Subject: Postcard from Pensacola, Florida

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Saturday, we woke to very foggy and overcast skies. Looking out from our balcony you can no longer see the beach which is only about 200 yards away. They are calling for a chance of rain today and it is very windy. By looking at the weather channel, most of the heavy rain has missed us and is going across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.

Today, we head over to Mobile to tour the battleship USS Alabama memorial. At the memorial, we went on an extensive tour of the battleship, going up and down more deck levels than I’ve ever been able to tour on a warship before. After the battleship we toured their air hanger and finished the tour by visiting a World War II submarine named the USS DRUM which went into service November of 1941. That makes two WWII submarines in the last year that I’ve toured that were in service in 1941 and made it through the war. I didn’t realize any were left. Too bad they couldn’t have saved the USS Enterprise.

The Alabama tour took most of the day and we left by late afternoon looking for a place to eat in Mobile and also a place to watch the Kentucky Derby. It was getting close to Derby so we found an O’Charley’s and sat at the bar to watch the race. Afterwards, we went to a restaurant on the causeway down from the Alabama memorial for dinner. I remembered this place from when I was last down here back in 2004 however the restaurant I visited closed after Katrina and a new one had occupied the building and was now called “The Original Oyster House”. By the number of cars in the parking lot it looked like it would be another good one and it did not disappoint. After dinner, we did the 50 minute drive back to Pensacola and called it a night.

Though it was very, very windy during the day it never did rain on us. Another great day.

Subject: Postcard from Pensacola, Florida

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Sunday we woke to better visibility as we could again see the surf and beach from our balcony. We have been pretty lucky on the trip as the heavy rain is still coming down in the southern part of the country in the states just to our north. Today we are going to spend the day around Pensacola doing miscellaneous sightseeing.

We started off by stopping by the old lighthouse which is right next door to the lodge. It was not open today but we were able to walk around the grounds and the other night we saw its light beacon so while it is no longer used by ships they must still keep it going for traditional reasons. Next to the lighthouse we drove by the beach condos (also available for renting by military personnel) and the campgrounds. All the properties looked very nice and were neatly maintained.

Next, we went over to the old 19th century Fort Barrancas which is on the base grounds. It was built just above an old Spanish fort from the 18th century. Both are run by the National Park Service and open to all visitors. The fort was constructed of all bricks and built in the 1830’s at the same time Fort Jefferson was being built down in the Dry Tortugas. I’ve also visited Fort Jefferson which is the largest brick structure in the world.

Next we went on a drive out to Pensacola Beach to see the beaches and the state park which is out on the very tip and across Pensacola Bay from Fort Barrancas. Together, they were sister forts guarding the bay. That fort was undated and used for coastal watch through WWII. On the way there we stopped for lunch at a place on Pensacola Beach by the name of “Peg Leg Pete’s”. Eleanor had picked it out and it was another GREAT place to eat!! We have been very lucky on this trip getting great eateries and I’ll give most of that credit to Eleanor and Dennis as they have a knack for picking out good places. After lunch we then drove out to see the fort and also the beaches which were billed as the whitest sand beaches in Florida. I’ve haven’t seen all the beaches in Florida but these were the whitest I’ve seen so it’s probably true. Of course with the BP oil spill looming off the coast they may not be this white the next time we come down.

After the Pensacola Beach tour, it was back to downtown Pensacola where we drove around for a while just looking at the various buildings and neighborhoods. Then we went off to eat one last time at McGuire’s as we were too full on Thursday to sample the dessert and I so wanted to try the desserts. Again, we were not disappointed by the restaurant selection but the dessert put us all in a state of overindulgence.

Subject: Postcard from Pensacola, Florida

Monday, May 3, 2010

Got up very early to start the long drive back home. We encountered heavy rains on the first part of the trip but they were gone by the time we reached Birmingham and then it was sunny skies the rest of the trip. The Weather Channel had been telling us about the record rains Nashville had received and when we drove through Monday afternoon we could see firsthand the downtown was covered in water and looked like a lake. As we drove through Kentucky and would pass over rivers and creeks we could see they were all out of their banks too. Though I’ve never had a problem with my basement, after all that rain I’m always concerned how it survived but when I got home it was high and dry.

A good trip and one I would recommend to anyone who wants to enjoy the sunny white beaches of Florida without taking the long drive down to Tampa or Miami.

Until next time,

Mike A.

Subject: Postcard from Washington D.C.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

We are now settled in to our motel in Rockville, Maryland having arrived around 3:30pm. Rooms are nice and the price is very good at $69/night. Plus we are just about 1.5 miles from the Shady Grove Metro stop which is my old stomping grounds when I lived in DC, so I should know this area pretty well. Even so, we take the Garmin everywhere we go which is a good thing as some of the roads have changed in the past 20 years and it turns out I don’t know my way around as well as I thought.

We (Mike H., Earl, Carlos and me) left Louisville VERY early in the morning today for the drive to D.C. I wanted to leave early because I wasn’t sure how long it would actually take, as based on last year’s trip to Mt Rushmore we made just all kinds of unscheduled stops. As it turned out we did very good on the stops and made it to the DC area in about 10 hours.

We stopped for lunch in western Maryland at a place called the Penn Alps Restaurant. I had last visited there about 25 years ago. Everyone enjoyed their meal. Outside the restaurant is a bridge over the river that George Washington crossed back in 1755 when he was on an expedition with the British Army.

After eating dinner tonight at a local pizza joint, we visited the Metro station where we purchased our ride passes for Friday. Here it was close to 9:00pm and there was still a pretty heavy flow of people getting off the Metro and coming home from work. The traffic around here makes Louisville look like a ghost town.

Tomorrow we take the Metro down to The Mall to visit the Capitol and other sites.

Subject: Postcard from Washington D.C.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Today it is starting off rainy but we came prepared and will continue with our plans to walk The Mall and visit the Capitol where we have a scheduled private tour arranged by Mike H., through Senator McConnell’s office. We get to the Shady Grove Metro stop around 7:30 and find seats on the subway. By the time we make it down about 5 stops, there is only standing room left on the train. Fortunately, Shady Grove is the very last stop (or, first depending upon point of reference) so we are able to get seats.

We make it to the Capitol subway stop around 8:30 where it is still raining and since none of the Smithsonian museums are open at this early hour we take refuge in the Capitol which is the only visitor center open at this time. This is a brand new visitor center and I’m not sure exactly where it is but we follow the steady stream of tourist like people walking that way and find it. It eventually stops raining late in the morning and we spend the rest of the day looking at the Library of Congress and a few of the Smithsonian buildings. Our private tour of the Capitol is not until later in the afternoon so we are essentially just killing time until then. Even so, according to Mike H.’s pedometer, we walk over 10 miles this day.

I had never been in the Library of Congress building before but of all the buildings I have visited in D.C., it has the most beautiful interior of any of them.

After our guided tour of the Capitol it’s time to head back to Shady Grove and dinner. Since we are close to Union Station (okay, about 3 blocks but hey we’ve been walking all day and that seems pretty close) we head over there to get the subway. Once inside the building the signage is not very clear as to where to pick up the Red Line trains so to impress the boys I assess the situation and after 20+ years of last being in this building, lead us in the direction where we find the red line trains, on the very first attempt!! I’m not sure the boys were duly impressed by that feat but I reminded them of it several times.

That night we picked up my friend Joe whom I worked with at Marriott over 20 years ago and go to the “Cracked Claw” for dinner. Even though we have kept in touch by phone all these years, Joe and I had not seen each other since 1990. Everyone enjoyed Joe’s company and neither one of us had been to the Cracked Claw since probably the last time we went there which was probably 23 years ago. I was still basking in the glow of my Union Station feat but that didn’t last long as I proceeded to NOT find the Cracked Claw for about 40 minutes driving past the building about 4 times before discovering where it was. So much for my thinking I perhaps had some scout blood in my ancestry.

Tomorrow is Saturday and it’s back over to the Shady Grove Metro for another trip downtown so we can take the guided tour of the White House.

Subject: Postcard from Washington D.C.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Today it is sunny outside though it is cold (mid 30’s). We drive over to Shady Grove this time since the parking lot is free on the weekends. We actually make it on the first train to leave the station as it opened at 7:00am and the train didn’t leave until around 7:15. Again plenty of seats which on the weekend is how I remember it. However as we go downtown we start picking up more passengers which seemed odd for a Saturday. Turns out that this weekend is the Cherry Blossom Festival with the big parade being today. Looks like we won’t be the only ones down on The Mall today.

Since we have an appointment today at 9:00 for the White House tour we meander over that way stopping off at the White House Visitor Center run by the Park Service. A good place to get in out of the cold and use the bathroom. Plus they have some pretty good exhibits there and souvenirs. It’s on Penn Ave., just in sight of the WH and worth the stop if you are ever up that way.

We head over to where the gates are to the WH. Turns out there is a mix up and our scheduled tour is not until 10:00 so we have some more time to kill. While trying to figure out what went wrong with our 9:00 appointment we are having a difficult time finding the phone number of our tour guide and the boys needed a pad and pencil to write down his phone number. They were amazed that I was able to dig that out of my “Man Purse” which I am using for the first time on this trip. I’m giving it a trial run as I plan on taking it to India with me later this year if it works out on this trip. During all of this confusion Earl calls me a “manipulator”, I’m not sure why but there is probably a good reason. Must be because none of us knows what the hell’s going on and we are having memory fade outs. It’s no fun getting old. We do eventually make it on the tour and it was a pretty good one as all the security personnel doubled as tour guides and did a very good job filling in the history of the various WH rooms.

Across the street from the WH was the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery which housed the “Ghost Clock”. If you are ever in DC go visit the Ghost Clock as it is an amazing piece of art.

During the day and also on Friday, whenever we were out and about touring I would notice that Carlos was very good at pointing out the pretty girls that would happen to walk by. That is not all that amazing as DC does have a lot of pretty girls. What was amazing is that I noticed a peculiar pattern and that was that every time Carlos would point one out, Earl would instinctively pull out his comb and start combing his hair. Now, I ask you, how many 60+ year old men do you know that still carry a comb with them? God bless him.

After the WH tour, we took the subway over to Arlington where we visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well as President Kennedy’s gravesite and the Custis Lee mansion. We also saw the graves of 3 of the “5 Stars” from WWII; Halsey, Leahy and Bradley. Also while there, Earl pointed out the grave of the “Rock of the Marine” from WWI. Carlos, ever the astute observer (remember all the pretty girl sightings?), pointed out that the grave stone actually said “Rock of the Marne”. A significant difference that I’m sure is important to everyone except perhaps the people in Texas that are rewriting our country’s textbooks…

We end the day taking the subway over to the National Cathedral which was just “down the street” from the subway stop. It was in a nice neighborhood in Northwest so we felt very safe walking the sidewalk to the cathedral. We ended up the day by eating in a diner-like place named “Z-Burger” close by the subway stop.

By the end of the day, Mike H.’s pedometer says we had walked close to 15 miles.

Subject: Postcard from Washington D.C.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Today it is cloudy outside and looks like it could rain at anytime. The temp is a little warmer but still in the low 40’s. We will tour the Tidal Basin today with the blooming cherry blossom trees and see some of the memorials around it like the Lincoln Memorial, the WWII memorial, Vietnam, Korea and FDR’s. We drive downtown early in the morning in order to get a parking space close to the White House. We needed the van as it carries our change of clothes for our private tour of the West Wing which will be late this afternoon.

After doing the monuments, we walk over to the Smithsonian buildings and have a rest and a quick snack. Then we tour the Air and Space and then over to the National Gallery. From there we go to the Archives where we wait in line for about 40 minutes to see the Constitution. While in line it starts a light rain but it doesn’t last long. After that it was up the street to find Ford’s Theater and the Hard Rock where we will have lunch. By the map, I wasn’t really sure where the Hard Rock was but Mike H. had been there on a previous trip and knew it was in the general area of Ford’s. I decided to ask one of the guards in the Archive (big mistake). After getting directions from her on my map we head out. At this point I must interject, and say that “Earl was right”. He said the Hard Rock was on 10th street, but I was taking the gang up 7th street according to the guard’s instructions to who knows where. Turns out this was the second time this trip that a DC local gave us incorrect information. It’s all coming back to me now and I’m remembering that you never ask a local for directions because they don’t know a lot about the local tourist attractions. Earl wasn’t going to let me forget that either and wanted to make sure he got his “Earl was right” included in the trip summary.

We did make it to Hard Rock for lunch but were unable to get in Ford’s Theater as the line was quite long and our timed tickets said 4:15 which would have conflicted with our West Wing tour. After lunch we started meandering back to the van which was something like 15 blocks away. LONG blocks too. On the way there we spotted the Old Post Office on Penn Ave., and stopped in for a look. The first floor is shops and eateries so we browsed around a bit before heading out. There is an elevator to the top floor observation deck but the line was long (as are all lines in DC) so we were unable to go up. It’s a good place to get postcards and lapel pins as one shop is devoted to nothing but lapel pins.

Back at the van we take turns getting dressed for our West Wing tour. The dress of the day is coat and tie. Carlos has forgotten to bring his from the motel so he opts out of the tour. The rest of us go on the tour with our same guide from the Saturday WH tour. He takes us to the press room where the president gives press conferences. I get to sit in Helen Thomas’ chair which is front row center. Earl sits in the Fox News chair. Big surprise there. Fortunately I’ve brought along some Lysol and was able to detox him before getting back in the van. We also get to look into the Oval Office plus the cabinet meeting room as well as the situation room. And we get to use the bathroom, which turns out is a really big deal for all of us. While on the WH grounds by the Rose Garden, we keep seeing the curtains on the second floor, where the first family live, being pulled back. Since the president is out of the country we take this to be the president’s daughter’s looking out at us as we see someone’s hands. I wave up but get no response, probably because they are distracted by Earl combing his hair…

At the end of the day we drive back home up Wisconsin Ave. and Embassy Row. Too bad I saved this for the last day as it started to rain plus it was now dark and the boys didn’t get to see much of the Embassies.

At the end of the day, Mike H. calculates that we have walked 35 miles in just three days of touring. The ride back to Louisville on Monday will be a good time to rest our feet.

Until next time,

Mike A.