100.8/6 The News from Washington, DC—Hazy as Usual

We intended to visit only a few days with David & Arceli Suley, Lay Mission-Helpers, our neighbors in Mzuzu, Malawi from 1974-1978. But Bill began a toothache a few weeks prior, so we had e-mailed the Suleys and asked them to arrange a dental appointment. It turned out that Bill required a root canal, antibiotic series, then a cap on the infected tooth. In between dentist appointments over a period of 8 days, our gracious hosts helped us get in some sight-seeing in Washington D.C. in spite of a record-breaking heat wave.

Mount Vernon

David Suley drove us across town to Mt. Vernon via the parkway along the south side of the Potomac River in Virginia. The mansion and grounds, originally property of George Washington’s grandfather, have been beautifully restored. Mt. Vernon was the biggest disappointed of the trip—no photography was allowed in the house of the father of our country.

In 1759 George Washington leased the property and settled his wife Martha and her two children from a former marriage in the mansion. Between them, they owned some 100 slaves who worked the prosperous plantation. As Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, he rarely could visit his home. In 1783, he resigned his military commission and retired to Mt. Vernon. Called away again as first President of the United States from 1789-97, he visited his wife and extended family 15 times. George Washington died at Mt. Vernon in 1799 and is buried on the property, as is his wife, and others deceased on the plantation.

Interior of the National Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception

We attended a beautiful High Mass with glorious choir, then viewed the various chapels and works of art in the main church and underground crypt. This was our fourth visit to the Basilica: first in 1959 on our way to Africa when we saw the church under construction, 2nd in 1968 during our three month’s Greyhound Bus trip around the United States; and 3rd in our 2004 U.S. tour in the same RV to visit relatives and friends. Afterwards David Suley took us to see his office, where he is head of Home Missions, in the nearby U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Basilica of the National Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception

National Gallery of Art

As we walked down from the Subway station toward the Mall, we were captured in the glass pyramidal sculptures in front of one of the buildings of the National Gallery of Art. [We were later able to escape from the glass prism (prison).]

With lots of rain and high humidity,
the grass lawns are in excellent shape.

Tour groups come in all sizes and shapes
and from all directions, especially sideways and Segways.

U.S. Botanic Garden

Did you think we would miss a well-known botanic garden—no way, José!

Sited near the Capitol, the glass conservatory and exterior gardens of the U.S. Botanic Garden are maintained to perfection. This year, many of the major botanic gardens of the U.S. had special regional displays, rather crowded, in front of the main building.

Flower Fountain at U.S. Botanic Garden

Are you expecting some portraits of flowers? You will have to wait until the next blog to get your fill—from Dupont’s Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.

Meeting New Friends the Photographic Way

On Our Way to the Washington Monument

On another day, we took the subway to the Gallery Place-Chinatown exit, Bill intending to visit the International Spy Museum. He was willing to pay the $14 senior’s entrance fee, but learning they did not allow photography, turned away in disgust.

Getting on the external “circulator” bus line, (only 50¢ each), we got off at the Mall. It was a sweltering, humid, gray day.

Then very slowly, we walked up the hill to the base of the Washington Monument. Admission to the top was already fully booked for the day, so we enjoyed the ground-level view in all directions, of the White House to the north, World War II Monuments and Lincoln Memorial to the west and the Capitol to the east.

Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool
with World War II Monument in Foreground
from Base of Washington Monument

The National World War II Monument

This is one of the most elaborate and impressive monuments in the Washington area. The picture shows about one-third of the total monument.


We gratefully climbed on the Mall “circulator” bus to go around to the south side, Bill dropping off at the Space Museum and Jean going to the next stop for the Museum of African Arts.

One of the newer wings of the
original “Smithsonian Castle”

Jean found herself at the main entrance to the Smithsonian Castle and the Enid A. Haupt Gardens. After a complete explore of the gardens, she had an hour left to visit the Museum of African Arts. The building is not prepossessing on the outside, merely an entry at ground level. The museum extends underground for 3 stories. Dark rooms, with exceptional ambient lighting, enhance the spacious display of ancient masks, bowls, and figures in ivory, wood and bronze. The gift shop sells baskets from Zimbabwe and Botswana, tote bags, cloth, toys and jewelry from other African countries.

The National Air and Space Museum

After passing through security, Bill entered the Air and Space Museum swarming with people—more children than noticed elsewhere…

The ground floor is a hugh cavernous room fill with people, poster displays, hands-on space artifacts, and all sorts of “flying machines” hanging from the 40 to 50 foot ceiling. Other levels had more displays, such as history of space exploration in science fiction books, movies, and comics or the development of a self-contained spacesuit. Of course, there were videos and movies in various theaters illustrating man’s achievements in space.

A Mock-up of Neil Armstrong’s
Landing on the Moon

The Ultimate—for Now—
is the Multi-national Space Station
between the Earth and the Moon

One of the particularly impressive and interesting things was that for the most part these exhibits hanging from the ceiling were full size. It was hard to leave after two and a half hours with so many exhibits unexplored.


We could have spent three weeks in Washington D.C. and not have seen it all, but we were glad to head north, hoping for cooler weather and without that aching tooth.

97.8/03 The Ding-a-ling Blog

Cell phones are everywhere.

People on line are so engrossed in conversation they don’t even notice a photographer. Here are a few I had fun capturing. Noted, but not caught: people in grocery stores, at library book sales, and those, too frequently seen, driving a car with half a mind and one hand.

Photographs by Jean, picture enhancement by Bill.

A busy office?
St. Augustine, Florida

He may drop calls,
but don’t expect him to drop anything else.
Welcome Center, South Carolina

She’s not paying attention to a couple of VWs
closing in on her from the rear.
Charleston, South Carolina

Consultation before loading the cart?
Charleston, South Carolina

What’s a rest-stop without an hourly update?
Welcome Center, North Carolina

Is she still dreaming of Bermuda?
Williamsburg, Virginia

Here comes the bus!
Washington , D.C.

Nothing like a friendly chat
to pass the commute time.
Washington, D.C.


These tourist are something else!
At the Smithsonian, Washington, DC

What do you suppose MB stands for?

[See end of blog.]
Bar Harbor, Maine

Every family has its ding-a-ling.
Bar Harbor, Maine

MB ≈ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

93.7/30 Williamsburg, Virginia, the Revolutionary City

This is an unusual blog: for you to appreciate our experience in Williamsburg, I felt I had to include 17 pictures to tell the story, more than we have ever included before.

You get a lot for your money at Colonial Williamsburg. From our “camp” at Anvil Campground, it was only 3 miles to the Visitor’s Center with its spacious free parking where we paid $47.00 each for 2-day passes. With temperatures hovering around 100°, we were not about to waste our energies even on a ¼ mile walk into the historic area and hopped on the waiting shuttle bus to the Governor’s Palace at the north west end of the village.

Governor’s Palace

After the government moved to Richmond in 1780, this and many other buildings fell into disrepair. It was restored on the same site in 1920, using old paintings, descriptive letters and archeological data to approach authenticity. The entrance hall lined in dark cedar wood was decorated with vertical rows of crossed swords and guns, ready for the citizens to use. Another beautiful room on the second floor, with wallpaper of embossed leather, was used to entertain visitors.

Swords and guns were ready for use
in case they were needed.

The luscious leather wall
covering was beautifully textured.

The table is set in the blue dining room
for the Governor’s noonday meal.

The Governor’s Palace included
extensive formal gardens and boasted of a maze.

Horse-drawn surreys and carts
added to the ambience of the village.

From the Governor’s Palace, another shuttle bus circles the 1 mile by 1/2 mile area, stopping at strategic intervals; each stop with a concealed row of soft drink and water vending machines. Only horse drawn vehicles move through the spacious, tree-lined area.

Children are especially catered to.

Many of the visitors spontaneously
join the lively drum and fife parade

Twice a day, there is a parade of a small drum & fife team from the Capitol to the Governor’s Palace. Visitors join the lively march down the Duke of Glouchester Street, past the market square, magazine & guard house, then up the Palace Green.

The capital of the Virginia Colony
was located in Williamsburg.

In 1705, the first capitol building in America was built at the end of the Duke of Gloucester Street. The new site was described by the first Royal Governor, Francis Nicholson, as a place where "clear and crystal springs burst forth from the champagne soil".

A fire destroyed the building in 1747. It was rebuilt, but then after the capital was moved to Richmond in 1780, it fell into disrepair.

The guides told us of the interesting and intimate
events of the Colonial Period
leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Costumed guides showed groups the Court, the rooms where the House of Burgesses (elected male freemen landowners) and the House of Governor’s Council (appointed by the King of England and the Governor of the Colony) met, and the Committee room.

Conference/Committee Room between
House of the Governor’s Council
and the House of Burgesses

Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia through the Colonial Period. It was the center of the political and social life of Virginia for most of the 18th century. Famous members of the House of Burgesses which met in the Capital City included Patrick Henry, George Washington, George Mason, and Thomas Jefferson.

Costumed figures were seen everywhere
(not the cute little woman in the red hat).

Pasteur & Galt Apothecary Shop

William Pasteur and Minson Galt traveled to England to study medicine before returning to Williamsburg to practice. In addition to dispensing drugs, they provided surgical, midwifery, and general medical services.

Pasteur and Galt’s medical office
with a few of their tools

Many shops sold the articles manufactured in-house.

I have shown only two of the numerous small workshops with their artisans that we found throughout the village.

Every imaginable occupation was demonstrated such as: printing office, book binder, brick maker, weaver, brickyard, cabinet maker, blacksmith, baker, milliner and tailor, wigmaker, apothecary, shoemaker, gunsmith, grocer, cooper, carpenter, harness and saddle-maker and tavern keepers.

A couple out for a Sunday drive

We were well satisfied with our two day visit, but three days would have been better in order to see everything.

92.7/29 The Cypress Gardens of Charleston, South Carolina

The Cypress Gardens were originally part of Dean Hall, one of the Cooper River’s largest and most prosperous rice plantations in the lowcountry. Beginning in about 1720, rice was grown by the “inland” method, using water from the reservoir (now the Cypress Gardens’ swamp) to flood the adjoining rice fields by a system of “trunks” and ditches. In the late 1700’s Dean Hall began to grow rice by the more profitable “tidal” method in fields along the margins of the Cooper River. Early families made their fortunes in the rice trade and built beautiful houses in Charleston seeking relief from the summer heat and fevers. After the Civil War, this life style was no longer supportable.

Fruit of the Bald Cypress Tree,
Taxodium distichum

In 1909 Benjamin R. Kittredge bought the Plantation as a winter retreat. He and his wife gradually had the black water swamp landscaped with thousands of azaleas, camellias, dogwoods, magnolias and native bulbs. They opened the gardens to the public in 1932. A butterfly house, crocodile exhibit and aquarium have been added since.

Included in the modest entry fee ($10.00) is a guided tour from a flat-bottom boat through the swamp.

Guided Tours in a flat-bottomed boat
are included in the admission fee.

Tourists may rent a boat
and explore the swamp on their own

Fragrant Water Lily, Nymphaea odorata floated all around us, bright white blossoms among green pads, but we noticed no sweet scent. The swamp had a woody smell; the fresh water is actually clear. The black color comes from the tannin released by bacteria decomposing the leaves which fall from the Bald Cypress Tree, Taxodium distichum, in the fall.

Although the water looks black,
it is actually clear, fresh water.

According to the guide, alligators will only live in fresh, non-brackish water.

Fragrant Water Lily, Nymphaea odorata

Baby alligator

There are about twenty adult alligators living in the swamp, but they are generally quite shy. We did see one chasing after a young alligator in order to eat it, but the baby got away by hiding in among the lilies. The young alligator in the picture was cute at about 30 inches long.

Great White or Common Egret

Many water birds and raptors find the swamp a hospitable place along with many fish and shrimp plus numerous kinds of frogs and other amphibians.

Pitcher-plant, Sarracenia flava

A small bog with pitcher-plants, Sarracenia flava, is reached by the trail around the swamp. The leaves of this species may be clear yellow-green, or have maroon veins. Such insectivorous plants derive supplementary nutrients from the insects which fall into the leaf funnel. In very wet habitats, the leaves can be over 3 ft. tall; in Cypress Gardens they were about 18 inches tall.

Tranquil scenes were found at each turn.

Voices were hushed as we glided in comfortable silence on the black water among the cypress trees and water lilies.

Cypress knees

Cypress knees are knobby, red, woody projections from the roots that rise above the water level. Formerly thought to supply oxygen to the extensive root system, it is more likely that they serve as supporting structures since knees and buttress-based trunks develop only on trees growing in flooded areas.

Small water passageways invite exploration.

When the sun is shining, photography in a swamp can be very frustrating—the range of brightness is well beyond what film or chip can record, so it always looks unreal. Hollywood solves the problem with hugh generators powering lights brighter than the sun. When we saw that the day was overcast, we made haste to get to the Gardens before the sky cleared. You can see the results in this blog. (The sun did come out in mid-afternoon ending our swamp photography.)

The reflections in black water are awesome.