I’ve lived in NC since 1989 and thought I’d been pretty much everywhere in the State or had at least heard about what there is to see. But I’m still finding new things.
This week a couple friends and I went to Winston Salem.
We stayed at the The Historic Brookstown Inn, which is right next door to Old Salem. It’s a very interesting hotel. It is built in an old textile mill and the rooms havePine floors, brick walls, exposed wood beams, and our room was huge.
There was room for a dining room table, a couch, two double beds with room left over. The layout for the hotel is very interesting spaning two buildings with a charming courtyard.
In the back yard of the hotel is this beautiful log cabin.
The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts
I’ve been to Old Salem before so just looked around at the architecture, and visited The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA). I’d heard of it but not visited. My companions and I all have an interest in NC pottery so were impressed with their collection. The pieces in this collection, especially the ones in the Moravian Collection, are beautifully decorated. I was interested to learn how the Moravians came to the area. Winston-Salem was founded on November 17, 1753 when fifteen Moravian Brethren arrived after walking from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They were also called United Brethren. My Grandparents went to a United Brethren Church and I never knew the connection.
Reynolda House and Gardens
Our next stop was at Reynolda House and Gardens. How did I not know there was a huge garden there? I’ve been at both the house and the village, I guess I never drove between the two.
We missed most of the spring flowers but it was still nice. I especially loved the kitchen garden.
The shops are housed in buildings which once supported the 1,067 acre estate of the R.J. Reynolds family. These buildings were modeled after an English Village and included dairy barns, a cattle shed, school, post office, smokehouse, blacksmith shop, carriage house, central power and heating plant as well as cottages to house the family’s chauffeur and stenographer, the village’s school master and the farm’s head dairyman and horticulturist. The last photo below is a piece of art made of soles from shoes.
Richard Joshua Reynolds was a key player in the industrialization of the New South. He established his own plug tobacco factory in Winston, in 1875 and was incorporated in 1888 as the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
What I really enjoyed reading was that Katharine had equally as much drive as her husband, she’s the one that put together the self-sufficient country estate. Her husbands fortune paid for it all, but she did all the work and her name alone was on all of the deeds.
Reynolda was part of a national trend known as the American Country House movement through which affluent Americans created estates for healthy living outside of cities.
A lady in a fabric shop in the village told us to go to the donut shop where they make donuts to order, and The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. Both were winners!
The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art
A big surprise for me was SECCA. It was built in Founded in 1956 and located on the scenic James G. Hanes estate in Winston-Salem, the 8800 foot gallery was added in 1976. It is at the end of a residential street in a beautiful setting. They were hanging a show by LA photographer David Gilbert. His work is so unusual!
SECCA has also recently become associated with the NC Museum of Art.
Körner’s Folly in Kernersville
While I would rather live in the Renolda House I was most fascinated by Körner’s Folly in Kernersville. I’ve driven by it several times and was curious about it but never researched what it was.
This was the highlight of the trip for me!
Körner’s Folly was built by Jule Gilmer Körner. It is his architectural wonder and home, which was built in 1880 to display his interior design portfolio. After sitting empty for years and about to be demolished, a group of 26 people got together and purchased it. Through the years as money becomes available, it is being renovated. There are 22 rooms with some original furnishings and artwork, cast-plaster details, carved woodwork, and elaborate hand laid tile. a winding maze of doorways and staircases that span three stories and seven levels. You can take a self-guided tour, with story boards that you follow throughout the house. It is fabulous!!
I would love to have seen it when it was full of the items he was selling to his clients. Then just two blocks away a sign made me make a quick uturn. I thought I knew about every Botanical Garden in the region, not so it seems.
Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden
Paul Ciener, who owned a car dealership, loved horticulture. He toured great gardens around the world, studying the plants and garden styles.
Dreaming about building his own in Kernersville.
Since his death in 1998, The Welcome Center, Horticulture Center and garden space on 5 of 7 acres have been completed.
My favorite part was the long, curved, espalier created from ginkgo trees.
When fully developed over the coming years, the garden will feature: amphitheater, woodland, more than 25 individually styled garden areas, event spaces, wetlands, greenhouse and a horticultural operations complex.
It’s a beautiful spot.
Shangri-La Stone Village
I love quirky things so I’m so surprised I never heard of this before. It was created by retired tobacco farmer, Henry Warren, over the last 9 years of his life. He was working on building a hospital in he Shangri-La Village when he died in 1977. There are 27 completed buildings with a theater, a gym, a hotel, and even a tall water tower.
The buildings are made from concrete, stone, and thousands of arrowheads, and lots of funky items he got at flea markets. The rock came from his own land and I’m curious where the thousands of arrowhead came from. It’s located at 11535 NC Highway 86 Prospect Hill, NC.
Another successful quick trip! Where to next? Michigan in the middle of the summer.
I joined some friends at Naveree, FL, just east of Pensacola. An area I’d only driven through before.
The sand is so fine, it’s just like sugar. I’m not really a beach person, my idea of a perfect day at the beach is having a condo with a balcony overlooking the beach, where I sit. Which is exactly what we had. But if I WAS a beach person this is where I would come. The beach stretches from Fort Pickins all the way to Destin which is about 50 miles. Wow.
Our condo was about 20 miles from Pensacola and Pensacola was a surprise.
Pensacola is a nice city, not what I expected. I guess I expected the typical Military town and it was not that at all. There is a nice historic district with beautiful old homes. The city is 450 years old, and they have historical markers and a trail you can follow throughout the city. They are proud of their history and have all kinds of references to it.
The Downtown is quite large and has nice shops and a great farmers market every Saturday. The arts are alive and well with an opera house, art museum, all kinds of art classes and more.
The first thing I saw in Pensacola were these two arches by Peter King. He has made large arches, gates, fireplace surrounds, kitchens, and more! I took a workshop with him in about 2008 and did this clay sculpture that hung outside my E Front house afterwards.
Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Gulf Springs, La
I’d never heard of Walter until my friend Nancy told me about him. What a talent and inpiring artist and writer!
He studied under several modernists and won a Packard Award for his animal drawings. He spent a summer in France where he saw cave paintings which influenced his drawing style. His brother Peter opened the Shearwater Pottery in Ocean Springs, Mississippi (which is still in existence) in 1928 on property that belonged to their parents. Walter moved to Ocean Springs and worked as a designer for the pottery. He designed for the pottery until his death (work he really did not want to do which frustrated him and contributed to his mental health issues).
In 1941 he and his wife moved to her family estate Oldfields, which freed him of some of the responsibilities of the pottery and he began to paint once again.
The piece I loved the most is the « Little Room » which was moved to the museum in its entirety. He never let anyone into his studio, the little room, and after he died his wife had the lock cut off. They found this painted room. The mural takes you through twenty four hours depicting the perfect day.
He did a lot of other work as well, furniture, sculpture, and as mentioned, pottery.
And his writing!! Among his most vivid writings are logbooks recording his travels by bicycle to New York city in 1942, New Orleans in 1943, China in 1949, and Costa Rica in 1951.
But what was of the most interest to me were excerpts from 90 journals he wrote about his trips to Horn Island, just off the Mississippi coast.
Plus Ocean Springs is a great little town.
Ohr-OKeefe Museum
I wasn’t so crazy about Biloxi, the waterfront is full of casinos but there is the Ohr-OKefe Museum. The building was designed by Frank Gehry and is devoted to the Gulf coast’s cultural past & potter George E. Ohr. The campus is quite unusual, as are all of his buildings (like the Guggenheim (Bilbao, Spain) I saw a year or two ago.
When the towns people worried about his cutting down the large live oaks he responded that he did not cut down trees he incorporated them into his designs.
George Ohr called himself the Mad Potter of Biloxi. His looks added to that reputation. While during his lifetime he was able to make a living with his work it wasn’t until after his death that he really became famous and the value of his work soared, so typical! It’s interesting that George wrote to the Smithsonian on an umbrella stand he had made « The Somebody that made this pot was born at Biloxi July 12, 1857 and is GE Ohr. » (Paraphrased). Ohr hoped that the Smithsonian would purchase his body of work. They turned him down. It’s ironic that now a beautiful collection of his work is in this museum, that is part of the Smithsonian, and is named after him!
I was also thrilled to discover the work of New Orleans artist James Michalopoulos. I love the way he doesn’t worry about straight lines and upright structures. In fact he says his style is inspired by the music of his city. His buildings dance!
Katrina pretty much wiped the waterfront of Biloxi clean, you can still tell what happened by the bare strips of land from the downtown toward Ocean Springs. They have a memorial near the Ohr-OKeefe Museum to the storm.
Fortunately the Downtown of Ocean Springs was mostly spared by the storm.
Arcadia Mill Archaeological Site, Milton and Bagdad
Northeast of Pensacola on the edge of the town of Milton is where Florida’s largest antebellum industrial complex, the Arcadia Mill was located. It was the site of a water-powered business that included a sawmill, lumber mill, gristmill, shingle mill, cotton textile mill, and bucket and pail factory. The facility was in operation from 1830 until 1855 when the two-story textile mill burned. The complex included a dam over a quarter of a mile long and about 15 feet high, which formed a 160-acre man-made pond for holding hewn timber and controlling the flow of water to the mills. During the Civil War, several skirmishes were fought in the Arcadia Mill area between Union raiders from Pensacola and local Confederate defenders, and a small Confederate cavalry force frequently used it as its base
You can still see remnants of the complex. Although the mill facilities were abandoned after the 1855 fire, the large dam remained and appears to have been destroyed by the Confederates during the war in order to prevent any use of the site by Union forces. Arcadia Mill contains a visitor center and museum, and an elevated boardwalk through the archaeological remains. It was fascinating to walk on the boardwalk and read the story as I went. The signs « watch out for bears and poisonous snakes » makes you think about the people that built it all and lived with the snakes and bears.
One reason this site was chosen was for the vein of ironstone as seen in the last photo above. It contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which Iron can be smelted. We picked up pieces off the ground!
Milton and Bagdad are interesting small towns near the site. There is a great little railroad museum and a butterfly house with a vivarium for the butterflies. The railroad Museum does not have a lot of cars or locomotives but it has a lot of other things including a large model train layout featuring may local buildings. While in Milton we took a ride on Blackwater Bay, the guide was very knowledgeable and we saw nesting Osprey and Heron.
There is a little left of the Historical Florida State Route 1, (the original Dixie Highway and also part of the Old Spanish Trail). The highway went from Jacksonville, FL to the Pacific Ocean in CAt was built in 1921. It was the first section of paved road in West Florida.
In 1927, due to the new state requirements for wider roads, 4.5’ concrete shoulders were added on each side of the curbing. A very short section of it can still be driven on, which I did, the rest is a walking and biking trail.
Fairhope, AL
I made a quick trip to Fairhope, AL just across the bay from Mobile. It was founded in 1894 with an interesting charter. It was a wintering spot for artists and writers including Clarence Darrow and Upton Sinclair. The heron sculpture below was in the Eastern Shore Arts Center. A great space with lots of galleries and classes.
The second photo above of the odd, round building is called Tolstoy Park. Henry Stuart from Idaho was diagnosed with TB and was advised to move to a warmer climate. Sight unseen he bought ten acres outside of Fairhope in the woods. He built this round house ( 14 ft in diameter) in 1925, looking for a simple lifestyle after being told he only had months to live. Well he ended up living there for 22 years!
The third photo depicts a “castle” across from the Eastern Shore Arts Center.
If you wonder why I travel so much, I’ve had wanderlust since I was a child but a lot of the time I go because I’m looking for inspiration for my artwork, I have a curiosity to learn about new things and other times its to run away from the day to day and from the news. When I travel I totally check out from my real world, Often the days before I leave I think I’ve got too much to do to be going away or I don’t feel like going but the moment I drive out the door I forget all about it.
Montgomery Museum of Fine Art
After leaving Navarre I stopped in Montgomery AL at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art. It is in a beautiful building in a beautiful setting on the edge of the city.
The collection of paintings isn’t that interesting in my opinion but they do have an Andrew Wyeth, a Sargeant, a Hopper and one of the 62 versions of Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks. They DO have a great collection of contemporary glass. And they have a lovely sculpture garden.
The glass figure shown below is by North Carolina glass blower Rick Beck. I used to carry his and Vals work at Carolina Creations.
Elberton, GA
I stopped to see friends in Eatonton, GA. I’ve visited them before and wrote about it in a previous blogpost. It’s not far from Madison which is my favorite town in Georgia, it even beats out Savannah for me!
We got to tour the Uncle Remus Museum and learned all about the author, Joel Chandler Harris. He had a rocky start but was fortunate to be invited to live with Joseph Addison Turner at Turnwald Plantation where he heard stories from the plantations slaves that were the inspiration of many of his stories. His history is fascinating as was the Museum. No photos are allowed in the Museum but the outside is very charming. The building consists of several slave cabins from Putnam County and is similar to the one occupied by Uncle Remus, the character in the books by Harris. One end of the cabin depicts the fireside of Uncle Remus where most of his stories were told. First editions and artifacts from the 1800s are on display. The stories of Uncle Remus have been published in at least 27 different languages. Harris died in his home in Atlanta in 1908, at Wren’s Nest, which is also a museum.
I also went to the Georgia’s Writers Museum, also in Eatonton. There are nine important writers from this area. In total, more than 90 writers from across the state are recognized at the Georgia Writers Museum for their literary success by receiving the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame induction, the Georgia Author of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award, or the Townsend Prize. Alice Walker, Flannery O’Connor, and Joel Chandler Harris are all from within 20 miles of the town. It was much more interesting that I had anticipated.
Going Home
I intended to take a circuitous route home via Blue Ridge and Dahlonega Georgia, and Brevard, NC but it was raining and my work was piling up so I decided just to go home. But before that I stopped at the Savannah River Site Museum in Aiken. I had never heard about it. Unfortunately it was closed on the day I was there but I will certainly stop the next time through. You can also take a three hour tour of the Savannah River Site.
This is a description of it from their website…
General Information About SRS The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a key Department of Energy (DOE) industrial complex responsible for stewardship of the environment, the enduring nuclear weapons stockpile and nuclear materials. More specifically, SRS processes and stores nuclear materials in support of the national defense and U.S. nuclear non-proliferation efforts. The Site also develops and deploys technologies to improve the environment and treat nuclear and hazardous wastes left from the Cold War.
The SRS complex covers 198,046 acres, or 310 square miles, encompassing parts of Aiken, Barnwell and Allendale counties in South Carolina, bordering the Savannah River.
Where to next? A quick visit to Winston-Salem, then a week in Michigan then a month in Europe!
I haven’t been in southern California in 30 some years. At that time we were living in Colorado and had the privilege of meeting the GM of the Beverly Hilton and his family. They invited us to come stay with them at the hotel which we did and were treated to a beautiful room on the pool.
We had also met a couple living in an rv, they were visiting Aspen and were parked at the base of Buttermilk Mtn. Ski Area. The house we lived in was at the top of Buttermilk Mtn. So we drove by them several times and Michael stopped to admire the bus conversion. While in California we visited them on their boat in Shoreline Village Marina in Long Beach. We sailed out to Catalina and spent a couple of days, it was wonderful. Then continued to San Diego.
This time I went to visit a lady I’d met in Paris who I really hit it off with.
We stayed at her condo in Malibu, what a view!
We could not figure out what this big statute was that was floating by, turns out it is a blow up statute of Kid Cuti, a rapper, (I had no clue who he was), and he is using it to promote his new album.
The Library is famous for its collections of the papers of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
The Museum features British, European, American, and Asian art spanning more than 500 years and includes more than 45,000 objects. My favorite pieces were the more contemporary ones.
Who knew the “Blue Boy” was there? They really liked to collect portraits, the one gallery consists mostly of those. I found the other building, called the American Museum to be more interesting.
Then there is the Botanical Garden, wow! The gardens spread over 130 acres, with different themed gardens. My favorites were the Chinese Gardens and the Desert Garden. We said we didn’t care about seeing the Desert Garden but it turned out to be huge and fantastic.
I don’t know why but I really liked this painting by Enrique Martínez Celaya who is a Cuban American. It is in the American Museum. A lot of the museum is dedicated to items like a spinning wheel, pottery, and other early American items.
Interesting that the artist Celaya started out as a physicist. When he visited the museum he painted these birds on the windows.
We ate at NOBO in Malibu which is just down the street from the condo. I guess a lot of celebrities hang out there but we did not see any. The food was yummy!
Another great spot in the neighborhood is the Adamson House. This was one of the highlights of the trip. It was built by Rhoda Rindge Adamson and her husband Merritt Adamson in 1929. The land was part of the Malibu Spanish Land Grant. Rhoda’s father bought the land in 1892 for $10 an acre and 30 years later it was the most valuable single real estate holding in the United States. There is an interesting history worth reading on their website.
After her husband died she was always trying to find ways to make money, she was land rich but cash poor. She was drilling for oil but instead found clay that led to the creation of Malibu Potteries. The Pottery did not last long but it was still important. They produced versions of Mayan, Moorish, Moroccan, Saracen, and Persian designs.
Tile is everywhere inside and outside the home, all manufactured less than a mile east. I loved loved loved this house, as much as the tile I loved the painted wood ceilings and furniture, the handcrafted lamps, and the fact that pretty much everything in it belonged to the Adamson family. It is now part of a State Park.
Next was the Getty Villa and Getty Center. I’m generally not interested in much art before about 1870 which excluded most of the art in both places. That being said I still enjoyed seeing it all and appreciate the discipline of the artists and craftsmen who created it all, and there were a few Impressionists pieces, like the Van Gogh Irises.
What made the visit so interesting for me was a friend of my host gave us a guided tour. He is an art appraiser and has his business in LA, he started out working for Sotheby’s. He talked about different ways he can tell if a piece is authentic or not. From the style, subject, the back of the piece, and things that affect the price, etc. Plus he was charming and funny to boot. He also told how and why the Villa and Getty Center became what they are today. We all benefit from them trying to reduce what they owed the federal government in taxes.
And of course the views from both were amazing.
Then we took a drive to Santa Barbara, it was just a beautiful drive with a stop at Hertiage Square in Oxnard and a walk up one of the shopping streets in Santa Barbara.
A day of rest was followed by a visit to West Hollywood. Good thing for the rest the day before because I did end up walking 18.500 steps that day.
We started with breakfast at “Bottega Louie” on Santa Monica Blvd. (yummy), just down the block from the “Empty Vase” (beautiful), and another couple of blocks from the “Troubadour” (bummed we didn’t go), so many of my favorite musicians got their first breaks there.
That was followed by The LACMA. The building is outstanding and is right beside the LaBrea Tar Pits.
LACMA is the largest art museum in the western United States. Their collection of over 150,000 pieces spans 6,000 years of history and art.
My question was how did a county museum get so big and where did the money come from. I guess it helps if people like David Geffen are on the board and can contribute $100,000,000.
They just finished a $750,000 fund raising campagne for the museums expansion.
The forest of lamp posts at the front of the museum has been featured in several movies. The sculpture consists of 202 streetlamps dating from the 1920s and 1930s from all over Southern California.
There is a great interview of the artist Chris Burden at this link.
I read that it has become an unofficial symbol of the city.
It was just by chance that we chose to stay at 850 SVB, a beautiful small boutique hotel. You cannot tell that it is a hotel from the outside.
It was in the perfect location for us to cap off a fun week, we could park the car and visit adjacent establishments.
A couple blocks away was The Abbey, where we stopped for a drink. On our way back by our hotel we ran into these two cuties. We didn’t tell them who my photo was taken with at the Abbey.
The Roxy, Whiskey, Rainbow Bar and Grill and the Troubadour were all the places I heard about as a kid, with the hippies and bands that would later become major rock groups, and they are still going.
Little did we know until we checked in that directly across the street was an HBO party for the Emmy winners. I’m not star struck but it was fun watching them enter the party carrying their trophies.
Unfortunately I was just shooting with my iphone so the photos did not turn out so well. If you watched the Emmys you know that the lady in red is Sarah Snook from Succession.
We saw the whole cast of Succession and Jennifer Coolidge from White Lotus enter. There were others but I didn’t know who they were. It was fun hanging out with guys from HBO who were on the balcony with us receiving footage from inside the party.
This hotel is across from San Vicente Bungalows where the party was and where people like Prince Harry and Elon Musk stay. It’s a private place that you have to be invited to join and no photos are allowed inside. In fact our hotel was developed by the same guy, Jeff Klein.
Many thanks to my hostess who I’m going to Italy with in the fall. We’ll start in Rome then spend a week in Manciano, then head up to Florence, Salzburg, Prague, Berlin and ending up in Amsterdam. It will be a lot of fun!
Where to next? Two weeks on the Gulf Coast near Mobile with friends since the 80s.
New Bern, North Carolina, has a stunning skyline that beat out every other small city in America.
When you think of skylines, you likely think of those found in New York City, Tokyo, or Shanghai, major world cities where sky-high architectural marvels like the Empire State Building, the Tokyo Skytree, or the Shanghai Tower can be found. But beyond these iconic buildings and their surrounding cityscapes are noticeably smaller cities with noticeably different skylines — those that integrate elements of natural beauty and historic architecture into the mix.
In a recent roundup of picturesque, small-city skylines, one U.S. community stood out. New Bern, North Carolina, a small city of just over 30,000 people, topped the list, which was compiled by MovingFeedback.com via a poll of 1,000 travelers. According to the survey, the riverfront city, which sits near the North Carolina coast north of Wilmington, has a small-city skyline unlike any other.
“Awe-inspiring skylines are not exclusive to our major metropolises. Our survey reveals that the heart of America’s architectural beauty often beats strongest in our smaller towns, where history and nature combine to create truly unforgettable vistas,” said Harrison Gough of MovingFeedback.com in a press release shared with Travel + Leisure.
Travelers called out New Bern’s particular blend of natural features and historical charm. It is surrounded by water thanks to its location by the confluence of the Neuse and Trent Rivers, and the city has more than its fair share of greenery. The natural features of New Bern are bolstered by a historic downtown district that showcases well-maintained colonial architecture.
One of the city’s standout landmarks, Tryon Palace, is a replica of the 1760s Royal Governor’s mansion and is surrounded by 16 acres of lush garden. This landmark, in addition to New Bern’s mix of natural and historic skyline components secured the city’s No. 1 ranking on the list.
Following New Bern in the top 10 small-city U.S. skylines (of 70 skylines total), were nine other small cities that captured travelers — including a second city in North Carolina and a couple in Colorado: Walla Walla, Washington; Estes Park, Colorado; Ojai, California; Hendersonville, North Carolina; Leadville, Colorado; Bay St. Louis, Mississippi; Valley City, North Dakota; Bath, Maine; and Jonesborough, Tennessee.
For the full list of 70 most picturesque small skylines in America, visit here.
I am very familiar with this skyline, I have painted it countless times. Here are just a few of them.
Our town is on the confluence of two rivers, the Trent and the Neuse so there are a lot of opportunities for different views.
« Home Port « Trent River view of our skyline, watercolor. I have prints of this one in 2 different sizes. Large. And Small
»A Slice of New Bern », ink and watercolor, Looking from the Neuse River. For this small piece I condensed the buildings, but they are pretty much in the correct order. Small Print.
From the Trent River side again this one is called « A Moment in Time », watercolor, I have this in a couple of sizes. For the tiny one I’ve cropped some off the right side to make it more square.
»Confluence », watercolor, is where the two rivers come together, the Neuse to the right, and the Trent goes up beyond that bridge. The bridge has been replaced since I did this painting. This print is available in two sizes.
»Union Point », watercolor, from the Neuse River, available in two sizes.
»Pollock and East Front Street », watercolor, available in two sizes. Michael and I built the 3rd house in from the left, it looks like a condo but my pottery was on the 1st floor, my painting studio on the 2nd, and we lived on the third floor. It was a fabulous place to live. There is a small blue house tucked in behind it that you can’t see from this view that we lived in too. About 15 years in each of those houses.
This isn’t a very good photo but it is a room divider screen, it stands about 6 feet tall. Sold long ago. Wood and oil paint.
Through the year I’ve done 6 or 7 back splashes for people this is one looking from the Trent River side before the new part of what was once the Sheraton was built.
Union Point, watercolor, again for a Christmas Card.
To the left from the Neuse, watercolor, sold, pot to the right, stoneware and underglazes, sold.
Above right oil painting – The Top of New Bern – sold, and below is an invitation to a show I had in 1992 at the Bank of the Arts, ink drawing, East Front Street, looking from the Neuse River.
And East Front Street, watercolor, a small print that is available, the big version is sold out. This is probably my most famous painting. I’m fortunate and thrilled that many many offices in town have my prints and originals hanging on their walls.
As I run across more I’ll add them to this post. I’ve been painting this town since 1989 and hope to for many more years.
While I should have been home painting I opted to do a little wandering this fall.
The first trip was to The Dominion Energy Garden of Lights Walk the Garden Aglow – At the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.
Having been at several of these types of tours this one was the best! Each area was themed, with a waterfall of lights, the seasons, underwater, wrapped trees, tunnels and more! In 2022, the community voted this show #5 Best Botanical Garden Holiday Lights in the Country through the USA Today/10Best contest. And I would have to agree.
It’s also the third time I’ve stayed at The Glass Light Hotel in Downtown Norfolk. The rooms are beautiful and the hotel is full of beautiful glass. It houses the Perry Glass Art Collection featuring beautiful glass pieces from local and internationally renowned artists.It includes a rotating selection of pieces, in the gallery as well as the hotel. Doug Perry was a co-founder of Dollar Tree Stores and it’s nice to see that he and his wife are huge supporters of the arts in the area.
Some of the artists currently being featuring are Dale Chihuly, Stephen Rolfe Powell, Nancy Callan, Karen Lamonte, Peter Bremers, Katherine Gray and Lucy Lyon. The building is the historic Royster Building which was built in 1912. It was immaculately preserved and restored. It still has an original elevator cab, a brass mail chute and decorative staircases. The rooms are beautiful too, and each has a handblown carrot in it! Mrs Perry’s nickname is Bunny and there are a couple huge blown glass rabbits on the first floor.
On the way home we stopped to look at the Dirgible facility just south of Elizabeth City. During World War II, blimps were a key part of the United States’ defense against German U-boats—this building could house a dozen of them. It is a pretty impressive structure right on the shore of the Pasquotank River. Its large, silvery dome is 20 stories tall and a thousand feet wide and is one of the few remaining structures that were built during World War II to manufacture, house, and service the U.S Navy’s blimps.
The blimps watched for signs of enemy ships. From end to end, these blimps measured more than 250 feet long, and were capable of carrying their 18-member crews from the base to the ocean in half an hour, and could stay in the air for as long as two days without a refueling.
I never heard about this until I moved to North Carolina but in the first few months of 1942, German U-boats had torpedoed dozens of ships off the Carolina coast, but once the blimps started going up, the attacks quickly fell off. Airship crews had the advantage of perspective: From the air, they could easily spot a submarine at shallow depth. The blimps were armed with machine guns and depth charges, and could also call nearby warships for backup.
After the war, Weeksville kept operating until 1957 when it shut down. They demolished many small buildings, but kept the large steel hangar and a smaller wooden one. In 1995, the wooden hangar accidentally burned down, leaving only the concrete pillars at the corners of the air dock.
The steel hangar currently serves as a testing facility for TCOM Airships, returning to its original purpose. It’s on private property now so you can’t get too close. This photo is from their website.
Trip Number two – Longwood Gardens in Kennet Square PA.
On the way we stopped in Berlin on the Eastern Shore, this tiny town has lots of beautiful homes and their downtown main street rocks! The first time i visited about 10 or 15 years ago it was pretty quiet. My favorite shop in the downtown is called Beached and Butterfly. But there were several other really nice ones.
The next day we visited Kennett Square and strolled through downtown. The most interesting shop was A Mushroom Cap. I did not know that Kennett Square is the Mushroom Capital of the World and produces 68 percent of the country’s mushrooms! I’ve always liked mushrooms, particularly Morels, but any mushroom will do! I also did not know that mushrooms are the only item in the produce aisle that has natural vitamin D.
My parents were big morel hunters. They went every year near Manistee, Michigan to find them. This is a photo of my mother with a laundry basket full of them. People keep their picking spots secret.
After the downtown we went to see the lights. A Longwood Christmas has been voted 2022 Best Botanical Garden Holiday Lights by 10Best/USA Today, marking the fifth year in a row that Longwood has achieved this recognition. In my opinion the best part of the outdoor display was the illuminated tunnels. The fountains were drained and instead there were lighted trees where water is in the summer.
The very best part of the display was the conservatory. It was beautiful.
In my opinion the outside lights did not compare in any way to Norfolk. The other thing about Norfolk was that you followed a path so you saw everything, at Longwood you weren’t exactly sure if you saw everything or not but it was still nice. But enjoyed the visit none the less.
We stopped in DC on our way by and visited the National Cathedral, my first time there. The main reason for the visit was to see the collection of nativities that belonged to a friends mother. She donated 600 nativites to the Cathedral that she had collected from around the world.
Next was The National Museum of the American Indian – it was dark when we arrived and we only had time to visit the gift shop inside, which was fabulous. The main reason for the visit was to see the memorial outside. It was understated and quite beautiful. The memorial opened in 2020. This tribute to Native heroes recognizes for the first time on a national scale the enduring and distinguished service of Native Americans in every branch of the US military.
Our final stop on that trip was at The Jefferson Inn in Richmond for lunch. The first time I had visited was last year at Christmas so I knew my travel companions would like it. And they did. Once again the decorations were over the top.
Trip Number Three – Raleigh and the Chatham Artists Guild Studio Tour
My favorite stops on the tour were at Vince Pitelka’s studio, Mark Hewitts, William Moore, and Andrew Wilsons.
A yummy lunch at the Ulmsted followed then when we got back to my friends house we spent the afternoon making clay Christmas trees.
She is a very talented hand builder. Her goal was to make 75 trees this season and she’s almost reached that,
This wraps up a busy year of travel, art making, and just enjoying life. I’m grateful for all of it.
I visited Paris for the first time for just few days in the 90s with a bunch of folks from around New Bern. It was an amazing trip but I never felt like I saw enough of Paris, so this was the year to go back.
A non stop flight from Raleigh took a lot of the stress out of the flight. My hotel was right next to the Cathedral of the Rive Gauche, the Church of Saint Sulpice. It is on a square with a huge fountain, and my hotel room looked out over the square. It’s also a church that was featured in Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code.
The church is significant because with Notre Dame’s closing, it’s the largest church in Paris (2nd largest in the city next to Notre Dame) that is able to celebrate Mass and welcome visitors, so it’s temporarily serving as the city’s cathedral. Some days and most evenings there were people dancing in the square under my window.
The 5th photo was my hotel, Hotel Recamier. It’s small, only 24 rooms, very nice and the staff was great.
The hotel was in a great location, Luxembourg Garden is just 1 block away, Notre Dame and the Flower Market is about a 20 minute, and it was pretty easy walking, I walked to Musee D’Orsay, and the Louvre is just across the river from that. If I was into clothes shopping for designer fashions I landed in the perfect spot. There were small clothing boutiques, art galleries, and nice restaurants, dozens and dozens of them in every direction. As you go down toward Notre Dame everthing gets more touristy but it’s nice all the same.
Day 1 – Luxembourg Garden – Notre Dame I arrived at about 11 at the hotel and spent the afternoon walking around the Luxembourg Garden then having a lesiurgly late lunch. I signed up for a 6 days tour of just Paris with a group called Girls Guide to the World. There were only 6 of us on the tour. I went two days early and stayed 4 days after. I didn’t know the other people but we met over a zoom call a couple weeks ahead. After the garden and a walk to Notre Dame I was beat having not slept much on the plane.
Day 2– Notre Dame again – Flower Market – Au Vieux Paris – Giverny
I walked back to Notre Dame looking for the mile zero marker, point zero it’s called, where everything in France is measured from. I never saw it, I beleive its behind the wall they have built around Notre Dame to prevent a bunch of tourists from getting hit by something falling on them. But here is a photo of it from its website.
Right around the corner is the Marche Aux Fleur, the Flower Market. It wasn’t quite as neat as it was on my first visit but I enjoyed it just the same.
After the market I had coffee at this sweet looking restaurant, I think I see a painting coming out of it!
And a few random shots along the way.
The Place Saint-Michel has this fabulous fountain.
The square was completed in 1869, the highest fountain in the city, dedicated to the archangel Michael. The central niche houses the Archangel, waving a sword. He was the leader of the heavenly armies – Patron saint of warriors.
One of the ladies and I hit it off right away. Another lady arrived early and wanted to go to Giverny – I did too, so off the 3 of us went.
At 2pm we headed off to Giverny with a company called Blue Fox Travel obtained through Get Your Guide. Eight people is all the tour bus would hold so it was a nice size. Two people were from New Zealand, there was an Englishman, and two from somewhere else.
Our first stop was at the church where Monet and much of his family is buried.
I’ll have to say I thought I knew a lot about the artist but learned more on the tour. The garden and home were just as beautiful as I remember.
And once again I see some paintings coming out of these photos and many other parts of my time in Paris!
Our guide told us that you can lease the grave sites in this and many cemeteries, like for 10, 20, or 50 years. If you don’t renew the lease, they remove the remains and someone else moves in. I loved the porcelain flowers on many of the tombs.
So who is the lady looking in the mirror, my new friend asked? Just someone I saw in the bathroom I answered. You took a picture of someone in the bathroom? Yes, I thought she looked like an interesting character!!
I got this great shot of the Arc d Triomphe as we returned back to Paris.
Something I did not know about the Arc d Triomphe is that every evening there is a daily ceremony known as the “Flame of Remembrance.” A flame is lit daily at 6:30 am and extinguished late at night. And it’s no insignificant event. As you can see there are a lot of dignataries that participate in the ceremony. This has happened every day since November 1923 at 6:30 pm.
One thing I remember well from my last trip is the chaos of the Etoile (French for star) around the Arc. It is called that due to the configuration of the intersection, with the various avenues branching out like the points of a star.
Our driver had fun telling us about it and even circled it twice just for fun. I can’t beleive bicyclists drive through it!
He says if you get in an accident on it, your insurance company won’t cover it. Which explains why our taxi drivers went a different way even though it would have been shorter to do the circle. We had 2 great taxi drivers, both older men, both spoke English, and both were lovely taking us to and from the tour.
Sitting at a stoplight I got this nice shot of the Effiel Tower.
Day 3 – Jardin de Plantes – The Great Mosque – The Pantheon – Dinner on the Seine
Day three was the day I met the rest of the ladies from across the US. Our Tour was called Artists and Writers Tour. Before they arrived I walked to the Jardin de Plantes which was kind of a hike but doable. On the way I saw the Pantheon and the Great Mosque.
On October 19, 1922, the building of the Mosque was begun. The idea for it dates back to the 1800s. The French government decided they needed to build a mosque in 1916 when they had to count so many soldiers of the Muslim faith among its heros of the « Great War. »
The Pantheon stands on the top of Montagne Sainte-Genevieve. It was built between 1758 and 1790.
By the time it was finished, the French Revolution had started and the government voted to transform the Church of Saint Genevieve into a mausoleum for the remains of distinguished French citizens. Some dignitaries that are buried there are Voltaire, Jean Jacque Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas to name just a few.
Even though Paris has seen some nights in the 40s there was still quite a bit in bloom at the Jardin de Plantes. Jardin doesn’t always mean there are flowers, often it just means park.
I decided to hop on the Batoboat. It’s a boat that has 9 stops and you can get off and get back on. I got off at the St Germain stop which was closest to my hotel. It was fortunate that I walked up the rue de Seine. It and surrounding streets are host to the highest concentration of art galleries and antique dealers in the world. There were a lot of contemporary furniture galleries there as well.
I met the rest of the group and off we went to dinner on Ducasse sur Seine, a restaurant on a boat that we boarded right across from the Eiffel tower.
The tunnel Diana was killed in is right by where we boarded the boat and we drove through it. The boat, the food, and the ambience were all lovely. The Eiffel Tower sparkles for a few minutes every hour after dark.
Day 4 – Jacqueline Marval – Musee d’Orasy – Chez Fernand
We took the bus across town to see a private collection of the work of Jacqueline Marval. I had never heard of her. She was born in Quaix, near Grenoble. Her given name was Marie-Joséphine Vallet, she took letters from her first and last name and became Jacqueline Marval. Her parents were teachers, so that is what she studied to be.
She married and had a son who died as a child and that was a turning point in her life. She left her husband and became a vestmaker to support herself. She eventually arrived in Paris in 1895 and lived in the Montparnasse district. She met the painter Jules Flandrin (1871 – 1947), who she lived with for thirty years, and Matisse, Van Dongen, Marquet, Picasso, Manguin, Camoin, were in her circle of friends. In the 1940s Raphaël Roux dit Buisson€s began collecting her work and amassed the largest collection of her paintings in the world.
On our way to our next stop I shot this blurry photo through the bus window. It is a memorial called The Flame of Liberty. It was erected in 1987 near the Pont de lᦇAlma and is quite close to the tunnel where Princess Diana was in the accident and it has turned into a memorial by her admirers.
It was donated by the International Herald Tribune, to symbolize the friendship between the French and American people. It is a life-sized, gilded copper replica of the flame at the top of the Statue of Liberty.
After lunch our next stop was at the Musee D’Orsay. The tour was lead by an art historian who taught us about the progression of painters that became the impressionists and the others that influenced them.
We saw work by the usual suspects, Pissarro, Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Degas, Cezanne, and Manet.
One artist I didn’t know about was Gustave Caillebotte. He was a painter in his own right but came from a very wealthy family so did not have to sell his work to make a living. He was a great supporter of the arts and began supporting and collecting work of young painters.
After the death of his younger brother he thought that he might die young as well so wrote his will when he was in his twenties. He died at age 46. In the will he bequeathed a large collection of art to the French government that included sixty-eight paintings by Pissarro (19), Monet (14), Renoir (10), Sisley (9), Degas (7), Cezanne (5), and Manet (4) .
We topped off the evening with dinner at Chez Fernand, just around the corner from our hotel. This was such a great neighborhood!
Day 4 – Hemmingway Tour – Sylvia Beach – Stuffed Bears – 100 Establishment Cultural Center – Promenade Plantée – Haussmann ‘s Renovation of Paris
“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” Ernest Hemmingway.
This tour is about artists and writers in Paris. Ernest Hemmingway was the main topic of a walk through the Latin Quarter, seeing where he wrote and lived. One of the places he lived with his second wife was just 1/2 block from my hotel.
Our guide referred to his book « A Moveable Feast » which was published after his death. He arrived in Paris in 1921 with his first wife Hadley. We saw their first apartment on74 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine where they had no running water. He was quoted as saying they used a Michigan toilet, which meant outhouse. I didn’t realize at one point he lived at Walloon Lake near Charlevoix, Michigan. I went there with my folks as a kid. I’ll have to say I’ve not read the Moveable Feast but I will when I get home. They were quite poor but happy, at least for a while.
Our guide has a post doctorate degree and Hemmingway is one of her research subjects.
Around the corner he had a small apartment that he used for his writing. I knew he drank a lot but didn’t realize he was also disciplined about it. He would not drink each day until after he had written 10 pages.
One place all the tourist sites mention is Shakespeare and Company but I didn’t realize the history of the name until this tour.
Shakespeare and Company originally functioned as a lending library and bookseller near the Luxonbourg Garden. It was started by American expat and literary sponsor Sylvia Beach.
Sylvia helped many writers get their work published, like James Joyce’s Ulysses (he could not get any company to publish it). She also helped Hemmingway publish and even loaned him money.
Many famous writers Ezra Pound, TS Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Man Ray, and many others hung out at the bookstore. During the Great Depression the store suffered but with the help of « Friends of Shakespeare and Company » who paid a subscription to allow them to attend readings, allowed the store to flourish. But after 1941 she was forced to close and never reopened.
She was interned for six months during the war. Alongside many other women, Beach was arrested, confined briefly in a Parisian zoo, and then interned at Vittel Internment Camp in eastern France. The camp was composed mostly of female inmates who held either American or British passports. I could not determine the real reason for internment but suppose it was because she was the enemy.
After being released she joined the resistance. She died in Paris in 1962. After her death another American, George Whitman, opened a new bookstore in 1951, where it’s located now, and used the name Shakespeare and Company in honor of Sylvia. His daughter now runs the Bookstore.
Back to Hemmingway. We went by so many restaurants and bars that writers hung out at! One I could see out of my hotel window. Continuing our tour we took the path Hemmingway walked to the Luxembourg Garden. He became friends with Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, James Joyce, to name a few.
Stein dubbed them the lost generation. “Lost” in this context refers to the “disoriented, wandering, directionless” spirit of many of the WWI war’s survivors, Around 1927 he began an affair with Pauline Pfeiffer a fashion reporter and Hadley filed for divorce right away. After a bit he married Pauline and they moved to Key West. But before they moved they lived for a while in the posh neighborhood by my hotel, they could because Paulines family was quite wealthy.
Hemingway featured the bar at the Ritz in The Sun Also Rises and once wrote, “When I dream of afterlife in heaven, the action always takes place in the Paris Ritz.” Which I visited later in the trip!
In closing about Hemingway, he eventually had another affair with Martha Gellhorn. Won’t women learn?? If they did it before they will do it again!
Our guide also taught us about Haussmann’s renovation of Paris. It was a major public works project for the city commissioned by Napoleon the 3rd. It included the demolition of medieval neighborhoods that were deemed overcrowded and unhealthy.
The demolition included 20,000 structures; the building of wide avenues; new parks and squares; the annexation of the suburbs surrounding Paris ; and the construction of new sewers, fountains and aqueducts. The street plan and distinctive appearance of the centre of Paris today are largely the result of Haussmann’s renovation. His assignment was to give the city air and open space, to connect and unify the different parts of the city into one whole, and to make it more beautiful. His part of the job lasted 17 years, from 1853 to 1871.
Along our walk we saw this big Teddy Bear hanging in a window in a restaurant. It turns out that during covid the restaurants were trying to come up with ways to social distance.
One cafe used giant teddy bears in some seats to keep its customers apart. It turned into « a thing » and all over the city you would see these bears in some of the seats. If you search online for giant teddy bears at tables in Paris you’ll see some neat photos. Later in the trip I saw more bears in the Marais.
We rode the bus to the right bank where we had lunch under the Promenade Plantée, the elevated green walkway that inspired the developers of the Highline in NYC. It is three km long. It’s not as nice as the Highline but pretty neat all the same.
We then visited 100 Establissment art center and met two artists that share a studio there. Liz Adams originally from Atlanta and Stephanie Mackenzie originally from Toronto. There are just a few permanent studios in the building, I thought it was interesting that Expats were able to get them rather than French people because they are being subsidized by the government. I asked if there was resentment that they got the spots and they said people were more curious about them than resentful.
We rode the bus quite a bit during the trip, taxis, and the metro as well. I really enjoyed riding the bus, it was only crowded one time and with the refillable Navigo card it was $1.90 per ride. There is a lot in the press about bedbugs, fortunately we did not see any!
Day 5 – Stained Glass Artist – a Fabulous Lunch at the Cafe De L’Esplanade – Rodin Museum
We visited the stained glass studio of another expat originally from Minnesota. She’s Alison Grace Koehler and is a stained-glass poet. In addition to making permanent and transient stained-glass art, she has performed at various festivals, spaces, and events, including the Edinburgh Art Festival, the Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre, the Meeting Point Project, Irruzioni, the Poetry Brothel, the Espace Christiane Peugeot, and others.
Her poetry and art have appeared in various publications, including Yes The Void, The Opiate, Paris Lit Up Magazine, and Bioptic Review. Alison lives in Paris, and was voted 2018 Best Expat Artist by Expatriates Magazine.
We then went back to the city and had lunch at the fabulous Cafe De L’Esplanade.
The Rodin Museum was next and we learned a lot about his life I did not know. The building that the Museum is in was a mansion built for a financier. The Hôtel Peyrenc-de-Moras, as it was called then, was completed in 1732. It changed hands several times and eventually became a school. After the school closed, Rodin rented several rooms to store his sculptures in. It eventually became his atelier, where he had 50 people working for him.
Then in 1909, Rodin, at the height of his fame, began to agitate for the building to become a museum of his work. Rodin proposed to make a bequest of his property, his archives and the contents of his studio at the time of his death, the French government accepted and the museum opened in 1919.
We learned about his technique of creating the initial work in clay then his employees did the rest, making molds, casting, enlarging, etc. As with a lot of people who attain stardom it seems, he had an affair with Claudine Claudel one of his apprentices but would never divorce his wife. Heavy sigh.
The first photo below shows his gates of hell which was a large commission for a door surround. You will note that what we now call the Thinker is in the middle below the three figures. It was originally called the poet and it is believed that it was originally intended to depict Dante at the gates of Hell, pondering his great poem.
Day 6 – Montmartre– a walk – Shakespeare and Company again
Instead of calling my studio my studio maybe I’ll start calling it my Atelier.
We rode the Montmartre funicular instead of climbing the steps (thank you Jesus), and headed to the The Musee de Montmartre. The Museum is in one of the oldest buildings on the hill. It was built in the 17th century and is surrounded by gardens. It held the studios of many artists, such as Renoir, Emile Bernard, Dufy, Charles Camoin, Suzanne Valadon and Maurice Utrillo.
The garden is called the Renoir Garden, in memory of Auguste Renoir who lived there from 1875 to 1877 and painted several of his masterpieces on site. Many artists lived in Montmartre because it was outside of the city of Paris, so they didn’t have to pay Paris taxes, and the rent was cheap. The only vineyard left on the hill is right beside the Museum.
You see a lot of references to The Black Cat in this neighborhood. In its heyday it was a bustling nightclub that was part artist salon and part music hall. From 1882 to 1895 the cabaret published a weekly magazine with the same name, featuring literary writings, news from the cabaret and Montmartre, poetry, and political satire. It was the subject of this iconic poster by Theophile Steinlenposter in 1896.
The lady in the red dress was singing opera and swishing her dress to address runners in a foot race.
We ate too much fabulous food on our visit to Paris, and none was better than that at Moulin de la Galette. I suppose you would call it a tourist restaurant, it’s the one with the only remaining windmill on top, but the food was excellent.
After a leisurely stroll we went back to the hotel to take a break then eventually headed out to walk to dinner. This night was dinner at Le Recamier, their speciality is souffle. The following photos are not all from that same meal! I seldom order a gin and tonic in the US anymore. More often than not the tonic is flat. Not in Paris!
You can take a ride in one of these cute 2CVs.
Day 7 – The Louvre – Tour Luxombourg Garden – Photo Lesson and Shoot – Last Day with Group
I wasn’t too crazy about going back to the Louvre. It does not contain the period of artwork that I like, it’s giant, and it’s always packed but I’m glad I went.
On my previous visit we did not see the walls of one of the original palaces. We learned a lot about the construction and how it grew through the centuries. In the photo to the right you would have been standing in the bottom of a moat. Click here to see a short and excellent video on youtube showing how the palace grew over 800 years.
That evening we had a photo shot at Luxembourg Gardens. I hate having my photo taken! I think it’s because I used to be skinny and had long blonde hair. But I went along with it. Our little group.
Day 8 – Solo Again – the Ritz and Neighbors – Passages – window shots
Four ladies left this morning leaving my new friend from California and I. We each went our own way for the day and met up for dinner. We woke this morning to chaos in the Square! Turns out they are setting up for a film shoot (or so we thought). So glad we got to see the square before it was covered up with tents. Whenever they cover up a significant structure they must have to post an image of what is behind the barricade on it.
I rode the bus to the Tulleries in a light rain. The weather has been perfect up until this day. But then it cleared up by noon.
I wanted to have a drink at the Ritz since I had had one in London at the Ritz there but they were setting up for lunch and the bar was full.
I did take a look around though and used their bathroom! It was beautiful of course! I also sat in their interior garden. I read that a lot of celebrities were staying there for Fashion Week but I did not see any.
Then I went in search of some of the passages. The covered passages of Paris are historical and architectural gems that date back to the 18th and 19th centuries. They are narrow alleys that connect different streets and are lined with shops, cafes, galleries, and other attractions. They have glass roofs that let in natural light and create a cozy and elegant atmosphere. They are also known as les passages couverts de Paris in French
There are about 25 covered passages in Paris today, mostly located on the Right Bank of the Seine.
Galerie Vivienne: This is one of the most elegant and luxurious passages, with mosaic floors, neoclassical decorations, and high-end boutiques. It was built in 1823 and is located near the Royal Palace.
Passage des Panoramas: This is the oldest passage in Paris, built in 1800. It was named after the panoramic paintings that were displayed there. It has a lively atmosphere with many restaurants, antique shops, and stamp collectors. It is located near the Grands Boulevards.
I wanted to buy a couple cards from the book store, so I started out in French “Je suis désolé mais je ne parle pas français” (“I’m sorry but I don’t speak French,” it probably didn’t come out quite that good.), to the gentleman, he immediately switched to English and said “you need to find a nice French man to teach you”, I replied, “Are you available?”, he said “yes.” And we both laughed!
I walked back through the grounds of the Louvre and Tulleries, then stopped at the Sennlier Store, tiny! I think it’s the original. And window shopped back to the hotel.
Day 9 – Bruges, Belgium
Just for the heck of it my friend and I decided to take a day trip to Bruges. She had never been and I had but was anxious to return. We were going to take the train and wander on our own but we found a tour through Viator where they drive you there, give a guided tour, and drive you back home. That way we didn’t have to worry about missing a train.
We didn’t have nearly enough time there but it reminded me of why I liked it so much the last time. I’m not going to write much about the city this time, this is a link to my last visit that has a LOT more photos because I was there for several days. I still love it but there were a lot more people there than before. Last visit was in 2018.
Day 10 – The Marais
The name Marais means swamp in French and has narrow streets and traditional architecture of Medieval and Renaissance Paris.
This was my best day solo wandering in Paris – so glad I didn’t miss the Marais.
My favorite app for walking turned out to be a free one called “footpath”. I could lay my route out and it was much easier to follow than google maps.
The day started with a walk to Place Dauphine where I visited a patisserie and a stationery shop.
But before I even got that far did some window shopping, or should I say window shooting along the way.
The first photo below is from the Pont Neuf, 2nd one on the Pont Neuf.
I’m not a department store shopper, there is too much to choose from and I can’t focus, but read about the La Samaritaine so stopped to look. I was not disappointed. I didn’t even look at the clothes or the millions of purses, I was interested in the architecture, and the milkshake!
Then I ran across this giant mosaic serpent but I can’t find out anything about it online. It’s very large and close to a childrens garden.
The snake and a childrens garden are above an underground shopping center, Westfield Forum des Halles, right beside The Church of St. Eustache. The church was built between 1532 and 1632. The shopping center was build where an old market stood, and then rebuilt again. The was much controversy about it and i guess there was a lot of drug dealing and so on in the park above, but I think that has been cleaned up. At least during the day it seemed quite safe and there were a lot of people using the park.
As far as crowds in the city – the Louvre was packed and all the tour boats on the river looked full, but in general most of the places I was at were not overcrowded – except Bruges which was somewhat of a disappointment but I still love it.
A few misc shots from the neighborhood. I watched the crow mess with this sandwich wrapper for about 10 minutes!
Next to the church is this head sculpture called Écoute, “Listen” in English, by the French artist Henri de Miller.
So much in Paris is under renovation, for the Olympics next year I suppose. I was bummed to hear the Stravinsky Fountain at the Pompidou was under renovation but pleased when I got there that you can still see some of it even though the fountain is not running. They will be closing the Pompidou after the Olympics for 5 years for renovation.
And the star attraction of the day was the Musee de la Chasse and de la Nature, Hunting and Nature Museum. I am not a hunter but this was the most unusual and beautiful museum I have ever been in. The displays were very unusual and they even had beautiful places you could sit.
The staircases are outfitted with bronze decorative fixtures designed by Brazilian sculptor Saint Clair Cemin, and and made to look like vines, antlers and tree branches. The ceiling of one room has been covered in owl feathers in a work called The Night of Diana by contemporary Belgian artist Jan Fabre. The museum’s rooms have names such as Room of the Boar, Salon of the Dogs and Cabinet of the Wolf.
This tree sculpture was created by Eva Jospin out of cardboard. It’s amazing.
The Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis is a Catholic church located near the rue des Rosiers. It was built between 1627 and 1641 by the Jesuits, under the patronage of King Louis XIII. It contains several notable paintings, sculptures, and relics, including a piece of the Crown of Thorns.
There are a lot of cute shops along the Rue des Rosiers, translated means the name means Street of the Rosebushes. It’s also the center of the Jewish and gay communities. I read that in the 1960s it was considered the armpit of Paris and was slated for demolition but the current mayors initiatives has revived the area. Sadly around the corner what was at one time a thriving area, Village-Saint Paul, doesn’t have much going on except a few antique stores and not many of those.
I bought some french soaps from a shop. The young man waiting on me was born in Baltimore to French parents and has dual citizenship. He carefully wrapped the soaps in the shape of a hand so they would not lose fingers before I got them home. We laughed about what messages the hands might convey if only certain fingers were left!
One of the most unusual public clocks in Paris is the Defender of Time, or ‘le Défenseur du Temps’ in French. It is on the back of what looked like an Ikea store.
As originally designed, every hour from 9 am to 10 pm, the defender fought one of the three animals chosen randomly by a program. At noon, 6 pm, and 10pm, all three animals attacked at the same time. While the man fights, he was accompanied by sounds of breaking waves, rumbling earth or the sound of wind, depending on the animal chosen.
The clock has been out of commission since the early 2000s. But it’s still neat to see.
The Place des Vosges is the oldest square in Paris, it was originally known as Place Royale built by Henri IV from 1605 to 1612. It’s the only square or park that I saw that you could be on the grass.
Before going on this trip I was reading many facebook posts about what to wear so as to not stand out.
If you are an old lady dress like the 2nd photo below, very formal.
If you are younger wear solid muted colors, like photo number 3, maybe a scarf but not necessary. 99.5% of the people I saw were wearing tennis shoes and I saw about 3 people out of thousands wearing shorts.
I adhered to none of the above. But don’t think I stood out too much because I was asked for directions from a Chinese Couple and a German lady. Fortunately I was actually able to help both since they were carrying maps and I could point.
I also started out with a jacket, eventually switching to a long sleeved blouse by 11 am, and a real thin top by noon, and reversing the order as the late afternoon wore on. All of which I carried in a tote which came in handy when shopping.
By 5 pm I was beginning to drag but still got a few shots on the way to the hotel.
Day 11 – More wandering
Last day in Paris, at least this time around. I will have to say I loved where my hotel was, in the 6th, on Saint Sulpice Place, however if I was going to live in Paris I would probably live in the lower Marais. It would be more affordable and very diverse. I think you have to be pretty wealthy to live in the 6th.
I decided my travels this day would just be in the neighborhood of the hotel. It started out with a goodbye breakfast with my new lady friend from California. Most of the rest of the day was spent looking in the windows of the art and antique galleries and clothing shops.
It turns out the tent city on our square wasn’t a movie at all but an art and antique market. Very nice if I was in the market for that kind of thing.
I stopped at Bon Marche and had an amazing fig tart, then took the bus back to the hotel to put on a lighter top.
Then took the bus again to the Pantheon which is up the hill a bit and walked down stopping to look at some shops along the way, through the Luxembourg Garden to the Medici Fountain where I started this trip.
I stopped in the Church to hear some organ music then dinner was just across the street, one of Hemmingways haunts then early to bed. A low key day but that is what I needed after the day before!
And it’s always a little disconcerting to be across the ocean and hear someone you did not know was in the country call out “Hey Jan!.”
Alas time to return home. I had an amazing time! Where to next? Maybe Longwood Gardens for their Christmas Light display? For sure two weeks on the Gulf coast in the late winter. Maybe a week in Italy at Manziana? We’ll see. In the meantime I have a lot of artwork to do. Au revoir!
A little excitement at the end – as we were about to land in Raleigh the pilot aborted and pulled up abruptly, high and fast, we circled several times then came to a successful landing. What happened? We will probably never know.
I have hundreds more photos, many of them shot through shop windows. My next post will be just some of those photos.
Epilogue
I think I mentioned I’m doing this online photo “game”, one of the types of photos that I need for it are of people. In the past most of my photographs have been without people. I purposely shot them that way. So on this trip I started by taking a photo of an attractive male waiter, and it snowballed. The other ladies on the tour egged me on and I will say there are a lot of attractive men in Paris! Here are a few of them (I have lots more). The leader of the tour said I should publish a book “Hot Men of Paris!”
This is the third year in a row I’ve visited Maine, great to be out of the heat for a bit. This time rather than take the time to drive up there I flew into Boston and got a car. Just so happens I was on my way to the DeCordova sculpture garden when the skies opened up and a flooding rain occurred, this happened on my trip to Michigan too! I stopped in North Andover and they made the news for the flooding. People were driving through, or trying to drive through feet of water. I saw a dump truck stuck in the middle of the road and people trying to go around it. Turn around don’t drown! Which is what I did, in fact I turned around several times before I could get out of town. On one street a log crossed the road in front of me and I got out of there thinking a mud slide was on its way, I didn’t stick around to find out.
Shortly after I got home from this trip my friend sent me this photo saying I needed this plate on my car. It’s true!
It reminded me of a book I got a while back – The Wander Society. It you see this symbol, often near book stores, it’s from a member of The Wander Society. There is a book CALLED The Wander Society by Keri Smith. A lot of what she said in the intro really explains what I get out of wandering. I know people, Michael for one, that drive from point A to point B disregarding everything inbetween. The saying, its the journey not the destination, is how I feel about traveling. A thought from the book sums up what I get out of wandering – it fuels and influences my work. It expands my knowledge of the world, makes me look at things in a different way, and gets me out of my comfort zone, expanding my horizons. Portsmouth, NH
So I survived the flood and continued on to Portsmouth New Hampshire, a town I’ve driven by several times but never stopped to check out, what a mistake it was to have never stopped I LOVE old town Portsmouth!! I spent the afternoon and the next morning checking it out, (and stopped again on my way south) here are some of the things I saw.
Strawbery Banke and Prescott Park
I had never heard of the Strawbery Banke Museum, It is on the waterfront and is very well done. One of parts I liked the most of the exhibits was the one about climate change and how it will affect Portsmouth and specifically Strawbery Banke. Strawbery Banke is a unique, outdoor history museum presenting a complete neighborhood’s evolution over 300+ years, with most of the historic houses on their original foundations. New Berns waterfront around the convention center up to the railroad tracks is an area that was boat docks and it was all filled in, well that is what happened in what is now the center field at Strawbery Banke. Otherwise the area is intact to what it was in the late 1600’s. The area is called, Puddle Dock, it surrounded the tidal inlet. It grew from an outpost in the 1600s to become a neighborhod where newcomers landed. All the buildings were slated for demolition during the time of “urban renewal in the 1950s.
A goup of citizens were determined to save it and created Strawbery Banke, Inc. in 1958 and the museum acquired the 10-acre site and about 30 buildings. It took decades to save and stabilize the houses and preservation efforts continue today. When you visit you travel over four centuries through historic houses which are still on their original foundations. they have costumed roleplayers, craftsmen, there are orchards and gardens.
Prescott Park
In the 1930s the area that is now Prescott Park (right across the street from Strawbery Banke) was pretty bad, it was a run down seedy neighborhood. The 10 acre area was purchased in the 1930s by two sisters, Josie and Mary Prescott. They were school teachers,and they used an inheritance to purchase and clear this area along the Piscataqua River, with the sole intent to create a public waterfront park. It was willed to the city in 1954. There is a theatre, lovely gardens, walkways, fountains, etc. They have an arts festival there every year.
And the street that runs right beside it goes out to a park call Peirce Island I must have gone out to at least 4 times in my short Portsmouth Visit.
I ended up spending the night in Hampton, which is not that great, I’m glad I did because otherwise I probably would not have driven down 1A along the coast, beautiful. I guess I did not take many pictures of the drive! In my next life I want to live on Hwy 111 in N Hampton.
Stranger #1
I’m finding I talk to strangers a lot more than I used. When I had the gallery I talked to people all day long so when I traveled I kept to myself. And my friend Irene says I should not talk to strangers when I travel by myself, well I don’t follow instructions very well.
My first stranger on this trip was Amyen from London. He was riding a bike with a pack on the back. I passed him several times then finally we were both stopped at the same place and I spoke to him. He started in London and is riding his bike around the world! In the US he started in Miami 3 months ago and has made it as far as Maine! In fact he even rode through New Bern. He will cross Canada then go down the west coast to South America. I’m keeping up with him on Instagram.
One thing I love taking photos of in Europe are their signs, I was pleased to find several neat ones on this trip.
I was pleased to also find some other quirky things along the way.
I discovered Snug Harbor Farms a couple trips ago so now stop on my way north AND again on my way south. This year the grounds were not as photogenitic but the inside just as beautiful.
Kennebunkport is too crowded for me but I did stop and have a crepe at Paris in the Morning (since my next trip IS to Paris!). I got the strawberrry shortcake crepe, wow worth the trouble to try to find a parking spot. Just so you know you order a crepe in one building but have to pick it up in another! Stranger # 2, Barb. The reason we started talking was we were both waiting for our crepes. I got up to find out where it was and they said it’s in the other building – go figure! So Barb and her husband came in and said “when we saw you ask then leave we decided we should ask too”. They need an instruction manual on receiving your food but it was worth the trouble. Turns out Barb has a daughter in Asheville, who is an artist herself.
I do like Maine Art Hill Gallery in Kennebunkport, where I bought my Lyman Whitaker Wind Sculpture several years ago but did not stop this time through but may on the south. In the traffic jam trying to get through Kennebunkport I saw Aymen again.
St Anthony’s Shrine and Monestary
When we lived in Aspen we lived right near the St. Benedict’s Monastery, they are Cistercian (Trappist) monks. BJ (before Jan), Michael was in the monestary near Albany, NY, Mill Hill, he finally decided it wasn’t for him but continued to be intrigued by the lifestyle. Michael made friends with many of the monks so I decided to check out the monestary in Kennebunkport, an active Monestary, St. Anthonys Shrine. It’s a nice place for a stroll and you can even stay there.
Next stop East Boothbay Harbor. Last year I spent several days at the Five Gables Inn and loved it so stopped again this year. The view is wonderful looking out over Linekin Bay, it’s away from the crowds, and the breakfast is five star gourmet! They have tea, port and cookies in the early evening, what more could you want?
It is also just up the road from Ocean Point, a beautiful drive along the rocky coastline.
What draws me to Boothbay Harbor is a couple galleries on the way into town. Stranger #3. Ken Rayle has owned an American Craft Gallery there for 49 years, the Mung Bean and is planing to retire next year and sell the gallery and building, he had lots of questions for me about how I did it. If you are interested, it even has an apartment above and is in the ideal location, just a block up the street from the crazy part of the town, and you can usually park in front!
Rockland
I stopped in Rockland to visit the galleries and shops there I like. I was thrilled to run across a show of recent work by Jamie Wyeth. I love his fathers work but Jamie’s appeals to me even more, I love his quirky subject matter. The one in this show that really captivated me was Jigging for Squid – Eighth in Screen Door Sequence. Oil and acrylic on canvas on honeycomb aluminum support with found object construction of wood, metal, and hardware 105-3/4″ x 52″. I was not even tempted to take it home since it was $750,000, good for him that he can command those kind of prices!
Castine
Then I headed north to my ultimate destination. Castine. Last year I stayed in Blue Hill at the Blue Hill Inn, this year I stayed in Castine at the Pentagoet Inn & Wine Bar which I liked A LOT better. My room was bigger, furnished nicer with furniture of the period, there is a really good restaurant and bar in the Inn, and the public rooms are cozy and there were lots of things I took photos of for a photography thing I’m doing online. I ate dinner on the porch while someone played the piano inside.
Right across the street is Studio B which represents several artists I follow.
Castine is a small town that I pretty much covered in last years blog, click this link to read about Castine and the Blue HIll Peninsula, where Castine is located, It is very quiet compared to the peninsulas above and below it.
Blue Hill Peninsula
I went to Stoneington again and visited a couple places I liked from last year then went back up to Blue Hill. There are 3 shops there I really like are Handworks Gallery – one thing outstanding there are these folding watercolor paintings by Marcia Stremlau.
Right across the street is another I can’t seem to find the name of, they have a lot of beautiful french and italian imported things, $$$$. Then down the street is another neat shop which I can’t remember the name of either but its where I talked to stranger #4. I picked up a card that said something like “you too can be lucky too if you work your ass off.” I have a friend thats always telling me how lucky I am, I mentioned it to the lady and it immediately set her off. She said “A customer the other day told me what a nice hobby I have in this shop” that I run 7 days a week and it’s never out of my mind. A lot of people don’t realize how much work retail is. It’s fun but it’s A LOT of work.
I totally bypassed the Bar Harbor Peninsula this year, I’m not nuts about the town of Bar Harbor but there are some other things I like on the Peninsula that I talked about in last years blog post. This time I headed to the Schoodic Peninsula which is the next Peninsula north with the other part of Acadia Park. A big difference between this part of the park and the part that is on the Bar Harbor Peninsula, no people. There is a nice drive along the ocean in the park and you come out near Prospect Harbor. But before I got there I stopped in Winter Harbor and drove down to the ocean to Grindstone Point. If you regularly read my blog last month I was in Michigan and visited Grindstone City in the Thumb and wondered if they made grindstones in Winter Harbor as well. The guy I talked to, who was owner at Littlefield Gallery, said he heard it was named that because there was a shipwreck that dumped a bunch of grindstones out there. I wonder if they came from Michigan?
He and his wife have a beautiful gallery and they live in part of it. I asked how they kept it so neat every day. He said he is constantly picking up after his wife! That would be me and Michael, he was the neat one. Anyway we talked about a lot of things, Stranger #5, We talked about the fact that most of the big houses were built by people from Philadelphia and they are still the majority of the people that have houses there. While a place like Southwest Harbor the people were mostly from New York and Boston.
One of the artists they represent I fell in love with was Don Best who is a wood carver. I love his whimsical work. Richard Fisher
Just up the road I stopped to see Richard Fisher. I carried US Bells at Carolina Creations and they still do. Richard gave me a tour of his foundry and explained the process of casting bells in bronze. I always thought they were well priced but after seeing all the steps that go into making them I realize they are pretty cheap for all the work, the quality and the sound. They are the best bells made in the USA in my opinion.
Richard suggested I visit Corea, a fishing village just down the road. Sweet, glad I did, it’s tiny but neat.
I was so close (well 71 miles I guess isn’t too close but when am I going to be there again), to the Canadian border I had to go, I was up there on my way to Nova Scotia 50 years ago but haaven’t been since.
There is not much to see on the road between the two and no way to drive along the water but when I got to Lubec I met stranger #6. We both stopped to take a picture at the same place and he spoke to me as soon as I got out of the car. We had a five minute conversation that covered about 15 topics! Someone asked if I got his number, no but I should have! I didn’t go but he talked about how much he enjoyed the park shared by Canada and the US, Just across a short bridge, Roosevelts Campobello summer compound is there.
I just enjoyed the view, talking to Joel, and visiting the lighthouse, Quoddy, which is the most eastern part of the US on the Bay of Fundy.
Then just like that it was time to start heading back south.
I stopped in Belfast again, a neat town on Penobscot Bay and visited with an artist I met last year, Kerstin Engman, and did some shopping. They have some really neat shops there. Between Belfast and Camden is the little town of Bayside. I did not know this cute town existed until a friend wrote about it on Facebook. “The Bayside Historic District encompasses the historic core of a former religious summer camp meeting community in Northport. It includes the original grounds of the Northport Wesleyan Grove Camp Meeting, established in 1848, with most of surviving architecture built between about 1870 and 1920. It is the largest surviving such area in the state, and was listed on the National Register in 1996. It is now the heart of the Bayside village, a secular seaside summer resort community.”
I ate lobster pot pie at the Pentagoet Inn which was yummy but the lobster I had at both Corea and in a waterfront restaurant in Castine were not, in fact they were both bad, one was rubbery and the other didn’t have any taste and seemed to have filler even though it was supposed to be chunks of lobster. So I HAD to go back to McLoons even though it was out of my way and right near my friends house. I did not call them and will get in trouble for it if they read this – there just wasn’t time! But I had to have some good fresh lobster during this visit. McLoons, I couldn’t get it out of my mind from last year. It’s just south of Rockland.
It’s also a picturesque place to sit and eat.
That night I stayed in Bath at a Residence Inn which was beautiful, it looks brand new but the lady said it was 8 years old. You would never know it.
Continuing south I stopped for a second time at Snug Harbor Farms and Portsmouth. I didn’t stay in Portsmouth instead opted for Durham and the Three Chimneys Inn. My room was in the carriage house, nice!
Newburyport was next to visit my friend Valerie at Valerie’s Gallery where we talked shop for a while then I drove around the Gloucester Peninsula. Gloucester was very crowded and I could not find a place to park so continued on to Rockport and enjoyed the galleries there. A little further down the road is a town Annisquam other strangers told me about, tiny but I think it would be fun to spend some time there. A friend grew up in Boston and would summer right near there.
Marblehead
I have never been to Marblehead before, what a neat town! However I would not want to live in the historic district especially in the winter, but it’s a neat place to visit.
So I finally made it to the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. the Museum is currently closed for major renovation on the HVAC system but don’t let it stop you from visiting. Just the Sculpture is worth the price of admission. “The largest of its kind in New England, this sculpture park encompasses 35 acres, 20 miles northwest of Boston. The park features a constantly changing landscape of large-scale, outdoor, modern and contemporary sculpture and site-specific installations, and hosts more than 60 works, the majority of which are on loan. Year round activities include snowshoe tours, yoga in the park, birding tours, curator and artist conversations, and many special talks, screenings, and events.”
It was going to be my last stop for the day, I was heading for the airport to spend the night and fly out early the next morning. But no, I had to stop in Concord, neat shops, but what made me stop was some really big orange ceramic pots in the window of a gallery. Well I was blown away when I walked in and they had about 40 pieces of Warren McKenzie’s pottery on display. He was a very well known potter and teacher from Minnesota who taught many potters who went on to become famous in their own right. Lucy Locoste owns the gallery. She said she’d been carrying his work for years (he died in 2018 at 94) and just got as much as she could from him whenever she could and stockpiled it. She was stranger #7 I think, our conversation included running a gallery, selling a gallery, the fact her husband just died the month before, and other things you usually don’t talk to a stranger about! Lucy LaCoste Gallery.
I decided to drive through town to the airport and stay off the freeway, on the way I passed through Medford, where my friend grew up and her husband attended Tufts. It was interesting driving that way, I saw parts of Boston I had never seen before. My last night was spent at the Embassy Suites at Logan. It was fabulous and just a block from the car rental so dropped off the car and walked back to hotel. Everyone at ES was wonderful from the guy who checked me in to the bellman to the waiter in the restaurant and the maintenance men who greeted me when I got off the elevator. . The room was very nice and super clean, no grunge in the bathroom which is my big pet peeve!
It was a great 10 day trip!! Where to next? Paris coming up shortly!!
I rented the house I grew up in, now an air bnb, on a lake in Southern Michigan for a few days. It’s a perfect spot, and was a fabulous place to grow up. On the way I took a « slight » detour, not exactly on the way but didn’t know when I’d get that way again. As it turns out I NEED to go that way again!
I went up the Eastern Shore, since I had all day to get to my first hotel I was able to wander a little. The first stop was in Snow Hill, MD. I’d never been there before, it’s a sweet little town with some beautiful architecture and some nice shops although none were open on Sunday.
Just outside of town there is a place called Furnace Town Historic Site. I drove out to it I did not go in, but it looked interesting.
From 1828-1850 the Nassawango Iron Furnace operated. Workers gathered bog ore from Nassawango swamp, brought clam and oyster shells up the canal from the Pocomoke River from the Chesapeake Bay, and made charcoal in the Pocomoke Forest.
These raw materials were loaded into the Iron Furnace from the top, heated to 3,000 degrees, and the two resulting liquids were drawn off at the bottom of the furnace. Slag was cooled and tossed into the swamp. Iron was poured into molds and loaded onto barges which were towed down the canal by mule to waiting ships. Today there is a collection of buildings that recreate the town. They have a lot of special events including a Renaissance Faire.
Berlin
The main reason for taking 113 was to visit Berlin. I haven’t been there in at least 10 years but I remember it being a sleepy little town with a neat brick hotel on the main four corner. Well things have changed, it is FULL of cute boutiques and the place was packed on Sunday. What a difference from Snow Hill, like night and day and only a few miles apart. I resisted getting out because I really don’t need anything and I’ve been getting into trouble going into galleries (but I LOVE my “Taking Leave in Dotted Swiss” and “Peace” originals I got out west but need no more). Anyway it is worth a stop if you get up that way.
By the time I got to Dover there was a deluge, intersections flooded with 2 feet of water and rain so hard and heavy you could barely see, but I made it to my hotel north of Philly with no major issues.
Grounds for Sculpture
My next stop was Grounds for Sculpture In Trenton, NJ. I kept telling myself I have to remain focused on seeing new things, I drove though Philly and all I could think of was going to South Street and seeing Isiah Zagars mosiacs, eating at Moriartys and the Caribou Cafe, walking around City Hall, Rittenhouse Square and eating an open faced turkey sandwich at the Reading Terminal Market Dutch Eating Place. We used to go to Philadelphia twice a year for about 20 years and I love it. But I needed to stay focused!
My friend Donna told me about Grounds For Sculpture years ago but this was my first opportunity to go. I envisioned Seward Johnson’s large sculptures of people, like I saw for years in Key West, dotted across a big field, well that is far from the truth. What stuck me immediately is how intimate it is. Grounds For Sculpture is a 42-acre sculpture park, museum, and arboretum founded on the site of the former New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Opened to the public in 1992, it has become one of the premier cultural destinations in New Jersey, welcoming and enchanting three million visitors since then. Since its inception, the park is now exhibiting nearly 300 works, including sculptures by renowned artists Clement Meadmore, Anthony Caro, Beverly Pepper, Kiki Smith, and New Jersey sculptor George Segal.
Its founder, Seward Johnson, was an American artist known for trompe l’oeil painted bronze statues. He was a grandson of Robert Wood Johnson the co-founder of Johnson & Johnson. The sculptures are not only on the grounds of the museum but are scattered throughout the neighborhood and along the highway as you approach the museum.
My next stop was to be Storm King but due to the flooding rain they were closed , and normally closed on Tuesdays, so once again I was not going to be able to visit this year. The good news about that is I was able to wander in Princeton a bit, never been before, it was beautiful.
And that gave me time to go to Lambertville and New Hope. My friends that own Heart of the Home are moving to Lambertville and the guys from Topeo retired last year leaving New Hope with more touristy shops, while Lambertville seems a little more upscale this year.
Bethel Woods
Next stop – Bethel to the grounds where Woodstock took place. I almost skipped it, so glad I did not. As you approach the town the roads get smaller and smaller. Hearing about how the New York Freeway was shut down I really can’t imagine how they all got there. The Bethel Woods grounds are beautiful and they regularly have concerts. Some coming up and in the past , Rod Stewart, James Taylor, and Jackson Browne to name a few. I have a feeling I will be going back.
There is also a museum, which was not open when I was there but it has 6000 sq ft of exhibits. They have festivals too, a craft food and beverage fest, harvest fest, peace, Love & Pumpkins, Holiday Market, and a drive through holiday light show. And they have Creative Arts Programs as well. If you were at Woodstock they want to hear from you and if you have photos they would love to see those too. On their website they show attendees photos. In a way it would have been neat to go to Woodstock but I had been working for 3 years to go on a trip to Mexico with the Girl Scouts at the same time, on the other hand I would not have liked the mud and lack of food, shelter, etc!
You can tell there are still some hippies living around the area.
As I approached the odd thing was the first and only people I saw walking on the streets of Bethel were Hasidic jewish people. A lot of them. Turns out Bethel is part of “The Borchst Belt” with summer camps for families. Not just one or two camps but I read that tens of thousands spend their summers in the region every year in these camps.
I could not be so close and not visit the town Woodstock.
Woodstock
I’ve been reading about and listening to documentaries about different musicians while I paint. Lately it’s been The Band. They lived in Woodstock when they lived in the Big Pink and Bob Dylan lived down the hill. I had never been to Woodstock, I loved it. The town, other than the shopping downtown district is pretty much in the woods. To get to Big Pink you are on winding very narrow roads, going up the mountain. No wonder they kept crashing their cars, I was sober and had to pay attention! Also went to pay my respects at Levon Helm and Rick Dankos graves at the Woodstock Cemetery in town. I would have liked to go to a Midnight Ramble at Levon Helms Studio but it did not fit into my schedule. Next Time! Well it wasn’t long after I got home that Robbie Robertson died. What a sad time.
The Big PinkLevon Helms Studio
Family History
Then I visited Lysander, NY, again, looking for a great gggg grandfathers grave. The only info we have is he died in Lysander. I discovered there is the village of Lysander as well as the Township. So we don’t know if he’s buried in the Village or somewhere else in the township. After looking at several cemeteries with broken, missing, or illegible stones I realized I may never find him. He died in 1834 and left a widow and 7 children, who knows he could have been buried in the back yard so I think I’ve done all I can do to find him that way.
I drove across NY on my way to the Chautauqua Institution. On the way I discovered this Ukranian Church.
Ukranian Church
The St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church & Grazhda in Jewett is an immaculate wood-carved basilica constructed entirely without the use of nails. The interior is also hand-carved, and features a carved wood iconostasis and grand lapidary, as well as gold-covered features.
Designed by architect Ivan Zhukovsky, the church was built in 1962 and dedicated to those who committed their lives to the struggle for the freedom. As part of the Grazhda Music and Art Center of Greene County, the church is open to the public for concerts, Ukrainian craft workshops and art exhibitions, allowing visitors to explore the music, architecture and culture of the Ukraine in the Catskills.
And here are some misc. shots I took along the way.
Chautauqua Institution
I finally made it to Chautauqua. I’ve read about it, seen photos, but it was so much more than what I had ever thought. I’m glad I took my bike because the place is pretty big and full of Victorian architecture and flowers. I was there for just 9 hours and I went to 2 lectures, heard 2 authors talk about their books, heard the symphony, and rode all over. These are my people! I’ve already decided I’m going to try to attend for a week next year.
From their website Every summer, over the course of nine weeks, more than 100,000 people visit Chautauqua Institution in search of respite, community and personal growth. And every summer, they find it. Chautauqua as a community celebrates, encourages and studies the arts and treats them as integral to all of learning. With symphony, opera, theater, dance, visual arts and a renowned music school, Chautauqua produces an “ecstatic mix” of programming that can be found nowhere else. The Chautauqua Cinema has a summer-long festival of feature films, independents, art films and classics.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Next stop – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame I did a quick tour, if you did everything you could easily spend all day there. I had to look for some of my favorite performers.
The Lake
Then finally arrived at my childhood home. It’s been updated so is a lot nicer than when I lived there. I didn’t know how I would feel about being there. It was wonderful, the view obviously is the same which is the most special part of it. Nieces and nephews came, seems like I’m the matriacarch now, last man standing of the Round Lake Trowbridges. We had gatherings on Saturday and Sunday and 6 of us shared the house. It was wonderful. My nieces had never spent that much time with each other, ever!
Five days of hanging out, swimming, doing puzzles, talking, eating, laughing, and having a great time. for me, a very low key vacation because I’m usually on the move.
McCourtie Park
We did take two excursions, one to McCourtie Park, (I’ve written about it before on this blog) but some had not been there. The first time I visited this spot it was not a park at all but a private home, I was maybe 8 or 10 years old.
The W. H. L. McCourtie Estate, may contain the country’s largest collection of el trabeio rustico, the Mexican folk tradition of sculpting concrete to look like wood. Around 1930, most likely inspired by work he had seen in Texas, cement tycoon W. H. L. McCourtie hired itinerant Mexican artisans George Cardoso and Ralph Corona to construct seventeen bridges on his property.
The second excursion was to Hidden Lakes Garden, now owned by Michigan State University. They have just installed a sky walk which is 60 feet above the ground and has really upped their visitation.
Detroit, Heidelberg Project, African Bead Museum, Motown Museum
After leaving the lake I took a trip to Detroit. Downtown is looking really good, there is a new skyscraper going up right now. Of course some parts of town don’t look so great but in general there are a lot of good things happening in the city. There is quite a food and bar scene going on. I stopped to take a photo of “the belt”, I didn’t go in because I was by myself, and it was getting late, just as I was taking a photo I was asked if I wanted to party!!
The Belt is an alley that is filled with artwork on either side, that’s always changing. The Library Street Collective is an art gallery, there are bars and a restaurant., as well as Louis Buhl & Co. In addition to the art, you can also find The Skip, an outdoor bar and Standby, a cocktail bar that serves food. The Belt is located between Broadway and Library Street and links Gratiot and Grand River.
I visited The Heidelberg Project which is an outdoor art project in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood on Detroit’s east side, just north of the city’s historically African-American Black Bottom area.
Heidelberg Project
“Primarily a painter and sculptor, Tyree Guyton has also been described as an urban environmental artist. He has waged a personal war on urban blight on Detroit’s East Side, transforming his neighborhood into a living indoor/outdoor art gallery. Through his art, Guyton has drawn attention to the plight of Detroit’s forgotten neighborhoods and spurred discussion and action.”
The African Bead Museum
What I was really interested seeing at this Museum were the buildings and how they were decorated. But If you are looking for unusual beads this is the place to come!
I also shot a few murals around town.
As I said before I’ve been listening to a lot of music lately and since I grew up just 80 miles west of Detroit I grew up with Motown. We had a dance pavilion just a few miles from my house, Green’s Pavilion, and a second maybe 20 miles away at Wamplers Lake, where a lot of well known artists would come a play.
A little history of Green’s Pavilion
O.E. “Pokey” Green, who had worked several years as a hardware and implement salesman, arrived in 1945 to manage the pavilion. He told the Citizen Patriot he first became interested in dance pavilions in the 1920s when he called square dances in the summer. In 1955, as the big-band era was dying out and rock ‘n’ roll was being born, Green bought the business. Teens heard Del Shannon sing his No. 1 hit “Runaway” there. Roy Orbison, the Mindbenders, the Animals, Freddie and the Dreamers, Brenda Lee, Frankie Avalon, Joey Dee and the Starliters, Bobbie Vinton, Paul & Paula, the Four Seasons and others played there.
On Sept. 2, 1963, the original pavilion burned to the ground in a fire caused by faulty wiring in the band shell. Green rebuilt a 16,000-square-foot building he called Devil’s Lake Pavilion. It opened in April 1964. Then, on April 11, 1965 – Palm Sunday – that pavilion was destroyed by an EF4 tornado that caused widespread damage throughout southern Michigan, an event I will never forget, the Pavilion was in its path, as was our church. We thought the Pavilion was just gone but he rebuilt, this time 20,000 sq feet! Green’s Pavilion opened on Labor Day 1965 to a paid attendance of 10,000.
By the summer of 1966, more than 1,000 teens a week were coming to the pavilion, which was open Wednesday through Sunday nights during the summer and weekends in the winter. Between big-name acts, up-and-coming bands played Green’s Pavilion. This included Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, who performed with the Yardbirds on Aug. 10, 1966. Bob Seger and his first band, the Last Heard, and many Motown artists also played there.
In 1969, Green retired and It was converted it into a grocery store. Recently that closed and the building was torn down to make room for condos that will be eventually be built.
The original Lakeview Dance Pavilion was in the wooded Lakeview Park, which also offered such amusements as shuffleboard, miniature golf, an arcade and a much-loved carousel. The trees and the amusements were destroyed by the Palm Sunday tornado. You can see some historic photo by following this link.
Motown Museum
One of the documentaries I recently listened to was about Barry Gordy the founder of Motown so wanted to see where the recording was done before they moved to California. You cannot take photos inside the Motown Museum. It is an interesting place, growing up so close all the musicians coming out of there were on my radar at an early age.
Cranbrook House and Gardens
The Cranbrook House and Gardens in Bloomfield Hills, on the north side of Detroit were next. In the summer of 1908, George Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth -two of metro-Detroit’s important philanthropists moved into their new home.
Their English-Tudor estate, a true Arts & Crafts style masterpiece designed by renowned Detroit architect, Albert Kahn, served as the active home for their family of seven for 40 years. At their manor, the Booths raised their children – homeschooling their two youngest – and conducted business on their 174-acre farm. From the beginning the Cranbrook House quickly became the hub from which the Booths created what would eventually become the Cranbrook Educational Community.
My neice and I went to the Ann Arbor Street Fair and walked about a million miles, or at least that was what it felt like. It was kind of like old home week seeing artists whose work I used to carry at Carolina Creations like, Wilsea O’Brien Glass, Meredith Wenzel Glass, John Furches etchings, Miktowski Wood, and others. Michaels old girlfriend Sandy was supposed to be there but I never saw her.
Greenfield village
Having not walked enough I went to Greenfeild Village. I haven’t been there since I was a kid.”
“Greenfield Village features over 80 acres and 7 historic districts for you to explore near Detroit, in Dearborn, Michigan. You can visit working farms, take a ride on a steam locomotive, explore Thomas Edison’s lab, tour Henry Ford’s birthplace and more! Greenfield Village was envisioned by Henry Ford himself, to show how innovative objects were made and used, and it still features craftsmen that use traditional craft techniques.
Started by Henry Ford as a place for his collection, he eventually collected buildings from all over to construct this park. Nearly one hundred historical buildings were moved to the property from their original locations and arranged in a “village” setting. The museum’s intent is to show how Americans have lived and worked since the founding of the country. The Village includes buildings from the 17th century to the present, many of which are staffed by costumed interpreters who conduct period tasks like farming, sewing and cooking. A collection of craft buildings such as pottery, glass-blowing, and tin shops provide demonstrations while producing materials used in the Village and for sale. The Village features costumed and plain-clothed presenters to tell stories and convey information about the attractions. Some of these presenters are seasonal, such as the “games on the green” presenters who only operate in the summer. Greenfield Village has 240 acres of land of which only 90 acres are used for the attraction, the rest being forest, river and extra pasture for the sheep and horses.”
On the way I stopped at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market and met a great artist that likes to paint the things I like to paint, Carlye Crisler.
Next stop
Ford Village Industries
Henry Ford built Mills all over southern Michigan, this one is by Macon, MI. You can’t see it from the road anymore but I knew what I was looking for, having visited it maybe 40 years ago, and found a dirt two track going back there. A description of this particular mill. “In 1944 Ford completed building a new Greek Revival gristmill, Dynamic Kernels Mill along the Raisin River in Lenawee County. Ford owned a home nearby in the old Pennington homestead which he restored. He also updated a chapel, general store, sawmill, school, fire department, blacksmith, woodworking, and community center. These buildings Ford built for a trade school in Macon are still used by Boysville today. Ford became interested in the religious wheat-tithing project being run by Quaker Perry Hayden. Ford built the Dynamic Kernels gristmill of the project however he abandoned it before it ever opened. Today the site is privately owned. The Macon Mill is a perfect example of the Village Industries’ water power being used.”
Here is a map of some of the mills he built, they were called Ford Village Industries. It would be neat to take this map and see how many survive. To see photos of some of them with descriptions follow this link.
GrindStone City As a child I remember going to GrindStone city in the Thumb of Michigan. Grind Stones were strewn all over. People just went and picked them up. Today you can still see signs of the fact that this was once a world famous place to get your grind stones. We had a front step made from one.
Grindstone City became a fast-growing industry that produced the largest and finest grindstones, scythestones, and honestones in the world starting in 1836.
On my next trip I was in Maine at Winter Harbor and saw a point called Grindstone, and saw some grindstones laying around, I asked someone about it and they said there was a shipwreck (or this is the story THEY heard) of grindstones off the point, I wonder if they came from Grindstone City?
I spent a few days with my friends near Traverse City, mostly hanging out and talking. We did visit a sculpture garden none of us knew existed In Elk Rapids called the Walk of Art.
Bottle House
I remember seeing this bottle house when I was a little kid. I got my wanderlust from my Dad, I never go and come back the same way ever, even going to the grocery store., he never did either. We wandered all over Michigan! I think I saw this house when I was about 6 and I could not remember where it was since we wandered so much. It turns out it is in Keleva. The Keleva Bottle House, now a museum, was built in 1941 in Kaleva out of 60,000 glass bottles by John Makinen.
Mr. Makinen owned the local pop bottling factory, and he used chipped or flawed bottles from his pop bottling factory for his house. In 1983, the Kaleva Historical Society was able to purchase the property from the John Makinen family and established it as their new and permanent home.
Then to end the trip I stopped at a couple of sunflower fields.
It was a great trip!! Where to next, 10 days to Maine, my 3rd year in a row.
My friend Bobbi and I arrived in Seattle early and took off right away to visit with artist Stephanie Burgess. She is the artist behind the Peace and Garden poles that we sold at Carolina Creations. She is delightful! I’m not exagerating when I say we sold many hundreds of her garden art poles. I tried to restrain myself but lost, I purchased the yellow original panel, the second one from the right in the middle photo. The colors are delightful as is the design.
A stop in the historic district of Fairhaven of Bellingham did not disappoint, lovely shops, lots of parking, and flowers everywhere.
Speaking of flowers. This was a lovely time to visit the area, rhododendrons, peonies, roses, poppies, California lilacs, Spanish lavender, and others we did not identify were blooming.
We drove down Chuckanut Drive along the coast where we had glimces of the San Juan Islands where we would be headed, but before that we stopped in Anacortes, then drove down Whidbey Island.
In Anacortes the most noteable thing we saw were these « murals » all over town. They were actually cutouts of people that had lived in the town by artist Bill Mitchell.
The drive down the rest of the Island was pleasant, we visited all the little towns, our favorite was Langley. But the highlight was a stroll through the woods at the Price Sculpture Forest. The park property was purchased by the Price family with the intention of building a home on it. When they decided on another location they contacted a land trust organization to donate the property to so it can never be developed. There is a figure 8 path through the dense woods with a couple dozen sculptures along the way. It was a beautiful hike with the sun peeking through the trees, the birds singing, and beautiful art to look at.
Heading to La Connor we stumbled across Conway Salvage Arts. As we were admiring the collection, artist and owner Tony came out and talked to us. He gave us a tour of the property and talked about his plans. As long as we didn’t ask too many questions, stand too close, or say cool he was glad to show us around. I’ve seen a lot of outsider art but Tony’s had a flair about it I have not often seen. Maybe I should think about turning my yard into a sculpture garden?
I was in La Connor about 10 years ago and remembered how much I liked it. My memory served me well, I liked it just as much this time. We did not do a lot of museums on this trip but did go to the Quilt and Fiber Museum. They had a couple of great shows in their beautifully restored historic home museum, and they were not your grandmothers quilts.
There are some great shops and galleries on the main shopping street. Glad to see Earthenworks is still around. They belonged to the same CRAFT organization I used to be on the board for, and we would see them at shows.
An overnight in Friday Harbor gave me a taste of the San Juan Islands. I’ve wondered what they were like for years. It looks like San Juan Island had the most to do. I think if you were on a boat or a big hiker or wanting to see the whales it would be a wonderful, quiet vacation spot. One more place I can cross off my need to see list.
The sculpture garden had some nice pieces and Roche was interesting. This clay sculpture spins, I saw this artists work in the Denver Botanical Garden too.
Then we headed south for a short stop in Seattle, we both had been there before so just spent a couple hours. The Chihuly Garden and Glass was very nice. Love the intense colors. And a 5 minute stop at the Market for a piece of pizza.
Then we made an uneventful drive through the country side to Astoria with two quick stops, one at Raymond to see the steel sculptures and another at a quirky lavender farm just on the other side of the river from Astoria. I had seen photos of these sculptures which is why we went that way but they were even neater in person!
I’ve been wondering about Astoria for years since getting a sculpture as a gift from there. And this is the first time I have been in Oregon. I’ve been to the rest of the lower 48 but somehow missed Oregon. We had a great room on the river and loved watching the birds, the bridge, the boats, and the sunsets.
We drove up to see the Astoria Column. I knew the Column would be neat but didn’t realize how beautiful the view would be.
The column tells the story of the area.
At the edge of town is one of roughly 75 Indian heads, all different, carved from big logs across the USA by artist Peter “Wolf” Toth. This one, sculpted in 1987, is named Ikala Nawan, “Man Who Fishes », and it is 18 feet tall. He has done at least one in each state and several in Canada. There is one on the Waccamaw Siouan Indian Reservation between Wilmington and Lumberton.
There are a couple great galleries in Astoria, one is owned by a friend of mine. We were there for an opening then enjoyed visiting their home just south of town. The gallery in Astoria they own is called Brumfeld Gallery. We met the featured artist Carla O’Connor. Her beautiful watercolors are done on Yupo , I have some of this and might have to get it out and try it again!
I also succumbed to a neat painting by Jeanie Tomanek. Taking leave in dotted Swiss, I guess I’ll have to look for a Dotted Swiss Dress now.
Their other gallery they own is in Cannon Beach and is called Bronze Coast Gallery. They have beautiful work there as well.
We went as far south on the Oregon Coast as Newport. Bellingham, Cannon Beach and Astoria were by far our favorite coastal towns. Wonder what we missed by not going further?! But then time was limited and we still needed to go to Portland and the Columbia River Gorge.
There were beautiful stops along the way down the coast of course.
Our first stop in Portland was at the Japanese Garden. It is beautiful. At first glance it is daunting, you see people on the path way above you at the treetops, but the winding path is gradual.
I hate to have to say this but we did not love downtown Portland, homeless everywhere, tents on sidewalks, people staggering around. It’s not so much that I don’t want to see it but in our wealthy country why are there so many and what can we do to solve the problems these folks have. Plus it seems dirty and chaotic, I don’t think I’ve been to a city in a long time that I had that kind of reaction to. I was really looking forward to it, so was disappointed.
We stopped for a donut at Voodoo Donuts, which we were told is a must stop, it’s the only donut shop I’ve been in with an armed security guardI.
I’m glad to say we found pockets of the city we liked and that were beautiful. We loved all the yards that were fully planted right to the street. You see a little bit of that in Carrboro, NC, and there is even one house with a yard like that on my street in New Bern.
We were tired and didn’t want to drive to the country to have a winetasting so stopped at a tasting room on Stark Street called ENSO. Five wineries have this tasting room for people like us that didn’t have time to drive to the country.
One area in the city I liked was the Alberta Arts District where several studios share space in the Guardino building.
We spend that night in Troutdale and headed off early to drive historic Highway 30 through the Columbia River Gorge. It is beautiful….. I was surprised at how wide the Gorge is, even though I’ve seen many photos of it. In my mind I was thinking there were parts of it that would be like Glenwood Canyon, super narrow with steep walls. I wasn’t disappointed just surprised. Thats why I like to travel, you learn so much.
We went as far as Hood River, maybe it’s narrower beyond that? We really liked Hood River, it has a nice vibe, nice shops and galleries and we had a wonderful lunch with a great view. The gallery I loved in Hood River is a co-op called Gallery 301. I could have done some major damage there.
I’ve always heard that most of the time you can’t see Mt Hood, but we were lucky that we could see it the whole time we were near. We had sunny weather for all 10 days.
We took the scenic route back to Portland by way of Mount Hood and Timberline. My friend Pam and her husband managed Timberline Lodge for 5 years in the early 80s and I’ve heard her talk about it many times. What a treasure. Everything in the lodge and the lodge itself was made by WPA and CCC workers. The history and story is really great.
It is a national historic landmark. The south side of Mt Hood has been a major recreationsal area since the mid 1840s. In 1916 the forest Service built Timberline Cabin to serve as a summer and winter shelter, a larger tent hotel was erected in 1924 where mattresses were rented and meals were served to climbers and skiers. Then in the 30s it was decided that there should be a permanet lodge built. The WPA and CCC provided the workforce, numbering about 500, many over the age of 55 and in need of employment. The lodge was dedicated in 1937. The workers wove upholstery, hooked rugs, made furniture, glass mosaics, and paintings. The timbers for the structure were hewn with a broadax, skilled European stonemasons taught the unskilled workers how to build the fireplace and stone buttresses. A blacksmith taught workers how to make the gates, light fixtures, ornaments, andirons and furniture. The whole thing is hand crafted. Pretty amazing at 6,000 feet using just hand tools.
It was hard to get a good photo of the lodge because they are working on the entryway, taking down the tunnel. Pam says in the winter the snow covers the 2nd story windows, the without the tunnel it would be hard to get into the lodge.
After Timberline we headed to the west side of Portland to visit wineries. There are dozens and dozens of wineries, over 1000 in the state. We managed to fit in two on our last afternoon of the trip.
We recommend
The next photo is of Mt St Helens in the foreground and Mt Davis behind.
Whats next? A trip to Michigan. I’m renting the house I grew up in on Round Lake for 5 nights, it’s now an air bandb, and am having a small family reunion. It will be fun!
I’ve been a fan of Michelle Tock-Yorks ceramic sculpture since I discovered her 7 years ago and purchased my first piece. When I heard she was having a workshop in Traverse City I had to go, the only downside was the fact that it was at the end of March. I never want to go to Michigan in the winter but since she never does workshops I could not pass it up.
The trip up was uneventful, but the day of the workshop it snowed 7 inches. Thank heavens she decided not to cancel it and we had a great day watching her demonstrate then using some of her techniques to do some work of our own. By time time we were ready to leave the plows had been out, it was still snowing but the roads were clear enough for me to get back to my hotel once I got out of the parking lot. I remembered enough about getting stuck in snow to think to back into the parking spot. By the next day it was sunny and bright.
Here are two of her pieces I own, I love them!
There are some places I cant be wirhin 100 miles of and not visit. Its often just a drive – like the Tunnel of Trees north of Harbor Sorings, MI. Other places like that I can’t pass up are driving around Ocean Point near Boothbay Harbor, ME, driving ”around the lakes”, Devils and Round lakes where I grew up in southern Michigan. Driving down the Keys, Front Street in Beaufort, NC. To name a few. Some of that need to take these drives comes from my Dad. Like the Tunnel of Trees and driving around the lakes. Interesting what we inherit from our folks, from my dad, wandering, love of maps, interest in photography. From my Mom writing, obsession with paper, love of reading and researching, disorganization. Whenever I return to Michigan it it sends me off on a journey of nostalgia.
The trip home was not so great, I made it to Chicago but then next flight was delayed delayed delayed then cancelled. I had to fly to LaGuardia then home. Missed that flight too but did finally make it home at one in the morning, well to Rdu anyway, I was wired so ended up driving home and got there at about 3 am. The good part of it was I got to see the renovations they have done at LaGuardia, The last time I was there it looked like a bus depot. Now its beautiful.
I can’t seem to sit still for too long so I headed to Virginia a couple weeks later.
On the way up there we stopped in Norfolk to drop off my Shades of Green painting to a national show that takes place every year during Virginias Statewide Garden Week. I was honored to get in since there were 772 submissions from 39 states, 65 pieces were selected from 53 artists from 23 states! I haven’t entered shows like this in 25 years but since I’m kind of retired I thought it would be fun to try. I also entered a national juried show in Hilton Head, and my Charleston College Painting got in there as well!
Shades of Green Oil painting By Jan Francoeur at Bok Tower in Florida
I don’t know how Middleburg, Virginia got on my radar, or why it never got on my radar before, but My friends and I drove up there for a couple days, what a treat! The weird thing is ever since we moved here in 1989 and I visit family in Michigan, 95% of the time go to Fredricksburg, then go west through Winchester, to Berkley Springs , etc to Michigan. I’ve made this trip about 20 times.
So I’ve been very close to Middleburg, that many times but never knew any thing about it. What a neat town and the whole area is full of horse farms, neat side roads, old mills, stone fences, rolling hills, lots of wineries, and beautiful homes.
We could not have picked a better way to enter Upperville, we took Delaplane Grade off of Hwy 17 and the first thing we saw was Delaplane which consisted of these few buildings. Then as we headed north we were on this beautiful country, winding road.
Out of the blue we started seeing very large contemporary sculpture in a field. We hoped it was a public garden but it turns out it is a private collection that belongs to St. Brides Farm. We could not see all of the sculptures but could see a few of them.
We rented a vrbo in Upperville, a nice little cottage , 2 bedroom, 2 bath, with 3 beds.
Upperville is a tiny town with a population of 178, but it’s full of neat old buildings. And we were lucky that we just happened to be there when the red buds and dogwood were in bloom. The entire town of Upperville is a Virginia Historic Landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is affectionately called the town that is “a mile long and an inch wide” because most of the houses line Route 50.
Down the block from our house I saw this sign!
Middleburg is about 8 miles from Upperville, it has a beautiful main street lined with shops and restaurants. Many of the shops cater to the horsey crowd.
They were having a fund raiser called Foxes on the Fence. There were a bunch of painted foxes and rabbits! Proceeds benefit beautification projects and promote the arts for the Town of Middleburg.
We ate dinner at the Red Fox Inn, which was established in 1728, before the town itself was established. Some of the notable people that have dined there, besides us (!!) include President John F. Kennedy, who held a press conference in the upper Tavern and Jackie frequently overnighted there while on foxhunting holidays.
I always like taking photos of quirky signs.
We headed west on 50 and stopped in Paris and Millwood.
One of the nicest things was just riding through the countryside.
Another directional sign to add to my collection from The Plains.
The Aldie Mill was certainly worth a stop.
Built between 1807 and 1809, the Aldie Gristmill was once the largest factory of its kind in Loudoun County. The mill’s tandem metal waterwheels are operational and they offer grinding demonstrations certain times of the year. It was pretty impressive.
Our last evening was spent at the Hunters Head Tavern almost across the road from our cottage. It’s an authentic English Pub that serves local farm meats and produce harvested from neighboring Ayrshire Farm. The town of Upperville was founded by, and originally named for, Joseph Carr, a grandson of John Carr who had emigrated from Ireland to just south of Leesburg in the 1750’s. Joseph Carr purchased McPherson’s farm, mill and log cabin, and later opened a general store, the building that now houses the Tavern. He established the town of “Carrstown” in 1797, and eventually it was renamed Upperville, no one seems to know why.
Our dinner was great and the atmosphere lovely, and service outstanding. After packing up the next morning we took a leisurely drive south through Warrenton and Culpepper, stopping at a couple nice plant nurseries, down to Interstate 64 avoiding being on I-95 altogether. Two days later I was on the road again to visit my niece in Rock Hill, SC.
It was a quick trip. A stop along the way in Pinehurst, then Waxhaw. I haven’t been to Waxhaw in many years, wow, it’s really taken off.
I arrived in Rock Hill and got a major tour of the town. It has a population of 70,000+. The Downtown is not huge but it has some nice shops. The Center for the Arts had a nice display of abstract paintings and mixed media sculpture.
Right next door is a small museum (free) dedicated to Jail No Bail – How 30 Days impacted the Civil Rights Movement. In 1961, young African American students from Friendship Junior College in Rock Hill staged a sit-in at the segregated lunch counter of McCrory’s Five and Dime. These young men were immediately arrested after ordering their food and sentenced to pay a $100 fine each or spend 30 days in jail. They chose jail. Very interesting and sad commentary on civil rights in the USA.
We toured the White House where five generations of the White family lived between 1837 and 2005. Over the years, the home transformed from a one-room cottage into an eighteen-room, two story house. You can start your walking tour of the neighborhood and Downtown here.
I guess two thinks really stand out for me about Rock HIll is that there are 31 parks in the city, my nephew works for the Parks Department and says there are 200 employees in the Parks Dept. He currently oversees Glencarin Garden.
A gift of love, Glencairn Garden’s roots go back to 1928 when David and Hazel Bigger received a gift of a few azaleas from a friend. By 1940, the private garden at their residence, 725 Crest Street, was said to contain some 12,000 azaleas and camellias.
By 1958, Dr. David Bigger had passed away and his widow deeded Glencairn Garden to the City of Rock Hill. Then, under the expert direction of renowned landscape architect, Robert Marvin, Glencairn Garden was transformed into a botanical experience with thousands of azaleas, complete with a tiered fountain, Japanese footbridge, and trails passing beneath canopies of dogwood, stately oaks, cherry trees, Japanese maples, winding past camellias, crepe myrtles, day lilies, lily ponds and thousands of bulbs.
Refurbished in 2006, the Bigger House serves as the administrative office for the Come-See-Me festival and as an office for the York County Master Gardeners who offer garden services on Friday mornings during the warmer months of the year. It is a beautiful park more like a botanical garden and is free and open to the public. It is beautiful with fountains, streams, and flower beds.
The other thing about Rock Hill is all of the outdoor and indoor sports venues and they seem to be adding more all the time.
Here are a few shots from my trip home, I always have to take the scenic route.
Whats next? It’s going to be a busy summer with a lot of traveling. My next small trip will be to go see the 28th Annual Sculpture in the Garden show in Hillsborough, NC. Then the next big trip in early June will be to the San Juan Islands, Bellingham, Seattle, Portland and the coast of Oregon. Oregon is the only state in the lower 48 that I have not been to!
About Me
Janet Francoeur is a painter, a tile maker, a wanna be writer, an ok photographer, a gardener, she has wanderlust and not enough time to do everything she wants to do! Jan, as she likes to be called, has been a professional artist her entire adult life. She started with drawing in pencil, then ink, then watercolor, clay and now oil and mosaic. For 25 years she did house portraits in ink and for the past 15 years she also does them in watercolor. Jan and her husband Michael moved to New Bern, North Carolina in 1989 from Aspen, Colorado, where they had lived for 6 years. They were both born and raised in southern Michigan not far from Ann Arbor.
