Indigo Butterflies

Wandering off the beaten path again. This time to visit Roadside America.

I have run across another great website to help you in planning your next road trip or vacation.  When you start planning, you might want to sidle on over to roadsideamerica.com and check out their findings on unusual, odd, and downright weird places to visit.  

You can, for example, find out more about Salem Sue, the 38 ft. high and 50 ft. long cow in New Salem, North Dakota.  Or, you might decide to take a look at Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska.  It is a replica of Stonehenge, but with a twist - it is made entirely of cars painted a flat grey color to replicate the color of stone.

I will be traveling in North Carolina some in the next few months and so checked out what it had to offer in particular.  If you will be in the Asheville area during the holidays in 2009, you may want to check out information on the ATOM Museum (the Aluminum Tree & Ornament Museum).  Or, perhaps, the Freak Museum in Belhaven is more your speed.  That is, if you might enjoy seeing a pig with two snouts.

If you would like something a little more educational, there is the Country Doctor Museum in Bailey, North Carolina (near Raleigh).  One of the highlights of this museum are the Civil War exhibits, which include operating tables, and the opportunity to get up close and personal with the exhibits.

I would also like to mention, although it's completely off the subject, a bookstore I happened to run across while doing research on Asheville, NC for my trip.  It is an independently owned bookstore called Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe. (their website is malaprops.com).  I haven't been there, but it looks interesting and is a definite on my list of places to visit while I'm in town.  I'm always glad to see independent bookstores in a world of big warehouse-type bookstores with employees who know twice as much about the latest trends in cappuccino flavors as they do books and authors.  If you have been there, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Photos, Photos, Photos Everywhere....

I was supposed to be in Washington DC to help my friend, Meredith, get unpacked and settled in her new apartment, which I did...somewhat...  But I spent a lot of time on my own, while Meredith was at work, roaming the city and visiting museums and memorials, since I'd never been to DC before. 

Washington is a beautiful city.  Everyone I met was friendly and ready to talk to a stranger.  And while DC is big it felt manageable and comfortable, not overwhelming.  The Metro was clean and easy to navigate, even for someone like me, with no experience on subways.

I'll have to make many more trips to see everything I would like to, but I did see a lot and took a lot of photos.  So you'll see Arlington Cemetery, the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Museum of Natural History, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Library of Congress, and others.

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to visit Meredith and roam around.  She is my oldest friend, but it had been more than 15 years since we spent any real time together, but we fell right in step and never missed a beat.  I guess that is the way it's supposed to be with true friends.

Oh, and don't worry, two more of Meredith's friends came into town the last couple of days I was there and between the lot of us we got Meredith pretty well settled in her new apartment.  We certainly had fun doing it too!  We even had our own pool tournament.  You can click here to see some of those photos.

I also had the opportunity to get to know Meredith's friends Judy and David.  We had a blast; they are great people!  And thanks to Allan for all the tips on places to go and see, especially that often overlooked gem, the Library of Congress.  It is absolutely beautiful.

Exploring Washington DC

It is late Wednesday night and I'm sitting in my friend Meredith's apartment looking out over the Washington DC skyline.  I can see the Pentagon and the Washington Monument and all the lights of this wonderful city. 

It's hard to know where to begin.  I think for the most part I will let the photographs speak for themselves.  I'm having such a wonderful time here and I've seen so many beautiful places. 

When I walked onto the Mall, the first thing I saw was the Capitol Building and then I turned and saw the Washington Monument. 

What an incredible sight to see.  The towering monument and it's reflection in the pool.

I can't possibly share everything in this one post about my experiences so far, so here is a link to more photos from my first day or two in the City and I will post later in more detail about some of the individual sites.

This first day I visited the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial.  I am visiting the Jefferson Memorial today, but I did take a couple of photos of the building since I could see it as I walked back to the Metro Station to head to the apartment.

As an aside, if you visit Washington DC, remember to bring good walking shoes.  You will walk a lot.  I have a couple of blisters to prove it.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Washington DC, Here I Come

I'm in Washington DC on vacation for a week and so far I'm loving every minute of it.  I am here because my friend Meredith (a wonderful, funny, talented, smart, incredible woman and my hero) has just moved to DC from Seattle and I'm helping her unpack and settle in. 

I'm also glad to be here, because I had never been to our nations capitol before nor had I made a long trip like this alone.  Including stops, I made it from Myrtle Beach, SC to Meredith's apartment in Arlington in about eight hours.

I was excited to get on the road in spite of the rain Saturday morning and I was confident that it would blow over soon.  But it lasted until I was well into North Carolina and on I-95.  But it did finally clear up and the drive through Virgina was beautiful.  (and yes, I did take these first two photos with my cell phone while I was driving).

 

Most of the drive was a piece of cake, but I owe thanks to Benjamin for the use of his TomTom gps for getting me from the outskirts of Arlington to Meredith's apartment, and to Marshall as well for bringing me maps of DC and a book on the area and sites to see.  Thank you both!

We've begun unpacking and organizing Meredith's apartment, and slowly but surely it's taking shape.  She has to work this week, so I am spending my days checking out DC.  I have even learned how to get around on the Metro subway system (and I can even switch trains!)

Here is some art I discovered at one of the Metro stations I went in...

 

 

Eccentric America - A Great Place to Travel

If you're planning a trip in the US (now that gas prices have dropped a little - Hooray!) and you're feeling a bit adventuresome, you need to check out the Eccentric America website.  With their assistance, you can find the Toilet Seat Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, The Worlds Largest Ball of Paint in Alexandria, Indiana, or you might want to seek out the Out 'n' About Treesort in Takilma, Oregon where all the accommodations are tree houses.

Growing up with a father in the Air Force meant that we traveled a lot in our old Godzilla green stationwagon.  We had lots of fun and saw a lot of strange places and events.  I'm glad that someone had the thoughtfulness to pull together all of this eccentricity in one place for easy reference.  I only wish I'd found it ages ago!

Below is a map that you will find on the Eccentric America website.  It shows the number of eccentric sites per state.  What do you know, Florida and California lead the pack!