Friends and Family

On our return from Troy, we took a delicious detour into Philadelphia to dine with cousins Barbara and Bob.  Our sandwiches at the Famous Fourth Street Deli were humongous, huge enough for a whole other lunch and they were really good. 

Barbara and Bob hadn’t seen Ben since he was a newborn and enjoyed making him laugh.

For Yom Kippur, the highest of Jewish holidays, we were joined by friends and neighbors Mark and Ellen who are on an extended RV trip.  This is a holiday on which we fast for over twenty-four hours and spend most of the day in the synagogue.  We were surprised to hear a talk from the American-born Israeli Ambassador to the US.  He spoke on Israeli accomplishments and briefly on its concerns.  We broke the fast with Jerry’s homemade blintzes and good conversation and a tiramisu brought by Mark and Ellen.

The next day we met friends Barbara and Don from New Jersey.  In addition to a lovely day with them we were fulfilling an obligation.  On our motor coach is a map of the US.  We have put each of the adjacent forty-eight states in their place as we visited them.  This kind of implies that we have actually parked the RV in each state, but we cheated with Delaware.  Last year, we drove ten miles through it without stopping.  To make up for our misdemeanor, we spent a day on this non-RV trip at Winterthur, a DuPont estate in Wilmington.

 The original home, built by the founder of the company in the 1880s, is now 180 rooms filled with an amazing collection of early American antique furniture and decorations from 1640 - 1860.  In the 1960s his son, Henry F. DuPont, a horticulturist and collector, enlarged the home, extended the farmland, and built a private golf course.  

He also collected antique wooden door jambs, window frames and flooring and installed them in the rooms of his home.  What might have been the floor boards of a modest house became the flooring of a card room.  He removed or found wall paper and placed in on his walls.  In one large room is an extended Chinese wallpaper of various pastoral scenes and no repeating pattern.

When the family could no longer maintain Winterthur as a home, they moved into a 21,000 square foot  “cottage” and turned the home into a magnificent museum.





 
He and his wife entertain a lot and had many sets of porcelain, silverware, vases, etc.

He set up whole rooms showing life in early America.  These tankards were made by silversmith Paul Revere. 




This beautiful staircase goes up three stories.

On the grounds are various gardens and a whimsical children’s area with a fairy ring and an upside fairy treehouse. 

There was a special exhibit entitled Uncorked that had attracted us to the museum. This exhibit included accouterments to wine imbibing and had some delightful quotations regarding wine.

Another exhibit was entitled Campbell’s Soup Tureens and had beautiful and quirky soup servers.

The four of us enjoyed our tram ride around the grounds and tour of the house as well as the chance to catch up on special events that have been happening in our lives.

New York

We spent our first segment of this trip having a long weekend in upstate New York with our son Jeff and cousins Ed, Leora, Edan and Liat. 

Jeff had arranged for us to have a private visit to the model train exhibit on the RPI campus.  It is a miniaturization of the Troy, NY area during the 1950s.  The engineering students and professors who have been building this for the past thirty years have included slices of life such as sunbathing along the river, working in the garden and even a “lady of the evening.”  It is still it is a work in progress.  We look forward to returning as it develops.

Our first full day was a healthy-food one starting with a visit to the Troy farmer’s market.  Surprisingly, coming from the farm country of California, we felt jealous of the wonderful produce, breads and cheeses on sale at the market.  We were also frustrated because we couldn’t buy much since we don’t have the motor home.

Next we went apple picking.  The types of apples differ from those at home and make great pies and applesauce.

We then stopped at DeFazio’s Italian Market to load up on their homemade pastas to take home to DC.

While the rain poured outside, our extended family enjoyed pizza made by Ed and Leora and lots of good conversation.

The second day we all went to Lake George where Jeff and Dave hiked and the rest of us visited the resort town.  Jerry and Anna Lee took a 10K volksmarch with much of the family joining for the first few kilometers.  We enjoyed a well-earned lunch and returned to Troy where our immediate family had dinner and talked.

Loading the back of the rental car for the return home was a challenge.  Between our suitcases, all the baby stuff, two overflowing bags of apples and a box of food prepared by Jeff, the five humans barely squeezed in.

Living so far from family, we treasured our wonderful weekend in upstate NY.

Back to DC

Going on the road again, (courtesy of Southwest Airlines) we hit the ground running on landing in Virginia.  Well, maybe not running, but walking.  We took a 10K volksmarch through Arlington.  Our timing was perfect as we arrived at the carillon, a gift from the Netherlands, at noon.  We enjoyed the chimes ringing in the hour and playing military tunes. 

Along the way we passed the Marine Memorial and Iwo Jima Monument.



Then we went through Arlington National Cemetery, visiting the Kennedy Eternal Flame. 

 

Again we had good timing and were able to watch the precise and solemn changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Our walk took us to the grave of Audie Murphy.  We are having a contest to see who is the youngest person to identify Murphy without looking it up   (The honor system applies).  The prize will be the publishing of your name and age in our blog.  Please email entries quickly.

While the walk was lovely, our real purpose in coming to DC is to see our grandson.  My how Ben has grown.  We are captivated by his adorable behavior.