Forgive Me….One More

   There was one town in Connecticut that seemed to personify what we figured an old, but still vibrant, town in New England would be.

   GUILFORD

   One friend here at home had suggested this town on the south coast of the state would be worthy of a visit. This town was settled in 1639, only 19 years after the Mayflower landed in Plymouth and is still an active spot today.

   Below are scenes from our 2 hour visit one Wednesday morning in May.

Oldest House in the state, 1639

Henry Whitfield, pastor and town founder, and owner of house above

Village Green, Congregational Church

Christ Episcopal Church

Lunch

True and good lemonade, too

Probably the only time my Birthday gift came from a hardware store

   And Color All Around

And, perhaps my favorite picture of the time there. Can anyone read the words in the reflection?

And what is it a reflection of?

Forgive Me, this town was just too good not to pass along…

Amen

History at Our Doorstep

   Please bear with one more short blog from the trip.

   While in Connecticut last week, our innkeeper informed me that about 1/8 of a mile to the north of our driveway up to the house with the big shower and picture window to the world, was a historical spot that we might enjoy:

   With this in-the-stone inscription:

   After some questions from my wife, I remembered an episode in the Ken Burns film study of the Civil War that explained John Brown.

   We looked at the story on film which included Brown's foray into Kansas and killing of 5 pro slavery settlers in Lawrence.

   But the more famous of Brown's calling of abolition took place at Harpers Ferry. After putting together his "army", and training them at a rented farm, his little band attempted to take over the federal arsenal at that river town, and arm the slaves to begin a slave rebellion.

   US Army troops, led by Robert E. Lee, ended this attempt and took Brown prisoner. After a trial in which he was charged and convicted of treason against the state of Virginia, he was hung in Charlestown in 1859.

   Brown' life and his death showed the North, and the South, the feelings of each side.

   The North treated Brown as a martyr, and the anti-slavery folks there were made to realize the strong defense of slavery from their countrymen in the South, while the South treated Brown as a criminal and cheered the hanging that followed the trial. The deep divisions of the two parts of this country were on full display.

   What better way to end this part of our trip than to go to Harpers Ferry, WV (it was in Virginia before WV became a state). We could have the whole John Brown life, from birth to death, in one travel day.

   From a visit to a place in CT, one that we did not even know existed, to another spot in another state, one that marked a watershed in North-South relations and feelings, we had our history lesson on the road.

   And we learned a little more about the Story of our Land.

   A Good Thing

3185.7 Miles

   Well, we're home:

   3185.7 Miles

   11 States

   Too many pictures to count

   A College Graduation (photos later)

   Memorial Day in Massachusetts

   Motels and Bed and Breakfast

   From Georgia to Maine

   Churches

   History

   Courthouses

   Family

   Old Stuff

   We did not know this, but it worked out for us.

   God Blessed us with great weather, no car problems, good health long the way and a lot of photo ops.

  And we are grateful people, Amen

An Amazing Blessing

   A couple of weeks before we embarked on our Maine trip, I made the executive decision to line up a two night stay at a B&B up in middle Connecticut. Going strictly from a website, I booked this for us to have a brief interlude from the constant travel of the past week and the upcoming week as well. Just a rest stop.

   The Mount Pleasant Inn in Torrington, CT was ready for us when we arrived on last Tuesday.

   Our chairs were waiting for us also.

   Even the bricks in the sidewalk, these coming from a demolished farm building, were calling our name.

   The Innkeepers met us upon arrival and told us about the place and its history. The inn was in a 1760 farmhouse, which had been remodeled. Its four rooms were all upstairs.

   Bob, the innkeeper was concerned about Mayre's ability to climb the stairs to the second floor. He had told me on the phone that it was a short staircase, but did not mention the steepness. After looking at it, we agreed that it might not be the best option.

   But wait a minute, he had another idea. There was a new home up the road, one that he had built for a NYC man who came only a couple of times a month. Would we like to see the bedroom up there that we could use. It was on the second floor also, but had a chair lift which would alleviate that problem.

   But what a house! and what a view from our private balcony. We could see all the way to downtown Torrington from the top of our hill. And best of all, he would just charge us the rate on the room in the inn. A deal too good to pass up.

   The view was superb:

Sunrise from our deck

 Downtown Torrington after a thunder storm

   What could have been a bad situation, with maybe a cancelled reservation or looking for another place to stay for a couple of nights, turned out to be, as our kids might say "awesome".

   And, lest I forget, that shower during the thunderstorm, a huge shower with a picture window view of everything.

   An Amazing Turn of Events

   We were Blessed again.

 

Off the Main Highway, In Maine

   While talking with my eldest son, Dwayne, he mentioned a place he and Karen went to run the other day. His comment was that it looked like a good photographic spot that maybe I should take at look at. So here is my trip there.

   Just a few miles out Route 24 from Brunswick, an island sits at the base of a narrow strip of land. Bailey Island, the terminus of Route 24, gave us these views:

Lobster boat ready to go out

Unique bridge, the only one of its type, anywhere. Built on granite blocks, laid on their sides, with spaces between to let the swift running tides through without bothering the bridge. Bridge built in 1928 withstands saltwater and ice floes.

The Island Church built 1885

Even the dandelions were glorious

The main Island harbor, the majority of the lobster boats were already out to sea, working their traps.

A kayakers paradise

Working lobster houses, not just for show

This fellow is not going out today, or anytime soon

Traps in the harbor, waiting

We went out pretty early, and it was a good thing. By afternoon the rains came.

It was one of those picture perfect days, and we were blessed to be there.

Traveling An Unplanned Route

   Traveling along CT34 the other day, we saw some racing eights on the river beside us. Next we saw the Yale University Boathouse on our bank. We did not stop, but a couple of blocks down this street in Derby, I thought "I should have gotten some shots of the crews in action.

   So, we made the first left, so as to circle a block and go back.

   As we made up a hill on a street that looked like a part of downtown Derby, I happened to glance up a side street and saw a patch of green. Thinking "village green" and "interesting pictures", I turned right at the next corner and came up on the center of Derby, a city founded in 1642.

   Here is what we found on that town square:

The Congregational Church on the west side, 335 years in existence

A Catholic Church on the East side

A Methodist Church on the North

with this plaque

Sterling Opera House at the SW corner, built in 1889

Some older homes around the square

Civil War Statue in the middle

   We have seen a lot of Civil War monuments all over Georgia on courthouse squares, but this one was different:

      Another name for the same war: War of the Rebellion

      In the South a lot of times it was: War of Northern Aggression

   Around the base of this particular monument, the battles this unit fought in, including Atlanta.

   This town, and in particular its center square, reeked with history, it almost oozed up from the soil. Derby had been in existence as an indian trading post since 1642, was constituted a town a year before the Declaration of Independence. 

   We spent an hour or so immersing ourselves in history. A history that we could see and feel. A history that we almost missed.

   All because we turned around to see some racing crews on the river, which did not seem so important as what we had experienced on that village green.

   What crews?, what boathouse?

The Joys of an Unplanned Exit

   There comes  a time when words are not smart. There is no way to know what the next few minutes will bring, and the best thing is to keep quiet and see how it plays out.

   Case in point: yesterday as we traveled up the Interstate, one of us needed a restroom, so we began watching for a likely exit. My wife said to get off at the next one, an exit that did not look promising to me at all. After exiting and turning right, only to find nothing, we went back under the Interstate and found a dubious convenience store attached to a family restaurant. As I waited for my bride to come out, and kinda looked forward to the "bad" restroom comment, I looked to the south and noticed a large, well kept, area with a funeral procession turning into the gates.

   Looking north I noticed a sign with the name Indiantown Gap on it. That name rang a bell. I believed that it was one of the primary places in the US where the government processed refugees from Vietnam after that Asian war ended in 1975. Did this fact and the funeral have anything in common?

   In short, NO, but it cause me to turn in that same gate as we went south to get back on the freeway. The sign on the gate: Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. I wondered out loud as to why the government would put a National Cemetery way out here in the boonies? The only ones I knew were in urban areas, like the one in Chattanooga.

   Regardless, the area was so well kept, green with American flags lining the drive into the burial areas, that we kept right on going. It seemed there were no veterans buried there. The placed looked empty. We later learned on walking some pathways that all the marker were flush with the ground. No rows of crosses like those in Chattanooga, or Normandy either for that matter, but there were over 40,000 service men and women, some with spouses, that were interred in that Pennsylvania cemetery.

   But back to the unplanned experience that we were about to have. We could have never planned it. We did not know this place existed.

   As we walked some of the grounds, I spotted a large bird landing on the ground across the road from our car. As I moved toward it, camera in hand, he (or she) flew off on to the top of one of the flag poles lines the roadway. I took a quick shot, from that distance. It might be my only chance, and I could always blow it up on the computer to see what I had. Then the bird flew away.

   We talked about the treat it was to see a large bird like that so close. As I walked with my camera toward a small building, I looked up and there it was again, on top of the roof, and then it flew. I followed its direction and there it was on the ground. As I took a couple more, it flew toward me, landing on a flagpole once again.

   Then down in the brush, poking for something.

   Then off down the road.

   As we loaded back up in the car, I told Mayre that I thought I might stop in the office at the top of the hill and find out about that bird. From its color I thought it might be a golden eagle.

   Stepping into the welcome area, I asked the man behind the desk about the cemetery and then told him about our bird watching. He explained to me all about the cemetery, why it was there, how many folks were buried there, and more questions that I thought to ask while I had his undivided attention.

   What a treat. My mood had taken a rapid turn from frustration to pleasure as those morning events happened one after the other.

   As I mentally wiped the egg off my face, I realized that I was so in the wrong with my attitude about the restroom stop. It had turned into a most unexpected pleasure.

   The beautiful spot…

   The taloned predator…

   The information session with the man in the office…

   You just never know what is there at that exit you don't want to take.