Old Stomping Grounds

Mrs. Chianese’s Class

Jud called NC home for 8 years, and I lived here for 5 so we have a lot of favorite spots, old friends, and  places we used to live and work here.  I, true to form, cobbled together many jobs while here including: being a Science Educator at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham which has added many fantastic features to its facility, most notably the tree house complex; teaching K-5 science at Rashkis Elementary and Estes Hills Elementary where we visited friends, toured and did a presentation.  Our thanks to Cathy Chianese for the fun time spent with her class!  

Tree House Complex

Back in the day, I also spent lots of time at the local Botanical Gardens and in the parks and trail systems so it was great to see that awesome things remain and fantastic improvements have been made. Weaver Street Market, our local health food store is still awesome, and many favorite restaurants and shops still exist – a testament to their quality.  

Mark and the girls!

Unexpectedly one highlight of this area so far was today’s tornado warning! Arriving to see Jud’s old friend and co-worker Mark Cavanaugh at dismissal time, we could feel the change in the weather and see the chaos of families running to pick up kids and get home before a tornado hit. Knowing the school was a better place to be than many for a storm, we found Mark just moments before the  announcements directed us to safety stations due to a tornado warning.  So, we caught up on old times while hanging out in a teachers’ room with 15 kids and some other instructors for a hot 1.5 hours. There were lots of laughs, shared candy and endless texts, emails, weather updates and announcements. Safe and sound back at “home” Isa and Addy have made up songs to commemorate the event! We’re glad everyone is ok!

Bennett Place

We wrapped up our time the the Chapel Hill area with a visit to Bennett Place. This was the site of the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston’s surrender to Sherman. It was not the symbolic end to the war, as was Appomattox but it was the largest surrender of Confederate troops. A number of smaller surrenders then happened before the war finally came to an end.
On a more peaceful note we visited Shawna’s French class this afternoon. The girls did their presentation and then participated in French class. The girls were inspired and we spent some of the car ride home learning French phrases and words.

4 Years of the Civil War in 2 Days

Appomattox Court House

Having learned about the opening battle of the Civil War at Manassas, it seemed only appropriate to go to Appomattox Courthouse and learn about Lee’s surrender to Grant and the symbolic ending of the war. Despite the rain we saw the whole restored village and collected more of the Civil War playing cards that the rangers are giving out, to the delight of Isa and Addy. And we’re entertained that the girls have turned it into a game, as we hear from the back seat: ”Do you have Stonewall Jackson?” “Nope, go fish.”

Babcock Inn

We had hoped to camp near Appomattox, but after a wild goose chase after state park campgrounds and finding everything closed  (in the rain), we happened across the delightful Babcock Inn with antique furniture, Chinese checkers, a piano, a rocking horse, and a sweet innkeeper. The next morning the girls were dazzled by the breakfast setup of orange juice in wine glasses and the offer of hot cocoa.  In good southern form breakfast included biscuits with sausage gravy. No light fare here! If you’re ever in Appomattox we highly recommend staying at the Babcock Inn.

Did someone say cocoa?!

D.C., Virginia, and into North Carolina

First Manassas

Though DC has enough options in it to last for weeks, it was time to leave our gracious friends the Alexanders in Bethesda and drive barely 20 minutes down the road and into Virginia to my friend Sarah Kosbob’s house.  Sarah and I bonded during our time living on the edge of Harlem years ago and traveling to London, Paris, and Amsterdam.  It’s so comforting to just fall right back into conversation with a dear friend I haven’t seen for 12+ years and feel like no time has gone by!  After some roadschooling work at Sarah’s during the day and much needed down time we explored a local playground despite the drizzly weather. Sarah works in a nearby elementary school as a math specialist and shop talk over Thai dinner was engaging for all of us.  

Addy at First Manassas

As Sarah went off in the morning on her regular Saturday routine of delivering fried chicken lunches to homeless folks in DC, we pushed on south to learn about the beginnings of the Civil War at Manassas, otherwise known the Battle of Bull Run by us northerners.  Great National Park Interpreters told stories in an engaging and not overly gory way, the girls’ got new stamps in their National Park Passports, and we all feel much more informed about the Civil War and it’s many issues.  With history and civics for the morning topic, the afternoon topic was geology with a visit to Luray Caverns to see stalactites and stalagmites up close.  “Oh, wow! This place is amazing!” was the repeated phrase.  If you’ve never been to a cavern system like these, it’s hard to explain the combination of cozy, eerie, and awesome, but if you’ve been to one, you’ll totally understand.  As we walked the girls were thinking of where they’d put certain rooms if they could live down there!  

Luray

After a day full of new ideas, camping in the George Washington National Forest was the perfect next step. Ramen Delight for dinner, a full moon shining through the tent’s skylight and a Lewis and Clark chapter book by headlamp was delightful!  In the morning we sat on the ground for our camp breakfast, packed our campsite and headed further south through Virginia.

“Winter” camping!

Dave DeVicq

National Museum of Art

Dave DeVicq is an officer and a gentleman. Or he was an officer in the Navy and is currently a gentleman. Dave, the best and oldest friend of Susan’s father, offered to play host to our family for a day in D.C.. We planned to meet him sometime after 8. He said he would be ready for us and he was. He took us out to breakfast, by the pound no less, and then he toured us all over the city. He is 80 something but walked us into the ground, of course he was not carrying backpacks and sometimes a small child. I must maintain my pride somehow. He planned to take us to see two photography exhibits, one was the National Geographic Best Photos of the last  20 years and the other was the PhotoArk also hosted by National Geographic. Along the way the girls were distracted by a walk through the National Museum of Art and the pieces by Monet, Degas, and even Rembrandt. Addy also really wanted to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution so we went to see those as well. By the way the photography exhibits were fantastic!

Even the video was great!

By the time we had done all of this we were hungry again and Dave took us out to Masala Art, a really good Indian restaurant. The girls behaved very well and even drew in their journals as Dave told stories and he and I talked politics. Dave has offered to entertain us again on our return trip. We would be foolish not to take him up on it!

BFF

By the way… he even has a glacier named for him:

http://www.geografiainfo.es/nombres_geograficos/antname.php?uni=3801&fid=antgeo_106

White House!

Inside the East Wing

We were up “early” for our White House tour. I think we set the alarm for 5:30 or so. We even had to wake the girls up for a change. We made it into the city with a few minutes to spare and began the arduous journey through security. Passes were shown, ID’s were checked. There was a typo on my info sheet so I was shunted off to a holding pen while additional checks were made. In the end they decided I was not a threat and I caught up with the girls who were already touring the East Wing. The rooms and building are beautiful and the secret service guys doing double duty as guards and docents were very knowledgeable and helpful. Barack must have been busy that morning because he didn’t come down and say hello and ask about our trip as I expected.

Isa

After our tour we found a second breakfast and continued to tackle more museums. We went to the Museum of Natural History and checked out the gemstone exhibit to Addy’s grinning delight. We also explored sculpture gardens, the ice rink on the Mall and so much more. We were all exhausted by the time we headed back “home” for the evening.

The East Wing

Washington D.C.

Can I fly it?!

Trying to do Washington D.C. justice in 3 days is a tall order, and we plan to come back in June when the weather is a bit more hospitable, but we’re doing a good job so far!  Day 1 in slushy rain we took on the National Air and Space Museum where the girls learned that being a flight attendant in the early days would not be their cup of tea -short hair and ironed clothes? No way! Addy learned that she and Amelia Earhart have the same taste in planes.  The girls touched a moon rock too and checked out the original Wright Flyer and learned all about Orville and Wilbur which is great as we plan to go to Kitty Hawk in North Carolina where that historic flight was made.

The Capitol!

Architectural sight-seeing was high on my list as I just love the variety of buildings, reliefs, atriums, rotundas, etc. around the city.  My background of Architectural Digest magazines, travels in Greece and Rome and some art appreciation classes were a good mix for doling out relatively unappreciated and potentially useless facts as we walked all over town. Only time will tell if our teachable moments are falling on deaf ears or not.  That said, the girls have been in high spirits for both of our DC days so far and Isa proposed moving into the National Botanical Gardens and drew where her bed would be in the tropical plants exhibit.

Allyson talking with the girls.

People have been wonderful to us here, from our amazing hosts the Alexanders in Bethesda and their three kids, to Allyson at Senator Angus King’s office who toured us through the Capitol building and felt like an old friend by the end, and Representative Chellie Pingree’s office who arranged our White House visit.  In an effort to give back, we’ve helped the U.S. economy through our use of food courts, coffee shops, parking garages and thankfully only one souvenir shop.

Impressive!

Just to add to Susan’s notes above I would like to say that the tour of the Capitol building has been one of the highlights of the trip for me so far. Our tour guide Allyson was entertaining and knowledgeable. She also did a great job of talking to our girls. Some tour guides just talk to the adults but Allyson included all of us. It was lots of fun to travel through the senate tunnels especially since they have a little “trolley” down there that zips along at high speed. It was inspiring to see the old Supreme Court Chambers, the dome, and to visit the House Galleries. There is so much history there that it is hard not to get caught up in it all!

Hello old friends!

Happy Valentine’s Day

One of my challenges to myself when I turned 40 was to complete the “40 Friend Challenge” (which I made up).  In this challenge my plan is to visit 40 old friends during my 40th year (or soon after).  In going to Titusville, NJ to visit Susanne (Herbert) Giller and her husband Oliver, I could add two more cherished friends to the list.  And as a bonus, we got to meet and get to know their two wonderful kids, Alexander and Julia!  At first there was some shyness from Alexander while Addy and Julia got right to playing, but soon all four kids were fast friends. We loved sharing Thai take-out, attempting to conquer the amazingness of the Franklin Institute on Valentine’s Day including the heart exhibit with the climb-through path of blood through the heart, learning about Egypt, riding a camel, visiting Independence Hall, checking out the Liberty Bell, experiencing the Constitution Center, and so much more.  Connecting as parents felt wonderful as we chatted about our kids’ schools, learning styles, teaching, and education issues.

Egypt?

We even got to have dinner with Suzy’s mom who I last had Easter dinner with at her house with Suzy in 1995.  In leaving Philadelphia, we now have a whole list of ideas of what to do next time we’re in the area, especially if it’s not snowing, windy and 20 degrees!

Liberty Bell

Reminiscing and Learning

Future college students!

The highlight of this day, Saturday, Feb. 13, was going with Kerrie (Delaney) Swingle and her family to visit our Drew Professor, Dr. Sara Webb.  Many great hours during school were devoted to her classes and other classes in the Hall of Sciences. We started with a wonderful lunch and lego time for the 4 kids, which gave us adults time to reminisce, chat about our current endeavors, and discuss the big topics of the day, mostly relating to environmental issues.  Ah, how I wish all these wonderful people were easier to see more often!  I spent two summers working with Dr. Webb in Minnesota with Jo Szillery and others, not to mention numerous stints of babysitting, data entry, and even driving her daughter’s carpool!  Ah, good times!

After lunch we were given a guided tour of the changes at Drew- new labs in the Hall of Sciences, the new student center – very posh, and slightly disorienting.  My favorite building, the Great Hall was open and it was great to show the kids around the gorgeous space including the secret door to the back room where I rehearsed a few times with a college singing group.  A quick tour of the forest by the ponds rounded out the afternoon and made me feel like no time had passed at all since attending school from 93-97!  Drew made a big impact and I’d pick it again in a heartbeat!  Thanks Sara and Chip for hosting us for lunch and Sara for the wonderful time spent with you, both today and in the past!

Great Hall

Dr. Webb

What we learned…

Smiles all around!

Folks will tell you to be careful in the city, not to trust strangers, guard your bags, etc. And to watch the news you’d think the world was full of awfulness, but this three day New York City visit taught us that so many people are:

generous

helpful

silly

gracious

and even patient!

It’s not worth recounting all the times we saw examples, but it was nice to see folks picking up something someone dropped, offering seats to each other, helping out on trains, giving space to folks with canes or seeing eye dogs, giving directions patiently, or chatting with strangers (like us) during a busy moment of the day.  One train conductor made Isa and Addy smiley tickets like the Polar Express conductor in the movie, and another one stopped to chat about his day and ask if the girls enjoyed the city. We did our best to be helpful too: teaching a lady how to use the NJ Transit ticket machines, returning a man’s dropped hat on the train, and letting Addy dress in her own normally colorful style which brought out the silliness in more than a few businessmen.  Oddly enough more than a couple times we caught otherwise professional looking dad-types making funny faces at Addy to her delight and theirs.  Ah, it’s a fun world we live in!  

Sisters!

I love New York!

Yum! Pancakes.

Day two of our NYC explorations was 18 degrees with high winds and not the ideal day for the walking tour I had planned. Not to be daunted, I led Jud and the girls through the theater district towards Times Square. Along the way we were lured in by a cozy cafe and Isa and Addy soon tucked into heaping stacks of pancakes, bacon and eggs at 11 in the morning, prompting Isa to munch, look out the window at the bustling crowds and beam…”I love New York!”

St. Patrick’s

Over the course of the day, Isa recorded a video at Times Square, we watched skating at Rockefeller Center, observed a service at St Patrick’s Cathedral, checked out some consumer hotspots, realized everything can be an advertising surface, checked out the architecture and constellations at Grand Central Station, read cozily at the NY Public Library, and fed pigeons in the park.

One person had energy left….

Day two was wonderful and exhausting, and we’re so thankful to our hosts for their transportation home from the train and a wonderful dinner. A little sleep and we’ll be ready for the city again tomorrow!