Saturday we backtracked a bit and went north west to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It isn't our first trip -- it's our third. We camped in a quiet campground called Shady Grove near Denver, PA. We spent our time in Ephrata and from camp ventured to the Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum in Lancaster.
The Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum is dedicated to telling the history of the Pennsylvania Germans--or Pennsylvania Duth as they are also known. A hotel was built there in 1856 called the Landis Valley House and a commmunity grew up around the hotel and became known as the landis Valley. Brothers Henry K. and George D. Landis grew up in this community and began collecting local antique and established a private museum here in 1925. The Commonwealth of PA acquired their museum in 1953 and expanded the museum. There are 100 acres, 50 buildigs and about 100,000 objects.
By 1750 about 1/3 of PA's inhabitants originated from areas adjacent to the Rhine River in what is today southwest Germany, Switzerland and Alsace. Their religious bckgrounds included Lutherans, Reformed, Amish, Mennonites, Dunkards, Moravians, Schwenkfelders, Roman Catholic and many others. In addition to the hotel, there were farms, trades shops, a Mennonite Church, and a livestock auction.
We were there on Monday afternoon and took an hour tour of the site and watched the introduction movie, but ran out of time, so went back on Tuesday morning to visit the remainder of the buildings. We enjoyed talking to broom makers who make brooms in the Appalacian style. We also met a shoe maker who told us about the shoes he was making, and the various types of leather and the types of people who would have worn them.
It was an interesting site to visit and would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in German life in colonial America.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Pictures - Winterthur and Longwood Gardens
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| Diningroom at Winterthur 5th floor |
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| Flower bed in formal garden at Longwood |
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| A beautiful Lily pad flower - Longwood |
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| Open Air theater Fountain - Longwood |
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| In the Granite Quarry Garden - Winterthur |
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| Furniture Gallery at Winterthur |
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| My Favorite Garden - the Italian Water Garden at Longwood |
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| Jack in the bird's nest - Enchanted Garden - Winterthur |
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| Children's cottage in Enchanted Garden - Winterthur |
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| One of the Pipe rooms at Longwood Gardens |
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| Reflecting Pool at Winterthur |
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Trenton, NJ Area July 23-25
On July 22 we moved from Clarksboro, NJ to Cream Ridge, NJ to the Timberland Lake Campground. This campground surrounds a lake and most of the campsites are sandy. We were amazed -- tenters 3 - 4 to a site. By the time we left on Saturday, the campground was full to bursting. The theme for this weekend is Christmas in July, so Friday night the campground was a wonderland of Christmas lights.
Our main purposes in the trip into this area were to see the Old Barracks built during the French and Indian War and to go to Menlo Park and learn more about Edison. Wednesday we drove into Historic Trenton and were fortunate to secure a parking spot (FREE!) right next to the Old Barracks! The security guard suggested we tour the NJ Capitol as there would be a tour starting in ten minutes. We took his advice and had a great tour of the building. By the time we finished there, we were able to catch the noon tour of the Old Barracks. We were part of a group sworn into the Continental Army of 1777, and the most interesting part to me was the visit to the infirmary where a very cheerful "nurse" checked us over to ensure we were healthy. She then explained that we would have to get smallpox, and described the process. I'll take the modern version any day! After our tour and the 20-minute movie about Washington's 10 days of battles, we got our lunch and sat in the courtyard of the Barracks to eat. After eating we walked the two blocks to the State History Museum and spent an hour there before heading back to camp, about 25 minutes away.
Thursday, July 24, we drove to Edison's Menlo Park. The original buildings are gone, but there is a two-room cinder block museum there and a tower built by Edison's workers with a huge bulb on the top. The curator of the library was very helpful and gave us a lot of information of what had been on this site and had pictures of Edison's time there. She also had many of his inventions, and demonstrated the foil recording and the wax cylinder recordings. She also suggested we drive to West Orange, NJ and see the National Historic site which we did.
We toured the 3-story factory and I especially enjoyed the Research Library with Edison's desk with everything on it exactly where it was the day he died. When he died they closed the desk and reopened it on what would have been his 100th birthday. I was also fascinated by the fact that nestled in one of the stacks was a bed for him so he could catch a few winks. The 3rd floor was the music room with demonstrations of the recordings he made and the phonographs he invented. We also toured the Chemistry lab. We were unable to visit his home, as it's only open Friday - Sunday, and tickets are snapped up early in the morning.
Friday we went to Freehold, NJ and had breakfast at Panera Bread and spent the morning exploring the area. On our way home we stopped at the Jackson Premium Outlets and did some window shopping.
Our main purposes in the trip into this area were to see the Old Barracks built during the French and Indian War and to go to Menlo Park and learn more about Edison. Wednesday we drove into Historic Trenton and were fortunate to secure a parking spot (FREE!) right next to the Old Barracks! The security guard suggested we tour the NJ Capitol as there would be a tour starting in ten minutes. We took his advice and had a great tour of the building. By the time we finished there, we were able to catch the noon tour of the Old Barracks. We were part of a group sworn into the Continental Army of 1777, and the most interesting part to me was the visit to the infirmary where a very cheerful "nurse" checked us over to ensure we were healthy. She then explained that we would have to get smallpox, and described the process. I'll take the modern version any day! After our tour and the 20-minute movie about Washington's 10 days of battles, we got our lunch and sat in the courtyard of the Barracks to eat. After eating we walked the two blocks to the State History Museum and spent an hour there before heading back to camp, about 25 minutes away.
Thursday, July 24, we drove to Edison's Menlo Park. The original buildings are gone, but there is a two-room cinder block museum there and a tower built by Edison's workers with a huge bulb on the top. The curator of the library was very helpful and gave us a lot of information of what had been on this site and had pictures of Edison's time there. She also had many of his inventions, and demonstrated the foil recording and the wax cylinder recordings. She also suggested we drive to West Orange, NJ and see the National Historic site which we did.
We toured the 3-story factory and I especially enjoyed the Research Library with Edison's desk with everything on it exactly where it was the day he died. When he died they closed the desk and reopened it on what would have been his 100th birthday. I was also fascinated by the fact that nestled in one of the stacks was a bed for him so he could catch a few winks. The 3rd floor was the music room with demonstrations of the recordings he made and the phonographs he invented. We also toured the Chemistry lab. We were unable to visit his home, as it's only open Friday - Sunday, and tickets are snapped up early in the morning.
Friday we went to Freehold, NJ and had breakfast at Panera Bread and spent the morning exploring the area. On our way home we stopped at the Jackson Premium Outlets and did some window shopping.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Winterthur Museum and Longwood Gardens July 19/20. 2014
We are currently camping in Clarksboro, NJ which was the closest campground to the sites we were interested in visiting.....in Pennsylvania and Delaware!
Saturday we visited the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Del. We were interested in seeing it, as we had watched a program on PBS and the museum sounded like it would be of interest. We arrived about 11 a.m. and secured a tour time for the "house" at 12:00 noon. It was suggested we take the Garden tour tram on our way, as it would give us a good view of Mr. du Ponts Garden. He built his mansion in the country and loved gardening, so he filled his acres (2000) with trees, flowering shrubs and ground cover and built his 4-story mansion there. Mr. duPont lived on the estate until 1969 when he died. During the last years of his life he added 5 floors to his house (yes, he had 9 floors) and remodeled the rooms to make them more applicable as museum areas to show his collections of furniture, art, and textiles. In the 1950's he build a smaller home for himself across the driveway and moved into it. His swimming pool became a reflecting pool, the rock quarry on his property became a rock garden with patio and tables and benches. After his death another building was erected to house a gift shop and a cafe. We toured the 5th floor in a group of 10 people and toured the furniture and textile/art exhibits on the ground floor. We also enjoyed seeing the 120 soup tureens in permanent exhibit from the Campbell Soup Company. We enjoyed the Enchanted Woods, an area for children but enjoyed by adults as well. We left at 4 and started back to camp.
On Sunday we had 1:00 p.m. reservations to see the Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania - 30 miles west of Philadelphia. Our entry time was 1:00 p.m. and we arrived about 12:45. The gardens were built by Phillip du Pont. Originally he bought the first tract of land to save the trees. We visited his home and learned he and wife Alice both enjoyed the beauty of flowers. They built 20 "gaardens" and a 4-acre Conservatory housing lily pads, palms, orchids, roses and thousands of other plants. The gardens are arranged so that there is always something blooming. From June the fountains are the main focus. My favorite was the Italian Water garden. We will post some pictures in the blog.
We spent 4 hours here and walked about 3 miles! We were exhausted so grabbed dinner on our way home.
Tuesday we'll move closer to Trenton, NJ.
Saturday we visited the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Del. We were interested in seeing it, as we had watched a program on PBS and the museum sounded like it would be of interest. We arrived about 11 a.m. and secured a tour time for the "house" at 12:00 noon. It was suggested we take the Garden tour tram on our way, as it would give us a good view of Mr. du Ponts Garden. He built his mansion in the country and loved gardening, so he filled his acres (2000) with trees, flowering shrubs and ground cover and built his 4-story mansion there. Mr. duPont lived on the estate until 1969 when he died. During the last years of his life he added 5 floors to his house (yes, he had 9 floors) and remodeled the rooms to make them more applicable as museum areas to show his collections of furniture, art, and textiles. In the 1950's he build a smaller home for himself across the driveway and moved into it. His swimming pool became a reflecting pool, the rock quarry on his property became a rock garden with patio and tables and benches. After his death another building was erected to house a gift shop and a cafe. We toured the 5th floor in a group of 10 people and toured the furniture and textile/art exhibits on the ground floor. We also enjoyed seeing the 120 soup tureens in permanent exhibit from the Campbell Soup Company. We enjoyed the Enchanted Woods, an area for children but enjoyed by adults as well. We left at 4 and started back to camp.
On Sunday we had 1:00 p.m. reservations to see the Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania - 30 miles west of Philadelphia. Our entry time was 1:00 p.m. and we arrived about 12:45. The gardens were built by Phillip du Pont. Originally he bought the first tract of land to save the trees. We visited his home and learned he and wife Alice both enjoyed the beauty of flowers. They built 20 "gaardens" and a 4-acre Conservatory housing lily pads, palms, orchids, roses and thousands of other plants. The gardens are arranged so that there is always something blooming. From June the fountains are the main focus. My favorite was the Italian Water garden. We will post some pictures in the blog.
We spent 4 hours here and walked about 3 miles! We were exhausted so grabbed dinner on our way home.
Tuesday we'll move closer to Trenton, NJ.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Summer 2014 - Shenandoah National Park VA 7/17/14
This morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny cool (60 degree) morning. A perfect day to go to the National Park! We entered the park near Harrisonburg, VA at the southern end of the park around 10 a.m. and exited the park about 3:30 at Front Royal. We enjoyed seeing the beautiful vistas of mountains and valley along the Skyline Drive. Jack took quite a few pictures on the way. We stopped at the Byrd Visitor Center which is right across the road from the Big Meadows, a large open area with many paths to walk and enjoy the flowers and birds. We saw 3 deer - a buck and a doe and one in the distance that I guess is a doe, as I couldn't see any antlers.
The rangers gave us some ideas of hikes to take, and so we took one along the Appalachian Trail and enjoyed the views from the clearings along the trail. We stopped at a picnic area and ate the lunch we had packed last night.
Coming out of the park we stopped in Front Royal Visitor's Center and decided that we need to come up another time to check out the Civil War history of the area.
While the National Park is beautiful, I have to say that the scenery along the Blue Ridge Parkway is every bit as beautiful!
Tomorrow we head to a new campground in New Jersey.
The rangers gave us some ideas of hikes to take, and so we took one along the Appalachian Trail and enjoyed the views from the clearings along the trail. We stopped at a picnic area and ate the lunch we had packed last night.
Coming out of the park we stopped in Front Royal Visitor's Center and decided that we need to come up another time to check out the Civil War history of the area.
While the National Park is beautiful, I have to say that the scenery along the Blue Ridge Parkway is every bit as beautiful!
Tomorrow we head to a new campground in New Jersey.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
On the Road Again!!!
Yes, to quote the title of Willie Nelson's recording, we're ON THE ROAD AGAIN! We're late this year, as we usually are long gone from Raleigh by June. We left Raleigh this morning and arrived at our first campground, the Harrisonburg/Shenandoah Valley KOA about 4 this afternoon. The first day on the road is always stressful, but thankfully it was uneventful.
This campground is definitely off the beaten path! We left I-81 at exit 257 and took a 4 mile roller coaster ride up and down hills past alpaca farms, dairy farms, and housing developments and then at the end of the 4 miles entered KOA. It's very quiet and heavily wooded. Our site does not have tv (OH NO!!!!) by our choice. No sense paying for tv when it's all reruns or sports.
Tomorrow we plan to go to the National Park. Stay tuned for more info tomorrow.
This campground is definitely off the beaten path! We left I-81 at exit 257 and took a 4 mile roller coaster ride up and down hills past alpaca farms, dairy farms, and housing developments and then at the end of the 4 miles entered KOA. It's very quiet and heavily wooded. Our site does not have tv (OH NO!!!!) by our choice. No sense paying for tv when it's all reruns or sports.
Tomorrow we plan to go to the National Park. Stay tuned for more info tomorrow.
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