#the docent I spoke with yesterday at the park

[graveyardrabbit]

[my-awesome-roadtrip]

Day 9 : 2nd July 2022 - Philadelphia PA

A bucket list ticked off today !  Just wanted to mention the some wonderful people that we have met.

First of all Jadene, she was the Manager at the Alamo Car Pick Up Centre. What brilliant Customer Service, we were given such a ridiculously naff Smart phone, pretending to be a SatNav. We couldn’t even to get it to work, after a long flight, we were tired and hot and along she came.

We explained the problem and the next moment the Sherman appeared, no extra charge, the last time we had such an upgrade it cost us 600$.. thank goodness for her because it’s been so easy to navigate our RoadTrip.

Yesterday we met Joanne, honestly we only wanted to take a photo of Stonewall Jackson’s arm grave, but she took us on a personal tour of the Ellwood House. If Tony and I had been on our own , we would have been in and out in 10 minutes , however we learned so much about the ordinary people caught up in the American Civil War.

Then there was Russell, he was the docent at James Madisons Montpelier, he greeted us with 

“ I was warned there were two Brits on the tour”  And he finished the tour  with 

“ Thank you for giving me the privilege of sharing this story with you “

I think the the privilege was ours, I knew James Madison was a President, but I had no idea of his accomplishments, Russell told us he was a interpreter  of history and  reported things as he saw them, well he certainly captured our imagination and our interest.  Well, awoke in the Emperor bed with a start and it was already 6.30am,we very quickly got washed and changed and at the breakfast table within half an hour ! 

We threw our belongings into a suitcase and then into the Sherman and Tony nosed out on the highway and we were on our way to Arlington National Cemetery.

We soon arrived in DC and passing the Pentagon and the Capitol in the distance, it’s dome glinting in the early morning sun.

Arlington is run with military precision, I honestly thought you just rocked up, parked and walked into these hallowed grounds. Oh no, they have huge parking areas, lots of people directing you everywhere and airport type screening. Such a shame that terrorism is a threat even in a Cemetery.

It was a hot day, but we decided not to get the shuttle that takes you all the way around Arlington, perhaps we were foolish to walk, but we saw everything we wanted to, plus saved a few $$$.

The brilliant staff showed us the way to Medgar Evers’s grave, what saddened me immensely was that his grave stone was all alone.

Medgar Evers was a veteran of WWII, however he was a prominent member of the NAACP ( National Association of the Advancement of Coloured People ) he also assisted into the investigation of the murder of Emmett Till.

PART TWO

So Medgar was walking up to his front door in Jackson Mississippi, when he was murdered by a high ranking member of the Klan ( I’m unable to use the the full name, as I fear my blog will be deleted by the moderator ), by the name of Byron de la Beckwith.  It took his widow 31y to bring him to justice.

So let’s go back to his gravestone, I wonder why it was all on its own away from the main body of the cemetery ?

We then found the grave of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was the second woman and the first Jewish person to be appointed to US Supreme Court, she was appointed in 1993 when she was 60 years old and a champion for gay rights, women’s rights, the poor and the marginalised.  Finally we stumbled upon the gravesite of JFK and Jacqueline Kennedy. I was so disappointed, for such a great President, the area around his remembrance was a bit overgrown, in fact his stone was barely legible. I will say the whole area was silent as a grave, so to speak, everyone spoke in hushed tones or not at all.

By this time the sun was up and it was getting extremely warm, however we persevered and walked the fifty or so steps to Arlington House, the Robert E Lee Memorial, boy did I struggle and by the time I got to the top I was drenched. it was a relief to get into the the air conditioned building … now this is a story to tell.

The house was built by George Washington’s grandson and eventually the property passed onto his daughter who then married Robert E Lee. 

Arlington House was a plantation with 100 slaves, however after Lee lost the war to the Union, the Union confiscated the property and turned it into a cemetery to honour the dead of the Civil War and it has continued to honour military personnel since.

I’m not too sure what I think of Lee, he was a Union soldier who fought for the Confederates … 

Anyway, here we are in Philadelphia 

[travelingtheusa]

MISSOURI

25 June 2019 (Tue) – Well, I’m back.  I flew to Houston to see the doctor at MD Anderson today.  The news was not good.  One lymph node has grown to almost 10 cm.  She said they start treating lymphoma when a node reaches 10 cm. We discussed the options.  I could take a pill that will keep the nodes at their current size.  Once I start it, I would have to be on the pills for the rest of my life.  They have an IV treatment that would be given over 12 weeks.  That should shrink the nodes but they will grow back and I will eventually have to go on the pills.  Doing the IV is just delaying the inevitable.  There is another treatment option available but the doctor said she is uncomfortable with it because it is new on the market and unproven.  

    Since we are headed back to New York and plan to spend winter on the east coast, I asked the doctor about seeing someone in New York.  She suggested I go to Sloan Kettering.  I will contact them and see about getting an appointment.  

     I flew out yesterday, stayed the night at the Quality Inn, had bloodwork and a CT scan at 7:30 a.m., then spoke with the doctor at 1:30 p.m.  I got a taxi back to the airport.  Although my flight was delayed, I got back to St. Louis at 10 p.m.  Paul picked me up and we returned tired but happy to be together again.

23 June 2019 (Sun) – We drove to Sam’s Cuts to get haircuts.  We arrived at 9:55 and the shop didn’t open until 10 a.m. We sat in the truck around the corner and when we entered at 10:05 a.m., there were already three hair dressers working on customers with two more waiting.  WTH?  We sat for 15 minutes but after watching the poor cut one hairdresser was giving and the bad styling another one was doing, we up and left.

      We then drove to the St. Louis Science Museum.  It also was not yet open so we sat in the car for ten minutes.  There was quite a crowd gathered at the door when they finally opened. Kids everywhere!  It was a very large museum with the planetarium on this side of the interstate and the museum accessed after a stroll over the overhead walkway to the other side of the road.  Most exhibits were hands on for kids.  We learned some things about a 3D printer.  There was one printing and several items it had produced on display. We were able to pepper the guide with dozens of questions.  We wandered around the museum, not being able to get near much with all the kids.  We finally left in frustration.

    We then drove to the other side of town to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis.  They were just starting the noon mass so we went to lunch.  After lunch, we walked half a mile to the basilica. Mass was just finishing.  When we walked in the huge, gorgeous building, we saw a docent leading a tour.  We dropped in with the group.  The cathedral was built in 1907 and boasts the largest collection of mosaics in the world. It contains 41.5 million pieces of glass tessare that it took 76 years to complete (from 1912 to 1988).  There is a mosaic museum in the basement that describes how the mosaics are created.  First, the artist draws the picture.  The mosaicist then draws the picture backwards on a piece of brown paper. Then the mosaicist attaches all the tile pieces to the paper and numbers each piece.  The paper is then placed on the wall which has had three layers of cement applied to it.  The glass is pressed into the cement.  The brown paper is peeled off and the mosaic is grouted.  The pieces are not put in level or even but at little angles so they reflect the light.  

    When we walked out of the basilica, it was raining softly.  We walked the half mile back to the truck and were pretty wet by the time we reached it.  

 22 June 2019 (Sat) – We packed up and left Marshfield at 8:35 a.m.  The drive was long and hard.  It started raining shortly after we left and kept on for most of the trip, sometimes driving very heavy and producing a few lightning bolts.

      We arrived at Florissant, a suburb of St. Louis, at 1 p.m.  We are staying in the back of an Elks Lodge.  They have 3 spots with 30-amp electric hookups, no water, and no sewer. We had to fill the fresh water tank from their spigot.  We went into the lodge to pay and they told us to donate whatever we wanted.  We gave them $15 a night for 4 nights.  The bartender was so jealous of our travels and kept saying she wanted to do the same thing.

    After set up, we drove to WalMart for groceries.  The majority of shoppers were black.  Guess we are in a darker part of town.  No one bothered us and they were all polite and dressed decently.  They didn’t seem perturbed by us and we weren’t perturbed with them.

21 June 2019 (Fri) – We left Tulsa, OK, at 9:35.  The drive was pretty good.  We passed through Kansas and into Missouri where the weather took a turn for the worse.  As we approached our final destination in Marshfield, the sky turned black and the wind picked up.  When we pulled into RV Express 66 RV Park, it started to rain.  We just got things hooked up when the sky opened and the rain poured down.  It rained for about an hour then it was done.  

    When the clerk came in at 4 p.m. (she works a second job), we checked in.  She gave us a discount for being members of Good Sam.  The campground is very small but modern.  All the sites are paved with about six pull throughs and 6-8 back-ins.  They even have a pool and laundry machines!  It sits right on the service road of the interstate so it’s an easy pull-in, pull-out.

    After paying for the night, we drove into town to fuel up the truck and get some dinner.  We ate at Sheila’s Place.  It was a small café.  It seemed to take forever for our food to come out but the servers were pleasant and the food was delicious.