St. Louis Arch

It's hard to visit St. Louis without taking a trip to see the arch. Once you see it, you want to ascend it, too. So we did. The trip in the tiny capsule scared the pants off Danielle. Mark did not seem to mind it.


Once Danielle got over her fear of heights, she was able to see this view of St. Louis. In the dead center is the courthouse where the Dred Scott decision was settled.


The tiny capsule that took us to the top of the arch looked like something out of 2010.


Five pairs of legs crowd the pod that lifted us up the arch.


Danielle was nervous about being at the top of the arch. When she felt the sway of the 630-foot tower, her hands felt clammy and she began to feel dizzy and hot.


The view on the inside of the apex of the arch shows a crowd of people and tiny, slanted windows looking down over the city and the Mississippi River.


Danielle was stopped by the gaze of this man: George Arkeketah. He was part of a display on Native American dealings with the American government in the late 1800s. (Photo circa 1898). The portrait hangs in the museum under the arch.


The arch was Danielle's choice. Busch Stadium was Mark's. We took a tour of the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Mark got to sit somewhere he usually doesn't.


During the tour, Mark stands in front of a wall of blown-up baseball cards. The cards belonged to William DeWitt Jr., owner of the Cardinals.


Mark and Danielle stand near home plate at Busch Stadium. In the background is the arch.


Another "site" in St. Louis is our friend Abby, with whom we attended high school. Abby went to college in Missouri and decided to stay. We had dinner in the "Hill" neighborhood of St. Louis. It was great to reconnect with her.

Illinois family

Mark holds the equipment needed for "hillbilly golf," which we played with his cousin Gary in Kankakee, Ill.


Phyllis and Jon (Mark's great aunt and uncle) flank Mark at Pere Marquette State Park on the Illinois side of the Mississippi.


Mark's great uncle Jon chats from the convertible in the small town of Moro, Ill., where Mark's family lives. Jon was a great tour, taking us on a ride through town.


Mark's cousins Jayna and Kayla stand atop a light pole to get a better view of the disc golf course in Kankakee, Ill.

Dancing, history and yoga in Massachusetts

While Mark was umpiring in Oneonta, Danielle camped out at Pinewoods for a long weekend (4th of July, to be exact) of contra and English country dancing. I also got to do crafts, singing circles, and board games. Fun fun fun.


Danielle found a friend (Jeff) to canoe with on the lake in Southern Massachusetts, in deer tick country. Fortunately, no ticks landed.


English country dancers groove on a wooden floor at Pinewoods during a dance workshop.

Back in time


After dancing, Danielle took the time to visit historical Massachusetts. A woman (pretending to be from the 17th century) waits for visitors to enter her home at Plymouth Plantation, a few miles from where the explorers landed back in the day. I took this photo quickly from the window; it looks like a painting to me. I love it.


Danielle stands in the dry dirt road at Plymouth Plantation, where actor/historians answer questions as if they were living in the 1600s. The water in the background is Cape Cod Bay.

A yoga break


Chairs overlook the Berkshires, just a half mile down the road from Tanglewood at the Kripalu Yoga Center. Danielle spent a few days there after the dance at Pinewoods, doing relaxing yoga and making new friends. It was a wonderful place.


Danielle and new friend Libby look at some flowers at Kripalu while on a walk. The flowers were actually an herb, but I forget which one.


Libby is all smiles at Kripalu.


Even being immersed in a yoga retreat center can't pull some people away from their texting. LOL. This is Emily (sister of Libby), who was part of my relaxation course. She plans to go for her yoga teacher training in October. You go, girl!

Danielle and Michele at a square in Montreal.


We visited Danielle's father, Jacques, who drove down from Quebec to lunch with us.

(Click photo to read cutline above.)
Aunt Michele treated us well at her home in Montreal. We dined outside on her garden terrace.


Mark and Danielle stand in front of a replica from one of the Easter Island statues ... in Montreal.

Chillin' in Vermont

According to Danielle, the Ben & Jerry's website said that the last tour of the day was 5 p.m. Because of that, I drove like a bat out of hell to make it there in time. As we walked through the door we realized that tours continued until 9 p.m. Oh well. All in all, the tour, at $5, was a great value.
Some highlights:
*Both Ben and Jerry are no longer involved with the brand's day-to-day operations.
*Our tour guide, a high school girl, quizzed the group on the brand's commercials, and Danielle answered the most questions correctly.
*I tried Milk & Cookies; Danielle can't recall the one she tried.



Driving on the Vermont highway, the sun was just setting. All those cool little smudges in the windshield come from Danielle's toes. :)


This was the backdrop as we played disc golf in Burlington, Vt. The good thing: we found a pro course and were finally able to let our drivers loose. The bad thing: because of the woodiness of No. 18, I lost my favorite driver. Oddly enough, the disc golf course was only five minutes from Ben & Jerry's.



We found the cutest little cookie place en route from Vermont to New York. It's called Vermont Cookie Love and had amazingly soft chocolate chip cookies. This one has ice cream and whipped cream. The road ran parallel to the mountain range. Along the way, we also saw a llama.

Lake George, Saratoga, NY

Between shopping opportunities, Mark stands in an alley that eventually overlooks Lake George on this cloudy day.


Mark peers over the second-floor balcony of a shopping square in Lake George. We were too cheap to pay any money into the viewing machines.


As we drove through Saratoga, Danielle, rolled down her window and asked the driver in a nearby car if he could recommend a place that had good live music. So we went to Gaffney's
We had yet to imbibe on the trip so I immediately asked Danielle if she wanted to do a shot of Maker's Mark. (How could we not after touring the famous distillery in Bardstown, Ky.?). It was rough going down but it was the beginning of an incredible night. From what I recall:
Mark: I knew that I could put one over on the tipsy Danielle as soon as I saw this guy. She had a few drinks and was becoming a little loopy so I said, "Hey Danielle? Grab your camera and come here. Do you want to get your picture taken with Hulk Hogan? He's right over there." She actually believed me and proceeded to walk in the direction of the Hulk Hugan impersonator. To me, he looked nothing like Hogan. He was a lot shorter and had a pot belly. But Danielle couldn't tell the difference. "Hulk, is it really you?" she said to the plump Hogan. He put his arm around Danielle as I snapped a photo. He then walked around the bar a bit, imitating some of Hogan's theatrics. It wasn't until 20 minutes later that he finally approached us again, showing Danielle the picture of himself posing with Hogan. I couldn't stop laughing.
Danielle: OK, yes. He got me. But it was kinda mean, don't you think?


Upon closer inspection, Danielle realized this was not the actual Hulk Hogan. She did find it curious that he was so short.


At the bar, we had live music:
*the band, Acoustic Circus, did an amazing cover of Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With"
*Mark asked the lead singer if he covered any Dave Matthews' songs and he said, "Dave doesn't do me and I don't do Dave."
*two college kids did funny dances behind the band (to the delight of the capacity crowd)
*and, of course, what will go down as "The Hulk Hogan Incident."

Gettysburg: 146 years later

On the grounds of Gettysburg National Park. We were overwhelmed by the statuary.


Mark climbs to the ledge of this tribute to a leader in the Civil War. OK, so I don't know his name. Sue me.


Danielle was emotional as she posed with the bronze of Lincoln outside the visitors' center at Gettysburg.


Mark is very proud of this photo he took of the remembrances of the Army of the Potomac.


Headstones at Gettysburg.


An example of the amazing zoom on Mark's camera: A bee spreads its wings as it feasts on a flower.

Park ranger Angie spoke about medicine during the Civil War. We learned that patients who needed amputations did not have to bite down on leather straps without anesthetic.


Mark and a group of visitors don 3-D glasses to see photos taken by famed Civil War photographer Matthew Brady.


Danielle tried on this "hat" at the gift shop. It's actually called something else, but I can't remember the name.


Just in case you forget, there is no hunting allowed at Codorus State Park near Hanover, Pa. I bet the groundhogs feel better for it. We played disc golf there after our day at Gettysburg, and it was a beautiful spot.

Pennsylvania byways

This dude (wearing pants halfway to his knees, btw) gave us directions on the winding road to the Quaker Meeting House in Ohio that was active as part of the Underground Railroad.


And here's the sign for the meeting house.


Danielle stands with Dave, a local who helped us navigate the scenic disc golf course in West Virginia. Dave was friendly and helpful, teaching Danielle some tricks to throwing the disc. Next time we are in the area, we hope to meet up with him again.


The disc golf course in Moundsville, W.V., was the site of a gorgeous sunset.


Mark walks toward the 16th hole in Moundsville.


Near the 17th hole was this abandoned farmhouse.


We met Dave at a Pittsburgh-area library. He had a wealth of information about where to go and what to see in Pittsburgh. We also learned that he is the "most recognizable man in Pittsburgh." Turns out he sells hot dogs at all hockey and baseball games, as well as concerts.


We couch-surfed in Upper St. Claire, near Pittsburgh, where we slept in twin beds. Our hosts were Rich and Mary Beth, and they were fantastic.



From William Carlos Williams:

so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.

Granted, there are no chickens ... but this was in the backyard of the home at which we couch-surfed.


This cute little guy licked our toes and made us feel welcome in our couchsurfing home.


My very first birdie! It was at the disc golf course created by students and teachers at Carrick High School in Pittsburgh.



Mark mimics the baseball player Roberto Clemente, who died the same year we were born: 1972. The mural was on a wall of the passageway that led to the Gateway Clipper, the boat that took us on a tour of the three rivers that meet in Pittsburgh: Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela.


Danielle on the bow (the front?) of the ship with the skyline as a backdrop.


We met a woman named Carrie who took this photo of Mark and Danielle on the ramp that led to the Gateway Clipper.


As official photographer of the trip, Danielle spends a lot of her time shooting from the passenger seat of the Jetta.


Pittsburgh has some of the most beautiful cemeteries.


Mark stands with the sign that points to Josh Gibson's grave at Allegheny Cemetery.


Gibson was known as "the black Babe Ruth."


We saw two or three deer eating the long grass at the cemetery. I was about 50 feet from this one when I captured its image with the long lens.


Back on the road ... Danielle does the tree pose at Sideling Hill state forest in Pennsylvania, on the road to Gettysburg. Elevation: 2195 feet.


A common site on Highway 30 in Pennsylvania.


After Danielle took this photo of a boy and his cat on the front porch, she waved to him. He waved back, looking a bit confused.