Travels with Barley

2006-04-17T21:11:00.000-04:00

Here's the F-22 after coming back from its demonstration flight.

2006-04-17T21:09:00.000-04:00

There were also large Warbirds as well!

2006-04-17T21:06:00.000-04:00

There were hundreds of Warbirds, old military planes and jets that made the fly-in.

2006-04-17T21:02:00.000-04:00

Vintage aircraft of all types packed the flightline and plane camping areas.

2006-04-17T21:00:00.000-04:00

The new F-22 Raptor made its first public appearance and demonstration flight at the fly-in.

2006-04-17T20:58:00.000-04:00

If you're looking to buy, build or anything else having to do with a plane it's all here!

2006-04-17T20:55:00.000-04:00

Sun 'n Fun is the second largest fly-in in the United States. Many pilots just pitched a tent next to their plane.

2006-04-17T20:52:00.000-04:00

April 1 -9, 2006
I headed south to Sun 'N Fun Fly In at Lakeland Florida. Seven days packed with everything to do with aviation. There were air shows (one even at night), an attempted balloon launch (too windy) and different events every day.

2006-04-17T20:44:00.000-04:00

Cherryholmes a popular bluegrass family group was one of the main attractions and definitely the most popular.

2006-04-17T20:42:00.000-04:00

After the forest I headed east to Perry and the Perry Bluegrass festival for the weekend.

2006-04-17T20:41:00.000-04:00

After Tallahassee I headed south to the Apalachicola National Forest. This forest is known for its pitcher plants which grow here.

2006-04-17T20:38:00.000-04:00

Here's a shot of one of the friar's quarters.

2006-04-17T20:36:00.000-04:00

March
I headed over to Tallahassee the capitol of Florida on US 90. These are some of the reconstructed buildings at Mission San Luis just of US90 west of downtown. The mission was established in 1633 to serve the Apalachee Indians (who burned down the churches and killed the deputy governor and several firers). The mission was moved to this more defensible spot in 1656. The mission only operated until 1704 when impending raids by the British and Creek Indians forced its evacuation.

2006-04-17T20:26:00.000-04:00

I headed up to North Florida after a stay in several of the campgrounds around the forest. Here�s the White Sulphur Springs house on the Suwannee River in White Springs, Florida. The springs were once a popular retreat for the wealthy to take in the waters and other spa treatments to treat all kinds of ills.

2006-04-17T20:25:00.000-04:00

Here's a stretch of the old Dixie Highway that you can still drive near Hastings, Florida. The road had low concrete curbs to allow cars to drive over them when passing a car from the other direction. The road is rough and almost completely covered over in a few places but it's passable.

2006-04-17T20:20:00.000-04:00

Alexander Springs in the Ocala National Forest is usually packed with swimmers any other time of year. It's just one of many springs located in the forest.

2006-04-17T20:05:00.000-04:00

February
The Oklawaha River near the Ocala Forest in north central Florida is one of the best places to paddle in the state!

2006-04-17T20:01:00.000-04:00

The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum is located off A1A just south of town.

2006-04-17T19:59:00.000-04:00

This house in St. Augustine was for the longest time (since the late 1800s) promoted as the oldest house in the United States, now it's just the oldest house in St. Augustine.

2006-04-17T19:57:00.000-04:00

The Castillo de San Marcos National Monument is an old Spanish fort overlooking Matanzas Bay in downtown St. Augustine.

2006-04-17T19:40:00.000-04:00

St. Augustine is very touristy, this is the main tourist drag with shops and restaurants. There are historical buildings in here but they're somewhat hidden amongst buildings that just look old. St. Augustine is in middle of constructing a tourist hub with a multi-level garage where you'll be able to catch commercial trams to take you to the various sites around town. It's going to resemble Disneyland before too long!

2006-04-17T19:33:00.000-04:00

I headed up to St. Augustine, this is Flagler College which Henry Flagler (Rockefeller's partner) originally had built as the Flagler Hotel.

2006-04-17T19:22:00.000-04:00

One last shot!

2006-04-17T19:20:00.000-04:00

There�s a mile and a half of covered walkway that joins the buildings together.

2006-04-17T19:18:00.000-04:00

Students supplied the labor for many of the buildings and also made some of the furniture designed by FLW.

2006-04-17T19:16:00.000-04:00

January - OK, I'm going to really get going now and just mention a few places from now until March so I'll get caught up! Then I'll slow down again.
After Charleston I headed for Atlanta for Xmas then down to Florida! This is the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. The chapel is the centerpiece of the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright building at one site. Wright referred to the 12 buildings, which were constructed between 1941 to 1958, as his "Children in the Sun".

2006-04-17T19:11:00.000-04:00

You can see the original Hunley Civil War submarine (no pictures though)on weekends at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center. The submarine is still immersed in a conservation tank. This is a shot of the life-size model used for the TNT movie "The Hunley".

2006-04-17T19:08:00.000-04:00

Some of the houses near the popular Battery Park in the historic district.

2006-04-17T19:03:00.000-04:00

The shot that started the Civil War on April 12, 1861 was fired from Fort Johnson's east battery which was just over on that point of land across from Fort Sumter.

2006-04-17T18:45:00.000-04:00

Fort Sumter is located in Charleston harbor and like Fort Moultrie served as harbor defense.

2006-04-17T18:42:00.000-04:00

Charles Pinckey another member of the Continental Congress, signer of the U.S. Constitution and governor of South Carolina is also buried in the same cemetery. He did all that and yet he still ended up next to the city utilities for eternity.

2006-04-17T18:39:00.000-04:00

In the small cemetery around St. Michael's church you'll find John Rutledge (1739 - 1800). Rutledge was a member of the Continental Congress, signer of the U.S. Constitution, Governor of South Carolina, and was later appointed chief justice of the United States.

2006-04-17T18:29:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture inside the engine room of the sub Clamagore.

2006-04-17T18:28:00.000-04:00

There are several self guided tours that take you everywhere from the flight deck to the boiler room. There are also exhibits including the Medal of Honor Museum and other small museums, memorials and displays to various other ships in compartments located around the ship

2006-04-17T18:12:00.000-04:00

Patriot's Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Charlestown, SC includes the aircraft carrier Yorktown (CV-10), the submarine Clamagore (SS-343), the destroyer Laffey (DD-724), and the Coast Guard cutter Ingham and over 25 aircraft.

2006-04-17T18:08:00.000-04:00

Seminole Chief Oceola was "arrested" near St. Augustine under a white flag of truce to negotiate a peace agreement. He was held at Fort Marion (Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine) until being moved up to Fort Moultrie on Jan. 1, 1838. George Catlin the famous painter of Native Americans spent weeks here during January painting Chief Oceola. The Chief was dead by Jan. 30th from a "throat infection" and the attending physician severed his head and embalmed it unbeknownst to Oceola's family. The physician eventually gave the head to his son-in-law who gave it to the New York University Medical School where it was displayed until 1866. Oceola's head was allegedly lost in a fire at some point.

2006-04-17T17:28:00.000-04:00

Dec. 5 - 11, 2005
I headed south from Myrtle Beach (as fast as I could) down to Charlestown, NC.
Here's Fort Moultrie National Monument with Fort Sumter in the upper left in Charleston Harbor. Fort Moultrie has been guarding Charleston Harbor since 1809.

2006-04-13T01:45:00.000-04:00

Myrtle Beach was sort of a disappointment. If I was looking for T-shirts or wanted to play miniature golf I'd have been in heaven though!

2006-04-13T01:40:00.000-04:00

Dec.2-5, 2005
I stopped by the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington on my way down to Myrtle Beach. That's Wilmington in the background.

2006-04-13T01:36:00.000-04:00

This giant mosquito tried to attack me on Cape Fear!

2006-04-13T01:33:00.000-04:00

Nov 28 - Dec 2, 2005
I headed south to Wilmington/Cape Fear area to Fort Fischer which was one of the last places blockade runners were able to avoid the Union Army during the Civil War.

2006-04-13T01:29:00.000-04:00

This must be the living history center of the universe! There are now living history attractions at Jamestown and Yorktown in addition to those at Williamsburg!

2006-04-13T01:21:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple shots of Williamsburg!

2006-04-13T00:15:00.000-04:00

A shot of the Yorktown battlefield were the French along with the help of the American forces defeated the British.

2006-04-13T00:11:00.000-04:00

I've been working on other projects so I've gotten WAY behind on this Blog. I'll be zooming through December, January, February, and March to get it caught up so hold on tight! Anyway� Here's the John Smith statue at Jamestown! The national park is busy with improvements for the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in 2007. There's a new visitor's center and other new buildings going up as well as new sidewalks going in.

2006-02-01T14:20:00.000-05:00

This is also where Jefferson Davis was held for treason after the Civil War. This is the cell that Davis was held in for two years before being bailed out.

2006-02-01T14:16:00.001-05:00

Nov. 20-27, 2005
I headed west on back roads out to Newport News on the peninsula. My first stop was Fort Monroe the largest stone fort in the United States. The fort has been continuously occupied by the military since 1823.

2006-02-01T14:16:00.000-05:00

The fort was originally used to defend the Hampton Roads area and later became the Coast Artillery School and still later modern batteries were added during WWII to defend Chesapeake Bay.

2006-02-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

Back in Richmond is St. John's Episcopal Church where on March 23, 1775 Patrick Henry gave his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech.

2006-02-01T14:14:00.000-05:00

The Battle of Five Forks southwest of Petersburg on April 1, 1865 is where the siege of Richmond and Petersburg ended. Union General Sheridan overwhelmed the Confederate forces led by General Pickett and destroyed the last remaining railroad line into Petersburg. With the Union lines advancing from the south Lee ordered the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. Lee and the Confederate Army headed west, where he formally surrendered his army at Appomattox on April 10.

2006-02-01T14:13:00.000-05:00

This is the entrance for the 511 foot long Union tunnel at Petersburg Battlefield Park. The Union forces decided to dig a tunnel and place 8,000 pounds of explosives under the Confederate line.

2006-02-01T14:12:00.000-05:00

Here's what is left of the 60 wide, 160 long, and 30 foot deep crater. On July 30, 1864 the explosives blew up the Confederate line and the Union troops soon charged into the crater. Unfortunately the crater walls were too steep to climb and the troops were picked off by Confederates standing on the rim shooting down at them, 500 of the Union troops were killed.

2006-02-01T14:10:00.000-05:00

Here is what the forts and batteries looked like during the war.

2006-02-01T14:09:00.000-05:00

City Point is about 10 miles northeast of Petersburg on the James River and is part of the Petersburg National Battlefield Park. City Point was the site of the supply center for the Union forces on the siege lines of Richmond and Petersburg. From June 1864 to April 1865 the depot grew to include 280 buildings and a half mile of wharves. The Depot Field Hospital was located nearby and covered 200 acres and cared for as many as 10,000 patients at a time.

2006-02-01T14:08:00.001-05:00

One of the many earthen forts around Richmond and Petersburg is Fort Harrison part of the Richmond defensive lines that was taken by the Union on Sept. 29, 1864. The trenches basically start north of Richmond and pretty much continue all the way around to the southwest of Petersburg.

2006-02-01T14:08:00.000-05:00

As the Union Army battled outside Richmond, Grant had General E.F. Smith come south and attack the Petersburg defenses. On June 15, 1864 Smith attacked with 15,000 men against the 5,400 Confederate troops defending Petersburg. Smith took this Battery (Battery 5) and miles of Petersburg's defenses but didn't continue the attack and the Union lost its opportunity to take Petersburg. The Union siege of both Richmond and Petersburg began.

2006-02-01T14:07:00.000-05:00

From Fort Harrison the Union built miles of trenches and batteries all the way to Fort Brady (above) which overlooked the James River. Fort Brady kept Confederate gunboats from coming downriver and attacking the Union supply base at City Point.

2006-02-01T14:06:00.000-05:00

Grant lived in this cabin which also served as his headquarters at City Point.

2006-02-01T14:04:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the trenches at the Cold Harbor Battlefield. After the major battles at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania there were a couple minor battles until Grant made it down to just northwest of Richmond. Here in early June of 1864 Grant continued his aggressive campaign of constant engagement and heavy Union losses. The battle cost the Union over 16,000 casualties with a total of 6,000 killed, many killed in an hour long futile charge that Grant would greatly regret.

2006-02-01T14:03:00.000-05:00

Malvern Hill was the last of the Seven Days Battle of the 1862 campaign. The McClellan and the Union Army was in retreat and the Confederates made an unsuccessful charge across this open field under heavy cannon fire.

2006-02-01T14:01:00.001-05:00

According to the information this penguin was carved from on of Byrd's South Pole ships and sold at Chicago's 1933 world's fair "The Century of Progress" to raise funds for another expedition.

2006-02-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

I headed out of Richmond on the Civil War driving tour to the northeast of Richmond.
The Battle of Gaines Mill (Watts House) on June 27, 1862 was part of McClellan's 1862 Peninsula Campaign. This battle was the bloodiest of the Seven Days Battle with over 15,000 combined casualties.

2006-02-01T13:46:00.000-05:00

At the Virginia Historical Society Museum in Richmond is Virginia born explorer, aviator, author and naval officer, Richard E. Byrd's reindeer parka and other assorted belongings. Byrd won a Medal of Honor for being the first to fly over the North Pole (Disputed), first to fly over the South Pole and led four expeditions to Antarctica during the 1930�s and 40s.

2006-02-01T13:43:00.001-05:00

Jefferson Davis' grave is located in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. To the left in the picture is the obelisk of grave of Confederate General Fitzhugh Lee (Robert E. Lee's nephew and one time governor of Virginia). Also in the cemetery is Confederate cavalry officer, James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart "The Eyes of Lee's Army" and a couple of former Vice Presidents of the US (Who ever remembers them though?).

2006-02-01T13:43:00.000-05:00

Here's Davis' view of Richmond.

2006-02-01T13:40:00.000-05:00

Nov. 14 - 19, 2005
I headed down I95 to Richmond Virginia and the Richmond National Battlefield Park Civil War visitor center located at the old Tredegar Iron Works. The iron works was the only works in the south that could turn out the large cannons, 1100 Confederate cannons were made here. The works also made the rolled iron plates used for many of the iron side ships including the C.S.S. Virginia. The visitor center focuses on General McClellan�s 1862 Peninsula Campaign and General Grant�s 1864 Overland Campaign.

2006-01-17T14:07:00.000-05:00

From a mock control tower you can watch planes taking off and landing at nearby Washington Dulles International Airport. Here a Continental 747 makes its approach for landing. In the lower left of the picture you can see the entrance to the parking lot, the museum is free but parking will cost you $12.00.

2006-01-17T14:03:00.000-05:00

One last shot inside the museum! The museum also holds everything from some of the earliest airplanes to Japanese and German warplanes.

2006-01-17T13:54:00.000-05:00

Wiley Post's plane the Winnie Mae. Post used this plane for his round the world records and for some of his high altitude work.

2006-01-17T13:46:00.000-05:00

The space hangar holds the space collection with assorted spacecraft, satellites, space suits and rockets.

2006-01-17T13:33:00.000-05:00

The space shuttle Enterprise dominates the James S. McDonnell space hangar.

2006-01-17T13:28:00.000-05:00

Here's a shot of half of the main hangar. There's still a lot of room for more planes that will be added as they're restored. There are elevated walkways throughout the museum for close inspection of the hanging planes and for viewing the planes on the hangar floors. The silver plane with the R on the tail is the B-29 Enola Gay which dropped the first nuclear bomb on August 6, 1945.

2006-01-17T13:18:00.000-05:00

The SR-71 Blackbird takes center stage as you enter the main hangar.

2006-01-17T13:11:00.000-05:00

What a great looking building! This is the new National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center an extension of the National Air and Space Museum located out near the Washington Dulles International Airport.

2006-01-17T13:04:00.000-05:00

Another shot of the memorial.

2006-01-17T13:00:00.000-05:00

The new WWII Memorial is on the east side of the reflecting pond in between the Lincoln and Washington Memorials. The two towers represent the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of operation and the pillars recognize the individual states and US territories that participated in the war.

2006-01-17T12:53:00.000-05:00

At the Postal Museum you'll find Owney who started riding the railroad around the country with the mail bags in 1888. Postal employees would add medals and tags to Owney's collar until they got so heavy that a vest was made for them. The information reads: �In 1895, he traveled with mailbags on a steamship to Asia and across Europe�.

2006-01-17T12:48:00.000-05:00

Occupying 25 acres near the Capitol is Daniel Burnham's Union Station which once served as the transportation hub for Washington. Some trains still come and go but it was renovated with shops, restaurants and fast food places in the 1980s. If you're looking for fast food, this place has everything!

2006-01-17T12:43:00.000-05:00

I finally found the (fairly new) FDR Memorial! It's a sprawling monument sorta out by itself near the tidal basin. The memorial isn't too far away from the Jefferson Memorial, but it isn't something you'd normally stumble upon.

2006-01-17T12:35:00.000-05:00

With the new hardscape design, the Jersey barriers (Used to stop car bombers.) are gone! The memorial really looks much better.

2006-01-17T12:31:00.000-05:00

Also in the Price of Freedom exhibit is one of the trees that fell due to the intense small arms crossfire at the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania Battlefield.

2006-01-17T12:26:00.000-05:00

In The Price of Freedom: Americans at War exhibit are the original table and chairs used when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.

2006-01-17T12:16:00.000-05:00

At the American History Museum you'll find a little bit of everything.

On the right is the ALTAIR, the first personnel computer. The only input was the series of switches on the front and the only output was from the small red lights above. In 1975 Bill Gates and Paul Allen developed a BASIC programming language for the ALTAIR and soon formed the company Microsoft to create BASIC languages for other companies.

On the left is one of the first Apple 1 computers from around 1976. The machines were sold without a monitor, keyboard or even a case.

2006-01-17T12:08:00.000-05:00

The entrance to the museum is on the east side of the building instead of facing the mall, I assume this is because many Indian dwellings open to the east. Along with the traditional Indian objects the museum also displays contemporary art, guns, treaties and other items relating to the Indians.

2006-01-17T11:59:00.000-05:00

Next door to the Air & Space Museum is the new National Museum of the American Indian. The inaugural exhibits feature around 8,000 pieces from the museums collection of over 800,000 objects.

2006-01-16T16:51:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the planes from the commercial flight area. Only about 10 percent of the museum's collection is on display at the Air & Space Museum. The new Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center now allows them to display a whole lot more of their collection, I�ll be going there later this week.

2006-01-16T16:42:00.000-05:00

The Air and Space Museum is the most visited museum in the world! I just caught the tail end of The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age exhibition commemorating the Wright Brother's Centennial of Flight. The Wright Flyer is usually hanging from the ceiling in the main hall where you can't get a very close look at it. This is the first plane to ever fly!

2006-01-16T16:36:00.000-05:00

The Smithsonian's original collection was mainly from the patent office and exhibits from the 1876 Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia. To hold all the newly acquired exhibits from the centennial, the Arts and Industries building (designed by Adolph Cluss) was completed in 1881. The building is now undergoing renovation to be used for temporary exhibits.

2006-01-16T16:30:00.000-05:00

The Smithsonian Castle, the oldest building on the mall, was completed in 1855. The Castle once housed the entire collection, but now it's used for a visitor's center and offices. The Castle was designed by James Renwick who designed a number of other Smithsonian buildings including the Renwick Gallery over by the White House.

2006-01-16T16:24:00.000-05:00

I was out walking around the Mall when I noticed there wasn't a line for the Washington Monument, so here I am! French architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant may have laid out the city but it was Chicago Architect Daniel Burnham along with architects from the 1893 Columbian Exposition who are responsible for the Mall and the surrounding parks you see today.

2006-01-16T16:17:00.000-05:00

The Usonian houses were built on grids of usually 4 by 4 feet or in this case 4 x 2 feet to make construction easy. Wright constructed over 50 Usonian houses throughout the United States.

2006-01-16T16:10:00.000-05:00

The "L" shape with the large windows facing to the inside of the "L" is typical of the Usonian houses.

2006-01-16T15:47:00.000-05:00

Frank Lloyd Wright's Pope-Leighey house is on US1 near Mount Vernon. The 1,200 square foot house, which was completed in 1941, was moved here because of the construction for I66. The house is an example of FLW's Usonian style house which was to provide affordable housing. The house still wasn’t really affordable though, costing almost twice as much as a standard built home.

2006-01-16T15:39:00.000-05:00

Washington's tomb is located under the orchard on the plantation.

2006-01-16T15:21:00.000-05:00

Nov. 4 - 13, 2005
I headed up SR208 to I75 and up to Washington DC. Mount Vernon describes itself as "America's most popular historic estate" and there are certainly a lot of people here for this time of year.

2006-01-16T11:46:00.000-05:00

There are numerous original buildings scattered around the park including the restored courthouse. The courthouse now serves as the visitor's center and museum.

2006-01-16T11:35:00.000-05:00

I took the back roads south to Appomattox Court House National Historic Park. The Mclean house is a reconstruction of the house were Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865 ending the Civil War. The original house had been dismantled so it could be moved and put on display. The dismantled house was never moved and it slowly disappeared, it's probably part of somebody's home improvement projects now.

2006-01-16T11:22:00.000-05:00

The battle at the Bloody Angle was so fierce that several large oak trees were cut down from small arms fire! Part of this tree is in the Smithsonian, I'll see if I can find it.

Grant came to the Wilderness/Spotsylvania battle with over 115,000 men, by the end of the battle the army suffered over 26,000 casualties with over 7,000 dead. The battle was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, Grant still headed south.

2006-01-16T11:14:00.000-05:00

The Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse was where the battle continued on May 8, 1864. Grant tried a flanking movement around the right of Lee's army hoping to cut it off from Richmond, Lee got there first and the battle raged for 10 days. The Union Army had to charge across this open field under fire from the Confederate cannons and guns. The number of casualties and the brutality at this point in the line earned the area the nickname �The Bloody Angle�. You can see some of the original entrenchments right in front of the cannon.

2006-01-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

The beginning to the final end of the Confederacy was May 5, 1864 here in this field where the first shots in the Battle of the Wilderness were fired. The battle lasted two days and was the first battle with Ulysses S. Grant as the Union Commander in chief of all Union forces. The Battle of the Wilderness was costly for the Union Army, but unlike such previous loses fought by the Army of the Potomac, Grant didn�t retreat. From here until the end of the war the Army of the Potomac was almost constantly engaged with Lee�s Army of Northern Virginia.