Travels to New England, May 2010, part 1

Dog Chapel (and to the right, the gallery) at Dog Mountain


Daisy (curly tail) running out of the pond before turning to jump in again



Daisy (the world's most spoiled dog) enjoying her Ben&Jerry's ice cream!

Vermont Vietnam Veterans' Memorial

Vermont Vietnam Veterans' Memorial

Daisy and I are at it again. Less than a week after the Gettysburg adventure, Daisy and I set off for New England on Friday, May 28. We swung west to get to Bow, NH, in order to avoid urban traffic on I-95, especially over a holiday weekend. After retracing many of Lee's and his army's steps before and after Gettysburg, we went north to Binghamton, NY, to spend the night, then arrived in Bow, NH, to visit my brother and his family by early afternoon Saturday.

The kids came over to the hotel for a swim that afternoon, and then we had a great dinner at their house. On Sunday, Daisy and I drove around Vermont, heading for St. Johnsbury, where there was a memorial service for Stephen Huneck.

First we stopped at the Vermont Welcome Center on I-89 North, where the Vermont Vietnam Veterans' Memorial is located. Then we went to Ben and Jerry's (Daisy had ice cream, I had an iced latte), then on to Cabot Creamery--bought lots of cheese!

Dog Mountain was full of people and their dogs honoring the life of Stephen Huneck. Daisy had a total blast running around chasing and being chased by other dogs, swimming, and barking her fool head off. We also went to the gallery and bought a few things--presents for me and a few other people. We got back to Bow about 4 pm, the kids came to swim again and then we had another great dinner at their house and then we all (including Daisy) went to a local dairy to eat more ice cream!

About Stephen Huneck: I was first introduced to his art by my friend, S, who with her husband had discovered his gallery in Vermont and bought me one of his books entitled "My Dog's Brain." I read his biography, where I learned he had suffered an ailment similar to that which my father had, and went through months of rehab. He credited his black lab, Sally, with helping him regain his heath, and he redirected his art to focus on dogs. He bought Dog Mountain and built a Dog Chapel there. I have visited many times (both with Savannah and with Daisy) and own many of his beautiful art pieces. Tragically he committed suicide earlier this year. Many other people and their beloved dogs attended the service planned by his wife Gwen and other at Dog Mountain yesterday. It was a beautiful event. I don't know if Dog Mountain can be saved--tax bills are enormous. I hope so, so that we can visit again!

Gettysburg--UNC GAA Trip, May 2010

The Women's Monument at Gettysburg Nat'l Cemetery.



Dean Bolton (ret.), aka Joshua Chamberlain, and Bonnie, aka Confederate Colonel Oates (Alabama), at the site of their character's battle at Little Round Top.



Tour group member reenacting posed photograph after Devil's Den skirmish.

Union Gen. G. Warren, scouting Confederate positions from Little Round Top

Eisenhower Farm viewed from observation tower at Gettysburg battlefield.


Price of gas at Eisenhower Farm!


View of Eisenhower House Porch (for preservation purposes, shades are drawn).


Practicing how to dress our lines and do double quick time 2 days before planned reenactment of Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble charge.


Abe and me, outside Gettysburg Visitor Center (just opened a year ago--(MUST SEE!).


Fred Kiger discussing the events leading to Stonewall Jackson's death at Guinea Station, VA, where he died 2 months before Gettysburg, thus changing course of history.


Bonnie outside our bus.

My friend Bonnie and I recently went on a 3-night, 4-day trip from Chapel Hill to Gettysburg with the UNC General Alumni Association. While I have been to Gettysburg several times in the past, this was the first time with a well-read and enthusiastic tour guide, and my first group tour since sometime in the 1980s.

The trip was fantastic! I met interesting people, and our tour leaders were fabulous--from our driver, Jim, to our host Roger (and his able assistant, his son Joshua), and our lecturer--Fred Kiger. I taught school (Chapel Hill High) with Freddie many years ago and remember how enthusiastic his students were about his classes. Now I know why. He led us on a carefully designed itinerary to capture the chronological highlights of the battle as well as put the battle in context of the larger war, the individuals involved, and the war's aftermath.

I learned a lot, even though I thought I knew a lot about the war and the battle. Here are a few of the things that were new knowledge to me (in no particular order):
1. How the Union turned an originally poor field position to one of advantage through an apparent "loss" the first day of battle.
2. In this battle, for one of the first times, the Union generals and other senior officers generally performed well--smart, able, and brave. The Confederate leaders, on the other hand, made unaccustomed mistakes in judgment, communicated poorly with each other and their men, and were simply out-maneuvered by folks they had previously defeated quite decisively.
3. While to many this was the turning point of the war, it was probably only one of the turning points. After all the war went on for almost 2 more years.
4. The event known as "Pickett's charge" is more accurately called the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble charge, and by any name was crazy to engage in. Some of our group were brave enough to make the charge across rain-soaked fields. The rest of us watched....

I won't bore you with all the details of our visit, but if you ever go to Gettysburg, in addition to the battlefield I strongly urge you to go to the Eisenhower Farm* (where Ike and Mamie retired after his presidency) and the David Wills house++ (where Abraham Lincoln stayed before the Gettysburg address). There are also excellent historic inns and restaurants in which to stay and/or dine. These include Hickory Bridge Farm and the Fairfield Inn--both a short drive from town. We stayed at the 1863 Gettysburg Inn, right downtown, and where I've stayed before since they are very dog-friendly!

*To get to the Farm, you take a bus from the Gettysburg Battlefield Visitor Center. It is very interesting and has fantastic views.
++David Wills was a leader in pre- and post-war Gettysburg and was a major figure in getting the cemetery established, among other accomplishments.

Go Super Saver!

As many of you know, I have cousins (cuzzins) living all across the US, and a few over the pond in Merry Olde England. Two of my favorites live on a "Farm" in Kentucky, just east of Winchester. They live atop a hill with a beautiful view of sunrise over the Blue Ridge and they share their 60+ acres with 1 horse, multiple cows, calves, and bulls, 2 dogs, and 2 cats (oh! and a mouse from time to time).

Every year they host a party to celebrate the Kentucky Derby. This is a party done right--with color-coordinated tableware, great food, and the companionship of wonderful family and friends. I have long wanted to attend but in past years work obligations kept me away. This year, being happily unemployed, I was able to go along with my good friend Bonnie and our very spoiled dogs--Daisy (TWMSD) and Cameron (TW2dMSD). They had a blast running around, and we're so glad neither chose this visit to roll in cow manure. (It's happened before.)

I was lucky enough to pick the winning horse (Super Saver)and won a whopping $39! (Almost paid for a tank of gas....).

I've got some great pictures, but can't get them to post right now. I'll try again later!

Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo

A few weeks ago two friends and one of my "cuzzins" and I decided to spend Saturday at the North Carolina Zoo. By landmass, this is the largest zoo in North America and comprises two sections: the North American Pavilion and the Africa Pavilion. For the most part, the animals are kept in huge areas with vegetation similar to that of their natural habitat, and a visitor follows a long winding trail that loops through these areas. To walk both Pavilions is to walk 5 miles or so. We visited both areas on this day and had a picnic lunch in between. The Zoo is located near Asheboro, NC, which is about an hour and a half from where I live in Durham, NC. It was a beautiful day--perfect temperature, and we learned later that they had set an attendance record for that day--over 11,000 people joined us and the animals!

About the title of this post: a long long time ago my cousin Gary Olsen came back from Vietnam and gave many of his siblings and aunts and uncles an album called "The Compleat Tom Paxton." Many of us have learned the words to many songs on this album, most of which are anti-war songs. (Many of us have shared those lyrics in very off-tune renditions of these same songs to members of the unsuspecting public from time to time.) Years later, when Gary was dying, I tried to find that album on a CD. The closest I could find was "The Very Best of Tom Paxton," which included many of the songs from the album we all knew as well as a few new ones, including a children's song called "Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo." One of my yet-to-be accomplished projects is to set pictures from our zoo trip to the music of this song. When I do, I'll post it here.

For now, please enjoy the pictures!

PS: Daisy, The World's Most Spoiled Dog, did NOT get to go on this trip. Don't tell her I blogged about it!

Gotta Get Back Into Blogging

It's been pointed out to me that I haven't blogged since December yet The World's Most Spoiled Dog and I have been traveling a lot. So I am going to try to catch up and share some of the interesting places we've visited. Since December we've been to Annapolis, Wilmington, NC (several times--great friends there!), Winchester, KY (great fiends and family, great Derby party!), Concord, NH (quite the birthday party for the 5-year-old princess-niece!), and the NC Zoo. Today we are in Hartwell, GA. Details on this and some of the previous trips in subsequent blogs!