Big Cypress National Preserve & Shark Valley, March 1, 2017

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We left Wauchula after a sixteen day stay and headed south to Big Cypress National Preserve. As we got closer to our campground we began counting alligators in the canals alongside the road. We arrived for a four night stay at Midway Campground in the Big Cypress National Preserve, a nice campground arranged around a small lake. The campground has electric sites with water and a dump station nearby.

Big Cypress National Preserve was the first national preserve in the National Park System. It is a 729,000 acre wilderness of cypress swamps, prairies and wooded regions. It is home to a multitude of wildlife including bobcats and the Florida panther.

On Thursday we visited the Oasis Visitor Center with a boardwalk viewing area where we saw many alligators. We drove down through Everglades City to Chokoloskee with beautiful water views. On the way back to the campground we went on a sixteen mile scenic drive looking for alligators. It took a couple hours to drive the sixteen miles since the road was gravel and like a washboard in many places. It was very dusty and made quite a mess of the car! In the beginning we didn’t see many alligators and as we neared the end of the drive we thought we had wasted our time. But the last few miles were loaded with alligators sunbathing and lounging on the banks and along the side of the road. They really didn’t seem to be bothered with us and ignored us. A park ranger told us they are most active at night. It appears they do most of their hunting and eating at night. During the day they are lazy and sleep while basking in the sun. Final alligator total for this day was 66.

Friday we had reservations to ride the tram at Shark Valley in Everglades National Park. First of all, Shark Valley does not have sharks. It is predominantly a fresh water sawgrass prairie that floods each year to become a shallow thirty mile wide river. This water flows south into the Shark River which was named for the bull sharks found at the mouth of the river. Shark Valley lies between two higher ridges making the area a valley. So because it is a valley that flows into the Shark River, it is called Shark Valley.

The first thing we did at Shark Valley was ride the tram. For $19 each we had a two hour, fifteen mile tram ride around Shark Valley guided by a park ranger. We saw many alligators, turtles and just as many birds, including an egret nest with two babies. We rode by some baby alligators and didn’t have a chance to really see them, so after the ride was over we walked a mile back to get a better view. The mother was guarding her babies so we were afraid to get too close. Since this is the dry season, many of the alligators were sunning themselves on the banks, sometime right at the edge of the roadway.

After leaving Shark Valley we took a different scenic drive home. We didn’t see many alligators, but the final alligator count for Shark Valley and the scenic drive was 106!

We certainly enjoyed our time in this area. Next stop: Miami.

Wintering in Florida 2016-2017

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We took a little break from blogging this winter. When we last posted to the blog we had finished spending November in the Florida Panhandle. December found us in Clearwater where most of the month was spent getting our yearly physicals and dental work. This included colonoscopies for both of us and a bone density and mammogram for me. Thankfully everything checked out fine for both of us. It was certainly a relief to get that behind us. We made a trip to Vero Beach the week preceding Christmas to see Bill’s son Sean and Bill’s Aunt Charlotte. We attended the annual New Year’s Eve Pajama Party at the home of our friends Ben and Anne in Tampa. Ben is an ordained minister and he performed the wedding of our mutual friends Denise and Ralph in Ben’s backyard around the pool. It was certainly a unique New Year’s Eve!

In January we spent sixteen days in Seffner waiting to have our major slide mechanism replaced. It was a frustrating time as we had issues with the warranty company and ordering the parts was put on hold until the issue could be resolved.

It wasn’t all bad. Bill reconnected with Pete, a college friend he hadn’t seen in over thirty years. We certainly did enjoy getting together with Pete and his wife several times. We accompanied them to the large Tampa RV show and our first ever visit to an IKEA store. While at the RV show we were able to catch a quick visit with our good friends and fellow full timers, Jack and Karen. It is always good to see them when our paths cross, which certainly isn’t often enough!

After our slide repair was finally completed we headed slightly north to Bushnell for a two week stay. While there Bill enjoyed meeting some fellow amateur radio enthusiasts and attended one of their meetings.

We made a few day trips. One trip was to the Florida National Cemetery located in the Withlacoochee State Forest located fifty miles north of Tampa in Sumter County. In 1983 the state transferred land to the VA for development of the National Cemetery. The first internment was in 1988. There are committal shelters located throughout the cemetery for families to use for committal services prior to burial. We walked along the peaceful Memorial Pathway lined with memorials honoring American veterans.

We also visited the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park. This 80 acre park has a historic battlefield and Visitors Center. At the Visitors Center we saw a video and toured the museum with displays of clothing and weapons used by the soldiers and Seminoles. On December, 1835, 108 U.S. soldiers and officers were marching from Fort Brooke in Tampa to reinforce Fort King in Ocala. One hundred miles from Fort Brooke they were attacked by 180 Seminole warriors. All but three of the soldiers were killed. In 1921 the state legislature appropriated funds for the preservation of the battle site as a memorial. We enjoyed our visit here which included some geocaching.

On February 8th we left Bushnell and drove to the Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando for the annual Hamcation. Bill really looks forward to this amateur radio event each year. This year we parked with members of the Family Motor Coach Association – Amateur Radio Club. We enjoyed afternoon Happy Hours and a potluck dinner. There is always lots to talk about when RVers meet! On Saturday Bill’s friend Terry came over to visit and attend the Hamcation with Bill. Bill and Terry were Boy Scout friends and attended the same church many years ago in Orlando.

Too soon it was time for goodbye hugs and promises to meet sometime, somewhere down the road with our RV friends. We headed south to tiny Wauchula for a two week stay at an Escapees SKP park. Wauchula is not close to much of anything with Sarasota about an hour away, but it is hard to beat the campground price and friendliness of Escapees SKP parks. Everyone is treated like family. An example is the laundry room where washing is only $1.00 per load and drying is 75 cents. You don’t go anywhere without being greeted with a wave, smile and a hug.

While in Wauchula we drove to do some geocaching at Paynes Creek Historic State Park. This is definitely one of Florida’s less known and visited state parks. Even though it was President’s Day weekend, the parking lots were empty. This park is the site where Fort Chokonikla once stood. The fort was built in 1849 due to increasing tensions with the Seminole Indians. The Seminoles didn’t want a war and the fort never came under attack. The high number of casualties did not come from the Indians but rather from disease carrying mosquitoes. In 1850 because of sickness the fort was abandoned and never reoccupied. While in the park we went to the Visitors Center and watched an ancient movie about the fort. The Visitors Center had a few displays but did not even have a park ranger on duty. The only state employee we saw was the person at the gate taking the $3.00 per car admission fee. I am sure they didn’t make enough on admission to even come close to paying the salary of the person taking money.

One day we drove down near Port Charlotte to visit with Bill’s childhood friend Bill and his wife Lynn. Bill and Bill had not seen each other since 1971! We had a lovely visit and lunch overlooking Lemon Bay. After we finished eating we sat talking and Bill and I started coughing. We were told it was from the dreaded red tide that had washed in.

Another day we drove an hour down to Northport to visit with Bill’s cousin Shirley and her husband Jim. We had such a good time talking we forgot to take a picture!

Our next blog posting will be from Big Cypress National Preserve near the Everglades.

Nov 8, 2016 Three State Park in the FL Panhandle

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We have spent most of November visiting three lovely state beach parks in the Florida Panhandle. The first state park was Henderson Beach State Park in Destin. Destin is a popular beach resort with traffic, box stores and many restaurants. Directly across the street from the state park entrance was a Walmart Supercenter as well as many restaurants and stores. We did not hear any traffic noise but what we did hear early each morning was the sound of construction equipment from a new hotel being built at the end of the park. We had a very nice large private campsite a short distance from the beach. It is easy to see why the Panhandle beaches are so popular with the white sugary sand and miles and miles of beautiful beach. The beach in the park was sparsely populated and there were rip current warning flags flying while we were there.
While at Henderson Beach State Park we met Bill’s cousin June and her husband Randy for dinner in Destin. You may remember us visiting June and Randy at their home in Niceville and enjoying the wonderful meals June prepared. June and Randy invited their friends Wilhelm and Margrit, who are visiting Destin from Germany, to join us for dinner. We also stayed up until 3:00 AM watching the election results!
Next we spent a week at Grayton Beach State Park in Santa Rosa Beach. What a difference from Henderson! This lovely state park is isolated with not a restaurant, hotel or store in sight. We had a nice campsite with full hookups but the campsite itself was not as private as the one at Henderson. The beach was close by and while it had the beautiful sugary white sand, we noticed quite a few sand flies. While at Grayton we once again met June, Randy, Wilhelm and Margrit for another great dinner with a gorgeous sunset.
Our last Panhandle state park was St George Island State Park on one of the Gulf Coast barrier islands. This part of Florida is known as the Forgotten Coast which is unfortunate because it’s a beautiful part of Florida. St George Island is located between Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico and is accessed by crossing a four mile long bridge. The park has nine miles of secluded beach and I am sure many who visit the park hope it remains forgotten so that it never loses its charm and pristine beaches. We enjoyed our week on the island, walking on the quiet beach and geocaching around the island. The state park is located at the end of St George Island and the island itself has a small market, a few local restaurants and stores, and does not even have a post office. This area is known for fresh oysters and we drove back across the bridge to Apalachicola to celebrate Bill’s birthday with a dinner at a seafood restaurant where he had oysters on the half shell. He said they really tasted fresh. 90% of Florida’s oyster crop (and 10% of the country’s oyster crop) is cultivated in Apalachicola where there are 7,000 acres of oyster beds.
I don’t often rant about something, but here goes. On our third day in the park a family arrived directly across from us. They had five children of various ages and two dogs. One dog was a basset hound which barked a lot, beginning each morning around 8:00. A basset hound bark is hard to ignore. The children ran up and down the narrow road screaming and squealing. I don’t understand why people pay to visit a park with a beautiful beach and sit in their campsite with their bored children screaming and their dogs barking. They stayed three nights and we rejoiced when they left. The next day a family arrived with a little white dog. They left the dog alone with a window cranked open for ventilation. We arrived back home from the beach and heard the most pitiful wailing. The poor frightened traumatized dog had his head out the small window and was struggling to get out. He appeared too afraid to jump down or could not get his body free to get out. Bill went over to try to comfort him and calm him down but that only made him bark instead of wail. The family arrived back home to our relief. This state park has a rule of no dogs on the beach. The next day they left again, leaving the windows closed and the AC on, but we could still hear the dog wailing inside. This folks, is the reason we do not have pets!! We want to be a good shepherd of animals at all times.
We are currently at a city park in the tiny town of Sopchoppy, about 30 miles south of Tallahassee. We are waiting for an appointment to have our major slide repaired on Dec 5th. I could do another rant about how long the wait is at all RV shops to have work done, but I guess one rant per blog is enough.
The good news is we finally had significant rain last night and we have friends visiting tomorrow. We first met Bob and Sharon in Feb 2014 when we traveled to Mexico with them in an Escapees Mexican Connection RV caravan. We have stayed in touch but our travel paths have not crossed since Mexico. They have been RVing in Florida and are passing through this area headed back west. They are going to stop here and visit with us for four days. We are really looking forward to seeing them. They are also full time RVers and we have many adventures to share and hear about.

Nov 5, 2016 Conecuh National Forest, ALA

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On Oct 24th we left Stone Mountain and headed to Cartersville, Georgia (way northwest of Atlanta) so we could visit Bill’s sister-in-law, niece and her husband and children in nearby Acworth. It was a nice campground except the campsites were 300 yards from an active train track. Trains ran frequently day and night and never failed to blow their horns. For that reason we shortened our stay from three nights to two. One day we drove over to Rome so Bill could do some genealogy research at the public library. The lady who could have been the most assistance was out due to the death of her husband so the research Bill did was not very fruitful. Rome is named for Rome, Italy. Last spring when we were in Italy we saw the famous statue of the Capitoline wolf with Romulus and Remus brothers feeding like baby wolves. Rome, Georgia has a likeness of the statue in front of their City Hall.
After leaving Cartersville on Oct 26th we spent a delightful four days at a Corps of Engineer park in West Point, Georgia (north of Columbus Georgia). It was a struggle to get satellite tv but Bill worked his magic and we settled into a great site with a view of West Point Lake through the trees. After a busy several weeks of visiting family and friends and sightseeing, it was great to just relax in the beautiful, peaceful setting.
Our next stop was supposed to be a privately owned campground in Hope Hull, Alabama south of Montgomery. We pulled into the campground in the early afternoon of Sunday, October 30 and knew we would not be staying. The campground sat right next to the interstate with a view of the cars whizzing by. We knew we would never be able to sleep and there was no good reason to stay in the area. Bill quickly got online and with no other decent campgrounds in the area, he found a national forest with campsites about an hour and a half toward our route to Florida. We didn’t know what to expect from this national forest campground with electric and water hookups, but we had no other choice and nothing to lose. We can pretty much deal with anything for one night as long as we feel safe.
We pulled into the Open Pond Recreation Area in the Conecuh National Forest in southern Alabama, about fifteen miles from the Alabama/Florida line. We immediately fell in love with this beautiful campground, large campsites and a view of a lake. With Bill’s America the Beautiful senior national park pass, the nightly camping fee was a whopping $8.00. Best of all the campground was quiet and peaceful with a beautiful view. After one night we canceled our reservation in Niceville, Florida and decided to stay here seven nights instead of three.
On Monday we drove to Niceville to see our dear friends June and Randy. June is a great cook and we had a delicious dinner and lovely visit with them. On Friday we returned to Niceville to have dinner once again with June, Randy, their son Chris and grandson Preston. June fixed another amazing dinner and we played a game of dominoes.
We left their house around 9:00 P.M. for the hour and a half drive home. Most of the drive home was through wooded areas. We saw deer along the way with their eyes glowing in the headlights. Near the Florida/Alabama line a car going in the opposite direction flashed his lights at us. The car in front of us slowed down and we could see at least two deer in the road in front of us. The deer moved to the side of the road and the car went by. Just as we passed the deer, one of them decided to run across the road in front of us and we hit it. Bill stopped the car and put on the emergency flashers and got out to check. It was pitch black dark, not a light in sight. He didn’t see the deer and he did not see any damage to the car so we continued home, both shaken and nervous about the rest of the trip. We finally made it home and were very grateful the deer incident wasn’t worse. Bill checked the car the next morning and there is minor damage to the right front fender.
Sunday, Nov 6th we head to a series of Florida Panhandle beach campgrounds on the Gulf of Mexico for much of November. We are really looking forward to being in our home state and near the water again.

Oct 21, 2016 Stone Mountain, GA

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After our short stay in Hendersonville NC we headed south. On the way both to and from Hendersonville we passed the Eastern Continental Divide which separates the waters flowing to the Atlantic Ocean from those flowing to the Gulf of Mexico. The divide runs from Pennsylvania to Florida. It crosses Virginia from Carroll County at the North Carolina line to Giles County at the West Virginia border. Rainwater in southwestern Virginia flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Before 1760 it was the boundary between British and French colonial possessions in North America. It was also the line separating the Thirteen Colonies from the west. Sure didn’t know this until I saw the sign and looked it up!
We passed through South Carolina, which had the cheapest gas, and endured gusty winds and a major Friday afternoon traffic jam outside of Atlanta. We were glad when we reached our destination, the Stone Mountain RV Park.
Stone Mountain is an exposed quartz monzonite dome rock 825 feet tall and more than five miles in circumference at its base. It was formed during the formation of the Blue Ridge Mountains around 300-350 million years ago. Stone Mountain continues underground for nine miles at its longest point.

On the north face of the rock is an enormous rock relief carving of three Confederate figures: Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis. It is the largest “bas-relief” in the world, larger than Mount Rushmore!!
Stone Mountain is surrounded by a family oriented theme park. We were not too attracted to the touristy stuff but did spend a morning riding the train on the five mile scenic loop around the park and then took the Summit Skyride. The Skyride is a high speed cable car which carries visitors to the top of Stone Mountain. As we rode up we had a nice view of the Confederate carving. At the top we walked around and enjoyed the beautiful views of the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlanta skyline. It is only a few miles east of downtown Atlanta.
On Saturday evening they had the last laser show of the season. It was very chilly and we had to really bundle up for the 45 minute nighttime show. With videos and high-powered lasers the mountain became a nighttime canvas. With the last laser show completed they began preparations for their Snow Festival season. There were already snow machines making snow and snowflakes hanging from light posts.

Sunday we drove into Atlanta to see the capitol building and visit the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

The capitol is modeled after the U.S. capitol building. The roof is covered with gold leaf mined in northern Georgia.
In keeping with our goal to visit as many presidential museums as possible, we toured the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum. We began with a short film and then proceeded through several galleries beginning with his early life, navy career, political life as governor and president including a reproduction of the Oval Office, and concluding with his life today. These days he spends a lot of time at the Carter Center, even maintaining an apartment there. The Carter Center, founded in 1982, is a nongovernmental, not for profit organization in partnership with Emory University. The Carter Center works to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering.

We saw this picture of President Carter and noticed how it is made from smaller images to produce the contrast and contours.

Notice here how his head is made from the fifty state flags.

In 2002, President Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work through the Carter Center.

We enjoyed visiting the Carter Presidential Library and Museum and found it was very well done.

I had to laugh at a sign on the door saying “Worst President”. A closer look showed they were advertising a lecture by a guest author who wrote a book on who he thinks was the worst president: James Buchanan.

Oct 18, 2016 Hendersonville, NC

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We left Waxhaw and traveled to Hendersonville, NC located in the western North Carolina Mountains between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains. Hendersonville is twenty-two miles south of Asheville and fifteen miles north of the North Carolina/South Carolina border.
While in Hendersonville we enjoyed meeting Bill’s friend Alan, his wife, daughter and granddaughter for dinner. Many years ago Bill and Alan’s family attended the same church in Orlando, FL and Bill and Alan were leaders in the same Boy Scout troop.
Bill and I enjoyed exploring Hendersonville. Inside the Hendersonville City Hall were very nice statues of General Andrew Jackson, James Knox Polk (11th President and born in NC) and Andrew Johnson (17th President and born in NC). Johnson was the only sitting senator from a Confederate state who stood with the Union and did not join the Confederate States of the Union. He became President when Lincoln was assassinated.
The Hendersonville County Courthouse, built in 1905, has atop its copper dome a six foot statue of “Lady Justice”. The statue is the Greek Goddess Themis, goddess of divine justice and law. She does not have a blindfold and is holding a sword in her right hand and scales in her left. It is believed this is one of only three statues of Themis in the United States without a blindfold. The blindfold is meant to show that Justice should be impartial.
We drove to Jump Off Rock which has a scenic overlook of the Blue Ridge and Pisgah mountain ranges. There is an Indian Legend about Jump Off Rock which says that over 300 years ago a young Cherokee Indian Chief fell in love with an Indian maiden. They would often meet on top of the rock ledge. When the Chief went off to war, the maiden promised him she would wait for him at the rocky ledge. When she received news he had been killed in battle, she jumped off the rock. Her body was found by tribal hunters below. Indian legend says that on moonlit nights you can see the ghost of the Indian maiden on Jump Off Rock.
Another day we visited DuPont State Recreational Forest. Many scenes from the movies “The Hunger Games”, “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Max” were filmed in this park. We hiked to High Falls.

We also hiked to Triple Falls.

Scenes from “The Hunger Games” and “The Last of the Mohicans” were filmed at Triple Falls.
The days are warm and the nights cool. We still are not seeing much fall foliage to our disappointment.

Oct 16, 2016 Waxhaw, NC

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We left the charming town of Mt Airy, the hometown of Andy Griffith and headed south. Just as an observation, once we crossed the Mason Dixon line from Pennsylvania into Maryland the people became friendlier, the food better and the gas cheaper. Just the way it is in the south, folks!
Our next stop was Waxhaw, NC, just south of Charlotte. We stayed at Cane Creek Campground, a county owned park, and even though leveling the RV and getting satellite tv was a challenge, Bill worked his magic and got it done.
Bill’s sister Janet lives in Waxhaw and we enjoyed getting together with Janet and her husband Bryon for brunch. Waxhaw is just north of the North Carolina/South Carolina border and we passed back and forth from one state to the other on our way to meet them.
On the way back we stopped at a cornerstone border rock which designates the border of North and South Carolina. There seems to be a discrepancy between the date of 1818 on the rock and 1813 on a nearby sign.
We also stopped at the birthplace in South Carolina of our 7th President, Andrew Jackson. Both North and South Carolina want to take credit for his birthplace because at the time of his birth in 1767, the border between North and South Carolina was unmarked. Today the site is in South Carolina. During the Revolutionary War Jackson was captured by the British at age 13 and mistreated. He was an orphan at the age of 14. In 1806 he killed a man in a duel over the honor of his wife Rachel. When he ran for president in 1824 he failed to get a majority and it went to the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives gave the presidency to John Quincy Adams. Jackson claimed corruption between Adams and the Speaker of the House Henry Clay, when Clay was appointed Secretary of State under Adams. Jackson’s supporters founded the Democratic Party. He ran again in 1828 against Adams and won by a landslide.
Also while in Waxhaw we drove a few miles north to Matthews, NC where we met up with three cousins I had not seen in over fifty years. Yes, I said fifty years. We had a lovely dinner at my cousin Tammy’s home and celebrated several October birthdays. We promised not to wait another fifty years to meet again!
Quotes by Andrew Jackson:

“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.”
“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”
“One man with courage makes a majority.”

Here are some of the displays about President Jackson presidency.

Oct 12, 2016 Mt Airy, NC

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Last month I was thrilled to visit Jamestown, NY, the birthplace of Lucille Ball. We visited the Lucille Ball museum and a re-creation of the Desilu Studios. I was once again overjoyed to learn we would be visiting Mt Airy, NC, the hometown of Andy Griffith and the inspiration for the town of Mayberry. The Andy Griffith show is one of my all time favorites, second only to I Love Lucy. Bill has his love of Star Trek and Dr Who. I have my love of I Love Lucy and Andy.
We stayed three nights at the Mayberry Campground, just outside of the Mt Airy town limits. Luckily we had a reservation because the campground was full of people escaping the flooding in eastern North and South Carolina from Hurricane Matthew.
We had fun touring Mt Airy. The outskirts of downtown have many chain stores and restaurants. But the charming historic downtown area is like going back in time to the days of Mayberry. None of the show was actually filmed in Mt Airy. We saw in various places in the city: Floyd’s Barber Shop, Walker’s Drug Store (where Miss Ellie sold Andy, Barney and Opie ice cream sundaes), Wally’s Service Station where Gomer and Goober worked, the Darlings’ cabin and truck. Many of these were built for the tourists and resemble the show. We had lunch at Snappys Diner. In one of the episodes of the show, Andy suggests to Barney they grab lunch at Snappys. The diner is known for their “pork chop sandwich” which Bill ordered for lunch. I had a nice BLT for the exorbitant price of $2.25!
We walked to the Mayberry Courthouse where Andy and Barney worked. We were both thrilled to see the inside looked just like the set on the show. And we both ended up in Andy’s jail. We were also thrilled to see the police car like Andy drove!
We also visited the Andy Griffith museum where they had exhibits on Andy’s life and career. They had Andy’s police uniform shirt, and the suits that Barney and Goober wore on the show. They had Goober’s service station hat which had been bronzed. They also had the suit Andy wore as Matlock. At the entrance to the museum they had a statue of Andy and Opie going fishing. Just inside the door they had Barney’s sidecar that he bought in an episode in season 4. Such fun!!We found this production pictures of the making of the TV show’s opening credits where Andy and Opie are going fishing was filmed.

We finished the day by driving by Andy’s home place where he lived as a child until his high school graduation. It is now owned by the Marriott and they rent the house out to tourists! You can go to Mt Airy and sleep in Andy’s house!
Betty Lynn, who played Barney’s girlfriend Thelma Lou, visited Mt Airy during the yearly Andy Griffith festival and loved the town so much she now makes her home in Mt Airy.
We even found some geocaches in Mt Airy! Can you tell how much we enjoyed visiting this sweet little town?

Oct 10, 2016 Staunton, Virginia

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As we traveled south we passed through the beautiful Shenandoah Valley and stopped for a few nights in the area. In keeping with our quest to visit as many Presidential Libraries as possible, we toured the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum in Staunton, Virginia. Nearby was Woodrow Wilson’s birthplace where he was born in 1856, the son of a Presbyterian minister.

There is a nice museum detailing Wilson’s presidency. In the basement of the museum is a recreated Great War (first World War) bunker.
Wilson was our 28th President, serving from 1913-1921, the first Southerner elected president since Zachary Taylor in 1848. Wilson was seen as a leader of the Progressive Movement. He reintroduced the State of the Union address which hadn’t been done since 1801. During his time as President he oversaw the passage of progressive legislative policies including the Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, Clayton Antitrust Act, and the Federal Farm Loan. His Revenue Act of 1913 introduced the federal income tax. Wilson favored an international policy of neutrality which some blamed for later causing us to enter into the Great War. Woodrow Wilson won a second term as President, the first Democrat since Andrew Jackson to win two consecutive terms. His second term was dominated by the United States entry into World War I in 1917. He loaned billions of dollars to Britain, France and other Allies, raising income taxes and borrowing billions of dollars through the public purchase of Liberty Bonds. In 1918 he endorsed the 19th Amendment which was ratified in 1920, giving women the right to vote. Like all Southern Democrats at that time, he supported segregation. He pushed for a League of Nations and was in favor of the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty was opposed by Republicans and while promoting the treaty he suffered a severe stroke and the treaty was rejected by the Senate. It is said that Wilson’s Presbyterian background infused morality into his international affairs, leading to what is known as “Wilsonian”, an activist foreign policy calling for the promotion of global democracy. Because of his work on forming the League of Nations, he was awarded the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize. After his stroke, many say that his second wife, Edith, ran the White House and made many major administrative decisions. Wilson was initially against equal rights for women and some say it was Edith who actually had the 19th Amendment passed. His illness was kept from the public, but once it became known, concern was expressed about his fitness to serve as President. This led to the 25th Amendment which details the succession to the presidency in case of illness.
Prohibition also began in 1920 during Wilson’s presidency.

Also in the museum is Wilson’s 1919 Pierce-Arrow car. The car was part of the Presidential fleet and when he left office his friends purchased it for him.
After his presidency ended, he and Mrs. Wilson lived in Washington D.C. until his death in 1924 at the age of 67. Mrs. Wilson lived another 37 years, dying in 1961 at the age of 89.
We enjoyed our very short time in Virginia visiting family and friends. With temperatures going down to 36 degrees at night, we hurried towards our next stop in North Carolina.

Oct 1, 2016 Gettysburg, PA

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Our last stop in Pennsylvania was at Gettysburg Farm – Thousand Trails about thirty minutes from the Gettysburg Battlefield. This campground is a charming working farm and we were delighted to interact with some of the friendly farm animals. They anticipated being fed and would come running when they saw people.
We were last at Gettysburg in 2010 for a long weekend. At that time we did an extensive tour of the battlefield using an auto driving tour. So on this trip we were interested in seeing the Eisenhower National Historic Site. Dwight and Mamie only owned one home, the Gettysburg Farm they purchased in 1950 at the end of his thirty year military career; he rose to the rank of five star general. During his two terms as our 34th president they used the farm as a weekend retreat. World leaders and dignitaries from around the world visited them where President Eisenhower used the laid back charm of the property to encourage friendly talks. During Eisenhower’s heart attack in 1955 the farm served as a temporary White House. When President and Mrs. Eisenhower left the White House in 1961, it became their retirement home where the President enjoyed painting and raising Angus cattle. They gave their home to the federal government in 1967 with the understanding that they both be allowed to live there until their deaths.
After buying tickets at the Gettysburg Visitors Center we rode a bus for the fifteen minute trip to the farm where a guide met us for part of the tour. The view from the farm was absolutely beautiful. We saw the helicopter landing field where dignitaries would land and be greeted by Eisenhower in his golf cart. He would take his guests for a ride around the farm to “break the ice” before heading to the house.
The house today is much like it was when the Eisenhowers lived here, and Angus cattle still graze in the fields. The house has eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms and Mamie’s favorite color, pink, is throughout the house. Even though the house has many bedrooms and baths, it did not feel that large and had a modest look. Most of the furnishings are original and the living room showcases the many gifts received by the Eisenhowers in the White House. At that time of the 34th President, gifts received while president could be kept. The Eisenhowers spent little time in the living room, preferring to stay on the porch, his favorite room where they watched TV and Eisenhower pursued his hobby of oil painting. It is in this relaxed homey room that he entertained Khrushchev and De Galle.
The farm also includes a Secret Service Office, a guest house, a small putting green, an 1887 barn, several farming sheds, a cattle show barn and a garage with his presidential limousine, a station wagon he drove around Gettysburg, and several golf carts including the Surrey With the Fringe on Top golf cart he used to show guests around the farm.
One funny story is Eisenhower was always chauffeured around during his military career and presidency. He did not get a driver’s license until the age of 70 after he retired. Evidently he was not a very good driver. Before he and Mrs. Eisenhower would leave to have dinner at their favorite restaurant in Gettysburg, he would call the restaurant owner and have him go outside and block off several parking spaces in front of the restaurant so the President would not have trouble parking.
President Eisenhower died in 1969 and Mamie continued to live at the farm until her death in 1979 at the age of 82. They are both buried at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas.
After completing our tour of the Eisenhower Farm, we did spend the rest of the afternoon driving around some of the 24 miles of the Gettysburg Battlefield. It is such a beautiful, peaceful place that it is hard to comprehend the suffering and agony that occurred on this hallowed ground. The battle began on July 1, 1863, continued for three days, and the casualties were high. On July 3rd, Confederate General Robert E. Lee lost over 5,000 soldiers in ONE HOUR. When both armies marched away from Gettysburg, over 51,000 soldiers were dead, wounded or missing. More men died during the Battle of Gettysburg than in any other battle on American soil before or since. At first the soldiers were buried in hastily dug graves, or not at all. Four months after the battle, re-interment began on seventeen acres that became known as Soldiers’ National Cemetery. On November 19, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg for dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. There he gave a speech which became known as the Gettysburg Address.