Another Memorable Vacation Press

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GENERAL COMMENTS:

This 2 ½ week trip was most enjoyable, and will long remain in our memories. We set out somewhataimlessly - without an itinerary - on a drive through the mountains. This we enjoyed immensely, but dis-covered so very much more. People were warm and friendly; the food is quite interesting; and culturalevents are very well supported indeed. Our weather was pleasant and temperate, but the timing of thetrip was wrong in one respect: the last two weeks of August do not have any musical or theatrical per-formances. Theatres are between seasons; and summer music festivals often rely on University MusicSchools to provide their musicians. The last weeks of summer are a house-moving period - everyone is preparing for the new semester!

Each area we visited was interesting and we could have easily enjoyed another few days there.

The special places where we would like to spend much more time were:

Philadelphia - a strangely unheralded City from the visitor‘s perspective! There are many interesting

and important historical sites, their cultural activities are among the best in the world and the ‗new‘ cityappears to be vibrant and beautiful.

Asheville N.C. and Sevier County, Tenn. - a wonderful playground; the Smoky Mountains are beauti-ful and the people so very friendly.

Dayton, Ohio - The Aerospace Museum is a must, whether or not you are particularly interested in air-craft or space. This facility will intrigue you for two days and admission is free of charge.

There has been much press lately about the USA and its economic, political, and social problems. How-ever, on this trip the downturn in the economy was not overly evident to us - though there were poor

areas very close to the centre of Cincinnati. Also, Detroit seemed rather dead for a large city, even on aSunday. On further reflection, we could not recall seeing evidence of new construction, except for one building in the newer part of Philadelphia.

The dichotomy in people‘s thinking was interesting - Karen‘s cousin Bob Fitzgerald who cries when hesays that America is killing itself through wars - vs. Missionary Dan Handley in the south who seemsrather sanguine about armed conflicts. He predicts that wars will continue for as long as there is a Mid-dle East problem, and says that this problem will never end.

When one drives down, say, 300 miles south into the USA, the media culture is completely different.Usually Karen does not much like to keep the radio on while driving. But this time we often listened to

the news, some music, or talk shows, just to get a sense of the area, the type of life people live, and tohave a ‗window‘ into their thinking. And for sure, in the South, whether it‘s day or night, you will hear a preacher or a church service on every 2nd or 3rd station.

Apologies — this journal is much longer than we had planned, but now we regret we did not write

one for all our trips - to China, the Rockies with the Welsh Male Chorus, Ukraine and WesternEurope; and even Carnegie Hall. They were all WONDERFUL experiences!!

Karen says she is now completely game for another road journey anytime. I think I‘d like to rest for a

few months.

For now it‟s back to music for both of us!



Another memorable vacation!

A brief chronicle of our long-awaited summer trip in August of 2011 - through 11

states of the USA. Some pictures are included & we hope you will find it entertain-

ing! Terry and Karen

On the late morning of Thursday, August 11 we set out from To-ronto toward New York State‘s Finger Lakes. We planned to stop

in a town close to Corning, NY, to spend the night, and visit theCorning Glass Corporation early next day. As 6 o‘clock PM was

nearing, we started to look for a motel and soon came upon a roadsign advertising room in a railroad Caboose car. We thought thismight be a new experience and turned off the road to find it.The ‗motel‘ was in Avoca, NY near Watkins Glen. Our railway car

was resting on an abandoned track within about 50 feet of the rem-nants of an old barn, which had an underground tunnel. This wasactually! part of the ‗Underground Railroad‘, the smuggling systemfor black slaves who were running away to the north to find jobsand freedom.

Caboose Motel

in Avoca NY

The next day we toured the Corning Glass Works. Terry had beenin Corning 55 years ago just when their virtually indestructiblekitchen-ware was very popular. It is much larger now and their mu-seum of glass history is stunning. Items from hundreds of years agoand from all parts of the world are on display. (Our visit took a good2 hours.)Their cafeteria is also immense, seating about 500 people. Followinglunch we watched a display of artistic glass (vase) making, and vis-

ited the souvenir shop. The original Corningware kitchen pieces arestill sold there, but the shop is now perhaps as big as four basketballcourts. Most of the very beautiful larger glassware is made by arti-sans from the area and sold on consignment, but there is also ItalianMoreno glass, and some cheaper but interesting souvenirs fromChina.Corning now seems to be producing mostly industrial glass and muchless kitchenware - but is also in the tourist business. The parking lotis enormous and visitors are both buying and eating!

Glass sculpture - “The World ‖

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“Wedding Dress”

Venetian Glass „Prow‟

Glass Art Vases



We had been warned that Friday and the following days would be hectic on the roadas the NASCAR race was being held that week-end. We thus decided to veer off our track a few miles - - see the Watkins Glen track and still get to Ithaca, NY by nightfall. This attempt failed, as we could not even get to the town of Watkins Glen -never mind the race track! We proceeded to Ithaca.

This gracious town is adorned by its beautiful campus - Cornell University. All of Cornell‘s buildings are along the top of the hills, amid tall trees and all are of a

creamy colored limestone. Each building is different, yet architecturally complemen-tary; and enrollment is about 30,000. The University even has its own Art Galleryand a Stadtler Hotel for hotel management studies. There were two room prices for anight – $295 and $525 beans! In Ithaca we found a local summer festival on LakeCayuga, one of the Finger Lakes, and enjoyed a concert there by a series of entertain-ers- including the Three Burns Sisters, a folk/western group. We enjoyed conversingwith the local people, as well as some of the vendors who were selling food and ar-tisanal creations.

As it turned out, this was the closest thing to a ‗Summer Stock‘ concert we could find

- from August 15 to the first week in September all festivals end, to allow the musi-

cians to have a break, and get ready for their fall seasons, or terms at universities.

Cornell University

IthacaCayumer F

She lodance

She mfestiv

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On Sunday the 14, we drove to Philadelphia -staying right in the centre of town at an olhotel which is in the Rodeway Inn chain. The original and famous Walnut Street Theatrewas in the next block and we were actually able to walk to all our points of Interest with-out taking the car out of the parking garage. This city teems with American history - Ind pendence Square, the Liberty Bell and the first, and at one time largest US publishing em pire owned by the Curtis Family. The Curtis office tower entrances are spectacular – ovea hundred years old, but as beautiful as that of any modern building.

Karen and I visited the Academy of Music, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts,

and the Curtis Institute of Music - perhaps the oldest and most revered School of Music i

America. We walked along the famous Arch Street on which stand 300 yr old houses- al

attached, about 14 ft. wide, and with people still living in them. The Philadelphia Museu

of Art is situated in the new city at the end of one of the most impressive and interesting

avenues in the country – designed to resemble the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Art Deco FountainCurtis Building

Liberty Bell

Arch Street

“ NOTHING happened here in 1897!!”

….That‟s what they said….



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On Tuesday, the 16 th

we drove about 100 miles to see Karen‘s

cousin Bob Fitzgerald near Galena, Maryland. This area is on theMouth of the Susquehanna River where it empties into Chesa-peake Bay. Bob is a former Aerospace Engineer, originally fromConnecticut, who took to sailing after retirement. He has a sleek

looking 42 ft. sailboat which he sailed across the Atlantic Oceanand then through most of the inland waters of Europe. Bob,daughter Mary Laura and her partner Jim invited us to the boatwhere his son Ted met us as well; and we enjoyed a salmon din-ner and wonderful, stimulating conversation.

Bob is, as expected, an interested and interesting crusty fellowand has strong opinions on many matters. During his descriptionof his adventures, he said that he was ready to undertake someaerospace research for the American government when 9/11 hap-pened and the ‗son of a bitch‘ Bush put us into war! He broke

down into tears while saying it, feeling that this was the most se-rious mistake America has ever made. He has been a lifetimerepublican supporter.

For the night Ted took us to his house, which is a few miles into

farming country. We met his lovely fiancée Laragh and con-

versed even later into the night.

Captain Bob with FiMate, daughter MarLaura on the TalismBob rebuilt the Talisman and sailed her tEngland in 1990. Afmany years of Europsailing, Talisman washipped back in 200(at a cost of $13,50

Ted‘s home in Kennedyville— a rebuilt farm-house! The kitchen cupboards are solid cherrymachined by Bob from local cherry trees.

On Wednesday, the 17 th

we drove and stopped for the night at Cum-

berland, MD. on the way to Charleston West Virginia. This place is in

the highest of the Alleghenies and just past the so- called ‗GAP‘

through the mountains which became the gateway to the west via the

Potomac railroad. There are a hundred churches here and at night you

can see a skyline of steeples lit in different colors too. Here the accents

change dramatically to a more twangy sound. George Washington

came here with his army to do battle with the southern resistance to

unification into the union and his house is now a museum site near by.

The people survive in these hills on logging, coal mining and moon-

shine distilling. A memorable moment here was when we went into

the fruit market/supermarket. As we walked around we both noticed

that more than half of the food display counters were stocked with

various candy. I have never seen so many 300 lb. women at one time in

any crowd. Nobody was really fit and trim.

“The Gap” -Gateway to the West.

Spires of Cumberland, MD

(lower right )



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On Thursday the 18th

we arrived in Charleston, We st Virginia. ‗Almost

Heaven‖ is on their license plates. The other John Denver phrase,

Mountain Mama‘, I think is also a very fitting description for Charleston,

s it nestles among so many mountain ranges. For Southern hospitality we

went to a street festival in the evening, and among other nice things to eat,

here was a dessert of - get this - batter-dipped and deep-fried Oreo cookies.We passed up the deep-fried pickles!) Both of us then danced the evening

way with two well-known performing groups - great fun! Again one-third

f the women were over 300 lbs and it was a good thing they didn‘t dance.

Comment: Karen says: ―this is sexist - you were not looking at all the 300

ound men! ) There were quite a few of those as well; one could buy 8X

men‘s shirts at their store. And we are two ‗pots calling kettles black‘…‖

On Friday, we visited the State Capital, went through both houses, talked to

many people - who are just the most friendly, and learned that the Secretary

f State‘s primary responsibility is preparing for the next election!

Capitol Building , West Virginia.

The dome is 24 carat gold leaf.

View of the river and the University

The TRICKY FISH Restaurant

Downtown CharlestonOur favourite — deep fried Oreos! End-of-summer street festival -

South Charleston

On Saturday the 20th we moved back eastward to Winston Salem, N.C. - in the middle of the Bible Belt.Karen‘s former schoolmate Neva - from McGill University days – had invited us to stay for a couple of days.The evening was dedicated to greeting and meeting and getting to know one another. Neva and Dan met inJerusalem while taking Judeo-Christian studies. They married, had 4 kids and went to Bolivia for 5 yearswhere Dan was a bush pilot supplying food to hard to reach places where there were no roads. This was all part of their Missionary work.After returning to America, Dan was an aircraft mechanic until the economy faltered in 2008. Now he is amail carrier working 6 days a week. Neva is the Organist in the chapel of the large hospital where she alsoadministers the Chaplaincy program.We were invited to two services on Sunday AM. The first was in the large Hospital chapel at 10:00 AM,where Neva played its pipe organ. The second, at 11:00 was in the very large Centenary Methodist church,with 850 members attending that morning. Although the church is built in the shape of a cross, there were noIcons of any kind inside, but beautiful stained glass. All parishioners were properly dressed, the men – South-ern gentlemen - in shirt and tie, and women in dresses. Nobody looked overweight. It was a different world!!

In the afternoon we toured the historic city of Salem- but not the Salem where the famous trials were heldand ‗witches‗ burned, which is in Massachusetts.



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(Winston-Salem)

In the mid 1700‘s, the city was largely populated by German Moravians

who immigrated to avoid persecution by the Lutherans in their homeland.Most of them at first went to Pennsylvania, and later resettled in Salem.

Among all the institutions they established in the later 1700‘s was the

first university for women in the USA, Salem College. While we werestrolling the street, young ladies (none overweight!!- {Karen}) were allmoving into their residences for the fall semester.

There are no more cigarette factories in the city, but you can still buy both‗Winston‘s and ‗Salem‘s wherever tobacco is sold. We found that life isrelatively inexpensive here; a three bedroom older home can sell for un-

der $130,000. On Sunday, when we invited our hosts and another guest todinner at a finely- appointed Italian restaurant, dinner with wine for 5 of us totaled $110 - including tip!

Dan and Neva hope to go back to live in Israel after retiring. They were

inspired by the Holy Lands, by ―walking where Jesus walked‖, and they

love the oasis the Israelis have developed there. Would that all its inhabi-

tants had been able to do so!

Old Salem

Moravian Cemetery., Old Salem

Dan & Neva Handley & Terry

First Women‟s College in US

1772

Monday, the 22nd

:

By early afternoon we were back on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville N.C. This very pretty town is nearlyat the western end of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where the Smokys begin.Asheville has a population of 75,000 now, but there are over 90 hotels with over 25,000 rooms. It is a very largeconvention centre of the USA. In addition to its beautiful location, there are two other outstanding reasons tovisit.Mount Mitchell, just outside the city is a thrilling, and sometimes blood-curdling, drive to an elevation of 6684ft. From there you can see several mountain chains from 5 different states, and perhaps more than a hundredmiles in all directions.

Walnut Lookout — Mount Mitchell

Elevation 2915 feet And further up….. The TOP! 6,684 Feet!



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The other is the Biltmore House and Estate. Cornelius Vanderbilt mahis money first in Shipping, and then founded the New York CentRailroad. His son George then decided to put the money to use, and dveloped this property as a retreat. The Estate sits on 8000 acres and tHouse is modeled after French Chateaux. It is a rambling structure w

some 40 bathrooms. Gloria Vanderbilt, who would have been a gregrand niece did not apparently live there, though she must have bevery familiar with it. (Perhaps Anderson Cooper, her son, is as well!)

The Estate is now privately operated as a tourist attraction by Willia

Cecil, a great grandson of Biltmore and entry costs well over $50.

(with a substantial discount for seniors). There are the usual souven

stores, very fine restaurants and a large wine store selling expensi

wines from the estate‘s vineyards. It is easy to spend a full day her

One can tour the many miles of gardens and research-oriented fores

there is also horse riding, animal petting, and fishing in natural streamor ponds. Nearby is a 240 room Hotel with large conference faciliti

built with similar stone to the House.

Biltmore

Estate :

The GateHouse.

There are 8000acres of land onthe estate. Theentrance has,among other exotic trees, aBamboo Forest.

Biltmore House

Almost heaven:

Fishing from a

canoe on the

Biltmore Estate

Wednesday the 24 th , in the late PM after the Biltmore tour, we set out westward through the Smoky Mountain

We were headed toward Knoxville Tenn. on beautiful but winding mountain roads. Literally hundreds of transpotrucks, obliged to drive on the right, forced all passenger cars to squeeze by in the left lane for what seemed lihours! Finally coming out of the mountains, we stopped at a Visitors‘ Bureau but were advised that there w

nothing to see in Knoxville - that the old US Mint Museum had been closed down. The young girl ‗manning‘ t

desk said emphatically: ―everything is just down the road – right here!‖ So after some discussion, we decided stay right next door in a motel.

We found ourselves in a small town called Sevierville, Tenn. (pronounced ‗severe‘), the first of a series of co

joined towns which indeed did have all the tourist action! Beside us was Pigeon Forge, then Gatlinburg – t‗entrance to the Smokies‘ and further along, Dolly Parton‘s Dollywood. Along the road there were countless h

tels - many more than in Asheville - interspersed by theatres, antique stores, restaurants, and thrill rides; a tourthe Titanic Replica, an upside-down Waterworld and many other ‗oddball‘ attractions. This went on for somethilike 20 miles. In the first 10, we also noted at least 20 dinner theatre performances.



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Our show of choice (as we had already eaten a rather generous lunch)was the ‗Comedy Barn‘ and was most enjoyable and high-spirited. -combining music, comedy skits, and even performing dogs. The showsthat are not completely music, seem to be mostly hillbilly or westernfare - eg. - -‗The Hatfields and McCoys‖ drama.

This is a huge vacation playground. One lady told us that they havebeen spending their 2 weeks of vacation here for something like 10

years, and plan to spend 3 or 4 weeks from now on. This sounds com-

parable to a Florida vacation, and is something we may also consider. General store —“Jesus saves”

On Friday morning the 26th we were ‗on the road again‘ through Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio, to Dayton. Twas one of our longest drives in one day - - 5 or more hours. We also left the highway in Cincinnati to get acquainwith the city a little.Saturday, the 27th - The Dayton Ohio Aerospace Museum is the world‘s largest and most complete. We had s

the Trenton, Ontario museum and Washington‘s Smithsonian and were not too eager to see another Aeronautics Mseum. However, as we proceeded through, it quickly became obvious that this one was far beyond anyone‘s imag

ing. We saw less than 1/3 of it in 5 hours. It was hard to leave with so much unseen and unread, but we had decidto be back home on Sunday.This Museum is unique in that it is presented in separate time periods: the start of aviation by the Wright brothethrough World Wars I and II, and up to and including the present; and also the complete Space programs from beginning. The biggest surprise to us was that it includes all countries of the world and their planes, and the descrtions on the tablets comment on the good and the bad of each plane, and how it met or failed in their design objetive. This, unbelievably, includes every nation‘s aircraft. They show life sized photos of fighter pilot Aces of US, German, Japanese, and other countries and their individsuccesses in wars.

The Air Force Museum is definitely a two day visiting project, and I would say worth a special trip for South OntaCanadians.

We left after 4 o‘clock, with the objective of reaching Toledo or Detroit.

Variety at “The Comedy Barn”: Performing Dogs Elvis Lives!

Lexington

Kentucky:

Racehorse farm

Cincinnati

The Music H

(Classical m

sic venue)

For one person



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From the US Air Force Museum.. Missiles - US Air Force Museum

Sunday Aug. 28th , we spent in Detroit and of course, this was (finally!) Karen‘s time for Macy‘s.!

Afterward we drove around the centre of the city of Detroit, but though it was beautiful and interest-

ing – with an elevated public transit train track and many historic buildings- we did not step out of

the car, as on Sunday everything was closed. We did find Detroit‘s Music Hall, the Ford Baseball

Stadium, and the Art Centre; and by 4 PM were in the tunnel heading home.

Detroit Opera House Detroit Skyline — with elevated passenger rail

On Canadian soil at last!Farm in Leamington.

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