Thanksgiving 2007

Need I say more?

South From Washington D.C.

Heading South from D.C. on I-95, we transitioned to I-85 (the GPS was working wonderfully) and headed to Winston-Salem, about 1/2 way to Atlanta. GPS screwed up royally in Durham, where a new interchange had been built, but we finally got to Old Salem. GPS took us directly to the Augustus T Zevely Inn, a 200-year-old brick B&B.


http://www.winston-salem-inn.com/



Checking in violated my "First Rule of Hotels", but we made it. Breathing hard after the exercise was made easy by the rocking chairs on the porch. Nice



Our fellow guests were mostly retired wealthy folks, from Alabama and the U.K., chortling over how they were "spending our childrens' inheritance." Oh well, the food was pretty good, except for the fried green tomatoes.



The shrimp and grits, on the other hand, were great!

Sometimes, Architecture . . .

. . . is just plain fun!



Just look at the spaces, and the lighting (natural and artificial) and especially the way they work together.

Statuary (Again)

There are one helluvalot of statues in D.C. Mieko and the Hayashi's were guided to several of them by a Japanese-speaking guide:



One of the weirdest is something called "The Awakening" out on the tip of Haines Point. (Some folks spell it "Hains", but that's not the way I was brought up.) My brother John and I used to play golf out on the Point. "The Awakening" somehow is a private piece of sculpture, 100 feet from head to foot, which is exceeding, by a lot, its temporary placement permit from the National Park Service. It's been there for about 40 years, and it's been hit twice by drunken drivers.



And then, there's the Marine Memorial, across the Potomac in Virginia. There's some irony here, but the Hayashi's enjoyed the visit.

Ashes To Ashes . . .

While in Washington, we visited the Washington National Cathedral (and drove through my high-school, St. Albans). The Cathedral is truly a stunning edifice.



In the shadow of the Cathedral, lies the Bishop's Garden, about an acre of flowers, shrubs, trees, and statuary.



That's me, pointing out the resting spot for the ashes of Dad, Mom, and Brother Paul.
I approach it with respect, and reverence.

Houses In Washington D.C.

From NYC, we headed South for Washington. Our GPS Voice told us to head West on I78, and we got lost in New Jersey for a while, until I decided to get back to I95 and head South. The Voice eventually caught up with me, and then we were fine.

(Later, I looked at the map, and maybe it would have been faster to take I78 to Harrisburg, and then cut South.)

It's too bad we didn't need gas in New Jersey. New Jersey and Oregon are the only States that don't permit Self Service for gas stations. Full service would have been a shock for all of us.

In D.C., we first stopped at the house where I grew up. It was still there, in good condition, and the owner invited us in to see her remodeling projects, which were really quite good. I was impressed.


(I forgot to tell her that one of her front-door lights was burned out.)

We then headed downtown for the Hay-Adams Hotel, which we bagged at corporate rates since we happen to know the management team. The lobby of the hotel was full of tall, beefy guys in black suits and wires in their ears. The roof of the Hay-Adams offers a vista over Lafayette Park to the White House.



If you look closely here (click to enlarge), you can see Secret Service on the roof of the White House. The Hotel has to call the White House every time before they escort anyone to the hotel roof.



Our friends from Tokyo also stopped by my favorite memorial, Abe Lincoln's house at the end of the Mall. It's always impressive.

Back To The Trip - Manhattan

We were blessed by being invited to stay at the Harvard Club in NY. Elegant location, a half block from 5th Avenue, two blocks from Times Square, and only three doorways from the famed Algonquin Hotel.

Harvard Club's main stairway is elegant, and hardly legal.



The Library is exuberant in its 60-foot ceiling. This is life as it should be!



Cruising around the very noisy parts of lower Manhattan illustrates the total hypocrisy of the signs therein. Oh, well...

Hopeful Sign

Muslims and Christians together work to replace a cross atop a church in Baghdad.



This is a copyrighted photo by Michael Yon. Yon is a free-lance correspondent/photographer who has been working in Iraq for the past 3 or 4 years. His work is entirely supported by the readers of his blog.

Go to: http://www.michaelyon-online.com

Cuisine

Our cross-country trip was marked by various regional cuisines, often tasty.



But always elegant!

Statue Of Liberty

Mieko and Akiko went looking for the Statue of Liberty in New York City.



It took a while. . .






But, they finally found it!

We thank the French for this.

Happy Veterans' Day

It has been said that the only folks who have offered their lives to save yours are the US military and one other. But, this is not a religious blog.

The Wonders Of YouTube

This has to be the best two-minute commercial ever made, and now it's available anytime you want it. That's cool.

Lorelei on the Rhine

This, I guess, is what Germany is all about.



It is beautiful, and sad, at the same time. Hmmm.

Edelweiss

We were discussing Germany at dinner this evening, and this lovely song came up.

Enjoy.

We're Expecting . . .

some visitors from Japan tomorrow.



Wonder if they'll notice.

(No, not the home-grown pumpkin.)

Heading East

We'll be leaving for New York City on Sunday.



I think we'll walk.

I'm Feeling Nostalgic

Remember this?



I thought not.
Further to the point, do you realize that many people under 25 years of age have never rolled down a car window?
Or that most people under 50 years of age have never used a directional hand signal while driving?
(No! Not that hand signal!)

Sheesh!

Mazal Tov!

We got back safely from our weekend attendance at the sister's family wedding in Ft. Lauderdale FL. Lauderdale is warm, warm, warm. Temperature 88, humidity 88. Salt shaker at the sidewalk cafe was 2/3 rice, and 1/3 salt. . .and it didn't work. Hey, that's Florida


(That's the sidewalk cafe, in front of the hotel.)

We stayed at the historic Riverside Hotel, nee 1932 or thereabouts. Contrary to the street appearance, we were on the 11th floor of the new tower, with a stunning view of the New River and the high-rise condos that define both riverbanks.



Our guide took us on a whirlwind tour of Miami, Biscayne Bay, South Beach, etc., etc. Miami is a big place, about 60% Spanish-speaking, and not very friendly to the tourist except along the beach. We prefer Ft. Lauderdale.




Mieko and her sister did, however, visit the very steps where Versace was gunned/knifed or otherwise induced to assume room temperature (which in his case was 88 Fahrenheit) a few years ago.




The wedding went well. Lot's of traditional Jewish elements with appropriate responses. I'm always pleased when the rabbi has a good singing voice. May the young couple have a full and productive life together.

German Vocabulary

This is the word, in context, that I queried Rudy about. I misspelled it on the front page of winnacker.com, but Rudy found a German speaker at work who translated it, and the word means that the luggage carts may be taken on the escalator.

Thanks for that!

Rocks, Rocks, Stones, & More Rocks

Germany is full of rocks. The buildings are made of rocks, the streets are made of rocks, the sidewalks are made of rocks.



German cities have been utterly destroyed by wars about every 400 years or so for about forever. I figure that's where they get all the rocks. They're left over after the war, and you have to gather them up and do something with them.



The walls, turrets, and towers of all the castles and fortresses are made of rocks. They were designed to foil enemy attacks. Sometimes, the builders got pretty creative with their rock designs.



In Dresden, capital of Saxony, formerly in East Germany, the city government has made heroic attempts to rebuild all the rock/stone monuments. It's impressive, of course, but ultimately somewhat depressing.

(Come to think of it, I found Germany somewhat drepressing.)

Factlets (cont'd)

Did you know that Florida is flatter than Washington D.C.? By 64 feet? Flatter being defined as the change in elevation between the highest point and the lowest. Just go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_elevation#Listed_by_elevation_difference

Who knew?

Vertical Weingut

"Weingut" means a wine estate; the vineyards, cellars, and production facilities of a winery. Along the Rhein river, the wineries plant the vines straight up the slopes on both sides of the river, "to make the vines work harder to get water, thus making richer, sweeter grapes." At places they actually string ropes up the steep hills between the rows of grapes in order to facilitate pruning and picking.

The vineyard workers come mostly from Poland, on short labor contracts, and return home when the work is done. All legally. Hmmmmm.



Many of the vineyards have only a few hectares of hillside planted, but their owners appear to know every square inch of each hill, the type of soil, and the qualities of the rocks that reside therein.



During our visit, the sun was shining brightly, and the vines were soaking up the rays. The locals, quite unused to the bright sun, did likewise.



Upon learning that we were from California, most often they thanked us profusely for bringing our sunshine with us.

Bitte zehr!

Our Guide To Deutschland

This was my tour guide and her textbook for getting us through Germany. The darned book was really very helpful. So was the lovely guide.

Learn from this! :-) (And click to enlarge, as always.)

Our European Sports Adventures

First, we tried our hands at skittles, a hugely-popular pub game in Worcestershire. This photo was taken at the Great 2007 English Cheese Festival and Exposition (or something like that.)




Then we visited the Old Course at St. Andrews, the home of golf. The ghost of Bobby Jones haunted our visit. It was moving.



Not a bit bad experience.

Break Time For A True Classic

Just turn the speakers up, sit back, relax and enjoy.




You're welcome.

PaddleWheeling Down (Up?) The Rhein

Just two weeks ago, we were on the Rhein, sailing down the valley with vertical vineyards on both sides of the River. Beautiful scenery.

Some of us, however, took any, and every, opportunity to recover from early starts and many tastings of German Reisling.

Travels With My Favorite Tuber

Greetings from delightful Bromsgrove in the center of the British Midlands. Note above a depiction of my impression of Germany after a mere two weeks visiting. It was a bit of fun nonetheless.

Lazy Days

Naptime thanks to lucianne.com/

1935 - 2007 R.I.P.

Sometimes, Politics Is Fun

You have to wait for the final 15 seconds of this 1.5-minute clip of John McCain at a New Hampshire high school.

Sometimes, It Just Works!

Well, the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge just reopened, 11 hours ahead of schedule, and in time for the LaborDay vacationers to get home easily. CCMyers, of Rancho Cordova, was the Contractor, and CalTrans was the client. Together they moved a mere 6500-Ton (13000000 lbs) replacement section into the place where they previously demolished the former 65-year-old bridge section.

Curt Myers fashions himself and his company as the Red Adair of freeway works. He did the Northridge rebuild, and won a huge amount for doing it ahead of schedule. He rebuilt the melted Oakland overpass earlier this year, and won the $5 million prize,
Very impressive, (and why, by the way, I have always loved construction)

http://www.ccmyers.com/