Oh, Shenandoah I Long to See You

It is a goal of mine to visit as many national parks as I can (in addition to every state, country...it's a long list of To Dos). This fall I was able to check off one that has been looming, well within reach, since I moved to the East Coast. Unable to excuse this grievous oversight any longer, some friends and I made our way down to the Shenandoah National Park for a camping and hiking adventure.

I won't clutter this post up with attempts at cataloguing all we said and did. Instead, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Please enjoy, some snapshots of the Shenandoah.

Oh, and you can be sure I was singing Oh, Shenandoah the whole time in my head. Hope you do too.

 

A Valentine's Day Concert

It has been ages since I've been to a concert. And even longer still since I've stood on the floor at a concert.

But the experience is just as I remember it. Jumping and cramped, and filled with the flailing arms and screaming fans. No, not a Bieber concert, a Mumford and Sons concert and the first concert they had given since winning Best Album at the Grammys. And one that I would go back to again in a heartbeat.

It was a huge accomplishment to be celebrated, and they celebrated for all it was worth.

With an enthusiasm and passion often lacking from big touring productions, each member of the band left their musical heart and soul on that stage. From Babel to The Cave, is was a spectical of light, sound, and an experience I'll not soon forget.

Above that, as one who dabbles in singing myself, to see the love they had for their music, their fans, and each other really was inspiring. Here is a group that has done and will continue to do great things. I can only wish them the best....and for maybe another set of tickets.

Mount Vernon

While my heart truly and forever belongs to Chicago and the Midwest, I love living in Washington, DC. The access to history alone is enough to keep me busy for the next 10 years. I want to visit every monument, every battlefield, and every museum the city (region, eastern seaboard) has to offer.

A tall task, especially since my heart truly and forever belongs to Chicago and the Midwest. But I checked off another historical site on my ever expanding nerd list today with a visit to Mount Vernon.

Sitting a stone's throw from the Capitol and on the banks of the Potomac, Mount Vernon really is stepping back in time and pace. One foot in the gate and you can feel the second hand of the clock lag.

Armed with the Visitor Center's map and a full afternoon, my Dad and I laid out a plan. Wander down across the front lawns of the house, visit the blacksmith shop and the stables, hike to the grain storage bins and the far fields where the house grew everything from wheat to berries.

I am also just that brand of history geek where I love when the sites are living history sites. Volunteers from the area, eager to share all they know, dress up in period costume and roam the grounds. The blacksmith made nail after nail and answered question after question about the techniques used in that time. And the poor house maid had to deal with a million questions from my overly-time-period-committed father. Somebody get that made a three pointed hat, a walking stick, and call him James Madison.

The timing of this trip was also opportune for me personally. Aside from it being a beautiful, sunny summer day, I had just finished reading a biography about Martha Washington. The life, drive, and senses of her story can to life in front of me. Different facts from the book popped into my head as I collided my present with her past. This was her study where she managed the house during her husband's long absences.

George and Martha Washington were an extraordinary couple for their time and yet they were just the same as couples when we think of them today. It was truly a pleasure to be able to "step into their shoes" for an afternoon and wander the trails they knew so well.

Virginia Gold Cup

To anyone who hasn't been to a horse race like the Virginia Gold Cup, May 7th was a day of pastels, hats, and grass stains. What a fabulous display of preppy clothes and great times. I've never been to a horse race like this before. All previous times were spent in a glass box, watching horses sprint around a oval dirt track. This was a huge grass track with water jumps and hurdles. There were beagle races and hat contests. Junior rider races and gold cup champions. I've never seen so many elaborate tailgate set-ups. Flowers and ribbon and finger sandwich platters. People playing corn hole and drinking from small beach pails, while wearing everything from a polka dots seeksucker suits to some of the largest and tallest hats I've ever seen, on both women and men.

Scenic Stops

I find it funny how often a person elation at getting out of the gosh dang car when on a long car ride translates into the photos that they take at those stops. Even their shutter trigger fingers are happy to be stretched outside of clicking the "Next" arrow on the iPod or "Play" on the DVD player.

Here are two shots from my recent East coast car rides. I may not mind long car rides but it appears as though my shutter finger and photographic eye certainly did. Happy to be back on nonmoving ground once more.

Walking a Battle

East coast fall color is addictively beautiful. So when that is combined with another passion of mine, namely history...well, and photography, great things happen. This particular slice of amber glory is from the Fredericksburg battlefield in Virginia, site of a major clash between the Union and Confederate armies in 1862. A battle now quitely remembered by grave markers, gravel paths and trees. Lots of trees.

Enjoy the somber glow.