East coast bound

So (I can hear you asking) what could I possibly find to keep me busy after all my fun with my mother, visiting Galena and enjoying the play at my son's college?  Well, I'm happy to report I'm not one to sit around for long, so the day after the play we got my mother safely on her plane heading back to South Dakota and a short three hours later I was flying the friendly skies myself, heading to Providence, Rhode Island.  My workplace encourages staff development and I was delighted to attend the international stewardship conference hosted by the Association of Donor Relations Professionals.  A co-worker and I had a wonderful time in Providence, both professionally and personally.  We stayed at a fantastic hotel in the heart of downtown Providence, the Omni, and I can personally attest that once I tried the king size bed I never wanted to leave. Best comforter....ever!

I had never visited Rhode Island before, and was delighted to make its acquaintance.  I knew Providence was the state capitol and that the state had been founded by Roger Williams, a religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  I didn't know, though, that Providence is the third largest city in the New England region, with Boston first and Worcester (MA) second in a very close tie with Providence.  I found the city absolutely charming. Its location makes it part of the Boston metropolitan area...it's an hour to Boston, forty minutes to Newport and beautiful beaches, and only seventy minutes to Cape Cod.

I love "real" downtowns and Providence delivered on all accounts.  The State House was lovely.

The downtown underwent a renaissance in the 1970's to showcase the city's strength in arts.  The city's natural rivers, which had been covered by paved bridges, were uncovered and a large section of the railroad was relocated underground.  River walks were cdesigned and a 1.4 million foot Providence Mall was built downtown.  Oh darn, the mall happened to connect to the Omni Hotel via a skyway, so of course I felt a true obligation to visit it so I could tell you all about it!  And yes, you read that right...1.4 million foot mall.  It was huge...five stories of shops, shops and more shops.  I'm pretty sure the phrase "shop til you drop" originated in Providence.

Sunday night after we checked in to the hotel we went in search of food (and perhaps a glass or two of wine). We asked for recommendations from the first person we saw outside our hotel...who turned out to be a transplant from Wisconsin!  Small world.  We had fun taking in some of the sights as we walked to a small Irish pub nearby where we could unwind and have a relaxing evening before the conference began on Monday morning.

I love old buildings and all the beautiful detail work you can find on them, and Providence has a number of 19th century mercantile buildings in the Federal and Victorian architectural styles. It seemed like every few steps I had to stop and take "just one more picture"!

What's not to love about church doors and old lamp posts?

This row of gabled windows reminded me of Paris.  There are probably gargoyles in there somewhere!

And along with the ornate styles, a touch of window whimsy thrown in for fun!

And because after a busy two days with my mother, little sleep and a long day of travel I could barely keep my eyes open after dinner (it might be that the two glasses of wine had something to do with that as well), I was glad to climb into my heavenly bed for a good night's sleep.  I think Shakespeare must have experienced the same thing when he wrote the following sonnet, but unlike the traveler below no "journey in my head" kept me awake!

Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,



The dear repose for limbs with travail tired;

But then begins a journey in my head

To work my mind, when body’s work’s expired.

For then my thoughts, from far where I abide,

Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,

And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,

Looking on darkness which the blind do see.

Save that my soul’s imaginary sight

Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,

Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,

Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new.

  Lo thus by day my limbs, by night my mind,

  For thee, and for myself, no quiet find.



Have a wonderful Thursday! 

And so he plays his part...

What's the saying...time flies when you're having fun?  In my case it might be closer to the truth to say time flies when you are overloaded at work, because I realized I haven't posted in six days now!  I put in close to 21 hours working on a special presentation for work over the weekend so my days are all kind of blurring together. As Oprah would say, the "one thing I know for sure" is that it's been too long since I've written a post.  I miss writing, but even more, I miss the connection to all of you.  And where else can I highlight the exploits of my amazingly gifted red headed, mustachioed son?

Today I thought you might enjoy seeing a few scenes from the play we took my mother to see when she was visiting us recently.  I would say it was my youngest son's LAST college play, but I've learned never to say that, as I made the same claim last spring!  He graduates in December, though, and didn't try out for the upcoming play (even though the director begged him) so I think I am fairly safe in saying it was his last play as a student, but it's a funny but true facts that kids can often prove their mothers wrong, so I'll just say we enjoyed seeing the performance and loved watching him act.  He's a natural on stage (don't I sound like a mother?!).  But it's not just my opinion...I've sat in the audience many times in his college theater and overheard other patrons comment on his acting, and I've been with him on campus when strangers have stopped him to gush over his latest role on stage or film.

 

The play was The Underpants, an adaptation by Steve Martin from the original 1910 German farce by playwright Carl Sternheim. The play revolves around a conservative civil servant who fears he will lose his job and be disgraced after his wife's bloomers fall down in public during a procession of the King. But instead of scandal, the unintentional display delivers two borders for the extra room he plans to rent. Oblivious to their amorous intentions, he splits the room between them, happy to collect double rent, while his wife enjoys the attention her wardrobe malfunction has delivered.  My son played the obnoxious, oblivious civil servant to perfection. Good thing he was my son, because I sure didn't like his
character much!

It's been such a joy to see him perform on stage over the past few years.  He has had some truly memorable roles and it's been so much fun to see him grow, expand and mature as an actor.  I'll miss his productions, but of course I'm looking forward to whatever path he chooses to take next!

And our family tradition is that after the play wraps for the night, all of us head to our favorite local restaurant for pie, ice cream and raucous laughter.  We're always the loud, rambunctious group in the corner, but at 11 pm who really cares?  With two sons and a daughter who all love to act, the impersonations and lines from plays go on and on and on...and the cherry on the ice cream this time was my mother was there to enjoy it all as well.

My mother and her crazy grandchildren

What do you think of my son's moustache?!  He had to wax the ends to get it "just right" for the German play.  It made me snicker every time I looked at him!

My mother with my son and his girlfriend

So you can imagine my delight when I saw these cute little knitted guys on Facebook the other day...the mustache looked oh so familiar!

And in honor of my son, who has played all his parts with such talent and grace, here are a few lines from Shakespeare's As You Like It.

All the World's a Stage

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

A horse is a horse, of course of course, unless...

the horse is peeking out of a second floor window of an old brick building on Main Street, Galena.  Then he is just downright startling!  Your guess is as good as mine...

Besides an odd collection of curiosities at Belvedere Mansion, visiting Grant's home under the stern visage of Mrs. Grant and doing a little horse/window shopping, what else did we find to do in Galena with my mother?
How about lunch at the grand old Desoto House Hotel where Abraham Lincoln always enjoyed his stays? The Desoto is Illinois' oldest operating hotel, and has seen a number of dignitaries pass through its front door, including Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, William Jennings Bryan, Melville, Emerson and Thoreau. Built in 1855, it was the presidential campaign headquarters for Ulysses S. Grant. See the bunting draped balcony?  Candidate Abe Lincoln spoke from there during his Presidential campaign.

Although rumors of Desoto hauntings abound, the dining room was prosaic, offering nothing more than pretty tables and a nice menu.  After all our walking, the chairs were our favorite part!  After lunch we peeked in the hotel lobby.  If you squinted your eyes just right you could almost see a hoop skirted lady entering the lobby for afternoon tea....

We took advantage of the warm sunshine to pay a visit to Grant's Park, where the newly restored bandstand looked beautiful without all the scaffolding that surrounded it on our last visit.

And we ended our visit by admiring some of the lovely homes nestled into the hillside.  Goodbye until next time, Galena!  You've captured my heart and my imagination...can you imagine how lovely this city must look during the holidays?  I think a third trip will be necessary, don't you?

These Lennon/McCartney lyrics came to mind as a proper finish to today's post.  Tomorrow we'll head north so that Mother could see my son's college play!

The long and winding road that leads to your door 

Will never disappear 

I've seen that road before it always leads me here 

Leads me to your door 

Ulysses and Julia Grant

 

When a perfect fall day arrives, AND you have a vacation day at work, AND your mother is visiting, it's time for an adventure!  My husband and I had so much fun showing Mother the sights of Galena (IL), including the home that the City gifted to Ulysses and Julia Grant.  After the rather eccentric tour of Belvedere, we opted to not spend time inside the house but wandered the grounds and enjoyed the view of the city proper across the river.

The Italianate structure known as the U. S. Grant Home was built in 1859-60 as a residence by Alexander J. Jackson of Galena. When Ulysses S. Grant returned to the city in 1865 as a Civil War hero, he was presented the house—purchased by a group of prominent local Republicans, including Elihu B. Washburne—as part of the city’s celebration. Grant used the home as his official political and voting address, living there with his family during his 1868 presidential campaign, then for a few brief periods during his presidency (1869-1877) and retirement. He visited for the last time in 1880. 

I usually try really hard to wait for people to stroll on out of the frame, but there were just too many visitors the day we were there, and no matter what angle I tried I couldn't get a picture that didn't include people!  The Steeler hat in the far left bottom of the picture?  You might recall my husband is from Pittsburgh....

There is a lovely little park right where I was standing to take the house picture.  I have to confess, the statue of Julia makes her look rather intimidating!  She looks like a woman who was used to getting her way.

 

Aren't the colors on this tree breathtaking? 

 

Red leaves, blue sky.  September  bliss!

The Grant Home site includes several small mid-19th century homes that make up a three-block “Grant Home Historic Neighborhood.” “Grant State Park,” a tree-shaded area south of the Grant Home has picnic tables for public use and we enjoyed sitting and resting there awhile, and doing a little "tourist watching."  The tour buses were busy loading and unloading visitors in the parking lot. Also in the park is the Long House, a log building constructed around1851 and moved to the site from Elizabeth, Illinois in 1976, representing a typical settler’s home of mid-nineteenth-century Jo Daviess County. 

Interesting historical facts and beautiful fall weather, but the best part of all?  Time with my mother!

The Beautiful Changes

By Richard Wilbur

One wading a Fall meadow finds on all sides   

The Queen Anne’s Lace lying like lilies

On water; it glides

So from the walker, it turns

Dry grass to a lake, as the slightest shade of you   

Valleys my mind in fabulous blue Lucernes.

The beautiful changes as a forest is changed   

By a chameleon’s tuning his skin to it;   

As a mantis, arranged

On a green leaf, grows

Into it, makes the leaf leafier, and proves   

Any greenness is deeper than anyone knows.

Your hands hold roses always in a way that says   

They are not only yours; the beautiful changes   

In such kind ways,   

Wishing ever to sunder

Things and things’ selves for a second finding, to lose   

For a moment all that it touches back to wonder.

Where do I begin?

Hmmm....aren't those lyrics from the old movie Love Story?  I was pondering if I should finish up my stories from yesterday's trip to Blue Mounds State Park, or if I should start back at the beginning with my mother's visit and work my way forward, and the old song popped into my head!  So I literally flipped a coin, and today's post is all about my mother.  What better subject could there possibly be?

She was quite the globe trotter in September...first to Indiana to visit all her relatives there, then over to Ohio to enjoy some time with my brother and his family, and then she finally arrived at my house for a lovely week's visit.  Sadly, I didn't have enough vacation days saved that I could spend my days with her, but my husband and one of my sons had more flexible schedules so I don't think she got too bored. And honestly, who could possibly get bored with my sweet little Willow to keep you company?!

Most of my time with Mother was spent chatting in the evening, talking about our favorite authors and television shows, swapping lists of books to read or reminiscing about family vacations or funny moments from chilhood (both hers and mine!).  But I did have one day of vacation time, and we used it to make a second trip to Galena, a place Mother had wanted to visit for many years.

First stop...Belvidere Mansion!  Belvidere is a lovely home that, according to an Illinois tourist website, is called "the Downton Abbey" of Galena.  Hmm...not sure I'd go that far!

Need I say more on that topic?!

But it is, no doubt, a lovely pre-Civil War home, built by J. Russell Jones in 1857.  Jones was a friend and supporter of President Grant, who also had a home in Galena.  Its 22 rooms are filled with lovely antiques, and some...oddities.  I can't say I ever expected to find Liberace memorabilia nestled in among Civil War furniture.  It was unusual, to say the least!

 

Nor was I particularly impressed with the non-period Tiffany grape chandelier, and the many grape light fixtures in an otherwise elegant dining room (if you ignore the Liberace Nubian statues and gold encrusted sheet music cabinet...)  The combination rather jarred the sensibility of the room.

 

Hmm...and did I mention that the library had (are you ready for this?)...the infamous green velvet curtains from Gone with the Wind.  Okay, I get that the house was lived in during the Civil War, but we are talking Illinois, not Georgia!  

 

Evidently the last owner of Belvedere was into movie sets and Las Vegas glitz.  It was a little bit jarring.  Oh, and did I mention the velvet green curtain adorned Barbie Dolls displayed on the horsehair library settee?

But in spite of the home's, shall we kindly say idiosyncracies?, we did enjoy the tour.  One thing Mother, my husband and I all learned was what a "coffin corner" is. Evidently ornate coffins were usually kept in the attic and brought out when necessary to display a body in the home.  The coffin stayed in the house, though, and a pine box was used for burial.  But bringing long coffins down winding staircases could prove problematical, and in order to fit around corners a niche was usually carved into the stairway to accomodate the coffin angles.  When not needed for coffin-fitting duty, a lovely vase could be displayed instead. 

 

 Maybe I should have saved that story for Halloween?

The exterior of the house was quite pretty, although the garden was surprisingly small.  I loved the small boxwood maze, though.

 

The owners evidently liked outdoor statuary:

 

But here is my favorite memory from Belvedere House--my mom and I enjoying a beautiful fall day together.  Isn't she beautiful?!

 

And even if the lyrics were intended for a romantic love story, I think they could also depict the timeless love of mother and daughter:

How long does it last
Can love be measured by the hours in a day
I have no answers now but this much I can say
I know I'll need her till the stars all burn away
And she'll be there.

Have a terrific Tuesday, and I'll be back tomorrow for a tour of Grant's home!

Roaming over hill and dale...

O Mistress Mine Where are you Roaming?

By William Shakespeare

 

O Mistress mine where are you roaming?

O stay and hear, your true love's coming,

      That can sing both high and low.

Trip no further pretty sweeting.

Journeys end in lovers' meeting,

      Every wise man's son doth know.

What is love, 'tis not hereafter,

Present mirth, hath present laughter:

      What's to come, is still unsure.

In delay there lies no plenty,

Then come kiss me sweet and twenty:

      Youth's a stuff will not endure. 

    I've been roaming, my friends!  I took a few weeks off from my blog to enjoy my time with my mother, and then attended a conference in Rhode Island, followed by a few days on Cape Cod with my husband.  I have lots to share with you, but today I thought I'd ease back into my writing routine heavy on the pictures and lighter on the text.  Sunday's weather was a siren's call to be outdoors, so with sunny blue skies beckoning us we packed a picnic lunch and made our way to Blue Mounds State Park, a lovely park in southwestern Wisconsin.  I'll write more about the park and the memories it evoked tomorrow, but for today I hope you enjoy some of the autumn colors we experienced.

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
― Albert Camus

 

“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple...”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows  

 “Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile.”
― William Cullen Bryant

"I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it.”
―Lee Maynard