Travelogue: Gettysburg National Military Park

Our trip to Gettysburg in mid-October was everything I had hoped it would be. 

We stayed at the Gettysburg Hotel, right smack dab in the middle of the town diamond (aka the town square) where Samuel Gettys established a tavern at the crossroads of roads from Baltimore and Philadelphia-Pittsburgh in 1760. His son James bought a bunch of land and subdivided it into lots and established the town that bears his name.

Fun Fact: the Gettysburg Hotel is catty-corner to the David Wills house, where Lincoln spent the night before he delivered the Gettysburg Address during the dedication of the national cemetery on November 19, 1863.

We arrived late on Monday afternoon, driving up from Harpers Ferry, and walked to dinner in the rain. Then, for the next three and half days, the sun shone, the breeze was light, and the air was fresh and clean.

One of the most fundamental things to know about Gettysburg before you visit is that there are monuments everywhere. The preserved battlefield is huge, and the Park Service and the Gettysburg Foundation (which runs the Visitor Center, including the museum) have worked hard to restore it in terms of vegetation and buildings to how it was on June 30, 1863, so you really can see how the topograghy informed the army commanders as they deployed their troops and armaments. 

But, there are monuments everywhere. Actually, most of the monuments are located where the regiments they commemorate saw fiercest action or accomplished something significant or were destroyed. Touring Gettysburg, you never forget that this is truly hallowed ground.

Speaking of touring Gettysburg, I read that the best way to get the most out of a visit, especially for a first visit, is to hire one of the licensed battlefield guides. I booked two two-hour tours--10 am to 12 noon--on consecutive days, with day 1 covering the battle on July 1 and half of July 2, and day 2 covering the rest of July 2 and July 3. As luck would have it, I booked with Phillip Musket, the guide featured in this YouTube video about what it takes to become a guide. He was absolutely fabulous, and he enabled us to make the most of our time in Gettysburg. 

We didn't have time to do everything I wanted to in just three and half days, but one of the most memorable experiences I had was walking the mile from Seminary Ridge to Cemetery Ridge, just as the Army of Northern Virginia did on the afternoon of July 3. I was the only person out in the field, which was a bit rough and boggy, but it was a very special time for me to really think about courage and conviction, patriotism, family, and home.

One final note, the museum is huge and fantastic. We spent time there Monday afternoon and Friday morning, but felt rushed and didn't really see everything they had on display. The movie they offer was excellent, but what blew me away was the Cyclorama. It is a 360-degree painting, done on curved panels, depicting "Pickett's Charge" from the afternoon of July 3. It was painted in 1880 by a French artist and was completely restored in 2008. I loved it so much that for my recent birthday my husband gave me a book with photos of all the panels so that I can study it to my heart's content.

Page from the Cyclorama picture book

Here's a smattering of images from our trip:

Outside the Visitors Center

Statues of John Buford and John Reynolds, saving the Union Army on July 1

John Burns, local defending his town

Confederate cannon on the mile-walk east

New York Cavalry Memorial

Union headquarters on the east side of Cemetery Ridge

Union cannon facing west

Travelogue: Tacoma and Port Townsend

 

Aboard Zodiac, Puget Sound, WA

The Pacific Northwest is always such a fun, interesting place to visit.  For this year's trek to the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, we decided to tack on an extra night in Tacoma at the front end so that we could visit the Glass Museum and just enjoy revisiting parts of the town we hadn't been to in a while. Our older daughter went to University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, and we always liked visiting her there.

Since reading The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier earlier this summer, I particularly wanted to see a glass blowing demonstration, and I wasn't disappointed. We watched the crew make a cat pitcher out of glass like the ones shown below--they weren't available in the gift shop yet, or I would've bought one!

After enjoying Tacoma, we headed north, stopping in Port Ludlow for lunch, where we saw this very cool totem pole. 

Then on to Port Townsend for the Wooden Boat Festival. This was our 4th time attending the festival, and it never disappoints. We stayed about a mile from the marina where the festival is held, right on the water where we watched herons and gulls as well as a herd of deer each morning. We got well over 10k steps a day--walking to/from the festival, as well as roaming the docks, walking to various venues, etc.

The highpoints of the trip:

1) Chatting with a boat builder who built virtually the same boat that my husband, Jeff is currently building. He was a wealth of valuable information. 

2) Going for a sail on this 160-foot, 101-year old beauty. The Zodiac is based in Bellingham, WA and has an all-volunteer crew who were amazing. They also do multi-day cruises over the summer, so maybe next year we may opt for something more than a 2-hour cruise.

Zodiac 

3) Attending two absolutely terrific bird talks - one on puffins, by John Piatt, marine biologist and director of the World Puffin Congress, and one on the world of seabirds, by Peter Harrison, renowned seabird expert and author of the definitive guidebook on seabirds.

4) Discovering a couple of great new restaurants--if you are ever in Port Townsend, try Finistere for an upscale meal (we had a sampling of small plates and sides to share), and Tommyknockers for delicious Cornish pasties.

As always in the Pacific Northwest, we had a great time with mild weather (only one rainy afternoon) and found interesting, friendly dogs and people, including Bug and owner!

Travelogue: Central California - San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara

 

Even though Spring has sprung in Colorado, a week-long trip to central California was an absolute horticultural extravaganza. I've been to both northern and southern California many times, but never really to the central coast. A good friend lives just south of San Luis Obispo (SLO to the locals), and her pictures over the years of her year-round garden, hikes on the beach, and drives through the vineyards finally convinced me to visit her!

Nancy never has to buy flowers from the market!

We stayed four nights in SLO--a friendly college town (Cal Poly) filled with great restaurants, too many coffee shops to count, a few bookstores, and an awesome Thursday night Farmer's Market, which is held year-round, every Thursday that isn't a major holiday. We're talking music, food vendors, and the most amazing produce--gorgeous strawberries, as well as artichokes, asparagus, onions, etc., and tons of flowers, succulents, and jars of honey, preserves, and pickled everything. It was amazing...and in early May!

We visited the beach towns of Morro Bay and Pismo Beach and then took a day drip north to Paso Robles to walk around their lovely town plaza. 

Pride of Maderia - my new favorite flower

After a great visit in the SLO area, we headed south to Santa Barbara, stopping for lunch in the Danish-inspired town of Solvang. Really enjoyed driving through the Hans Christian Anderson park, filled with enticing hiking trails and shady picnic spots.

Typical building in Solvang

I absolutely fell in love with Santa Barbara. Right on the beach, the city must have a super-strict building code because everything works together beautifully--the white stucco with red roofs, the vibrant street art, flowers everywhere. Even the airport is decorated with painted tiles--one of the prettiest airports I've ever seen, actually. And the Santa Ynez mountains form a perfect backdrop to this pretty little city.

We stayed at the funkiest hotel ever in SB. The decor was eclectic, ranging from Regency to Renaissance to Art Deco to Ancient Rome--there were pictures, bric-a-brac, statues, busts, vases, you name it, covering every inch of space, but it was so comfortable and only half a block from the beach.

Guard lions at the Villa Rosa pool.

Fun Fact: my husband and I are big fans of the show Psych, which is set in Santa Barbara. However, it was actually taped in Vancouver, which is more set up for TV show taping than is SB. I read that the show's creator visited SB on his honeymoon, and the whole show is practically a love song to SB. I get that. The show captured the SB vibe perfectly.

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Travelogue: Point Reyes National Seashore, Sonoma, and Benecia

Just returned from the land of color! Winter in Colorado is pretty monochromatic. Shades of brown occasionally interrupted by snow white under mostly crystal blue skies. Love the blue skies, but the brown gets old. 

Our annual trip to the Bay Area to visit our daughter and my brother means this color-starved Coloradan gets to feast on emerald-green hills, luscious yellow trees in full bloom, orange and lemon trees, azaleas, daffodils, and some wonderful ground cover that was thick with yellow flowers and seemed to be everywhere.

First stop was Sonoma--visiting in the off-season means that we could stay in a wonderful old venue, Seven Branches that is mostly used for weddings, with only six suites available. It was absolutely lovely--quiet and just a few blocks from the Plaza in one direction and less than a mile from my brother's house in the other.

Our day trip to Point Reyes National Seashore was absolutely glorious. Unseasonably warm--no jacket required--sunny with blue skies and a fresh breeze. The beautiful Victorian houses in Petaluma gave way to rolling green hills, tastefully decorated with cows from the many historic ranches along the winding road. I've only been to Ireland once, but the drive to Point Reyes made me feel like I was in Ireland, especially the dramatic cliffs that drop down to the sea.

We visited the Point Reyes lighthouse and climbed down and then up the 313 steps and drank in the ocean views the whole way. We also visited Drake's Beach to see the annual return of elephant seals for mating and birthing. The day before we were there (i.e., Feb 27), the blackboard announced that volunteers had counted over 1200 individuals. The population peaks at the end of January, so we were seeing the latter stages of the event.

Fun Fact: Drakes Beach is the generally agreed upon, most likely spot that Sir Francis Drake beached his ships for refurbishing during his circumnavigation of the globe in 1579. 

I try to stop in at bookstores in the places I visit, and this trip was no exception. I picked up The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters at Readers' Books in Sonoma, started it during the trip and finished it shortly after our return home. Great 4-star book--review coming soon.

I also stopped in at Bookshop Benecia where we went to visit one of California's early capital cities, and I bought a Vera Stanhope mystery by Ann Cleeves (The Darkest Evening), which I hope to get to soon.

Another Fun Fact: Benecia was one of the first incorporated cities in California. Named after Dona Benecia, wife of General Vallejo, founder of Sonoma and general bigwig in the area in the 1840s and 1850s, it was the state capital for a whopping 13 months before Sacramento was chosen as the permanent capital. It was also in Benecia, at a local tavern no less, that word got out that gold was found at Sutter's Mill, triggering the California Gold Rush.

Benecia Capital State Historic Park

As much as I love to travel, I love coming home. It was great to reintroduce color to my winter-weary senses, pick up some new books, and visit my brother and daughter.

Happy March!

Travelogue: Wooden Boats, Port Townsend, Olympic NP, Mt Rainier

 

100s of beautiful wooden boats on display in Port Townsend

Got back last Saturday from a wonderful trip to Washington state, where we lunched in Gig Harbor, spent two wonderful days at the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, visited Cape Flattery (the most northwestern point in the lower US 48), hiked in Olympic National Park (Lake Quinault), enjoyed the waterfalls of Mt Rainier National Park, and revisited Tacoma.

This was our second time attending the Wooden Boat Festival, and I hope not our last. My husband has been gearing up to build a wooden sailboat for a few years and hopefully he'll be able to get underway this fall. We also spent a morning on the beautiful Adventuress, sailing around the harbor. The Adventuress is a 133-foot schooner, originally launched in 1913.

Sister ship of the Adventuress, which was sailing at the same time we were.

Port Townsend is a lovely town, filled with historic buildings--we stayed at the Palace Hotel, which is just blocks from the festival--on the third floor, no elevator, but full of Victorian charm.

Obligatory selfie at Cape Flattery.

The rugged coast of Cape Flattery, where the wind never ceases.

There are several temperate rainforests in Olympic National Park. We visited a couple near beautiful Lake Quinault, which were surreal. Seemed like we were walking through Middle Earth--mossy, misshapen, ghostly, wonderful. Made me want to reread The Overstory.

On to Mt Rainier NP, which we had not visited before. It was cool and misty and socked in for almost the whole visit, and we never actually saw the mountain in all its glory. We did enjoy hiking--very cool vegetation that is so different from what I'm used to in CO--and there were lots of waterfalls. We ate both nights at a Ukranian restaurant next to our hotel in Ashford, which is just outside the park, and I discovered the joy that is a chicken piroshki.

Tractor carved out of wood, near the Ukrainian restaurant.

Last night in Tacoma. Tacoma gets a bad rap as a poor cousin to Seattle, but one of our daughters went to University of Puget Sound and we really fell in love with the town visiting her over the four years she was there. We did get a view of Mt Rainier at dinner in Tacoma at a waterfront restaurant. Figures!

Tacoma waterfront along Ruston Way--what's not to love!!!

One of my favorite things to do on vacation is to go to the local bookshops and buy something. So here's what I got on this trip:

Gig Harbor - The Woman in Cabin 10, by Ruth Ware (which I devoured during the trip)

Port Townsend - Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon, by Melissa L. Sevigny (hoping to start shortly)

Travelogue: Ute Mt Birding Festival and southern Colorado

 

Arkansas River, Salida, Colorado

Last week we went to the Ute Mt Birding Festival in Cortez, Colorado to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, which was on May 12. It was our 4th time going to this bird fest, but the last time was 2019, so we were overdue for this favorite road trip.

Cortez is basically due west of Mesa Verde National Park and provides a good alternative to Durango for visitors who want a really small-town experience. We drove down on a Wednesday, and it was a full day as Cortez is seven hours of drive time from our house, which means stopping for lunch, gas, and leg stretching meant nine+ hours of traveling.

We had two full days of birding, saw and heard well over 100 different species, and logged four life birds. We ate twice at The Farm Bistro--locally sourced and absolutely wonderful. If you ever pass through Cortez, definitely put this place on your list.

On Saturday we headed for Salida, a little over halfway home, stopping at Chimney Rock National Monument.

Chimney Rock (right) and Companion Rock (left)

Fun Fact #1: All national parks are run by the National Park Service, but some national monuments are run by the Forest Service. These two organizations have different goals. The NPS tries to preserve sites and areas, while the Forest Service manages usage. It struck me as weird that Chimney Rock, sacred to Native Americans, would be under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service--if any place should be guaranteed as a preservation site, this is it. I am sure there is a political reason at the root of this weirdness.

Fun Fact #2: Just as the position of sun rise changes over time, seasonally, the position of moon rise also changes over time, oscillating south to north, but over a much longer period time--18.6 years, actually. Every 18.6 years, the full moon rises between Chimney Rock and adjacent Companion Rock, and archeologists believe that the Chaco people built a lunar observatory and the villages surrounding Chimney Rock supported the ancient observers. It turns out the full moons between July 2023 and December 2025 rise between the twin towers. The ranger on duty said that they may do live streaming this September and October. Here's more info on the Lunar Standstill and Chimney Rock.

View from Chimney Rock

After Chimney Rock, we landed in Salida for the night. Another restaurant recommendation: The Fritz is wonderful. We ate there five years ago, and it was as great as we remembered. I love Colorado mountain towns, and Salida has always been a favorite. A walk after dinner over the Arkansas gave me the chance to take the photo at the top of this post, which kind of says everything about how great this trip was.

40 years!

Now I'm working like crazy in the garden to make up for the five days I was away from my babies! Update on progress there soon!

Travelogue: Glenwood Springs

Our family likes to visit one of Colorado’s many wonderful mountain towns in August, and this year we settled on Glenwood Springs, mainly so that we could hike up to Hanging Lake, an iconic Colorado destination that none of us had actually been to.

Hanging Lake is a lovely little lake, a pond really, fed by mountain springs that cascade into a rock cavity nestled in Glenwood Canyon, 20 minutes east of Glenwood Springs, just off I-70.  The hike to the pond is short (1.3 miles), steep (a gain of 1200 feet in elevation), rocky, narrow, and gorgeous, following Dead Horse Creek, which occasionally shows off with a waterfall here and there. I walk daily, weather permitting or not, and feel like my legs are relatively strong. After only 10 minutes, my face was so red my daughter thought I might be having a stroke, so I slowed down to a crawl and at that pace did make it to the top, stopping first at Spouting Rock, a wonderful waterfall that drops in front of a cave so that you can walk behind it and enjoy it from all angles. We rested for about 20 minutes, scarfing down granola bars and water, before heading back down the trail.

If you decide to visit Hanging Lake, be forewarned that reservations are required. The ticket taker at the gate said he turns away roughly 100 cars a day that arrive without planning ahead. Also be aware that the forest service that protects Hanging Lake has spent a lot of time and resources cleaning it up—apparently it used to be pretty trashed even a few years ago—and fines for even touching the water, much less swimming in it, are steep enough to dissuade even the most hardened idiots. Hanging Lake was named a National Natural Landmark in 2011.

One of Glenwood Springs’s claims to fame are its many hot springs that soothe aching muscles after hiking, cycling, skiing, or just living. We had fully intended to partake of one of the many pools after our hike and then the requisite lunch (we had an 8 am reservation so that we could hike in the cool of the mountain summer morning) but discovered that even the big public pool in town was charging $50/person. I’m not cheap as a rule, but $50 for a soak in a hot pool for 30 minutes (which is all I can really take) was just not worth it. I would rather spend that $50 on books!

Both Doc Holliday and Theodore Roosevelt famously loved Glenwood. Doc lived and gambled and drank there for a few years before he eventually died of tuberculosis and is buried somewhere in the town—apparently the headstone in one of the graveyards does not in fact mark his grave. Roosevelt visited so often that the Hotel Colorado (where we stayed!) was dubbed the Western White House.

If you go, here are some travel tips:

• Visit Bullock Western Wear on Grand Avenue and try on the $900 turquoise lambskin jacket. You will look fabulous and will get your fix of western clothing until your next trip.
• Avoid the underpass where I-70 crosses Grand Avenue on Friday evenings when there are tables set out and the music is blaring from the bars—the acoustics are such that you will lose your hearing. Every other time of day or week, this is actually a really nice place to congregate, meet friends, find some shade in the summer, but watch out on Friday night!
• Bring walking shoes—the trails along the Colorado River, especially through Two Rivers Park, are relaxing and enjoyable. You can watch rafters coming down both the Colorado from the east and the Roaring Fork from the south. Also, make sure you find the monument to the 12 firefighters who lost their lives battling the Storm King fire in 1994.

• If you are heading down to Denver after your trip to Glenwood, plan on heavy traffic from the Eisenhower tunnel all the way to highway 6. We decided to use the toll lane and pay the $9 or I think we would still be sitting in traffic.
• Don’t stay at the Hotel Colorado over the weekend if you don’t want to be inconvenienced by the many weddings that are held there year-round. I completely get why couples want to get married there—the setting is really beautiful, and the courtyard is charming, but we wanted to enjoy a drink in the courtyard before heading out to dinner, but it was closed for a wedding. Call me a curmudgeon, but it was a bit annoying. The bride was beautiful, but the bridesmaids were in gray, which I thought was a bit of a weird color for a summer afternoon wedding. See, there was a silver lining. My daughter and I got to critique wedding party attire!

• Don't stay at the Hotel Colorado if you are afraid of ghosts. We didn't see or hear any, but it is on the list of most haunted hotels in Colorado.

Glenwood is a charming western Colorado town, near to the Colorado wine, peach, and corn country. The Colorado and Roaring Fork rivers offer fun for fisherfolk, rafters, canoeists, photographers, and walkers. There are lots of restaurants featuring ranch food like smoky BBQ, beans, steaks, and Tex-Mex. Family friendly and with a certifiably good history pedigree, it is downstream from Aspen and is a much more enjoyable town to visit, according to this Colorado native.