tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46456805940269584522024-03-12T19:12:44.188-04:00Tom and Carol's Great AdventureTom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.comBlogger227125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-59585732716692766002018-08-01T18:56:00.001-04:002018-08-01T18:56:18.924-04:00SEWARD AND THE KENAI FJORD CRUISEAfter a few days of rest and recreation in Anchorage we drove down to Seward to spend a couple of days and take a Fjord cruise.<br />
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No pictures to share because it rained pretty much the whole way. We know there were big mountains but they were all hidden in the mist.<br />
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We got to Seward early so we went to the aquarium before checking into our "hotel", which was a collection of old military buildings that got moved to Seward by truck after the 1964 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the town.<br />
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The aquarium, on the other hand looks brand new even though it's celebrating it's 20th anniversary.<br />
From Wikipedia: "The Alaska Sea Life Center, Alaska’s premier public aquarium and
Alaska's only permanent marine mammal rehabilitation facility, is
located on the shores of Resurrection Bay in Seward in the U.S. state of
Alaska."<br />
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Birds greeted us. <br />
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Then we saw a Mama seal nursing her baby.<br />
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And a beautiful starfish.<br />
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Carol REALLY has a thing for otters. River otters, sea otters, doesn't matter. Even though the Park Rangers had made it very clear that they are pretty nasty little creatures, "Kind of like a cuddly looking wolverine in water", she still loves to watch them. And she had never seen any in the wild.<br />
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Got a taste of things to come at the Sea Life Center. They had a nursery - with a one month old rescued sea otter.<br />
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That is NOT Carol. She did seriously considered applying for the job. But, as cute as he was, he still wasn't free. That was still to come.<br />
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I guess there isn't an up and down when you're buoyant.<br />
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I don't think Finn understands.<br />
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Lots of other wonderful creatures.<br />
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Pandora's cousin ?<br />
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"Deadliest Catch"<br />
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The next day sort of dawned. It was another rainy day in Alaska. Low clouds and steady light rain punctuated by heavy showers.<br />
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What a great day for a sightseeing cruise. Oh well, we'd had perfect weather for our first tour and saw lots of mountains and glaciers and wildlife, so this just is what it is.<br />
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Fortunately I had booked a larger enclosed boat. So we'd at least be warm and dry.<br />
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If you ever plan an short Alaskan cruise, there is one critical detail you need to ask. "Does the boat have outside viewing along the sides of the boat". We weren't informed enough to ask but fortunately our boat did not. It had lots of outside viewing but it was on the bow and at the stern. The difference? If there are walks along the sides, and you want to sit at your window seats, warm and cozy inside, you will see nothing except the backs of other people's heads.<br />
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Our boat, on the other hand, allowed great sightseeing from our booth. So we all settled in to enjoy the ride.<br />
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Although we had a catamaran and the seas were only 5' or so, the ride wasn't as pleasant as we had hoped. All of us took a couple of seasickness prevention pills and all of got queasy.</div>
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Even Finn.</div>
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The views kept us occupied and somewhat distracted.<br />
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FINALLY ! Carol saw a sea otter.<br />
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As we headed out to sea there were a few hardy people on the bow catching the breeze and the heavy mist.<br />
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We all ventured out at some point during the 7 1/2 hour cruise.But those on the aft decks weren't there for the view as much as the fresh air. Which didn't help many.<br />
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The first interesting sight was a reminder of WWII and how close to Japan Alaska is. This is a bunker. I've not been able to find any history referring to their purpose. Japanese submarines were spotted twice in or near the entrance to Resurrection Bay. <br />
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We also saw Orca - "Killer Whales". They are not whales but they do kill prey.<br />
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Click on this picture to see that the white spot on the rock is a seal. Probably climbed onto this point to escape. You can also see a lone Orca fin. But several Orcas were patiently circling, waiting for high tide and lunch. Our captain said the boat that came through here just before us saw Orcas catch and eat a seal. I know it's "the circle of life" but we're just as glad we missed that.<br />
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We went way back into a couple of fjords. Here is our first view of ice, not quite "icebergs" from an as yet unseen glacier.<br />
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Oh, there it is. Carol was willing to step outside for this. Aialik Glacier.<br />
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On the way to the next glacier, Carol got to see some more otters. This time a pair.<br />
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The Harding Icefield sits north and west of Seward and is the point of origin for 40 glaciers. Many of them end at the ocean, usually in a fjord. Holgate was next on our list.<br />
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We missed getting a picture. But while we were sitting looking at the glacier the was a major calving. It was more like several avalanches rather than one large iceberg, but the sound and view were unforgettable.<br />
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The birdwatchers got their money's worth too.<br />
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And then there were whales. We watched them for 15 minutes or so but these were the only pictures we got.</div>
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Stellar Sea Lions are an easier target.</div>
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Finn was a big attraction, especially to a Japanese family.<br />
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The people at Major Marine Tours were simply wonderful. Everyone from the Captain to the Park Ranger to the crew members really did act like we were the only reason for their existence. Highly recommend them from the many companies available.<br />
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After we left the boat, another otter appeared near the docks. Here are some of the pictures Carol took. I thought she overdid it a bit, but what could she do? He was 20' away and obviously not worried about people.</div>
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The next day we headed back to Anchorage with a stop at Exit Glacier along the way. We took the easy 20 minute walk to the view of the glacier. It's a beautiful walk through birch forests and along a gravel river bar. There are signs marking the location of the glacier face as it receded over the past 120 years.<br />
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The glacier is smaller than others we'd seen.<br />
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But it was the first one where the incredibly clear blue ice was visible. <br />
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Valley glaciers don't calve like the ocean ones do. They melt. Here is the stream coming out of the bottom of the glacier.<br />
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Sisters.<br />
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Another wonderful outing with Kris and Finn. We'll have a few more days in Anchorage for sister time and then we're heading back home.</div>
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-82143607878045440462018-07-17T00:49:00.001-04:002018-07-17T00:49:41.037-04:00MATANUSKA GLACIEROur plan to get up and out early to find someplace for breakfast changed when, during dinner at the Long Rifle, we received a text from Beatrice, "Why don't you join us for breakfast tomorrow?"<br />
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When we got back to the cabin, Carol, Kris and Andrew had a game night, playing Yahtzee and Scrabble. I went up and asked Jim if his invitation to join him in the evening was still open.<br />
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We sat and talked aviation for several hours. I just realized that in my bio of Jim's life in my last post I forgot to mention that he flew single engine charters on floats, wheels and skis. Cubs, Maules, Beavers, and the biggest, by far, the Noorduyn Norseman, a 7,500 lb. monster. He logged 13,000 accident free hours. In 30 years I logged just over 3,500. I wish I could have just spent a few days hearing his stories.<br />
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Before I said, "Good night" he said, "You did get Beatrice's message about breakfast, didn't you? I hope you like sourdough pancakes."<br />
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After a wonderful night's sleep which was not interrupted by bears, we packed up and went to their cabin for a delicious breakfast.<br />
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Then it was off to the Glacier. I'd been meticulous about scheduling all our activities because everything I'd read said that the popular tours booked up way in advance. Only one of the three tour companies welcomed Finn, so we signed up with <a href="http://matanuskaglacieradventures.us/" target="_blank">Matanuska Glacier Park</a> who are the owners of the only land with access to the glacier. I checked my emails the night before to confirm that I had booked the 4:30 tour. There was no email. Oops.<br />
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We arrived at the office just after a busload of unruly teenagers. They completed filled the office/store. Although the owners had set up a separate area for their registrations, they made it impossible to even get to the regular check-in counter. When I finally pushed my way through, the young lady told me I would have to wait and talk to the lady registering the teens. I joined my gang back at the truck and waited until the group headed out to the glacier.<br />
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When I went back in to see the lady, who it turns out was an owner, she looked like she needed a break. She tried to smile and said, "Can I help you." I said, "I hope so. But first, take a deep breath and relax. I've spent my entire life in retail, starting at 2 1/2 when my parents bought a country general store. I understand what you just went through with those kids. Just take another deep breath and relax. I booked a tour for today but I screwed up and didn't call you back to schedule a time. And I've spent years telling people, 'Bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part. So I know there is no emergency."<br />
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She said, "Thank you for your understanding. I needed that. What can I do for you?"<br />
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"We are a group of four plus a service dog who would like to take a guided tour today. Any time will work. After this we head back to Anchorage." By this time it was about 1 o'clock. She said, "I can put you in our 1:30 group. It currently has 8 and we take up to 12." That was a bigger group than we had hoped for, but the other tours were booked up so it seemed it was the best possible arrangement.<br />
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Maybe, but things got worse first. We drove to the starting point and met our guide who STRONGLY suggested we not take Finn. "I'm a dog owner and I'd NEVER take my dog onto the glacier." After much discussion, Kris went to the truck to make him comfortable for his 2 1/2 hour confinement. While we checked out the other 8 people on our tour. Sparing you details, I'll just say that it was obvious to us that we would not have picked them as our tour companions.<br />
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Then another young lady, Erika came up to us and said, "Are you the Cook party?"<br />
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Oh, no. What now?<br />
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"Another group of 4 just called and signed up for the 1:30 tour so we've split things. If you don't mind waiting a few minutes for them to arrive, you and they will go with me. And I heard what Amanda said about dogs. I have no idea what her
problem is. We take dogs all the time. All sizes and kinds. Yours will
be fine."<br />
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15 minutes later, "The other group of four just called and they're running late so I'll just be taking the four of you."<br />
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I confirmed when we returned from our private tour that the owner that I'd been nice to when I checked in,<br />
1. decided that we would be the 4 split off from the bigger group and,<br />
2. then decided that she would not put us back with the group of 8 when the others were late but would let us have our own guide for a private tour.<br />
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Tinkerbell Jerusalem comes through again.<br />
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So on to the Glacier with Erika.<br />
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There it is, 1/2 mile or so away. <br />
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15-20 minute hike over the moraine. <br />
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Erika shows us that we are walking on several hundred feet of ice covered by a thin layer of glacial silt.<br />
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Easy to see the layers in a small crevasse. Also a good look at the footwear fashion of the day, slip on crampons. The "access pass" people, on their own, do not get crampons. More about them later.<br />
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Even more obvious in a larger crevasse. <br />
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Getting closer.<br />
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Onto the glacier. <br />
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Finn isn't really sure this was a good idea. He didn't get crampons.<br />
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Flowing water does really weird and beautiful things to the ice.<br />
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A shelf.<br />
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A big shelf under a bigger shelf. <br />
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Crevasses getting bigger.<br />
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The gang.<br />
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It seems to go on forever.<br />
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Here are a couple of pictures with people to give an idea of the enormity. <br />
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YES, there ARE people in those last two pictures. Click to enlarge them.<br />
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Collecting glacier water.<br />
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Headed back. Stay out of the crevasses.<br />
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No. Really. Stay out of the crevasses. <br />
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Geezer break. As Carol reminds me, "You have to remember. You're not 70 anymore." <br />
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Back across the moraine. <br />
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Erika, our wonderful guide.<br />
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The guided tour takes guests much further and higher than the access pass people are supposed to go. Not surprisingly, the access pass people do not stay "within the cones" even though they signed a four page release saying that they would and detailing likely death or dismemberment if they didn't.<br />
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We saw people WAY past where they were supposed to be, including a lady in open toe sandals. When I mentioned this to the husband-owner he laughed and said, "She was relatively well equipped. We see them in flip flops all the time but the standard for stupidity is still the lady last year in high heels."<br />
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Safely back in Anchorage, looking back -<br />
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What an incredible day with Beatrice and Jim. Totally unexpected. And awesome.<br />
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Then, I screw up reservations and we get a private tour - with Finn.<br />
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For the umpteenth time - Thank You Lord. Nothing as we planned and all better than planned.<br />
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If you are looking for Faith, Show Up and Pay Attention. You will see the in-betweens. Simple really.<br />
Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-50149217037267801232018-07-15T18:45:00.001-04:002018-07-15T18:45:33.366-04:00THE REALLY REAL ALASKAOur first trip to Alaska was to be a combination of travel adventure and family time. Carol had not seen her sister Kris for 10 years so we planned about half time of each. But since we had Kris as a resident guide, host and provider of transportation we really wanted our travel adventure to be away from the tourist Alaska.<br />
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Our hike up Flat Top had lots of people as it is the most hiked trail in Alaska. But it gave us a taste of the sheer size of Alaska.<br />
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On the way to Denali we stopped at Talkeetna which was authentic Alaska 30 years ago but now is a miniature Gatlinburg. Great lunch but we won't go back.<br />
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Denali was a WOW experience and an absolute "must do" but still all tourist.<br />
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MacLaren River Lodge was closer to what we were looking for. 100 miles of dirt road to get there with no people in sight. A dry cabin on a small lake. Talking with local people who had been there for 20 years. We were the only over night guests.<br />
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McCarthy got closer. A town of 32 people. A "hotel" with 9 rooms and shared bath facilities. Our second night we were the only ones there. And the only access is a footbridge across the Kennecott River.<br />
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The last night on this part of our trip I booked what AirBnb called an <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/21985896?adults=1&children=0&infants=0&toddlers=0&s=2k12iYc6" target="_blank">Historic Alaskan Homestead Retreat</a>. <br />
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If you've clicked on the link you can see what the accommodations are. Rustic barely covers it. Log cabin. Outhouse a short walk away. Propane stove. No electricity. Nearest neighbor several miles away. 60 miles to the nearest grocery store. All of that fit our plans but we were completely unprepared for our hosts.<br />
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Beatrice and Jim Hitchcock are a living treasure of what Alaska used to be. And in a few rare instances like this one, still is.</div>
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Jim came to this plot of land with his family as part of the Homestead Program when he was 10 years old.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Seventy Five Years ago. </b> </span><br />
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There were several requirements to "prove" your claim to the land you staked out. You were required to live on it for at least three consecutive years. You had to build a structure in which to live. Tents did not count. You had to cultivate at least 1/8 of the land. Jim says that it was fortunate that the rules didn't say what to "cultivate" - Jim's family grew turnips - or whether it had to be commercially viable - there was no one to sell them to. <br />
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The log cabin Jim's dad built in 1944 is still standing and used for storage. Jim built several more on the property for children, nieces and nephews. And now they rent one out for lucky people like us.<br />
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He bought a sawmill in 1955 and moved it to the property. <br />
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Sorry for the finger. Carol did not take these pictures.<br />
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So many memories for me. My Grandfather Cook was a sawyer for the later part of his life. I remember standing in awe as he rolled the logs onto the carriage, set the "dogs" and ran the log into the saw.<br />
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This lever controlled the width of the board.<br />
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This exact setup is operated in several locations around the country as "museums". Jim just uses it like he always has. He had a knee replaced a few weeks ago so he hasn't starting it up yet this year but will soon.<br />
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In 1958 he started Caribou Cabin Company building cabins and providing log kits.<br />
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He is currently building a new home for Beatrice and him.<br />
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Lion's Head Mountain from their "backyard."<br />
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The front.<br />
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My dad used to say that there were three types of woodworkers. "Cabinetmakers, carpenters and barn builders." PLEASE click on this picture and look at it full size. Jim is a cabinetmaker who works with logs.<br />
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The wood for this cabin as well as all the others Jim has built came from his land. I asked how he cured it in the Alaska climate. I didn't see a drying shed. Remember earlier when I said the buildings in Kennecott were in remarkable condition because wood didn't rot like in the lower 48? Well the spruce in Alaska has been hit several times by beetle infestations. This is not all bad in that it only seems to kill the mature trees. This makes room for younger healthier trees to thrive. But the dead trees remain standing and curing for years. These are the ones Jim cuts.<br />
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Here are some pictures of our cabin.<br />
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The front door. Ground level.<br />
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The back door with second story entrance. Used when the snow gets too deep to get in the front. <br />
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The outhouse. Note the shower curtain for a door. More about that later.<br />
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And an elegant outhouse it is. The purple foam in the corner serves as an insulated seat in cold weather.<br />
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One of the upstairs bedrooms. <br />
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The second upstairs bedroom. <br />
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They were very cozy and inviting. Which was a very good thing - here are the stairs.<br />
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Andrew and Finn getting settled in. <br />
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The living room. <br />
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Dining Room. <br />
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A delicious surprise waiting for us.<br />
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Kris starting a fire. <br />
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Stocked Pantry. <br />
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Our view of Lion's Head. <br />
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The Patio. <br />
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When I showed Carol the AirBnb pictures she got excited when
she saw the sink. But then I pointed out that there were no faucets. Or drain pipe except to the bucket. <br />
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Remember those tiny steps and the shower curtain door on the outhouse. They might seem unrelated but not in Carol's mind. Sometime in the last year or so a bear got into the cabin. Luckily it was uninhabited at the time. Somehow it made it up those tiny stairs and for some reason thought that the foam insulation was his way out.<br />
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Here are the marks he left.<br />
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The connection to the outhouse? Carol was slightly uncomfortable with a shower curtain for a door after she saw these claw marks.<br />
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An advantage of living way out here is getting friendly with the wild life. This is a Gray Jay eating from Kris' hand.<br />
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We drove half an hour to the nearest restaurant and again found wonderful food in the wilderness at only slightly exorbitant prices. <a href="http://longriflelodge.co/" target="_blank">The Long Rifle Lodge.</a><br />
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<br />Grilled Chicken Salad with LOTS of bleu cheese.<br />
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A Bacon Cheeseburger covered in bar-b-que sauce. <br />
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Roast Beef au jus. <br />
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Bleu Cheese burger. Almost as much bleu cheese as burger and it was a big burger. <br />
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Another serving of rhubarb pie. <br />
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Apple pie.<br />
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For my home town folks, the Long Rifle is kinda like the Swinging Bridge Restaurant on steroids.<br />
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Our first view of the Matanuska Glacier.<br />
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From our table.<br />
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Tomorrow we walk on it.<br />
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-17147007454893135692018-07-14T17:13:00.000-04:002018-07-14T17:13:11.606-04:00KENNECOTTThe National Park Service acquired most of the ghost town of Kennecott in 1998. It had been designated a National Historical Landmark in 1986. The Park Service immediately starting stabilizing the deteriorating buildings. Most damage was due to the shifting of the permafrost. Because the climate in Alaska does not support the organisms that cause wood to rot, the buildings were/are in amazing condition 100 years plus after being built and 90 years of neglect.<br />
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The area can be visited for free but the Park Service has contracted with a private company to provide tours. They have exclusive rights to get into the mill and several other buildings. <a href="https://www.steliasguides.com/trips/kennecott-mill-town-tour/" target="_blank">St. Elias Alpine Guides</a> definitely did not act like the typical monopoly government contractor. They were wonderful. When I booked our tour I was concerned about getting up and out after our long day traveling from MacLaren River to McCarthy so I booked a 3:30 tour. The day of travel turned out easier than I had thought so we got up and out early. After a great breakfast we took the shuttle to Kennecott and I asked the young lady at the tour desk if we could possibly change our tour from 3:30pm to 9:30am. I was very surprised when she said, "That won't be a problem. Just go next door and wait on the deck for your tour guide. She'll be there in about 10 minutes." They only have 4 tours a day and their contract very clearly says that there are no cancellations or changes allowed.<br />
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The tour starts on a deck overlooking the huge moraine of the Root Glacier.<br />
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I understood that a terminal moraine was a wide swath of dirt and rocks left behind by a retreating glacier. This one is several miles long and wide.<br />
When the town was abandoned the glacier was several hundred feet above the town. Now this moraine is left. <br />
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But I misunderstood what exactly it is. What appears to be piles of dirt
is actually a thin layer of dirt and silt on top of close to 1000 ft of
ice. This picture shows a place where the dirt has fallen and the ice is visible.<br />
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Several years ago the Park Service was able to bring several of the original residents back to the town. They had been children when they left. All had the same two comments. "It is so quiet." and "Where is the glacier?"<br />
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The ore had been brought to the mill by aerial trams from the mines that were several miles up into the mountains. The sole purpose of the mill was to turn basketball sized pieces of ore into powder which could be taken by rail to Cordova and then shipped to the smelter in Tacoma, WA. It was a fourteen story building containing a series of hammers, grinders and other methods of pulverizing the ore. According to the memories of the residents, the noise was beyond comprehension and it went on 24/7. They shut down on two days a year, Christmas and the 4th of July.<br />
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The tour included the mill. Most days visitors walk a circuitous route up to the top and walk the stairs down. Since the ore entered at the top and came out the bottom, the tour always starts at the top.<br />
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BUT, NPS workers were assessing work to be done to the upper entrance so we walked UP the 14 stories of stairs. Here are just a few of them.<br />
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A view from the top.<br />
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I've been saying that the size of Alaska just can't be shown in pictures but I'll try again. Look at the mountains WAY OFF in the distance in the picture above. They top out at about 8000 ft.<br />
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Then look at this picture of Mt. Blackburn looking the opposite direction from the same place at the top of the mill building. It's the one covered in ice. It's the same distance away as the ones in the upper picture. It just looks closer because it's twice as tall, over 16,000 ft.<br />
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This is the walkway to the upper entrance.<br />
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Our tour down the mill took us past massive crushers.<br />
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Sorting Tables that literally shook heavier stone away from the copper ore.<br />
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As the particles got smaller, the methods got almost delicate. Including a system which suspended ore in a solution of ammonia. Bubbles sent up through the tanks attracted the tiny particles of copper and they were separated from the ore.<br />
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One of the ammonia leaching tanks.<br />
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The mill was powered by steam, which was also used to generate electricity as well as heating the entire town.<br />
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One of the three furnaces, set up to burn wood, coal or oil.<br />
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All three of them.<br />
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The Park Service is working to stabilize the buildings. Here is the attempt to shore up the lower level of the mill.<br />
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Supplies to support the entire town came from Cordova via train. As many as 300 people lived in town with another 300 miners living full time at the mines. The company store provided for all of them. It h as been recreated by the Park Service.<br />
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Just three of 15 or so rooms of the store. These are the front with food products.<br />
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The back rooms had room after room of bins and shelves with hundreds of sizes and varieties of bolts and nuts, screws, mine hardware, etc. etc. etc. And no computers to keep inventory.<br />
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Thanks to the kindness of the tour company, we finished the tour with lots of time to hike to the face of the Root Glacier. The short version took us along the moraine to a view of an area where the glacier was overriding the moraine.<br />
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Through the woods past crystal clear streams from which we collected bottles for later. <br />
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Beautiful wildflowers<br />
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Another view of Mt. Blackburn. Even with the peak in the clouds it's still impressive.<br />
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Views of the mill from the glacier trail.<br />
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Fourteen stories up, fourteen stories down, 2 mile hike. Finn was ready to chill.<br />
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The rest of us had built up quite an appetite. Back in McCarthy, to "The Bistro." You would not expect to find fine dining in a town of 32 full time residents, 100+ miles from the nearest store, The Bistro is listed as one, with many 5 star ratings inn Trip Advisor, Yelp and others. More than a little skeptical, we showed up when they opened for dinner and were one of three tables seated, A little surprised when THE waitress told us that she could seat us but it would be 15 minutes or so before she could help us. As we watched her, we understood why. The "menu" was a blackboard with very basic listings of selections. "halibut", "duck", "bison steak". We had seen this outside before they opened but now the waitress sits it on a chair and describes each item in excruciating detail. Then she answers questions until the patron decides. Unfortunately she was soft spoken so we could not eavesdrop on the other diners. Just as I was about to suggest we leave, someone from the kitchen placed this on our table.<br />
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Salmon cream puff on rye toast. <br />
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"With the compliments of the chef." <br />
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As we finished the appetizer our waitress arrived with her chalkboard.<br />
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Halibut with gratin and roasted Brussels sprouts. <br />
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Duck breast with Alaskan barley couscous and beets. <br />
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Lamb chops with new red potatoes and carrots. And pansies which are edible of course.<br />
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Jasmine Tea Creme Brulee<br />
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Orange flourless almond tart with chocolate sorbet and caramel sauce. <br />
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Trio of sorbet with fresh berries.<br />
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We did not partake of the extensive wine list or even longer list of specialty cocktails so our total bill, with tip was under $200.00. Keeping in mind that we have been paying $15-$18 for burgers this was an extreme bargain. In the middle of the largest National Park in the country. A great ending for this part of our trip.<br />
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Tomorrow we head to what AirBnB calls an "Historic Alaskan Homestead Retreat." With our experiences so far, we're not sure what that means.<span dir="ltr"><span class="_12ei9u44"></span></span><br />
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Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-53196308797110654542018-07-09T11:32:00.001-04:002018-07-09T11:32:46.447-04:00McCARTHY --- The REAL ALASKAIn 1900 two prospectors discovered the largest deposit of copper ever found. After a few years of negotiating, scheming and backroom plots the Kennecott Mining Company emerged and built the company town of Kennecott, AK. A railroad was built to take the ore to the port of Cordova. An engineering marvel, it covered 196 miles of virtually unexplored wilderness. It included over 1300 bridges, including the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Glacier_Bridge" target="_blank">"Million Dollar Bridge".</a><br />
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A company town meant that no alcohol or unsavory recreation was allowed. So McCarthy, about 5 miles away, grew to provide bars and brothels. In 1938, facing a declining quality of ore, the mining company closed. Not wanting workers to slack off before the closing, management did not tell anyone that the mine was closing until the last train was ready to leave. Given just a few hours to prepare, all the workers and their families got on the train with what they could carry. The company paid a couple of security guards and their families to stay.<br />
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"Discovered" by young adventurers after the area was made Wrangling-St Elias National Park, Kennecott became a tourist attraction while McCarthy grew to a town of 32 year round residents. Leaving the paved road at Chitina, which itself is out of the way, it's about 60 miles along the abandoned rail bed to a footbridge across the Kennicott River. I did not make a spelling error. The town - with an "e" was named after the glacier and river - with an "i" but was misspelled in an early record and the error became the name of record.<br />
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The end of the paved road. <br />
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Our first moose sighting since Mama and baby in Kris' back yard.<br />
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For two sisters who are afraid of heights, this sign was not reassuring.<br />
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Nor did the view off in the distance.<br />
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Confidence levels did not increase as we got closer.<br />
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Don't look down.<br />
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Oh wait - it gets better, that was just the first one.<br />
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False alarm. We do not have to drive over this one. Interesting, though - built in the winter of 1911, it spans 180 feet and is 90 feet high. It was built in 11 days.<br />
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Here is the Main Street of McCarthy.<br />
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The Upscale digs.<br />
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I didn't spring for luxury. Here's our home for the next two nights.<br />
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Our room is on the second floor. But the bathroom is on the first. Outdoors, down the stairs and back inside. But there are 9 rooms total and 2 lavatories and two shower rooms so usually no wait.<br />
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Two of the other 8 buildings in town.<br />
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From McCarthy's colorful past. I believe the brothel is gone (I didn't ask), but the saloon survived.<br />
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Although our tour of Kennecott is scheduled for 3:30 our plan is to get up and out early and hope to get a morning tour so we can walk the rest of the area during the afternoon.<br />
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-12224295748757432012018-07-07T20:00:00.001-04:002018-07-07T20:00:51.892-04:00DENALI HIGHWAYSlept in this morning. All we did yesterday was ride 8+ hours in a bus and walk around the Visitor's Center for 45 minutes. WHY are we so exhausted?<br />
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ANYWAY, up and out too late for breakfast at The Salmon Bake so we backtrack down to Cantwell where we will head east on the Denali Highway. "Denali <b>Highway</b>"...really?... that is the official name for a 135 mile long road .... of which almost 24 miles is paved. Yup, 110 miles of gravel/dirt/mud road, open maybe 5 months a year, with a suggested top speed of 30 miles an hour - and that only in a few places - is a HIGHWAY ! Here is a third party description from www.dangerousroads.org<br />
I agree with all of it except where it says, "...no stretches of mud."<br />
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"<i>The Denali Highway (Alaska Route 8) is one of most scenic drives in
the United States. With a length of 135 mi (217 km), this gravel road
leads from Paxson on the Richardson Highway to Cantwell on the Parks
Highway, in Alaska, USA. The road was opened in 1957.</i><br />
<i>The road's
design, providing stunning panoramic views, is very curvy and fun for a
leisurely ride. Of the 135 miles of the road, the first 21 miles on the
eastern end, and first 2 miles on the western end, are paved. The rest
of the road is gravel, not dirt, hence there effectively are no
stretches of mud but there can be sharp rocks. The road is lightly
traveled.<br />The weather on this zone is harsh and highly unpredictable
and it does not take much time for the bright sun shine to change over
to moderate to heavy snow fall. The highway is now little used and
poorly maintained, and closed to all traffic from October to mid-May
each year. Only the easternmost 21.3 miles (34.3 km) and westernmost 2.6
miles (4.2 km) are paved. A sudden drop in the temperature, even in
summer, can trigger winter-like conditions.<br />Check weather forecasts
before leaving home, and remember that it becomes cooler and often more
prone to storms at higher elevations. The first 21 miles of the road are
paved, and the entire 135 miles is two lanes wide. The route quickly
climbs from the boreal forest to access the tundra and taiga along the
foothills of the mighty Alaska Range. From the Paxson elevation of 2,750
ft., travelers eventually climb to the Maclaren Summit at 4,086 ft.,
the second highest road pass in Alaska. Many rental car companies will
prohibit driving the Denali Highway, but a number of companies do allow
travelers to take their cars on this road."</i><br />
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Before tackling it we stopped at <a href="https://www.jpcoffeehouse.com/" target="_blank">JP's Coffee House</a> a place that came highly recommended by locals for its meat pies. I've provided a link but the "Menu" tab is completely incomplete. They make whatever they feel like on any given day and put it on their white board. <br />
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Please note - a very popular spot on THE major North South highway in the state - in spite of the neon "OPEN" sign, there are NO POWER LINES. Propane for heat and cooking, generator for electric. Same for their house next door. People do have a different concept of "civilized living" up here.<br />
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That doesn't stop them from eating well though. Again I say, "Pictures don't do it justice." Fresh scrumptious fried dough, eggs, potatoes, bacon, ham, and goat cheese. Made to order and well worth the wait.<br />
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Now it's time to tackle the Denali Highway. We had been told to bring two spare tires. Fortunately Kris, like almost every Alaskan, has a set of four studded tires on wheels so it was easy to toss one of those into the back of the truck.<br />
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Miles and miles of ........miles and miles.<br />
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Those are snow covered mountains WAY off in the distance. But the near scenery is almost treeless tundra. It looks like beautiful grass from the road but a very sort hike off the road shows that it is waist to head high brush which will happily tear you to shreds if you try to make your way through it. <br />
Travel through the tundra other than in winter defines the phrase "bushwhacking". Which is probably why most travel is on snow with dogs and sleds or snow machines (known as snow mobiles in the lower 48)<br />
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Not much wildlife viewing. A bird with long beak and long legs like a sandpiper. I'm pretty sure it wasn't but the tundra is very swampy and any low place becomes a pond so it would be at home here. In the summer.<br />
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And trumpeter swans.<br />
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About 90 miles in we descended from the high tundra to MacLaren River.<br />
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<a href="http://www.maclarenlodge.com/index.html" target="_blank">The MacLaren River Lodge</a> has been here since the mid-1950's and the current owners, Susie and Alan Echols took over in 2003 after many years of living in the area. Wonderful hosts, builders and chefs.<br />
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Here is the view as we came down the hill to the Lodge. The river is in the background. To the right is a small lake. Just to the left of center is our log cabin.<br />
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View from the porch<br />
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We got to talk with the owners while they took a break from the kitchen. They have three dogs that have the run of the place. Finn made friends with all three but Carol only got pictures of two.<br />
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We took a short hike to the top of the hill for these views<br />
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Finn is enjoying our trip too<br />
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Nice hike, big appetite. Question: "What kind of food can we expect when the nearest grocery store is 100 miles away. " Answer: "Fantastic". Real home cooking with a flair.<br />
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Burger with mushrooms, bacon and blue cheese. And a side of fresh cut fries.<br />
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But the real stars were the pies. Fresh Rhubarb and strawberry a la mode.<br />
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I asked about "fresh" so early in their season. Seems 20+ hours of daylight makes things grow really fast.<br />
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Not fresh, but wonderful mixed berry. <br />
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Not fresh or local but equally delicious french apple.<br />
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And they make the ice cream on the premises.<br />
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Next morning.<br />
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Tourists not like me required that the helicopter slinging loads wait until 7am to start. I checked, pilot was not a Whirly-Girl. A perfect use for a chopper - less than 60 miles to site but no roads of any kind.<br />
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Back to the main lodge for breakfast. Eggs, toast from fresh home baked bread and caribou sausage.<br />
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The 5 Musketeers.<br />
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Headed on to civilization. But as soon as we reach the paved road we are reminded that we are in Alaska.<br />
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Don't know where his Mama is, but he's too young to be on the road by himself.<br />
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Next stop, McCarthy.<br />
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-53296424672013579222018-07-05T16:41:00.001-04:002018-07-05T16:41:33.550-04:00A DAY IN DENALI NATIONAL PARKOur cabins provided a free shuttle to the Denali Bus Depot so we got up and out early to get our tickets for the shuttle bus trip to <a href="https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/the-eielson-visitor-center.htm" target="_blank">Eielson Visitor Center</a>. There are two bus services. The Tour Buses go to a particular location inside the park, turn around and return. They are hosted by a Park Ranger. The Shuttle Bus follows the same road - there is only one - but stops and drops off or picks up people anywhere along the route. We took the Shuttle thinking that we would get off and hike. We didn't.<br />
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Our bus<br />
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Ready to go.<br />
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We had been told that the Park rangers on the Tour buses were excellent but if we got lucky, our Shuttle bus driver would be very good too. We got lucky. Tina had been driving the buses for several years and not only knew HOW to spot animals but knew WHERE to look. Like at a small den of foxes WAY off on a hillside.<br />
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Caribou were a little easier to spot. Early in the season so he's still in velvet but still impressive.<br />
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A little farther along Tina points out a Mama Grizzly with two yearlings or maybe two year olds. One Mama's boy - or girl - and one adventurer who will not be seen near Mama.<br />
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Again, WAY off across the valley but with Tina's good eye and Carol's great picture taking, here are some good pictures of them. <br />
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Beautiful views of the mountains from the Visitor's Center. Denali is in the clouds. So we're in the 60% who did not see it. BUT many days visitors sit through an 8 hour round trip bus drive in rain and 50 feet visibility. We had blue skies - except for the clouds over Denali - warm temperatures and unlimited visibility.<br />
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Eielson Visitor's Center - These moose were fighting and got their antlers locked. They could not get free and died together.<br />
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"The Seasons of Denali" - a quilt by a local artist.<br />
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The Shuttle system allowed us to stay as long as we wanted at the Visitor's Center but we decided to return with Tina because we didn't think we'd be lucky enough to get another driver as good as she was.<br />
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Good choice. The three bears were still in the same area EXCEPT closer.<br />
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Mama <br />
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Mama and cub <br />
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Mama<br />
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Cub <br />
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Park etiquette, which Tina enforced vigorously, is for complete silence when animals are near the bus. They do not associate the buses with people so do not become acclimated to us. They really did walk right alongside the bus while ignoring it completely so I guess the park system does work.<br />
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Another bit of park Alaskan "wildlife" - ground squirrel. Not exactly a rare sighting. Tina says her training as a park bus driver included instructions to never brake severely or swerve to avoid a squirrel.<br />
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We saw so many Caribou that Tina didn't stop for us to see them. But a large group, with several newborn calves was worthy of our attention.<br />
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Glacier fed rivers are usually "braided" rivers which means the gravel and silt swept downstream is so thick that the river is a wide bed of gravel with water changing paths almost daily.<br />
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Traditionally, the "BIG FIVE" to see in Denali were Caribou, Grizzly, Moose, Wolves and Dall Sheep. We were told not to expect to see wolves. The number has been reduced from 350 to less than 175 over the past few years. Roaming over 6 million acres. Not good odds.<br />
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We thought, "Two out of five isn't bad," especially since we'd had the moose experience up close and personal in Kris' back yard. And we were pretty sure we'd see Dall Sheep on out next excursion to Seward.<br />
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Tina did point out three Dall early on the trip but they were "those little white dots on that far slope." Too far for pictures. Our binoculars just made them slightly smaller white spots.<br />
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But as we were about to leave the park, this poor straggly fellow showed up on the side of the road. I hope he has a better spring and summer than his winter obviously was.<br />
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We missed the "on the hour" free shuttle by about 5 minutes. So I called The Crow's Nest and they sent a van to get us. It started sprinkling while we waited. We all had our rain jackets and hats, which we hadn't used yet, to keep us dry for the few minutes to took for the van to take us back to our cabin in the hill.<br />
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ANOTHER incredible day in the 49th. <br />
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-62741709883852191442018-07-04T15:31:00.001-04:002018-07-05T13:20:40.697-04:00DENALI"DENALI" the word is synonymous with Alaska. The highest mountain in North America at 20,310' and the tallest in the world. The difference being how high above its base does it rise. Denali rises about 18,000' above its base. Mt. Everest rises "only" 12,000' above its base.<br />
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It is so tall that it creates its own weather which shrouds it in clouds. Which means that about 60% of the visitors to Denali National Park do not see the summit.<br />
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Our weather here has been exceptional. ALL the guide books say to bring rain gear because it rains all summer long and most activities are "rain or shine". We have had warm sunny days and they continue as we leave Anchorage for our first tour around the state.<br />
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First stop is Talkeetna, about 14 miles off our direct route to Denali. It has a reputation as a quirky "out of the way" little Alaskan town. But since being "discovered" 20 years ago, it has become a intentionally quirky tourist trap. We walked the length of the town in about 20 minutes.<br />
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Ate delicious caribou burgers and headed to Denali.<br />
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Serge had told Kris that we MUST stop at Wal-Mike's. I am learning that most of Alaska falls into the category of "Neither words nor pictures can adequately describe it." Wal-Mike's definitely fits in that category. Besides being the Trapper Creek Post Office it is a hardware/convenience/grocery/propane/tool/tire/auto parts/souvenir/I'm sure I've missed several categories/ store.<br />
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AND a world famous outhouse.<br />
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BE SURE to click on these pictures so you can see them enlarged to read all the signs.<br />
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I will probably say this too much. But there is NO WAY to do justice to the SCALE of things in Alaska. We stopped several times on the Parks Highway but we could have stopped every mile to take pictures like these.<br />
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The high peaks are about 6000' high and 40 miles away.<br />
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Our original plans had been to stay at a remote (12 miles from the highway) dry cabin and take a monster truck tour of part of Denali that is not open to the public. Possible because the tour operators, <a href="http://www.denalisights.com/" target="_blank">Denali Sightseeing Safaris</a> have had a contract for 20 years with a mining company to use the mine haul roads to enter the park. The week before we left, Angel called and said that she had to cancel her entire season, cabin rentals and tours. Spring was very late this year. The mining company got impatient and started operations much earlier than they should have. Their haul trucks are MUCH bigger than Angel's and they made the roads impassable to the monster trucks.<br />
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SO, in spite of all the advice to make reservations MONTHS in advance, which I had done, I was now trying to find a place to stay and book a regular tourist tour of Denali a few days before our arrival. And, as usual, somebody cancelled so I was able to book a cabin at <a href="http://www.denalicrowsnestcabins.com/accommodations-denali-crows-nest/" target="_blank">The Crow's Nest</a> right across the highway from "Glitter Gulch", which is the tacky touristy area that has grown up near the entrance to Denali National Park. BUT - stuck to the side of the mountain above all the noise and nonsense.<br />
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Views from our porch. You can see "Glitter Gulch" below us.<br />
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Building on Permafrost presents unique "settling" challenges. Our cabin listed about 15 % toward the front. Salmon Bake, the restaurant we enjoyed was even more uneven. We asked one of the assistant managers and he said, "I hear the phrase, 'grandfathered' a lot and I NEVER hear the phrase, 'building inspector.'"<br />
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Tomorrow we have an early morning departure on a tour bus. Denali does not allow private vehicles into the interior of the park. We will be taking the "short tour" to the Eielson Visitor's Center. It's only 4 hours and 64 miles one way. The longer tour is 6 hours one way which doesn't allow much time for stopping or spending time at the visitors centers.<br />
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So again, in spite of nothing going as we planned, everything is good.<br />
<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-37528781762721801742018-07-03T18:43:00.001-04:002018-07-03T18:43:45.727-04:00R & R - for some of us.Carol, Kris and I are enjoying beautiful weather while watching the Momma and baby moose in the back yard.<br />
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Andrew has found a new friend in Kris' friend Serge. Serge is a 16 year old bicyclist who just happened to be born 52 years ago. His idea of "cycling" is a warm up of 60 miles one day and 90 miles the next. On a mountain bike with 4" fat tires.<br />
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He took Andrew for an introductory ride of some unknown distance. They stopped counting at 30 miles. They started off nice and easy.<br />
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Then a stop at the market to refuel.<br />
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Great view of Cook Inlet.<br />
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Trails got a little more difficult.<br />
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Things weren't all fun and giggles - but Duct Tape and a little paper towel usually stops the bleeding.<br />
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A GREAT ALASKAN day to celebrate Andrew's 17th birthday. No candles, but we did get a delicious cake at Fred Meyer - which is the Alaskan branch of Kroger's so we could even use Andrew's employee card to get a discount ! The picture doesn't do it justice so I will admit that I took it.<br />
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A couple more days of rest and then it's off to Denali and points north and east.<br />
<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-17753446074249905472018-07-02T15:41:00.001-04:002018-07-02T15:41:48.177-04:00June 20 First Full Day in AlaskaWednesday "dawned" with a bright blue sky. "Dawned" in quotes because it never really got darker than what we would call twilight. Kris says it's very unusual weather for Anchorage so we must get out and do something.<br />
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Flat Top Mountain is the most hiked mountain in Alaska, probably because of its proximity to Anchorage. Like a couple of miles outside the city limits. The peak is at an elevation of 3245 ft. Since you can drive part way up, the hike is 1.5 miles with an elevation gain of 1280 ft.<br />
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Beautiful views right from the start all the way to the top. Which is a good thing because Carol and Kris stopped about half way up. The last half is a steep rock field that is more rock climbing than hike. I probably would have let Andrew go on by himself but there were too many kids scampering up and down for me to say "I can't do that." So up we went. It was well worth it, first just to accomplish it but also for the 360 degree view of the area - Cook Inlet and the city to the west, and mountains in all other directions.<br />
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Here we are part way up. <br />
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The view from Carol and Kris' resting spot.<br />
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This is what stopped Carol and Kris.<br />
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The final stretch<br />
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We made it<br />
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The views<br />
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We took a different route back down.<br />
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Near the tree line <br />
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Finnegan, "Finn" is Kris' Service Dog and will be accompanying us wherever we go. This was the first day we wore him out. I'm sure there will be more.<br />
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Back home and resting.<br />
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Tomorrow is Andrew's birthday.<br />
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Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-22203963131948090032018-06-24T00:41:00.000-04:002018-06-24T00:41:56.533-04:00NORTH to ALASKAAnchorage to start.<br />
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More of Alaska in the days to come.<br />
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The flights were uneventful and faster than scheduled. We were blessed with an hundred mile plus tailwind from Dulles to Seattle which cut the flight from 6 hours to 5. Even the flight from Seattle to Anchorage had a tailwind. It's VERY unusual to get significant tailwinds headed west but here's a screen shot of the data from the seat back monitor to confirm it.<br />
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I put my pistol in a checked bag and we didn't know how big a hassle it would be to claim it. All we knew was that the bag would not be on the baggage carousel and I would have to go to an office to claim it. It turned out to be no hassle and I got it before our other two bags showed up on the carousel. Because we didn't know how long things would take we told Carol's sister Kris that we would call her to come pick us up after we got our bags.<br />
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Here's the view we enjoyed while waiting for her.<br />
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A quick ride back to Kris' house and a chance to relax and settle in before tomorrow's adventures. That worked for the night but things started pretty quick the next day. Although Kris lives well within the city limits of Anchorage, she has a little over 2 acres of grass and trees and, it turns out, MOOSE. Yup, Carol spotted a male yearling just after she got up. No pictures and we haven't seen him again because a Mama and a month old baby came to visit and Mama ran off the yearling. <br />
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Kris has a 6' high fence around her compound and an inner fence around the house that is 8' high with barbed wire around the top. There are a couple of low spots in the outer fence where trees have fallen. Mama and baby can get in through/over them. But Mama has been jumping the fence where the baby can't make it and leaving baby inside while she goes outside for some alone time. Always in view of baby, who stands in a corner of the fence and cries for a while, then roams around the grounds munching on newly sprouted grass. Kris and Carol spent an hour or so trying to coax baby out a gate to reunite them. I think I've convinced them that Mama knows exactly what she's doing. Baby is safe, and out from under Mama's hooves. Mama can come back over the fence and stay or lead Baby out any time she wants. So we're enjoying their company and calling Kris' yard the Moose Day Care Center.<br />
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One more picture just because he/she is so cute -<br />
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-57238703489970440712018-04-16T19:13:00.001-04:002018-04-16T19:13:36.509-04:00OUR LAST DAY IN THE CITYCarol and I went to daily Mass at The Church of St. Agnes again. It seems appropriate, even if we just go to say, "Thank You, Lord." I am so Blessed. 36 years of marriage to my best friend, and then a new family - with a new wife who loves to travel !<br />
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<span>I've mentioned "Tinkerbell Jerusalem". For those of you who might not
have read about it, please go to the one blog for 2013. Bonnie Kelley is
the most spiritual person I know. I've used the "in-between" phrase
from the book for 14 years and while it still fits, I've just finished
reading three books by John Eldridge that fit my Faith. In "Wild at
Heart", "The Way of the Wild Heart" and especially "Beautiful Outlaw"
Eldridge says that God loves us beyond comprehension. As if sending His
only Son for us wasn't enough, He constantly showers us with gifts,
signs, memories, feelings that are meant to draw us to Him. If only we
see them. As a Christian, I see them as signs from Him. Bonnie calls
them "in-betweens". <span class="yiv8598600762ydp8dc7855ba-size-small yiv8598600762ydp8dc7855ba-color-secondary">Squire D. Rushnell says, "When God Winks." </span>What
we call them or the source to which we ascribe them isn't as important
as SEEING them. Every Day. Little. Big. Stupendous. They are there every
day. And I thank Bonnie every day for opening my eyes. I look
back over the parts of my 72 years that I remember and they've been
there all my life. I just didn't recognize them. The great news is that
the more you see them, the more you are able to see them. Life just
keeps getting better. Especially as you learn to point them out to others and help them understand.</span></div>
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One of our new discoveries in Manhattan is 99cent Pizza. NOT up to our high NY standards but very good. After Mass I brought an 18" Pepperoni back to the unit for lunch. Then Andrew and I walked across to town Times Square to the TKTS booth. We were hoping for tickets to "Sweeney Todd" off-off Broadway in the Village. None were available so we chose "<a href="http://carouselbroadway.com/" target="_blank">Carousel</a>" instead. The Playbill said, "Peck (the choreographer) diligently looked at what de Mile created for the original and Sir Kenneth MacMillan for the 1994 revival that made Audra McDonald a star -- then promptly shelved it all and started from scratch." The BIG difference is, unlike most musicals with separate tracks for singers and dancers, this version combines the two. Dancers sing, singers dance. Several times doing both at the same time. Again quoting Peck, "We're at a point now in the evolution of actors where there are more actors who have the complete package to pull over a show like this. Which requires the highest level of all those various disciplines." Peck is choreographer for the NY Ballet and this is his first Broadway play. It was a wonderful way to end our trip.<br />
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Up early Friday morning. Breakfast at the Comfort Diner which is across 45th St from our Timeshare.<br />
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A rather mundane Taxi ride to Pennsylvania Station. The train left on time and got home an hour late due to two reasons. There was a pedestrian/train incident at the Burke Center station that kept a train sitting for a while. We were told they would make up the time but because we were behind, we had to pull over until a north bound freight could get past us. I'm not old enough to remember, but I'm told that there was a time when passenger trains had priority.<br />
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The weather wasn't perfect, the unit was smaller than we've had in the past, we didn't get all the shows we wanted, the obnoxious teenagers pushing people off the sidewalks were everywhere and we'll probably never go on Spring Break again.<br />
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BUT we had a wonderful time. Met some wonderful people. Saw 5 great shows. Ate way too much incredible food. Attended Easter Mass at St. Patrick's with <span class="st">His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan. And it didn't happen anything like we'd planned.</span><br />
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<span class="st">Because God is Good. Every Day.</span><br />
<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-15626026107541373812018-04-08T20:57:00.001-04:002018-04-10T19:52:37.021-04:00WEDNESDAY IN NYC.I learned my lesson yesterday about how to deal with TKTS during Spring Break. We were at the Times Square booth before it opened at 10:00AM and immediately got three tickets to the matinee of "Hello Dolly" with Bernadette Peters. Then we took a subway to Lincoln Center where the TKTS Booth opens at Noon to get evening tickets. Unlike Times Square, it's in the lobby of the David Rubenstein Atrium.<br />
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Warm, dry, with $2.00 giant muffins and croissants. I left Andrew and Carol at a table enjoying their snacks and coffee and tea a little after 11 because the line was starting to form. I was about 5 back from the front. By Noon there were another 120 or so people behind me. More than they're prepared for so a bunch of them were out on the street. THEN, the first person in line asked to return two tickets for today's matinee for a refund or possibly an exchange. She had bought them yesterday and they changed their minds and decided to go to the Yankees game instead. There are signs EVERYWHERE saying, "All sales are FINAL. NO refunds or exchanges." But a kind employee said, "Let me call and see what I can do." There were only two windows open and she stood in front of one of them for over 25 minutes. While she left happy, the people who were hoping to get matinee tickets and get back to the Theater District by 3:00 curtain were not. Fortunately since we were close to the front we were able to buy tickets for "The Iceman Cometh" starring Denzel Washington and make it back down to "Hello Dolly" with time to spare.<br />
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No pics allowed so I "borrowed" this one from the show's website. Click <a href="http://hellodollyonbroadway.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIypDY3dSr2gIVl0sNCh3OTwoCEAAYASAAEgJSdvD_BwE" target="_blank">here</a> for more. I thought Bernadette Peters was phenomenal and that was before I read that she is 70 years old. Great show but even greater memories for me. Mary Ann and I saw the original with Carol Channing in 1964. Then we saw the all-black version with Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway in 1968. Ms. Bailey won a Special Tony Award which resulted in one of the epic Tony shows. <a href="http://www.broadwayreviewed.com/tag/black-cast-of-hello-dolly" target="_blank">Here is a link</a> to the presentation. It is well worth the 9 1/2 minutes to watch it. And now I get to see it with a new cast and my new family. God is Good. Every Day.<br />
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After a wonderful show we headed over to 8th Ave for some pizza. I was planning on "Famous Original Ray's" but didn't find them. Probably because they're now on 7th. Walking uptown we looked into the windows of Daniela Trattoria which was way too fancy for us. Then we saw "PIZZA" across the street on a place called CARVE. Arch typical NYC counter service sit down Italian.<br />
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They were out of calzones so we each had a roll. Pepperoni and Cheese for Carol and Andrew, Pepperoni, pepper and onion for me. Delicious - $6.95 each. Dirt Cheap for Theater District. In googling for a picture I found the menu that shows several very interesting sandwiches as well. Definitely added to our "go to" list.<br />
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A two block walk took us to the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater for <a href="http://icemanonbroadway.com/" target="_blank">"The Iceman Cometh".</a> Denzel Washington is, to quote the Deadline, simply "The Best Living Actor." I told Andrew, "This is a play that everyone MUST see - normally I add, 'at least once'. But you never have to watch it again because you will never have the opportunity to see it with such a cast." Click on the link to see the rest of the star studded cast. I'm certain that the fact that it's still in previews is the only reason we were able to get TKTS tickets.<br />
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One more day to see one more show. Which will be in the evening. There are only a few matinees on Thursdays and the only one we'd consider was Phantom. We debated how much we'd pay to see it again. Carol and Andrew have seen it three times and I've seen it 6. We all agreed on a price. The TKTS discount price was $115.00 per ticket. No, we will not go see it again. The first time I saw it was at full price with the original cast. I paid $45.00 per ticket. Times have changed.<br />
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-9984926782329881322018-04-07T20:31:00.001-04:002018-04-07T20:31:07.957-04:00NEW YORK FOR THREE MORE DAYSTuesday we decided to go to daily Mass at The Church of St. Agnes. It's more of a neighborhood church than St. Patrick's. There were about 20 people there for the 12:40 Mass. <br />
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Beautiful Altar. <br />
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We decided go to TKTS a little later than usual. I had several good reasons for this.<br />
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1. Monday was a long day.<br />
2. We have tickets from Monday's show so we can "Fast Pass" to the head of the line.<br />
3. Historically, Box Office managers don't always send their best tickets first. TKTS opens at 2 or 3 for evening shows. Many times the really good seats don't get there until 5 or even 5:30.<br />
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So the three of us walked across town around 5 o'clock. GIANT MISTAKE ! I guess I'd never done this during Spring Break. They only had 3 seats together for two shows, neither of which excited us. The ones we wanted to see bad enough to sit separately only had obstructed view seats.<br />
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Well, if no theater tonight, we'll have dinner instead. There is a new Junior's on Broadway just 4 blocks north of the old one. It was jammed. 20 minute wait. The food was as good as always.<br />
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Carol had the Bacon Cheeseburger with Fries and Onion Rings.<br />
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I had a Pastrami on Rye.<br />
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Andrew had the 20 oz Sirloin. Carol and I were looking forward to the leftovers to have Steak and Eggs for breakfast. Didn't happen. He didn't like the veggies, but the rest of the plate was clean when he was done.<br />
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Carol and I each took half of ours back to the unit.<br />
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The service was terrible. Which is unusual for Junior's. The food came fairly quickly but our waitress never checked on us again. We saw her but she was always running and spent a lot of her time at the far end of the restaurant. She appeared to have a station that covered half the floor. We overheard people complaining all around us. When we finally got our waitress to bring our bill I asked who was responsible for scheduling tables because it looked like hers were scattered all over the place. She said that most of the staff was new by Junior's standards. And they were jammed because of Spring Break. And two people had called in sick. They were covering as best they could.<br />
Many of you know that my son, Adam is a restaurant manager. After watching and talking with him I said that if I had his job, after 30 days the only question would be, were all the homicides I was accused of customers, staff or a combination. Our waitress and the manager we saw getting yelled at kept their cool the whole time and just kept going.<br />
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We headed back to the East Side early with plans to do things differently tomorrow. <br />
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-26417346478706361862018-04-05T09:52:00.001-04:002018-04-07T19:27:15.717-04:00NEW YORK --- SPRING BREAK BUT NOT SPRING !When we left Salem last Saturday, Accuweather's forecast for Monday in Manhattan was "low 40's to mid 50's and sunny. SO we bought tickets to two tours of the <a href="http://www.tenement.org/" target="_blank">Tenement Museum</a>. One was an indoor tour and one was a walking tour of the Lower East Side. Last March my daughter-in-law had treated us to a tour and we really enjoyed it. We had walked from East 45th St to Orchard St and decided since the weather would be nice we'd do that again.<br />
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But the weather was not quite as forecast. Actual conditions were mid-30's and 5 1/2 inches of snow. So we took the 6 train to Spring Street and walked the few blocks to Orchard St. God was still watching over us BIG TIME. We both clearly remembered tour times of 11:30 and 1:30. As usual we left ourselves plenty of time and the snow doesn't slow down the subways so we got to the Museum at 10:50. Our first tour was at 11:00. It was a new tour, <a href="http://www.tenement.org/exhibit.php" target="_blank">"Under One Roof"</a> which describes the lives of families that lived in the apartment from the late 1940's through the 1970's. Take some time viewing the virtual tour at the link. It was fascinating to us how similar the stories were even though the families were Polish Jews, Puerto Ricans and Chinese from Hong Kong. Fathers and/or mothers working long hard hours to make a better life for their children. "Day Care" even in the 1960's for the kids of garment workers was to play hide and seek in the factory. Which included hiding from the Health and Safety Inspectors. <br />
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We had an hour between tours so we walked up to Houston (That's pronounced "house ton" in NY.) to <a href="http://knishery.com/" target="_blank">Yonah Schimmel Knish shop</a>, which opened in 1910. It is wonderful to be able to take my new family to places Mary Ann and I went in the 1960's and find them virtually unchanged. OK, they take credit cards now and the prices are certainly different but most everything else is the same. Well, they have added a few things to the menu. Like Jalapeno and Mozzarella knish. Andrew and I stuck with potato and Carol had a Blueberry Cheese.<br />
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<img alt="Original Potato Knish (Kosher)" class="product-media__main-image js-product__image spec__product-main-image-23324" height="320" itemprop="image" src="https://pantograph0.goldbely.com/s410/uploads/product_image/image/23324/original-potato-knish-6-pack.c8be5809cfdbadb3c49fc1ce78c7529e.jpg" width="320" /> <img alt="https://pantograph0.goldbely.com/s820/uploads/product_image/image/23292/choose-your-own-knishes-18-pack.56dbbe4247253153325d3c2379d43dc3.jpg" class="shrinkToFit" height="320" src="https://pantograph0.goldbely.com/s820/uploads/product_image/image/23292/choose-your-own-knishes-18-pack.56dbbe4247253153325d3c2379d43dc3.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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I realized I'd made a mistake as soon as they were set on the table. This was Andrew's first taste of a knish. Which means I'll never be able to convince him to eat one from a vendor's cart.<br />
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The second tour was "Buildings on the Lower East Side." By 1:30 the snow had stopped, most sidewalks had been shoveled but it was still windy and cold. We signed up expecting a tour telling us about the architecture and how it changed over the years It was that but so much more. Our guide spent a great deal of time with us discussing how changes in the population, societal ideals, political changes and the times in general directly affected the design of the buildings - both then and now. We would highly recommend any of the Tenement Museum tours but this one was especially interesting.<br />
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I had kvetched to one of the hostesses at our timeshare that we couldn't find kielbasa or pierogies. She gave me the address of a Ukrainian place and apologized because it was so far away, "Way down on the Lower East Side". Which is precisely where we were going the next day. So after the tours, we walked about ten blocks to find a sign that said, "We are sorry for the inconvenience. We are closed today because of a plumbing problem." As we stood on the street feeling sorry for ourselves, two different people stopped to tell us that <a href="http://www.littlepolandnyc.com/" target="_blank">Little Poland</a> was two blocks north. Although it's new by Lower East Side standards - it opened in 1985, the entire staff spoke with a Polish accent and the food was totally authentic. AND thank you Tinkerbell, it's the last Polish restaurant in Manhattan. Which we would not have found except for two strangers stopping on the street to help us. We ordered two platters for the three of us and it filled us up and we had leftovers to bring back to the unit. Directly from the menu -<br />
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Combination Platter 19.50<br />
<i>Four Pierogis, One Stuffed Cabbage, Kielbasy, & Bigos</i></div>
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Polish Platter 19.50<br />
<i>Four Pierogis, Two Potato Pancakes, One Blintze</i></div>
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Monday is traditionally dark on Broadway but we went to the TKTS Booth to check things out. Got three tickets to <a href="http://www.perfect-crime.com/" target="_blank">The Perfect Crime.</a><i><a href="http://www.perfect-crime.com/" target="_blank"> </a></i>A wonderful who-dun-it with Catherine Russell in the lead. Which she has been playing for 31 years. Yes, THIRTY ONE YEARS. </div>
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Tomorrow is rest during the day and theater in the evening.<br />
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Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-82248158313313152272018-04-04T08:59:00.000-04:002018-04-05T11:43:10.362-04:00NEW YORK CITY --- SPRING BREAK<span style="font-size: small;">After WONDERFUL Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services in our newly renovated Our Lady of Nazareth church we took AMTRAK from Roanoke to Manhattan on Saturday. For the first time in several years, Andrew was with us. Oh, I forgot - some of you may not know that Carol's son Andrew moved back to us after 5 years of living with his father. More about that some other day. For now I'll just say that we are SO HAPPY to have him back where he belongs. Anyway, he's 16 and not easily impressed but did admit that the taxi ride from Penn Station to our timeshare at 225 E 45th St. got his attention. To quote his impression of the ride, "He had a close call every time he moved."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Our regular routine has been to settle into the apartment and go to The Amish Market, our favorite neighborhood market from past trips. Surfing the net while riding on the train I found current reviews that said that it must have changed hands or something. Same good food, but double the prices. A little research found a Trader Joe's about 13 blocks south. Only a legend to us - we had never been to one. WOW - really fresh, pretty good selection and prices right out of our Kroger's in Roanoke ! Who wudda thunk it ? But NO Keilbasa OR Pierogies. Really? In Manhattan? Oh well, we've got a week to find them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Sunday meant Easter Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, celebrated by His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan. There were 6 Masses but only one, 10:15 had the full choir. It is so popular that there is a lottery for tickets. Carol put her name in for two tickets since that was the maximum. Since there were only three of us, in a moment of brain fart, I put my name in for one. As soon as I had hit "Enter" Carol pointed out that one ticket would be pretty useless, if I won, who would go? If I'd put in for two, like she did, at least she and I could go - Mass not being at the top of Andrew's NYC bucket list. For two weeks I listened to Carol tell our friends how stupid I was. Until we received notice that we BOTH had won. So we had three tickets, just like we needed. Just the first Tinkerbell experience but we KNOW there will be more. Mass was amazing. The 7855 pipe organ, although impressive, was too loud so we really didn't hear the choir. It was a moving experience anyway. Cardinal Dolan's homily was centered on Michael Davidson NYFD a 37 year old firefighter who lost his life on Thursday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">After Mass we walked across town to the TKTS booth. Got tickets to the
matinee of Avenue Q and continued on to Junior's for a "snack" - just a
hot chocolate and a piece of Cheesecake. I'm pretty sure it's against
the law to go to NYC and not eat at Junior's at least once. When we were
here last year with Tom, Ann, Sarah and Ben they were raving about a
new Junior's item -- The New Yorker Cake Shake, a strawberry "Crazy
Shake"—the parlance they use
to describe...stuff like this—rimmed with vanilla frosting and graham
crackers and capped off with a slice of Junior's Strawberry Cheesecake
and a huge dollop of whipped cream. At 2000+ calories, not an every
day event for a heart attack survivor but we ARE in NYC. Unfortunately
it had been a three day special and we missed out. When we opened the
menu this time - there it was - the waitress told us it had been so
popular that they had put it on the menu AND they also had a Black and
White shake with a piece of brownie topped chocolate/regular layered
cheesecake on it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We drank our milkshakes, put the cheesecake in boxes and headed to <a href="https://newworldstages.com/" target="_blank">New World Stage </a>to see Avenue Q. The last time we were in NYC with both kids, Andrew was too young for Avenue Q so he and I went to Million Dollar Quartet while Emily and Carol went to Avenue Q. Both shows were in the same building. If you click on the "New World Stage" link a few sentences back you will learn about this unique space that has 5 stages. It typically gets shows after they've been a success on Broadway but are now drawing smaller audiences. Like Jersey Boys that Carol and I saw on Broadway last year. By moving to a 200 - 500 seat theater, a show can get its life extended - sometimes for years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The show was hilarious and thought provoking. At the end of the show the actors came on stage and asked for donations for a charity benefiting actors and other theater workers. While we considered how much to give they took some cheap shots at Trump. We learned that when Bush was President, they used the same lines on him. And when Obama was President, they used the same lines - on Bush. We don't know how much money they get from the folks they are playing to - seems to me those people usually just tell others how to spend their money. Just sayin'. Bless their little hearts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">The evening ended with a quiet walk back to the East Side. Tomorrow we take two tours at the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://newworldstages.com/" target="_blank"><br /></a></span>
Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-29923139707924704192017-08-13T21:01:00.000-04:002017-08-13T21:01:08.579-04:00MOUNT WASHINGTONA short day got us to <a href="http://www.tarryho.com/" target="_blank">Tarry Ho Campground</a> in Twin Mountains, NH. It's a family owned relatively small campground a few miles outside town. Very nice facilities and we really enjoyed our stay, except for the rude person who left both washers full of wet clothes. After an hour or so I went to the desk and the manager didn't hesitate for a second to say, "Pile them on the counter." Carol did. After she had washed and dried ours, the others were still on the counter.<br />
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We had an early morning departure on the cog railway. We chose the earliest one because that was the only one that day which used the old coal fired steam locomotive. Diesel just didn't seem like the appropriate way to go.<br />
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The engine pushes the passenger car. Note how tilted it is, so the engineer and fireman stand closer to level on the trip. <br />
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We were there for the journey, since our views approaching the mountain showed it covered in fog.<br />
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As it turned out, fog wasn't the problem, wind was. We stopped about 75% of the way up the mountain. The Conductor said reports from the top indicated wind over 90mph.<br />
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Although we didn't make it to the top, the views were spectacular.<br />
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The steepest grade is over 37%. The trees really are growing vertically. But this is what they look like from the train.<br />
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A close up of the "cog" part of the railway. Top speed up the mountain with the steam engine is 2.8 mph.<br />
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Brave (crazy?) hikers. Yes, that is SNOW on the ridge. In early June.<br />
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The good news was that with our mountain trip cut a couple of hours short, we had time to explore more of the area. Specifically, we had been told that Kancamagus Scenic Road was a "must do."<br />
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The drive leaving Mt. Washington was gorgeous. And it wasn't even part of the "scenic route", just the road to get to it.<br />
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We stopped in North Conway do some sightseeing and get lunch. There is another scenic rail there. We did not go on it but did enjoy seeing the old terminal.<br />
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Y'all do remember that if you "click" on a picture, it will open full sized in a new window, right?<br />
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The main street was lined with restaurants, most of which looked a little too Yuppie (expensive) for us but <a href="http://www.nhbeefandski.com/index.php" target="_blank">Beer & Ski</a> caught our eye. The menu promised that they had "..brought the concept of the roast beef sandwich to North Conway." Carol ordered it as a wrap and I ordered a Taco Salad.<br />
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The picture of the wrap speaks for itself - marvelous. The chips were stale on the Taco Salad but there was so much meat and cheese I didn't mind.<br />
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The next stop was at the Ranger Station for <a href="http://www.kancamagushighway.com/" target="_blank">The Kancamagus Scenic Byway</a>. It is one of the most popular roads in New England for the fall "leaf peepers." But it is a beautiful ride any time of year. That my Senior Pass got us free admission made it even nicer.<br />
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The rivers reminded me of my childhood home in the Catskill Mountains, before NYC built Pepacton and Cannonsville Reservoirs.<br />
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After stopping at some other waterfalls, we headed back to the campground.<br />
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But one more sign caught our attention. The Flume Gorge is a NH State Park. The gorge is walkable along a 2 mile loop trail that takes one along the stream to the top of the gorge and then back down through the forest past lots of glacial boulders.<br />
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The following captions are "borrowed" from the official Flume website. But the pictures are all Carol's work. <br />
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<h2>
The Flume Covered Bridge </h2>
This picturesque covered bridge is one
of the oldest in the state. It was built in the 1886 and has been
restored several times. Such bridges were often called “kissing bridges”
because of the darkness and privacy they provided. This bridge was
built across the scenic Pemigewasset River. Pemigewasset means “swift or
rapid current” in the Abenaki Indian language.<br />
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<h2>
Table Rock</h2>
Over time, the rushing waters of the Flume Brook
exposed this large outcropping of rock. Table Rock is a section of
Conway granite that is 500 feet (150m) long and 75 feet (20m) wide.<br />
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The Gorge walls rise 90' and narrow to 12'.<br />
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The "Sentinel Pine" stood for centuries above the stream. It was nearly 175 feet tall and 16 feet in circumference. A storm blew it over in 1938. It fell across the gorge. Following the tradition of New England practicality, it was used as the base for this bridge.<br />
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Tomorrow we leave to visit some friends from Salem who relocated in NH MANY years ago.<br />
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And AGAIN, nothing went as planned but we had a better day because of it.<br />
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-22639160872703369492017-08-10T18:30:00.000-04:002017-08-10T18:30:58.774-04:00ANOTHER DAY IN ACADIAI am REALLY slow in updating our blog. This entry is about the day we had enjoying Acadia and western Mt. Desert Island in JUNE !<br />
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My excuse is that we are traveling too much to write my travel blog. OK - that's the excuse. The reason is I'm a slug. Lazy is the word.<br />
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But we really did have a marvelous day exploring more of Mt. Desert Island both in the park and outside of it.<br />
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We started in Southwest Harbor, a quaint tiny town with a lot more emphasis on working boatmen than tourists.<br />
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Then a hike around Wonderland Trail. THIS is what the Maine coast is all about. Quiet, beautiful waterfront, no people.<br />
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Didn't see much wildlife but the plants made up for it. <br />
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Even the trees were blooming.<br />
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On to Ship Harbor Trail. Again, great views of the surf.<br />
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The next stop was Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.<br />
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Built in 1858, automated in 1974. A sign said that there was a trail to where you could get a better picture so ......<br />
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It only stands 56' above high tide but that is enough to guide boats into Bass Harbor.<br />
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Our new found friends mentioned in the last blog suggested <a href="http://www.thurstonforlobster.com/" target="_blank">Thurston's Lobster Pound</a>. They proclaimed it to be the most scenic dining place in New England and promised us great food besides.<br />
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They were right on both counts.<br />
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The view from our patio table. You order at the counter inside and they bring your food. From the looks, I'd guess our "62" was probably the second time around for the day.<br />
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That large stack of "crates" are lobster pots.<br />
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After a short wait, the food arrived.<br />
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I ordered the lobster roll and Carol ordered the Lobster Stew.<br />
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From their menu:<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Lobster Roll</h3>
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Filled to the brim with our famously fresh,
handpicked lobster meat. We lightly toss those claws, tails, and
knuckles with mayo, and pile them on a grilled bun with a bed of
lettuce. No fancy stuff necessary. Available in two sizes. (Don't
forget a fork for the big one.)</div>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<strong>Lobster Stew</strong> <strong><br /></strong></h3>
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As traditional as it comes. Our own fresh
lobster stock makes this cream based stew rich and delicious. Nothing
but flavor and lobster. Straight from the boat lobster, and lots of it.</div>
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Apparently our new Work Camper friends really do think this is the best place on My. Desert Island. It's a 25 minute drive from the campground and we caught them here for lunch.<br />
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More views of Thurston's and the harbor with the working boats.<br />
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That little bitty gray and green one story building is the original Lobster Pound. The two story gray and green addition came next, followed by the two story yellow roofed "porch."<br />
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One of their original delivery trucks.<br />
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We needed to walk off that incredible lunch so we stopped at Echo Lake for a short hike on our way back to the Campground.<br />
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Our next day had been planned for a walking tour of the town Bar Harbor.<br />
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BUT,<br />
It was rainy.<br />
We were tired,<br />
Locals told us a cruise ship had docked.<br />
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We took a quiet day, walked the campground and got ready to depart.<br />
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God is Good. Even, or especially, on lazy days.<br />
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-90188089202146031842017-07-31T19:30:00.000-04:002017-07-31T19:30:04.578-04:00BAHHHH HAAABAAAAWell, not REALLY Bar Harbor but we sure did love Mt. Desert Island. Bar Harbor is the largest town on the island, but we didn't even walk round the town.<br />
<a href="http://www.acadia.ws/acadia-national-park.htm" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.acadia.ws/acadia-national-park.htm" target="_blank">Acadia National Park</a> is THE reason to visit this part of Maine and we spent three days enjoying the park and the adjoining small towns and harbors.<br />
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We stayed at Mt. Desert Narrows RV Resort. We normally shy away from any campground with "Resort" in the name because, as I've written before, we are not Glampers. We're not even "campers". We do not go to a campground to spend a weekend communing with nature at the campground. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It just isn't our idea of traveling. We use our Airstream as a home away from home and sleep and eat in it while we tour whatever is in the area we came to see. That said, we really enjoyed our stay here. We met some wonderful work campers who gave us lots of good information on local and touristy stuff.<br />
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We met them the first evening. We had gone to bed early. I got up because I thought there was a big light right outside our Airstream. I checked, because I sure was going to ask for another spot in the morning. Here is what I saw out the door -<br />
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"CAROL. GET UP AND COME OUT HERE."<br />
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After I convinced her that her Jammies were just fine we walked down to the shoreline. That is where we met two couples who were also enjoying the sunset.<br />
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Incredible sunset and wonderful new friends. what a great way to start our visit to Mt. Desert Island.<br />
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Oh, and if you want to sound like a local, "Desert" is pronounced "Dessert". No, I don't know why.<br />
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The next morning we got an early start to drive through Acadia. But not a REALLY early start. I had told Carol that an absolute "must" was sunrise from the top of Cadillac Mountain. "We can be the first people in the United States to see the sun that morning." Except sunrise at the summit would be at 4:59am with dawn breaking at 2:39am. AND we wouldn't be the first to see the sun. That only happens at certain times of the year.<br />
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So we started like civilized people, at the Nature Center around 8:30. It was a great way to start our tour of the island and the park. The Park Loop Road circles a major section of the park and offers incredible views of the ocean, the harbor and Schoodic Peninsula which is separate part of the park that is not on Mt. Desert Island.<br />
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Bald Porcupine Island<br />
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Schoodic Peninsula<br />
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A beautiful private residence.<br />
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A steep walk down to...<br />
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Sand Beach<br />
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Thunder Hole <br />
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Wildwood Stables <br />
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Lunch at the Jordan Pond House.<br />
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Carol had a lobster roll and "side" salad. <br />
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I had lobster salad.<br />
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And we splurged on their famous popovers.<br />
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A view of Jordan Pond with "North Bubble" and "South Bubble." The pond is in a glacier formed tarn and is 150' deep.<br />
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John D. Rockefeller, Jr. arranged the building of over 57 miles of carriage roads where motor vehicles are prohibited. About 45 miles are in Acadia Park. He personally supervised almost all of the construction of the road and 16 of the 17 stone faced bridges.<br />
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As tourism increased in the early 1900's, there was a great deal of pressure to open the carriage roads to motor vehicles. Rockefeller decided a better plan was to build a loop around the island for cars. He started what was to become the Loop Road in 1927 and retained Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to design much of it. It was completed in 1958 and provides a wonderful tour of the east side of the island, Cadillac Mountain, Jordan Pond and Eagle Lake.<br />
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Way too late for sunrise and way too early for sunset. But we enjoyed Cadillac Mountain and the views from the top.<br />
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Bar Island. The "sand bridge" connects it to Mt. Desert Island at low tide.<br />
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The end of a wonderful first day in Acadia National Park. AND my Senior Pass made it FREE !! If you qualify, be sure and get yours before August 28. On that date the price for a lifetime pass increases from $10. to $80. <a href="https://store.usgs.gov/sites/default/files/PassIssuanceList.pdf" target="_blank">This is a link</a> to a site that lists all locations where you can buy one in person.<br />
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-81877756446508673632017-07-05T18:37:00.000-04:002017-07-05T18:37:33.190-04:00SALEM MASSACHUSETTSOur campground for the three days in Newport was in Rochester, MA. Which most people, including those in Massachusetts, don't know exists. People kept getting incredulous looks thinking we were telling them that we'd made a day trip from Rochester, NY. which we found very funny in contrast to FINALLY being someplace in the country where people didn't ask about the witches when we said we were from Salem, VIRGINIA.<br />
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The campground was <a href="https://www.thousandtrails.com/massachusetts/gateway-to-cape-cod-rv/" target="_blank">Gateway to Cape Cod RV Park</a>. It's a Thousand Trails campground but they have spaces available to non-members AND they recognize PassportAmerica. We didn't use any of the facilities except the laundromat but everything looked well maintained and inviting. The people were very nice as well. Click on the link to see about the amenities we didn't use. They really are the best location for doing Newport, New Bedford, Plymouth and Cape Cod. Of course if you are going to only visit Newport like we did, there are lots of RV parks a lot more convenient. And we'll probably stay in one the next time we go to Newport.<br />
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It was only a two hour drive from Gateway to Tuxbury Pond RV resort, another Thousand Trails location in South Hampton, NH. But most of the two hours was on Interstate around/through Boston so we were glad it was a short drive.We only stayed two nights and again didn't use facilities but it was perfect for our visit to Salem. Shaded, quiet, off the beaten path.<br />
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<a href="http://salem.org/" target="_blank">Salem, MA</a> - Our main reason for visiting was to see <a href="http://salem.org/listing/house-of-seven-gables/" target="_blank">The House of Seven Gables</a>. Witches were secondary. Which turned out to be a good thing because, we were told, most of the "museums" weren't worth the admission fee. A long walking tour was not on the agenda because it rained most of the day. So we started with a "<a href="http://salem.org/listing/salem-trolley/" target="_blank">Red Trolley</a>" tour. We had discovered the Red Trolleys in St. Augustine, FL and got hooked. It's a great way to get an overview of the area, with local guides who without exception have been extremely knowledgeable and funny. The guide on this tour was a retired school teacher who had lived her entire adult life in Salem. AND they usually have free parking at the starting point. Not here, but we found street parking a few blocks from the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/sama/learn/historyculture/armory.htm" target="_blank">Visitor's Center</a>, which is a National Park Service facility. This is a must do first stop. They have an excellent film and the Rangers are very helpful. This was the first place we heard, "Salem has over 400 years of history. It's a shame everyone concentrates on the 15 months of the witch trials." We did learn some fascinating things about them, though. It is believed now that many of the accused were landowners or business owners and the accuser and/or the judge took possession of all of their assets after they were charged. 400 years ago, "follow the money." The more things change, the more the stay the same. One of the supposedly corrupt judges was John Hathorne. But more about him later.<br />
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We rode the Trolley for the tour and then returned on it to The House of Seven Gables.<br />
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We took the tour but photography was not allowed. It would be a fascinating old house, just for the age and details even if wasn't associated with Nathanial Hawthorne. The property included his birthplace. It was complete and close to original but it had been moved from another location. It was actually his Grandmother's house but his mother and siblings were living there at the time of his birth because his father was a Ship's Captain and was at sea, sometimes for years. I mentioned that one of the three Salem Witchcraft Judges was John Hathorne. More than 150 years later, his reputation was still so maligned that Nathaniel added the "w" to his name to distance himself from his ancestors.<br />
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The Museum Shop is in the Retire Beckett which was built c. 1655 and moved to this location in 1924.<br />
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A quick ride on the Red Trolley got us to The Salem Maritime National Historic Site. The small museum was interesting and we were there at the right time to take a short walking tour to two of the houses that are part of the Historical Area. The Ranger, again, was extremely knowledgeable. It was obvious that he was an archeology fan. Fanatic is probably a better word. We saw the Customs House where Hawthorne worked. He got the job because he was a devoted Democrat. Of course he lost it when the Whigs came to power. But later in life, when one of his best friends, Franklin Pierce was elected President Hawthorne was rewarded with the consulship in Liverpool.<br />
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We then saw the Derby House which Elias Hasket Derby built as a wedding present for his new bride, Elisabeth Crowninshield Derby in 1762. They and the children to come lived there for over 20 years. Elias had a small fleet of sailing ships which he turned in Privateers during the Revolutionary War. Many of the small cargo shippers did this and they became very rich. This was the start of the great East India trade. Please go <a href="https://salemsecretunderground.wordpress.com/2014/04/19/elias-hasket-derby-americas-first-millionaire-and-his-family/" target="_blank">here</a> for a very interesting and slightly cynical, I think, review of the Privateers and Patriots of Salem.<br />
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The rich lived different lives in the 1700's just as they did during the Gilded Age and today.<br />
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Few houses had rooms dedicated to a specific purpose. One large room might serve as dining room, parlor, and even bedroom for the kids. Furniture would be pushed back and pulled forward from the walls to meet the needed purpose.<br />
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Not These folks.<br />
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Dining Room.<br />
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Kitchen.<br />
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One of the parlors.<br />
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Beautifully carved staircase.<br />
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Master Bedroom.<br />
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The children even had their own rooms.<br />
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The girl's bedroom.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">I apologize for the stock NPS photos. Flash wasn't allowed and it was such a dreary day. BUT it stopped raining, well almost stopped during our walking tour so we really can't complain. My Dad would have described the heavy mist by saying, "It's not raining unless you move." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">A short walk through the mist took us to the Narbonne house which was built in 1675.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> After the ultra-rich in Newport and the very very rich in Salem, it was very interesting to contrast those with this home of a butcher, and later a "Cent Shop" selling fabric, lace, trim etc. The original house had one room downstairs and one up, a shallow root cellar and an attic. Later owners added a small addition. The significance of this middle class home is that the same family lived in it from 1780 until the National Park Service bought it in 1963. Sarah Narbonne was born there in 1794 and lived there until her death in 1895, when it was inherited by her nephew.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Also, the trash pit behind the house has been an absolute treasure trove of artifacts. Many are on display inside the house and this is where our NPS guide really beamed. </span></span><br />
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This is the original downstairs room, called a "hall" with displays of the finds from the dig.<br />
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This is the room directly above the hall.<br />
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This shows the post and beam construction of the original 1675 structure.<br />
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After a full day of sightseeing we were ready to break our regular "post heart attack diet". Turner's Seafood was recommended by several people. And rightly so. It was a wonderful experience. 5 stars from the ambience, to the wait staff, to the presentation, preparation and TASTE of the food.</div>
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We started with Crab Pot Stickers. </div>
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Carol ordered her new favorite - Lobster Bisque. Lobster had never been a top choice. Turns out she just didn't like all the work involved in getting it out of the shell. Her opinion has changed, drastically, since she learned that with bisque, the Chef does all the work and then mixes the lump meat into a pot of butter and heavy cream.<br />
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It looks solid in this picture because it almost was. The spoon would easily stand up in it.<br />
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I had the Portuguese Fish Stew. It wasn't as rich as Carol's Bisque but it was delicious.<br />
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Carol's Chocolate Lava Cake. Warm brownie, Ice Cream, Hot Fudge and LOTS of Whipped Cream. <br />
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I had the Pecan Chocolate Chocolate Mousse. No way to describe it adequately.<br />
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After a short drive back to Tuxbury Pond, we collapsed in a sugar coma and planned for our drive to Bar Harbor.</div>
Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-25967639315027605372017-06-24T19:44:00.003-04:002017-06-24T19:44:39.251-04:00THIRD AND LAST DAY IN NEWPORT - FOR THIS TRIP AT LEAST.We chose to visit the <a href="http://www.newportmansions.org/learn/architecture/aspects-of-architecture-design/isaac-bell-house" target="_blank">Isaac Bell House</a> and had another major in-between. Everything that the Preservation Society of Newport had shown us up to this point was extremely well organized, easy to tour and just all around "well done."<br />
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BUT - the last three houses we wanted to see did not have audio tours. They had scheduled tours with docents. They were all about one hour tours and they all started every hour ON THE HOUR. So if you saw one at 10:00am, you wouldn't get out in time to walk the short distance to the next one to be there by 11:00. Cool you heels for an hour doing "something". We asked "Why not have one "on the hour" and one "on the half hour." ? Everybody said, "Please tell management that. we hear it every day."<br />
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By the time we found parking, we got to the Bell House at 5 minutes after 10. The receptionist said, "Welcome. The next tour is at 11." And that was when she explained that we couldn't do any of the others on that block either.<br />
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Tinkerbell Jerusalem In-Between. A docent came into the office and said, "Hi. Are you here to take a tour." Receptionist said, "Yes. I just explained to them that the next tour is at 11." The wonderful docent said, "Oh, I always give an extra 10 minutes for late comers and since they're the only ones for 10 o'clock I'll just take them now,"<br />
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YEAH. But, as usual, it gets better. The house was designed by Stanford White, the most famous architect of the late 1800's. I believe it is safe to say that this docent had a school girl crush on Stanford White. When I told her that I had owned a house in Salem, VA that was attributed to White, we became her favorite tourists of the year. The "hour" tour ended up being over an hour and a half.<br />
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This was Carol's favorite house of the entire group. Not anything like the opulence and extravagance of the others. But it felt like a home. When we told the docent that she said, "This is what normal rich people lived like during this time." Mr. Bell gave White free rein do "do his thing" and the result is one of the finest examples of the Shingle Style in the country.<br />
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Pictures inside were a challenge because there was little light and flash was not allowed. But Carol got several worth sharing.<br />
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White was inspired by everything from the Arts and Crafts movement to Japanese influence.<br />
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The few of my readers who were ever in my Main Street will see the similarities to this room and my living room and hall. From the Newport Preservation website - "Oversize doorways connect the living hall to the other rooms, allowing
the first floor to function in two ways: as individual rooms or as one
large entertaining space. This idea of free-flowing interior space,
taken from Japanese architecture, was revolutionary for America in 1883.<br />
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All of the "windows" you see here are actually doors to allow on to enjoy the ocean breezes.<br />
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Two of the upstairs bedrooms.<br />
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One of the kid's rooms.<br />
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More incredible woodwork.<br />
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This was one of the earliest and most interesting of the McKim, Mead and White residents. It influenced American architecture for decades.<br />
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Our second house was <a href="http://www.newportmansions.org/explore/chepstow" target="_blank">Chepstow. </a><br />
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It was named by the second owner, Mrs. Emily Morris Gallatin in commemoration of her family's Welsh origin and their role in the English civil war in 1648 brothers Lewis, William and Richard Morris, officers in Cromwell's Parliamentary Army took part in the siege of Chepstow Castle. History has it that Lewis ordered the burning of the castle after which it surrendered. In 1660, with the restoration of the monarchy, the brothers deemed it wise to not remain in England and after a stay in Barbados, emigrated to New Amsterdam. The Morris family was very influential in colonial and Revolutionary times. <br />
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Although is was an early "cottage", built in 1860, its fascination to us was that it was lived in by the second owner, <span id="ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_MainContent_MainContent_LeftContent_MansionDescription"><span id="ctl00_cphBody_lblDescription"> Mrs. Gallatin and her husband until the house and all its contents were bequeathed to the Preservation Society in 1986. They purchased the house in 1911 and their original furnishings are there. But so is a black and white TV. It was most interesting to see all of the "stuff" Mrs. Morris Gallatin collected over 70 years.</span></span><br />
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Like the Bell house, this was a home, not just a theatrical showpiece. This elegant yet simple staircase is the perfect example.<br />
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"Clutter" or "full of memories". It's all in the eye of the beholder. Mrs. Gallatin was a talented artist and all of the needlepoint decorations and furniture cushions are her work. Click on the pictures to see more detail.<br />
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What a time capsule. Again, all of the furniture in this room is upholstered in needlepoint created by Mrs. Gallatin.<br />
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Here's that TV set. Along with more needlepoint upholstery.<br />
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This tour didn't run quite as long as anticipated so, in spite of the Society's best efforts, we were able to see the three houses back to back.<br />
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Last on our list was Kingscote. Considered the very best example of the Gothic Revival style house still standing in America. Although it is a wooden house, it was painted with gray paint with sand mixed in to give it the appearance of stone.<br />
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This was the first of the outrageously opulent "cottages" in Newport, built in 1839 by George Noble Jones, a wealthy Florida plantation owner. Although his plantations (yes, he had TWO ) were in FL, he lived in Savannah in the winter and Newport in the summer. At the start of the Civil War, he left RI and never returned. The house was sold to in 1864 to the King family, whose wealth came from the China Trade.<br />
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Like Chepstow, the house was occupied for a very long time by one family. William Henry King's descendants lived in the house until 1972 when they donated it to the Preservation Society, along with most of its contents circa 1880. In 1880 the house was enlarged by, here he is again, Stanford White.<br />
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Entrance Hall. <br />
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Tiffany windows.<br />
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Dining Room designed by Stanford White. Suspended cork ceiling, intricate woodwork and Tiffany opalescent glass bricks - the first time glass bricks were used in an American residence.<br />
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"Compromise" in White's usual fascination with open floor plans. This beautiful wooden screen dining room wall is easily removed to open hall and opposite room to the dining room.<br />
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Sitting Room with marble fireplace and huge bay window behind the curtain.<br />
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Master Bedroom <br />
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Playroom<br />
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Carol always proofreads my posts. I remembered this being a library. She reminded me that it was just a corner of a staircase landing. A large landing.<br />
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After a late picnic lunch at<a href="http://fortadams.org/discover-the-fortress/" target="_blank"> Ft. Adams Park</a> we toured the Fort.<br />
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And so we finish our tour of Newport. Except we haven't. There are
several more houses that are not part of the Preservation Society of
Newport County. We must move on as we have reservations at campgrounds waiting but we will return on another trip. There is so much more to see and do.<br />
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Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-12322542112547569822017-06-21T11:18:00.001-04:002017-06-21T11:18:49.498-04:00OUR SECOND DAY IN NEWPORT, RIRosecliff - Oh Dear, NEW money is invading Newport, whatever shall we do ?<br />
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Commissioned by Nevada silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs in 1899,
architect Stanford White modeled Rosecliff after the Grand Trianon, the
garden retreat of French kings at Versailles. After the house was
completed in 1902, at a reported cost of $2.5 million, Mrs. Oelrichs
hosted fabulous entertainments here, including a fairy tale dinner and a
party featuring famed magician Harry Houdini. </span><br />
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<span id="ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_MainContent_MainContent_LeftContent_MansionDescription">I don't know how the Vanderbilts responded, but the "new money" showed it could spend lavishly too.</span><br />
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The ladies would arrive and go straight upstairs to leave their wraps and "freshen up" so they could make a grand entrance down this staircase. The steps are not nearly as high as usual so they would have no trouble with their long gowns.<br />
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Looking from the foot of the stairs toward the front door.<br />
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Fireplace in sitting room.<br />
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Ceiling detail.<br />
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The 40' by 80' Ballroom. Seen in "The Great Gatsby", "True Lies" and "27 Dresses".<br />
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Another spectacular fireplace, this time in the Dining Room.<br />
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Outside is well decorated as well.<br />
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The Mistress's Bedroom.<br />
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The lawn goes all the way to the Cliff Walk.<br />
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And when you walk down there, you look back at this.<br />
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<span id="ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_MainContent_MainContent_LeftContent_MansionDescription">The house stayed in the family until 1941. Eventually it was purchased by </span>Mr & Mrs J. Edgar Monroe of New Orleans in 1947. In 1971 they donated the house, all its furnishings and a $2,000,000 maintenance endowment to the Preservation Society of Newport County. <br />
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We continued to The Elms, the most magnificent "cottage" not built by a Vanderbilt. But the money came from the Vanderbilts.<br />
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<span id="ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_MainContent_MainContent_LeftContent_MansionDescription">Mr. and Mrs. Edward Julius Berwind weren't even New Yorkers. They were from Philadelphia. He had made his fortune in the coal mining business. His primary customer was Commodore Vanderbilt and his railroads.</span><br />
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<span id="ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_MainContent_MainContent_LeftContent_MansionDescription">The house was completed in 1901 at a cost of $1,400,000.00 . The interiors were designed and built in France, dismantled, shipped, and reassembled in Newport.</span><br />
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<span id="ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_MainContent_MainContent_LeftContent_MansionDescription">Main Stairway.</span><br />
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Entry Hall. <br />
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Tapestry in the Entry Hall.<br />
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Ladies Parlor. <br />
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Ceiling in Ladies Parlor.<br />
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Ballroom. <br />
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Dining Room.<br />
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Linen Closet. <br />
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Upstairs part of the two story Butler's Pantry. The cabinets hold several sets of Chinese porcelain dishes.<br />
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Kitchen. <br />
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The brochure says the self guided tour is an hour to an hour and a half long. BUT if you have extra time, there is additional information available on the CD. We listened to all of it AND took a separate tour, "Servant Life Tour" so we spent over three hours here.<br />
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The third house was the <a href="http://www.newportmansions.org/explore/hunter-house" target="_blank">Hunter House</a>. This is not one of the grand cottages, but a merchant's home built more than 100 years before the cottages. The earliest part of the house was built between 1748 and 1754. Additions and changes were made by the second owner, starting in 1756. Both of the first two owners were deputy governors of the colony. It was the only house in which we were not allowed to take pictures. The house was lit with period lighting so flash would have been necessary because the house is quite dark.<br />
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The furnishings are from the period of the second owner, including incredible <span id="ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_MainContent_MainContent_LeftContent_MansionDescription">Townsend-Goddard family furniture and a portrait by Gilbert Stuart.</span><br />
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<span id="ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_MainContent_MainContent_LeftContent_MansionDescription">This is the only house of the Preservation Society group that does not have parking. Our Big Red Truck was already feeling claustrophobic on the narrow colonial streets in this section of town. And we could not find a parking place. Street parking was placarded for residents only. So I parked directly in front of the house while Carol went in to ask. And she was told, "Right where you are is fine, resident parking doesn't start until 6pm."</span><br />
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<span id="ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_MainContent_MainContent_LeftContent_MansionDescription">Back to the Airstream, rest and return tomorrow.</span><br />
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<span id="ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_MainContent_MainContent_LeftContent_MansionDescription"><br /></span>Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-81246426509107837202017-06-18T15:40:00.001-04:002017-06-18T15:40:51.539-04:00BENJAMIN'S AND THE CLIFF WALK.All of the house tours at Newport close at 5:00 pm. A kind lady at the Marble House gift shop told us about Benjamin's. Yes, a tourist restaurant but also loved by the locals as well . Parking with the "Big Red Truck" is always a challenge but we found a pay lot and confirmed with another local that Benjamin's would not disappoint although he was going to Busker's for some Guinness.<br />
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Guinness, or alcohol in general isn't normally on our new "post heart attack" lifestyle but the Margarita's at Benjamin's really called out to us. And they were delicious. It had already been a long day and we'd missed lunch so we kinda overdid the food ordering. Carol ordered a salad, fish tacos off the appetizer menu and lobster bisque. I ordered a combo plate with Cajun shrimp skewers and Pork Belly. The fish tacos appetizer would have made a large entree. Carol thoroughly enjoyed the fish and mango salsa without touching the tortillas. She also loved her bisque. Don't know what there's not to love. Minimum herbs, fresh lobster, cream, butter. My was also wonderful. We stuffed ourselves and took half of my shrimp and pork belly and Carol's entire salad back to the Airstream.<br />
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We needed to walk at least a few of the calories off and Newport offers the perfect place.<br />
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<a href="http://www.cliffwalk.com/" target="_blank">"Cliff Walk"</a>.<br />
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The rich folks tried to extend their property rights to the water and prevent common folks from walking along the cliffs. Local fishermen protested, went to court and won access. It is now a designated National Recreation Trail. A fence keeps people from walking onto private property at The Breakers. But at least the owners allow a wonderful view of their cottage. Most of the others have high hedges or clumps of brambles to hide their homes.<br />
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After the drive back to the RV Park, we called it a day. But we'll be back tomorrow.<br />
<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-76075213922340065092017-06-18T14:24:00.002-04:002017-06-18T15:19:59.012-04:00CHATEAU SUR MERI am posting in the order in which we saw the cottages, not in the order in which they were built. The first two were built by two Vanderbilt brothers in the late 1800's and defined the Gilded Age. But this one, "house by the sea" preceded them by several decades. It was built in 1852 and remodeled by the son of the original owner in the 1870's. It set the bar for opulence and beauty until the Vanderbilts came along.<br />
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The Entrance Hall.<br />
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Details of inlaid flooring - most of which they cover up with rugs.<br />
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The Music Room. In 1857 a party was held - for over 2000 guests.<br />
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Dining Room.<br />
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Details UNDER the stairs.<br />
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The side and back view.<br />
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That ended out first day of touring houses at Newport and totally changed our plans for the next two days. But the day is still young.</div>
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<br />Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4645680594026958452.post-26857005603290085342017-06-09T18:05:00.001-04:002017-06-09T18:05:34.089-04:00MARBLE HOUSEMarble House was the summer home of William and Alva Vanderbilt. It was built between 1888 and 1892. Alva was quite the lover of mythology and the Greek and Roman styles of architecture.<br />
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The house was a birthday present from William to Alva but if she was thrilled, it wore off quickly. She divorced him in 1895, remarried and moved down the street to <a href="http://www.belcourt.com/" target="_blank">Belcourt Castle</a>. But she moved back into Marble House after her second husband died.<br />
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The bronze front doors. Each door weighs 1 1/2 tons. At the time considered the most important metalwork manufactured in this country. <br />
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The entry hall. </div>
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This has been called, "the fanciest dining room in America". Mrs. Vanderbilt greatly admired King Louis XIV and there are two portraits of him in this room. The walls are pink Numidian marble from Africa, which had not been used since ancient times. The Vanderbilts has the quarry reopened.</div>
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As I wrote in the last post, the gold in here and the other rooms is not paint. It is all gold leaf.<br />
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The library.<br />
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The Gothic Room.<br />
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I've discussed decorating with gold leaf. But if you're a Vanderbilt, why just decorate ? Why not make an entire room of gold ? Like this -<br />
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The Gold Room.<br />
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After she moved back into the house, the owner decided she wanted, ".... a summer house on this point, but not the usual thing...". So she designed and had built a Chinese Tea House.<br />
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In the next post we'll visit the Chateau-su-mer.<br />
Tom Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08479489790170406493noreply@blogger.com0