Monday, July 30, 2012

Make like an Australian


"Leave everyone wondering which is the more interesting piece of work...
you or your hat." 
Unknown

By mid morning we had time travelled to the Colonial era, back when an apple was just a piece of fruit.  Driving a minivan rather than a DeLorean, we arrived in Williamsburg,  shuffled through the obligatory visitor centre, bought our guest passes and started our historical journey into 18th Century mainstreet.

I was intrigued to learn about a town with almost 400 years of history.  Established in 1632, Williamsburg succeeded Jamestown in 1699 to become the capital of Virginia. The settlement was a hub of colonial existence until the American Revolutionary War in 1780 when the capital was moved to Richmond.  An agricultural land that evolved with cotton, tobacco and sheep.  The Colonial section of Williamsburg became neglected as the modern town grew up around it.  The restoration, re-creation and preservation of Colonial Williamsburg came in the 1930's with Reverend Goodwin who had financial backing from David and Abbey Rockafeller.


“The nation needs to return to the colonial way of life, when a wife was judged by the amount of wood she could split.”
 W. C. Fields

I had no intention of wielding an axe, so we decided to split from the welcome of the wood shed and head over to the Governer's Palace.  We were greeted by a tour guide authentically dressed in apron and cap. She immediately captivated our imaginations when she brought us inside quickly confiding in us that it was a profound day in June, 1775.  Lord Dunmore had disappeared with his family overnight, they had fled to the refuge of a British ship.  Totally in character and period, our tour guide conveyed her worries of Revolution and War.  She made the visit through the house so realistic by conveying the shock the townsfolk felt at being left without a Governor, without British Rule.  The Dunmores returned to Scotland where Lord Dunmore would gather troops to fight the rebellious colonists. 


“Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: 
First a right to life, secondly to liberty, and thirdly to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can”
 Samuel Adams

Fantastic displays of muskets adorned the entrance hall and we moved through the house to the grandeur of the ballroom.  Hung on the wall were portraits of King George the 3rd and Queen Charlotte.  Interesting to think that these paintings would be the only images the colonists would see of their monarchs.  Hard for my 21st century, media image soaked brain to comprehend.  We had been enthralled by the way our docent had brought history alive, hungering for more we moved onto the antique kitchens.


“I’ll bet what motivated the British to colonize so much of the world
is that they were just looking for a decent meal.”
Martha Harrison

Unsurprisingly, Greg had lots of food questions and once his appetite was replete we moved back through the beautiful gardens and hedged maze.


“The winner of the hoop race will be the first to realize her dream, 
not society's dream, her own personal dream.”
 Barbara Bush

The street theatre continued as we walked down the wide grassy avenue and stopped off for lemonade.  After a quick game of hoop trundling, we visited the blacksmith and gunsmith and then it was on to Jasmin's favorite, the shoemaker.

 "The right shoe can make everything different."
Jimmy Choo

The motto in Williamsburg is "The future may learn from the past".  What better way for the kids to learn and this was history with a heartbeat.  The old court house was conducting a trial and there was a tour of the armory. The carriage rides up and down the Duke of Gloucester Street just added the final whiff of authenticity to it all.  The General Stores were great for a browse, we even found some 'olde worlde ginger ale'.  However, the best was still to come in the form of street theatre performances.


"Let the crime fit the punishment" 
Proverb

I'm not sure what punishment should be doled out for whining?  I had imagined colonial times to be somewhat more peaceful, lacking electricity and complicated machinery.  However, the cries from down the street and the huge crowd gathering told us something more was afoot.    


 “Though those that are betray'd Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor Stands in worse case of woe”
 William Shakespeare

What started as a roll call for Revolutionary soldiers became an open air argument on the street corner between colonial farmer and his bonnet wearing wife.  They needed the money, but she worried for his safety.  A few more players joined the throng and with cries of "the English are coming" we were soon herded down the street by Benedict Arnold himself.



"The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer”
 Theodore Roosevelt

 Greg started to push me forward as a Loyalist traitor so I quickly made like an Australian and tried to wear my best "I don't know what he's going on about" face.  The crowd was becoming more feisty by the moment and I thought Benedict might blow a horse gasket, such was his anger.  When the horses wheeled off we headed back over to the coffee house for what would be the last performance of the day.  The kids had thoroughly gotten into the spirit of things and raced ahead to get a good seat.




"When we are in health, all sounds fife and drum for us; 
we hear the notes of music in the air, 
or catch its echoes dying away when we awake in the dawn" 
Henry David Thoreau

I thought each and every actor excellent.  These folks must do this day in and day out yet the performance seemed fresh and energetic. The theatre culminated in the return of the Revolutionary Soldiers serenaded by the Fife and Drum band.  It's a great honor for the  kids of Williamsburg to play in the band and I was impressed by their pride and dignity in delivering their performance.  We marched alongside these boys and girls as the music welled around the crowded street.  It was easy to be drawn back 200 years and gain a sense of a new born America.


"Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country"
Marquis De Lafayette




 "A battery of field artillery is worth a thousand muskets."
William Tecumseh Sherman

The band marched to the field behind the Courthouse and George Washington rode up on his steed to command the musket and cannon fire.  The finale performance whipped up a mass of American patriotic triumph within me and my eyes shone with elation, quite a mean feat considering I had spent the afternoon "making like an Australian".  Amongst the acrid smell of gunpowder smoke the day most definately finished with a bang.



 "These are everlasting gobstoppers. They're for children who are given very little allowance money. You can suck on it all year, and it'll never get any smaller." 
Willy Wonka

By the time we made it to the modern end of town the ice-cream store had closed so we had to make do with a candy store for our evening sugar fix.  Time to catch the bus back to the parking lot and head to the hotel.  Tomorrow would be a whole new chapter of the history book.


"The inconueniencies that haue happened to some persons vvhich haue transported themselues from England to Virginia, vvithout prouisions necessary to sustaine themselues, hath greatly hindred the progresse of that noble plantation" Virginia Company of London 1622

Jamestown was first settled in 1607 by the London Virginia Company under the guise of spreading Christianity to the Indians.  In reality, the endeavor was for colonial expansion and trade.  In the early years, 9 out of 10 settlers died.  It amazed me that the colony survived the odds thrown against it since the colonists were ill equipped and poorly organized with weak leadership.  They faced hardships such as poor water supply, mosquitos, malaria, disease, indian attack, crop failure, drought, starvation, destruction from fire and lack of funding from the Virginia Company.    


 "It is one of the blessings of old friends 
that you can afford to be stupid with them."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

We followed the school group up to the fort from the glassblowing display and were soon busy exploring life as it would have been in the 1600's.  Behind the stockade things were fairly rudimentary and I thought the indigenous huts far superior in comfort.



“Many who build castles in the air cannot build a hut on earth”
 German Proverb 


It is sublimely English that many of the first colonists were wealthy Merchant Gentlemen who in their arrogance would not contribute to the common labors of the colony.  They were there to plunder the wealth of the New World.  Their aristocratic backgrounds did not equip them to grow their own food and carve out a colony.  Between 1709 and 1710 around 80% of the settlers died.   



“American democracy was born of no theorist's dream; it was not carried in the Susan Constant to Virginia, nor in the Mayflower to Plymouth. It came stark and strong and full of life out of the American forest, and it gained new strength each time it touched a new frontier.”
 Frederick Jackson Turner


We wandered down the hill to the dock and I was shocked at the small size of the 'Susan Constant' replica vessel.  At 155ft she was actually larger than the other 2 ships,  'Godspeed' and 'Discovery'.  This fleet of 3 boats carried 105 men and boys across the Atlantic, it was an unusually long crossing and took 144 days for them to reach their first landfall at Cape Henry.  As we wound up the morning in Jamestown, I got to thinking about how well I would have coped with this particular colonial experience.    4.5 months was a very long time to be at sea in cramped conditions.  Landfall wouldn't have provided much relief in terms of food supplies.  Even with my 21st century education and knowledge, I'm not sure I would last a week if you put me in the woods with no internet connection and a goal to be subsistent.  All things considered it was best we moved forward to a more developed time so we made our way to Monticello.



Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country
Marquis De Lafayette

Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers, was the author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd President of the United States.  He spoke 5 languages and was a scientist, inventor, architect, musician and interested in religion and philosophy.  He designed and built Monticello on land he inherited.  He studied law and had a love for learning and books.  He sold his large collection to the Library of Congress after the English burned it when they destroyed Washington DC.  He was married once, to Martha, for 11 years and after her death never remarried.  The house was a reflection of who he was with maps and books scattered throughout.  There were lots of crazy inventions like his clock and his pulley system doors.  I really liked his dumb waiter for wine which ran from the cellar to the dining room.  The grounds were immaculate and it was divine to a take moment in the shade of a tree, take in the view and think.


 When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; 
when the government fears the people, there is liberty.  
Thomas Jefferson

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Jefferson was that he supposedly had a second family with a slave named Sally Hemmings.  DNA evidence has show there is a definite link between the two families.  During his Presidency he bought the Louisianna Territory and in 1807 he signed into law a bill which banned the importation of slaves to the US.  I was at information overload, luckily it was almost closing time and we still had a long journey back to the vacation house.  However, we did take one last moment to view the favorite oak tree under which Thomas and his friend Dabney used to study.  They loved the spot so much that they both vowed to be buried there.  At the age of 83, on June 4th 1826 Jefferson died, exactly 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.


"I have done for my country, and for all mankind, all that I could do,
and I now resign my soul, without fear, to my God, -- my daughter to my country." Thomas Jefferson on his death bed.


“Luck is like having a rice dumpling fly into your mouth”
 Japanese Proverb


The day had been long and as we wound through picture perfect pastures, dotted with thoroughbred horses, edged with white wooden fences and I had lots to mull over.  From sea to shining sea, America has a lot of history.  As the sun began to cast its shadows we started to get desperate for a place to eat.  There seemed to be very little in the way of eateries along the scenic highway.  Suddenly at a four way stop we spotted a Hibachi restaurant and screeched to a halt a the front door.  Our only complaint was there was no ice-cream for dessert.  Not to worry I told the kids we had some at home (freeze dried space ice-cream).

"Ice cream is happiness condensed." 
Jessi Lane Adams.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

I Spy Kai


"Friends are like ice-cream, there is always room for more" 
Skinny Cow Icecream

It's always a welcome sight to see Chris and Kai, but to see them arrive in a bright blue Mustang convertible really makes my heart sing.  Fresh in from Williamsburg the boys had a date to keep at the White House. 


"Give me a museum and I'll fill it."
Pablo Picasso

Meantime, we wandered through the Museum of Art on our way over to Chinatown for lunch.



"With true friends...even water drunk together is sweet enough." 
Chinese Proverb

With a chinese lunch special under my belt it was starting to feel like old times again.  Of course no visit to the East Coast would be complete without a trip to Rita's



"Ice Custard Happiness"
Rita's slogan.

With everyone iced up and happy it was time to take a look at the Spy Museum.  So far entrance fees on the National Mall had cost a big fat zero.  So having to pay to get in a private museum brought a suspicious frown to my face.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to find the experience gave the kids plenty chance to have their hands on lots of interactive stuff and we were provided with an interesting look at espionage through the ages.  My favorite was the "Kiss of Death" KGB issue lipstick pistol. The tour culminates in the 21st Century with a quote on the wall about the end of the Cold War by the head of the CIA in 1993.

"We have slain a large dragon. But we live now in a jungle filled with a
bewildering variety of poisonous snakes. And in many ways,
the dragon was easier to keep track of."
R. James Woolsey 

"Thinker on a rocker" 
Barry Flanagan

From dragons one day to rabbits the next, our trip to Washington DC was becoming a blur of walking, museums and ice-cream.  The day started, like several others had, with an after-breakfast ice-cream.  We licked and wandered our way through the Sculpture Gardens, this morning's itinerary was the American History Museum.  


There's no place like home; there's no place like home; there's no place like home....

Last time I looked upon these ruby slipper I had permed hair, no wrinkles and a thick English accent.  22 years later and I'm really glad I can't find the original photograph to compare.  Needless to say that I've changed but the shoes haven't.  Funny, out of all the things I remember from 2 decades back, I really remember those shoes.  



"Snurfs up".
Unknown.

The museum is an amazing collection of everything from snurf boards and ruby slippers, to Harry Potter's uniform and Kelly Slater's short board.  Almost one whole floor is dedicated to all things Presidential, with a massive collection of first ladies' dresses which Jasmin thoroughly enjoyed.  However, it seemed she had her sights set on a more glorious burden.


“The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.”
 Lyndon B. Johnson

A swift swoop through the gift shop and it was time to grab a cab and head over to the Arlington Cemetery.  Montecito Union School, fifth grade class would be laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier later that afternoon and we wanted to hook up with old friends.


Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
 And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
 Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
 of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
 You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
 High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
 I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
 My eager craft through footless halls of air....

 Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
 I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
 Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
 And, while with silent lifting mind I have trod
 The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
 - Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Magee

Before finding our friends we needed to look up some family. It took us quite some time to wander through the massive grounds of Arlington and find Greg's Uncle's grave.  Harvey, Harold and Henry Huglin, were three brothers, each a West Point graduate  and each would become a General.  Only Harold would exercise his right to be buried in Arlington.  We spent a quiet moment in honor of our own venerated soldier.  We had spent many days this past week commemorating historical figures from military and government.  This was our time for our own family, this was our direct connection to "Duty, honor, country".  We were a sombre, thoughtful group as we slowly walked back past the sections of graves marking each era in history, each battle, each life sacrificed. 


"Can miles truly separate us from friends? If we want to be with someone we love, aren't we already there?"
Richard Bach 


Arlington Cemetery truly is a remarkable place with over 250,000 military graves.  It was an odd spot for a reunion with dear friends.  We only had a few moments to greet before we became silent in respect, during the changing of the guard, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.


"Here rests in honored glory
an American soldier known but to God"
Inscription on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a monument where the remains of an unidentified soldier are interred in dedication to all the American service members who died without identification of their remains.  In 1921 an American Serviceman from WWI was interred.  There are also representatives from WWII and the Korean War.  The remains of the serviceman from Vietnam were later identified based on DNA testing and so his remains removed from the site.

The tomb has been guarded in 24 hour shifts since 1937 and it is a prestigious honor to be chosen as a Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknowns.  Only 20% of volunteers are chosen for training and a tiny fraction pass to become Tomb Guards.  It is the second least awarded decoration from the US Military (army astronaut is the first).  The soldier walking the mat does not wear any insignia to show his rank so as to not outrank the Unknowns.

The precision of the ceremony of the changing of the guard reminded me of the pomp and pageantry from English royalty.  Each serviceman takes up to 6 hours to prepare his uniform for the following day. Part of the drill is to take 21 steps across the mat and then face the tomb for 21 seconds, this alludes to a 21 gun salute.  Metal plates are built into the soldiers' shoes to make them more rugged and create the signature click of the heels.  When I looked at the worn tile I realized I was looking at the footsteps of over 70 years of continuous footsteps.

The fifth grade class from Montecito Union presented their wreath after the changing of the guard and as I watched the representative kids walk forward I felt an immense amount of pride at their deference and maturity.

"Let the word go forth 
From this time and place 
To friend and foe alike 
That the torch has been passed 
To a new generation of Americans." 
JFK Inaugural Address

Before we said goodbye to Arlington and our friends we stopped to pay respects at the Challenger memorial and the Eternal Flame of the Kennedy graves.  The afternoon sun was still hot and distant thunder threatened the skies as we walked out of the elaborate cemetery gates and hailed a minivan.  It had been quite a day, our mood was pensive and thoughtful as we headed off for dinner at the oldest Saloon in town - Ebbitts Grill.   










Friday, July 27, 2012

Confederates in the Minivan

"It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it." 
Robert E Lee


The American Civil War of 1861 is possibly one of the most famous worldwide.  Conceivably a North-South divide over slavery seems a straightforward explanation as to why there is still so much interest.  Digging a little deeper and issues of States' Rights and tariffs gain greater relevance.  Perhaps the horrors of 750,000 deaths makes us grotesquely curious for details on why brother would fight brother.  Who really knows why we are still drawn to watch Rhett and Scarlett dramatize the humanity of it all.  All I can tell you is that I have no family connection to this part of history, but visiting Gettysburg had a gut wrenching effect on me and changed not what I thought of history and death, but how I valued the present and the living.

The events of a war that took place over 150 years ago are still kept very much alive by re-enactments and those that make a livelihood from the historical battlefields.  Within this subculture of actors, who play the parts of the soldiers of yesteryear, is a hard core group of zealous re-enactors.  They not only don the garb of this bygone era but actually march on foot to the battlefields following the same route the soldiers did.  They aim for an authenticity that seems macabre to a day tripper, history tourist such as myself.  Robert Lee Hodge is one such "Confederate in the Attic", as the book details his dedication.  In everyday life Robert is a waiter,  but in his historical garb, with bona fida beard, he is revered for his ability to bloat himself at will to be the most authentic corpse.  A most unusual and specific skill indeed.


“We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are”
 Adelle Davis

Perhaps it was with bloating in mind that we stopped for breakfast at an all American Diner in Maryland.  Once we had eaten our own body weight in pancakes and pecan pie (yes Greg had pie after breakfast) we resumed our journey and Carrie's stories of Gettysburg.  Carrie is a well informed history buff and was also a previous resident, shop and restaurant owner on main street Gettysburg, I relaxed back and soaked it all up.  On arrival into the town she pointed out their old house.  



"The horrors of war are fully known only to those who have seen and heard 
them. It was my lot to see and hear only part, but it was sufficient." 
Matilda "Tillie" Pierce

It had been the home of Tillie Pierce who, at 15, witnessed the early days of the Gettysburg battle literally from her own doorstep.  Tillie's account would become a best selling book and indeed inspire our own dear Stella's middle name.  Once Carrie had pointed out a couple of bullet holes in the walls of their old dwelling I was seriously hooked on the legendary relevance of it all.


"If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten."
Rudyard Kipling
I always seem to have such good fortune with my friends of the road.  Carrie was our own expert, private story teller who guided us through a tale of the biggest battle of the Civil War.  Gettysburg is often considered the turning point of the war, where Lee was turned back and the Northern troops began their advance south.  It was our day to learn of the horrors, the tactics, the weapons, the soldiers and the personal stories of those that were there.  What better place to start than the Gettysburg Visitors Centre.


"In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear, but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls.”
Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

The Gettysburg Visitors Centre is certainly a place which offers an insight into the souls that were present during those fated 3 days in July, 1863.  The tour starts with a film so your senses are heightened to the battle cries and carnage of war.  In the next darkened room is a Cyclorama which was painted in the 1880's.  It captures on canvas the landscape and scenes of the final assault of the Confederate army at Gettysburg.  Standing inside a 140 year old painted cylinder 27 ft high and 359 ft long is impressive to say the least.  The accuracy of detail in the soldiers, horses and battle scenes make it an outstanding work of art.  The Civil War literally surrounds your vision.  Actual walls, fences and haystacks are cleverly arranged in the gap between the painting and the viewing platform so history comes up towards you in a 3d manner.  It is as if you are on a hill looking off into the distant snapshot of death and destruction.  



"A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, 
but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection,
 as well as observation, to appreciate it."
Frederick Douglas

After wandering through the displays and artifacts my senses were on overload.  I had gone beyond understanding the historical facts, I was now feeling them in my core.  I think it was the old sepia photographs of dead soldiers, the uniforms and personal affects of men, long dead and their individual stories written in sloping handwritten letters that upset me the most.  The Civil War was riddled with disease and hardships and there was much sawing off of limbs in the hope of keeping life.  I needed some fresh air and a new perspective so we headed outside.  Wandering along a country trail we came across Union Commander Meade's headquarters, a barn which looks now as it did then.  In the background the memorials litter the landscape as the battles did back then.  The unchanged scene of rolling fields and farm fences gives the imagination reason to listen hard for distant gunshots.


"we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, 
that this nation under God shall have a new birth freedom, 
and that government of the people, by the people, for the people 
shall not perish from the earth"  
Abraham Lincoln

As Stella quoted the Gettysburg address verbatim, we were all inspired by the eloquence of the words.


"The muffled drum's sad roll has beat  
  The soldier's last tattoo;  
No more on Life's parade shall meet  
  That brave and fallen few."
Theodore O'Hara

Only it seemed to me that it wasn't just a few who fell here, more like over 8000 killed and more than 27,000 wounded.  It was time to drive over to Little Round Top and find out more.  

"Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter"
Winston Churchill

On one of the granite boulders at Little Round Top stands a statue of Union Brigadier General Gouverneur Warren.  He looks down surveying the land below scattered with well known sites like The Peach Orchard, The Wheatfield and Plum Run.  The anguished ghostly cries rise up and the sun seems to glint off phantom bayonets. 



"The brave O'Rorke stops not to ask 
The reason for such a hurried task. 
But, out of breath, 
Leads quickly on his soldiers brave: 
The pinnacle of fame to save 
And reaches - death." 
part of a poem by a member of the 5th New York Zouaves

Colonel Patrick O'Rourke lead a charge over the top of Round Top, his regiment drove back the Confederates from the Western side.  He mounted a rock to urge his troops on and was shot in the neck and killed.  His face is now immortalized onto the brass plate.


"I always thought the Yankees had something to do with it."
Attributed to Major General George Pickett when asked why the Confederates were defeated at Gettysburg

Every stone memorial seemed to rise up with stories of heroes and their crucial sacrifices to the battle.  Gazing down to the topography below I recognized the snipers lair of Devil's Den and where piles of corpses had lain in the Slaughter Pen.    Off towards the open ground I could imagine Picketts charge, part of the final push of Confederates, 12,5000 men thrown against the Union artillery and rifle fire.  Their final decisive defeat. The loss of fathers, brothers, sons and uncles brought tears down my face.  


“The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. 
Every table had an argument going.”
 George Carlin

I was emotionally exhausted from all the death of the day and was relieved when the setting sun brought about thoughts of food and vitality.  We drove over to Carrie's old, family friendly restaurant and she enjoyed a table top trip down memory lane.



"Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first."
Ernestine Ulmer

The last duty of our tour guide was to lead us to the best dessert in town which was served up at the Lincoln Diner.  So there we sat in a 1950's retro style diner, eating old fashioned pie with minds full of new information about a very antiquated war. 





Our trip to Washington DC had been full of plans to learn of government and see the buildings of administration.  While we had intended to visit the historical areas of colonial times, the Civil War tours had been an afterthought and we had gone merely because they were close by.  As I gazed out at the very hotel where Abraham Lincoln stayed to deliver his address, I was so very glad we had taken the time to create my very own personal experience of Gettysburg.