Adventures in Maryland and Delaware

Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007

Hi family and friends,

This is our last week in Maryland and we leave with feelings of both joy and sadness.  We look forward to going home to see our family but leave our "family" here with a heavy heart.

We spent a night a couple of weeks ago in Alexandria, VA and stayed in a hotel right on the Potomac River.  We went our for an evening walk along the river which was a really neat walkway and as we went around a bend we could see across the river to Washington DC and the Capitol and Lincoln Monument.  That was an exciting moment.  Alexandria is a neat town to visit and Ric has a first cousin and husband there with whom we had lunch. It was great to get together with them.

We decided on our last 2 days off this week we would drive over to Delaware and see some sights.  We crossed the Chesapeake Bay at Annapolis and drove up north through Delaware which we have not done before.  It is a little flatter than it is here but nonetheless, it was nice and green. Northern Delaware near Wilmington is prettier as there are more trees.

We spent the night  and  visited two mansions and gardens. The first was Winterthur which was owned by  H F duPont.  He was the third generation duPont to own it.  The gardens are many acres on hills and very natural and earthy.  It was originally purchased so that the many over 200 year old trees would not be cut down and preserved.  There are thousands of trees and bushes, shrubs , flowers and gardens. The flowers are left alone after they have bloomed to go back into the soil  and come up again next year.  There is an Enchanted Woods for children of all ages built with natural products from the land .  It is just too magnificent for words.  The family 175 room mansion now houses an extensive art collection and many other collections that duPont purchased over the years.  He had a smaller 44 home built for his family to live in.  Unreal.  His collections are like none we have ever seen before. 

We also visited Longwood Gardens which was owned by Pierre S. dupont who was the great grandson of duPont company founder.  I think both the duPonts were cousins.  He also was into the preservation of trees and the 2 estates were only about 10 miles apart.  Longwood has many fresh flower gardens as well as fountains and forest walks.  We walked at least 2 miles through many gardens and around lakes, and forests.  It is comprised of 1050 acres of which about 300 acres are open to the public.  The family home was small and very homey but had some "modern conveniences" such as a towel warmer, silver safe and others. It has a 20 room conservatory and the most impressive to me was the orchid room. There were so many varities of orchids. We saw a "dancing waters' show which was fantastic.  The flower gardens were absolutely breathtaking.  We certainly enjoyed out short stay in Delaware and would enjoy returning there, 

This has been a busy week for us at the center.  We usually have a quiet week-busy weekend- but we had 3 large groups come in and they were mostly housed in our building. So we entered with a bang and lots of work and we are leaving the same way.  We will leave here Monday morning and leave Maryland for Ohio on Thursday.  

We have had a very rewarding 2 months but it will be nice not to have to get up at 6 AM if we don't want to!!

Our best to you all and trust this finds you well and enjoying life.  We are.  Remember to drop us a note when you can.  We love hearing from you.

Love and hugs,

Mom and Dad, Grandmother and Granddaddy, Ric and Jan(ice)

ric and jan

camino@ricandjan.com

LATEST ADVENTURES IN MARYLAND

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Hi all,

Last week on our days off we spent in the Alexandria, VA area.  We spent the night at Andrews Air Force Base at a Navy Lodge.  While there we saw two United Ststes of America jets in the maintenance hagers which was exciting.  We ate at a delicious restaurant  in Alexandria,  The Fish Market,  which was recommended by my friend Jean in Lancaster, CA.  We missed a turn on the way home and ended up crossing the river into Washington DC and Constitution Ave but quickly corrected that turn and crossed back over the river into VA again.  Such adventures we have and not always on purpose but we never got lost!! 

We then made our way slowly back  to Frederick, MD for a lobster dinner and steak dinner.  I had lobster and Ric had the steak.  Each was $12.95 which only happens on Thursday so we hope to repeat this opportunity as often as possible.  My lobster was 1-1/14  pounds and was delicious.  That is a real bargain even for this area.   We only get lobster tails in CA and not the whole lobster as we do here. 

This week we stayed closer to home on our days off and only drove about 30 miles to Sugarloaf Mountain which is all of 1282 ft.  It was owned by a private family which put it in a nonprofit corporation in 1946.   It is for the public's "enjoyment and education in an appreciation of natural beauty."  It is also a designated Registered Natural Landmark because of its geological interest and striking beauty.  It is beautiful and different from our mountains in California. The funds for its upkeep is from a trust fund set up by the family who said that........."those who appreciate natural beauty will be better people, people who will treat each other better."  There are view points in several locations and many picnic tables all over  as well as trails for hiking. 

After we left there we visited nearby lily ponds where we saw hundreds of different varieties of lillies-so beautiful.  They also had a fish hatchery and most of them were koi-many were for sale between $1 and $50.  Anyway, it was a fun day.  That night we stayed in our motorhome in Thurmont. (We have an apartment where we volunteer,)

The next morning we got up and visited the Eisenhauer Farm at Gettysburg.  We were bussed out to the farm and saw the barn, house, cattle barns,  the secret service office and the fields. 

The house was interesting.    Ninety nine percent of the furniture was what they actually had when they lived there and both Ike and Mamie died there. I had forgotten that there were no wars while he was president for his 8 years in office.  Maybe as a general he saw enough war and kept us out from his own experience.

The farm is 189 acres and they paid $44,000 for it.  It is strip planted with corn as it was in their day and the corn is feed for the guernsey cattle which was a great pride of Ikes.  They also raise a little hay for the cattle.  So not much has changed since they were there.  He was the last president that was able to keep gifts that were given to a president so they had some neat things in the house.  

Since it was Thursday eve. when we left we had to go into Frederick and have lobster and steak.   Ohhhhhhhhhhh!  How delicious it was again.

Then we came back to the center and worked yesterday today and also tomorrow.  We have a group of 125 men, Reston Bible Church,   which is a mens' retreat from northern VA, who will be here until tomorrow afternoon.  They are generally young men, many tall and do they ever have healthy appetites. They are a very pleasant group and they have already booked for next year.  

That is about it from Maryland and we trust you are in good health and enjoying life.  We do like hearing from you and appreciate long and short notes.  We have three more weeks here and as usual, it is going by so fast. 

Our best to you all and we hope to hear from you soon. 

Mom, Dad, Grandmother, Granddaddy, Ric and Jan(ice)

ric and jan

camino@ricandjan.com