Southern Swing Road Trip Photos

Photos for the Southern Swing Road Trip are available:

• Southbound Day 1: Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, and Gettysburg daytime photos
• Gettysburg at Sunset: Evening shots of Gettysburg
• Washington, DC: Visit with Nick and touring DC
• Charlottesville, Virginia: Visit with Joy and seeing Darden
• Southbound and Charleston: Driving further South and touring Charleston, SC
• Florida: Visit with G+G and the lovebugs
• Northbound driving: Savannah, northbound driving
• State Sign Tour: Pictures of state-welcome-signs as we drove North.

And we're home!

Well, the Southern Swing Road Trip is over.  Over the last two days, we drove back through West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, before stopping in Connecticut for the night, and then back to Boston.  Pictures of the full trip north are available here.  A tour of many of the state-signs we encountered is also available here.

This coming week will be a busy one, as we have plenty of family in town for our impending (and hopeful) graduation.  Tomorrow, Abigail is hosting two friends for brunch; Monday, Kevin's mom arrives; Tuesday, Kevin's dad arrives; Wednesday, Kevin's dear family friend Cathy and her partner, Leesah, Abigail's parents, and Abigail's brother arrive; Thursday, Abigail's other brother and his better half arrive.  We graduate Thursday and have a wedding to attend Saturday!  Whew! 

A Northward Turn - but still in the South

This was a long day.  And a true test of our capacity for a longer, transcontinental roadtrip later this summer.  But a successful test - well passed and our capabilities well proven!  After a 16.5 hour day, roughly 14 hours of driving, and 930 miles, we arrived in Front Royal, Virginia, a small town nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains.

We left Florida at about 5:30 AM, and made a pit-stop in Savannah, Georgia, for an early lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant, Lady and Sons.  After a surprisingly brief wait, we were escorted into the massive restaurant, and enjoyed a reasonable meal of Southern fare.  We are still calculating out intake of butter, but based on an initial assessment, we imagine that we ate roughly a pound or two each.  Abigail's grandparents had done a fantastic job of celebrating butter; perhaps we all need wartime rationing to recognize the benefits of real butter over its 1940s substitute, oleo.

After leaving Savannah (worth noting is ours, and Abigail's Aunt M's preference for Charleston over Savannah), we continued North on I-95, passing through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.  At the border of the Carolinas, we passed by the world-famous pit-stop, South of the Border.  You can't miss it - there are roughly 96 billboards advertising the attraction, beginning at the Georgia-Florida border.

The hours wore on - as did our tolerance for our audio-version of Dan Brown's literary masterpiece, Digital Fortress (seriously, only the totality of the recently discussed entrails of the Florida population of lovebugs approximates the sheer volume of cliched adjectives and similes in Brown's work).  We entered Virginia, and turned off of I-95 in Fredericksburg, and took US-17 across the state until we encountered I-66 for the second time on this trip. 

The shortcut allowed us to cross-paths (literally) with US-29, the road we took from DC to Charlottesville to Charleston last week.  The northbound leg of this trip was rewarding for recognition of certain landmarks, as we often traveled on roads employed on our southbound route for a few miles here and there.

But we spent the night in Front Royal, as I said, nestled in the landscape of our second-favorite John Denver song.  We passed over the Shenandoah River on our way to the Blue Ridge mountains, enjoying these beautiful country roads.

Turning North!

It's 5:15 am, and we're leaving Florida, headed northbound. Today's destination TBD!

Florida!

The furthest southern reach of our road trip has thus been achieved!  We left Charleston at about 10 AM on Saturday the 15th, and drove south on the great I-95, and arrived in Florida in time for dinner.  Our four-day stay in Florid was faaaaan-tastic.  Pictures here.

We enjoyed thoroughly the beaches of Melbourne, Florida, as well as the surrounding land (hard) scape.  The weather served as a constant advertisement for (a) retirement and (b) Florida, more generally.  We really do think we could get used to this 'retirement' thing -- if only we didn't have 40-50 years of hard work in front of us, starting in September.  But such thoughts ought be delayed until late August; for now, we will focus on the present respite!

Our time in Florida was marred by only one thing, the infestation of the love-bug.  This love bug season was so robust -- due to a wet wenter -- that Abigail and I were driven from the beach by the swarms on Tuesday.  The love-bug's other common names, the 'honeymoon fly' and 'kissingbug' all hint at the notable activities of these insects.  This wikipedia picture does an adequate job of capturing the behavior of these pests:

Essentially, these bugs come out twice a year for an amorous frolic, latching onto each other for -- get this -- 12.5 hours of mating.  Wikipedia puts it thus: "Upon reaching maturity the lovebug spends almost its entire adult life coupled (in copulation) with its mate."  Of what relevance to us, and our readers, is such 'Sting' like behavior?  These bugs are prolific.  They swarm in clouds, and -- in what I would consider a Darwinian weakness -- are attracted to the smell of car exhaust.  Thus these clouds cluster in busy intersections, streets, freeways, and parking lots.

The above pictures captures the evidence of a trip through one such intersection.  Of futher annoyance, the detritus of these insects becomes corrosive to car paint after baking in the sun for 24 hours.  We unfortunately lack a picture of yours truly trying to scrub the car of the acidic entrails at every gas stop. 

The infestation is short-lived, and was only of particular annoyance on Tuesday.  We were able to enjoy the beach Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday.  Moreover, they did not hamper a new tradition of Abigail's G+G.  Upon the advice of physicians, the octogenarian couple, who recently celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary, have instituted nightly 'happy hour' before dinner.

A bottle of cool wine and a basket of corn chips doesn't taste as good as it does after a warm day on the beach and in the company of a wise, old couple.  (When asked the secret to making a marriage work for 62 years, Bill noted, 'Take it one year at a time.'  Lib just smirked.)  Often, after said happy hour and dinner, Abigail and her grandfather would try to crack the word-games in the newspaper.

All of this had to be accomplished in time for another, more controversial, nightly ritual.  Abigail's grandmother - an avid animal lover - has taken to providing nourishment for a local family of raccoons.  Some may decry such behavior, but you can't dismiss the heartwarming nature of the family when they arrive at twilight!

Charleston and the Lowcountry

Now we are really in the South.  Let us tell you.  We've arrived in Charleston, South Carolina.  Note the following:

• Charleston, South Carolina, which we visited today, is the site of the first battle of the Civil War.
• We visited Gettysburg, site of the 'high water mark' of the Confederacy.
• Today, we drove through Appomatox, site of the conclusion of the Civil War.

We've had a fair share of the 'War Betwee the States,' as they call it down here.  In related news, we also drove through Lynchburg, Virginia, which of course, is the home of one of J.Crew's distribution centers!!!  OMG, this is SUPER exciting!!!  To be honest, the outlet store did have some decent deals...

We also, today, surpassed the 1000 mile mark on the road trip.  The event was captured:

In good news, the car was in Drive.  Our drive today was interesting, taking us through Central Virginia and North Carolina on the non-interstate US-29, before being dumped unceremonially onto I-95.  We believe it is notable that the first mile driven on I-95 on this roadtrip occurred at 3:45 PM today; it is hard to believe we have avoided this artery of American commerce up until now!

Upon the recommendation of Abigail's Aunt M, we've decided to avoid Savannah on the southbound trip and prioritized a visit to Charleston, SC.  Charleston, in Kevin's mind, will always remind him of his visit here with his family in the mid-1990s.  On that trip, the temperature was 110 degrees, with the humidity not far behind.  His dear baby sister, with her thick mess of hair, was so hot that she broke down in tears on the street corner.  Not to be dramatically outdone, Kevin's mother lost all of her credit cards when they flew out the window speeding away from Charleston on I-26!

We avoided such disasters and, alas, arrived at 6:30 this evening and began walking around the historic district and found our first Spanish Moss (Terribly exciting!).  The city is beautiful, and the weather was perfect.  We have a set of photographs from our evening promenade here. 

Our observations thus far have been brief, but we are stunned to discover the age of this city.  Numerous buildings date back to the late 17th century; and it's hard to find a French Huguenot Church in France these days, much less in the Deep South!  At first glance, the similarities between Charleston and New Orleans are striking, but Charleston has (thus far) avoided the scourge of Bourbon Street, and has a more casual, relaxed demeanor than New Orleans.  Plus, there's more Seersucker.

We're off to Florida tomorrow morning to visit with Abigail's grandparents for a few days.  As many of you know, if you were born before 1940, you are not allowed to have internet in your home.  As such, we will likely have limited access to blog postings until we leave Florida later in the week.  But suffice it to say we will be safe and enjoying the Florida sun!

Charlottesville... ...oh Joy!

We left DC at roughly 10 in the morning and furthered our Southern foray with a trip to one heart of the South, Charlottesville, Virginia, home of the University of Virginia and our dear friend Joy (Abigail's Maid of Honor), who is studying at the Darden School of Business at UVA.  What a wonderful time!

Joy gave us a brief tour of Thomas Jefferson's town (she did point out that while Jefferson is the most prominent president who made his home in Charlottesville, James Monroe and James Madison also owned land in the area--btw, to those who are in the know, Thomas Jefferson just goes by TJ), including Darden and the undergraduate campus at UVA .

We picked up sandwiches at Take It Away, a restaurant most notable because it had also been recommended by Nick the evening prior.  We followed Nick and Joy's local recommendation and partook in the 'House Dressing'.  It was as advertised - fabulous.

We took the sandwiches to a local Virginia vineyard (who knew!), the King Family Vineyard, and had a wonderful tasting of wine and enjoyed our picnic on their gorgeous grounds.  The evening progressed along many similar lines and libations, and we enjoyed a game of Trivial Pursuit.  Kevin was defeated by the team of Abigail and Joy...  ...he seeks to note that the score was awfully close considering he was facing two products of the finest academic institutions in America.

DC Wrapup... ...and photos.

There has been some pressure for us to post pictures as soon as possible.  'Cloud computing,' alas, has not yet befallen us, and we've only now found ourselves in line of sight of regular, free wireless internet.  But do, finally, find all photos from DC here.

We've had a tremendous time in DC.  This is a wonderful, friendly, gorgeous, and welcoming city.  The developing Bostonians in us were shocked (shocked I tell you), to see not one, but two separate sets of strangers strike up substantive conversations on the DC Metro.  If someone was so outgoing with me, my defense-mechanism would quickly be initiated at what could only be interpreted in Boston as a threat of some variety.  In fact, one woman was so kind to provide us with directions at one point, that we were nearly stunned into silence.  She offered assistance; the last time a Bostonian offered assistance, it was to provide Grady Little with assistance in leaving town on a rail.

We are so grateful to Nick and his roommate, Bruce, who welcomed us into their home last night!  We enjoyed a wonderful Mexican meal, replete with the necessary libations, with Nick.  And tonight, we had a great meal with Dale, who was coincidentally in town on business.  Who knew that pig cheeks and bacon soup could be so, so good!  Of course, any meal is made infinitely better by warm company!

There is a certain, impressive symmetry between our visits to Gettysburg and to DC.  We've found ourselves, on a number of occasions, reflecting on the values of our society and culture, and the lengths to which so many people have gone to perfect and defend those values.  The strength of leadership, from the articulate, powerful words of Lincoln to the modest, persistent courage of World War II veterans, that has fulfilled the promise of our nation's founders is deeply striking.  You cannot read Lincoln's words at his memorial without finding some solace in his commitment to this nation; simultaneous, your heart cannot be unbroken by the sacrifice of the countless veterans, at Gettysburg, in southeast Asia, and in the Pacific and European theaters.

Most museums and monuments are free here; the access to such national treasures fosters a rich sense of ownership, whether of the memories in the memorials or in the rich works of art at the National Gallery.  The history, the stories, the art here is ours, as is the responsibility that comes with the privilege of such treasures.

Ultimately, we thus found our time in Washington to be deeply rewarding.  This is a city of monuments and temples; but for us, it is comforting to think of this city as one public park.  This is the place where one can just walk and experience the history of this country and this nation, and be inspired to give back some measure of commitment.

Still in DC...

We're sitting at a Panera in Arlington, trying to get a little work done.

We took in the International Spy Museum yesterday afternoon, which is full of spy gadgets, stories, disguises, technology, and history. It was fascinating, but a bit disconcerting. After the museum, we met Nick for dinners and margaritas, and returned to his apartment in time to watch the end of the Celtics' thrashing of the Cavs! A very fun time.

It's a gorgeous day today, so we intend to do a long walk down the mall, visiting as many monuments as possible before a steamy Potomac humidity settles in.

And then dinner with Nick and a coincidentally present Daddio!

A rainy day in DC...

Does not lend itself to monument visits, but we're enjoying the Smithsonian, the Archives, and perhaps the Newseum or the National Gallery.

Evening in Gettysburg

We thought we would post a few more pictures of our evening in Gettysburg...  It was truly a lovely day, and we're not certain the weather tomorrow in DC looks quite as promising...

We had dinner at a local brewpup...

They safely provided a business-school-style 2x2 of the beer selection: on the Y-axis, dark vs. light; on the X-axis, hoppy vs. malty.  Caleb W. and Nate P., you will be safe in knowing that Abigail and I were safely in the malty/light quadrant...

After dinner, we managed to get up to the Eternal Light Peace Memorial in time for sunset.  Amazing views, with lots of pictures here.

The serene beauty of this place, for me, recalls a song we used to sing after campfires at summer camp...

The Golden Day is dying beyond the purple hill

And when the wood is dark yes the nightingale will sing

And soon beyond the meadow the silver moon will swing

The lark that sang at noon day end dusk the wood is still

Safely in Gettysburg

Given how long it took me to upload the simple picture of our drive from today, this may be a bit of a text-heavy posting!  Fear not, though, plenty of pictures are available here!



We enjoyed a lovely weekend in Ridgefield with Abigail's family!  We arrived Saturday morning, having persevered through an early morning round of New England thunderstorms that was enough to challenge our wits!  But the clouds cleared once we arrived in Ridgefield and had enjoyed lunch.  We sat out on the Wattley's blustery back deck, listening to the video-stream of Ethan's alma mater's graduation, and welcomed a wonderful visit from Abigail's old feminist friend, Curious Georgiana!  Sunday (Mother's Day), Cliff took everyone out to a gorgeous brunch at a classic family spot, before we saw Babies, a fanciful look at child-rearing in four different cultures.  Not much talking - but great storytelling.

We left at about 6:15 this morning, have safely dropped a much more mobile Cliff off at the shuttle station for his train ride into work.  Once on the road, the driving was quick.  We took a scenic detour on US-209 through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, which delivered on said, promised scenery.  The route dropped us down into central Pennsylvania, which boasted gorgeous scenery.  There, in Hamburg PA, we happened to hear the president's announcement of his nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.  We also got word that the market had rebounded some four-hundred points; sounds like the EU bailout package delivered the desired effect.

We arrived in Gettysburg at 11:45, and took in the much expanded visitors center, which featured a 15-minute film capturing all the nuance and detail you would expect from a fifteen minute film (turns out the battle was bloody...  who knew?).  Less impressive initially was the cyclorama, until you heard what it was!  At first glance, it looked like a giant mural; said mural is, in fact, a 19th century oil painting depicting Pickett's Charge with such accuracy and detail that it was said to cause the battle's veterans to weep.  The cyclorama is 27 feet wide!  Perhaps most impressive for the sheer variety of non sequiteuralia was the gift shop, where you could drop in if you were on the hunt for Cast Iron Cookware or Vermont Maple Syrup.  At the gift shop, we did purchase an audio tour of the battlefield, which allowed us to spend three hours driving the 26 miles of park roads with some semblance of context.

The audio tour was led by Wayne Motts, whose fascination with the gruesome battle extends beyond its conclusion on July 3, 1863; no, Motts ensures that you follow the battle's bloody entrails to Washington, DC, where a Union Colonel would regularly visit the femur of his amputated leg carefully entrusted to a military hospital for safekeeping.  Gross.

In truth, the park is highly interesting, perhaps most so for the contrast between the pastoral, placid landscape and the gruesome, violent struggle that took place here. 

Happy Mothers Day! ...and we're off

As I packed up for this road trip, I was digging through my desk when I found a copy of my b-school application essays.  One passage seemed appropriate for a day that is both Mother's Day and the eve of our departure on our 'Southern Swing' Road Trip:

My mother may have been formerly incarnated as a long-haul truck driver.  Our family vacations took place in the backseat of our car, our progress along America's asphalt marked with the slow unfurling of a red ribbon across the pages of the Rand McNally atlas.  There were pushpins in countless American cities; there were souvenir pins from dozens of National Parks and Civil War battlefields; there were safety pins, toothpicks, books of matches, and other free hand-outs from an array of campsites, restaurants, motels, and rest stops. 

Tomorrow morning, very early, we will depart for our first road trip.  We'll drive to Washington, DC, to see 'our nation's capital' as well as a capital friend--before continuing through the South and to Abigail's grandparents' home in Florida!  Tomorrow's particular route is designed to avoid the New Jersey Turnpike, which to-date has proved a pretty horrible road for us...

Which of the following is a good omen?

• A friend accidentally picked up our drivers licenses at dinner last night, requiring Kevin to hustle down Mem Drive at 11 PM; or,
• The Seattle Mariners' "ace" lost the game 8-0 last night; or,
• We were awoken by thunderstorms at 5 AM this morning?

In any event, we're off to Connecticut this morning.  We won't consider this the official 'start' to the Southern Swing, if only because the route is so familiar.  We'll spend Saturday and Sunday with Abigail's family, before turning toward Washington, DC on Monday morning.

One of those days at the gym...

We keep telling people that we selected the two best years in history during which to leave the workplace and go study.  One of the consequences of said decision, though, was that we often found ourselves working out at the gym, blithely watching CNN, while the financial world came to a halt.  Yesterday certainly seemed like one of those days.  One moment the market was down 248 points, the next moment it was down nearly 1000 points!  Perhaps most disconcerting of all?  The odd collapse of the market might have been caused by a glitch!  So odd...

A New Dean!

HBS has named a new dean, Nitin Nohria, a very fine choice in our limited opinion.  Nohria diverges deeply from the typical HBS dean, particularly in his research focus, leadership.  He comes from the Organizational Behavior faculty, who teach in the LEAD curriculum in the first-year at HBS and who are less comfortable than some with Credit Default Swaps...

Nohria produced this video less than a year ago; it gives a decent sense of his perspective.



Keep in mind the mission of HBS: 'To educate leaders who make a difference in the world.'

Sox Crawl to Victory...

We took in a Red Sox game last night.  It took a cool 218 minutes...  ...but they ended up winning 17-8 on on a 20-hit performance by the (more typically lackluster) Sox.  This was our first Sox game of the year, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  JD came up at about 4 in the afternoon, swung by our apartment to drop his things off, and then we all took the bus into the Back Bay.  Taking the bus is a rather New Yorker thing for JD to impose upon us.  It represented only our second bus trip in our five years of living in the greater Boston area...  Suppose all you will from our disinclination to use this particular mode of mass transportation.

Today represented the end of what one friend calls the Aquapocalypse!  2 million people in the greater Boston area had been boiling water after a water main broke in Weston, Mass. on Saturday.  Cambridge inexplicably maintains a proprietary water system, and we've thus had the great privilege of tapping our tap water at our leisure during this crisis.  No worries...  the Red Sox trucked in bottled water last night (and charged a pretty $3.75 per bottle for it) and had no problem providing concessions at the typical market rate...

JD is in town for a few days to take in no fewer than three Red Sox games himself.  His better half arrived this evening, and we all enjoyed a meal more culturally at home in the great Pacific Northwest than in New England, cedar-planked salmon, asparagus, and rice...  And a sip from a bottle from one of our favorite vineyards... 

They went off to the Sox game a few moments ago, and will attend another game tomorrow night.  Tough sledding for our friend, whose academic calendar is aligned with ours and who looks forward to his own graduation at the end of the month.

Billsville and Surrounding Communities!

We took off Saturday early morning, Williamstown bound!  It's been some time since we've enjoyed the pleasures of a lovely, leisurely drive on the Mohawk Trail.  The weather was gorgeous - bordering on hot - but the drive was easy.

Many of you know of the odd culture surrounding the Mohawk Trail, but it was apparently created as one of the nation's first scenic highways.  It was indeed scenic, and we took in the awe-inspiring beauty of the kitschy American Indian gift-stores (aka "Trading Posts"), with their giant, wooden Plains-style Indians, and their culturally sensitive mini-golf offerings.

As we rose with the hills into Florida (Mass.), all signs of spring withered away.  It is our opinion that Spring, Summer, and Fall come to Florida in the second, third, and fourth weeks of July, respectively.  This is the place God visited when looking for inspiration for how to design purgatory.  Why the 676 residents of Florida continue to 'stick it out' is beyond us...  But then you come over the hill, around the hairpin turn, and look down the valley into North Adams and Williamstown, and you are home.

We stopped in at Mass MoCa and had lunch at the newly relocated - and quite good - Gramercy Bistro, before heading into Mass MoCa.  There were two fantastic exhibits installed at the contemporary art museum.  The first, entitled Material World, involved large-scale installations over two floors at the Museum-converted-from-a-mill...

This shot is taken in the Material world exhibit.  The piece involved hundreds of strings of micro-filament strung across a huge room, with a single spotlight shining on the instalation.  As you walk through and around the installation, the light patterns on the fillament change, intending to recreate the sensation of driving through the Hoosac Tunnel.   But the true purpose of our visit to Mass Moca was the newly-installed Sol Lewitt exhibit.  If you don't have time to make the trip this weekend, worry not, you might have time before it comes down in 2033.

Lewitt, whose work is familiar to Williams alums who recognize the geometric, colorful wall-painting in the stairwell at WCMA, designed highly geometric, stunning, and large-scale drawings, paintings, and murals on walls.  The scale of the exhibit is stunning, taking up three floors, each dedicated to a stage in Lewitt's life...  Loads of pictures of MassMoca are available here.

We spent the evening at a dinner for class agents and alumni fund leaders at Williams, where we heard Ed Burger speak.  Burger is one of the most highly regarded math teachers in the country.  (Trivia fact: 12% of Williams grads are Math Majors, compared to a national average of 1%.)  Burger discussed the recently approved 'Gaudino Option' for Williams undergrads.  Williams students are apparently suffering from a heightened sensitivity to their grade point average; this sensitivity is disincenting them from taking courses 'outside of their comfort zone' where poor performance might damage their overall average.  The Gaudino Option gives students the option to designate a course on a Pass/Fail basis if (1) it's outside of their comfort zone; (2) they are intellectually engaged in the course; (3) they are dissatisfied with their grade; and (4) they achieve a minimum academic performance in the class.  We're a bit skeptical on the impact of the Gaudino option; are there not better ways to encourage students to take interesting, challenging classes?  Isn't this the point of a Liberal Arts education?

This is it... One Last Vacation

So this is it...  Our final classes ended Thursday; our final exams were submitted Friday.  We each have a paper "rising" in its final stages, but our plan is to have those turned in by Wednesday... 

To capture our "final" summer vacation together, we've decided to catalogue our tourist musings throughout this summer.  We have plenty of free time coming up.  We will spend the early part of May hosting JD & Maryl here in Boston, before we take off for a 'Southern Swing' roadtrip starting on Saturday or Sunday.  We'll be back in Boston in time for graduation the last week of May, when we will host our parents and celebrate our commencement in a highly individualized program involving 30,000 other people...