2008 Road Trip - Entry 6

FRIDAY, AUGUST 1: I'm excited! I'm going to be visiting the nation's capital for only the second time ever. The first was in May 2003, when members of the Wellington Debate Team competed in Arlington, VA, at the 2003 National Catholic Forensic League's "Grand National" championship tournament. I'll be staying overnight at my friend Tamara Rosov's place.

The drive to DC cuts through Baltimore, a city I have never been to. So I do the only natural thing: I do a drive-through (only because I didn't plan enough time to actually, you know, visit Charm City. Maybe someday ...).

The drive through downtown Baltimore is ... amazing. It's called the "Inner Harbor," and from the looks of things, it's a very well-kept area. Baltimore has the National Aquarium, which I've been told is an experience I'll need to partake of sometime, so I'm making a mental note. There's a ton of hotels and restaurants, shopping, boating, the works. Also visible are two relatively new sports venues - Oriole Park at Camden Yards (baseball), and M&T Bank Stadium (football). Camden Yards is considered the first of the new "retro" baseball stadiums that have opened the past 15 years or so, with right-field being backed up by a huge old warehouse. It looks amazing from the outside.

Baltimore is only about an hour north or Washington DC down I-75, but driving in the nation's capital is a bit trickier. Tamara had warned me about a few things: (1) Drive the speed limit! (2) Some roads literally go from two-way to one-way at certain times of the day (you think rush hour is bad where you live? Apparently, DC has you beat infinitely.). (3) Drive safely. I managed to find her place, but had to park about a half-mile away (which is fine).

After getting settled in, Tamara thought it would be cool to go to sightseeing in an area I'd never been before. That left a lot of options open, but the one she selected first was definitely a site I'd not only never seen, but didn't even know existed.

Quiz time! When you think "Washington, DC," what's the first thing you think of? (Please, keep it clean!) If you said "waterfalls," then you know more about the area than I do; turns out, there's an amazing collection of natural waterfalls just outside our capital!

Tamara took me to Great Falls Park, an 800-acre park located along the Potomac River, is one of the most spectacular natural landmarks in the Washington DC metropolitan area. There are three overlooks that provide access to view the Great Falls,.The falls cascade into 20 foot waterfalls displaying the steepest fall line rapids of any eastern river.

After walking around Philadelphia just a few days ago, this should have been easy, right? Well ... it was, but only because the park has a great trail network.

After a few hours at the falls, it was off to dinner, then monuments. When I was in DC in 2003, I saw many of the monuments, but missed a few. There have also been a few new ones constructed (shocker, I know). Saw the "regular" venues - Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Vietnam (my favorite!), Iwo Jima (second favorite!) and Korean. I also got the chance to see the World War II monument, which hadn't existed five years previously, and the opportunity to see the Albert Einstein memorial at the National Academy of Science (tucked away in DC's Foggy Bottom area). Tamara said it's one of her favorites; I wasn't even aware of it until now.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2: My last day in DC, and Tamara and I trekked to the National Museum of the American Indian, where the final days of an amazing exhibit was on display: "Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women's Dresses." Our guide explained that dresses are more than simple articles of clothing for Native women - they are aesthetic expressions of culture and identity. Embodying messages about the life of the wearer, dresses offer Native women the opportunity to blend artistic tradition and bold innovation while preparing themselves, their families, and their communities to partake in the "dance of life."

The exhibit brought together some 55 dresses and more than 200 items from the Plains, Plateau, and Great Basin regions of the United States and Canada, and highlighted Native women's identity through traditional dress and its contemporary evolution. It also examined the individual, communal, and cultural identity of Native women, and explored how their highly developed artistic skills benefitted not only their families but also the entire community.

We were allowed to take photos in every area of the exhibit except the "Ghost Dance" section. This has much to do with the Massacre at Wounded Knee in late December 1890, and the Ghost Dance's role in what led to the killing of more than 150 Native Americans.

Many of the items on exhibit were never supposed to have been seen at all, as they were original items whose owners had been killed during the many battles between tribes and US troops in the 1800s, as the United States expanded its territory.

Added by Gaba in 2012: the exhibit is now viewable on-line

After the exhibit was completed, I was on the road again, heading south. Next stop: Wilmington, North Carolina, and the USS North Carolina battleship.

2008 Road Trip - Entry 5

TUESDAY, JULY 29: Left Cleveland and the wonderful hospitality of the Kall family to begin what didn't seem to be that long a drive across Pennsylvania, to visit my cousin Lisa Stone Hardt and her family for a few days, as well as tour Philly for the first time since her wedding in November 2003.

Here's what's really cool thing about driving what turned out to be a six-hour-long eastern trek: there's a freaking windmill farm along the route! Apparently, when driving down highways in western Pennsylvania, one will see enormous windmills along the horizon. These windmills are part of a growing group of "wind farms" being built across the region in an effort to provide alternate forms of energy. Surprisingly (well, at least to me), windmill farms in Pennsylvania are located on private property.

OK, that lasted maybe 10 minutes. And that was pretty much it for "cool stuff" on the drive. The rest was boring as all can be.

Did I mention having a TomTom GPS unit is a really helpful thing when driving cross country? Well, now I did. And it's pretty darn accurate, too. I've driven the north-south route between Florida and Michigan numerous times, and driven to Cleveland often as well. But Driving to Philly (followed by Washington DC, and then down the eastern coastline) was to be a new experience. For the Philly end of things, the GPS unit worked perfectly. Knock on wood for the rest of this trip.

Lisa, her husband Josh, and their family live in a northern suburb of Philadelphia called Yardley. By the time I weaved my way to her house, it was dark, so not much in the way of sightseeing or adventuring was on the agenda.

I learned a ton about Yardley the next few days. For example: if Yardley were any further east, it would be in Delaware; the Delaware River is its eastern border. The borough was founded in 1682 (which for mathematically challenged readers is a long time ago), and many of the homes would be considered historic by any standard (hers was built in 1927). And during the Civil War, Yardley was a station for the "Underground Railroad" (an escape route for slaves). Known hiding places were under the eaves of the Continental Hotel (now the Continental Tavern), in bins of warehouses on the Delaware Canal, and at the General Store (now Worthington Insurance).

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30: Lisa and I took the train into Philadelphia (about a 30-minute ride) to do some sightseeing. I've toured Philly before, but it's always good to venture into new territory. And Philadelphia, which is in my humble estimation the most patriotic city in the entire nation (it bleeds red, white and blue!), offers much to those who thrive on history.

Touring the city by foot is an option, and since it was a nice, summer day, I was up for it. And I had no complaints in the grand scheme of things. I got to see cemeteries from the 1700s and 1800s (including Ben Franklin's), synagogues built several hundred years ago, and wonderful statues and architecture.

Lisa was with me for a few hours, then had to cut out to go to work. No problem on this end; plenty of things to do and see, plenty of photos to take.

I learned, through the process of walking around the older section of town for miles, that walking through parts of Philadelphia is like a wind tunnel - an extremely chilly experience. See, in some places the combination of building height and narrower streets equals less sunlight reaching the pavement, with the added dimension of a wind chill.

THURSDAY, JULY 31: Said "goodbye" to Lisa after enjoying a wonderful breakfast together at a cozy little nook in Yardley's historic district. Followed up with a leisurely drive (camera in car seat) along the main thoroughfare, taking in the visuals that just reek of history.

After driving through Yardley for about 90 minutes, I made my way back to Philadelphia, to see a few places I missed the previous day, including Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies. Sadly, the Phillies were on the road, so it ended up being a rather lonely looking structure, but it was still impressive nonetheless.

I also got a chance to visit Penn's Landing, the waterfront area of the Center City along the Delaware River section of Philadelphia. Several historic ships are moored at Penn's Landing: the Moshulu is a floating restaurant; the World War II-era submarine USS Becuna and the Spanish-American War-era cruiser USS Olympia are part of the Independence Seaport Museum; and the Gazela is moored there by the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild. Additionally, there is a ferry linking Penn's Landing with the Camden, New Jersey waterfront.

Then, it was off to Washington, DC (with a quick drive-through of Baltimore in the morning) ...