A friend of mine reminded me I hadn’t written a blog post in a while. It’s not like I haven’t been anywhere, I have, but they’ve been short trips, nothing exotic. I have seen some neat things though.
It started in August with a trip to NYC to help a friend shop for her gallery in Colorado. Even though we were working we did take a little time off.
I’ve probably walked by this tiny garden on 34th St. a dozen times but never noticed it because it’s behind a nondescript metal gate. You can get a key to enter this and other key gardens for $2!
This is the first time I’ve been in NYC since the Vessel opened near the Highline. NO I did not climb it – you have to get a ticket, I didn’t have the time or the energy but it is neat to see.
Jane’s Carousel was nice to see in person. I’ve never taken the time to go to Brooklyn before. It was fun walking around the waterfront under the Brooklyn Bridge.
A few years ago I was hired to do a platter for Jane of her carousel. She is a friend of some New Bern folks. Jane and her husband bought the Carousel at auction when the park it was in in Youngstown, OH closed. It took them 22 years to restore it, with Jane doing much of the work on the animals I was told. It is now in a wonderful building in DUMBO.
This is the 2nd Philadelphia Tobaggon Company Carousel (PTC No. 61) I’ve had a close encounter with.
The other was PTC No. 6 in Colorado and I did a series of 6 drawings of that one.
Lots of writers lived in Brooklyn Heights and we walked by many of their homes. Henry Miller, Arthur Miller, Hart Crane, Truman Capote, Thomas Wolfe, Richard Wright, John Dos Passos, Norman Mailer, Paul Bowles and WH Auden all lived near each other.
This is something I’d never seen before, Brooklyn Cat Cafe. You pay to go in $7 and spend time petting and playing with the cats! You can also adopt them. Their website says that on weekends there is often a line and a 30 minute to an hour wait to get in to play with the cate, so make your reservation ahead.
After NY I went on a whirlwind trip to Greenville, SC, Asheville, and West Jefferson. I was in Greenville briefly once before, this time I was able to walk around the park and waterfall.
Beautiful!
Asheville was a blur with just a few stops then off to West Jefferson, hadn’t been there in at least 20 years maybe more. On the way stopped for lunch and a drink at the Little Switzerland Inn. Then continued to West Jefferson. We enjoyed the Ashe County Cheese Shop. You can see cheese made and their shop is great! We ran into friend and artist Mike Rooney who was there teaching a workshop at the Florence Thomas Art School.
I was home from there for a week or so then headed off to Michigan for my 50th class reunion. I hadn’t been to any of them so didn’t know what to expect. As it turned out it was fun. But before I got there I decided to take the scenic route on the way.
I took Hwy 33 in Virginia and ended up in a beautiful little town by the name of Gordonsville. There were some great shops and a beautiful art gallery – The Annie Gould Gallery.
I often go through Winchester, Virginia on my way. It’s the self proclaimed Apple Capitol of the world.
My great, great, great grandfather, Samuel Trowbridge lived near there and is buried in the Little Mountain Cemetery on property he was awarded after serving in the Revolutionary War. The minister at the Little Mountain Methodist Church told me that he was the first white man buried in the cemetery. He and his wife Christiann had a farm on Apple Pie Ridge. His son, my great, great grandfather Joseph Trowbridge went west and ended up in Frankfort, In. His son Aaron Moon was in the Civil war and went to Ohio when it was over. His son Wallace Orth Trowbridge, my grandfather ended up in Michigan.
Since it was before Halloween I saw some neat decorations on my way.
my niece said they get new clothes about every season.
After a few days in Michigan I headed south again. This time all the way to Charleston to my nieces wedding.
That was another short visit. But on the way I drove through Wytheville. I’ve driven by 20+ times on 77 but just never stopped. I was surprised what a nice little town it is, from the highway it just looks like one big truck stop. I am always attracted to advertising art so could not resist a photo of this big pencil at the Wytheville Office Supply.
Home again then back to Michigan for a family reunion. Spent the weekend with my sister and didn’t do much else. The 2nd weekend in December I got a chance to go to Hyde County and see some of the natural world. The tundra swans are there for the winter. I wish I would have gotten a photo of them as they flew overhead.
It was interesting that all along this path near the impoundments just west of Lake Mattamuskeet we saw pile after pile of animal droppings, we assume they were marking their territory.
Then for the last trip of the year I headed out to another wedding in South Bend, Indiana. I flew into Chicago because I hadn’t been there in 25+ years. As a young adult it was just 4 hours away so went often. I spent Friday on a walking tour of public art, it was cold but so much fun! I was going to add Chicago to this post but too much to post about so I’ll post that one in a week or so.
Travels coming up in 2020 – 2 weeks in Key West, a month in Ft. Myers, 2 weeks in Colorado and a 2 week tour of Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and Salzburg, and maybe Maine and Nova Scotia this summer, can’t wait!
