More Good Eatin’
Posted on April 25, 2009
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Posted by Daria
We were in Texas nearly three weeks, visiting family, driving around the Hill Country, lazing on the beach at Mustang Island, hiking at Big Bend. But the main thing we did, other than drive (in Texas, everything is far away), was eat, and the main thing we ate was barbecue.
Stan has an assignment to write a magazine article about Texas barbecue, and we take such assignments very seriously. We lurched, stomachs laden with lard, from one smoky, creosote-covered pit to another, forks and fingers (for some places eschew utensils) ready.
After a few stops, we decided to forgo side dishes and stick to what matters, which is the meat. I will point out, however, that the universal side dishes in Texas barbecue joints are potato salad, cole slaw, and pinto beans. There might be slight variations—some may be a little sweet, and a few places offered corn or black-eyed peas. One notable barbecue bastion, Black’s in Lockhart, even had lettuce salad (as if!), as well as macaroni and cheese, green beans, and a few other delectables. You could also opt for white bread and/or pickles, onions, or jalapeños as condiments.
But back to the meat. In Texas the specialties are beef brisket and pork sausage. With the brisket, what matters is the crust—how it’s seasoned, how much crunch it has—and the amount of fat. If it’s not cooked right, it gets dry. The best is cooked slowly over wood-fired pits, but not so long that it loses all the fat.
A lot of the sausage is “house made,” stuffed coarsely so it crumbles when you cut into it. It’s spiced with black pepper, secret spices, and sometimes jalapeños and cheddar cheese.
You can also get chopped beef and pork, ribs, even duck and goat and mutton. We were barely able to scratch the surface. Some places serve tangy tomato-vinegar BBQ sauce, others only hot sauce. If a place boasts that its meat comes without sauce, the meat better be darned good, and it usually is.
Our favorite joints were the ones where you ordered your meat by the pound (or half- , or quarter- ) and it came wrapped in butcher paper to soak up the grease. Sides were so much an afterthought that you got them at a separate counter.
You’ll have to read Stan’s upcoming story in Draft for the full account. Let’s just say that, while we all had our individual favorites, we really wish we had leftovers from Smitty’s and Kreuz in Lockhart, Louie Mueller’s in Taylor, and City Market in Luling. And we’ll try not to think about that place that’s only open on Saturday mornings that we missed. Good thing we have family nearby.
Close Encounters
Posted on April 23, 2009
Filed Under Adventures | 2 Comments
Posted by Daria
Big Bend National Park is truly spectacular, with an amazing variety of rocks from all different geological periods in one place and more species of wildlife than any other national park. We’re spoiled—living in the Southwest, we get to see these kinds of mountains and mesas all the time—but we were still very impressed.
We had two interesting encounters at Big Bend, ones probably familiar to those who have been there before but new to us.
We went on the Boquillas Canyon hike, a short steep hike that leads down to the Rio Grande. Along the way we spotted small scorpions and walking sticks made out of beads. They were for sale along with painted rocks and chunks of pretty minerals, like calcite. The makers/sellers live across the river in Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico. They’re not allowed to cross the border to sell these items, and by buying them people are encouraging them to cross the border illegally. The park newspaper warned that if we were caught with their illegally purchased items, we could be fined. And if the vendors were caught on our side of the border, they could be sent to Presidio, the closest legal border crossing, and deported. They put the fear of God into you for even considering buying something.
We saw a vendor sitting under a ramada on the Mexican bank and saw his helper on this side checking the metal cans to see if anyone had put money in them, then heading back across the river, which was low enough to walk across. We saw another man leading a horse from one bank to the other. If someone wanted to enter the United States illegally to live here, Big Bend isn’t the ideal place to do so, since it’s a long way to any good-sized town. These people just want to make a few bucks, and who can blame them.
Adding to the scene was “Mexican Victor,” a guy who stands on the Mexican bank and serenades U.S. hikers, who are welcome to leave money in his donation can. He’s going to sing to you even if you say, “No, gracias,” and if you don’t leave him money you feel guilty. The whole situation had us discussing morality and the implications of the scene for a while. (NPR did a feature on this a few years back, which you can find here.)
When you realize how easy it is to cross the Rio Grande here, and drive along Interstate 10 as it hugs the international border, the idea of a border-long fence seems prohibitively expensive—perhaps insane. (Coincidentally, when I was writing this as we drove along I-10 near Esperanza, Texas, we passed the Border Patrol picking up an “illegal.”)
Our other encounter was of the four-legged variety. We were sitting at our Cottonwood Campground site, at the very southern tip of the park, when out of the brush trotted a whole herd of javelinas—shaggy, white-collared, black mammals that look like giant rodents (real name: collared peccary). Stan grabbed his camera and started sneaking up on them as they grazed. Sierra grabbed the video camera in case they charged Stan. Eventually, the 14 of them ate their fill and trotted back into the brush.
Then we waited for dark so we could marvel at the infinite stars. Away from light pollution, they really do twinkle. All in all, it was a remarkable couple of days.
Potty Talk
Posted on April 8, 2009
Filed Under Random musing | 1 Comment
Posted by Daria
A question we never thought we’d have to ask is “Are your bathrooms heated?” Silly novices, it didn’t occur to us that bathrooms would ever not be heated. It’s winter, after all, in temperature if not by calendar.
Yet, there’s Stan at a park in Williamsburg, Virginia, checking us in, when Sierra (who always waits until the last minute) declares a need to use the facilities and rushes out of the RV and into the bathhouse. A few minutes later, she comes back and announces, “The bathrooms are freezing.”
Uh-oh. We had gone a couple of days without showering. This would not do. After Stan and I verify her report, Stan regretfully tells the nice office lady that we won’t be staying there, after all. He calls another nearby place, and when we get there, the woman says, “You know, no one’s ever asked us if we had heated bathrooms before.”
I never thought bathrooms would become so important to our lives. Generally, the places we most like to stay in—state parks, public campgrounds with lots of trees, sites on or near water—have the crummiest bathrooms. Part of the reason is obvious: Because of their locations, these places tend to attract more dirt, sand, and leaves. Part of it is financial: Government budgets don’t have big bucks to renovate, maintain, or staff them. Sometimes we’re pleasantly surprised: The facilities at Long Key State Recreation Area in the Florida Keys were among the nicest we’ve ever seen.
There’s a definite link between number of showers and stalls and cleanliness. When a campground has two toilets and one shower, there’s little chance they’re going to be clean, unless you happen to use them right after they’re cleaned. No wonder some campgrounds mention “14 showers” in their ads.
Of course, the fact that I even care about the restrooms shows how out of the loop we are as compared to many RVers. If your rig is self contained, it already has a sink, shower, and toilet, and sometimes even a tub, so a lot of campers never even see the inside of a public stall. But we use our shower as a closet, and Stan would prefer not to have a more than casual acquaintance with the sewer hose.
While I won’t miss using public accommodations, it is kind of interesting to see all the different options out there. A few of the things we’ve found:
* Three of the bathhouses on Leg 1 of our trip featured music. The one in Smithers, British Columbia, a 10-star all the way, had “soothing nature music,” which kind of made you relax. In Whitecourt, Alberta, they played a country music station, and in Quebec, Quebec, rock. The Quebec campground, a KOA, also had sponge mops in each shower stall in case you felt the urge to clean up after yourself.
* The Whitecourt campground bathrooms were also memorable because the lights were on a timer, and of course, I forgot to check the time when I went in, and of course, I ended up showering in the dark—pitch dark, no windows, lots of fumbling. The light also went out at Myrtle Beach State Park, but that one wasn’t on a timer; it just kicked.
* We’ve encountered a few coin-operated showers. A quarter for five minutes is about as high as we’ll go.
* Shower shoes are a must, even if a place is spotless. Beyond the fungus fear factor, tile floors can get really cold really quickly. Unfortunately, sometimes the shoes will become suction-cupped to the floor.
* The few times we’ve used our RV shower have been acceptable. Think military shower: wet, soap, rinse. Handheld shower head, adjustable spray, not much pressure.
* On this, Leg 3, we’ve found some super bathrooms. The KOA in New Orleans had individual shower rooms, like closets. Misty River in Walland, Tennessee, and Creekwood in Waynesville, North Carolina, topped that with clusters of individual bathrooms, each one including a toilet, sink, and shower. Some, like the one at Chokoloskee Island, was styled like a private bathroom in a house. Disney’s were nice but the faucets only poured cold water. Another really nice one was at the Hollywood Casino in Robinsonville, Mississippi, where the sinks were like those in a fine hotel and the shower stalls were huge, with sliding slatted wooden doors, all in warm colors.
* A few bathhouses have had communal changing areas. In a couple of cases in men’s bathrooms, there hasn’t even been a curtain separating the sinks and toilets/urinals from the changing area. Welcome to high school gym.
* We got a nasty surprise on our first night of Leg 3, in late December. The restrooms at Lexington, Virginia, were boarded up for the winter, something we weren’t informed of when we checked in. Stan trod about a quarter of a mile to the office to investigate and was told he could use the toilet there and pay $8 for a shower. No thanks. We’ve since learned that a lot of parks close their bathhouses in the winter, but now we know to ask ahead of time.
* In Marathon, Florida, the bathrooms had a sign inside stating they were for people who didn’t have their own facilities—i.e., tent or popup campers. For $63 a night, we expect to use their bathroom, not ours, so we did.
* A word of advice to campground owners: Put paper towels in the bathrooms, even if you have a hand blower. I’m a lot more likely to wipe up after using a sink if I don’t have to use my own towel, and I doubt I’m alone.
A Day in the Life of Sierra
Posted on April 3, 2009
Filed Under Random musing | 2 Comments
8:00 AM – Mom and/or Dad shout at Sierra to get up. Sierra scrunches into a ball and rolls over into a corner. She falls back asleep and dreams that she got up.
8:15 AM – Sierra is either bribed or threatened to get up. She does so with reluctance.
8:20 AM – Sierra heads to the bathroom to wash up/use the toilet.
8:27 AM – Sierra returns from the bathroom.
8:30 AM – Sierra and Mom converse about breakfast and Sierra decides what to eat.
8:34 AM – Sierra eats.
8:37 AM – Sierra continues eating.
8:40 AM – Sierra finishes eating and talks for a while.
8:45 AM – Sierra notices that Mom and Dad are no longer present. She turns on her MP3 Player and listens to a book.
8:55 AM – Mom returns. Sierra resumes talking.
9:00 AM – Sierra dries the dishes that Mom just washed.
9:10 AM – Sierra brushes her teeth.
9:20 AM – Sierra secures the RV (e.g, makes steps go up, places bubble wrap inside cabinet).
9:25 AM – Sierra gets dressed, puts on earrings, brushes and styles hair.
9:30 AM – Sierra turns the MP3 Player back on until Mom yells at her to start school.
9:32 AM – Sierra manages to put off school until a little later.
9:45 AM – Sierra starts school. She begins by trying to find a pencil.
9:47 AM – Sierra continues to search for a pencil.
9:50 AM – Sierra finds a pencil and begins whatever it is she’s supposed to be doing—her French workbook, for example.
10:00 AM – Sierra continues working.
10:45 AM – Sierra switches subjects.
11:45 AM – Sierra finishes “Mom’s School” and takes a break before beginning “Dad’s School,” AKA Math.
12:00 PM – Sierra begins Math.
12:30 PM – Sierra daydreams for a while, then gets back to Math.
1:00 PM – Sierra is finally finished with school! She is very pleased.
1:05 PM – Sierra sits in the back listening to audio books and reading
1:15 PM – Sierra gets up in order to scavenge for food. She settles on a cheese stick
2:15 PM – Sierra gets up and walks to the front of the RV
2:20 PM – Sierra asks, “Can I get you folks anything?”
2:30 PM – Sierra asks if she can play on her DS. Mom says yes
2:50 PM – Sierra is done on her DS. She listens to music for a while, then goes back to listening to a book
3:00 PM – Sierra eats some more food. She continues, altering eating and reading, for the next two hours
5:00 PM – The Slow Travelers have arrived at their RV park. Sierra turns on Dad’s computer and sets the steps to “Off”
5:05 PM – Sierra has connected both computers to the internet and has opened The New York Times
5:10 PM – Sierra checks her e-mail and surrenders the computer to Mom
5:30 PM – Sierra sits in the back, listening to a book
6:00 PM – Sierra practices her violin. Songs such as “Mission Impossible” and “Humoresque” can be heard throughout the RV
6:10 PM – Sierra goes back to listening to a book
7:00 PM – Sierra eats
7:15 PM – Sierra continues eating. Sometimes she will watch TV while doing this
7:30 PM – Sierra puts her plate in the sink and listens to a book until Mom surrenders the computer
8:00 PM – Sierra messes around on the computer, reading comics, making movies in Windows Movie Maker, and listening to music
8:15 PM – Sierra gets off the computer to watch TV
9:00 PM – Another show comes on, and Sierra stares mindlessly at it, hypnotized
10:00 PM – Bedtime. Sierra washes up and puts on her pajamas. She listens to her MP3 Player until she falls asleep
12:00 AM – Sierra wakes up, needing to go to the bathroom. She wonders what this sound in her ears is, then realizes she fell asleep with her MP3 Player on. She goes to the bathroom, puts her MP3 Player away, and falls asleep. Thus ends a day in the life of Sierra.
Throwed, Not Thrown
Posted on March 30, 2009
Filed Under Food | 2 Comments
Posted by Daria
Thwuck!
—The sound of a roll hitting Stan’s forehead
The boy crying, “Hot rolls!” was aiming for Sierra’s outstretched hands but tossed it a little low. That’s what Stan got for trying to shoot a picture.
Some of you probably know where this event took place. For those who don’t, let me tell you about Lambert’s Cafe.
Lambert’s is actually three cafes, located in Sikeston, Missouri; Foley, Alabama; and Ozark, Missouri. We were at the Ozark one. When we arrived at 4 p.m. on a Saturday, the wait was an hour and a half. We waited, because we knew it was worth it.
Stan and I had visited the Sikeston Lambert’s off and on over the years, on our way to New Orleans or Mississippi or Memphis. But Sierra had never been and had heard about it, so she added it to her list of must-visits to replace Weeki Wachee (which we missed due to a dead battery and foul weather).
Lambert’s decor evokes Americana in all its glory. The wooden walls are lined with license plates and repro advertising signs, and flags of the Armed Forces, United States, and individual states hang from the ceiling. Oldies, country songs, and classic rock play on the stereo system.
The tables turned rapidly, but huge parties, including a medal-adorned dance team, had to be seated before we could be. People in winter coats crammed together like feedlot cattle in the waiting area. Diners-to-be absorbed the menu, wondering what okra was (“like Brussels sprouts,” stated one poorly informed gentleman), keeping up with the others in their party via cellphone (“An old woman is invading my space,” texted the girl sitting next to me, as the woman hovering over her read the menu aloud to her husband ["Hamburger steak ... oh, they have corn! ... there's ribs!"]).
An hour and 10 minutes after our arrival, we were seated in a wooden booth with a roll of paper towel napkins on the table. Lightning-quick, our friendly, twangy server was upon us to take drink and food orders. The complimentary pass-arounds started—fried okra, macaroni and tomatoes, black-eyed peas, fried potatoes with onions. And of course, the hot “throwed” rolls, which made Lambert’s internationally famous. The late Norm Lambert, son of the founders, was the first to throw a roll, and the gimmick proved so successful that it drew and continues to draw huge crowds. (For the whole Lambert’s story, visit www.throwedrolls.com).
On the first round of rolls, Stan went for a high one but knocked it onto the floor. He caught one during Round 2, then was smacked by Sierra’s. The thrower asked Stan if he was OK, and Stan said yes and added the roll to the list of things that have hit him on the head during this trip (along with Moon Pies, Mardi Gras beads, and Sierra’s bed). In subsequent rounds, Sierra asked for two more rolls, both of which were thrown high enough to bounce off the wall and knock stuff down on our table. I think the pitcher was making sure he didn’t hit Stan again.
For entrees, Stan had liver and onions, Sierra had meat loaf, and I had the four-vegetable plate, which sounds healthy until you consider that three of the four were sweets: candied yams, fried apples, and pineapple-walnut salad made with whipped topping. (The fourth was the savory turnip greens). S & S both got vegetables on the side, too. By the time we left, I could no longer look at food, and even the sight of another restaurant’s sign made me queasy. Bottomless Pit Sierra said she wouldn’t be able to eat for “at least 15 minutes.”
Lambert’s is the kind of place you should bring foreign visitors to, to show them what Americans are really like. Fat and happy, eating until we groan, drinking our 34-ounce soft drinks from refillable mugs—and waiting an hour and a half for the right to do so.
Another Boring Museum …
Posted on March 29, 2009
Filed Under Museums & tours | 1 Comment
Posted by Sierra
The City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri, is not just another boring history museum. It may sound like some old history museum, but it’s far from that. There’s lots of stuff to climb up or slide down.
Much of the material at the City Museum is used material. A lot of the climbing structures are made of rebar. It’s really hard to describe the museum itself, so instead I’m going to attempt to describe some of the highlights (Please note: I had to make up most of the names):
* MonstroCity: This HUGE um, monstrosity is, well, monstrous. It’s made out of all sorts of things—old airplanes, rebar, shingles. Located outside of the museum, MonstroCity is a bit of a tangled mess. But it’s lots of fun, just as long as you wear shoes that won’t come off.
* Four-Story Slide: This long slide involves a lot of climbing and even more sliding. In other words, it’s AWESOME. You slide down an old conveyor belt-like copper slide. Brace yourself for the ending, unless you want a fateful face full of cement!
* The Grotto: With its pieces of fabric hanging from the ceiling and the fish tank with snapping turtles, swordfish, and catfish, the Grotto is a watery haven. There’s lots of climbing around to do, including inside a giant whale. This is the tightest climbing area. I bumped my head several times.
*Other Stuff: The stairways are lined with hundreds of painted rollers. Some of the walls are covered in old printing blocks. There’s a giant barrel that you can roll around, and there’s also a room that’s like a skate park (without the skates). The skate park room has a giant pencil in it, with a real, rubbery eraser (very heavy) at the end. There’s also a room that’s sort of like an old arcade, which contains “The World’s Oldest Known Corn Dog” from 3500 B.C. I wouldn’t want to eat that.
So there you have it, the City Museum, a typical boring museum NOT!
Home of the 62-Second Crosswalks
Posted on March 23, 2009
Filed Under Adventures, Museums & tours | 2 Comments
Posted by Sierra
Hooray! this is officially our 100th post! I dedicate it to all our friends and family who have let us park the RV at their house, and let us stay there.
Washington, D.C., as I’m sure you’re all aware, is our nation’s capital. It is filled with big, white, buildings and people in business suits. The crosswalks give you as long as 62 seconds to cross!
Today I’m going to be telling you about the International Spy Museum, the Senate Gallery, and the House Gallery.
International Spy Museum: Feel free to walk around with the theme from “Mission Impossible” in your head. I know I did. You start off by receiving a cover and a legend. You are given a rather short period of time to pick one and memorize it, and before long you enter a room where you see the movie “Could YOU be a Spy?” At least I think that’s what it’s called.
Anyway, next you enter this room that looks really spy-y. You test your cover, and receive your next mission. After that, you can float around, reading lots of panels and doing lots of activities, including:
* Identifying a type of threat
* Locating the familiar shapes of airplanes
* Climbing into a vent and listening to a conversation (which I think was mostly in Spanish)
* Spotting a disguised agent in a crowd.
You can also watch videos on a few subjects, such as lock picking (Note to self: Add “lock pick” to Wish List).
Next, you get to learn about the history of spying. Did you know that George Washington was a spymaster? He needed spies to help win the war. Also, Ben Franklin used his pen as a spy tool during the war: England asked Germany to fight with them against the colonies, but Franklin gave the Germans fake information and slipped pieces of paper to German soldiers promising free land if they didn’t fight with the British.
You also learn about famous people who turned out to be spies, like Julia Child. There’s a lot about spying during World War II and the Cold War. There’s some really interesting stuff about ciphers and other codes. There’s a little about torture, then you are tested on the details of your legend.
Another thing you can do at the Spy Museum is called Operation Spy. You go on a mission. I’m worried if I reveal the details of this mission, the Spy Museum people will track me down and kill me, so all I’ll tell you is that it involves a nuclear trigger. My lips are sealed.
Senate Gallery: It is no easy task to see the Senate Gallery. First, you have to go to the office of one of your senators and ask for tickets. Then, when you get to the Capitol, you have to go through security to get into the Capitol. Then you have to follow a special route to the Senate Gallery. You have to check all electronics, including car door openers. Then you have to take an elevator. You have to go through security—again— to make sure you didn’t:
A) Forget to check some electronic— I saw one woman have to go all the way back because she still had her cell phone
B) Sneak in some food from the cafeteria
C) Somehow manage to hide a firearm and plan to murder a senator
After you go through security, you go into the Senate Gallery viewing area, which is basically a few rows of seats circling the place where it looks like the ceiling should be over the Gallery. You are very specifically told where to sit. There are medical bags underneath all the seats. Mom suspects the bags include defibrillators.
At this point I would like to mention that when we were touring the Capitol the day before we went to the Senate Gallery, some EMS guys ran by us when we were in the Crypt. The guide nonchalantly said that this was typical, but that doesn’t mean I believed him.
Anyway I think it would be really funny if a senator needed one of those medical bags and someone threw it to him and, in the process, HIT ANOTHER SENATOR ON THE HEAD! Boy, that would be hilarious. “Senator knocked out by medical bag.” Too bad that didn’t happen. It would’ve made a good blog post.
On a good day in the Senate, you get to watch one of their one-person debates. See, not very many senators were there at the same time before it was time to vote, so the ones that were there pretty much spoke and left. When the time came to vote, however, they swarmed in. Some left, but most stayed. To vote, a senator would give a thumbs up or thumbs down. Mom said it was a little like an auction. You’ve gotta admit, “Mr. Betterman, Mr. Betterman, no.” sounds a teensy bit like “Going once, going twice, sold to Mr. Betterman for the very generous sum of no!” Dad said it was a little like C-SPAN Live.
Famous faces included:
* Senator Kerry
* Senator McCain
* Senator Dodd
* Senator Whitehouse
* Senator Udall (both of them)
* Senator Jones
* Senator Bingaman ***
House Gallery: Getting into the House Gallery is like getting into the Senate Gallery. You have to check electronics, go through security, etc., etc., etc. The way the House votes, however, is different. Each representative slips a little card into a machine and presses Yay or Nay. A long list tells how each representative voted and another keeps track of the name of the bill, the time left to vote, and the number of Yays and Nays.
So those are a few of the attractions in Washington, D.C. I personally think that Washington, D.C., should create a personal anthem that is similar to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” except it should end in, “And the home of the 62-second crosswalks.”
*** One of these was made up. Can you guess which one?
Which Slow Traveler Are You?
Posted on March 18, 2009
Filed Under Random musing | Leave a Comment
Posted By Sierra
Q1: How long can you go without washing your underwear?
A: 1 day
B: A few days
C: Um … I’m supposed to wash my underwear?
D: Washing my underwear is the washing machine’s job!
Q2: Have you ever left a comment on www.theslowtravelers.com?
A: I’ve left a few
B: Yep! And if I ever get a response, I write back!
C: Occasionally, if I have time
D: Wait-what was the website?
Q3: If you wrote a blog post, what would it be about?
A: Life on the road
B: Beer & Food
C: Life on the road, hammed-up version (and/or toilets)
D: Ways to fix an RV
Q4: What do you usually eat for lunch?
A: A sandwich with mayonnaise
B: A sandwich with mustard
C: Cheese and raisins (and maybe an apple)
D: Hot food, e.g., meatloaf, mac ‘n’ cheese, maybe some big, marinated steak. (Sierra is drooling at this point)
Q5: Describe a highlight of your day
A: Having multiple cups of coffee
B: Getting actual work done
C: Going shopping, be it supermarket or bookstore
D: Being home
Q6: Where do you sleep?
A: On a fold-out couch
B: On a part-time bed
C: On a fold-down bed
D: On a nice, regular bed
Q7: Which of the following titles do you prefer?
A: Navigator
B: Driver
C: Steward/Stewardess
D: Mr., Mrs., or Miss
Q8: Name one thing you consider a campground plus
A: Heated Bathrooms
B: TV AND WiFi
C: WiFi
D: Washing Machines
Q9: What is your idea of a chore?
A: Wash the dishes
B: Hooking up the electricity and water
C: Sweeping
D: Cleaning your room
Q10: Who is your personal favorite Slow Traveler?
A: Daria (Miss Jeopardy Genius)
B: Stan (The Leader)
C: Sierra (Goofball-in-Training)
D: Um … SpiderPig? Is he a Slow Traveler?
RESULTS
If you answered mostly A’s, you are like DARIA. Smart, occasionally funny, and definitely high on the Ability-to-Be-Strict-O-Meter, you are great at planning. You like to write about the many adventures you have, and you know how to edit stuff. You also know how to assign really hard stuff, like A Tale of Two Cities. You are a great navigator, so whip out your GPS and get us there!
If you answered mostly B’s, you are most like STAN. The Resident Goofball, you like to be the driver. You can drive anywhere, anyway, including backing down a narrow hill in Prague (though not in an RV, of course). You’re most cheerful when you can either get interesting notes or get work done. You are an expert on something (beer, preferably) and people will occasionally say something like, “Hey. You’re Stan Hieronymus.” You can also walk into the Charleston Beer Exchange and have someone say,
“Have you written any cool books, like Brew Like A Monk?”
If you answered mostly C’s, you are most like SIERRA. A G.I.T. (Goofball In Training), you like to write humorous stories and prefer Disney World or Paris to Chattanooga or Berlin (although Berlin is pretty cool … ) You like to snack creatively, meaning you eat lots of foods like raisins and cheese sticks. You would die without books, just like Thomas Jefferson said.
If you answered mostly D’s, you are not a Slow Traveler. You prefer your life at home, and like nice, normal-sized things that you don’t bump your head on.
Hey, Look! A Flying Pig!
Posted on March 16, 2009
Filed Under Museums & tours | Leave a Comment
Posted by Sierra
When you think of Colonial Williamsburg, “Revolutionary City,” you probably think, “An art museum? When pigs fly!” Yet that is exactly what I’m going to write about.
When we went to Williamsburg, one of the things we did was go to the Dewitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum/Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum. I took the free audio guide tour. It talked about 16 or so objects in the museum. Here are my notes on some of those objects:
Memory Pot: Memory pots are made of lots of different little trinkets and knickknacks held together by something like cement. Objects on the pot may include thimbles, buttons, and shards of glass.
Blunderbuss: A funny name for a gun, blunderbuss means “thunder gun.” It did best at close range and was loaded with anything from shards of glass to clumps of ground.
Tompion Clock: This clock is special because it was made for King William III. It could run three months without being wound. Other famous owners include King George III and Queen Victoria.
Stamp Act Teapot: Reading “No Stamp Act,” this teapot is a bit like a “bumper sticker” of the 18th century.
Portrait of Deborah Glen: Deborah Glen was from a fairly wealthy family. She married at 18. In the portrait she is wearing clothes that were in fashion at the time.
Room from the Shaw House: Built and lived in by farmer Colonel Alexander Shaw and his wife, Sarah McIntosh Shaw, the house was made to look expensive. Normal wood was painted to look like fancy wood, and the top of the wall is a painted design made to look like wallpaper. Over the fireplace is the in-the-wall painting, “Vue of New York.” (Pictured at the top.)
Face Pitcher: This huge jug with a face is mysterious. It’s too big to have been used to carry water, since it wouldn’t be movable when full. Was it an advertisement for a pottery store? Or a house decoration?
Portrait of George Washington: This full-length portrait was done by Charles Peale. There are only eight copies like this that Peale made, each with a different battlefield as the background.
So those are some of the objects in the art museums of Williamsburg. If you’re ever in the neighborhood, I suggest you stop by.
Ms. Sierra goes to Washington
Posted on March 10, 2009
Filed Under Adventures | Leave a Comment
Posted by Stan
What a pleasant surprise today, when we stopped by the office of our congressman, newcomer Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, to pick up gallery tickets so we can view the House of Representatives in action and were invited to meet him.
He presented Sierra with three books on how the government works, asked about our ongoing adventure, chatted about FDR and made us all feel quite comfortable.
A pretty good start to our visit to Washington, D.C.
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