NY Trippin'- DC and Points South

First, let me try to post some pics from Philadelphia and the beautiful Amish country of southern Pennsylvania. First up, here we are on the double decker bus. Which-by the way-is a great way to see the sights when you are just passing through a city:

The building below is in the middle of Philly. The road goes in a circle around it. In the old days the road actually went through the building....for horse and buggy! This is Philadelphia city hall. It is an amazing building. And HUGE! The city doesn't even use the entire building.

Museum of art below:

These are the steps from the Rocky movie (can't you just hear the music??)

Betsy Ross' house. Smack middle of downtown.

 Having a Philly cheesesteak in Philly. Just a mall version. Would love to have found a hole-in-the-wall place with the best in town!!

 Behind me below is Independence Hall. Where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Wow....just felt unbelievable to be walking on the same ground as people like Thomas Jefferson, George Wasington, Benjamin Franklin......

 And of course, the Liberty Bell.

 And did you know that the game Monopoly was fashioned after places in Philadelphia? Streets, railroads, etc.

Philadelphia is chock full of stuff to see. And its a beautiful city too. Definitely a place to spend a vacation. And now some pics from Lancaster. The beautiful Amish country. All I can say is Wow....

We found an Amish just finishing baling hay. Using a normal baler, but pulled by horses!

Passed by a horse and buggy.

That then went over a covered bridge!! We got to have such a perfect storybook experience!

We then went shopping/thrifting.....and found some great stuff. Janet had the find of the day...she found an Amish quilt made in 1968 for only $60!! It's beautiful!

And we found a little minor miracle called a Goodwill Bargain Bin! OMG!! Right down our alley. Everything was like $.75 and $.85....Oh Yeah!!!

All that thrifting made us very hungry, so before we left Pennsylvania, we stopped at Jennie's Diner. A real, true traincar with little Jukeboxes on each table. Check out the mint green and red blinds in the window.

This place was as authentic as it gets. The waitresses were older and had been working there for years. You know when the back parking lot is full of 18-wheelers, that you've picked a good place to eat. We sat next to a trucker from Maine. We struck up a conversation and found out he had a border collie waiting for him in his truck who had saved his life when he had a heart attack on one of his previous trips. He told us his wife used to ride with him for years, but when the economy staled she had to take a job in Maine in a factory that makes chalices and robes for Catholic priests. When we asked him which truck was his, he said his had a lavender grill and fenders. Thats why other truckers started calling him Lavender Larry! What a great guy. We really enjoyed our visit with you Lavender Larry! Happy trails!!

Well, I was going to tell you about D.C. in this entry, but just didn't have time. We are due to hit Texas today. I'll be able to finish this trip blog when I get home and to a solid internet signal. Stayed the night in Alexandria, LA., about an hour or so out of Texas. Gotta go! Love.

NY Tripping' - Philly, Amish, and Gone!

It was hard to leave the beautiful area of Dingmans Ferry/Milford. And to tell Charlie goodbye. But-it was time to get on the road again. So Tues morning we hit the road to Philadelphia. Beautiful city, full of history and things to do. We saw a movie that told of all the historic events that took place in Philly, then took a whirlwind tour on a double-decker bus to see some sights. Saw Betsy Ross' house, independence Hall, and the liberty bell. (bad Internet here, so no pics) Then we had a late lunch of (of course) Philly cheese steaks-which were not all that great-but we scarfed them down because we were hungry. We then hit the road again, down to Lancaster and Amish country. Stayed outside Lancaster and took off the next morning to find some deals and some examples of Amish life. We got some great stuff! And-some beautiful pics! I'll try to post photos at the next stop. And-next post-our super quick stay in D.C. Love!

NY Trippin' - Putzing around PA, NY, and NJ

Sunday, July 22

What a beautiful day! Started the day with a delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes. After breakfast we headed into Milford PA to soak up some local color.

We went to have lunch at the Black Bear Cafe. Had mexican food.....in Pennsylvania! At a place called Black Bear?? Go figure. And it was good! I had enchiladas, rice and beans. Not tex mex, but good!

Then we checked out an art exhibit downtown. It was full of local(ish) artists.

Then we walked across the street to a little park and there was a jazz band playing and kids making their own art. I'm not kidding! It was like something you'd see in a movie.

Afterwards, we went to see the home of the most popular governor of Pennsylvania. I, of course, can't remember his name. But, the estate is called Grey towers. AMAZINGLY beautiful!

 Then we crossed Dingman's bridge-an old metal bridge. Finally, we checked out Dingman's Falls. Because of a storm a couple of years ago, unbeknownst to us, the road was closed because of damage. So we had to walk a LONG way to see the falls. There is more than one set of falls, but I put a photo of the biggest one below.

 



We had a wonderful day. Then we went to the grocery, picked up chicken to grill for dinner. Charlie lit the torches on the deck and we enjoyed dinner on the deck.

The next day we went with Charlie to work in Katonah, NY. It's a 1 1/2 hour drive! It took us longer longer on Monday because we drove into a bunch of rain. Here's where we crossed the Delaware river into New York.

Charlie's job is a restoration artist for antique lawn art. I'm talking expensive lawn art. Like, thousands of dollars for an urn expensive. This business is owned by a lady who owns like 3 or 4 houses, this house being their farmhouse. It's unbelievable.....

 

Below is Charlie's workshop at the farmhouse.

That night, when we returned to Charlies, there was a big storm. The wind blew, the rain fell. The trees were swaying. Big limbs fell. It was a little scary. That night the electricity went out for a bit. Didn't matter to me though. I hit the pillow and I was out.....

Next: Leaving Charlie's and spending time down in southern PA in amish country. And we saw a covered bridge!

NY Trippin' - Pennsylvania Home Away From Home

Saturday, July 21
62 degrees? Is that really the temperature?? It rained in the night as a front came through, leaving us with a cool, crisp morning. We had breakfast in a restaurant served and apparently cooked by amish girls. It was a buffet so I got to try local dishes like scrapple: made of scraps left over from butchering made into a loaf that is then fried and served for breakfast. I also tried corned beef hash for the first time.....and the last  :)  !!




After breakfast we headed north toward Dingmans Ferry to find Charlie.

There are barns and silos all over this area. Different looking for a Texas girl, but I guess the silos hold the feed for the animals over the cold cold winters up here. I love the look of the dutch (I guess) style of the barns. As we climb north, the trees again get thicker and taller. Just beautiful

We made it to Dingman's Ferry about midday and had no trouble finding Charlie's place. At this point let me put in a plug for GPS systems. They're wonderful! If you have an address or even just a city as a destination, you plug it into the GPS and you can then drive without having to worry about looking for signs, watching a map really closely etc. You can enjoy the sites along the way and count on the GPS to get you to your next destination without appearing to be a frustrating newbie Texas driver frustrating other drivers on the Pennsylvania roadway. and so-- here is Charlie's beautiful house/art studio!!

We quickly unpacked and celebrated our arrival.

Charlie was a wonderful host. We had a tour of the house and had lunch before heading out to Port Jurvis, New York to an afternoon artwalk.

After purchasing a few treasures, we went by the grocery store and got food to grill for dinner. The evening was cool and we ate on the deck and it was AMAZING for being mid-July.

Next post: Milford, PA...it's like we could run into Beaver Cleaver on the corner! Just a story-book little community....  Love!

NY Trippin' - The West Virginia Hills and the Rain

Ok - before I head to far down the road, I'm posting some pics from Tennessee and Kentucky. We crossed the  mighty Mississippi River into Tennessee.

Memphis Tennesee. Gotta see Graceland.

This is as close as we came to the Elvis abode.

This next photo is the very ornate fountain at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. It is the daily home for the duck march of the five beautiful ducks below.

 The duck master below comes out to explain the tradition of the duck march. He then rolls out the red carpet and goes up to the roof to march the ducks into the fountain.

Here you see them settling in after their highly impressive march into the fountain.

Here is the Lorraine Motel. We didn't have time to go in because we wanted to get on the road. But out of respect to MLK, wanted to add a photo.

After leaving Memphis, we drove on through Tennessee and into Kentucky. Beautiful, lush trees, hills and pastureland.

After leaving Kentucky, we rolled through West Virginia. The weather was very unsettled, as we were driving up to meet a line of rain further to the north and east. There were multiple spots that appeared to have steam rising up from between the thick forest land. I don't know if it was coming from water under the ground or above it. It was very different and very pretty. As we drove up and down the hilly terrain, there were places where the clouds were so low they were meeting the ground. It was very mystical looking. Then the rain started. It wasn't horrible, but sometimes would rain pretty heavy. We got stuck in traffic behind an 18 wheeler accident, then later drove past what appeared to be a one car rollover. I was kinda glad when we crossed over into Pennsylvania and got to flatter terrain. We drove into the night and stayed in the dutch/amish area of Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the night. I tell ya, I was glad to climb in bed after that long and tense day of driving.

Next: We make it to Charlie's!   Goodnight!

NY Trippin' - Tennessee and Kentucky

Once back on the road from Hot Springs, we drove to Memphis Tennessee. Home of The King. Ah....the King. And where another important King lost his life.

We arrived in Memphis in the afternoon in time to enjoy the heat advisory 96 degree heat. We drove past Beale Street (party street) and down to Graceland. Because neither Janet nor I are diehard Elvis fans, we opted to just grab some pics from the outside of Graceland. We also saw the Lisa Marie jet. We spent the night on Elvis Presley Blvd. And then-

The next morning we attended the internationally known (well maybe not...)Peabody Hotel Duck March. It was great! 5 ducks march from their home on the roof into the elevator, down to the lobby and across the red carpet and into the fountain in the middle of the lobby. They swim there until 5 pm when they march back into the elevators and up to their home again until the next day. It was a 5 star performance. I highly recommend it!

We then drove by the Lorraine Hotel to honor the place where Martin Luther King lost his life in 1968. It's a museum now. We then bid Tennessee goodbye and drove into Kentucky. I thought Kentucky was beautiful. Lots of things to see and places to camp. I would recommend Kentucky as a destination for a family vacation. We ended our day in eastern Kentucky, in Morehead KY, almost to the WV border. A scenic little hamlet  tucked into the Kentucky hills, it has a little of everything, even a college-Morehead State University.

I didn't include any pics tonight because the little motel where we are staying the night doesn't have a very good  internet connection. I'll post more this weekend. Love!

NY Trippin'

Hello Friends! Long time no post. This summer my friend Janet and I are taking a driving trip up to Pennsylvania and New York. We left on Tues about an hour and a half BERFORE dawn.

Our goal was to get out of Texas.

We drove for a good 12 hours on Tues. We finally landed for the night in Hot Springs, Arkansas. What an interesting place!! Full of history. If you remember, Hot Springs was the place people went to take baths in the hot water that bubbled up to the surface in Hot Springs, believing that the water had medicinal properties to cure whatever ailed you, or, if nothing ailed you, make you feel more relaxed and happy.

The entire area of Hot Springs is a national park. It is a beautiful town and in reading the history of the town, it was an extremely popular tourist destination. In the downtown area, on Central Ave. in Hot Springs, you find the bath houses. They are huge and ornate. The style of each bath house is a bit different: some with red tile roofs, turrets, canvas draped windows. All have big, welcoming front porches with comfortable chairs to sit in and people watch.

 One of the bath houses had been turned into a museum. We toured all three floors and the basement. Everything except the basement was original. These bath houses were constructed and designed to pamper their guests. They included bath rooms where guests were bathed in the spring waters. They also received many other services: sitz baths, needle showers, massages, and beauty care. There was a gym to get exercise and a parlor to visit.

Aren't these rooms amazing?? I can just picture these beautiful, prim and proper women walking around in towels, visiting with each other and being waited on for every little thing. And can't you just picture the gentlement running around in shorts using that unbelievable gym equipment?\

What was cool about this place is they had preserved almost everything. In the beauty parlor, there were curlers, brushes, mirrors, even a magazine on the chair from 1919! I loved this place!

Even the parking garage was opulent. Such gorgeous workmanship. That's a fountain running down the middle of this first photo.

I highly recommend Hot Springs, Arkansas. If you enjoy history and social studies of people, this is a great place to go.

Oh! And - Yes - you can still get all the treatments: bath, sitz, needle shower, massage, etc. We talked with a sweet couple who were there for their 10th anniversary. The husband took a bath and said it was wonderful and very relaxing. I want to take a bath too, but prefer to go back when it's not 96 degrees outside!

Next: Tennessee and Kentucky.

Love, Love!!