the interstate, we stopped at a restaurant called Patty’s Place at 19 Mile House. It was a good meal, but it is not the food that stood out. As we walked out, there was a picture hanging of Harry Truman. He was right when he said that he would never leave the mountain, and my nephew was right when he said that Harry is still remembered. Mount St. Helens and Harry Truman are intertwined.

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Northwest Trek – A Great Debate and a Great Big Rock

20 Aug

We spent quite a bit of time debating what to do next. My nephew wanted to see Olympic National Park, but, while it would have been cool, I felt that it was too far. Instead, I thought we should see Mt. Rainier. We made our points before he got to the crux of the matter. He was afraid that we would look at the mountain; say something about it being a big rock; and drive on down the road. He had reason to worry because we are prone to do that. Patience is not our virtue.

I promised him that we would stop anywhere that he wanted to stop. If he saw a trail that he wanted to walk, then we would walk it. On top of that, we would not complain about it. He was not convinced.

Honestly, I think going to Olympic would have been cool, but we were not set up for it. If I had it to do over, then we would have spent all of our time in Washington. That way we could have done both. Crater Lake was interesting, but we spent a lot of time just to see one thing.

With the debate behind us, we set out for Mt. Rainier. Along the way, we went through several towns where logging was the major industry. I always think it is interesting to drive through towns. As Del Gue says in Jeremiah Johnson, “Here’s where the people is.” I wonder if Jeremiah, Del Gue and Bear Claw ever made it up to Mt. Rainier.

Anyway, we drove the high road to the mountain, and Mt. Rainier is truly an impressive thing to see.DSC00358

However, it is still a big rock, and I do not have much to write about it.

On the way down from the mountain, we stopped by a mountain stream that was interesting. My nephews and I took the trail and crossed a small bridge to the other side. There were a lot of rocks and a little water, but there are probably times when the water is pouring down.IMG_2888

There is a funny story about my youngest nephew losing his footing on the trail, but I will spare him the embarrassment of putting it out here for everyone to read.

After all of this, we stopped in Longmire, Washington for lunch at the National Park Inn. We had thought about eating at the lodge in the middle of the park, but this turned out to be a better decision. Besides, my dad’s favorite show is Longmire, which made this a fitting place to spend some time.

We made our way back to Longview, Washington and more pie at Shari’s. This time, I skipped Marionberry and went with Pecan. It tastes more like home.

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Northwest Trek – Lewis, Clark and Kites

19 Aug

After a day of many miles and little sightseeing, we were determined to spend the next day doing the opposite. We wanted to see some stuff and do it in as few miles as possible. That meant hopping over to the Oregon side of the Columbia River and driving to Astoria, the town that served as the base for John Jacob Astor’s fur company.

As a historian of the American West, this is a place that I have talked about in class and a place that I wanted to visit. Astor’s company was the first in the United States to be worth a million dollars and served as the basis for investment in New York City real estate.

The Astoria Column sits on the highest point in the town and was built by the Astor’s to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of their business.DSC00340

My nephews and I climbed the tower and saw stunning vistas.DSC00337

It also gave them the opportunity to make fun of my discomfort with heights.

After the climb, we drove to Fort Clatsop. It is a place that few people know about but that played an important role in one of this country’s pivotal events, the journey of Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and the men who traveled with them. They built a fort to spend a few months on the coast before making their way back home. There is a reproduction of the fort that provides an idea of what it may have been like in the early years of the 1800s.IMG_2701

As we walked around, I thought about the location. The Louisiana Territory did not reach to the Pacific Ocean. During their time at Fort Clatsop, the expedition was trespassing. Obviously, it had long been the domain of Native Americans, but a couple of European powers claimed it before the United States.

I also realized that, through our travels, we have covered a lot of the trail that Lewis and Clark traveled.

Lewis and Clark went east when they left the fort. We went south toward Seaside, Oregon to a famous formation called Haystack Rock.IMG_2741

It was cool, but there was another place that we needed to visit.

While studying the map, my younger nephew and I saw the World Kite Museum and Hall of Fame. He was determined to go, and we were determined to get him there. After crossing the river in Washington, we made our way to Long Beach and a building full of kites. It was corny, but we learned about the important role that kites played in World War II. Also, the first floor had a wall filled with people who had been inducted in the Hall of Fame. I read each one of them. Hey, if you are going to be in a hall of fame, then someone should read your name.

You may have heard of a few of them.

Charlie Brown

Wilber and Orville Wright

Benjamin Franklin

Alexander Graham Bell

It is an impressive list.

We asked the lady at the desk for a food recommendation. She sent us up the road to a seafood place that fried everything. We wanted seafood, but something grilled would have been nice. Honestly, it was not any better than Captain D’s. Its only redeeming quality was the city park across the street. When we walked out, a band was playing a music filled the air. They were called Jawbone Flats, and I would have listened for a while. However, everyone was ready to leave.

Hey, look over there. It is a road that goes to the beach. When I say the road goes to the beach, I really mean that it goes onto the beach. Cars are allowed on Long Beach, the longest beach in the world.DSC00348

Honestly, we all thought that Daytona Beach was the only one that you could drive on.

With daylight burning, there was one more stop to make. An old lighthouse sits on the edge of Cape Disappointment.IMG_2774

My brother and nephews climbed to the top while I talked to the man at the entrance. They learned all about the operation of lighthouses while I learned that men were stationed there during World War II. After all, they never knew when the Japanese my attack the Columbia River.

We returned to the hotel with our mission accomplished. We did not go far and saw a lot of stuff. We old folks went to bed while my nephews went to Shari’s to get more pie.

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Northwest Trek – These Are The Times That Try Men’s Souls

17 Aug

We spent an uncertain night in Redmond, Oregon because we did not know which way to progress. Do we go northeast toward Idaho? Do we go north before deciding our next direction? This uncertainty is strange for us because we usually have a plan of roads to take and sights to see. However, we were not familiar with the territory. Finally, we decided to drive north towards The Dalles and turn eastward through the Columbia River Gorge. We had been told that this was something that had to be seen.

Through the years, we have driven through some desolate regions. There are parts of Montana and North Dakota where you will not pass another car for a while. However, we all agreed that nothing was as desolate as the road we took. The road was empty. The land was rough. I was driving and began to worry about the fact that we did not fill up with fuel before hitting the trail.

At one point, we pulled over to take a “break” and saw this guy riding along in the middle of nowhere.DSC00331

This brings me to a couple of other points about the trip. First, there are tons of cyclists in the northwest. They were on every road. Sometimes, they rode alone. Sometimes, they rode in pairs. Other times, they rode in groups with all of them wearing the same jerseys. I assume they were cycling clubs.

Second, the guy on the bike never acknowledged our existence. He rode by slowly as we stood along the side of the road. In these parts, we would have waved or nodded our heads. In some parts of the country, a cyclist may have yelled at us for being in the way. That did not happen on the side of a desolate road, and it did not happen on any other part of the trip. The people of the northwest were nice enough, but it was like they did not care if we were around. There was no reaction.

That could be that they are more mellow than the rest of the country. It could be that the zombie apocalypse has started in the northwest, and no one has realized it. Whatever the reason, most of the people we ran into seemed to be floating through the day. Heck, they did not even ask us where we were from. Usually, our southern accents elicit that question but not this time.

Anyway, we made it to the edge of the Gorge and filled up with gasoline. For those who do not know, Oregon has a law that says you cannot pump your own gas. They have attendants that do it for you. Of course, you have to get out of the car to insert the credit card and clean the windows.

We drove through the Columbia River Gorge on the scenic side and were disappointed. It simply was not as scenic as people made out. If someone thinks this is the most beautiful place they have been, then they have not been many places. It is not a terrible place, but there are better drives throughout the nation.IMG_2528

On top of that, we ended up eating at Burger King. We expected little towns with cool local eateries. There were little towns but not many choices in dining. However, Burger King provided the opportunity to break out the map and find our destination. It turned out to be Longview, Washington, a place that set us up for the next day.

We made it to Longview in time to do a couple of things. One was to find a place to fix my nephew’s GoPro camera. The other was to find something to eat. It took a couple of stops for the camera, and my nephew ended up fixing it with glue and rope. While he was looking for that, we were on our phones looking for restaurants.

My nephew and I found a steakhouse a few blocks away. There were some other places, but the pickings were slim. My brother said that he found something great – a smokehouse with brisket, barbecue and all sorts of stuff. We could not find it on our phones, but he was determined that we were going there. It turned out that he was looking for restaurants in Longview, Texas.

We had dinner at Applebee’s. It was not as good as our local Applebee’s because this one has my picture on the wall.

On the way back to the hotel, we ran into Shari’s, the place with the pie. We had to top off a long day with something good. For me, that was another piece of Marionberry Pie. It was a wasted day. We did not see anything. We did not have a decent meal. However, we got some pie.

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Northwest Trek – I Will Take Two Lions and a Lake for $10

15 Aug

We awoke in Roseburg, Oregon with big plans for the day. We were going to visit a place that none of us had ever seen. However, we had another surpass addition before starting on our way.

The night before, my brother read about a safari park in Winston, Oregon. He remembered going through one as a kid and thought it would be interesting. With that in mind, we drove to Wildlife Safari and something that I would call a drive-thru zoo.

Animals were divided by different continents, and most of them were roaming around.IMG_2344

Of course, there were a few animals that were deemed too dangerous to get close to the cars. Those were kept behind some well-built fences.IMG_2372

I am still trying to figure out how they decided which were fence worthy and which were not.

In the beginning, the adventure was interesting, and we drove slowly through the land. However, patience is not our virtue, and we sped up as more land and animals passed by. We had done the Marlin Perkins thing. It was time to move on.

That meant making our way to Crater Lake, a place that I have always wanted to see. The road to the national park followed a mountain river and was surrounded by huge trees. Honestly, it felt claustrophobic. There are times when I like the wide open spaces of the Plains more than a mountain forest.

We stopped for lunch at the Steamboat Inn. I am not sure if they think highly of their food or just have a monopoly on the road, but those were some expensive sandwiches. There was also a lodge for people who like to sit and contemplate. We did not have time for contemplation. We had somewhere to be.

Crater Lake was as beautiful as I imagined. Along the way, we drove through a barren caldera, which set the lake up nicely. The water was pure blue, and, from our high vantage point, we could see 150 feet into its depths. Of course, that was only a small percentage of its depth of over 1900 feet.DSC00327

After taking a bunch of pictures and visiting the welcome center, we got back into the vehicle and drove north to Redmond, Oregon, where the situation became entertaining. I stood in line to check in the hotel as an older couple argued with lady working the desk. Apparently, they got a reduced rate and were trying to add a $10 coupon on top of it. They spent 15 minutes arguing over $10 and making the lady behind the desk cry. I am not sure $10 is worth all of that.

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Northwest Trek – I Wonder If Howard Hughes Liked Pie, Too

14 Aug

Our journey into the Great Northwest began with a pleasant flight. Well, it was pleasant except for the woman two rows in front of us who lives in San Diego, where her husband is based in the Marines. They just finished a two-week vacation visiting family. The first week was with her family in Oklahoma, and the second week was with his family in Kentucky. They like San Diego, but it was better being based in Texas because it was closer to all of those people. Also, they have a six-month old child who never misses a meal.

How do I know all of this? She spent the entire flight craning her neck and talking to the people behind her. I have a message for her. We all appreciate the sacrifice your husband makes for our country. However, there is an issue. When people tell you that you have a cute baby, they are not asking for your life story. There is no reason to broadcast it to the back of the plane.

With that rant behind me, let us get on with the story. We landed in Portland in plenty of time to make it to the hotel. We knew that we wanted to be out of the city and thought 50 miles would be a good distance. I randomly chose McMinnville, Oregon because it fit that distance and was in the direction we wanted to drive. That decision paid off for a couple of reasons.

First, we found out that McMinnville, Oregon is named after McMinnville, Tennessee. Apparently, a man from here traveled on the Oregon Trail and named his new town after his old one. Second, the Evergreen Aviation Museum was across the street from the hotel. One of my nephews said that we should go. The other nephew looked it up on the internet and discovered that it is the home of the Spruce Goose, the gigantic plane build and flown by Howard Hughes. that is something that we had to see.DSC00262

The next morning, we went to the museum and saw the big plane along with a bunch of other cool planes. At one time, it was the largest plane ever flown. It still holds the record for longest wingspan. This was the plane that Hughes built to transport troops and supplies during World War II. It was not finished in time, and he ended up being called in front of Congress to testify. The day he flew the plane is one of the last times Hughes was seen in public.

We got to go into the plane and took turns sitting at the controls.IMG_2132

Now, all I have to do is lock myself in a room; take my clothes off; watch the same movie over and over; and grow out my hair and nails. Then, I will have had the complete Howard Hughes experience.

After the museum, we drove down the coast on Highway 101. Honestly, we were disappointed with this part of the trip. The land between the road and the ocean was developed more than we realized, and the views were not what we had anticipated. Still, we saw some pretty scenery along the way.DSC00280

The highlight was stopping in Newport, Oregon for lunch. My oldest nephew broke out his GPS to find something good and led us to Local Ocean Seafoods, which sits along the harbor.DSC00274

When I picture a seafood restaurant, I think of something made of wood with fishing nets hanging from the ceiling. It may have that fish smell and saltine crackers on the table. This place was different. It had a sleek, modern motif and great food. In my mind, it was the best meal of the entire trip.

We continued along the coast and turned inland toward Eugene, Oregon. My youngest nephew wanted to see the University of Oregon football stadium and buy a shirt. We also took some time to walk around campus. We saw a lot of students, but I was interested in a couple of faculty members. As we passed, they were having a lively debate, the higher education way of saying that they were arguing.

We could have gotten a room in Eugene but decided to drive down the interstate to have a better set up for the next day. That took us to Roseburg, Oregon, which was low on hotels and places to eat. We slept at the Best Western and dined a Shari’s, which is similar to a place around here called Shoney’s. It turns out that they are famous for their pies, and that those pies were free that night.

The pie was awesome. I got a piece of Marionberry Pie. Yep, I some pie that has the same name as a Washington, D.C. mayor who got caught smoking crack in a hotel room.

As we walked out of Shari’s, we had no idea that we would hit that franchise again and again and again.

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D.C. Road Trip – Virginia is for Troopers

26 Jul

On Sunday morning, we pulled out of Washington, D.C. and headed toward our home in Tennessee. Obviously, this meant spending quite a bit of time driving the interstates of Virginia. Along the way, I learned quite a bit about that state.

The state troopers are serious. We saw a motorist pulled over as soon as we left D.C., and we saw another one pulled over a mile from the Tennessee border. In between, we saw a ton of state troopers sitting on the side of the road just waiting to get someone. Seriously, we expected to see blue lights around every bend.

I also noticed that these state troopers caused a trend. When they were not around, the traffic flowed smoothly. When one of them appeared, the traffic congested as people hit their brakes and tried to get into one lane. In short, I think everyone would be better off if there were fewer of them out there.

Another Virginia revelation. People like to drive down the interstate with their arms hanging out the window. This is something you might see someone doing on a city backstreet or a country backroad, but you rarely see it on the interstate. Not in Virginia. There were arms dangling everywhere. When I am on the interstate, I like to keep all arms and legs inside the vehicle.

Oh yeah, James Madison University has a nice football stadium just off the interstate. It would have been cool to go over and check it out.

Anyway, those are a few of the things I noticed while driving home. However, I also spent some time looking back on our trip. When I started this series of travelogue posts, I wrote that I was nervous about the trip.

First, I was not sure about the timing of our stops. This is a crucial aspect for any road trip. It turns out the distances worked out well. We got to Lynchburg in time to have a relaxing dinner in town. We even got my stepdaughter to the hotel in time to watch her favorite show only to discover that they did not offer that channel. The best laid plans and all of that.

It was the same thing going into D.C. We arrived at the same time as the people we were meeting. It also gave us time to unpack; have a nice dinner; and stroll to the White House. Unfortunately, we cancelled the Virginia Beach part of the trip and do not know if the timing would have worked. I think it would have, though.

Second, I was not sure about sightseeing for three days in a major city. I had never done it before and was not sure how to do it. We saw a lot of cool stuff, but I am not sure we planned it well. The walking idea was good for a while but quickly turned tiresome. We also crammed a lot of things into the three days. Looking back, I would have cut out the museums and spread everything else over the time.

Third, I wanted my family to like the experience. I think they liked the places we saw and the things we did, but it tired them out. They would like to have had some lying around time built into the agenda. Removing the museums would have accomplished that. Hopefully, they did not get too tired because there is a lot of cool things to see out there in the world, and I want them to see it all.

That wraps up our D.C. Road Trip. You will get some regular posts for a while, then I fly to the great Northwest. There is no telling how many posts I will get out of that one. In the meantime, I leave you with one of the last pictures we took. It also happens to be one of my favorites.image-25

I hope you enjoyed reading about our Washington, D.C. adventures.

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D.C. Road Trip – A Long Day at the Museum

25 Jul

Going into the trip, we had not settled on what day we would visit the Smithsonian, but the decision was made on the road to Lynchburg. Through social media, my wife found out that some old friends were going to be in Washington, D.C. on Saturday and were planning on taking their daughter to a couple of the museums. It would be the perfect day to see them and see some artifacts.

It turned out to be, in my mind, an imperfect day. We started with a visit to Starbucks and a cab ride to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a place that we definitely wanted to see. Then, we were informed that it would take almost two hours to get in. I could sense that, by this time, my wife had tired of getting tickets and hanging around for a while to see something. When she asked if we should stay or go somewhere else, my gut told me that we should go somewhere else. It would not be the last time that my gut spoke to me that day.

With plans to tour the National Museum of American History with our friends, we bypassed that one and went to the one next to it, the National Museum of Natural History. This is one of the most famous Smithsonian buildings and begins with the iconic stuffed elephant.image-23

That proved to be the first of many stuffed animals. It was cool to see, but, honestly, I thought it was kind of creepy. We have a collection of stuffed animals on campus that I do not find creepy, and I kept trying to figure out the difference. It could be because the Smithsonian is in the business of protecting information about the world, and these animals were far from protected.

The Hope Diamond was the highlight of the museum. I thought it was cool and could tell that my family thought it was more cool.

When we walked out of the building, we were looking straight at the Smithsonian Castle.image-24

I could only think that the secret headquarters for Sigma Force were underneath. Never heard of Sigma Force? It is a team of government agents whose exploits are chronicled in a series of books by James Rollins. I have been reading them forever.

I do not need to be a secret agent to know that my next decision was my worst. I already had the feeling that my wife was done walking and sightseeing, and I suggested going to the National Museum of the American Indian. The decision was made for two reasons. First, I thought it would be a cool museum. Second, it was time for lunch, and the restaurant in the museum was supposed to be the best around. I had seen it on television, and our contact in our congressman’s office said it was great.

As we walked toward the museum, my gut spoke up. It told me that this was an awfully long walk, and no one else was happy about taking it. It also told me that we were next to the National Museum of American History, and we were getting further from it by the minute. Funny thing, my gut was speaking to me more than my wife. In fact, she was not speaking to me, at all.

We get to the museum, and the restaurant is packed. Apparently, everyone was the same television show that I had watched. On top of that, it was all traditional food of the American Indian. I do not think my family found it very appetizing. Luckily, our friends arrived as we finished eating. Hopefully, that would make the day go better.

We toured the museum, and, to me, it was a disappointing experience. There were not as many artifacts as I expected, and there looked to be a lot of wasted space. The worst part? They displayed pottery from the Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico. Everyone knows that they should have displayed pottery from the San Ildefonso Pueblo.

Then, we made the trek back across the Mall. I must say that it went quicker because we had more people to talk to. However, it did not make it any shorter. By the time we got to the museum, my family had done enough. They went through a few rooms but, eventually, found somewhere to sit. We saw some cool stuff, though.

Dorothy’s ruby slippers.

Archie Bunker’s chair.

Abraham Lincoln’s hat.

Thomas Jefferson’s writing desk, which we heard about at Monticello.

However, it was not enough. At some point, my wife and I discussed the idea that we should have left some things out. In my book, those things would have been the museums of the Smithsonian. Look, the Smithsonian is a national treasure, but it does not rank with the other places we visited. That could be because I am not a big fan of museums. I would rather visit the places where history happened rather than a place that holds objects. Sure, they have some interesting items, but George Washington never walked through their halls.

Also, we went to the Smithsonian after a couple of days of continuous activity. We were all tired and ready for something else. If I had it all to do over, then I would skip the Smithsonian and continued our trip to Virginia Beach. However, we live and learn. That is what history and historic sites are all about.

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D.C. Road Trip – A 70% Chance of Sunshine and a 100% Chance of Hills

24 Jul

In the days leading up to this trip, my wife was obsessed with the weather. She was always looking at the weather app on her iPhone and trying to figure out what climate conditions we were going to face. I reckon this was because it rained a lot when we were in Cancun.

As my wife scanned the weather, she kept saying that it was going to rain. When I asked the percentages, she said that there was a 30% chance. I replied that it meant that there was a 70% chance of sunshine. This became a running joke on the trip, but, honestly, that is the only way I know to look at it. Now, if it had been 70% chance of rain I would have been worried.

I write all of that to write this. My wife decided that the weather was too shaky to make the drive to Virginia Beach. After all, the beach is no fun if it rains. Of course, it had not rained since we left Tennessee, but that did not seem to be the point.

With that decision behind us, we proceeded with the day’s activities. We got our vehicle and took a short drive across the Potomac to Arlington National Cemetery, a place that was high on my list to visit. I had been there many years ago with my parents and remembered how inspirational it was and wanted my family to experience that feeling. I also remembered that the popular points in the cemetery were on hills. I just did not remember how steep those hills were.

After a nice little hike, we found ourselves at the Tomb of the Unknowns, the place that contains the remains of soldiers who died in battle and were never identified. They represent all of those who were lost in a similar way. While the tomb should be the focus, many people go to the site to see the changing of the guard.image-19

The monument is constantly guarded by a lone soldier, and the changing of the guard is a regimented and symbolic ceremony. As we watched the guards go through their routine, I could not get over the precision of their movements. I could also not get over the fact that someone is guarding the tomb at all times and in all kinds of weather. No matter what is going on around them, the guards never break their routine.

That made me wonder what happened on September 11, 2001. Did the guard flinch as a plane streaked toward the Pentagon just over the hill? What did the crowd watching the ceremony do? What was going trough his mind as smoke billowed over the horizon and the rest of the country was in chaos?

After the ceremony, we made our way to the grave of John F. Kennedy, which sits on another hill. This spot is also inspirational to many people, but I must confess that it did not affect me as had the Tomb of the Unknowns. Kennedy’s assassination was tragic and one of the darkest days in our history, but I have never held him in the esteem that others have. People view him as a great president, but I view him as someone who never got the chance to determine where he would rank. Would he have been a great president, or would he have had a bad second term? We will never know. I think people who go to his gravesite mourn what might have been or a lost innocence more than anything.

As we stood at Kennedy’s grave, I looked up the hill at the home of Robert E. Lee.image-22

When Lee chose to fight for the Confederacy during the Civil War, the United States military seized the property due to its commanding position over Washington, D.C. To punish Lee, they buried soldiers around the house, and that is how Arlington National Cemetery began.

Walking through the hills and dells of the cemetery was tiring, but we had one more place to visit before returning to the hotel. Along the way, we drove through historic Alexandria, Virginia and could immediately sense that this was a high rent district. The homes were well-manicured. Shops and restaurants lined the sidewalks. If we were going to eat, then this was a good place to start.

We found a place called Society Fair, and I immediately knew what this place was all about. It is one of those “lunch lady” places where women of leisure eat sandwiches and cake for a couple of hours. Of course, it does not take that long to eat a sandwich and a piece of cake. That means the rest of the time is filled with idle chitchat. The food was fine, but I could feel the testosterone dripping out of my body by the second.

Finally, we got out of there a arrived at Mount Vernon, home of George Washington. This was also a place that I definitely wanted everyone to see. Washington accomplished a lot, but nothing was more important than his management of the colonial army against the British. Walking in his footsteps is a must for anyone visiting the area.image-21

We watched a short film that had a guy from one of my stepdaughter’s vampire shows playing Washington. Then, we walked up the hill to his house. Did I mention that these guys liked living on hills? I guess it was a way to look over their vast holdings.

Anyway, Washington had a beautiful home with the Potomac River flowing behind it.image-20

The docents presented a great history of  Washington’s family and their home. However, I have a complaint about Mount Vernon, Monticello and most other plantain home I have ever seen. They still have a hard time dealing with slavery. Obviously, it is a tough subject, but, in these times, they need to go ahead and talk about the reality of it.

 

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