Saturday, October 18, 2014

Trip to Kansas City - October 2014

I had planned this trip a couple of months ago to visit my Mom and my sisters Anola (and Peter), Mary, and Louisa.  Given Mom's age it was simply a family visit trip.  However, I arrived the day the Royals beat Baltimore for the fourth straight game and claimed the American League Pennant.  In fact, I was able to watch the last inning with Mom.  She is a life long Royals fan--given her age of 102, that refers to the life of the Royals, not her!

Needless to say, Kansas City is going crazy with celebrations and appreciation for this remarkable team.  Through my son, Brendan, I know the core of the front office including GM Dayton Moore and Director of Player Development, JJ Picollo.  It makes the success even sweeter to know that it has come from hard and smart work by some really good guys.

The day after the win, I along with thousands of others flocked to Dick's to get Royals gear.  I am proudly wearing it back to Rochester for the World Series.  I have had a Royals cap for some time and wore that out here.

An extra treat was the arrival of one of my sons, Sean, who stopped by on his way back to the Bay Area from a week-long work engagement.  Although he has lived in the San Francisco area for almost 20 years, he remains a Royals fan and so picked up some shirts for Julie and their son, Sam.  Probably not a lot of Royals gear available in the Bay Area...yet.

Kansas City has more than 200 public fountains.  The Kansas City Parks Department is responsible for 48 of these.  From now until the last game of the World Series, eight of these are spouting Royal blue water, courtesy of the Royals Baseball Club.  (Read more here.)  I hadn't planned on taking a lot of photos this trip and only brought my small Lumix camera with me,  However, I knew that I had to get photos of all eight.

The iconic J. C. Nichols Fountain on the Country Club Plaza
I ended up getting four of them along with some pretty dramatic shots of Union Station at night with blue illumination.  You can see these photos by clicking here to the Picasa album for the trip.

Unfortunately that is as far as I got because I was involved in an auto accident as I going through downtown to get to the next fountain.  No one was injured thankfully and the driver who failed to obey a stop sign received a citation but my rental car was not driveable and I spent the entire afternoon getting the police report, replacing the rental car and then reporting to my insurance company.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Vermont and Hudson Valley: Headed Home

The salon where the Vanderbilts and their guests would gather for after dinner concerts and conversations
We are actually back home but I thought I would get a brief letter out about our final two days.  On Friday late in the afternoon, we headed north to Albany.  On the way, we just had to stop and tour the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, just outside Hyde Park.  The photo above is the salon where guests gathered for piano concerts and conversation.  This home was built by Frederick Vanderbilt who holds the distinction of being the only member of his eight siblings to have died with more money than we received from his parents.  The others were experts at spending the family fortune--Biltmore in North Carolina--is a prime example while Frederick actually engaged in business and finance.  Nonetheless he was also trying to break into New York society controlled by the Astors.  The Vanderbilts were the nouveau riche trying to make it impossible for the "old money" to ignore them.  This country house is a prime example of the life style of the Gilded Age that came to a close with the Great War.
Hudson River and the Catskills in the distance.
The estate is probably one of the oldest continuously cultivated landscape in North America.  The views of the Hudson are spectacular.  This is worth a visit rather than a drive by.

Click here to see the photo album of the Vanderbilt Mansion.

Just before we crossed the Hudson River on the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, we drove up the east bluff and saw the exterior of Olana, the the exotic home and galleries of Frederic Edwin Church.  This property is now a State Historic Site.  It was closed by the time we arrived but the exterior was dynamic in the later afternoon light.

We continued on to Albany where we had booked a room in a downtown B and B:  The Morgan State House Inn.  It was excellent and has a fascinating story behind it.  The house was the home for Alice Morgan Wright (1881-1975), a sculptor who was also one of the founders of the League of Women Voters and the Humane Society.


Marilyn with Stella
We learned a lot of her story from a chance encounter with Stella who has lived in an adjacent apartment house for the last 50 years.  She worked as a nurse at a nearby hospital and lived here so she could walk athrough Washington Park to work.  She is 92 and a little hard of hearing--something she told us--but otherwise very spry.  She told us about Alice whom she knew.  She said that she took in all sorts of dogs and cats--on a short term basis-- almost as a shelter to keep them from facing other alternatives.  Stella said that walking by the mansion you could see dogs and cats at the windows looking down at you.


Empire Capital Plaza on a rainy Saturday morning.
Saturday turned out to be rainy and chilly unlike the warm and sunny days we had been experiencing all week.  We spent the day visiting the New York State Museum.  We barely got through a quarter of the exhibits.  The 9/11 exhibit was very moving.  We got to see video of first responders who barely escaped with their lives as well see up close some of the structural steel from the towers.

By Sunday morning the rain had passed and the clouds had departed.  We headed home and arrived in time for me to see the Kansas City Royals sweep the Los Angels Angels, the team with the best regular season record in baseball.  Go Royals!


Saturday, October 4, 2014

Vermont and Hudson Valley - Days Four and Five: Hyde Park

We spent Thursday and most of Friday in Hyde Park visiting the Roosevelt sites, CIA and other interesting places.  After watching most of the Ken Burn's "The Roosevelts:  An Intimate History." it was especially meaningful to visit Springwood, the family home, the Presidential Library and Museum, and Val Kill, a site dedicated to Eleanor.  The library had been constructed and dedicated early in FDR's third term, making it not only the first presidential library but the only one to have been used by a sitting president.  Everything has been maintained as it was.  The land, the library, and Springwood were turned over to the U.S. within a year of FDR's death.

Those fries are truffle fries.
After all that history, we needed food and so took a break from the museum to visit the Culinary Institute of America, just two miles down the road.  CIA has been here since the early 1970's which it purchased the main building and grounds from the New York Province of the Society of Jesus which had developed the site as a seminary, St. Andrew-on-the-Hudson.  The beautiful main chapel is now used as a student dining hall.  They have preserved all the art and beautiful Tiffany windows.  We ate in the Apple Bakery & Cafe.  You can see how delicious it looked and the consumption delivered on that promise.

After that late lunch, we joined a tour of CIA led by one of the students.  Unfortunately no inside photography was allowed but it was truly worthwhile and we highly recommend it to anyone who visits here for the food.  It is a "behind the scene" tour of various kitchens with a lot of inside scoop on food and its preparation.  By the way, when someone asked Erica, our guide, what one cooking tool she thought everyone should have, she answered, "A Chinois."  To which everyone responded, "Huh?"  Go look it up.

Click here to view the album of FDR and CIA photos.

Living room in Eleanor's residence:  Val Kill
The next day we returned to the Roosevelts.  We completed our tour of the museum and then went to Val Kill, the home that Eleanor created out of the factory that housed Val Kill Industries.  This tour was very informative and focused on Eleanor and the contributions which she made before, during, and especially after FDR's presidency.

Our next stop was Top Cottage, the getaway about four miles from Springwater where FDR said he got away from the maddening crowd.  He never sayed overnight there but it was designed so that he could entertain guests without help from others, something that was impossible at the big house, Springwater.  He designed it so that he could use his wheelchair to move around and interact easily with his guests.  The porch was especially important because it was here that important informal conversations took place.  As you look at the video below, think about the fact that this was the view that FDR and Churchill had as they talked about the Manhattan project taking responsibility for Britain's Tube Alloys project.


Thursday, October 2, 2014

Vermont and Hudson Valley - Day Two: Trapp, Ben & Jerry's, and a waterfall

Anthony, their girls, Kathy and Marilyn at Emily's bridge
Our second day in Stowe began with a continuation of the ghost tour of the night before.  One of the stories was about a young girl, Emily, who jumped/fell from a bridge when her lover didn't show for their elopement.  She is buried in the Stowe Cemetery and has been the subject of a number of ghost stories.  So we had to go to the bridge just to check it out.  We met a wonderful young family from Australia, Anthony and Kathy and their two daughters.  They were near the end of their three week vacation here in the U. S.

Christina von Trapp, Maria's grand daughter.
After that we headed toward Mount Mansfield but the clouds obscured most of the high peaks so we diverted to the Trapp Family Lodgee.  We explored the grounds and then went on a tour of the lodge with all sorts of stories about the family including some time with Maria's grand daughter who is transitioning to the leadership of the corporation.  She was delightful and we learned a lot.  Some we already knew and some was new information.  After lunch at a brew house and deli on the property, we explored a pond and woods before heading off for Moss Glenn Falls.

Along the way, we saw a number of striking scenes including classic New England church with steeple, creeks, waterfalls, and plenty of fall color.  Then on our way to tour the Ben & Jerry's factory, we had to stop by Happy Moon Chocolates where we met Rebecca who left a ten year career as a lawyer to become a chocolatier.  This is a classic Vermont story where quality of life trumps money.  Very refreshing.


However, we needed to make our way to Ben & Jerry's.  While I knew that it was located in Vermont, I swear to God I had no idea it was right outside Stowe and that we would go right by it on our way in.  Honest.  After a factory tour and not one but two samples, we headed back to Stowe to find some where to eat.  We seem to be eating quite a little bit!

The next day we left and headed down to the Hudson Valley and Hyde Park,  However we drove through Washington County New York and stopped at the Washington County Historical Society in Ft. Edward.  I have traced my great grandfather Platt to Washington County and wanted to see what additional information I might be able to turn up.  I will need to return when I can spend a couple of days since this turns out to be an historically rich area.

You can see the photos of our final day in Stowe and the journey to Hyde Park by clicking here.


Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Vermont and the Hudson Valley - Day One: Travel to Stowe VT

A luxury car to go with a luxury woman.
We are off on a week long vacation to Vermont and the Hudson Valley.  We have lucked out and hit the peak of color in Vermont around Stowe and the weather has been temperate and rain-thought not cloud-free.  We are traveling in comfort in Marilyn's new-to-her Cadillac SRX.  She got a great deal on this four year old beauty with only 17,000 miles.  I don't think I have parked it straight within parking lines yet giving rise, I am sure, to comments about old people driving big cars.  But are quite enjoying it!  By the way, for those concerned, I have more than offset her carbon footprint with my Ford C-Max hybrid.

New York in the background as we head to Vermont
We decided to use the free for three months OnStar navigation as we left the Thruway and ventured into Adirondack Park on our way to Stowe VT.  Unlike our phone navigation, we couldn't or didn't know how to see the list of directions, so we just followed instructions which at one point seemed to be leading us astray with road signs about a ferry.  But as we arrived in Essex NY, we saw the ferry port with a ferry approaching.  After a 20 minute ride, we were in Vermont and on our way.

We needed to stop for lunch and turned around so we could ate at a local eatery named for our dog, Archie...well it reminded us of him anyway.

We continued on to Stowe.  Once we left an Interstate and got on VT 100 for the last 20 miles, we passed the Ben & Jerry's ice cream plant with its famous tours.  Honest to God, I knew it was in Vermont but I had no idea it was just outside Stowe.  Honest.  More about that later.

We arrived at Auberge de Stowe before check in so we decided to head into the village to get the lay of the land and check in at the Visiters' Center.  It is a charming village with a quite interesting history as we learned later that night.  We could see the hills around us in all their autumn glory.

After some investigation, we decided on a spot for dinner as well as our evening activity, a ghost and history lantern tour of Stowe.  We started at 8 and it last almost till 9:30.  We learned a lot about the various ghost stories of Stowe but also a lot about the history.  Most interesting to me is the fact that more than 20 structures in the village today were moved from their original locations in the village.  Talk about Yankee frugality!

You can view a photo album of our first day by clicking here.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Trip to Morgantown WV - Braden's soccer Match

Braden taking a shot in pre-game.  Strong shot against a
lovely sunset sky.
Braden is a freshman student at University High School in Morgantown.  Not only is she on the Girls Varsity Soccer team but she starts at center mid.  It was great to see her play in a night game against the other high school in Morgantown.  She controlled the center of the field and was a major contributor to the 3-1 win.  More important to me was the obvious joy she displayed before, during, and after the game.  She is developing into a lovely young woman with a sense of humor and joy.  Great job, Brendan and Eileen!

The video below contains the announcement of the starting lineup for the Hawks.  It was exciting.  Apparently the seniors on the team had never beaten Morgantown High in a varsity game.  Braden was excited to give them a victory before they graduate.


The video below is a great example of Braden's play.  She wins the ball, then moves it to the middle and passes toward the goal.  She was in control the whole way.  This is a video of a series of still shots.



You can click here to see more photos of the match.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Trip to Morgantown WV - Fort Necessity

Fort Necessity from the location of the 1754 tree line.
Tuesday was a big day.  I did some exploring in the morning and then went to Braden's high school soccer game that night.  In between I went to Brady's football practice.  Brendan lost a temporary crown from a front tooth and had to get to a dentist for repair.  Picked up lunch at a restaurant and went to the model where Eileen was working that day.  Whew!

Anyway, my morning adventures led to Fort Necessity, the site of an 1754 defeat of Virginian and English troops by the French.  This was the second battle of what would be come known in North America as the French Indian War but which Europe knew as the Seven Years War.   It involved most of the great powers of the time and affected Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines.  It is considered by most historians as the first Global War in modern times.  Deaths have been estimated to be 900,000 to 1,400,000.  It established England as the dominant global power especially in North America.  

Jumonville Glen where the first global war began.
As impressive as that sounds and was, the war actually started in a remote mountain glen in southern Pennsylvania close to the West Virginia border.  In 1754, Lt. Colonel George Washington with a Virginia Regiment entered the area near Chestnut Ridge in Pennsylvania to work on opening up a military road.  When informed by friendly Senecas of the location of a group of 30 French soldiers encamped at the base of bluff, Washington took 40 men and engaged them.  All the French were killed or captured but one escaped and informed the French garrison at Fort Duquesne (modern day Pittsburgh) of the attack.
The storehouse inside the palisade

 Washington was very aware that French would seek revenge for the attack and especially for the brutal killing and scalping of the commander by the Senecas.  He returned to his base camp in Great Meadow and hastily constructed Fort Necessity.  He and 400 men awaited the attack which came on July 3 by 600 French and 100 Indians.

While the circular palisaded fort was constructed according to prevailing military standards, it had two disastrous liabilities.  It was too close to the surrounding woods providing the French dense cover for assaults without exposing themselves.  Second, it was built on the low ground of a marshy meadow.
The earthworks outside the palisade
While excavations were easy, they were subject to dampness and in the heavy and steady rain on the day of the battle they filled with water.  Conditions were dismal and when the French offered terms of surrender, Washington took them and marched out the next day and back to Virginia.  The French burnt the fort to the ground and returned to Fort Duqesne.

A year later as the global war ignited by this battle was well underway, Washington returned to the area as an aide-de-camp to General Edward Braddock who led an English force of 2,400 men with orders to attack the French at Fort Duqesne. The resulting battle was a defeat for the English with Braddock receiving mortal wounds and dying four days later within half a mile of the site of Fort Necessity.  

Memorial to General Edward Braddock
To prevent desecration by the Indians, Washington had Braddock's body buried in the middle of the military road--later known as Braddock's road--and then had the entire army march over that spot to hide its location.  The remains were discovered in 1804 by workmen and the remains were reburied on a knoll at the side of what became The National Road and later U.S. Route 40.


Monday, September 15, 2014

Trip to Morgantown WV - Day One

Brady ready to snap the ball.
I am back on the road after a month and a half at home.  On Sunday I got up early to drive the six hours to Morgantown in order to watch 8 year old Brady play football.  He is the offensive center and right defensive end.  Although they lost a close game, he played well and truly enjoys the sport.  This presaged the late afternoon game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos, another close game.  Actually surprisingly close after the injury losses Kansas City sustained last week and in the opening minutes of this game.

You can view more photos of his game by clicking here.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Trip to Kansas City for Mom's 102nd Birthday

If I make it to 102, I hope I look this good...and young!
Our travels have been extensive since the Spring but our last major trip was to Kansas City where my Mom celebrated her 102nd birthday.  We drove four days to spend three days in Kansas City but Marilyn and I enjoy each other's company on these long car rides.  Also we listened to Elizabeth Kostova's novel, Swan Thieves.  If at times it was a bit tedious, it had an engaging plot and we learned a lot about painting and the French impressionists.  Although perhaps not as cultured, we did enjoy Dawn of the Planet of the Apes which we saw in Terre Haute where we spent the night.

Anola with the "three sisters" who lunch with Mom monthly.
We arrived in Kansas City at my sister Anola's house in time for a birthday party for Mom's friends.  People stopped by the house from 3 to 5 to visit.  There were current friends, neighbors from the Belmont neighborhood, Sister Barbara from St. James, and many others.  Kate and Rayn also stopped by since they were out of town over the weekend when the family party took place.



Perhpas the perspective added a bit to the size of the sundae.

After that Anola, Peter, Louisa, Marilyn and I took Mom for a birthday dinner at O'Neill's Restaurant where, as the birthday girl, she had the world's biggest ice cream sundae.

The next day Marilyn and I spent the day at Powell Gardens and had a lovely summer day, even lovely for Missouri in July:  temperate and how humidity.  I have previously sent out a link to those photos but here it is again:  click here to view the photo album.

The next day we took Mom out to drive through the neighborhoods where I grew up.  We stopped in front of the house at 3924 Forest for this photo.  We also drove through the old neighborhoods and looked at the other two houses:  4019 Tracy and 4129 Forest.  From the time I was born until I left home to get married in 1964, I lived in three houses all within a block and half of each other.

Saturday Anola and Peter again hosted a party, this time for our Sciolaro cousins:  Anna Mary and Brad, Virginia and David, and Andy and Lois.  It was great to see them, even Andy and Lois with whom we had spent four days during their vacation to the Finger Lakes!

Here is a link to the Picasa photo album containing photos from both parties.

We left early the next morning and arrived back in Rochester safe and sound.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

North Carolina Trip - June 2014

Home Sweet Home
I am writing this at home having just returned from five days visiting Liam and his family in Charlotte.  After four trips in five weeks, I will be home till July 15 when we leave for Kansas City to celebrate Mom's 102nd birthday.  While I was in Charlotte, I learned of the passing of Joe Hetzler, a good friend and a member of our men's spirituality group.  Joe had been struggling with a number of health issues.  He showed courage, great wit, and unshakable faith to the end.  Today's gospel speaks of building our house on rock rather than sand and that is what Joe did.  He will be missed.

I had a great visit in Charlotte.  Normally there are a lot of sports activities but this was kind of a in-between time with everyone relaxing and getting used to summer.  The weather was hot and humid and didn't make for a lot of outdoor activity.  In fact, I did go on a bike ride with Liam and we had to cut it short before he had a chance to be a "secret shopper" hauling me into an emergency department!  I do a lot of bike riding here in comfy old Rochester but the combination of an unfamiliar bike and a heat index into the nineties got the better of me.  We were cycling because Liam is training for a triathlon in early August.  Hopefully this will be early in the morning.

He has run in four marathons so he is adding cycling and open water swimming to his portfolio  as well as all the NECESSARY equipment. While there may be some--his wife might be one--who think that the issue is looking good, it is important to have the right hardware and clothing to compete at this level.  Of course, looking good certainly doesn't slow you down.

What would slow you down, however, might be trips to the Nothing Bundt Cake store or Gigi's Cupcakes, both of which trips we took while I was there.  Having consumed goods from both places plus Marcie's brownies and all those delicious meals, I need to get back to normal eating.

We spent some time at the community pool.  Eibhlin had fun with a friend while Liam tried to swim laps avoiding the kids and even an occassional adult who keep wandering into his lane.  You can see some of Eihblin in action in the video below.


You can see more videos of Liam swimming and Liam Jacob at his OTA for high school football by clicking this link:  http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX11SvLDSKuQCNvm-iGvFbYaoW5hTuTTl

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Southern California Trip - Fourth and Last Day in San Diego

Saturday was our last day in San Diego and we decided to visit multiple sites rather than spend the day at Sea World.  It will be there for our next trip.  Of course, so will all the places we went.  We spent four full days here and still have days more of places to see and experience.  We began this day at Mission San Diego de Alcala, founded by Blessed Junipero Serra, OSF, on July 16, 1769.  It was the first of the 21 missions established in Alta California.  It still functions as a parish today.  In fact, there was a wedding underway so that we to wait to enter the interior of the mission church.  The grounds and several restored rooms kept us busy until we could get inside and take a couple of photos.  The bougainvillea was in full and glorious bloom as it is throughout much of the year.  The picture at the left can serve as a icon for San Diego:  white buildings, Spanish influence, flowers and blue, blue skies.

After spending an hour walking the campus of the Unviersity of San Diego where I worked for seven years, we went to Seaport Village, one of our favorite spots.  We had lunch at Harbor House and walked around looking at people, the bay, the kites, and the shops.  My favorite shot is above which shows a Ben & Jerry's side by side with a Fudge Factory.  "Is this heaven?"  "No, it's San Diego."

Our next stop was the Cabrillo National Monument on Pt. Loma.  This is the spot where Europeans first saw the bay. Just 50 years after the voyage of Columbus,Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo set foot on the West Coast of California in 1542. Unfortunately we arrived just 15 minutes before closing and so only able to get to a single vantage point and take few photos. Much remains to seen and experienced here on a future trip.


(l-r) Submarine base, North Island NAS, downtown San Diego, Coronado, Mexico


You might think that finished our day but it did not.  We drove from Pt. Loma to Balboa Park where we walked through this marvelous collection of buildings, the core of which were constructed for two world's fairs held here:  the 1915-15 California-Panama Exposition and the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition.  The park is home not only to the San Diego Zoo but to a variety of museums, stage theaters and cultural institutions.  The park's tag line--A landscape of art and culture--says it all.  There were photos everywhere I looked.  

Finally, our day ended with a pizza and then catching a 10:40 PM flight home where we arrived Sunday morning and began recuperating on our own photogenic deck.  

You can view all the photos from our last day by clicking here and going to the Picasa album.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Southern California Trip - Third Day in San Diego

What would a trip to San Diego be without a visit to the world famous San Diego Zoo?  Especially if one of the tourists had never been and the other one had been for 30 years?  Not much.  So Friday saw us head for the zoo and we stayed from 9:30 until 6:00.  What a day!

We began by listening to a concert by three New Guinea Singing Dogs.  We had just entered and I got this nice picture but didn't get the video cranked up in time.  However, you can click here to listen to a short YouTube video of a chorus.

We spent the day walking, riding a narrated tour bus, flying high above the zoo on the gondola, and taking the handy moving sidewalks up steep hills.  We were constantly lost even though we had a map but were entertained no matter where we turned or what we saw.  We even experienced a 4D showing of clips from Ice Age and it was a hoot.  Our first experience of what that 4th D was happened when a character on screen sneezed and we were all sprayed with water and that was only the beginning.

My favorite exhibit 30 years ago was there and it did not fail to entertain:  the aviary that climbs one of the steep canyon sides.  As you go higher you find yourself at eye with birds living, working, and singing at tree top level.

We saw all the classic favorites:  elephants, zebras, lions, tigers, and a hippo.  We happened by the hippo exhibit just as he/she was taking a dip in the pool and then coming over to the underwater window to get up close and personal with some kids.  Well, here, just play the video below.




We also saw the pandas although not the preemie that was delivered Caesarian last month.  We did see the male who sat with his back to all of us which the guide said was not unusual.  I did get a bit of view of the face when we were high above the exhibit on a tour bus.

And of course I couldn't resist taking photos of Marilyn.  I especially like this one with the tower of the Prado in Balboa Park in the distance.  We kept hearing that this zoo is more than a zoo.  It is also a certified botanical garden, an animal conservancy, a breeding facility for endangered species--The California Condor breeding program has brought the population in the wild from less than 20 to over 300--and a world-wide research facility.  You can read more about the zoo by clicking here.  If you really want to see something cool, check out the animal live cams.  Here is the link to the Koala Cam.  Note the grass moving in the live feed but no motion from the star.  Apparently they sleep about 22 hours a day.  All that eucalyptus makes them sleepy.

That evening we had a special time with Paula Fitzgibbons and her husband, Peter, and their three children.  We met at Fletcher Cove Park in Solana Beach about half way between where we were staying and their home in Vista.  Paula was Amy's closest  high school girl friend and they have re-connected through FaceBook and so did I.  In addition to a lovely evening of catching up, we also saw a spectacular sunset as only California can provide.

There are many more photos in the Picasa album which you can view by clicking here.