From Ashes to Asheville

We completed our stay in Baltimore by visiting Camden Yards to watch the Orioles Play the Tigers.

Seen here is Jim with the Aces flag at Camden Yards just before the game. Unbeknown to us it was Jumper night and we both received a very well made Oriole number 32 top. Not a T shirt but a proper button up top. Well done Orioles.

The game itself was a flop as the Tigers reemed the Orioles 7 - 1 in a very impressive effort. Was a pleasure to be present at such a great ground and a throughly enjoyable experience. Caught a Taxi back to the Hotel for the princely sum of $5.00!

Here are a few more shots of the game. Weather was kind with about 80 degrees and not humid. A great night for Baseball.




We then left Baltimore for Roanoke for our over night stop. Pretty uneventful drive arrived there about 3pm.
Today we traveled onto Asheville North Carolina.

Some of the sights seen today.







Neil W

When the Choo choo leaves for Allabam.

Well not quite. But I did leave for the B&O Railroad museum at their old Workshops on 901 West Pratt St. Baltimore. Free parking was also a good draw card. This is something not always available at tourist spots these day and is mighty welcome when you can get it. At 1.4 miles (2Km) it was too far away to walk I felt.

 As you can see left you park next to some of their still to be renovated rolling stock. A real good close up view of the trains.
To the right is the sight of their roundhouse which was rebuilt after a partial collapse some years ago.

Seen right and left are some of the oldest locomotives certainly in the USA.
You must remember these are the original engines and are not remakes of them.

Just some of the Locomotives that were on show for the public. All in all I spent about 4 hours in all and had a great time.

Saturday we head off to a place called Roanoke for a overnight stay before travelling to Ahsville where Jimmy will visit some of his relatives.

Neil W

Jam anyone? Traffic that is.

Today we left the KGB headquarters (Left) otherwise known as "Pier 7 Restaurant Channel Inn". You know something when they put the restaurant name before the Hotel don't you? Normaly here the hotel has a restaurant not the restaurant a hotel. Anyway we are on our way to Baltimore for two nights. Being that the drive was only 30 miles we decided to go and have a look at the Manassas Battlefields and then on to the Fredericksburg battlefield before going to Baltimore.

The Manassas or Bull run Battlefields are still pretty well preserved and give a good indication of what they were like 150 years ago. The 1st bull run was quite a small battlefield and must have been quite compact at the time. We only were able, due to time constraints, able to see the part where "Stonewall Jackson" got his name. It was reported that General Bee said to his men in an attempt to rally them, look over there, there's Jackson standing like a stonewall.

From there we went onto Fredericksburg where we found the battlefield after some difficulty.  Not much left of it these days as house now occupy the line of advance for the Federal troops.

Pretty much the only thing the remains are some houses still standing and the outlines of others who survived the battle but not the years afterward.

The infamous sunken road from which the Confederates repulsed repeated charges by the union troops was rebuilt in original position, bjut only a small part of it is the original wall now.
Worth seeing but a battlefield overtaken by time.




Finally we left to drive the 100 miles to Baltimore and there the epic started. Despite the navigator we managed to miss the turnoff, which would take us around Washington.

So we struck a traffic jam on the interstate just as our Navigator (Tokyo Rose) as Jim calls her, decided that we had to take a closed road.

So the picture left is what we saw for the next hour or so until we eventual took the Baltimore Pike way and although busy managed to get to our Hotel. Situated close to the ball park where we are going tonight, but not in a great looking neighbourhood.

Saw this little fellow at Fredricksburg in the Car park.

He was having a ball with a red bird. Looked like he needed a feed, very scrawny looking Squirel.



Heading to the B&O museum today and then the Baseball tonight.

Cheers.

Neil.

The Museum to End All Museums.

Today we spent the whole day at the Smithsonian Museum.

We caught the Metro to the Smithsonian stop and an easy walk to the museum which takes up about 4 city blocks. On the way to the UG station we saw an old favourite  now gone. To the left Safeway and not a woolworths store in sight.


Toured the Aeronautical and space center. I had done this back in 1982 so I thought that there wouldn't be much change but I was very wrong. Either I hadn't seen it all or it had changed quite a bit. Obviously there were newer space exhibits but the Planes on display had increased as well.

Many full sized REAL historic planes hang suspended from the ceiling, just as they were when they established their particular feat. It sure puts perspective back into flying when you see the small size of especially the Airline planes of the 1940's and 1950's.

 Taken inside an American Airlines DC 7 looking at the 1st class seating (Left) and the toilet (Right).
At least somethings don't change over time.

The cockpit of the AA Airliner is seen Left and the nose of the plane can be seen to the right. Flying since those days has certainly changed.




There are a lot of space exhibits but surprisingly no shuttle or space station exhibits which I found to be strange.

Above can be seen a Apollo Lunar Module and the Mars Rover explorer. All in all we spent 6 hours going over the museums that interested us. Jim went off on his own and I to what interested me. Totally exhausted and will sleep well at the KGB headquarters here in Washington. They had to do something  after the cold war ended! I don't think running a Hotel was a great choice.

Off to Baltimore tommorow. We'll go via Bull Run and Fredericksberg if time permits.

Neil W

I don't want to Harp......

Big day yesterday as we visited Both the Antietam (Sharpsburg) Battlefield and ended the day at Harpers Ferry before returning to Gettysburg for our final night there.

Left is the "Infamous Sunken Road" on the Antietam battlefield where the Confederates poured such a deadly fire into the advancing Union troops through the corn fields until they themselves were flanked and trapped in the road where they in turn were slaughtered by the union troops.

Seen left is also Burnside's bridge. Here was fought a heroic battle to force the bridge against strong defence from about 400 - 500 troops from Georgia.
Three times they tried and they were successful on the third attempt, but after much loss of life.

After a couple of hours we left to drive down to Harper's Ferry where we toured the small lower town. Harper's Ferry was very important during the civil war and changed hands 8 times during the course of the war. It was also the site of the "Infamous" John Brown who tried to start a slave revolt there before the war. Seen right is the fire house that he turned into a fort. It was Here that Captain Robert  E Lee at the head of Federal troops captured Brown when the slaves refused to join his rebellion.

Surprisingly small at 30 feet by 10 feet it was located with its back to the river and was a strong position defended by a small band. Without the slaves revolting it was a lost cause.




It was also an important railroad town for the B&O railroad and although not used as much today its importance in the past can clearly be seen by the amount of bridge abutments still left in the river today.

Above can be seen the railroad station (ex B&O) now Amtrak that serves the town. Also seen is a shot of the town. The Ranger says that only 200 people now call it home A great day yesterday.

Today we went to Lancaster home of the Amish people. They occupy a 10 mile by 10 mile area. They are a farming community that stays within their borders though they do venture out to markets to sell to the ungodly (us).

 


They are very religious but do speak well to the ungodly. They don't seem to use thou and thee and other church type words. They don't like their photos taken as they believe in the biblical adage of thou shall have no brazen idols and so don't have any photos of themselves. To the left can be seen their mode of transport. The children have bicycles that are the push type like scooters with out pedals.

To the right can be seen one of their farms. They are I believe a communill type farm and from the road are huge.








After that we left Lancaster to travel to our next destination Washington. A very boring drive using Interstate highways. We did drive past Baltimore which we return to in two days time.

Of note is that the Hotel we are staying at is run by the Russian mafia I believe as Every one of the staff talks Russian. Be prepared for a ransom note Lois!

Neil W

PS Don't pay it!

PPS Enjoyed the telephone call will call next week.

Battling along.

Today we visited the Gettysburg Battlefield.The tour was provided free owing to the cancelled Harpers Ferry and Antietam tour.

The tour was very good and the guide was both informative, knowledgeable and had a good sense of Humour. The tour was comprehensive and the story of the three day battle was well explained and the events at each place we stopped described in detail. Over two and a half hours with stops and opportunities to view several impostant places on the battlefield. It is very well preserved. Don't have a lot of photos as I took much video.

Some old friends at the re-enactors camp site.

Off to Harper's Ferry and the Antietam battlefield today. A big day ahead and I will post when I can.

Cheers.

Neil W

Man Its Hot, Its Just The Pitts.

From Cleveland to Pittsburgh to watch the Base Ball. Good drive about 3 hours. Staying out from the city so had to take the car to the game. Plenty of parking at $15 close to the ground.

The city seen to the left is Pittsburgh looking from outside the ground on the bridge outside the Ball park.

The street outside the club is closed off every game and people throng amid the traders who are doing a roaring trade. The game was a sell out especially as the Pirates are atop the ladder at that time. It was as customary on this trip, bloody hot. Did I say BLOODY HOT.

It must have been over 100 as we entered the park. Naturally our seats were in the sun for the next hour, so we had a good look around the park before sitting down. To be honest the heat was oppressive and it was hard to bare. So much so that we decided to leave after the 7th Innings, even though it was a close game. To be honest though the park was excellent and built about the same time as "Progressive Park" I think that it was not as good as Cleveland with the exception of the other games scoreboard which OI thought was the best I had yet seen.

The photo probably doesn't do it justice but on that board you could keep track of all the games then in progress throughout both leagues. A really good idea.








Left Pittsburgh and drove on what turned out to be a long trip to Gettysburg. Over 5 hours it was. Both Jim and I thought it would be a lot shorter and were surprised that it took that long. We opted to avoid the toll roads as they can be quite expensive but in future we will look at them at the other non toll routes and see how much shorter the toll would be.

Arrived at Gettysburg and went to confirm our Sunday trip to Harper's Ferry and Antietam only to be told that the trip was cancelled due to the bus's air conditioner having broken down! He appologised and gave us the Gettysburg Day tour on Sunday for free , which was a nice gesture from him. We have picked a good weekend as the re-anactors are here for the anniversary of the battle and there are many people dressed in period costume and parts of the battle will be re-enacted during the weekend. Unfortunately it is still over 100 today, though Sunday is supposed to be cooler around 83 degrees, which if true will be a welcome change.

 Bumped into a couple of people whilst walking around their camp outside the wax museum.
General Longstreet (Left) and Masser Bobby Lee (Right).
The rennactors had a  period camp setup that showed different aspects of the camp life at the time. It was very interresting and I spent quite sopme time into the evening looking around.




Other wise all well and will write soon.

Neil W