Saturday, February 25, 2017
Hampton NHS, Maryland
The Hampton National Historic Site is just the house and immediate outbuildings. The original estate was a 1,500 acre tract that equals half the area of present-day Baltimore. The land's wealth was in iron production and agriculture. The elegant Georgian mansion was built just after the Revolutionary War in 1745 by the prominent Ridgeley family. The furniture and overall purpose of the mansion was to display their wealth. A detail I found interesting was that celery was viewed as a delicacy. They would put it on the center of the table to look fancy.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Dover, Delaware
This was our first day trip into Delaware. It is a really lovely drive out across the Bay Bridge. I love the coastal plain landscape. We visited the John Dickinson Plantation and Old State House in Dover. I got 4 National Park passport stamps between the two sites. That always makes for a good trip for me. The Plantation was directly south of the Dover Air Force base where I landed a couple of times with my Space-A flights from Rota. It was fun to see some of the huge airplanes taking off and landing on the air strip.
John Dickinson was a lawyer and landowner during the American Revolution and served as a delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787. Presently, the plantation is the mansion, several out buildings and a formal garden. Owen's favorite part was the big trees to climb on the branches.
The Old State House was built in 1791 and served as Delaware's capitol during the United States' critical early years as a nation. With additions and modifications, the building continued to serve as the state capitol until 1933.
John Dickinson was a lawyer and landowner during the American Revolution and served as a delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787. Presently, the plantation is the mansion, several out buildings and a formal garden. Owen's favorite part was the big trees to climb on the branches.
The Old State House was built in 1791 and served as Delaware's capitol during the United States' critical early years as a nation. With additions and modifications, the building continued to serve as the state capitol until 1933.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Colvin Run Mill, Virginia
Colvin Run Mill is in Great Falls, Virginia. It was built around and is the sole surviving operational 19th-century water-powered mill in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Its restored mechanism is a nationally significant example of automated technologies pioneered in milling and later adopted across American industry. The site includes the miller's house, the mill, general store, and a barn with a display about the mill history.
In 1883, Addison Millard moved his family here when he bought the old mill. Addison, his wife Emma, and some of their 20 children lived there. Having 20 kids is certainly one way to keep a steady stream of workers for the mill. When Addison died, the family stayed and operated the mill until 1934. After the Millard family left in 1934, the mill was abandoned. The construction for Leesburg Pike cut off the water source for the mill that began in 1933. I'm not sure when the stretch by the mill was begun. The mill was later acquired by the Fairfax County Park Authority, repaired, and made open to the public in 1972. Since then various pieces have been repaired with some even happening the past few years to make it fully functional.
We visited the mill to see the maple syrup cookdown demonstration. They have several of the maple trees tapped on the site. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make just one small bottle of syrup. It starts as a clear liquid, but as the boil down goes through it turns the typical brown color. The darkness of the color depends on what time of the season the sap was collected. Later in the season yields a darker color.
In 1883, Addison Millard moved his family here when he bought the old mill. Addison, his wife Emma, and some of their 20 children lived there. Having 20 kids is certainly one way to keep a steady stream of workers for the mill. When Addison died, the family stayed and operated the mill until 1934. After the Millard family left in 1934, the mill was abandoned. The construction for Leesburg Pike cut off the water source for the mill that began in 1933. I'm not sure when the stretch by the mill was begun. The mill was later acquired by the Fairfax County Park Authority, repaired, and made open to the public in 1972. Since then various pieces have been repaired with some even happening the past few years to make it fully functional.
We visited the mill to see the maple syrup cookdown demonstration. They have several of the maple trees tapped on the site. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make just one small bottle of syrup. It starts as a clear liquid, but as the boil down goes through it turns the typical brown color. The darkness of the color depends on what time of the season the sap was collected. Later in the season yields a darker color.
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
February 2017
The highlight of February was Rod and Ileene coming out to visit for Presidents Day weekend. Owen loves his grandparents!!! Owen still loves his big bed which was a achievement that many kids seem to have issues with the transition. I am getting bigger and slower, so thank goodness Damon can keep up with Owen's sprinting tendencies. On one of our day trips Owen discovered that he loves to climb trees so now whenever he sees a tree he wants to scale it. His vocabulary is continuing to bloom which is so much fun to hear about what he is thinking about. Mostly it seems to be about trucks and tractors. He also loves singing his "mess mess song" on any surface but especially on the small electric piano at my parents house. Being outside is one of his favorite activities and going on Damon's weekend runs to play at the park along the way.
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