Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.Grave of President William Howard Taft, 27th president of the US (1909-1913), and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1921-1930).Grave of John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the US (1961-1963).Supreme Court Justices graves.Oliver Wendell HolmesAdmiral Rickover was the “Father of the Nuclear Navy”.Omar Bradley was out last 5-star general.Alexander Haig served as President Ronald Reagan’s Chief of Staff.Custis Mansio. This was Robert E. Lee’s house before the Civil War.
James Knox Polk was our 11th President. He was born here in Pineville NC in 1795. The house no longer stands, but there are some reconstructed buildings onsiite that are typical of that time period.There is a small museum dedicated to President Polk on the state park grounds.President Polk, was a “dark horse”, an upset winner for the 1844 Democrat Party nomination, and then for the presidency.President Polk served one term, 1845-1849, and died shortly after leaving office in 1849 at age 53.The Mexican War was fought during President Polk’s term. This is the actual dress hat worn by Mexican General Santa Ana.
Driving up to Falling Springs Overlook we drove through thick fog, and then suddenly, bright sunshine! Beautiful autumn view of the falls.This is the fog we drove through going up the mountain.Sunrise over the mountain.Island Ford Cave, east of Covington VAA few feet inside the cave. The cave is deeper and more shallow than this view.Morning scene near Clifton Forge VA
Due to the Wuhan Flu the Capitol was closed to visitors. Additionally, the dome is undergoing cleaning and renovation, so I couldn’t see the beautiful gold dome.
New River Gorge Bridge, Lansing WV
The New River Gorge Bridge is the longest single arch bridge in the western hemisphere.View of the bridge from the canyon overlookThe New River. we crossed this bridge to view the Gorge Bridge from ground level. Interestingly, the New River is actually one of the oldest rivers in the world, older even than the Appalachian Mountains!Structure of the Gorge BridgeSingle lane Fayette Station BridgeView of the New River Gorge Bridge from Fayette Station Bridge.Wolf Creek Falls
Glade Creek Grist Mill, Babcock WV
A picture for my wall, and calendar!
John Henry State Park, Talcott WV
John Henry was a steel driver who was employed to help bore a tunnel through the Great Bend Mountain for the C&O Railroad. When a steam drill showed up at the site, the steel drivers took it as a threat to their jobs. John Henry challenged the steam drill to a contest. After about an hour John Henry had out-driven the steam drill by five feet. Here, the legend says, then he laid down his hammer and died. The legend cannot be proven, but it makes for an interesting story.John Henry started the tunnel on the right, and it is no longer used. The tunnel on the left is still in use.John Henry statue.
We toured this historic distillery in Bardstown. In my younger days I enjoyed my bourbon. It was neat to see how it is made and stored. Kentucky is located above a large system of limestone caves. It is the water filtered through the limestone that makes Kentucky Bourbon special. Kentucky produces 95% of the bourbon in the world!This warehouse is one of 29 warehouses to store and age their bourbon. All of their warehouses are seven stories tall, and hold up to 22,000 barrels.Each barrel contains 53 gallons of bourbon. During the aging process, over seven to ten years half of the liquid evaporates, so the barrels are only half full. They pay taxes on 53 gallons the whole time from year 1 until the end, 10 or more years!Here’s an idea of how large this warehouse is.The clear liquid coming from the pipe into the cube and then into the copper barrel is 140 proof. The tour guide opened a spigot so we could get a handful of the liquid to taste. It was pretty sweet, since it is mostly sugar at this stage. She then had us rub the liquid into our hands, and it was an amazing skin softener! My hands were still very soft and smooth the next day!
Lexington KY
Calumet Farm in Lexington is a world famous thoroughbred horse farm. This farm has produced 8 Kentucky Derby winners, including two Triple Crown winners – Whirlaway in 1941 and Citation in 1948.Calumet Farm, very scenic.The Kentucky Castle, a large and expensive resort in Lexington. We were driving into Lexington and this just appeared on the left. It was stunning.Secretariat statue. Beautiful detail.The house where Mary Todd grew up. She later married Abraham Lincoln.Rupp Arena, home of University of Kentucky Wildcats basketballThoroughbred ParkStatues of a horse race. Usually there are a number of water fountains spraying next to the wall, but it was drained when we visited.Pretty cool view of the horses coming right at you.Whoa!Ashland, home of Henry Clay. Clay was the longest serving Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 19th century, the most influential Senator for many years, and he failed in five runs as presidential candidate for the Whig Party.Monument to the settlers of Fort Boonesborough, about 15 miles southeast of Lexington.The fort is a replica of the fort that Daniel Boone and his men built when they arrived here in 1775. It is now set as a working fort complete with cabins, blockhouses and furnishings, 18th century life skills and period craft demonstrations It was closed when we were there, but I got to at least see it.In West Virginia we passed by Huntington, so we went to see Marshall University.Marshall football stadiumMarshall was featured in a 2006 movie about the 1970 Marshall football team which suffered a devastating loss in a plane crash.This sculpture on the stadium wall honors the memory of the 1970 tragedy. The team was returning from a game at East Carolina University when their plane crashed, killing all 75 people on board, including 37 players, 5 coaches, team booster, doctors, the athletic director and flight crew. The 2006 movie shows how the school and team recovered the next year.
