LSD and Annapolis

No this post is not about drugs. As we travel around the country we always see those oval stickers that let people know the places they love. We have an OBX - Outer Banks and HI - Hatteras Island on Opus. One of my favorites was from Ocracoke's Albert Styron's Store - ASS. The one we saw in Delaware now takes the place as the most unusual we have seen. We had to ask, what is LSD? Well it promotes the unique lifestyle in Lower Slower Delaware far away from the more northern hustle and bustle area of Delaware.  

We are heading south way too slowly. We awoke to temps in the 30's and frost on the CRV. The good news was that it was sunny and warmed up real fast so we did a bit of exploring in LSD.

We went to nearby Milford, an old ship building town on the banks of the Mispillion River. Previously, the old dam powered a sawmill. Today it is part of the river walk, a very interesting little park. We also checked out the Mispillion River Brewery and gave it a thumbs up.

There is an art project along the river walk that celebrates the old ship building industry and the new happenings in Milford. All the ships are a replica of the Augusta, an old ship that was built there. It had sunk and was recovered and restored by the city. We found this part of LSD to be very neat and we did not even make it to the ocean.

On our last day here we ventured back across the Bay Bridge to Annapolis to tour the capitol. This capitol, built in the Georgian style, is the 36th we have toured. The Maryland capitol is the oldest state house in continuous use since 1772. It was also the first peace time capitol of the United States from November 1783 to August 1784.

The dome was constructed between 1785 to 1794. It is the largest wooden dome in North America and is held together with wooden pegs not nails. The model shows the interior rotunda and the outside dome.

Two famous people who visited the capitol are Ben Franklin, who designed the lightening rod system to protect the building, honored here with a bust and Marque de Lafayette, the Frenchman who led troops in the Revolutionary War depicted in the painting. In 1824 he returned to the United States and toured the 24 states to instill the spirit of 1776 in the next generation of Americans.   

Looking up at the interior dome above the rotunda.

The Old Senate Chamber with the "Ladies Balcony" as women were not allowed on the floor. In the balcony is a statue of Molly Ridout. Two important events in American history took place in this chamber. One was in January 1784 when the Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the Revolutionary War.

The other event was on December 23, 1783 when George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. This established the idea that the military of the new country should be under the civilian rule of the president. 

This exhibit in the rotunda has Washington's original resignation speech. I have always liked the idea of seeing the words and signatures of historic figures on display, especially the original documents in the National Archives 

The Old House of Delegates Chamber. It has been restored to its 19th century appearance. The painting. The Planting of the Colony of Maryland depicts the arrival of the first colonists in 1634.

There are exhibits of two Marylanders who were born into slavery and then became important figures in the freedom movement, Harriet Tubman....... 

,,,,,,,and Frederick Douglass. The displays had copies of the records of their birth. There are plans to erect statues of both these famous Americans.

The State House Caucus Room has the silver service from the USS Maryland and portraits of former governors and other political figures. The sliver service from ships is something we had not seen before, but Delaware had the same thing.

Between 1902 and 1905 a new annex was added with larger legislative chambers and more offices on the upper floor. Great effort has been made to keep the Georgian style of the original building.

In the grand staircase of the addition is a painting Washington Resigning His Commission that was done in 1858 by Edwin White.

The new House of Delegates Chamber for the 141 delegates. The assembly meets for 90 days each year. 

The new Senate Chamber for the 47 senators. 

The portraits in this chamber are of  Maryland's four signers of the Declaration of Independence, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Samuel Chase and Charles Carroll.

This is the new, 1905, annex side of the capitol.

Annapolis is a very interesting city with narrow streets and many buildings dating back to Colonial times. 

The rows of businesses and homes give you a look back in time even with the modern amenities. 

Main Street offers a great view of the harbor. Of course, the U.S. Navel Academy is here so it also has a college town feel.

Docked in the harbor was the Lynx, a replica of a ship built in 1812. It was a privateer that was given permission to raid British ships during the War of 1812. Here is a link to the site about the ship. 

Buildings along the waterfront with the capitol dome that overlooks the city. Both the city and the capitol are well worth a visit if you are in the area. 

We are now on Hatteras Island to kick back and celebrate our 49th anniversary before heading south. for the winter.

Dover - Delaware Capital and More

After three months in WashPA we are slowly heading south. We continue to have an issue with the leveling jacks and were not able to get an appointment to have them repaired. We did have a mobile service come and look at them but they could not get us in for a repair, so for now I will raise them manually. The new plan is to try and get an appointment in Florida. As for the acceleration problem we have driven over 300 miles and so far it has not been an issue. Who knows???   

Our original plan was to stay a couple days near Annapolis and tour the capitol. Since the jacks are a pain in the butt, we decided to head to Delaware for a longer stay and tour that capitol and then do a day trip to Annapolis. Driving to the Delmarva Peninsula means crossing the Bay Bridge over Chesapeake Bay, a very high level experience. We are staying at the Delaware State Fair Campground in Harrington.   

Delaware is known as "The First State" since it was the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 7, 1787. It ranks 49th in size and 45th in population. Legislative Hall, the second capitol building in Dover, was built in the Georgian Revival colonial style. It has been the home of the state government since 1933 with a couple expansions as the government got larger.

In 1776 Delaware not only declared its independence from Great Britain, but also from Pennsylvania which had controlled the area since 1682. The Delaware Continentals statue honors those from the state who fought in the Delaware regiment of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. 

The state has 21 Senators who are elected to four year terms. Only two presidents have ever been to this capitol, in 1998 President Clinton addressed the legislature in this chamber. President Obama came here to pay his respects to Beau Biden, the son of Vice-President Joe Biden, who passed away in 2015.

I always like the tours where you get to sit in the big chair. Such a feeling of power.

The state seal of Delaware. 1704 was the year the lower counties established their own legislative assembly, 1776 was the year they declared Delaware an independent state and 1787 was the year they signed the U.S. Constitution. The corn and wheat symbolize agriculture, the blue is for the Delaware River, the ox is for husbandry, and the ship is for the ship building industry. The men are the citizen-solder militia. The motto is "Liberty and Independence", 

The House of Representatives has 41 members who are elected to two year terms.  The paintings in both the house and senate represent historic events that helped shape Delaware.  Both houses are in session once a year from January to June.  

Exhibit and chair honoring POWs and MIAs.

The Hall of Governors. There is even a portrait of a governor who only served 19 days when the old governor was elected to another position. He even moved into the governor's mansion and had a party there everyone of the 19 days he was in office.

While the Delaware capitol is not the grandest we have toured, it is a beautiful and functional building that is well worth a visit.

The capitol is part of the First State Heritage Park. At the welcome center in the archives there was an exhibit about WWI. There were several examples of Trench Art created by soldiers from old shell casings.

The poppies on the column are part of a display about Flanders Field and the Delawareans who gave the last full measure in that war. 

War time posters encouraging people at home to support the troops and war effort by buying bonds. 

The Old Statehouse was the first capitol in Dover. It was built in the Middle Georgian style between 1787 and 1792. It was the seat of the state government from 1792 to 1932. It also was the Kent County Court House from 1792 to 1873. 

Very neat sculpture at the Biggs Museum of American Art. The birds leaving the tree on the outside and then fly into the foyer of the building.

While Delaware was the first state, it was the last state to get a National Park Service site. The First State National Monument was established in 2013 and the First State National Historical Park in 2014. It includes seven site throughout the state including The Green in Dover. All the buildings around The Green are built in the colonial style.

The site of the Golden Fleece Tavern is on The Green. It served as the meeting place for the Delaware Assembly Upper House when the government first moved to Dover from New Castle. It was here where Delaware was the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution. When the government moved into the Old Statehouse the first law they passed was that the legislative branch could not meet in any building that served alcohol. The tavern was torn down in 1830.

Every state was given a copy of the Liberty Bell from the French in 1950. We don't always find them when we visit the capitals but here is Delaware's on the Legislative Mall with the Hall on the other side.

On Saturday we saw something we have never seen, a truck parade. It is a fund raiser for Special Olympics with over 200 participants. There was every kind of truck you can image; tow trucks, garbage trucks, flatbed trucks, trailer trucks.......

......tanker trucks, concrete trucks, pickup trucks.....

......firetrucks, box trucks and more. The parade is a 29 mile ride through Kent County. In 2017 they raised $63,000 for Special Olympics. You just never know what you will see while traveling this great country.

Family, Friends & UHS Class of 1968 Reunion

Our last week in WashPA was very busy, getting together with family and friends one last time before we start our trek south for the winter. We stayed to the middle of October so Nanc could attend her 50th class reunion where she saw many former classmates. As I said in the last post, we NEVER get to see all the people we intend to or get everything done that we had planned. Oh well, there is always next year. 

We had dinner with Rick and Denise one last time at Leogreta, a new Italian restaurant in Carnegie. We had a wonderful meal and a great evening of conversation. We don't know when we will see them again as Rick is still working and Denise is overseeing the construction of their new home in North Carolina.

We went to another new to us restaurant, Gaucho Parrilla Argentina in Pittsburgh, with my cousin Chuckie and his wife Deb. Gaucho's is an interesting place as they take no reservations, so we had to stand in line for over an hour to order. The food was worth the wait and it gave us a chance to catch up with Chuck and Deb who we have not seen since we went on the road.

On another day we visited our friend Mary Lou, who we often visited in Florida but now lives at Friendship Village, her new home up here. She has a beautiful apartment in a place that offers all the services anyone would need. We also went out to dinner but I did not get any pictures.  

We got together with the euchre club one last time and in addition to cards, we had a fun time with Bentley and his friend hiding behind the mask.

Nanc, Georgie, Mike and Sherri at cards. Nanc has that big smile because she was the big winner for the evening taking home the first place prize of $9.00. 

Jim, Mary Lou, Di, Tim and Bentley who was either looking for a treat or a seat at the table.

Mike, Bentley and Jim relaxing and waiting for dessert after a fun evening with friends and card playing.

Wednesday we went out with the lunch bunch one last time for this visit. Gail, Georgie, Linda, Jim, Nanc, Chuck, Sandy, Patrice and John enjoyed their meal at Bacon Bourbon and Beer. B3 is a great local place owned by one of our former students.  

We went to Al'an Rubens for an evening of music with Josh, Mark, Greg and Dan and a great meal.

Friday night at the Union Grill, another local institution that we have been going to for years. This is truly a Cheers-like place where friends meet and the food is great. One thing we like about all the places where we dine when we are here is that they are locally owned restaurants where the owner will be there to greet you. 

We attended Nanc's 50th reunion for Union High School Class of 1968. It sure was a step back in time. Here is Nanc in second grade.

Nanc in third grade.

Nanc's senior picture (3rd row, second from the left)

UHS Class of 1968.  It was the first class reunion Nanc attended and she enjoyed seeing and chatting with her former classmates.

A couple of Nanc's classmates, Chris and Diane with Nanc.  It was Diane who told Nanc to apply for a job she was going to be leaving.  It was her first job out of high school where she worked for a local attorney and also with my Mom and that is where the Jim and Nancy Tidball story began. 

While I was not a member of the Class of 68, I knew many of the people who attended the reunion. It was great seeing them and they even gave me an award for having the most beautiful wife.

We are now heading south, but where we will be from day to day is still very much up in the air. We have a couple of issues with Opus that we hope to be able to work around until we get to warmer weather. Our big picture plan is to head toward Annapolis and then Delaware to tour the capitol buildings. If Opus is running okay and the weather cooperates, we will then head down the coast to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

We sure had a great three months here in WashPA and will miss everyone as we hit the road again, but we will be back before we know it.