Orange Park, FL

Our trip through the south would have been incomplete without a stop at cousin Fran's in Orange Park. I last saw Fran in early 2002 when we traveled together from DC to Philly for our Aunt Bea's funeral. At the time, I was working on a project at the World Bank and Fran was visiting her son, Ray and his family in Northern Virginia.

We were overdue for a rendez-vous. Though I haven't yet been able to convince Fran to visit us in Canada, I think she may now be ready!

Fran has a big family of her own, and it was fun to hear of all the developments with her clan.
It was good to see Jim and Tim and to meet their wonderful families.

We drove to St. Augustine to see some of the sights. We had lunch at the Conch House Restaurant, with views of the bay.

Following lunch, I tried to find Pete Wills, a schoolmate of mine from Philly. I had a bad phone number for Pete, but I found an address for him at the White Pages on-line. It wasn't too far from the restaurant so we drove over there to find an RV park at that address. I enquired at the office and the receptionist told me that Pete lived there but that he was out on the road. She gave me a cell phone number so I called and talked to Pete and he turned out to be in Palatka---about 45 miles inland---and would be there overnight.

As Peg and I were departing for New Orleans the next morning, we didn't have a chance to see Pete, but it was nice to talk to him. After a career in sales, he is now a minister and chaplain, and tends to those who need help. Good move, Pete.

Fran was amazed that I was able to track Pete down!

Peg and Fran by the pool

Site of the ancient shrine to the first spanish colony in the "new world"

Kevin and Fran at church


view from Conch House deck
marina by Conch House

Fran with Tim, her youngest son

Sunday in Charleston

We never tire on wandering the streets of Charleston and taking in the sights and sounds of the old city market, the shops and restaurants, and the other tourists (there are always lots of them!).

The architecture is marvelous. The walls ooze with history, and the locals have a dignity and a sense of place that is rarely found elsewhere in these days of homogenization and sameness.

Sea Grass Baskets of the South Carolina Low Country, in the Gullah Tradition

St. Philips Episcopal Church

Charles's friend John Kerr kindly invited us to attend a Concert Programme presented by the world famous Choir of Canterbury Cathedral at the Charleston Cathedral Church of St. Luke and Saint Paul. The concert was a musical treat, and the setting and the acoustics were perfect.

The choir is made up of men (lay clerks)and boys and sings at the Cathedral each day, when it is not touring. The boys live in the Cathedral Choir House and attend St. Edmund's School. They practice twice each day, and each chorister learns to play at least two instruments.

Cathedral Church of St. Luke & St. Paul, Charleston

David Flood, Master of Choristers and the Choir of Canterbury Cathedral

Getting back to Charleston

We were happy to return to Charleston, and to see my brother Charles and his wife Sally once again. They are well and content with their lifestyle here in the low country. We had a great time catching up on family news, current events, and community developments.

Kevin and Charles

Peggy and the brothers

Charles prepared delicious crab cakes and Sally put together a lovely fresh salad for our evening meal, as we made plans for the next day.

We were up early and stopped to see my old schoolmate Joe Eddleman who, as fate would have it, operates his real estate office less than six blocks from where Charles and Sally live. Joe was in great spirits, though he is a bit impatient in recovering from recent heart surgery. It was good to see him again!

Joe & Kevin

We left Joe's and headed for downtown Charleston for a quick look-around, across the new cable-stayed Arthur Ravenel Jr. bridge. The bridge opened in 2005 to replace the obsolete cantilever truss bridge that was the previous link between Mt. Pleasant and Charleston. The new bridge is a vast improvement and a pleasure to drive on. There is a popular 12 foot wide pedestrian/bike path on the ocean side of the bridge which serves as the course for the annual Cooper River Bridge Run.

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge

Charleston Visitors Center

Peg in the Urban Outfitters

Following a quick look around at the shops on King St., we headed back to Mt. Pleasant and on to nearby Daniel Island.

Sally has been an avid, lifelong successful tennis player and is a member of the Family Circle Tennis Center on Daniel Island. She was so gracious as to provide us with tickets to attend the semi-finals of the Family Circle Cup.

We saw an impressive match-up between Number 1 seed Elena Dementieva and Number 5 seed Caroline Wozniacki. Wozniacki won in 3 sets. Man, those girls can really hit the ball! It was an exciting match and we were glad we got a chance to see it.

2008 Champ Serena Williams

Wozniacki serves

Dementieva returns

Following tennis, we returned home to prepare for dinner, and Peg had a visit with the Kerr's cat, Enoch the Ewok. Enoch spends a lot of time with Charles and Sally these days to get a break from Charlie, the King Charles Spaniel puppy.


We wrapped up the day with a lovely meal at the always excellent Old Village Post House Restaurant in Mt. Pleasant. http://www.mavericksouthernkitchens.com/ovph/index.html

Peg and Sal at the Old Village Post House

Peg and Kevin too!

We feasted on fried oysters, salmon, soft shelled crab and crab cakes and a delicious dessert of strawberry shortcake with vanilla bean ice cream. (Sorry, no pictures! We were distracted by the food)

April 17: Lynchburg to Charleston

After checking in at the Kirkley Hotel in Lynchburg, we had a nice dinner at Thai 99, sharing some spring rolls, Pad Woon-Sen and Pad Thai. http://thai99.net/

In the morning, we continued down scenic route 29 to Greensboro, NC where we made a side trip to the furniture mecca of High Point.


Peggy enjoyed looking around Furnitureland South and its vast array of products from all the big name furniture manufacturers.

I was relieved that we came away empty-handed, and headed south on Route 220, joining I-95 just acrosss the South Carolina border. Around 5 PM, we were happy to arrive at the home of Charles and Sally in Mt. Pleasant, to catch up with them, and to settle in.

The highs and lows of the Shenandoah Valley

We left the Fairfield Inn in Strasburg on Thursday morning and headed down route 11, a Virginia Scenic Byway also referred to as the Old Valley Pike.

We drove as far as New Market, the site of a significant Civil War Battle before heading over route 211 to the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.

http://www.shenandoahtravel.org/

Our first stop was at the Shenandoah County Court House on Main Street, designed by Thomas Jefferson and in use since 1795. We took a picture of the statue of Peter Muhlenberg (born an died at Trappe, PA) who lived in Woodstock and was a clergyman and a general in the Revolutionary Army, leading a brigade at the Battle of Yorktown.

Just south of Mount Jackson, we stopped to see the Meems Bottom covered bridge.

Beyond the bridge, there was a lovely B & B shrouded in the early morning mist. We stopped to talk to a woman at the farm across the road who was tending to her 6 horses. One was a beautiful foal (colt), born 4 days earlier.

We drove as far as New Market, the site of a significant Civil War Battle before heading over route 211 to Shenandoah National Park. We followed the Skyline Drive through the park for about 30 miles, enjoying the vistas along the way.
















On leaving the National Park, we headed south on route 29 to Charlottesville, where we strolled the downtown mall and had a tasty bite of pizza at Vita Nova.




We then headed for the University of Virginia campus to visit the "Academical Village" and the Rotunda designed by Jefferson. The Rotunda echoes the design of the Pantheon in Rome.

Above is a sitting room inside the Rotunda.

This is one of the many brick serpentine walls around campus.