Autumn Fantasy

Leaves blew against

houses and cars,

mounding burnt orange,

umber, red, and copper leaves,

mulching shrubs,

burying flower beds

and clogging gutters.

With gusty winds

my rake is for naught.

It seems like yesterday

my childhood friends and I

played house in the yard,

raked leaves into walls--

bedroom walls, living room walls,

garage walls that held

imaginary luxury cars;

we played tag and danced in

blueprints of castles

with glorious ballrooms

opening onto patios and porticos.

In my flannel-lined jeans

and plaid shirt, I waltzed

with my friends,

imaginary knights and dukes;

twirling past dusk

in the mansions of our minds.

After that last call for bed

we would roll in the leaves,

savoring the pungent earthiness,

then jump up and down

shaking the scratchy fibers free.

Later, bundled in bed,

the spicy scent

perfuming our hair

drafted the sweetest dreams.

Ashland Fall

Chuck’s Leaves

Two days

after the fall sun

dried sodden

leaf mounds,

he walked

through the trees,

kicking leaves,

sending oak, poplar,

and plate sized maple

flapping and fluttering

around himself:

the 80 year old man

with the ten year old heart.

Thursday, October 8

Another beautiful day. After a skimpy Super 8 breakfast we headed out toward Dulles International on HWY 13 north to HWY 50. We crossed the Bay Bridge and headed into Annapolis for some lunch and historical browsing. Very coincidental, because our trip began here about 3 weeks ago. We arrived into Annapolis along with the annual Sailboat show. All those well-to-do shoppers gave the town a real buzz. We walked along Main street to the harbor, noticed the boats and ships; we were partially shopping, partially looking for a good place for lunch. We found an Irish tavern by the harbor and had a wonderful lunch of fresh seafood. Then we investigated the first capital building of the United States, the Maryland State House. One of the most fascinating parts of this statehouse was the acorn shaped cupola that had a rod atop it designed by Benjamin Franklin. I was so moved to be in a building where many great men had gathered to debate the good of our country.

Then it was off to DC. With some effort we found our non smoking Econolodge room. That's right, the one that is now killing my nose with its pervasive smell of smoke. All we noticed when we inspected the room was the brand new marble bathroom. Thank God this is our last motel room. We are ready to be home. We did find a delicious meal at a very busy restaurant a short walk up the road. I wish I could make French Onion soup that well.

We have much to be thankful for. The weather has been incredible We have had only 2 days when it rained. One of those was at night while we slept, and the other storm passed by noon. The weather has been much warmer than we expected as well.

The food has been different. We only had one horrid meal, a very good record for that many meals out. Of course we only bought one meal a day. Vegetables on the east coast are interessting. We found lots of canned vegetables. Often the fresh vegetables we did find were overcooked. We carried raw celery and carrots with us, or we would have been a long time without crunch. As the cook I have had lots of days off, so I think I am ready to go home and "put dinner on the table."

Wednesday, October 7

The day began with another walk along the promenade in Virginia Beach. Rain was forecast for today, but it all happened before we went out. It was still cloudy as various military in civvies ran past. Their planes were racing back and forth overhead. We walked past a touching air carrier memorial. Great morning walk.

Then, as the sun shone and clouds cleared, we headed toward the East Virginia shore, the other side of the Chesapeake. To get there we had to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Built in 1964, the bridge/tunnel system is described as one of the seven structural engineering wonders of the world. Measuring 17.6 miles from shore to shore, the passage consists of 12 miles of trestled bridge, two mile long tunnels under the bay so large ships can pass over them, four man-made islands made by thousands of 15 ton boulders or rip rap. It was pretty impressive, and I will note that Chuck got his $12 toll's worth. She who hates tunnels put on a brave front and survived quite nicely. It was definitely my longest brave front ever.

Starting up HWY 13 toward Maryland, our first and most interesting stop of the whole vacation was at the Barrier Islands Cultural Center near Machipongo. The cultural center was the Almshouse Farm during the 1800's. Shortly after we were inside we were met by the center's historian Jerry Doughty. Since Jerry had lived in the area all his life and had the pleasure of a pioneer grandfather who had told him stories of the island's days of grandeur.

The beautiful town or island names like Wachapeague, Metompkin, and Chincoteague go back to the first Algonquin inhabitants. Their numbers dwindled and the remnants intermarried.

The area was the playground of the New York and Pennsylvania rich. Huge hotels and private gaming clubs for men were very popular at the turn of the century. Sea salt, seafood, and tourism made that county one of the richest in New England. Robert E Lee was one of the island property owners. And one of the biggest businesses was smuggling---from Civil War medicines to Joe Kennedy's rum running. Unfortunately, the prosperity was not to last. The use of DDT and arsenic in agriculture ruined lots of the seafood business. There was the depression and economic downturn in the 30's as well, and most significantly, the beginning of the hurricane seasons for the area, starting in 1933. The 1933 hurricane wiped out many of the hotels and mansions of the rich. They were never rebuilt.

Today there are times when potable water is a problem Global warming is placing all of the island at risk. Developers have exploited resources appealing to tourists. Jerry was truly worried about the area's future.

We moved to the attic where we looked at the unique chimney built for the almshouse. It was twisted in the attic so the smoke would blow the right direction. There were also beautiful examples of decoys that early hunters and islanders had carved. There was also a 4 barreled gun used to shoot birds.

After the museum we had lunch in the Exmore Diner. A true diner with pony-tailed waitresses and the menu at our booth. Good food. Then we were off to Chincoteague to find wild horses. Sadly, the horses were busy doing other things. It had been a great day. We drove into Salisbury, MD, for the night.

Tuesday, October 6

What a perfect ending for a day. Tonight we are in Virginia Beach and just finished walking blocks along the beach promenade. We have spent entirely too much time in the car this trip, so it was so refreshing to walk and listen to the waves. And the helicopters and jets from the adjacent naval air force base. It seems those planes are in constant motion.

Our day started in Charlottesville, VA. We left a Super 8 manned by the world's grumpiest staff, and headed out on I-64. We thought we were going to Monticello. Unfortunately it was in the opposite direction. So we forgot that plan, and kept going to Williamsburg. Williamsburg's historic district must be quite a money-maker. If we had wanted to enter the homes and 17th century businesses, it would have cost it us $30 a piece. For free we walked up and down the Duke of Glouchester street. Proprietors were on hand to welcome tourists and gawkers like us. I discovered the Historic Society buys their costumes. Each worker reports for a fitting and receives an authentic costume and a list detailing the cost—in case it is lost or stolen.

Williamsburg was a great walk, but eventually we left in search of good food. We found some great Asian food @ $6 a plate. Then it was on to Virginia Beach.

Monday, October 5

I cannot imagine a more perfect day. After replacing my lost camera bag and media cards, we set off down HWY 30 to I-81. We took a detour to Antietam and enjoyed the bright sunny day walking around the battlefield. We walked to the Dunker Church, looked at the exhibits at the visitor center, and listened to a lecture on the medical care for the battle. Then we drove a few miles for an excellent meal at the Red Byrd. Then back to 81. We took the exit to I-66, and Front Royal because we were told the Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah Valley was spectacular. The ride was incredible, and was along a breathetaking ridge at 2000+ feet. We could see forever. Unfortunately, I was pretty uncomfortable with my fear of heights, but as Chuck phrased it, “ I made the trip with a few fingernails left.” Since the entire National Park trip takes about 5 hours at the speed limit of 35 mph, we left the park at Thorton's Gap. HWY 231 was a lovely, rolling shortcut to Highway 29 to Charlottesville. We are relaxing in our jammies after some Mexican food and a huge marguerita that we shared.

How romantic.

Sunday, October 4

We had enjoyed the state of New York, but today we crossed Pennsylvania from the northeast to southwest Gettsyburg. Rolling beautiful hills and villages dot the sides of the road. The northern part of the state had the same blazing color found in New York and Vermont. I realize that if the color is great in the south, leaves have fallen in the north. If color is beautiful in the Adirondacks, it is still green in Maryland.

We haven't said much about food. We had found some wonderful inexpensive food until today. Around 12:30 we were cruising down Hwy 81 when we decided to look for a dinnerhouse with the most cars. This has always been an effective strategy. Unfortunately we drove about 7 miles to this small town, picked the diner with the most cars. Casual dress. Down home kind of place with specials like chicken pot pie. Chuck ordered the roast beef dinner, and I ordered a meatloaf sandwich which came with “filling.” Filling was defined as potatoes mixed with onions, celery, etc. What we received was enough food for 5 people. I had this huge plate covered with dark brown stuff. Gravy. Except it didn't taste like gravy. More like brown wallpaper paste. So I lifted the top piece of white bread and ate the meatloaf which was pretty good. The filling wasn't bad either. Fortunately Chuck had shared his salad with me. He put away half of his dry roast beef. Anyway, we left trying to forget the experience. I swallowed a Pepsid about an half hour later.

We arrived at Gettsyburg at about 3:30 and checked into a motel. Then we walked through a forest to get to the Visitor Center. The Gettysburg foundation has built a new center which charges for almost all the exhibits. It is big, glitzy, and has many workers keeping the massive new wood floor shiny. Our motel manager said the new charges ($3 more just this year) paid a number of executives. Our compromise was to take the car tour around the battlefield. We enjoyed the drive. How could such beauty be defiled by such carnage. Although I had been here 10 years ago, I had forgotten how massive the battle was. A beautiful end to our day. The only negative was that I lost my camera case in the moving in and out of the car process. It contained several cards, a flash drive, and my mechanism for transferring pictures to my computer. Drat.

Saturday,October 3

Fortunately we woke up alive this morning. After finding that bizarre motel in North Albany, NY, I wasn't sure what would happen. We left early—at 8 am-- not hanging around the strange place. I had asked for our money back yet again, and promised I would write the health department, so they were quite glad to get rid of me.

Our first stop was Glen Falls, but it was raining so we headed into the Adirondack National Park, 6 million acres of mountains and beautiful fall color. We drove north to Brant Lake, then took HWY 8 to HWY 28 to the upper Hudson River, and the Indian River. We were traveling a road that was built in 1850, although it was a very modern road. Following the Sacandaga River, we finally bordered a lake by the same name. We moved in and out of the fog, always appreciating the beautiful color on the sides of the road. At Amsterdam we grabbed the freeways to drive southwest to Binghamton, NY, and a clean motel without mice or backward New Yorkers. While Maryann did laundry, Chuck watched football. As I record the day he is well into his 2nd game. Sadly, many Pac 10 games won't begin until we are asleep.

Friday, October 2

We are staying in the Bates Motel. It has been a long, crazy, yet beautifully colored day. Sunny. Gorgeous mountain drives. However, yet again we have had several small crises. Nothing to dampen our sense of humor. Nothing to discourage our sense of adventure.

The first little boo-boo occurred when Chuck locked the doors of our still running rental car when we got out at a visitor center at Woodstock, VT, just after we had driven the Kancamagus Highway. When your main car is a Prius, there is a tendency to think all cars are like Priuses and have that keyless entry and ignition. We lost an hour and a bit of gas waiting for the AAA service car to let us into the car. We were both pretty quiet about that one. Easy mistake to make, so we are being super careful now.

The second was finding this motel. We had been on the road since 9 am, and we had hoped to find a motel in Bennington. (And look up Robert Frost in the graveyard there.) However, they were having a Moose Fest. Main street was a pasture full of life size moose statues that had been decorated and dressed to be auctioned off at the end of the festival. A bookstore manager who surely was a Chamber of Commerce bigwig tried to sell one to me, claiming that people came from as far as the West Coast to purchase one of the big cuties. But the real impact was there was no room in the Inn. Not unless we wanted to pay $149 for the Hampton Inn or one of the high end motels. I would also compare Bennington to a beautiful girl who was a little stuck on herself. And it was after 5 pm. So we started toward Troy hoping this bedroom community to Albany would have a roo9m. We tried several highways leaving Troy, but no motels except for a Hilton on a hill that said $$$$. By this time it was nearly dark and Chuck was weary, but it was just a few miles to I-87, and I had a book listing many motels there. (And why wasn't I using my GPS to find motels? Because it was dead. And why wasn't I calling for reservations? Because my cell phone battery was dead too.) So we forged on. Finally we were moving on I-87 and yes, there were motels. After getting on the service road, we missed the Holicay Express by not being in the right lane. We pulled into the next motel after noting it had a clean exterior. Just $65 later, we were in a room. And then I noticed the mouse. And Chuck, never particularly worried about mice, noticed the TV didn't work. Did I say that by this time it is almost 8 pm. We called the manager in, and he agreed to give us another room because he was unable to refund our money. (He had no way to reverse a credit card charge.) The room he found for us had clean sheets and pillowcases, but needed the spread and blanket from the other room. I made the bed. Then I took my hand disinfectant and did a bit of sprucing up in the bathroom. I decided it was a bit chilly, and then I realized the heating-cooling unit was a plastic case only. I am hoping this first floor unit will not get too nippy tonight. We were really breaking up about that one. But Chuck was much too tired to drive somewhere else, and we would have lost our money.

On the positive side, the White Mountains were full of every fall color. There were lots of trails and Overlooks so we could photograph the valleys and streams with their hillsides sparkling in the sun. Fall color and fellow leaf peepers were everywhere. I suspect this was very close to peak color here because leaves were already starting to fall. I am sure that my photography didn't picture half of the splendor before me. Beside highway 112 beginning with the Kancamagus Mountains and stops for historic farms, the Quechee Gorge was a breath-taking sight.

Wednesday, September 30

The subway. Maryann hates subways. Claustrophobia. Today was our day to freestyle it in the city. After a hearty breakfast we were off. The first part of the ride was great and above ground, but we ended our ride nosing our way into a tunnel by Copley Square. Since Chuck wanted to revisit the Berklee School of Music—it's now music, all types of music, not just jazz—that was our first stop. Chuck really enjoyed walking around the campus, finding his dorm, talking about how the college has changed. Berklee now owns almost the whole Back Bay area, and the school has doubled in size. He was able to find TC's, a bar he visited once in awhile as a student. Unfortunately the Back Bay Lounge was now Dunkin Donuts.

Then we walked cross country to the Museum of Fine Arts. Our hosts had lent us their family membership, and that provided admission and some great art for the whole afternoon. There was a great display of the designs and furniture of the architects Greene. There were great Gainsbourghs, Monets, and sculptures. After a great lunch in the cafeteria, we visited the second floor. By 3 pm we were tired of walking and caught the subway Intown. At Copley Square we had to find the outbound subway. After a tour of the gorgeous Boston Public Library, and asking a few natives, we finally found the Outbound tunnel. The ride to the suburbs was much shorter than on Long Island. Back at our hosts, we repacked, I wrote, and Chuck watched the Red Socks on Big Screen TV.

Thursday, October 1

We left our friends Dan and Joan Kunitz and headed for Walden Pond. When we arrived, it was closed. No—not the pond—the gift shop and very spendy parking lot. So we parked before a “Don't park here unless you are shopping sign, and checked out the pond. A cement path around the pond hosted pods of walkers. There was some color around the pond, but it was early yet. Then we drove the Minuteman's ride between Concord and Lexington. The Miniteman's visitor center was well interpreted. Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit Hawthorne's or Alcott's homes.

Then it was off to Cape Ann. Highway 127 takes you on the perimeter of the Cape past fascinating mansions, homes of middleclass fishermen, art galleries on Rockport, the area that was home to Winslow Homer and Edward Hooper, the famous Captain at the wheel statue, and the fishing fleet in Glouchester. Heading north, we finally arrived at North Conway before dark. As we drove north the color became more intense. We will definitely see enough color in New England. We have pulled out the sweat shirts and coats. (Yes, Chuck has been reunited with his coat.)