Nostalgia

Webster defines Nostalgia:

1. a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former   place or time

2. a yearning for the return of past circumstances, events, etc

3. a bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past

I guess I agree...and I guess lots of others must as well...and here's why...

I know "I'm not alone" in my love of lighthouses when there are books, calendars, pictures and plenty of others out there with me when we are visiting them, taking pictures, walking clear out to the points in all kinds of weather!  "Historical" groups raising money to keep them and refurbish when they are no longer needed and no longer being used.  They are up and down every coast, every lake, and loved by young and old!  Here are a few beauties we've visited recently along the Great Lakes...

Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse, Kewaunnee WI

Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal North Pierhead Light (c1882) Sturgeon Bay WI

Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Lighthouse (c1899) Sturgeon Bay WI

Another one is old barns!  We've been traveling through "America's Dairyland", Wisconsin, and what joy it's been to see so many beautiful barns that's been saved and decorated with the heritage barn quilts.  They don't have to, they could have just replaced them with the more modern metal ones, but they chose not to, and many of us are glad they haven't!

And take a look at these three beauties from Michigan!

Like a number of other cities, Green Bay has created a wonderful National Railroad Museum that Jack and I spent almost a full day at.  What a collection they have gathered!  They have some "one of a kind" locomotives, such as the Dwight D  Eisenhower WWII command train and the Union Pacific 1940s "Big Boy" weighing in over 600 tons.  They even had a rare Aerotrain, something that was tried, and failed, back in the mid 50s. It was in pretty bad shape, but the model of it sure was a beauty, to bad it didn't work!  A guy by the name of Bauer collected "Drumheads", which I had never heard of before, they are "the colorful, illuminated signs hung at the rear of America's top trains.  Their mission was to help identify and promote the finest means of travel on the rails." He donated his entire collection to the museum, and what an incredible collection it was too!  In his bio, he said he wanted to collect "something different that no one else was collecting, but didn't know how big they were until after he ordered his first one and it arrived in three crates!"  Pretty funny, and it didn't seem to stop him! 

The Eisenhower, The National Train Museum, Green Bay WI

Marie in front of The Big Boy, The National Train Museum, Green Bay WI

The Aerotrain model, The National Train Museum, Green Bay WI

The Bauer Drumhead Collection, The National Train Museum, Green Bay WI

I even got to fulfill a "nostalgic dream" and go aboard a tug boat!  I'm not entirely sure why, but I've always loved tug boats.  They are just so cute...something about them being so little, yet so strong - pulling those great big ships!  I've always fantasized how cool it would be to own one and just tootle along the open waters.  But, of course, I've never even been on one...until the other day!  Kewaunee WI has the 1943 WWII Tug Ludington that they have carefully restored and allow tours on board, all for the grand sum of $1 each!  She was only one of 8 tugs constructed specifically for the war and participated in the D-Day invasion of Normandy as "Major Wilbur Fr. Browder", towing ammunition barges across the English Channel.  In 1947, the tug was transferred to Kewaunee by the Corps of Engineers and renamed the Tug Ludington.  Since its arrival in Kewaunee, was the construction & maintenance of many harbors on the Great Lakes.  A conservative estimate is that the tug has hauled over 1 million tons of cargo since she's been here...a well deserved retirement, I'd say!  I was thrilled to have finally gotten the chance to see the insides of a "real workhorse"!

Let's hear if for all the people who keep our "nostalgia" alive!

...kicking back in Wisconsin,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Back on the road again!

It was time we left Nashville and headed east toward Indianapolis, our next destination.  We decided to take a slower highway, and use the 41 & 37 instead of the Interstate, to enjoy some of the country scenery, and we weren't disappointed.  I love to look at old barns and small towns with "ghost ads" on the old buildings, along with lots of corn fields, soy crops and even an Amish carriage or two to see clopping along side of us instead of billboards, fast food eateries and gas stations.  The roads can be a little rough sometimes, but it's fair trade off, we think. 

When I looked for a place to stay the night, I noticed that there was a state campground in Henderson KY named for John James Audubon, one of my favorite artists, so how could I resist?  We pulled in, and it was practically empty!  What a beautiful campground it was too!  Just as you would expect, with lots of trees, trails and birds.  Next door was a wonderful museum built by a woman that grew up with him & his family that felt it was important to preserve his history and his work.  He had lived there in Henderson for almost a decade.  She contacted his family (he had two sons) and explained what she wanted to do and asked them for anything that they may have kept (very little, sadly enough) of his.  Luckily, she was able to get donations from various members all through his family.  They have a complete set of his American Bird Books, which are only 8 known left, and of course, a number of his beautiful original drawings.  All in all, it was an amazing place, well worth the stop!

Right across the bridge was Evansville IN where Jack enjoyed visiting the USS LST-325 Ship Memorial.  He likes that sort of thing.  I, sat out on their patio and enjoyed the sun and watched the barges move "stuff" up and down the Ohio river!  Fun!  ;-)

The following day we made it into Indianapolis!  Vroom, Vroom!  "The Speedway!"  The whole reason we were there!  We have some long time friends who have been involved in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in one way or another, for many years, so it carries some "extra" excitement for us to see it in person, after all the years (of hearing their stories).  No races taking place, which, actually was a good thing, because then all you see is the race.  This way, you get to take a tour and see the whole Speedway, inside and out!  And what a tour it is too, wow!  They take you on a mini-bus and drive you around the whole track, stop at various parts and explain things, then you get out and go inside the Media Center and see what they see, etc.  We also saw Gasoline Alley, the Garage area, the Emergency Medical Center, where the driver's park their RVs (a bit more fancy than ours!) the "Victory Stage", etc.  Then afterwards you have the museum itself.  All pretty impressive.  Oh, and while we were there, there was a couple of guys practicing for the up-coming motorcycle race, so we were able to watch them for a bit too!  Fun afternoon!

A quick drive through "downtown" Indianapolis with a nice Canal Walk, murals and some pretty incredible statues, then off we went again!

...on the road,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Its all the little things...

My goal on this trip was to see all the "little things" in this country, as well as the big attractions.  America is made up of billions of fun sights, scenic byways, locally known places and surprises.  All to often we "get going" and miss some of them along the way, but for the most part, we try our best to take the time to seek out those special treasures and enjoy them.  Lots of times its something we spot along the road and a quick shout out "oh my, take a look at that!" or "did you see that?" gives us our chuckle for the day.  Some, I manage to capture with my camera, some, I'm not so lucky.

Sometimes its just enjoying nature, seeing & feeling the changing of the seasons.  Living so long in southern California, its easy to forget what a true season is like.  Autumn colors are beginning to paint the landscapes along our route these days.  Cool breezes whisk the leaves hither and yon and the rain beats it's music on our rooftop fairly frequently.

One of the latest little things we've enjoyed lately was when we took a quick trip around the Cave Hill Cemetery in Lexington.  The famous Col Sanders is buried there and I thought it was only fitting that I pay homage to my favorite "chicken chef".  As we drove around this huge place, we were aw struck at some of the incredibly beautiful headstones.  People used to really invest in having something special created in honor of their loved ones, making them a thing of beauty for all (the rest of) us to enjoy.  We did find the good ol' Colonel, only to also find a nice lady standing guard.  It turned out that KFC Corporate was hosting a team building experience for some of their employees and one of their stops was his grave site!  As we chatted with her, we commented on her cute red t shirt with a screen print of a person asking a chicken with an egg next to it, "So, what does come first?"  She shared that we were the first (public) to see it, that it, as well as several other (cute) screen prints were going to be part of the new uniform for 2013!  We approved.

Speaking of chickens, it doesn't get any funnier than the one coming out of the front of a restaurant!  Its one of those you have to see it to believe it places.  For that, we pulled over and I was able to snap a couple of shots of it.  It's a well known, or maybe I should say, its a well advertised restaurant in Branson.  We chuckled and shook our heads every time we passed by it. 

Barns capture my attention a lot of the time - and there's been plenty to see this year!  Usually we are driving to fast for me to take a good picture of, but occasionally I can get a snap in.  The ones I've missed I'm sad about because they are usually the ones with the quilt painted on, or old advertisements (called "ghost ads" I found out) painted on their sides.  When we drove by the St Louis Arch, I got off a quick snap because we were stuck in traffic!  We really didn't want to drive through the city, so we passed on stopping to visit it.

One thing we try and do upon entering each new state is stop at their Visitor Center.  These people are great resources for all kinds of things.  They have helped us with maps, scenic routes, routes to avoid, regional music and food and just all kinds of wonderful ideas and advise.  Sometimes their center is a "destination" itself, like the one in Missouri.  Their "theme" was Route 66.  They had all kinds of fun stuff built round it, including each picnic table's shade structure designed to look like a place along the route!  Their floor showed the whole map, including the iconic US66 logo. 

As I am writing this, I'm enjoying the beautiful scenery and solitude of the state park we are staying at for a few days.  The only sounds are the leaves rustling from the breeze and the birds chirping nearby.  Many times we have found that there are only a few of us in a great big park.  I'm sure too, that as the temperatures continue to cool, we will see even fewer fellow campers.  It's rejuvenating to just settle in, surrounded by nature, and not "go see" this or that...to just to sit back and enjoy being here, reminding me, that's why we are doing this...

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

...on the road,  Marie