OLA: Finding that Small is Beautiful, Connecticut and Rhode Island

tourists go around Newport, RI in these cute toy cars for two

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the US, followed by Delaware, then Connecticut.   Delaware was the subject of my post, Finding Gems on the Way to the Jersey Shore, so this post is about the other two.   Our adventures in all three states show that there is a lot of truth to the saying, ‘small is beautiful’.

the Harbor at New Haven, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is the 5^th fifth of the original 13 states and, as of the 2010 census, is the 29th most populous and 4th most densely populated of the 50 states .   Its first constitution, the "Fundamental Orders", was adopted as early as 1639 and heavily influenced the framing of the US Constitution (Roger Sherman of New Haven was one of the authors) and the development of the federal government.  

Fr. McGiveny, founder, Knights of Columbus
at the Knights of Columbus Museum, New Haven, Ct

The growth of industry and finance created a need for insurance the poor.  Fr. Michael McGiveny, up for sainthood at the Vatican, saw a need for an organization that could be a partner in the parish to help poor immigrant families. In 1882 he founded the Knights of Columbus, the largest fraternal service organization in the Catholic Church today with 1.8 million members and 15,000 councils worldwide.

The state’s geography has given it a strong maritime tradition, which continues today. Connecticut's other traditional industry is financial services. One of the most distinctive landmarks of the state is the Travelers Tower at the Travelers Insurance building in downtown Hartford. These combine to give the state has the highest per capita income, Human Development Index, and median household income in the US. 

Travelers' Tower, from where you can get a good view of Hartford, Connecticut

Trash Museum in Hartford, Connecticut leads the way

Even the recycling industry is benefitting from the innovative spirit in Connecticut. The CRRA (Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority) has established a country’s first, the Trash Museum.  It proudly demonstrates not only what trash accumulation does to the environment, but also demonstrates single-streaming  recycling (no need to sort) , leading the way in this industry.  

Yale Chemistry Building in New Haven, Connecticut

The other city of note in Connecticut is New Haven, home to the beautiful campus of Yale University, an Ivy League school. Bill finally saw this college that had offered him a full scholarship after  graduating from Pittsburg High School. He chose to go to Oberlin College near Cleveland, Ohio, though.  He found the Yale campus, especially the old district, so charming that Bill has no doubt he would have enjoyed Yale at least as much as Oberlin, if not more.

Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut

Harriet Beecher Stowe house in Hartford, Connecticut

This is accompanied by excellence in literary works! The lovely Mark Twain (1835-1910) House, where he saw much of his wealth disappear due to bad investments in the printing industry, is in Hartford.  It was amazing to find out that the Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) Center and House sit on the same block.  Harriet Beecher Stowe’s landmark novel was ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ which helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War. Mark Twain published the ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ 20 years after the Civil War, a scathing look at entrenched attitudes in the South, particularly racism.

flowers, rocks and water merge into one beautiful scene
at the Cliff Walk, Newport, RI

lunch at The Porch, soaking up the scene, Newport, RI

Rhode Island

Rhode Island, officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (former names of Newport and Providence), is the 8th least populous but the 2nd most densely populated of the 50 states. It shares a water boundary with New York's Long Island to the southwest with many bays and inlets (14% of its area). It holds the distinction of being the first of the 13 original colonies to declare independence from British rule.

Roger Williams still overlooking the city he founded, Providence, RI

Betsy Williams' cottage at the Roger Williams Park in Providence, RI

Roger Williams was a theologian forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony so he and others founded "Providence Plantations" and he became the voice of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. Beautiful ideals! His statue and memorial stands at the highest hill overlooking the city of Providence, at Prospect Park. There is also a lovely Roger Williams Park and Zoo. The Sentinel Dog is supposed to be in the Zoo but it was closed.  But we found his wife’s cottage, a lake and the carousel village.

Amazing Waterfire at the Waterplace Park and Riverwalk, Providence, RI

Waterplace Park Memorial in Providence, RI, stands like a candle

 We stayed until sundown which came at 8:45 PM in Providence to watch ‘invisible men, all dressed in black, light 80 sparkling bonfires on Waterplace Park and Riverwalk along Providence’s three rivers. A moving and powerful work of art, Waterfire, with torch-lit vessels traveling up and down the river and haunting music that accompanied the ritual, has enchanted 10 million visitors since 1994. Each year about 25 lightings are sponsored from March to October every year.

at Forty Steps along the Cliff Walk of Newport, RI

Bill contemplating life at the end of the Cliff Walk, Newport, RI

But Newport is downright special. The Cliff Walk is a 2-mile walk along the coastline of the city which featured beautiful panoramas of the sea and land meeting together in spectacular beauty. We didn’t walk it though but drove to three of its most picturesque points: Forty Steps, The Breakers, and Ledge Road at the cliff’s end.  The Walk also gave us a wonderful vantage point to the backs of the elegant historical mansions on Bellevue Avenue, closely paralleling the Walk and coastline.

we found this mansion right on the Cliff Walk at Newport, RI

International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport, RI

And, not to be forgotten since I am a die-hard tennis fanatic is this: the International Tennis Hall of Fame is in Newport. Tennis stars are regularly inducted to this elite honor every year. It was the first time I saw a beautifully manicured grass court. And, of course, I went berserk at the gift shop which featured many ordinary things in tennis motif! And at the Newport Casino was La Forge…there we had lunch al fresco at its Porch and noticed those cute little cars for two plying around town!

Venice-type gondolas are available at the Riverwalk, RI

                                                                            What beauty in history, traditions, governance, literature, nature, architecture, and sports in the two smallest of states: Connecticut and Rhode Island! Small is indeed beautiful!

made three new Filipina friends at the Riverwalk, RI

OLA: Being Blown Away by the Outer Banks!

the outer banks, off the coast of North Carolina

Literally and figuratively! Barely the start of the tourist season (April 1-3), we braved those more than 25 mph winds that made it seem colder than the 59 degree high (we had to dig out our winter wear). The Outer Banks jut out as barrier islands 26 miles from the US continental shores off North Carolina (about 200 miles). I had always wanted to see how people live there. The proper winds, the lights that guide, the shifting sands of time, and the three postscripts are what blew us away in North Carolina's Outer Banks in just three days!

The Proper Winds

This kind of constant wind what the Wright Brothers lacked in their Dayton, Ohio home. So they selected the winds in Kitty Hawk at the Outer Banks to make history. The Brothers succeeded in making four flights  there on Dec. 17, 1903. With winds just a bit stronger than those we felt, on the fourth try they flew their plane for 852 feet in just 1 sec.short of a minute! It was exhilarating to walk those grounds!

grand memorial to the Wright Brothers
the conquest of space
Kitty Hawk, Outer Banks, NC

Memorial to the Century of Flight, Nag's Head, Outer Banks, NC

And so it is fitting that a grand memorial is there on 90-foot high Big Kill Devil Hill from where they attempted a launch, even preserving the cottages from where they lived and engineered the dream. It is even more fitting that a Memorial to a Century of Flight was erected commemorating 100 years of aviation achievement since the Wright’s conquest of air space. There is a monument to each decade laid out as a circle with a 120-ft. circumference. The Memorial holds a time capsule, to be opened in 2103, by the heroes of the next century of achievements. Who knows what and who those might be? 

The Lights that Guide

Bodie Lighthouse
Bodie, Outer Banks, NC

tallest brick beacon
Currituck Lighthouse
Corolla, Outer Banks NC

These barrier islands are so important to maritime history. The very first colony was braved on Roanoke Island by about 115 white settlers led by John White in 1585. Though historical distrust between two races, leadership crises among the settlers or succumbing to natural diseases may have stricken those left behind when White returned to England to ask for more resources. They were all gone when he returned 3 years later. This preceded the Jamestown Colony in Virginia in 1607 and the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620. However, it didn’t survive like the other two! It is now fondly called The Lost Colony. Interesting to know!

Ocracoke Light
Ocracoke, Outer Banks, NC

American Lioghthouse
Hatteras, Outer Banks, NC

This bit of history highlights the geographical significance of the Outer Banks. In the 19^th century, four lighthouses were built to aid maritime commerce: the Ocracoke Lighthouse built in 1823 and still operating, the Bodie Lighthouse built in 1846 supposedly named after bodies washed ashore from shipwrecks, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, also known as the American Lighthouse,  built in 1870 and the tallest (160 ft.) brick beacon in the world, and the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, privately owned and built in 1875. The four make for a beautiful collage of important history. Sad to note, however, that so many shipwrecks still happened in the waters there such that it was called the Graveyard of the Atlantic and a museum so called stands at Ocracoke.

The Sands of Time

Jockey's Ridge State Park, Nag's Head, Outer Banks, NC

rows of fences are used to stabilize the sand dunes
that separate Hwy 12 from the Atlantic

The 2-lane Highway 12 that connects the islands of  Outer Banks is separated from the ocean in large stretches by sand dunes. But at the 426-acre Jockey’s Ridge State Park, the highest active sand dune (estimated 30 million tons) in the East Coast of Nor
th America lives. It is called a medano—a massive, asymmetrical, shifting hill of sand which the notorious winds cause to continually shift, making the dunes move about one to six feet to the southwest each year. Thus, hang gliding, hiking, and kite flying are great to do there. Bill loved capturing the artistry of the sands on his D5000! I got scared, though...don't know why!

the Inn at Rodanthe, featured in the movie 'Nights at Rodanthe', Outer Banks, NC

The Three Postscripts

Our Lady of the Seas at Buxton, Outer Banks, NC

Three other moments on this short trip are memorable: 1) hearing a Spanish Mass at the Our Lady of the Seas Catholic Church right at the edge of the Sound for Palm Sunday, 2) finding the Inn at Rodanthe where Richard Gere and Diane Lane created for all of us their memorable but tragic love story, and 3) choosing to dine at Carolina Seafood just because it was named after me! There we found Sandra who guided us to a reasonably-priced Carolina Seafood Platter (what else?) the only condition for which was to eat at the bar. What luck! She is the paragon of a gracious host and best of story-tellers in the Outer Banks!

Sandra's Carolina Seafood Sampler at Nag's Head, Outer Banks, NC

kiteboarding right on Jenette's Pier, Nag's Head, Outer Banks, NC

In three short days we truly got blown away by the Outer Banks of North Carolina, literally and figuratively,...its proper winds, the lights that guide, the sands of time, and the three postscripts! Wish we had more and actually had time to do some of the activities the unique environment had to offer!   

OLA: Skydiving with Friends from Slovenia

a daredevil exhibition jump at Skydive City in Zephrhills, Florida

Vicariously, that is!

Jure and Katarina at the ProShop in Skydive City, Zephyrhills, Florida

We have become great friends with many couples, seniors like us, whom we met in various campgrounds across the country. But it is a young couple from Slovenia whom we met in Palawan, Philippines last year (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/04/ola-marveling-at-palawans-beauty-part-2_06.html) and with whom we went to Banaue and Sagada (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/04/breathing-cool-philippine-mountain-air.html) who have become our best ‘couple’ friend! Jure, 33 and newspaper sales executive, and Katarina, 26 andl bar owner, might as well be our children but they are now our best travel friends! It certainly ‘isn’t about age…it is about lifestyle’!

the Slovenian dinner at our RV, courtesy of the couple

They arrived February 27 from Slovenia to spend a few days with us, before meeting their Slovenian friends at Sky Dive City in Zephyrhills, Florida. Bill and I had disembarked from the Majesty of the Seas at 9 am and proceeded to our hotel and got lucky. We were able to check in at 10 and rested before we drove to the Miami International Airport to pick them up. We quickly brought their luggage to the hotel then proceeded for dinner at one of South Beach’s hugely popular sidewalk cafes.

the couple at South Beach, Florida

The following day we took the long route to Lake Magic, our Orlando RV Resort, driving along A1A, the scenic coastal byway through the 350-mile long Miami and Fort Lauderdale beaches.  This is Katarina’s first trip to the US and she was really wowed by the seemingly unending white sands, the mansions of the rich and famous, and the miles and miles of wide multi-lane highways. Their eyes further widened when they saw our RV is (Europe has small RVs for its narrow roads) as we took it from storage. 

   

the couple on Merritt Island

four travelers on the road

Jure and Katarina thoroughly enjoyed the non-commercial aspects of America: going through Walmart shelves, cooking at the RV, participating at the Pot Roast Dinner at the clubhouse, buying oranges and strawberries from the roadside farmers, buying hot dogs from a sidewalk kiosk, etc. But they also enjoyed our day trip to Titusville, taking pictures of alligators, birds, turtles, manatees, and racoons at Merritt Island, Kennedy Space Center’s Wildlife Refuge Center (where they demonstrate that technology and nature can co-exist). 

one of the alligators Jure found

Skydive City entrance

But soon they had to leave for their sky diving adventure. Jure has had 170+ and Katarina 70+ jumps. Bill would have joined them had he not had arthroscopic surgery on his knees last August and a heart attack last December! Very curious, we visited them one afternoon at Sky Dive City, less than an hour away from Orlando, annexed to the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport.  We also observed their practice sessions at iFly Orlando, a wind tunnel for indoor skydiving.

Nylon City and its canopy compression engineers packing parachute systems back for next jumsp

handsome Jure preparing for flight

Sky Dive City is Florida’s best known Drop Zone with about 80,000 jumps a year. It is a virtual little city with 14 acres of property and lots of free tent camping and partial and full-hookup RV parking slots. Sky divers from all over the world meet here. Besides the runways for the different planes that airlift the divers to their desired heights (Sky Vans or Otters) and wide fields and a Swoop Pond for safe landing, there is the Sunshine Factory Pro-Shop, Nylon City, a tent for canopy compression engineers, an outdoor Tiki Bar and indoor Recreation center, plenty of bathhouses, and a Hard Dock Cafe. We had great fun photographing Jure’s jumps while Bill was trying to learn the tricks of the trade from him!

Katarina in practice flight

We also took a hundred pictures of Katarina practicing her maneuvers at iFly Orlando, a wind tunnel that moves air up in a vertical column, creating a great indoor skydiving experience.  The facility uses superior technology with multiple fans located at the top of the flight chamber producing a wall-to-wall airflow that is fun to fly in. Combined with experienced professional instructors, the air flow is totally controllable, so flyers do not need any previous experience! It's the closest possible thing to true human flight, in full view of family and friends at the observation deck.

iFly Orlando, indoor skydiving

Jure among the clouds

back on the ground as new ones board

We are so glad we were given the opportunity to experience skydiving vicariously through our young travel friends.  True, ‘it is not about age, it is about lifestyle’ but there are a few interests that I do not share…being less adventurous!  But Bill is getting his mind ready for this!

OLA:Riding Kentucky's Unbridled Spirit Part 3

the Thrilla in Manila!

Famous Kentuckians!

Kentucky’s Unbridled Spirit is kept very much alive by famous Kentuckians such as Muhammad Ali, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Collins Foster, Duncan Hines, and as covered in the last post, Colonel Sanders.

Muhammad Ali center in downtown Louisville

Everyone must remember the thundering applause that always greeted the man as he walked into the ring introduced as ‘Muhammad Ali…from Louisville, Kentucky’!  Ali is probably the greatest fighter that ever lived, a three-time world heavyweight champion in 15 years, interrupted only by his conviction for draft evasion. Although now I am proud to say Manny Pacquiao, a Filipino, is also making a lot of buzz.  I had goose pumps watching the film Thrilla in Manila (which I watched live at the time it was held!), the third in the Frazier-Ali duel, at the Muhammad Ali Center right in the middle of Louisville. Many thought he should have retired after that fight. The Center features his core values on respect, confidence, conviction, dedication, charity, and spirituality. What inspiration!

Lincoln's Memorial in Hodgenville, Kentucky

We were also surprised to find out that Abraham Lincoln, 16^thpresident of the US who led the nation on the brink of dissolution by the American Civil War and signed the Emancipation Proclamation that effectively abolished slavery, was actually born in Hodgenville, Kentucky south of Louisville. His wife, Mary Todd was from Kentucky, too.   His family moved to Springfield, Illinois when he was a young boy.   Lincoln is ranked the best president the US ever had in almost all surveys. The memorial, erected at his birthplace with 59 steps representing the 59 years of his life, bears only one thing inside…the simple one-room log cabin where this great man was born. 

My Ol' Kentucky Home

Stephen Collins Foster is known as the "father of American music". He was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century. Songs like Oh! Susanna, Swanee River, and Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair remain popular even after 150 years. Another composition, My Old Kentucky Home, became the Kentucky state song. It was allegedly written after Foster’s stay at the 19^th century mansion still standing at the State Park that bears the same name as the song title.

Duncan Hines Marker

Lesser known internationally is Duncan Hines of Bowling Green, Kentucky. He became well-known to many American travelers because he authored and popularized the first restaurant and lodge rating system in the country. He also invented cake mixes and the Duncan Hines cake mix is still popular today.  Last week, we already talked about another Kentucky hero, Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky!

This spirit has its roots in the state’s history. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth (also Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts).  Constitutionally, there is absolutely no difference between a commonwealth and a state. Traditionally, however, the three states, hotbeds of the American Revolution, proudly stuck to the moniker that means ‘a nation or body governed by the people, not some king or tyrant’. (England was called a commonwealth during the time Cromwell and Parliament ruled instead of a king.)  Kentucky kept the name when it was carved out of Virginia in 1792.

 

Spa Tables at the Resort!

Loads of Fun!

But, after all the seriousness of these musings, I should also write about the loads of fun we had from our own Kentucky home, the Diamond Caverns Golf and RV Resort. First of all, we had 5 spa tables and a complete exercise room! Too bad the hot tub and sauna were out of order! One Saturday we went with some camping friends Margaret and Walt and Agnes and Cecil to the ‘My Old Kentucky Barn Karaoke’ off a dirt road in Park City, Kentucky. It was packed with cowboys and cowgirls and I sang Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight and Buck Owens’ Act Naturally with much gusto! That was a good night.

My Ol' Barn Karaoke in Park City, Kentucky

M'A getting TLC

Remember our flat tire? We discovered that the headquarters of Camping World is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky!  They referred us to S&R Tire Center which became our home for three nights as they took care of our tire problems! But we also found a great breast cancer awareness sculpture there!

breast cancer awareness...Bustin' Out!

red penguins at the performing arts center in Louisville

We also found this funky performing arts center in Louisville, Kentucky that is adorned with red penguins! On the sidewalk in front of the building is a car body propped up by tens of feet! I was trying to look for miniature tea sets for some of my friends at the dozens of antique stores that dotted the scenic byways. So during our last weekend when 300 miles of these byways was converted into the Annual Roller-Coaster Yard Sale, I was ecstatic!

We were sad to leave Kentucky, really, but winter can no longer be postponed! As a matter of fact, fall has already brought temps down in the 40’s Fahrenheit, quite cold for my small tropical body. So our trek to Florida must continue…through Tennessee then Georgia!