Last Tourist Stop On Our Recent Roadtrip

Greene, New York was our last tourist stop on our recent roadtrip. We have a good friend who grew up and went to high school in Greene, New York in the '50s and '60s. Greene we learned was founded way back in 1792 by Stephen Ketchum and French refugees.

Here is a war memorial in downtown Greene, New York

Jack is pointing to the name of our friend who grew up in Greene. James Blakeslee saw action in Vietnam after college. He was on a patrol one day when the entire patrol group was hit by enemy fire. Nine of the ten soldiers died in the field. James was hit and very seriously injured but survived the attack and was medivaced from the scene.

Here is James Blakeslee's name on the local war memorial to World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans.

Isn't this a beautiful looking home. One of James Blakeslee's mother's friends once owned this home. I think it looks like a bed and breakfast inn.

This is one of two round barns on the outskirts of Greene, New York.

Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY

Cooperstown, New York which is all decked out with American flags and big balls of red begonias looks like Main Street in DisneyWorld Florida. there are tourists walking the street and tour buses parked on sidestreets nearby. We saw lots of parents with children in tow heading to the museum and lots of little league baseball teams traveling as a group with their parents to visit Cooperstown's famous Baseball Hall of Fame.

This beautiful three story turn of the century home was on the market. Would you like to buy it?

Here was another grand home in the town.

Jack and I arrived hungry in Cooperstown so we started a visit to the city with a stop at a local restaurant that served Old Slugger beer and ....

.......hotdogs and chips. What else can you order when you are in a famous American baseball setting.

July 25, 2010 the above three baseball players (Dawson, Harvey and Herzog) were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame along with about seven other folks connected with baseball.

Here's the front entrance of the Baseball Hall of Fame where we purchased out tickets. We got a double discount for being seniors and AAA members.

I love Yogi Berra. He is my favorite baseball player of all time.There is lots of information to read about each baseball team and each player because baseball is a game of statistics. If you were a true baseball nut you could easily spend hours here. Jack and I who are not baseball nuts covered the museum in about an hour and that included dodging lots of kids and teenage boys.

Of course there were several statues of the Babe!

Harry Thobe I guess was an ardent fan from Oxford, Ohio. I just had to take a picture of this write up because I know a lot of Thobes in Ohio since my sister's husband is Jerry Thobe. Also, Oxford, Ohio is home to my college, Miami University of Ohio.

Statues of courageous men: Lou Gehring, Babe Ruth and Roberto Clemente

I shot this picture of a jewelry case that shows the various club rings the world series of baseball winners get to wear indicating that they were a member of a winning baseball world series.

Had to take this photo for my son-in-law from Cape Cod.

Had to take this photo because Jack's father and family lived in St. Louis.

Had to take this photo for my relatives in Ohio. In this photo Pope John Paul is receiving a baseball shirt from Marge Shotte who at that time was the notorious owner of the Cincinnati Reds.

Pete Rose, because of gambling on baseball will most likely never be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame but that does not mean that his name and jersey and bat and photo are not there.
See below.

They have these various plaques for statistics for all time and active players. Here is where Pete Rose heads the all time hits list. What is interesting is that during baseball season someone must go around daily to update these records as more hits are made by the current players. And of course they must have computers storing all this data.

Below is the one thing Pete Rose doesn't have but still yearns to have at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

A bronze plaque like this one for Cal Ripken Jr. that indicates that he has been inducted into

The Baseball Hall of Fame.

To learn more about the Baseball Hall of Fame go here: http://baseballhall.org/

Abe Lincoln's Son's Manchester, Vermont Home

Abe Lincoln's Son's Manchester, Vermont Home: Hildene

Abe Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln became a very wealthy man on Wall Street and built a summer "cottage" that was really a magnificent 24 room Georgian mansion on 500 acres of land in southern Vermont. Jack and I had to drive down a private one mile road to reach the beautiful home that overlooks the surrounding mountains and countryside.

Here is the view after you park your car, purchase your tour tickets and walk towards the front porch.

When you enter the grand foyer of the house you are greeted by a grand staircase that had also built into the second floor landing hidden organ pipes for Mr. Lincoln's wife who played the organ as well as the piano and the harp. How unusual.

The dining room was the most formal room of the house.
This was Robert Todd Lincoln's bedroom. The bed is similar to the bed in the Abraham Lincoln bedroom in the White House. Robert Todd Lincoln had already graduated from Harvard when his father, President Lincoln was reelected president in 1865.

There was both a formal library and a working office in the home. In the office Robert Lincoln kept his father's personal papers. He would transport them from his winter home in New York city to this summer cottage each year. People speculated that he later burned papers at Hildene that referenced Mary Todd Lincoln, his mother, as having a mental illness. Above is just a part of the long wall with lots and lots of built in drawers for Lincoln presidential papers. It reminded me of an old fashioned library card catalog. Later, before Robert Lincoln died he decided to give his father's papers to the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.
This was the laundry maid's room on the first floor in the servants wing of the house. It too had a built in wall of compartments. These were used for storing the laundered and ironed clothes and linens of the owners and their houseguests. I've never seen anything quite like this in any other historic American mansion.
A lady tourist volunteered to take our picture in the formal gardens. We started chatting with her and learned that she graduated from Lee High School in Springfield, Virginia. Just down the street from Franconia Elementary where I used to work.
The formal French gardens were so lovely overlooking the rural mountain setting. Lots and lots of pink and white flowers in a sea of green.

There were big tubs of pink petunias along the pathways.

Here's a view of the backside of the house with the gardens in front. Hildene now rents the estate for weddings. The bride walks down that grand formal staircase and then walks down this garden path to the wedding ceremony spot in the garden. We saw a huge white tent on the grounds adjacent to the gardens that is used for the wedding reception.

White coneflowers and white Madonna lilies in this final picture of Hildene.

To learn more about Hildene go here: http://www.hildene.org/

Skywatch Friday = Dairy Farms and Cows In Vermont

Skywatch Friday = Dairy Farms and Cows In Vermont

Under Blue Skies and Puffy Clouds


The Quebec and Northern Vermont farms had huge long red barns.

Most also had around three tall silos next to the huge barn.

They looked like a Norman Rockwell painting.

The city of Burlington, Vermont on Lake Champlain has gone to the cows with all these fiberglass cow sculptures that the local artists have decorated. This cow had a psychedelic look. This cow featured Native Americans,
The banners on the pedestrian main street proclaimed that the cows had come home.

This cow definitely looked like the Vermont countryside.

Clever how the hens are under the cow's udder.

Here she is----my favorite Vermont cow in all her glory!

Maybe Burlington, Vermont features cows because Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream started in the state of Vermont.

Another view of the downtown pedestrian street.

Here's two views of Lake Champlain from the docks at downtown Burlington.

Lake Champlain is the sixth largest U.S. lake. The five great lakes are larger.

Now go visit some other great Skywatch Friday memes by clicking here: http://skyley.blogspot.com

What To Eat In Canada

What To Eat In Canada

For breakfast how about eggs Benedict?
For main meal how about steak, salad and French fries?

For a light meal how about an onion/anchovy pizza?

For one dessert how about rich chocolate pie with Grand Marnier chocolate sauce?

For second dessert how about creme brule?

For a light lunch how about creme of asparagus soup?

For a hearty big Canadian breakfast how about a ham stuffed omelet, fruit and toasted French bread?

And for the third dessert how about a small chocolate souffle

or a chocolate covered French crepe?

Care to try spicy watermelon soup?

Look at this:

Thai style fish and sticky rice.

Look what we found in Ottawa: Obama Cookies!

I bet you wouldn't find them in Russia, Ohio.

My favorite French food is a chocolate croissant with a cafe au lait