Chapter 46 - Philadelphia and Washington
October 31 - Nov 30, 1999
Oct. 31: On the road again! After spending 22 nights at the Canandaigua NY KOA, we got underway about 11 A.M. We plotted a route toward Philadelphia, along the small state highways, most of which would be new territory for us. We've driven this general direction many times, but have generally taken the longer but faster routes along the Interstates. We stopped in Elmira in early afternoon, to spend a short time in the small Arnot Art Museum. But the museum turned out to be somewhat larger and much more interesting than we expected. The core collection is paintings by European "old masters" and by the best of the then-contemporary European painters working in the late 19th and early 20th century period when Mr. Arnot was actively building his collection. A substantial and varied collection of 19th century American art was also on display, including a broad cross section of the Hudson River School.
The museum is also building a 20th century collection of primarily representational art, and currently has filled their changing exhibition space with the best of this collection, complemented by selections on loan from other museums. This was perhaps the only exhibition of contemporary art that we have actually enjoyed.
Our brief stop occupied the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately, we didn't account for the transition from daylight savings to standard time the night before, and for the rapidly shortening hours of daylight, made even shorter by heavy cloud cover. It was rapidly getting dark as we left the museum, and the first band of trick-or-treat kids were on the streets on the Halloween eve. We checked the directories and found that the nearest campgrounds were closed for the season. The nearest campground that was open and in the general direction we were headed was almost two hours away. (There were probably others nearby that weren't listed in the directories, but finding them in the dark didn't sound like fun). So we got out the Wal-Mart list and found that there was a Wal-Mart in Sayre, Pennsylvania, just 20 miles down the road in the direction we were headed.
Under these conditions, Wal-Mart has a big advantage over most campgrounds. These stores are always located on major routes, with easy access. Their huge parking lots are always brightly lit and easy to navigate. And best of all, Wal-Mart welcomes overnighting RVers (with the exception of a few stores located in areas where overnight parking is prohibited by law.)
We had no problem locating the Sayre Wal-Mart, and pulled into their lot after a brief drive through pitch-black night, with tendrils of fog beginning to drift across the road. We parked in a vacant area far at the back of the lot, did a little shopping, and spent a peaceful night.
Nov. 1: The roads from Sayre to Philadelphia wander through the Allegheny and Pocono Mountains, generally following the river valleys, but occasionally climbing up and over steep ridges, giving impressive views which are still bright with autumn leaf color. The first 90 miles were along state highways, often within view of the Susquehanna River. The valleys are dotted with prosperous-looking farms and attractive small towns. The steep mountainsides are densely forested, mostly with hardwoods. At Wilkes Barre (pronounced Wilkes Berry), we got on Interstate 476, the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Although the road became much faster and straighter, the scenery remained just as attractive. We began to see coal mines in the surrounding hills, some active, some long dormant and identified only by huge piles of tailings.
We arrived in Philadelphia at rush hour, and had to cross the entire metropolitan area to get to our campground across the Delaware River in New Jersey. We made the mistake of choosing Interstate 76, and discovered, too late, that the mile or two of road approaching the Walt Whitman Bridge was under construction. Much of this stretch was reduced to a single narrow twisty lane line lined closely with concrete barriers on both sides. I found this to be very claustrophobic uncomfortable driving, although in fact we probably never had less than 18 inches of clearance on each side of the trailer. Traffic approaching this constricted area moved slowly, but never actually stopped. We got through the whole mess without major delay.
We were unpleasantly reminded of something we had noticed in previous trailer-towing trips along the northeastern seaboard: Traffic engineers here don't believe in informative road signs. Apparently, they assume that local people already know the roads and they don't see any reason to pamper the out-of-towners, who they would rather have stay away anyway. When approaching an expressway interchange in a metropolitan area, we often found ourselves guessing which of six traffic lanes we should choose in order to get to the exit ramp, with no advance warning of whether it was a left or right exit, or straight through.
The signs are too few and too late to be of much help, since it can require miles to move across several lanes with a 55-foot-long rig in bumper-to-bumper traffic. When changing lanes in heavy traffic, I've learned to imitate the no-nonsense approach of the big truckers: switch on the turn signal, wait only briefly, and then begin to move into the next lane - slowly but inexorably, ignoring the blowing horns and one-finger salutes of impatient commuters, while watching in the mirror for that last crazy driver who floors the accelerator to squeeze past before we block the lane completely. It nearly always works. Like the truckers, we're big enough to command respect and perhaps a bit of sympathy.
We pulled into Timberlane Campground in New Jersey just before dark. It's nicely located - only about 15 miles from City Hall, but pleasantly rural and far enough from the expressways to be reasonably quiet. Like most campgrounds near big cities in moderate climates, this one is mostly filled by long-term residents and is open all year. Every campsite has an electric meter, and our weekly rate doesn’t include electricity - we'll read the meter when we leave and pay eleven cents per kilowatt-hour. We've put away the electric heater and turned off the electric element in our water heater. Using our own propane for heat and water heating is considerably more economical when we actually have to pay for the electricity.
Nov 2: The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is housed in a large and delightful 1876 Victorian Gothic building, built specifically for the purpose. Their collection is parochial - focussing on artists who were trained at the Academy or were faculty there, or had other Philadelphia connections. This includes a high percentage of the American artists from the 1800's, although it largely excludes, for example, the prominent Hudson River School artists.
A block down the street, adjacent to City Hall, is the Masonic Temple, completed in 1873. This wasn't on our list of things to see, but when we saw the outside - a whimsical melange of turrets and carved stone, we couldn't resist touring the building. It contains seven large lodge halls, each in a different architectural style-Corinthian, Ionic, Italian Renaissance, Norman, Gothic, Oriental, and Egyptian. Some of these halls are very accurate reproductions of the historic style, built by a team of architects and artists who went to the original historic sites and studied the architecture and design. The hallways and stairways are built on a grand scale, and decorated with chandeliers, paintings, statuary, custom-designed rugs, and other artworks.
We particularly liked one large central hallway with a dark carved wood latticework ceiling high overhead, with a domed plaster ceiling far above that, painted blue and covered with bright stars. One giant staircase is a freestanding cast-iron structure. This place isn't a museum - it is in use daily, hosting meetings for about 30 local Masonic lodges. Our guide estimated that operation and maintenance of the building costs about five million dollars per year.
The building also contains a Masonic museum. We were privileged to see a piece of George Washington's mahogany casket, obtained when he was exhumed and moved to his new marble tomb. Brother George and Brother Ben Franklin were both past Grand Masters of this lodge, and the museum contains a great many artifacts and paintings associated with these individuals as well as with other well-known public figures.
We also walked into the nearby Methodist Church, a large and tasteful Gothic structure from about 1860. A long-time member of the congregation unlocked the sanctuary and gave us an informal tour, including many historical anecdotes. The architect was a prominent Quaker, a religion which makes a virtue of simplicity, and the Methodist Church at that time prohibited icons and religious imagery, so the interior was quite restrained. The stained glass windows had geometric and floral patterns. The walls and domed Gothic ceiling were elaborately painted to accentuate the pleasing lines of the architecture. A large cross was hung on the wall behind the altar in 1920, but there is still no other obvious religious symbolism anywhere in the building.
Nov. 3: The Philadelphia Museum of Art is huge, and we were there for over seven hours without seeing everything. In addition to the usual paintings and other art objects, the Asian collection includes an exquisite old Buddhist temple, a Japanese Tea Room, and large rooms from a Chinese Palace and an Indian temple. The 14th C. fountain in the reconstructed patio of a Medieval Monastery was trickling water. The American wing contains more than 20 "period rooms" where the paneling and woodwork was rescued from old homes of various styles, beautifully reconstructed and then furnished with items appropriate to the time. The collection of European painting is large and diverse, although few of the works are individually famous. The American collection is parochial, with only token representation of artists from other parts of the country.
Nov. 5: The riverfront of Camden, New Jersey, is perhaps typical of many other seaport cities. It owes its original growth to its strategic location at the terminus of an early railroad and near the upper limits of ocean-going shipping on the Delaware River. A century later, the value of this location declined precipitously, for multiple reasons: Water-borne transport declined in importance, displaced by networks of railroads and highways. Heavy industry (such as shipbuilding) moved overseas. New and richer farmlands further west reduced the importance of this location in shipping farm produce. The highway system allowed a more decentralized population and gave new industry a much broader choice of location.
As a result, many of the factories and warehouses along the river were abandoned. These buildings were obsolete, difficult to adapt to other uses, and were largely allowed to fall into disrepair. Even the property itself was viewed as undesirable, potentially polluted, located in out-of-style cental-city locations and perhaps surrounded by equally decayed slum housing.
In the past few decades, affluent or historic cities have begun to acquire and renovate their central-city waterfronts. Directly across the river from Camden, Philadelphia has created almost a mile of waterfront tourist attractions -incorporating historic sites, maritime museums, and parks. Camden, much less affluent and without Philadelphia's guaranteed flow of tourist dollars (from its longer history and concentration of historic sites), has proceeded much more slowly.
Two small waterfront areas have been renovated - one for a new aquarium and some distance away, another for a theater/entertainment complex. Surrounding these are miles of decay. A small amount of shipping still exists, and we stopped to watch a tramp steamer being loaded with a mixed cargo of crates and standard shipping containers. A few businesses are still operating in the decrepit buildings - but they are mostly low-tech and low-profit things like scrap metal processing. Most of the area is closed off by chain link fences, often topped with spirals of razor wire. At one point, we were able to park and walk to the water, enjoying a wonderful view across the river to Philadelphia's riverfront parkland and the skyscrapers behind.
Moving away from the river, we immediately encountered block after block of decaying narrow 3-story brick rowhouses. These are still occupied, but receiving minimal maintenance, biding their time until they disappear under the next urban renewal project.
Nov. 7: Helen went back to spend more time at the Philadelphia Art Museum, accompanied by our daughter Leata. Dave spent a relaxing day catching up on various tasks at the trailer.
Nov. 9: The Morris Arboretum is small as arboretums go, and it was tended much more neatly than is usual for an arboretum. - delightful to see the majestic old specimen trees in beautifully groomed swaths of grass crossed by smooth paths. I could see that the perennials would light up this garden with color during the frost-free seasons. But towering oaks and massive Japanese Zelkovias (often suggested as a replacement for elm trees) were doing the same thing with brilliant red and yellow-gold fall foliage. An old weeping cherry lifted twisty bare branches against the blue sky. The funky old fernery, a vaguely Scottish greenhouse, was lush, filled with intense green.
Woodmere, a mansion turned Art Museum, was a disappointment as just a few of the collection of American paintings were displayed. An exhibit of watercolors was being mounted, but they graciously allowed Helen to walk around.
Nov 10: We hitched up the trailer and moved 134 miles south to Cherry Hill Campground, College Park, Maryland. This is just outside the beltway, convenient to Washington D.C. An uneventful all-Interstate trip, including a detour to a bridge well east of Baltimore, avoiding the harbor tunnels which prohibit propane tanks.
Nov 11: A rainy lazy day. Other than a grocery store visit, we hung around the trailer, reading and fitting a jigsaw puzzle.
Nov. 12: Into Washington DC on the Metro (subway). Visited the National Museum of American Art; Canadian Embassy; Hirshorn Museum (building designed by I. M. Pei), the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art. The East Wing had a stunning exhibit of Chinese Archaeology, which included dozens of life-sized pottery soldiers and horsed, backed by life-sized photographs of hundreds more, in place at the excavation site. Also, Edward Hopper watercolors and a "Lure of the West" exhibit. We also enjoyed walking the streets in the Capital area, looking at other interesting old buildings, and watching big cranes working at a new building site.
Near the National Museum of American Art we saw a remarkable vacant lot. Someone had made it into a formal garden park using branches from fake Christmas trees, each branch woven vertically into the chain-link fence that surrounded the lot on three sides, hiding the walls of ugly adjacent buildings. The branches were so close together that the green nearly obliterated the fence wire, but the wire provided a matrix that brought order and texture to the branches. Looked a bit like a cocoa mat died green and attached to the other buildings - up to 20' high. Then, the branches were neatly clipped along the tops to form profiles of hedges, trees, and other forms that might be in a formal garden. The front façade of the apparently abandoned adjacent building received the same treatment, except the branches were trimmed to be like a garden wall with an opening clipped out for the doorway. An artist was using the lot to display sculpture for sale. The effect was remarkably successful, considering it was plastic!
Nov 13: We visited Pope-Leighey House by Frank Lloyd Wright. This is a very unusual place - very different than the other Wright homes we've seen. It was designed for the "common man" - only 1200 square feet, built from simple materials on a strict budget. The original owner was denied a mortgage on the basis that the house was impractical and would have no resale value. We agreed that it was impractical - Wright was an amazing artist, but a terrible engineer. On the same property, Helen also toured Woodlawn mansion, originally owned by G. Washington granddaughter. It was just another mansion, not as meticulously restored as others we've seen.
Nov. 14: The streets of Old Town Alexandria were bustling with people at noon on this sunny Sunday, apparently half tourists and half local residents. This Historic Preservation District seems to have found a successful compromise between preservation and modern utility, and between tourism and the desires of the residents.
A majority of the buildings in an area of perhaps 50 city blocks have survived from the late 1700's and early 1800's. Where newer buildings have been renovated or recently built, they blend in well - apparently due to strict building codes which control every detail of exterior appearance. The style is predominately Italianate or Second Empire - mostly red brick with carved limestone detailing. Prominent mansard roofs are covered with slate or cedar shakes in the original buildings. New buildings have the same style of mansard roofs, but covered with vertically ribbed enameled steel roofing, which blends surprisingly well.
We walked past a new fire station which, except for the oversized doors for the engines, blended perfectly in style, in building materials, and in little architectural details with the neighboring buildings which were probably built almost 200 years earlier. In the few blocks of central business district, the old buildings have been pleasingly converted to many restaurants, cafes, art galleries, and boutiques. A few streets still have the original cobblestone paving.
There are dozens of blocks of tiny row houses - two-story, or occasionally three-story, brick structures butted tightly against their neighbors, each perhaps 20' wide and 30' deep. Most appear to be well-maintained but with no exterior modifications from their original appearance - except for the ubiquitous power and telephone wires snaking up and down the walls. These wires seriously detract from the ambience. After spending fortunes on other aspects of historical correctness, why haven't they required that the wires be buried, as is now done routinely in the newer suburbs?
Much of the Potomac Riverfront through the Old Town area has been attractively renovated with parks, open plazas, boat docks, and connecting walkways. These areas were in heavy use. A large grassy park had barely enough space to contain the casual volleyball, soccer, and touch football games that were underway.
In late afternoon, we stopped at the fairly new Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. Getting there was an interesting experience. It's located on the southwest shore of the Tidal Basin, an area hemmed in by the Potomac and by various limited-access roads. It's a bit far to walk there from the museums along the Mall, so driving had seemed to make sense.
We re-discovered a major limitation of the current computer maps. (We happened to be using Street Atlas, but the problem is common to all). The two-dimensional maps just aren't capable of representing layers of streets that are on top of each other. The local access streets are intertwined with the medusa-like swirls of access ramps to the bridges and expressways, sometimes with two expressways running side-by-side, with two separate but intertwined sets of entrance and exit ramps.
As a result, we kept getting fooled by street intersections that didn't intersect, expressway exits that only went to another expressway, not to the local streets which they crossed, and other such anomalies. We also saw two-way streets that became one-way at rush hour, new construction which changed the intersections so that they didn't match our (new) map, and other interesting little traps for the unwary. In the course of trying to find our way onto the Memorial Bridge, we circumnavigated the Pentagon twice. Finally, we found ourselves on the next bridge north, crossed the river, managed to get into the wrong lane at a crowded intersection somewhere near the Lincoln Memorial (only a few blocks from our destination), but found ourselves heading out of town on the Rock Creek Parkway.
The first exit dumped us somewhere near the Watergate complex. Negotiating a series of little streets full of one-way and no-left-turn signs, we got a nice view of Watergate and the Kennedy Center, and then found ourselves back on the Parkway, still heading the wrong way, out of town, with no way to turn around for miles. After finally exiting at a place where we could re-enter in the opposite direction, the Parkway dumped us (again) into the maze surrounding the Lincoln Memorial. We finally found the right turn and drove through peaceful, uncrowded West Potomac Park, finding street parking within a few hundred yards of our destination.
The F.D.R. Memorial is an extremely effective presentation - very different than any of the others big memorials. We recommend it highly. It is an open-air structure, defined by massive walls made from rough granite blocks, into which have been carved various FDR quotations. Cascades of water flow over the walls at several points. Occasional bronze sculptures illustrate various phases of his almost 12 years as president. The exhibit is chronological - starting with the depression-era New Deal and CCC and ending with the planning for a post-World War II world society. In the WWII section, the granite walls gradually disintegrate into randomly piled blocks, hinting starkly at the destruction of war.
Nov 16: Took the Metro to DC. Visited the Hirshhorn sculpture garden and the Sacker Gallery (more ancient Chinese artifacts).
After getting acquainted with Irene & Ted Lehmann via Email over the past year or so, we finally crossed paths with them at Cherry Hill, where they were camped about 200 yards from us. We spent a long evening together, having dinner at an unusually good Chinese buffet not far from the RV Park.
Nov 17: Helen again took the Metro and went to the Sacker and the Freer Galleries. Dave stayed at the trailer, spending the day installing a new MaxAir powered ceiling vent in the bedroom.
The Peacock Room at the Freer Gallery is an example of an artist run amok - with a stunning result. Commissioned to add a few finishing touches to a room in the owners absence, James McNeill Whistler painted over the valuable leather walls with Prussian blue, gilded the walnut shelves, and covered the ceiling with imitation gold leaf overpainted with peacock feathers. The outraged owner refused to pay the amount billed and in subsequent argument, several panels were painted with fighting peacocks. The result is a vibrant room in vibrant copper golds, brilliant blues, and iridescent greens.
Nov 18: Another Metro expedition to the Mall. We walked to the Vietnam memorial, enjoyed the interior of the Organization of American States building (big colonial arch, an attractive tiled central patio with fountain, lots of tropical plants). Enjoyed Bierstadt and Church paintings at the Corcoran. Enjoyed a big exhibition of art glass ("Glass, Glorious Glass") at the Renwick.
I spent a while musing, while standing in the Air and Space Museum, looking at the Gossamer Condor, the human-powered airplane which won the Kremer Prize for the first controlled, maneuverable, flight around a specific closed course. This 90-foot-wingspan 70-pound contraption (along with other members of the "gossamer" family) is primarily responsible for putting an end to the centuries of dreaming about human-powered flight. By pushing construction technology, aerodynamic theory, and human endurance to near their practical limits, this machine simultaneously proved that that muscle-powered human flight is possible and that it is hopelessly impractical except as a publicity stunt. This applies only to Earth, of course. When the first shiploads of tourists descend on the moon, one of the major attractions will be the Walt Disney Flight Pavilion, where anyone can rent modest sized wings and fly like a bird.
Later, while I was standing among the displays of space rockets, four short skinny Buddhist monks passed by me wearing traditional shaved pates, saffron robes, and primitive sandals. They were pointing excitedly at the exhibits and jabbering in who-know-what language.
Nov 19: Helen drove to Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. Set in a mature forest of tulip trees, the paths went through a series of small landscapes: a winter garden with bright berries, interesting tree bark, and rich evergreens; formal gardens with hedges, slate paths, and fountains; ponds with tea houses on picturesque islands; bridges arching over streams; two conservatories filled with chrysanthemums; rock gardens with dramatic jutting rocks; and a wedding gazebo with climbing roses. Helen enjoyed seeing several unfamiliar trees. The Japanese Birch were delicate versions of the European white birch more commonly seen. A lacy dogwood tree which blooms yellow in the early spring; 25' Chinese Pagoda Trees with 12" leaves and iridescent green bark.
Brookside was charging admission for a lighted Holiday display, but instead of Santas and Reindeer, the lights were fashioned into pink sprays of frothy water spouting from real fountains, clusters of purple grapes hanging overhead in the grape arbor, large white and gold magnolia blossoms in trees, red berries in evergreens, and as other imitations of fruit and flowers both real and imaginary. An innovative use of the tiny lights.
Helen's back seems to be completely recovered, after six weeks of rest and regular attention to gentle back-strengthening exercise. So of course it was time for Dave's back to start acting up. After an hour of working on the truck in a variety of contorted positions (working on the electrical wiring under and behind the dashboard must be the world's most awkward task), my back was sore, and it developed overnight into the usual almost incapacitating lower back muscle spasm. It never got anywhere near as bad as Helen's episode, fortunately, and I could continue to move around, with care and lots of ibuprofen. After a week of somewhat curtailed activity, I felt pretty much back to normal. But the electrical problem isn't fixed and I still gotta crawl under the dash again one of these days!
11/20 We were pleased to find that the Clerks were performing nearby as part of their first tour of the United States. We had heard recordings by this group on the radio and were excited about the opportunity to hear them live. This six-voice group (five men, one woman) specializes in music of the early Franco-Flemish Renaissance. Their program here (at the University of Maryland - only a few miles from our campsite) was entirely drawn from this core repertoire - mostly by Okegham and Josquin, with a few pieces by others from this same period (late 1500's and early 1600's). Wonderful stuff! We found some of the Josquin works familiar from having performed them over 15 years ago.
11/21 Intrigued by an interesting and ambitious program and the somewhat grandiose name of the group (which we had never heard of), we attended a concert by the National Chamber Singers. As a bonus, it took place in Silver Spring - only 7 miles from our campground. It turned out that the 24-voice group is quite new, and the only thing "national" about the group is that it is located near Washington D.C. Nevertheless, they gave a competent and enjoyable performance of some difficult music, including Britten's "Ode to St. Cecelia" and the Washington premiere of Tavener's "Village Wedding".
We've commented before about discovering the uniqueness of particular communities and regions by reading the local newspapers. The District of Columbia is no exception. We especially enjoyed one "letter to the editor" in which the author complained bitterly about the disruption to the neighborhood whenever the President had dinner at a home in the author's neighborhood. Every neighborhood has its problems!
Washington D.C. is quite convenient and moderately priced among tourist destinations. Most of the Washington museums are free. The areas frequented by tourists are clean and safe. The Metro (subway) system is moderately priced, clean, pleasant, and fast, making it convenient to stay in relatively inexpensive places outside the city.
11/22 Time to move on. Helen did laundry in the morning, and we hooked up and hit the road after lunch. It seems strange to be heading north this time of year. We retraced our route back up Interstate 95, again detouring to cross the Francis Scott Key Bridge on I-695 to the east of Baltimore to avoid the harbor tunnels. Propane tanks are completely prohibited in these tunnels - unlike most other tunnels, which only require that the propane be shut off at the tank. This long, high bridge spans the outer portion of Baltimore's harbor - where it widens into Chesapeake Bay, and provides an excellent view of a smoky, smelly, industrial area.
We're camped at Woodlands Camping Resort on Elk Neck - a narrow point of land in Maryland at the upper end of Chesapeake Bay. We were here three years ago. It's a quiet, peaceful, mostly residential, campground tucked in the woods on the edge of Elk Neck State Forest. By "residential", I mean that most of the sites are leased on an annual basis, and contain trailers that have sprouted roots and are never moved. A modest number of sites are available to transients like us. Only a few of the sites are actually occupied all year. The rest are weekend and vacation homes. As a result, the whole place is relatively quiet, except on summer weekends.
We generally like to stay in such places, even though their services usually aren't geared to travelers like us. For example, the office here is only open from noon to 5 p.m., and not at all on Sundays and holidays. They won't accept mail for us, have no laundry facilities, and have no provision for hooking up our modem (the residents mostly have phones at their sites.) But these are minor inconveniences, and this is by far the most convenient location for us, being only 10 miles from our daughter's apartment. We expect to spend quite a bit of time with her over the coming week. I solved the modem problem by hot-wiring a modular phone jack onto the pay phone, which was conveniently located about 20 feet from our trailer (removing it when we left).
We've lingered in the North longer than in previous years, and it has become increasingly hard to find a place to stay. Most of the campgrounds are closed. In northern Michigan, many campgrounds closed down right after the Labor Day weekend. As we've drifted south, the closing dates became gradually later. Around here, very few are open after Nov. 1. Woodlands is open all year. The water outlets are wrapped with insulation over electrical heating tapes. It appears that the few occupants who are staying here through the winter are living in small mobile homes, not RV's.
So far, the weather hasn't been a problem. One night was cold enough (about 27 degrees) so that we disconnected and drained our water hose before going to bed (a two-minute task). Quite a few nights have dropped into the low 40's or high 30's. But most days have been in the 60's - very pleasant for sightseeing. We've yet to see snow.
11/28 The week has passed quickly and quietly. Helen and Leata went shopping a couple of times, and visited the Delaware Art Museum (nice traveling exhibit of Tiffany Lamps). Dave spent a few hours on Leata's phone line, celebrating the availability of a local ISP phone number, downloading software updates, investigating upcoming concerts in cities to the south, and generally catching up on web browsing. One evening, Dave, Leata, and Gary drove to the Student Center at the University of Delaware, to play table tennis.
The weather has become less pleasant over the past few days, with dense fog and often some rain falling through the fog - good weather for staying inside. Yesterday finally turned clear, but even colder.
Taking advantage of the sunny afternoon, we drove to Elk Neck State Park, about 13 miles south of our campsite, and hiked out to Turkey Point. The view from here is impressive. This is the upper end of Chesapeake Bay. To the east, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is still an active shipping connection between Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River. To the west, we can see the mouth of the Susquehanna River. The Bay extends only a little north of these major waterways, ending at the Elk River on the east side of us and Northeast Creek on the west side. Boat traffic was light: a couple of big barges; a few fishing boats; a medium-sized schooner heading south under full sail. We watched the sun set across the bay.
Thanksgiving Day was spent at Leata's apartment. Helen and Leata cooked a fairly elaborate and delicious Thanksgiving dinner for the four of us (the fourth being Leata's friend Gary). Helen also cooked fancy meals on a couple of previous days - celebrating the availability of a big kitchen (even an apartment kitchen feels big, compared to the one in our trailer).
11/29 Hooked up the trailer and headed south. Straight down Interstate 95 - familiar roads, again bypassing Baltimore and Washington to the east. We turned onto Interstate 85 at Petersburg (south of Richmond, Virginia), and pulled into Picture Lake Campground a few miles later, just at sundown. The campground is large and pleasant - mostly 55' pullthrough sites in a loblolly pine grove. We were greeted by a large sign on the front of the office, listing park rules. Number 1: "No profanity! Violators will be immediately escorted out of the park." When asked about a modem connection, the manager gave me a flat "no".
Picture Lake isn't much of a picture now -- it's small, the water level is low and the shores are a broad expanse of mud. About dark, we heard a weather forecast for temperatures in the 20's, and went out and disconnected the water hose. As it turned out, there was enough cloud cover to keep the temperature slightly above freezing all night, although the next morning there were radio reports of snow flurries in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area, 75 miles southeast of us.
We're finally out of the densely populated metropolis, which we entered at Philadelphia and which seemed to continue almost uninterrupted all the way to Richmond, VA. Interstate 85 narrowed to two lanes each direction, as we entered rolling country covered by second-growth forest. We saw frequent clear-cut areas, generally screened by a narrow band of uncut trees along the highway.
The day's drive across Virginia and North Carolina was pleasant - interesting countryside, brilliant blue sky dotted with just enough fluffy little clouds to be decorative. The temperature stayed in the low 40's all day, and a brisk breeze lowered the wind chill index. It was tempting to stop for a day or two - there are Internet friends we've yet to meet in person near Richmond and also in the Piedmont. But the weather is getting colder and there are concerts we'd like to attend in Atlanta this coming weekend.
11/30: After our usual late start and 322 miles of Interstate, sunset was threatening as we approached the South Carolina border. Campgrounds are remarkably scarce in this area, so we detoured about five miles east to King's Mountain State Park. It's a pleasant place this time of year, when three RV's and one tenter shared hundreds of rolling densely wooded acres. The sites are large, with water and 30-amp electricity. The trees around us are short-leaf pine - the most widespread pine in the southeast. The oaks are harder to identify - particularly since there are no acorns to be seen. The squirrels have been busy.
Next stop, tomorrow, is Atlanta. I've spent several hours on the Internet, researching the classical Christmas concerts available in southeastern cities, hoping that in the peak music season (the two weekends before Christmas) we will be able to find lots of good music somewhere. Atlanta is the clear winner - with more good music than we can hope to attend during this period - seemingly much more music than Miami or New Orleans or anywhere else I checked. Some of it is sure to be excellent - as for example the concert by the Atlanta Singers, whom we know from their excellent CD's in our own collection. Others are more speculative - with our choice based on little knowledge other than publicity blurbs and reviews found on the Internet.
The Atlanta Symphony seems to be concertizing almost every night through this entire period - that will be a very tired group of musicians by Christmas. But we'll give preference to smaller ensembles and more intimate venues, choosing a cappella choral concerts when possible.