I've started today's pictures with views of our bedroom last night, since Glen reminded me that I'd failed to do that. I also included what appears to be a pace car from Kentucky but probably not--just a bright spot on an otherwise gloomy, overcast, rainy and cold morning.
We headed back southwest to Bedford Va to take in the sights of Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's retreat and retirement home located 93 miles and, in his day, three days travel from Monticello. The history of the plantation is pretty much explained by the pictures. We were unable to photograph any of the interior restoration work on the first floor which is ongoing so I will attempt to paint a word picture of what we saw.
First though I'll talk about the outside of the house--at one time it sat in the middle of a symmetrical landscape which included double rows of linden trees extending from both sides of the house to a mound on each end of the allees. Just beyond each mound stands an octagonal tower like structure of brick, which is one of two necessaries--or as we would call them--outhouses. The mounds were to be covered in varying types of trees but apparently that plan did not work as desired and so they were replaced instead with shrubs. After a time, Jefferson decided that he wanted a wing of office and work space and so the allee on the East side was removed and a brick wing constructed. I'll talk about that later. This symmetrical layout echoes his architectural approach at Monticello and is, once more, the result of the influence the designs of Palladio had on TJ.
To take you on the imaginary tour of the interior I will use the post card enlargement of the octagonal house which shows a bit of the wing on the right side. The top of the floor plan is the North Portico which can be seen in the house pictures as the porch with the four stucco columns at the top of the flight of stairs. The columns are actually brick covered with stucco. As we walk across the floor of the porch toward the faux mahogany door our docent pointed out the Carrera marble threshold which is not original. That marble step disappeared many years ago but a duplicate that fit was found in the basement of the Capital building in Washington where, apparently, artifacts from various changes to the building are stored. We entered the room on the right side of the hall ( your left in the picture). Directly across from the door is a small fireplace and to the right of that are two windows set at forty five degree angles to each other. The room is small and the floor has already been restored--it is a light colored wood--possibly tulip poplar which is cleaned each day--or was in his time--with beeswax and linseed oil. I remember my Dad used that on nice wood in our house. The walls in most of the rooms are just the bare exposed brick but here one wall has been partially replastered to show how the walls will look when that restoration is done. This room, our docent said, is thought to have been the bedroom for the butler when TJ was in residence. The book on the house says it was a storage/spare bedroom.
We continued through the opening that will hold a door in time into a very large room that is bisected by an alcove bed.This is a design used in Monticello and is a French design that TJ particularly liked. One side of the bed is in a sitting room, the other in a study. TJ could swing his feet off into either side--also with a fireplace in each space there was adequate heat throughout. Again two large windows sat in the corner of each of the rooms. Interestingly jutting out the west side of the octagon is a tower to accommodate the stairs without taking anything from the living space. The stairs descend to a door that opens into the yard.
Continuing to the South or the bottom of the floor plan we come to the Parlor with a fireplace at each end and a window in each corner. The flat southern wall has two very wide floor to ceiling windows that are sash windows in three parts--just the lower section can be raised for air, or the two lower sections can be raised to form guillotine windows that are tall enough to serve as doors. The double doors were all panes of glass and another set of solid doors, which haven't been hung yet will form a dead air space between them though why in this climate I'm not sure. Again through these doors is the South Portico resting on the Arcade below.
Opposite the outside door of the parlor is a set of glass doors that lead into the central cube with a ceiling that soars two stories in this one story house and that contains a full length skylight. The skylight has shutters that can be closed over it during bad weather or when the sun is particularly strong and hot. This elegant room is the dining room and in it is a long dining room table which can be disassembled into several individual tables or, when the leaves are removed totally can be closed into an octagonal table. Also here were several Windsor chairs, a cabinet of about four shelves referred to as a dumb waiter and another table whose round top totally revolved. All, except the chairs, designed by TJ. Once more in one corner there is a fireplace and on each of its walls are glass double doors to make this windowless room as light and airy as all the rest of the rooms. The floor here is an intricate and beautiful parquet.
The East side of the house mirrors exactly the West side--the bedroom used by TJ's daughters and grandchildren and the front room used as its mate for storage or as an additional guest room.So, too, on this side the East Stair Portico retaining as much as possible of the house for living space.
The East wing is totally a restoration since the original wing was removed after fire damage. The original consisted of a kitchen, smokehouse, housekeeper's dwelling,laundry and cold storage. The roof served as a Terras upon which TJ enjoyed walking at night and in front of the rooms ran a covered arcade.
All in all an intimate, airy, comfortable retreat from the busyness of business. I very much loved it.
And then we were headed over familiar territory, up through Charlottesville, to Front Royal and into Winchester where we wearily decided to stop for the night. We had hoped to make it to Maryland and fried oysters but stopped about 30 or so miles short. Just exhausted -- the weather and winding back roads with stop and go traffic around Charlottesville and Culpepper took their toll.
Ordered Pizza Hut we were so tired we didn't even want to go out. Also for the first time in weeks we turned the heat on in the car and in the room tonight. I also dug out my fleece jacket again. It is supposed to snow tonight but though it doesn't look like a great driving day we are hoping to make Binghamton tomorrow. Friday may be a different story. We'll just have to take it as it comes. If all goes well we will be home on Friday.
From here on in it is the same old same old--so unless I see some really new sights there won't be many pix and the blog will probably just be a report on where we are. Until tomorrow-----
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
234.5 Miles Today--10 of Which Turned My Hair White!
The day started out sunny at 37 degrees with frost on everything. Amazingly, we were on the road once more by 9 am--we have been having trouble adjusting to the time change but think we are back in sync. Decided to take I 81 to up around Christiansburg and then cut across the Blue Ridge on Va primary road 8 and then backroad it up to outside Roanoke to Booker T. Washington's birthplace. Took a few snaps of the highest mountain in Virginia--Mt Rogers at 5729 feet and then just a few more of the sunny countryside. By the time we reached Pulaski I'd had enough of the tractor trailer trucks and suggested starting our back road exploration about 25 miles sooner. Bill was agreeable so off we went on primary rt 100 south to primary road 221, where we arrived in Hillsville, the home of one of the Mohawk Rug factories and also the Cavalier Cafe. The young fellow running it made me a buckwheat pancake the size of a dinner plate and the crispiest fresh bacon I've ever had. He was a cutie--married five years with a three year old daughter. His wedding picture and pictures of the baby from infancy covered the walls of the local eating place. He is a year and a half younger than his wife but his gramma is a year and a half younger than his granddad and they are doing fine--unlike his pappy who is on his third wife! I said the good luck skipped a generation and he is hopeful that is true. Works hard--he got to the cafe at 3 am and his wife came in at 5 after dropping the baby off. It was now 1130 and his wife had gone home at 10. He's hoping that they can start thinking of looking for a house--business is good and he's doing fine - no debt but he's nervous about taking on a mortgage but is sick of renting. Hope it works out for them--he is working hard and so is she--I hope they get the dream.
On we continued on 221 to Floyd where we took secondary road 681 for two miles and then hooked up with secondary road 860, which looked smooth--no curves, just a slight change in direction from due south to a bit south east. The first three miles or so were fine but then the road crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway which was flat, narrow and not open at all. As we started to rise above it I should have had alarms go off but NOOOOOOO. OMG--for ten of the worst miles--topped only by the road from Silver City to TOC--I thought I was going to die. When we appeared to be near the bottom we pulled over to let the brakes cool a bit and when I got out of the car my legs were shaking so much I almost couldn't stand. After another couple of relatively straight flat ( not ) road we came to Va primary 40 which was my intent. I don't know what I would have done had we needed to go back up--though Bill did suggest trying it in reverse--what did I ever see in this man? He did congratulate me on my navigational proficiency and thanked me for not choosing PRIMARY route 8 which had those terrible wiggles on the map! GRRRRR
I'm afraid that Booker's birthplace was somewhat anti-climatic! Although the walk around the old plantation in 59 degree sunny weather was quite nice. He was freed at 9 along with his family at the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation and soon moved to W. Virginia with his mother, brother and sister to meet up with his stepfather. By 16 he was headed back to Hampton Va to study at the Negro school there run by a white former Union officer. After graduation he was called back by Armstrong to serve as house father for Native American boys and then, when a council member from Tuskegee looking for a white principal for a new Negro school they were starting. Armstrong recommended Washington and the rest, as they say, is history.
From there we headed to Lynchburg and the Quality Inn where we stayed on our first trip and ate at the Outback next door. Rack of lamb and fresh veggies with a Yuengling draught. Delicious. And now, off to NCIS which I've been sort of watching. Forgot DWTS last night--darn!
On we continued on 221 to Floyd where we took secondary road 681 for two miles and then hooked up with secondary road 860, which looked smooth--no curves, just a slight change in direction from due south to a bit south east. The first three miles or so were fine but then the road crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway which was flat, narrow and not open at all. As we started to rise above it I should have had alarms go off but NOOOOOOO. OMG--for ten of the worst miles--topped only by the road from Silver City to TOC--I thought I was going to die. When we appeared to be near the bottom we pulled over to let the brakes cool a bit and when I got out of the car my legs were shaking so much I almost couldn't stand. After another couple of relatively straight flat ( not ) road we came to Va primary 40 which was my intent. I don't know what I would have done had we needed to go back up--though Bill did suggest trying it in reverse--what did I ever see in this man? He did congratulate me on my navigational proficiency and thanked me for not choosing PRIMARY route 8 which had those terrible wiggles on the map! GRRRRR
I'm afraid that Booker's birthplace was somewhat anti-climatic! Although the walk around the old plantation in 59 degree sunny weather was quite nice. He was freed at 9 along with his family at the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation and soon moved to W. Virginia with his mother, brother and sister to meet up with his stepfather. By 16 he was headed back to Hampton Va to study at the Negro school there run by a white former Union officer. After graduation he was called back by Armstrong to serve as house father for Native American boys and then, when a council member from Tuskegee looking for a white principal for a new Negro school they were starting. Armstrong recommended Washington and the rest, as they say, is history.
From there we headed to Lynchburg and the Quality Inn where we stayed on our first trip and ate at the Outback next door. Rack of lamb and fresh veggies with a Yuengling draught. Delicious. And now, off to NCIS which I've been sort of watching. Forgot DWTS last night--darn!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Was That Kentucky???
Once more we left the warmth of our motel room to venture out into 40 degree, rainy weather. I probably wouldn't feel so cold if it hadn't been 89 degrees in Andersonville! But today, I relented and pulled out a heavier shirt and shoes. As I've mentioned before getting from point A to point B in this part of the country is not as easy for us as it is for the crow! So off we went westward on 11E until we met the road that would take us north to 11W which we would take west until we met 25 E which goes right into Kentucky by way of the Cumberland Gap. In actuality, we go through a tunnel which bypasses the gap. That was rather disappointing. In the 1920's a road was built right through the Gap where the people of Virginia and Tennesse traveled to the West--Kentucky! In 1940 the National Park was authorized and it was established in 1955. It was felt that the road through the Gap actually destroyed the historical aspect of the trail and so in 1996 a tunnel bypassing the Gap was opened, the original paved road was removed and from that time to this the Gap has been returned to its 1810 appearance. That is really nice except that none of the park --except the road to the Pinnacle Outlook--which I opted not to take--is open to be seen unless one hikes various lengthy trails. I suppose that recreates the Boone experience but it was a bit disappointing.
Bill has dreampt of seeing the Gap since he started reading the Louis L'Amour Sackett Saga--he says he was satisfied and I hope that is true. We took Rt 58 to Bristol,Va where we are staying and that follows the Wilderness Trail taken by Daniel Boone and others after him. We passed the site where his son James had been killed by Indians and saw the rows of hazy mountain tops that just roll one after the other almost from the sea into the beautiful valleys of Kentucky. It must have been such an adventure for those early settlers to overcome those mountains to move Westward.
Barb--we passed the road to the Clinch Mountain winery ---I have no idea how you and I came upon it--but I think we cut up this way from Knoxville and over the mountains from West to East toward I 81 and so on up through Virginia. We were going the other way this time.
Logan's Roadhouse for meatloaf and now a bit of TV and good night.
Bill has dreampt of seeing the Gap since he started reading the Louis L'Amour Sackett Saga--he says he was satisfied and I hope that is true. We took Rt 58 to Bristol,Va where we are staying and that follows the Wilderness Trail taken by Daniel Boone and others after him. We passed the site where his son James had been killed by Indians and saw the rows of hazy mountain tops that just roll one after the other almost from the sea into the beautiful valleys of Kentucky. It must have been such an adventure for those early settlers to overcome those mountains to move Westward.
Barb--we passed the road to the Clinch Mountain winery ---I have no idea how you and I came upon it--but I think we cut up this way from Knoxville and over the mountains from West to East toward I 81 and so on up through Virginia. We were going the other way this time.
Logan's Roadhouse for meatloaf and now a bit of TV and good night.
Head is Spinning--So Many States in Such a Short Time!
Yesterday ( Sunday--Day 42--six weeks!!! ) Bill says it is day 43 because I didn't count the first day which was the Sunday we left--he's right of course but who's counting?
Anyway, Yesterday started out wet and miserable so we took off into the mountains on the Cherokee Foothills National Highway, which follows the original Cherokee Trail down to Charleston from the southern mountains of the Blue Ridge. We were going in the opposite direction, planning on reaching Morristown, Tn so that we would be within driving distance of the Cumberland Gap on Monday morning. At this area and particularly in Va there is no easy way to go north-south or east-west-the Appalachians run southwest to northeast and that's how the roads must run. Makes it a bit difficult to navigate and for this part of the trip I was using three maps at a time. Getting out of South Carolina through a small part of North Carolina and into Tennessee in a way easily followed. It was a challenge but somehow we managed to get into North Carolina at a point that would lead us in the right direction in Tennessee.Although we like to avoid Interstates we did use I 26 and I 40 to get across the mountains near Ashville NC.
As I was studying the map I noticed that Carl Sandburg's home was around Hendersonville so I asked, since I'd skipped Flannery O'Connor's the day before, and since we weren't traveling very far if we could stop to check it out. Bill was agreeable and we left the Interstate to take a two lane, narrow country road in the fog, to Flat Rock. Carl spoke about that fog--it comes in on little cats feet--and so it seemed.
I remember Sandburg's narration of Aaron Copeland's Lincoln piece with the NY Philhamonic with Andre Kostelanes--I was a senior in HS--and part of it was televised. I also remember reading some of his poetry in school and saw his interview with Edward R Morrow and I always just loved him. So, though it WAS a strenuous .3 mile up to his house I am proud to say I did not call for a shuttle and just took my time and we were there. The next tour of the house, only the ground floor, was in an hour but we saw the two videos--one of which was the Morrow interview and the other an overview of his life and shots of the house and narration by one of his daughters. It more than fulfilled my wish to have another view of the man and his life. Picked up a few quotes etc for my scrapbook and took beaucoups pix and we were off. It was very cold and I decided that the sandals would be stowed once more.
On we continued into Tennessee and dinner at the Hillside Grill next to the motel in Morristown. Met a crazy lady named Nicki, who moved back home after traveling the country as a salesperson for a national chain store--which doesn't exist in New England--and then lived in Nashville which she very much misses. Her friend, Sam, whom she has known since High School showed up and we chatted for a bit more before turning in for the night.
Rained and rained some more, but at least the thunder wasn't as scary as in Georgia--I didn't even unpack my flashlight!
Anyway, Yesterday started out wet and miserable so we took off into the mountains on the Cherokee Foothills National Highway, which follows the original Cherokee Trail down to Charleston from the southern mountains of the Blue Ridge. We were going in the opposite direction, planning on reaching Morristown, Tn so that we would be within driving distance of the Cumberland Gap on Monday morning. At this area and particularly in Va there is no easy way to go north-south or east-west-the Appalachians run southwest to northeast and that's how the roads must run. Makes it a bit difficult to navigate and for this part of the trip I was using three maps at a time. Getting out of South Carolina through a small part of North Carolina and into Tennessee in a way easily followed. It was a challenge but somehow we managed to get into North Carolina at a point that would lead us in the right direction in Tennessee.Although we like to avoid Interstates we did use I 26 and I 40 to get across the mountains near Ashville NC.
As I was studying the map I noticed that Carl Sandburg's home was around Hendersonville so I asked, since I'd skipped Flannery O'Connor's the day before, and since we weren't traveling very far if we could stop to check it out. Bill was agreeable and we left the Interstate to take a two lane, narrow country road in the fog, to Flat Rock. Carl spoke about that fog--it comes in on little cats feet--and so it seemed.
I remember Sandburg's narration of Aaron Copeland's Lincoln piece with the NY Philhamonic with Andre Kostelanes--I was a senior in HS--and part of it was televised. I also remember reading some of his poetry in school and saw his interview with Edward R Morrow and I always just loved him. So, though it WAS a strenuous .3 mile up to his house I am proud to say I did not call for a shuttle and just took my time and we were there. The next tour of the house, only the ground floor, was in an hour but we saw the two videos--one of which was the Morrow interview and the other an overview of his life and shots of the house and narration by one of his daughters. It more than fulfilled my wish to have another view of the man and his life. Picked up a few quotes etc for my scrapbook and took beaucoups pix and we were off. It was very cold and I decided that the sandals would be stowed once more.
On we continued into Tennessee and dinner at the Hillside Grill next to the motel in Morristown. Met a crazy lady named Nicki, who moved back home after traveling the country as a salesperson for a national chain store--which doesn't exist in New England--and then lived in Nashville which she very much misses. Her friend, Sam, whom she has known since High School showed up and we chatted for a bit more before turning in for the night.
Rained and rained some more, but at least the thunder wasn't as scary as in Georgia--I didn't even unpack my flashlight!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Georgia in My Memory
Today was the first really bad weather we've had since snow in Cheyenne Wyoming--that seems a lifetime ago. Didn't sleep particularly well last night for some reason and it was rainy and cold--60 degrees this morning. As a result we went to Walmart since I needed a new memory card and I managed to find a Cricut cartridge to buy. Then we were off through the true backwoods of Northern Georgia to South Carolina. The highlight of the day was a little spot called Comer, Ga and Maggie's Cafe. I had the best tuna salad sandwich I've had in ages on perfectly toasted home made bread. Was so full I couldn't have a piece of carrot cake so asked for a togo box. Bill had a BLT that was beautiful to look at as well as delicious to eat. A women with a college age daughter and two teen boys owns the cafe with her sister. It is really cute and the food is to die for--$6.00 for the sandwich--how could you go wrong. I'm still full hours later.
I just told Bill there is a cute sparrow looking in the window at you. He said he is not interested since, while he was right there smoking, they fornicated on his car. I'm still laughing--which reminds me--the day started with hilarity in the breakfast room. We were the only white folk there and a heavy set lady said someone in NY won Megamillions. A guy said where--she said Albany--he said your sister lives near there--I said so does mine. Well, that started it--lady said I'll call my sister, how you doing? how's the dog? your boyfriend? Your husband/ I said: and she says--who's this, I don't have no sister! All of this between heavy laughter bringing tears. god it was funny.
As I left I said if your sister won just send me $50 for the laughter--she said okay--leave your address at the desk! More laughter and wishes for a good and safe day. What a way to start out---the people on these trips are worth almost more than the sights and sounds. No,they are worth more!
Rainy, rainy, rainy and tomorrow too --heading to Morristown, Tn and then on to Cumberland Gap on Monday. Hoping to follow rivers mostly and not hit too many high and winding roads!
I just told Bill there is a cute sparrow looking in the window at you. He said he is not interested since, while he was right there smoking, they fornicated on his car. I'm still laughing--which reminds me--the day started with hilarity in the breakfast room. We were the only white folk there and a heavy set lady said someone in NY won Megamillions. A guy said where--she said Albany--he said your sister lives near there--I said so does mine. Well, that started it--lady said I'll call my sister, how you doing? how's the dog? your boyfriend? Your husband/ I said: and she says--who's this, I don't have no sister! All of this between heavy laughter bringing tears. god it was funny.
As I left I said if your sister won just send me $50 for the laughter--she said okay--leave your address at the desk! More laughter and wishes for a good and safe day. What a way to start out---the people on these trips are worth almost more than the sights and sounds. No,they are worth more!
Rainy, rainy, rainy and tomorrow too --heading to Morristown, Tn and then on to Cumberland Gap on Monday. Hoping to follow rivers mostly and not hit too many high and winding roads!
Friday, March 25, 2011
History--Musical and Otherwise
One thing we've noticed in many Southern States there are no billboards--in some cases, none at all and in other cases, only as one approaches a major town. Along the Interstates they abound and some are rather amusing--need I say more?
Left Perry and headed 20 miles away to Macon and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. We really enjoy these types of sites because we spend several hours surrounded by music and in this case of many kinds. There was a radio pair of men who used to have a show in Savannah singing Gospel music. The remarkable thing is that while there were just the two they sang four parts and were known as the only two man quartet in the South. I wish I could remember their names-- they were in the film in the chapel and were remarkably good. It was great to sit at the soda fountain and sing with Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers as they played on the jukebox. There was no one else around so I really belted out my part in Accentuate the Positive--just like I used to do when they came on the radio when I was little. I bet I sounded as good as I did then, too! LOL
It was fun to see Connie Hines and Bob Eberle, two of my Mom's favorites and listen to them sing on the headphones. Such fun to see Usher and Jerry Reed and Ray Stevens and Ray Charles and the beautiful Lena Horne! and Ludacris and on and on. The movie comprising various inductions included Lena singing----Stormy Weather--and all I could think was how different this was than when she sang that in her movie debut. Whites and blacks were not shown on the screen together so she was filmed alone singing and was spliced into the movie! She also lost the role of the mixed race girl in Show Boat to Ava Gardner! How times do change! The costumes, the music, the stories all so much fun and the movie culminating in snippets of various singers performing Georgia on My Mind, the State song, written by Hoagy Carmichael. Just terrific. But the most fun was in the Children's section--playing with the instruments and hearing Happy Birthday played in about six different styles.
From there we headed to the Ocmulgee National Park and the mounds of the prehistoric Indians of the Mississippian civilization. We've seen many of their mounds throughout the Southeast on our various trips and also went to Russell Cave but this is the first site in which there is a mound that has been excavated and was actually a subterranean meeting room--the Earthlodge. So similar to the kivas we saw in New Mexico and Arizona. Archeology is so fascinating and the similarities and differences among contemporary civilizations worldwide is truly mysterious.
Met a couple from Rochester, Ny at the burial mound whose daughter lives in Burlington and who got married last year in the Round Church in Waitsfield. Small world. Also found out that the Ivy Classic Corp makes power tools and the guy with the van is working out of Atlanta selling them.
Tired and stayed in tonight for a respite and Bill brought me soup and salad from Chili's plus a huge cup of mango iced tea. So I'm going to go now and humming, Georgia on My Mind, am going to research Flannery O'Connor whose home is here in Milledgeville, Ga. May want to explore it on our way to South Carolina tomorrow. Anyone ever read anything by her? She had a study time at Yaddo in Saratoga. Wonder if we were wandering around the grounds when she was there in the 50's? Where was Hoagy Carmichael born? How high is Cumberland Gap National Park? Pondering, pondering--til tomorrow--Accentuate the Positive and take care!
Left Perry and headed 20 miles away to Macon and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. We really enjoy these types of sites because we spend several hours surrounded by music and in this case of many kinds. There was a radio pair of men who used to have a show in Savannah singing Gospel music. The remarkable thing is that while there were just the two they sang four parts and were known as the only two man quartet in the South. I wish I could remember their names-- they were in the film in the chapel and were remarkably good. It was great to sit at the soda fountain and sing with Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers as they played on the jukebox. There was no one else around so I really belted out my part in Accentuate the Positive--just like I used to do when they came on the radio when I was little. I bet I sounded as good as I did then, too! LOL
It was fun to see Connie Hines and Bob Eberle, two of my Mom's favorites and listen to them sing on the headphones. Such fun to see Usher and Jerry Reed and Ray Stevens and Ray Charles and the beautiful Lena Horne! and Ludacris and on and on. The movie comprising various inductions included Lena singing----Stormy Weather--and all I could think was how different this was than when she sang that in her movie debut. Whites and blacks were not shown on the screen together so she was filmed alone singing and was spliced into the movie! She also lost the role of the mixed race girl in Show Boat to Ava Gardner! How times do change! The costumes, the music, the stories all so much fun and the movie culminating in snippets of various singers performing Georgia on My Mind, the State song, written by Hoagy Carmichael. Just terrific. But the most fun was in the Children's section--playing with the instruments and hearing Happy Birthday played in about six different styles.
From there we headed to the Ocmulgee National Park and the mounds of the prehistoric Indians of the Mississippian civilization. We've seen many of their mounds throughout the Southeast on our various trips and also went to Russell Cave but this is the first site in which there is a mound that has been excavated and was actually a subterranean meeting room--the Earthlodge. So similar to the kivas we saw in New Mexico and Arizona. Archeology is so fascinating and the similarities and differences among contemporary civilizations worldwide is truly mysterious.
Met a couple from Rochester, Ny at the burial mound whose daughter lives in Burlington and who got married last year in the Round Church in Waitsfield. Small world. Also found out that the Ivy Classic Corp makes power tools and the guy with the van is working out of Atlanta selling them.
Tired and stayed in tonight for a respite and Bill brought me soup and salad from Chili's plus a huge cup of mango iced tea. So I'm going to go now and humming, Georgia on My Mind, am going to research Flannery O'Connor whose home is here in Milledgeville, Ga. May want to explore it on our way to South Carolina tomorrow. Anyone ever read anything by her? She had a study time at Yaddo in Saratoga. Wonder if we were wandering around the grounds when she was there in the 50's? Where was Hoagy Carmichael born? How high is Cumberland Gap National Park? Pondering, pondering--til tomorrow--Accentuate the Positive and take care!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
"It takes 7 of its ocupiants to make a Shadow"
Andersonville-- a Pulitzer Prize winning novel that I never read---a name that conjures up the worst possible hell on Earth ever experienced by a Union soldier in our Civil War---a place where the men were so emaciated that it would take 7 of them to make a shadow, according to Sgt David Kennedy of the 9th Ohio Cavalry. Fort Sumter which was the official name of the prison in Andersonville, Georgia was opened in 1864 when the Confederacy decided to move Union soldiers from around Richmond to a more remote, secure location. It was built to accommodate 8000 men but once the exchange program between the combatants collapsed both the Union and the Confederacy found themselves with an untenable number of prisoners of war on their hands. Andersonville, in the 14 months--only 14 months!--it operated saw 45,000 men enter its gates, of which about 13 000 never left alive. The highest number of prisoners there at any one time was 32 000. In my pictures you can see that the stockade was built between two steep hills on which cannon were mounted--more to repel any Union Calvary attack but equally able to shoot into the compound if needs be. The disturbed earth running through the middle of the indentation is a small steam--Sweetwater Creek--my God, who named it? The waste of the officers who resided on the hillside ran into the stream and down into the compound--the soldiers were so ill that they did not go to the sinks or the other end of the stream which they were to use as latrines! No food, no clean water, make shift shelter, incredibly close packing together and it is a wonder any of them survived the starvation and disease that killed so many.
Then, as now, there were men severely lacking in morals or ethics who became gangs of roving bullies and thieves--The Raiders. They appeared at the gate whenever new POW's arrived and if caught preying upon them the Raiders were made to run through a gauntlet and were severely beaten. Even with this disciplinary action they still ran rampant through the camp. Finally, some of the men went to the commandant and asked to be allowed to capture the ringleaders. This new group, the Regulators, were able to identify six men, who were then tried and convicted and hung in the middle of the encampment. At the request of the POW's they were not buried among the rest of the dead--they aren't very far away but they are distinctly separate from them.
As the men died they were taken out of the camp and taken by wagon to the cemetery where they were buried by the hundreds each day in long trenches. Each was given a wooden marker on which was placed a number. A young 19 year old prisoner was given the job of recording the name, rank and group to which the deceased belonged. As the prison was liberated he smuggled a copy of this info out,thinking that he would perhaps we able to get notification to the families of the dead. Unable to get any assistance from the government he went to Clara Barton who had worked so hard to get food and supplies to the prisoners and she was able to get a work party together. She, the young man, Dorrance Atwater of the 2nd NY Calvary, and the workers were able to identify and mark the graves with stone markers. Through their efforts only 460 of the over 12000 graves are marked unknown.
In addition to the site of this notorious prison, Andersonville National Historic Site is also the site of the National POW museum. By the time I got to the section dealing with the Vietnam War and the atrocities imposed on our military I was too emotionally disturbed to be able to read the rest--the museum took an hour to read and look at everything from the Prison Ships used by the British in the Revolution ( so bad that Washington wrote Gage and told him that America would treat British prisoners in the same fashion--our soldiers suffocated to death on the ships they were so packed beneath decks) through the Vietnam War. The movie that ran for 27 minutes covering the same period in our history had interviews with survivors of captivity from WWI through the Gulf War. By the end, I was in tears and could not speak to the man with whom Bill was chatting--he had been a child in the internment camps in the Philippines --the Japanese imprisoned Europeans and Americans in the Philippines but because these were civilians they are not considered POWs.
One of the men interviewed in the film was a handsome man with a head of beautiful thick white hair. He had been a POW in Vietnam and said that with all the hardships etc the thing he remembered the most was the love and loyalty of his fellow prisoners. He was well-spoken, handsome and lucid. What a horrible shame that Ross Perot decided to use him in his presidential campaign and allow him to be maligned and mocked because he had become old and less lucid. I'm convinced the experience was more demeaning to him than his experience in Vietnam, of which he said " part of my identity is that I lived part of my life as an animal." In 2005, Admiral James Stockdale died at 81 years old having struggled with Alzheimer's Disease. What a sad end of one of our heroes.
After leaving the park Bill told me that, while he took the walking tour with the Ranger and when they came to the monument on which several states are listed, including NH and Vt, the guide stated that these were ALL border states in which there was a large faction of Southern sympathizers and spy activity. A couple from Montreal and Bill questioned this portrayal of the two states and he cited the bank robbery in St Albans as an event that had the assistance of insiders in Vt. HMMMMMM--not the way we've heard it. There was Southern activity in Montreal and an attempt to get Canada to support the South--not sure there was very much sympathy there or in Vt.
Ah, well, off we went through several small towns, similar to Plains which don't seem to have changed much since the Civil War. Lots of peach trees and pecan trees and some sod farms. Lovely antebellum homes and train depots no longer sites of arrival and departure of passengers--prisoners or otherwise. Arrived at Perry and our motel and went to eat in Applebees--I now know why people eat at Micky D's etc--you are sure of what you are going to get and I wanted to have food I could depend on--ribs and queso blanco. Fattening but recognizable!LOL
When we returned we found that our next door neighbor was also in Americus last night. A commercial truck from New Rochelle marked only Ivy Classic. Will have to research what that is-- a spy following us?
Tomorrow Macon--I think we are due to hear some good Southern music and maybe look at some prehistoric Indian mounds. What do you think? Night from the road, until then!
Then, as now, there were men severely lacking in morals or ethics who became gangs of roving bullies and thieves--The Raiders. They appeared at the gate whenever new POW's arrived and if caught preying upon them the Raiders were made to run through a gauntlet and were severely beaten. Even with this disciplinary action they still ran rampant through the camp. Finally, some of the men went to the commandant and asked to be allowed to capture the ringleaders. This new group, the Regulators, were able to identify six men, who were then tried and convicted and hung in the middle of the encampment. At the request of the POW's they were not buried among the rest of the dead--they aren't very far away but they are distinctly separate from them.
As the men died they were taken out of the camp and taken by wagon to the cemetery where they were buried by the hundreds each day in long trenches. Each was given a wooden marker on which was placed a number. A young 19 year old prisoner was given the job of recording the name, rank and group to which the deceased belonged. As the prison was liberated he smuggled a copy of this info out,thinking that he would perhaps we able to get notification to the families of the dead. Unable to get any assistance from the government he went to Clara Barton who had worked so hard to get food and supplies to the prisoners and she was able to get a work party together. She, the young man, Dorrance Atwater of the 2nd NY Calvary, and the workers were able to identify and mark the graves with stone markers. Through their efforts only 460 of the over 12000 graves are marked unknown.
In addition to the site of this notorious prison, Andersonville National Historic Site is also the site of the National POW museum. By the time I got to the section dealing with the Vietnam War and the atrocities imposed on our military I was too emotionally disturbed to be able to read the rest--the museum took an hour to read and look at everything from the Prison Ships used by the British in the Revolution ( so bad that Washington wrote Gage and told him that America would treat British prisoners in the same fashion--our soldiers suffocated to death on the ships they were so packed beneath decks) through the Vietnam War. The movie that ran for 27 minutes covering the same period in our history had interviews with survivors of captivity from WWI through the Gulf War. By the end, I was in tears and could not speak to the man with whom Bill was chatting--he had been a child in the internment camps in the Philippines --the Japanese imprisoned Europeans and Americans in the Philippines but because these were civilians they are not considered POWs.
One of the men interviewed in the film was a handsome man with a head of beautiful thick white hair. He had been a POW in Vietnam and said that with all the hardships etc the thing he remembered the most was the love and loyalty of his fellow prisoners. He was well-spoken, handsome and lucid. What a horrible shame that Ross Perot decided to use him in his presidential campaign and allow him to be maligned and mocked because he had become old and less lucid. I'm convinced the experience was more demeaning to him than his experience in Vietnam, of which he said " part of my identity is that I lived part of my life as an animal." In 2005, Admiral James Stockdale died at 81 years old having struggled with Alzheimer's Disease. What a sad end of one of our heroes.
After leaving the park Bill told me that, while he took the walking tour with the Ranger and when they came to the monument on which several states are listed, including NH and Vt, the guide stated that these were ALL border states in which there was a large faction of Southern sympathizers and spy activity. A couple from Montreal and Bill questioned this portrayal of the two states and he cited the bank robbery in St Albans as an event that had the assistance of insiders in Vt. HMMMMMM--not the way we've heard it. There was Southern activity in Montreal and an attempt to get Canada to support the South--not sure there was very much sympathy there or in Vt.
Ah, well, off we went through several small towns, similar to Plains which don't seem to have changed much since the Civil War. Lots of peach trees and pecan trees and some sod farms. Lovely antebellum homes and train depots no longer sites of arrival and departure of passengers--prisoners or otherwise. Arrived at Perry and our motel and went to eat in Applebees--I now know why people eat at Micky D's etc--you are sure of what you are going to get and I wanted to have food I could depend on--ribs and queso blanco. Fattening but recognizable!LOL
When we returned we found that our next door neighbor was also in Americus last night. A commercial truck from New Rochelle marked only Ivy Classic. Will have to research what that is-- a spy following us?
Tomorrow Macon--I think we are due to hear some good Southern music and maybe look at some prehistoric Indian mounds. What do you think? Night from the road, until then!
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