A Little Bit of My Town

                                              I am enjoying living in Suffolk, Va.  

It suits my needs very nicely and I have made friends and have become familiar with shops, parks, my favorite ice cream store etc. 

I think it would be awful to live in a town you did not like. But, I've done it a time or two back in my husband's Navy days. 

The walking trail behind my apartment

A butterfly seat at the Cultural Arts Center

A statue at Cedar Hill Cemetery

A Professional building at the corner of Main and Washington

This 'thing' was outside a restaurant in the Harbor View area. I don't know what it is. Do you?

A Trip Of A Lifetime

Recently I began posting a memory of mine on Facebook every Monday Morning. My friends/family are enjoying reading my memories and one day I thought... "hey, maybe I will use that for my blog as well". So, here goes. 

Memory Monday....

Oh boy, we were an excited bunch of kids. The Walker County High School Band was going to Philadelphia to march in the American Legion Parade. We'd also be making stops in Washington, D. C. and New York City. Big time for most of us little country kids.

The band director got us our own private train car which would be pulled off to a side track while we did our thing in each city. Then we packed our bags and away we went.

Our first stop... Washington D. C. where we did some sightseeing. Our tour bus passed President Truman out for his morning walk. But, I couldn't get a picture. Yes, I was taking pictures even back then.

Then on to Philadelphia...It was August I think. I do remember it being very hot and our uniform jackets weren't made for summertime marching. People along the parade route would pass us paper cups of water so that we might have a drink as we marched.

Next... New York City. We stayed at the Governor Clinton Hotel, toured the Bronx zoo, some went to the top of the Empire State Building but those of us who weren't ready for such heights got to see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. 

One night we were turned loose in the city. Imagine that!! But, we all made it safely back to the hotel.

It was a trip I will never forget. Thank you, Mr. Merck, wherever you are, for making that trip possible for us.

************NOTE: come back every Monday for another memory of mine!

Old Brick Church

Back around 1960, when my husband was stationed at Bainbridge, Maryland, my Mom and step-dad came up from Alabama to visit us. Most of my family are of Primitive Baptist faith and so one day we drove up to an old historic church in Jarretsville. It wasn't open but we could peek inside through the windows. It was most impressive.

(my family standing in front of Old Brick Church)

Just lately I researched this church online. It is even more impressive now than it was to me back then. 

Old Brick Baptist Church was constituted on the first day of November 1754. The church was built in that year. In 1787 it was repaired, adding wood floors and other improvements. The church itself was constructed of Flemish bond brick. Some say the brick was brought over from England, other say not. The original yellow poplar seats that were put together with wooden pegs were still intact (at the writing of the article online). 

However, in recent years, someone painted the exterior brick with a brick red paint, a true travesty to the integrity of it's historic nature. 

I hope that the proper people take charge of the care of this fabulous old church. It deserves to be preserved. 

Traveling Five

I have some photos floating around with no place to land!! So this Friday Five will be an assortment of 'stuff' today. 

1. I just love this flag hanging outside a barbeque place that we had lunch at in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

2. This building is west of Richmond, Virginia. I don't know what it is but I find it fascinating. 

3.Cypress knees growing in the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia. 

4. Redstone Arnenal in Huntsville, Alabama

5. Here I am, resting a bit, in the Butterfly House at the Botanical Gardens, Huntsville, Alabama

As you can tell, these five were made on trips I have taken recently. Hope I didn't wear you out. We did cover a few states!! 

Fall Leaves and Knee surgery

                                                            Yep, it's Friday, alright. 

                                                 And, time for Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday

1. What a week!! And, it isn't over yet. On Monday daughter Shirley and I went to Farmville, Va. for a lunch/see the fall leaves kind of trip. And, we were not disappointed one iota. Farmville (I'd never been) was a charming town. And, they were busy putting their Christmas decor up on the lamp post. 

We were there for the Fall leaves, folks.

2. We went to Charley's for lunch, just around the corner from the picture above. Delightful place to eat. It's in the Old Warehouse building.

3. We sat at the window where we could see the babbling brook.

4. We shopped at the Farmer's Daughter's just outside of Farmville. A favorite place of ours to find special little items.  I found this for the upcoming Christmas season.

5. Trip over... Tuesday I had a squasmo cell (I think I am spelling that correctly) cancer taken off the side of my knee. I thought 'oh it will take a day or two and I will be ready for anything'. NOT. It's taking more time to heal than I thought. But, the upside. It's gone. They got it all. 

Majestic Things

           

              Sometimes something appears out of nowhere that amazes you, takes your breath away. 

                                                           Ever have that happen to you?

1. I was on my way to the dr. for a checkup yesterday morning when I saw, off to my right, a flock of geese. There must have been 50 or more, all in a huge V, flying south toward their winter home. Oh how I wish I had my camera, that I could just pull over and watch them! But, I kept one eye on the road and one eye on the birds as they flew over my car and went on their way. The only word I could think of was MAJESTIC. 

(not my picture but borrowed instead from Pinterest so you could just see something like I saw)

2. MAJESTIC: The description in my Thornkike Barnhart Dictionary lists Grand, Noble as the meaning. Maybe some people would say my birds did not fit into that category but I say they do. And, since they are MY birds, I can say what I want to about them, right? 

3. Other MAJESTIC things include a church steeple. I took this picture while I was in Boston with Susan and Owen.

4. I think my Blue Heron is MAJESTIC. He has such an air of nobility about him as he wades in the water searching for food. 

5. And, to me the mountains are MAJESTIC.

 God's work is MAJESTIC. It's here for us to enjoy. And, I really did enjoy seeing that enormous flock of geese yesterday. It was on my mind all day. I will keep that sight in my memory forever. 

Linking to Willy Nilly Friday and Reflections

D-Day Memorial

           One stop on my recent bus tour trip was in Bedford, Virginia at the D-Day Memorial. 

I had passed the sign several times but had never stopped. It was truly an emotional journey to recall that historic and deadly day back on June 6, 1944. The Memorial started out as just a statue to honor those who died that day and the project took off by leaps and bounds. The original location was to be Roanoke, Va. but it was later decided that Bedford would be the most likely place. Bedford has long claimed to have had the most killed that day per capita than any other city in America. 

Our tour guide walked us over the three plazas, a goodly little walk for us older folks, I might say. 
The first plaza denotes the planning stage for the Invasion at Normandy. There are bust statues of the men involved and a covered life-size statue of Gen. Eisenhower who was the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. 

Plaza 2 reflects the landing and fighting and features the 'invasion pool' and sculptures of soldiers struggling to reach shore and also to crest the high cliffs. There is intermittent burst of water in the pool as 'bullets' are fired. 

Plaza 3 celebrates the victory of the invasion, who had the code name OVERLORD, with a 44' tall arch and the 12 flags of the Allied nations that served in the Allied Expeditionary Forces. 

The site was dedicated on June 6, 2001 by President George W. Bush. One of the biggest donors for the project was Charles Schultz who gave one million dollars. Steven Spielberg was also a large donor. 

If you are ever in that area, please go by and pay your tribute to those who fought and those who died on D-Day. 

Linking today with Willy Nilly Friday and Five On Friday

The Holland House

I enjoy living in Suffolk, Virginia. I like the old buildings, the small town feel, the ability to go places without getting into a ton of traffic. I've been living here 3 1/2 years now and one of my favorite building is a yellow square three story with an interesting roof.

I didn't know anything about this building until I went on a bus tour of Suffolk, provided by the Visitor's Center. This house was built in 1885 for Edward Everett Holland. 

Mr. Holland was mayor of Suffolk from 1885-1887. In 1908 he was elected state senator and in 1911 became a U. S. Representative in Congress. He died in 1941. And, the house was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1985. 

Linking to Mersad's My Town Shootout

(some of above was taken from Wikipedia, some from city bus tour. I took the pictures.)

A Visit From My Daughter

I am having a lovely visit with my eldest daughter, Marie. Most of you know her from her blog, A Colorful World. Due to circumstances 'belong our control' we hadn't seen each other in some years. So, we've been doing a bunch of catching up. 

After years of not driving far from home, I went to the airport two hours away to pick her up. So, I was very proud of myself. Of course, the GPS helped!! 

We've done some fun stuff so I just wanted to share a bit of that with you.... and we have two more days left before she has to leave. 

On Saturday we took a drive into the countryside, swinging through Smithfield where we knew we'd have photo opts. The town has a lot of historic and interesting houses. It's the home of Smithfield Foods (all that ham and bacon, you know). Here's Marie taking pictures of a home for sale on the Pagan River. Oh how we wish we could buy it! 

                             We stopped by Smithfield Foods Corporate Buildings and Gardens. 

On to Surry Seafood Company for lunch. We ate on the patio overlooking a beautiful scene with a slight breeze blowing. The food was yummy and we enjoyed all that so much.

Oh, while on the way to the restaurant we swung in for a 'drive by' at Bacon's Castle. Both of us had done the tour before so we just wanted pictures. This is the site of Bacon's Rebellion in which Jamestown was burned and in which my husbands direct ancestor was hung for his participation. 

                         And, the cotton was ready for picking in a field at Bacon's Castle. 

So, it was a fun day. More to come later on. 

An Old Cotton Gin

I grew up in 'the land of cotton, ole times there are ne'er forgotten' (song "Dixieland"). In my early years before school age I played along the cotton rows while my aunts, uncles and Mom picked cotton. They even made me a sack to hang over my shoulder and I'd shove a handful of the white bolls in ever now and then. 

For Tom's Treasures I want to share a couple pictures I made last year when I was visiting my son in Alabama. He took me for a drive and we discovered this old, abandoned cotton gin. Now, that is a real treasure! 

I liked seeing the building and the machinery but my favorite part was these bales of cotton sitting against the building, just going to waste. 

Hudson River Valley excursion

After wishing for quite awhile, I got to take a drive twice this week up the Hudson River Valley. I posted about the first leg a couple posts ago.

Today my daughter, Susan, drove up hwy 9N, me in the passenger seat, camera in hand. We had a great time. The road was two-laned, not much traffic and there was lots to see. More hills,

mountains, valleys, the river,

 The Palisades rock formations, some cute little towns, fancy houses than I had figured on.

In Rockland County, there were a lot of rock quarries (do they mine rock?) Whatever!! This one is located in Haverstraw, New York. 

Nearing West Point, we came to Bear Mountain State Park. Lots to do there but we'll have to come back some time to take all that in.

 and Bear Mountain Bridge. This bridge was finished in 1924 and at that time was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Nineteen months later it lost it's title to a bridge in Pennsylvania.

Then there is the Army's military academy. We drove around, did no tours (I am lucky these days to drive around, not so great at walking). 

This statue is of Thaddeus Kiseluszko. He designed the West Point garrison defenses during the height of the Revolutionary War. He also wrote the manuel about horse artillary which became an academy textbook.

Of course, I had to have my picture taken. 

This is one of the many military statues found on West Point grounds.

The cadet cathedral is of Gothic Revival architecture. It has the largest chapel pipe organ in the world.

Doing what I love to do.... take pictures.

Some cadets doing military exercises. 

Susan said this building reminded her of 'Hogwarts' in Harry Potter.

There is an Amtrak service that runs along the Hudson River. What a view you would have on that train. This is the same train line as featured in the movie "A Girl On The Train".

And, Michie Stadium.  All I can say is Go Navy, Beat Army. (sorry all you army folks) 

I am linking with Thankful Thursday today for I am always so thankful for our military!!