This is it.
San Diego Highland Games
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
7th Grade Trip
I had the great good fortune last month to chaperone a week-long school trip to the northeast. "Surely you jest," you say. "Good fortune? This was not some kind of horrible punishment for taking weeks to write about a single event and owing the library a dollar for your new card?" Perhaps some years the trip would indeed have been a trial. However, when you have the sterling students we have this year, it was pretty great. Because they are kids, and not technically mine, I won't post any pictures with any of them in it, which takes out a good portion of my pictures; but rest assured, you will have photographs to peruse.
The lead teacher on the trip has a series of worksheets, one for every night, that the kids have to complete. The worksheets help them think about what they've seen, and later, when they work on their scrapbooks, remember all the places they went and what they did. I will now answer the questions from the worksheets. Rest assured I will be more thorough than the students were.
Day One
1. How was the flight? Was security as tough as you'd thought it would be? Did anyone do anything stupid?
Security was pretty reasonable, as far as security goes these days. We left on a Sunday night,
which meant the airport wasn't too crowded and that helped. Unfortunately, once we got through security, one of the girls lost her school ID, and one of the boys lost his entire wallet. Luckily for him, the lead teacher had most of his spending money. On the bright side, while we were waiting, we saw Charo get off a plane, which was kind of cool.
The flight itself was not too bad. I got a window seat, for which I was thankful, because I don't like having to get up if other people in my row have to go to the bathroom. Furthermore, the middle seat was empty, so I got to stretch my legs. Some of the students apparently forgot the injunction against flash photography on the airplane, and since I wasn't sitting with them, all I could do was snap my fingers and hiss at them not to use the flash. We took a redeye and landed at Logan around 6:30, and immediately started touring--after stopping at a Dunkin Donuts in Lynn, Massachusetts, that is.
2. What was the first thing you noticed about Boston? Give me your visual impressions.
The very first thing I noticed when we landed was how interchangeable airports are. Waiting for our coach outside, we could have been almost anywhere, had that place been cool and overcast and we could see our breath. Massachusetts is a lot like Connecticut, obviously, in terms of geography and topography. And everything looks older than it does back home.
3. What did you have for dinner? How was it?
At Longfellow's Wayside Tavern we had salad, rolls, pot roast, green beans, mashed potatoes, and apple pie. Some of the rolls were white bread and some were cornbread and some were brown bread, which is what I had. The mashed potatoes were very creamy and good, and the pot roast was really nice.
4. What was the best thing you did today? Okay, what was the best educational thing you did today?
Most of the kids put that eating dinner and/or going to sleep was the best thing they did. We went to the House of the Seven Gables of Hawthorne fame, and saw a play about the supernatural at the Griffen Theater in Salem; we visited Orchard House, where Louisa May Alcott lived; we drove by Thoreau's cabin and Walden Pond; we drilled the militia on Lexington Common, and one of the boys read Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn" in front of the memorial at Concord Bridge; we stopped by Fenway Park. At all the Revolutionary War sites it's amazing to think that a bunch of farmers and tradesmen defeated one of the most powerful armies in the world at the time.
Concord Bridge with the monument; behind me is the minuteman statue.
5. Do people look and dress the same here as they do on our side of the country?
Nope. But I wore the same jeans for 36 hours, and let me tell you, it was amazing to change into my pajamas and fall asleep in Brookline.
Day Two
1. How tired were you this morning? Was it jet lag or did you stay up late chatting?
I wasn't too tired, because we got to bed around 10:30 and woke up around 7. That's a fair amount of sleep. We called home before bed, and I read Johnny Tremain, which is the book I brought with me. I hadn't read it in a while, and I figured it would be good to read in Boston.
2. Is the harbor in Boston anything like the one in [the nearest major port city at home]? How are they the same? How are they different?
First off, we went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast again this morning, and some of the girls talked to some real Bostonians. Their accents were great. I was proud of the girls for talking to them politely, and the girls learned a lot just from their short conversation.
Of course they're different. Things in Boston seem to be built right up to the water more--there are more condos on what looked to be former piers than here, where things seem to build up more gradually.
3. Could you imagine Massachusetts back in the Beyond the Burning Time era? Why or why not?
I've never read Beyond the Burning Time, although I have read The Witch of Blackbird Pond and The Crucible, so I'll insert those two for the former. In some places it's easier to imagine than others. Salem, for example, still has a lot of old houses, which makes it easier. Lexington Common and Concord Bridge are still pretty much the same as they were during the Revolution. But the place where the Boston Massacre happened is now in the middle of an intersection, and there was a guy breakdancing in front of Faneuil Hall. That sort of thing makes it difficult. (Along the same lines, if it were possible, I'd love to see Manhattan go from woodlands to colony to city to metropolis, in fast motion.)
4. Who did you sit with today? Did they stay awake?
Best student response: "Sit? Ha!" We didn't have the bus at all, so there wasn't much of an opportunity to fall asleep anywhere.
5. Were you a Patriot or a Loyalist in Tea is Brewing? How did you feel about your side? Could you understand the opposing side's point of view?
Tea is Brewing is an interactive program at the Old South Meeting House, where colonists me
t to discuss what they would do in response to the tea tax. Half the kids were Patriots and half were Loyalists; each was assigned a card with the name of a real person and his opinion on whether or not the cargo of tea should be unloaded and sold in Boston. Some of the Patriots were Sam Adams (pictured), Joseph Warren, and William Molineux; the only Loyalist I can remember was Francis Rotch, who owned the Dartmouth, one of the ships forced to wait in the harbor. Governor Hutchinson wouldn't let the Dartmouth, the Beaver, and the Eleanor return to England, and the Patriots wouldn't let the ships unload. Finally, at the end of a meeting in December 1773, Samuel Adams said, "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country." This was the signal for the Sons of Liberty to destroy the tea.
Although I didn't take part, I could see both sides' points of view. Everyone pretty much roots for the Patriots, because we won, and I do believe taxation without representation is unfair. On the other hand, the tax was only three pence per pound, which was not unbearable, and it did suck for the merchants, especially Rotch, who was only 23 at the time. Ultimately, though, it was the principle and not the three pence that was important. "Boston Harbor a teapot tonight!"
6. What was your favorite thing today? (Extra points if it's insightful and educational.)
GO CELTICS, BEAT LA!
Day Three
1. Last night I slept
A. Like a brick!
B. Fitfully, that bathtub is hard and cold
C. OK, but I miss my own bed
D. Sleep? Who could sleep with my roommates' snoring!
Those silly boys absolutely could not have more than one person per bed, so when we went around for room check there was always one little nest on the floor.
2. On the bus ride I
A. Saw many interesting things
B. Got really queasy
C. Fell asleep
D. All of the above
3. What did you think of Plimoth Plantation? Could you have lived there?
I really like living history things, so I thought it was cool. Part of it is the Wampanoag village, where Wampanoag people dress in old-fashioned clothing and do old-fashioned things, but
they're not pretending to be anyone from the past. It was interesting to see American Indians in buckskin clothes making porridge and shaping a canoe, but talking with outrageous Massachusetts accents. One of the older women was kind of belligerent with the stupid schoolkids (not ours) asking her stupid questions; she kept saying things like "Use your brain."
Another part of Plimoth was the colonial village. There, the reenactors dress in 17th-century clothing, talk in old school accents, and portray actual colonists. The houses are all wooden, and pretty simple, and they have goats and cows and little gardens. The meeting house has a great view, as it's at the top of a hill. It would be daunting to live there as a colonist--so much unknown and so much hard work. But I could totally do it if I had to.
Furthermore, one of my college friends teaches middle school in New York, and she was on a school trip with her kids at the same time, and we ran into each other in the cafeteria. It was kind of surreal, but cool.
4. What is one important fact about Newport?
It's where I was born!
5. Whose "cottage" did you visit today? Why is it called a cottage?
We went to the Breakers, the Vanderbilts' summer cottage. It's a cottage because it only has 70 rooms, as opposed to the 150-some at their Manhattan mansion, located where Bergdorf
Goodman currently is. The Vanderbilts only used the Breakers four to 10 weeks a year during the summer. It was built in the style of an Italian villa, with a loggia on the back that during the summer is open to the backyard. Some of the rooms are in French style, some are Italian, all are ridiculously ornate. In one of the rooms there is silver color on the walls, which was originally thought to be silver leaf; the docent said that a chemical analysis in 2006 had found it to be platinum leaf. That is the level of ridiculousness. Also, Anderson Cooper is part of the Vanderbilt family. The butler's pantry and the kitchen were huge and amazing. It was cool, seeing the summer house of a family who at one time had more money than the US government, but one also thinks that they could have put that money to a little bit better use actually helping people. It's way more impressive in real life than in that little picture.
Day Four
1. What is a Pequot?
A Pequot is an American Indian. The tribe has a casino, Foxwoods, in Connecticut, and a very nice, large museum. The museum is interesting. The Wisconsin Glacier used to cover the Midwest to the East Coast; part of the exhibit goes through a faux glacier, and they have a scale model of the museum in relation to the mile-and-a-half thick ice of the glacier. In another exhibit there's a life-size caribou hunt, and the fan favorite, a giant beaver. One of the most impressive exhibits is the full-size village. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and passionate, and the kids really got a lot out of the museum.
2. How did you like the play? Was Broadway like you had imagined it to be?
We saw "Hairspray" and sat three rows from the stage on the left. It was quite fun. All the kids noticed the energy of the performers. We were close enough to also notice their sweat. The one and only thing that bummed me out about it was that Ashley Parker Angel had been playing Link, but didn't at this performance. I had been so looking forward to seeing Ashley Parker Angel as Link.
3. How was dinner? What did you have?
Dinner was at a restaurant called Hurley's. I had French onion soup, chicken pot pie, and chocolate mousse cake. Hurley's was nice, although we discovered that the books on the shelves were all fake. Some diners were concerned that the chicken pot pie was filling on a plate with a disc of crust perched atop.
4. How many states have you been in on this trip? Have you left anything behind in one of them?
I somehow lost my freakin' brand new hairbrush in New York. There's $4.99 gone.
5. Have you "met" a security guard in his/her professional capacity yet? If so explain.
I had to take some girls down to the front desk of our New York hotel to get new keys because they'd locked theirs in their room. And that was about the worst thing that happened all trip long. In one room in Connecticut the toilet stopped working just before we had to go, and I told the boys to tell the front desk.
6. Can you believe the traffic in the city? How is it different from [the closest major city] and our area?
Traffic in New York City is unbelievable. I have never had any desire to drive in the city. I am not that good a driver. Somehow there are not carcasses left and right from people who have died due to the traffic, but I'm not exactly sure how it's possible.
As for human traffic, there are so many more people walking places than there are anywhere around here.
Day Five
1. Did you see anyone famous anywhere?
A. Yes: we saw Charo in the airport before we left.
B. No, and I am bitterly disappointed
C. Not yet, but there's still tomorrow
Also, one time in JFK I saw Scott Cohen, who played Max on "Gilmore Girls" and Wolf in "The 10th Kingdom."
2. How much money do you have left?
A. All of it, I've been sponging off friends
B. Enough to get me home
C. None! I blew it all on food and cheap souvenirs
D. Not too much, but I got lovely things for my family, especially my mom
3. The Statue of Liberty looked...
A. Bigger in person
B. Smaller in person
C. Exactly like I thought it would
4. How much did you walk today? Did you ride the subway anywhere? What were your impressions of walking in New York or taking public transportation?
We didn't walk too terribly much outside because it was raining. We took the subway to the Met and walked around there, rode the bus somewhere, then took the ferry out to Ellis Island. We had dinner in Chinatown and then rode the subway back up to the hotel. We lucked out big time on the subway--in the morning it was crowded, but not unmanageable, and it was fairly easy getting back in the evening. Boston public transportation was a precursor to the real thing in New York.
5. What was the most impressive thing you saw today?
Having already been to the city, I wasn't really overawed by anything, because I'd seen most of the sites we went to before. But I'm always impressed by the Statue of Liberty, and always saddened by Ellis Island. When you go to Ellis Island and look at the exhibits about its history, and learn about what people had to go through to get into the US, and imagine what it must have been like to wait in that big, echoing room to see if you'd get to stay or be sent back across the ocean, it's overwhelming. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to get all the way there, within sight of the mainland, and then be told that you have to go home, which is what happened to many would-be immigrants. I feel very, very lucky that my ancestors made it all the way through.
6. How was the view from the Top of the Rock?
It was quite good when we actually went the next day. I'd kind of thought it was a tourist trap, and it may be, but it has brilliant views of Central Park to the north and downtown to the south. You can see both rivers and off to New Jersey. I was impressed.
Day Six
1. It's the last day and I...
A. Don't want to go home!
B. Can't wait to go home!
C. Am so tired I don't know where I am or care
2. My favorite thing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was...
not on display because of their renovations. We wanted the kids to see "Washington Crossing the Delaware" by Leutze and Stuart's portrait of Washington, plus the Tiffany mosaic fountain in the courtyard. None of the above were on display. They did get to see the arms and armor, and we happened upon John Singer Sargent's "Madame X," but I was pretty disappointed in the Met being in such a state of disarray.
3. The weather has been
A. Wonderful!
B. Weird
C. Okay, a little rain never hurt anyone
D. Tell me again why people choose to live on the East Coast
It rained on Friday, the penultimate day, but we had beautiful weather the rest of the time.
4. One thing that surprised me about this trip was...
how much easier it can be with one group of kids than with another. I did part of the same trip two years previous, and while the kids weren't actively bad on the earlier trip, they just weren't as much fun as these kids were. That's partly me and partly the kids, but these guys rocked.
5. One thing that really touched me on this trip was...
how the kids took care of each other. Like I said, they rocked.
Well, that's about it. I got to drink cranberry juice in Massachusetts and see this Chagall stained glass window at the United Nations. It was a pretty great time all around.
The lead teacher on the trip has a series of worksheets, one for every night, that the kids have to complete. The worksheets help them think about what they've seen, and later, when they work on their scrapbooks, remember all the places they went and what they did. I will now answer the questions from the worksheets. Rest assured I will be more thorough than the students were.
Day One
1. How was the flight? Was security as tough as you'd thought it would be? Did anyone do anything stupid?
Security was pretty reasonable, as far as security goes these days. We left on a Sunday night,
which meant the airport wasn't too crowded and that helped. Unfortunately, once we got through security, one of the girls lost her school ID, and one of the boys lost his entire wallet. Luckily for him, the lead teacher had most of his spending money. On the bright side, while we were waiting, we saw Charo get off a plane, which was kind of cool.The flight itself was not too bad. I got a window seat, for which I was thankful, because I don't like having to get up if other people in my row have to go to the bathroom. Furthermore, the middle seat was empty, so I got to stretch my legs. Some of the students apparently forgot the injunction against flash photography on the airplane, and since I wasn't sitting with them, all I could do was snap my fingers and hiss at them not to use the flash. We took a redeye and landed at Logan around 6:30, and immediately started touring--after stopping at a Dunkin Donuts in Lynn, Massachusetts, that is.
2. What was the first thing you noticed about Boston? Give me your visual impressions.
The very first thing I noticed when we landed was how interchangeable airports are. Waiting for our coach outside, we could have been almost anywhere, had that place been cool and overcast and we could see our breath. Massachusetts is a lot like Connecticut, obviously, in terms of geography and topography. And everything looks older than it does back home.
3. What did you have for dinner? How was it?
At Longfellow's Wayside Tavern we had salad, rolls, pot roast, green beans, mashed potatoes, and apple pie. Some of the rolls were white bread and some were cornbread and some were brown bread, which is what I had. The mashed potatoes were very creamy and good, and the pot roast was really nice.
4. What was the best thing you did today? Okay, what was the best educational thing you did today?
Most of the kids put that eating dinner and/or going to sleep was the best thing they did. We went to the House of the Seven Gables of Hawthorne fame, and saw a play about the supernatural at the Griffen Theater in Salem; we visited Orchard House, where Louisa May Alcott lived; we drove by Thoreau's cabin and Walden Pond; we drilled the militia on Lexington Common, and one of the boys read Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn" in front of the memorial at Concord Bridge; we stopped by Fenway Park. At all the Revolutionary War sites it's amazing to think that a bunch of farmers and tradesmen defeated one of the most powerful armies in the world at the time.
Concord Bridge with the monument; behind me is the minuteman statue.5. Do people look and dress the same here as they do on our side of the country?
Nope. But I wore the same jeans for 36 hours, and let me tell you, it was amazing to change into my pajamas and fall asleep in Brookline.
Day Two
1. How tired were you this morning? Was it jet lag or did you stay up late chatting?
I wasn't too tired, because we got to bed around 10:30 and woke up around 7. That's a fair amount of sleep. We called home before bed, and I read Johnny Tremain, which is the book I brought with me. I hadn't read it in a while, and I figured it would be good to read in Boston.
2. Is the harbor in Boston anything like the one in [the nearest major port city at home]? How are they the same? How are they different?
First off, we went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast again this morning, and some of the girls talked to some real Bostonians. Their accents were great. I was proud of the girls for talking to them politely, and the girls learned a lot just from their short conversation.
Of course they're different. Things in Boston seem to be built right up to the water more--there are more condos on what looked to be former piers than here, where things seem to build up more gradually.
3. Could you imagine Massachusetts back in the Beyond the Burning Time era? Why or why not?
I've never read Beyond the Burning Time, although I have read The Witch of Blackbird Pond and The Crucible, so I'll insert those two for the former. In some places it's easier to imagine than others. Salem, for example, still has a lot of old houses, which makes it easier. Lexington Common and Concord Bridge are still pretty much the same as they were during the Revolution. But the place where the Boston Massacre happened is now in the middle of an intersection, and there was a guy breakdancing in front of Faneuil Hall. That sort of thing makes it difficult. (Along the same lines, if it were possible, I'd love to see Manhattan go from woodlands to colony to city to metropolis, in fast motion.)
4. Who did you sit with today? Did they stay awake?
Best student response: "Sit? Ha!" We didn't have the bus at all, so there wasn't much of an opportunity to fall asleep anywhere.
5. Were you a Patriot or a Loyalist in Tea is Brewing? How did you feel about your side? Could you understand the opposing side's point of view?
Tea is Brewing is an interactive program at the Old South Meeting House, where colonists me
t to discuss what they would do in response to the tea tax. Half the kids were Patriots and half were Loyalists; each was assigned a card with the name of a real person and his opinion on whether or not the cargo of tea should be unloaded and sold in Boston. Some of the Patriots were Sam Adams (pictured), Joseph Warren, and William Molineux; the only Loyalist I can remember was Francis Rotch, who owned the Dartmouth, one of the ships forced to wait in the harbor. Governor Hutchinson wouldn't let the Dartmouth, the Beaver, and the Eleanor return to England, and the Patriots wouldn't let the ships unload. Finally, at the end of a meeting in December 1773, Samuel Adams said, "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country." This was the signal for the Sons of Liberty to destroy the tea.Although I didn't take part, I could see both sides' points of view. Everyone pretty much roots for the Patriots, because we won, and I do believe taxation without representation is unfair. On the other hand, the tax was only three pence per pound, which was not unbearable, and it did suck for the merchants, especially Rotch, who was only 23 at the time. Ultimately, though, it was the principle and not the three pence that was important. "Boston Harbor a teapot tonight!"
6. What was your favorite thing today? (Extra points if it's insightful and educational.)
Being by/on the water. Specific to Boston, the USS Constitution, and especially when we got a cute young sailor to take pictures with one of the girls while we sang her "Happy Birthday." Then seeing things like Old North Church and Old South Meeting House and Boston Common, places we all read about in history. Eating Boston cream pie at Quincy Market for lunch, and walking around the Common and the Public Gardens.
GO CELTICS, BEAT LA!Day Three
1. Last night I slept
A. Like a brick!
B. Fitfully, that bathtub is hard and cold
C. OK, but I miss my own bed
D. Sleep? Who could sleep with my roommates' snoring!
Those silly boys absolutely could not have more than one person per bed, so when we went around for room check there was always one little nest on the floor.
2. On the bus ride I
A. Saw many interesting things
B. Got really queasy
C. Fell asleep
D. All of the above
3. What did you think of Plimoth Plantation? Could you have lived there?
I really like living history things, so I thought it was cool. Part of it is the Wampanoag village, where Wampanoag people dress in old-fashioned clothing and do old-fashioned things, but
they're not pretending to be anyone from the past. It was interesting to see American Indians in buckskin clothes making porridge and shaping a canoe, but talking with outrageous Massachusetts accents. One of the older women was kind of belligerent with the stupid schoolkids (not ours) asking her stupid questions; she kept saying things like "Use your brain."Another part of Plimoth was the colonial village. There, the reenactors dress in 17th-century clothing, talk in old school accents, and portray actual colonists. The houses are all wooden, and pretty simple, and they have goats and cows and little gardens. The meeting house has a great view, as it's at the top of a hill. It would be daunting to live there as a colonist--so much unknown and so much hard work. But I could totally do it if I had to.
Furthermore, one of my college friends teaches middle school in New York, and she was on a school trip with her kids at the same time, and we ran into each other in the cafeteria. It was kind of surreal, but cool.
4. What is one important fact about Newport?
It's where I was born!
5. Whose "cottage" did you visit today? Why is it called a cottage?
We went to the Breakers, the Vanderbilts' summer cottage. It's a cottage because it only has 70 rooms, as opposed to the 150-some at their Manhattan mansion, located where Bergdorf
Goodman currently is. The Vanderbilts only used the Breakers four to 10 weeks a year during the summer. It was built in the style of an Italian villa, with a loggia on the back that during the summer is open to the backyard. Some of the rooms are in French style, some are Italian, all are ridiculously ornate. In one of the rooms there is silver color on the walls, which was originally thought to be silver leaf; the docent said that a chemical analysis in 2006 had found it to be platinum leaf. That is the level of ridiculousness. Also, Anderson Cooper is part of the Vanderbilt family. The butler's pantry and the kitchen were huge and amazing. It was cool, seeing the summer house of a family who at one time had more money than the US government, but one also thinks that they could have put that money to a little bit better use actually helping people. It's way more impressive in real life than in that little picture.Day Four
1. What is a Pequot?
A Pequot is an American Indian. The tribe has a casino, Foxwoods, in Connecticut, and a very nice, large museum. The museum is interesting. The Wisconsin Glacier used to cover the Midwest to the East Coast; part of the exhibit goes through a faux glacier, and they have a scale model of the museum in relation to the mile-and-a-half thick ice of the glacier. In another exhibit there's a life-size caribou hunt, and the fan favorite, a giant beaver. One of the most impressive exhibits is the full-size village. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and passionate, and the kids really got a lot out of the museum.
2. How did you like the play? Was Broadway like you had imagined it to be?
We saw "Hairspray" and sat three rows from the stage on the left. It was quite fun. All the kids noticed the energy of the performers. We were close enough to also notice their sweat. The one and only thing that bummed me out about it was that Ashley Parker Angel had been playing Link, but didn't at this performance. I had been so looking forward to seeing Ashley Parker Angel as Link.
3. How was dinner? What did you have?
Dinner was at a restaurant called Hurley's. I had French onion soup, chicken pot pie, and chocolate mousse cake. Hurley's was nice, although we discovered that the books on the shelves were all fake. Some diners were concerned that the chicken pot pie was filling on a plate with a disc of crust perched atop.
4. How many states have you been in on this trip? Have you left anything behind in one of them?
I somehow lost my freakin' brand new hairbrush in New York. There's $4.99 gone.
5. Have you "met" a security guard in his/her professional capacity yet? If so explain.
I had to take some girls down to the front desk of our New York hotel to get new keys because they'd locked theirs in their room. And that was about the worst thing that happened all trip long. In one room in Connecticut the toilet stopped working just before we had to go, and I told the boys to tell the front desk.
6. Can you believe the traffic in the city? How is it different from [the closest major city] and our area?
Traffic in New York City is unbelievable. I have never had any desire to drive in the city. I am not that good a driver. Somehow there are not carcasses left and right from people who have died due to the traffic, but I'm not exactly sure how it's possible.
As for human traffic, there are so many more people walking places than there are anywhere around here.
View from our hotel room.
Day Five
1. Did you see anyone famous anywhere?
A. Yes: we saw Charo in the airport before we left.
B. No, and I am bitterly disappointed
C. Not yet, but there's still tomorrow
Also, one time in JFK I saw Scott Cohen, who played Max on "Gilmore Girls" and Wolf in "The 10th Kingdom."
2. How much money do you have left?
A. All of it, I've been sponging off friends
B. Enough to get me home
C. None! I blew it all on food and cheap souvenirs
D. Not too much, but I got lovely things for my family, especially my mom
3. The Statue of Liberty looked...
A. Bigger in person
B. Smaller in person
C. Exactly like I thought it would
4. How much did you walk today? Did you ride the subway anywhere? What were your impressions of walking in New York or taking public transportation?
We didn't walk too terribly much outside because it was raining. We took the subway to the Met and walked around there, rode the bus somewhere, then took the ferry out to Ellis Island. We had dinner in Chinatown and then rode the subway back up to the hotel. We lucked out big time on the subway--in the morning it was crowded, but not unmanageable, and it was fairly easy getting back in the evening. Boston public transportation was a precursor to the real thing in New York.
5. What was the most impressive thing you saw today?
Having already been to the city, I wasn't really overawed by anything, because I'd seen most of the sites we went to before. But I'm always impressed by the Statue of Liberty, and always saddened by Ellis Island. When you go to Ellis Island and look at the exhibits about its history, and learn about what people had to go through to get into the US, and imagine what it must have been like to wait in that big, echoing room to see if you'd get to stay or be sent back across the ocean, it's overwhelming. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to get all the way there, within sight of the mainland, and then be told that you have to go home, which is what happened to many would-be immigrants. I feel very, very lucky that my ancestors made it all the way through.
6. How was the view from the Top of the Rock?
It was quite good when we actually went the next day. I'd kind of thought it was a tourist trap, and it may be, but it has brilliant views of Central Park to the north and downtown to the south. You can see both rivers and off to New Jersey. I was impressed.Day Six
1. It's the last day and I...
A. Don't want to go home!
B. Can't wait to go home!
C. Am so tired I don't know where I am or care
2. My favorite thing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was...
not on display because of their renovations. We wanted the kids to see "Washington Crossing the Delaware" by Leutze and Stuart's portrait of Washington, plus the Tiffany mosaic fountain in the courtyard. None of the above were on display. They did get to see the arms and armor, and we happened upon John Singer Sargent's "Madame X," but I was pretty disappointed in the Met being in such a state of disarray.
3. The weather has been
A. Wonderful!
B. Weird
C. Okay, a little rain never hurt anyone
D. Tell me again why people choose to live on the East Coast
It rained on Friday, the penultimate day, but we had beautiful weather the rest of the time.
4. One thing that surprised me about this trip was...
how much easier it can be with one group of kids than with another. I did part of the same trip two years previous, and while the kids weren't actively bad on the earlier trip, they just weren't as much fun as these kids were. That's partly me and partly the kids, but these guys rocked.
5. One thing that really touched me on this trip was...
how the kids took care of each other. Like I said, they rocked.
Well, that's about it. I got to drink cranberry juice in Massachusetts and see this Chagall stained glass window at the United Nations. It was a pretty great time all around.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Some of Them are Killers
Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National ParksI get to cross a place and a thing off my wish list. We didn't mean to visit to three national parks at one go, but they were there, so we went. I made my parents take me to Yosemite National Park during spring break, and on the way home we went through Kings Canyon and Sequoia, too.
The word "Yosemite" was originally used to describe the people who lived in the area. It means "those who kill," or, in a more poetic description given in the park, "some of them are killers." It's an odd name for a valley, but apparently the man who named the park thought it meant "grizzly bear."
Yosemite National Park's best known feature is Half Dome (left), a semi-circular monolith. It takes around eight hours to climb Half Dome, although they take down the cables in the winter. When you approach Yosemite Valley, you have to drive through a tunnel and then all of a sudden you come into the valley, with El Capitan on the left, Half Dome in the middle in the distance, and Bridalveil Fall on the right. It's pretty damn impressive; but at the same time, you almost don't believe it's real, because it looks just like a picture (say, an Ansel Adams photograph).When we got to the valley floor, the first thing we did was look at Bridalveil Fall. This was in part because there are bathrooms in the parking lot there. Travel tip: Do not pass up the opportunity to use a restroom, even if it is a glorified and hopefully bear-proof port-a-potty. We walked up the path to the bottom of the fall and managed not to get too wet. Bridalveil is a long, skinny waterfall, and it moves with the wind, which is pretty cool. And of course, when the sun shines on it right, there are rainbows in the water.
The other waterfall we saw was Yosemite Falls (above). There are the upper falls, a middle cascade part, and then the lower falls. We walked a path to the bottom of the lower falls, where the water lands on boulders that have fallen from the top. Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall on the continent; it takes somewhere from five to eight hours to hike from the valley floor to the top of the upper falls. Needless to say, we did not accomplish that feat.
One of the things that I wanted to see at Yosemite was a bear. I would've been really scared, of course, but I want to see one in real life sometime. Although we saw no bears, we did see squirrels, deer, and assorted other woodland creatures. Some of the animals were not scared of us at all: we saw a bold Steller's jay that almost hopped right up to us, and a squirrel waited under our table for us to leave parts of our lunch behind. And in case you ever thought of leaving food in your car, DON'T! Bears will come and rip your car apart to get to it. We saw a dramatic sign reenacting this fact, where the bear looked really happy to be peeling the car door off.I didn't get a picture of a really astounding sight on the way from the park to our hotel. We were driving along the Merced River and came to a place where there was a detour on the highway. A short time later we saw that this was because there had been a huge rockslide on one side of the river. We're quite used to seeing signs that say "Watch for falling rocks," but I for one had never seen fallen rocks of this magnitude. The slide covered at least a hundred yards of road, if not more, and the rocks were piled high. It was a little scary. Even when we were in Yosemite Valley, it was a little concerning to think about how all those boulders got from the high places to the floor. I did not cherish the idea of any geological movement occurring whilst we were in the valley.
Unfortunately, because we were there in what was still technically winter, some things were closed because of snow. Some of the roads out to the backcountry were closed, so Tulomne Meadow was off-limits. Another of the things that was closed was the road to the Mariposa Grove, where there are lots of redwoods. We didn't feel like walking the two miles from the parking lot to the grove, so we didn't. Luckily for us, though, only a few hours away were two national parks with lots of coast redwoods and giant sequoias.
In parts of Kings Canyon and Sequoia, the snow hadn't been cleared on paths. So at one point we were walking on packed snow that was above the level of the fences that marked the path. Out of context, big trees just look like trees; it's hard to tell in pictures how wide and tall they really are. They are almost unbelievably big. There are a few fallen trees that are hollow, so visitors can walk through them; even I, who am quite tall enough, can walk through them upright. The General Sherman tree (still alive and kicking) is the biggest tree in the world. These trees have survived drought, disease, and deforestation for thousands of years. There's a slice of tree at Yosemite that's marked with different events in world history, starting around 926 AD and ending in 1890. It's amazing to think about.
I've been through the Pyrenees and the Alps, but Sequoia is the site of the twistiest road I've ever been on: Generals Highway. There are 10 mile-per-hour switchbacks. It's possible that had I been driving, they would have only been 5 mile-per-hour switchbacks. It was a little bit ridiculous. I managed not to get carsick, likely because we were going so slowly.I don't feel this post is particularly good at describing these parks, but honestly, it was a few months ago and I haven't made myself write this up until now, which means that A) I am slothful and B) I don't remember things as well as I should. It's hard to describe things so big. I got to see snow, which I hadn't seen in about two years, and the trip almost would have been worth it for that alone. But I got to see some truly awesome sights, some true natural wonders. I don't understand how anyone could go into any of these parks, but especially Yosemite, and believe that they are there by accident. Sure, plate tectonics and natural forces notwithstanding; but I have to look at El Capitan and Half Dome and the General Sherman tree and think, "Of course there's a God."
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Queen Mary Scottish Festival
In 1934, the Queen Mary, built in Clydebank, Scotland, was launched. Since 1967, the ship has been docked in Long Beach. Today part of the Queen Mary is used as a hotel, and you can tour the inner workings of the engine rooms and see displays of the ocean liner's history. This past weekend the Queen Mary park was the site of "Star Trek: The Tour" and the 15th Annual Scottish Festival. Even without the clever title I'm sure you can figure out which one I went to.We arrived in time to see the opening parade with the massed bands, and were standing directly opposite the reviewing stand. This is where the massed bands stopped, so it was quite loud. At the end of the parade and the welcome to the festival there was a firing demonstration by a reenactment group called Bydand Forever. The group represents a battalion of Gordon Highlanders from the 1880s. During their demonstration they fired their rifles, did bayonet drills, and shot their Gatling gun and little cannon. We spectators were forewarned that the artillery, relatively small though it was, would be quite loud, but I personally thought that it wouldn't be too bad, as long as I knew it was coming and knew it would be loud. This is what happened when I tried to take a picture as they first fired:
I can't say for certain what that picture actually is. I'm afraid I jerked back rather badly from the impact of the shots. I'd been forewarned, sure, but it was loud, much louder than I'd expected. Once again, I think I'm all cool and then I look dumb. You'd think I'd learn.This festival was unique because of its location. The parade, some of the vendors, the piping and drumming competitions, and the sheepdog and throwing events were all on land outside the Queen Mary, while the majority of the vendors, the clan booths, the main stage, and the fo
od vendors were onboard in the exhibition hall. Plus, as I mentioned, you can tour the ship yourself. Docked next to the Queen Mary is the Scorpion, a Russian submarine that you can tour, and there is a guided tour of ghosts and legends of the Queen Mary, too. I think being right by the water was probably quite nice for the athletes. It was good throwing weather, with only a little breeze and coolish but not cold. To me, the weight for height looks like possibly the easiest throw, as all you have to do is get up a little momentum and then swing that 56-pound weight up in the air. If the bar's at 11 feet and the athlete is six feet tall, then with one arm overhead that means about an eight foot reach, so the weight only has to go up another three feet. I guess the fact that the throwers make it look easy helps, too. The emcee compared the weight in this event to a five-gallon bottle of water, although considerably smaller and thus denser. If there were a way to do so without breaking it, I'd likely try to throw one of our water bottles.I was a bit disappointed in the food that was offered. I got a sausage roll that I suspect would have been dry even if it hadn't been sitting out for a few hours, mashed potatoes, and peas and carrots (I like peas and carrots, okay?). And even with all the vendors there was nary a bottle of Irn Bru to be found. There was, however, a whiskey tasting and seminar. I did not attend, but through osmosis learned that it's pronounced Glenfiddick, not Glenfiddich like it's spelled, and that the 12- and 18-year-old single malts were pretty good. I also remembered that I don't much like the idea of being in a structure underwater, even if only 30 feet under.
Three pictures from the pipe band competition. We were all quite amused by the bass drummer with the pink hair. The piper on the right, from the University of California at Riverside pipe band, demonstrates what pleating to the stripe looks like. There are two ways of pleating the back of a kilt: to the sett, so that the pattern in the back looks like the one in the front, or to the stripe, so that the back just has a striped pattern horizontally instead of the full plaid pattern. The UCR kilts are clearly knife-pleated.
To me, the most interesting thing about this Scottish festival was its location. I'd never been to one near the water, much less to one partly held on a retired ocean liner. I think more could have been made of the Queen Mary's Scottish roots, perhaps by putting up a display up with the other historical bits. I would have liked to have seen pictures of people working on building the ship, information about if and how the construction helped local businesses, things of that nature. If you'd like more information in book form, including lots of diagrams and pictures and copies of menus, allow me to direct you to The Queen Mary: Her early years recalled by C.W.R. Winter.
If you're getting bored of me going on about Highland games, you're in luck, because the only upcoming one I'll be able to go to isn't until the end of June. The next installment may be an experiment involving chocolate, or it may be the J. Paul Getty Museum. And expect a Big Event at the end of March or beginning of April, for I have Plans.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Travel Expo--For Your Information
Happy New Year!
If you're looking for ideas for travel and/or adventure, check out the Adventures in Travel Expo. The expo will be in New York, Chicago, DC, and Long Beach early this year. I can't endorse the expo, having not been myself, but it looks like fun and I think I'll try to go to the one nearest me. If anyone has gone or gets to one before me, let me know how it is. If I make it to the expo I'll report on my findings.
If you're looking for ideas for travel and/or adventure, check out the Adventures in Travel Expo. The expo will be in New York, Chicago, DC, and Long Beach early this year. I can't endorse the expo, having not been myself, but it looks like fun and I think I'll try to go to the one nearest me. If anyone has gone or gets to one before me, let me know how it is. If I make it to the expo I'll report on my findings.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Nightwatchman
In Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany, you can take a tour of the city guided by a nightwatchman. He's dressed in black and carries a lantern and a halberd and talks about the history of the walled city, from medieval times to modern, when parts of the wall were destroyed by bombing during World War II. The tour is very interesting, and the city itself is the definition of picturesque.* This Christmas day I saw a short piece on some news program about holiday traditions around the world, and that evening's featured location was... Rothenburg! And they interviewed the same nightwatchman who led us on the tour seven and a half years ago. Quelle coincidence. It was great. I like seeing places I've been on TV or movies, even though it often makes me want to go back, and even though I tend to say "I've been there!" probably to the annoyance of my fellow viewers. Hurrah for a flashback to my treasured past. Here's a picture of the nightwatchman looking bemused by two of my compatriots.
If I knew how to say "Merry Christmas" in German I would. Failing that, merry Christmas, and happy travels into the New Year!*The modern definition, that is, not the more exact 19th century definition, as in Jane Austen's novels.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Wish List
Today I'll be sharing my current travel wish list. These are all the places I want to visit or things I'd have to travel to see. The list does not include all the places that I've already been to and plan on going back to again (which is all of them, because I did not take enough pictures the first time). Items with stars are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Although it pains me not to, I refrained from explaining what some of the sites are and why I want to visit them; if anyone is curious, I will be more than happy to explain further. And now, the list.
Alaska
aurora borealis
Australia
Badlands National Park South Dakota
Bayeux Tapestry Bayeux, France
Bethany Beach Delaware
Boston
British Library London
Brittany France
Canterbury* England
Carcassonne* France
Denali National Park Alaska
Dordogne River Valley (Périgord) France
Dry Tortugas National Park Florida
Edinburgh*
Everglades National Park*
Florida Keys
fjords
Giza*
glaciers
Greece
Hawaii
Iceland
Iona Scotland
Ireland
Jamaica
Jerusalem*
Kenya
Krak des Chevaliers* Syria
L'Anse aux Meadows* Newfoundland, Canada
Lindisfarne Scotland
Louisiana
Madrid
midnight sun
Minnesota
Montréal
Mont Saint Michel* France
Mount Rushmore South Dakota
the Netherlands
New Zealand
Niagara Falls New York/Canada
Normandy France
Nova Scotia Canada
polar bears
Queen Charlotte Islands British Columbia, Canada
redwoods
Rocky Mountains (American, Canadian, or both)
Rome
Santa Fe New Mexico
Santiago de Compostela* Spain
Scotland
Siberia
Sitka Alaska
Slovakia
St. Augustine Florida
stave churches Scandinavia and central Europe
Stonehenge*
Texas
Valparaíso Chile
Vancouver British Columbia, Canada
Vatican City*
Vermont
Victoria Falls* Zambia/Zimbabwe
Wales
Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park* Wyoming
York England
Yosemite National Park* California
zebras
And since we're talking about things I want, I'd also like a pair of green Converse hi-tops.
Alaska
aurora borealis
Australia
Badlands National Park South Dakota
Bayeux Tapestry Bayeux, France
Bethany Beach Delaware
Boston
British Library London
Brittany France
Canterbury* England
Carcassonne* France
Denali National Park Alaska
Dordogne River Valley (Périgord) France
Dry Tortugas National Park Florida
Edinburgh*
Everglades National Park*
Florida Keys
fjords
Giza*
glaciers
Greece
Hawaii
Iceland
Iona Scotland
Ireland
Jamaica
Jerusalem*
Kenya
Krak des Chevaliers* Syria
L'Anse aux Meadows* Newfoundland, Canada
Lindisfarne Scotland
Louisiana
Madrid
midnight sun
Minnesota
Montréal
Mont Saint Michel* France
Mount Rushmore South Dakota
the Netherlands
New Zealand
Niagara Falls New York/Canada
Normandy France
Nova Scotia Canada
polar bears
Queen Charlotte Islands British Columbia, Canada
redwoods
Rocky Mountains (American, Canadian, or both)
Rome
Santa Fe New Mexico
Santiago de Compostela* Spain
Scotland
Siberia
Sitka Alaska
Slovakia
St. Augustine Florida
stave churches Scandinavia and central Europe
Stonehenge*
Texas
Valparaíso Chile
Vancouver British Columbia, Canada
Vatican City*
Vermont
Victoria Falls* Zambia/Zimbabwe
Wales
Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park* Wyoming
York England
Yosemite National Park* California
zebras
And since we're talking about things I want, I'd also like a pair of green Converse hi-tops.
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